Mister Sinister
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Mister Sinister (Nathaniel Essex) is a Marvel Comics supervillain, a foe of the X-Men and related teams. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Marc Silvestri, he first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #221 (September 1987).
Sinister is perhaps the greatest geneticist in the Marvel Universe. He is capable of cloning, creating superhuman abilities and enhancing or controlling mutant abilities. His existence is unknown to the general public and he does his research in secret laboratories across the globe. He has employed the henchmen groups the Marauders and Nasty Boys.
Born in 19th century London, Sinister was one of the most brilliant scientists of his day. He entered a pact with the centuries-old mutant Apocalypse, who granted him immortality, among other powers.
However, Sinister has no allegiance to Apocalypse and, studying the bloodlines of the X-Men Scott Summers and Jean Grey, determined that their child would be a mutant powerful enough to destroy Apocalypse. When Grey was thought dead, Sinister created the clone Madelyne Pryor to bear the child who would become Cable. Sinister also has a connection to the X-Man Gambit.
Sinister was a frequent villain in the 1990s-era X-Men animated series.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Origin
Nathaniel Essex was a 19th-century scientist in Victorian England obsessed with Darwin’s theory of evolution, though he felt Darwin and his contemporaries were shackled by too many moral constraints.
While pursuing his own research in 1859, he discovered that humanity was undergoing increasing mutation, due to what he called “Essex Factors” in the human genome. His theories were mocked, making him bitter; his son’s death (at the age of four from numerous birth defects, including crooked bones & hemophilia) drove him deeper into his work. He approached many groups in search of funding, including the Hellfire Club, though all turned him down. He hired a group of thugs, whom he named Marauders, to kidnap people off the streets of London so he could perform experiments on them; he even went so far as to dig up his dead son and experiment on him.
[edit] Apocalypse
During this time, Essex came into contact with Apocalypse (whom the Marauders had stumbled upon and awoken), accidentally educating the ancient mutant about the facts surrounding his nature. The two subsequently formed an alliance, during which Apocalypse used his advanced technology to mutate Nathaniel.
A time-traveling Cyclops and Jean Grey tried to prevent Essex’s transformation but failed. In fact, Madame Sanctity of the Askani had sent Cyclops and Jean to the past to ensure the transformation, as Sinister was necessary for the birth of Cable. Cyclops & Jean also freed many of Sinister’s captives, two of whom (a man named Oscar Stamp and an apparently mute boy named Daniel) traveled to America and took the name Summers.
With his new abilities and dispassionate outlook, Essex took a new name—Sinister, the last word his wife spoke to him as she died, after discovering the horrors he’d been engaged in (the stress also caused her to miscarry their unnamed child).
Apocalypse’s first command was to create a plague to destroy the weak of the world, but Sinister would not do it—he had clarity of purpose, and destruction for its own sake was not part of it. The plague Sinister created attacked only Apocalypse, driving him into hibernation.
[edit] The end of the 19th Century
In 1882, Sinister was present at Darwin’s funeral, reveling in the irony that the man who was once vilified was being buried in Westminster Abbey, one of the highest churches of England. Soon after, he left for the United States. (All of the above took place in the Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix miniseries.)
Sinister continued his work, just as often allying with Apocalypse as against him. In 1891, he moved to New York, and posed as an obstetrician named Nathan Millbury (an alias based off the name of the manor of his former wife); here he had unrestricted access to an abundance of generational genetic material to study, including that of the adult Daniel Summers and his wife, Amanda Mueller.
It was in 1891 that Sinister came across another pair of time traveling mutants from the future, the X-Man Gambit and a shape changer called Courier. Using his scientific equipment, Sinister managed to replicate the shape shifting abilities of Courier; before that, he’d hidden his pale complexion with common makeup. Gambit needed help getting back to the present, and to do so had Sinister re-implant a piece of tissue into his brain. Once the piece was restored, Gambit’s powers increased exponentially and he was able to return himself and Courier to the present. A century later, Gambit and Sinister would meet again.
[edit] The first half of the 20th Century
In 1915, Essex went back to England and granted Jacob Shaw, who would become Sebastian Shaw's father, the ability to shapeshift. Jacob was the brother of Esau Shaw, and was extremely envious of his brother’s better lot in life, such as having been recruited into the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle by Sir Waltham Pierce, seemingly an ancestor of Donald Pierce. Jacob used his newfound powers to imitate Sir Waltham, then killed his brother Esau. Jacob planned to then take on Esau’s place, but first he shapeshifted into a woman and planned to kill Waltham. Before he could finish his deed, however, Union Jack—Montgomery Falsworth, a friend of Esau’s—stepped in and accused Sir Waltham of sedition against the crown and the murder of Esau. Before Waltham could answer, Jacob shot at Union Jack, then ran off into the night. What Sinister hoped to obtain from aiding Jacob Shaw remains a mystery, though it is possible he expected to obtain an ally within the Hellfire Club.
In the 1920s, Essex encountered a man named Herbert Edgar Wyndham, who dreamed of doing what Sinister had already accomplished—breaking the genetic code for human DNA. Essex worked side by side with Wyndham, who would later become better known as the High Evolutionary. By 1928 Wyndham had begun crude experimentations on lab animals with radiation exposure with little success. During a trip to an international conference on genetics in Geneva, Switzerland, Wyndham suddenly felt ill. Stumbling out into the street he met the hypnotic gaze of a man in a top hat and coat, shrouded in darkness. From this stranger Wyndham was handed a gift that should not exist in that time—a blueprint for breaking the genetic code. This was, however, Phaeder, father of Maelstrom.
In the 1930s, Essex spent some time in California, gathering subjects for his experiments; while in Los Angeles, he met and fell in love with radio comedienne Faye Livingstone, though he never admitted his feelings. Discovering his secret laboratory one night, Essex confronted her with the truth—she carried the x-factor in her genes, and her offspring would produce special children, children that would be more than human. Horrified, Faye tried to leave, but Essex kept her prisoner.
Months passed, filled with degrading examinations; affected pity gave way to foul contempt. Essex broke her in mind and spirit, and made her (not let her) see behind the illusion that was Nathan Essex. Then, in the middle of a raging storm one night, Essex flung the door open and released her, without speaking or gesturing.
In time, Faye was brought to the Carlysle Nursing Home in San Diego, California, her mind & body falling to cancer. Due to her love for Essex, Livingstone had never married, and never had children. The offspring Sinister so eagerly anticipated never came to exist. Once a year, a Mister Essex would come and visit her, though he would never admit to anyone (not even himself) why. Genesis forced Sinister to confront both her and himself about the relationship, but Sinister refused, adamantly maintaining that she was nothing more than a useless husk to him. After sharing a telepathic dance with Essex, Faye died in his arms.
In the 1940s Sinister worked with the Nazis, earning the nickname “Nosferatu,” due both to his pale visage and his habit of taking blood from everyone; he frightened even the Nazis. He often gave children candy in exchange for their blood as a means of bribery. According to Magneto, he was present at the Auschwitz death camp.
During this time, he created Experiment N2, a clone of Namor the Sub-Mariner, which could forcibly suck the water out of Namor and use it to douse the android Human Torch’s flames. To Sinister’s considerable surprise, though, Captain America was able to defeat N2.
It was during this period in 1944, Essex came across a man named John Greycrow, who would become Scalphunter, his first “new” Marauder.
Following the end of World War II, Sinister's labs were raided by the United States army. Weapon Plus scientists Professor Thorton, Abraham Cornelius and Carol Hines find Nathan Essex's journals, which detail the nature and results of his experiments
In 1946, a Dr. Nathan Milbury (possibly Sinister in disguise) was involved with Project: Black Womb, a secret government project headed by Amanda Mueller and aided by Alexander Ryking (father of Carter Ryking) and Kurt Marko (father of Cain Marko), and (possibly) Irene Adler (the blind precognitive known as Destiny), which studied, but did not alter, thousands of children, mostly mutants, in post-natal holding tanks. Brian Xavier (father of Charles Xavier) was a colleague of Ryking and Marko at the project, which was based in Alamagordo, New Mexico, but whether he was involved with Project: Black Womb remains unclear.
[edit] Emergence of mutants
For decades, Sinister secretly observed the development of mutant children as they grew (many of which had been “earmarked” by Project: Black Womb) in the State Home for Foundlings in Omaha, Nebraska. He cruelly manipulated their childhood developmental processes and even tried to control their adult lives so they might become his minions.
The hero Cyclops was among his subjects; one of Scott’s roommates in the orphanage was named Nate, and another alias of Sinister’s was Mike Milbury, neighbor to Scott’s grandparents (Phillip & Deborah Summers), in Alaska. It was from his laboratory under the orphanage that many evils issued, and most likely will issue.
At some point, Sinister spliced mutant genes from Alex Summers into Ahmet Abdol, who became the Living Monolith, able to absorb cosmic energies and use them to grow to enormous size.
[edit] Gambit
Sinister is responsible for the Morlock Massacre, ordering his band of Marauders to kill all of the sewer-dwelling mutants. It was later revealed that Gambit was the one who had assembled Sinister’s Marauders.
Gambit did this, and many other tasks, for Sinister because he owed the geneticist a huge debt. When Gambit’s powers first manifested, they were largely uncontrollable. He heard through underworld contacts of Sinister, and approached him, asking for help. Sinister agreed, and removed a portion of Gambit’s brain, which reduced Gambit’s power but allowed him a greater degree of control over his abilities. In exchange, Gambit had to perform many tasks for him, such as assemble the Marauders for the Morlock Massacre.
It is possible that Sinister recognized Gambit from a century prior, and agreed to help him in order to ensure the series of events that lead to Gambit (and Courier) going back in time—which allowed Sinister to gain Courier’s powers—occurred. As for the reason behind the Morlock Massacre, due to various twistings of time and dimensions, the Dark Beast from the Age of Apocalypse timeline arrived in the mainline reality twenty years prior. Many of the Morlocks were experiments of the Dark Beast. Since the Dark Beast had learned genetics from his reality's version of Sinister, and that Sinister’s methods were similar to those mainline reality's Sinister, Sinister could see his “signature” in the Morlocks.
To prevent further unauthorized usage of his theories, he had the Marauders wipe out the Morlocks. He considered a similar course of action for the Genoshan mutates, who were created by the Sugar Man using his Age of Apocalypse counterpart's technology as well, but decided against it because the process had turned the mutates sterile; consequently, he didn’t consider them a contamination of his work.
Though some of his Marauders died during the Massacre, Sinister’s mastery of genetics and cloning technology has enabled him to recreate his Marauders again and again and again.
[edit] Involvement with the Summers family
[edit] Cyclops & Jean Grey
Sinister is obsessed with the Summers genetic line, which includes Cyclops, Havok, and Vulcan, and has taken a proprietary interest in the family because Daniel Summers is a direct ancestor of Scott & Alex Summers. For a time, Sinister continued to advance his master plan to serve Apocalypse (and his own ends), but in general prefers to let bloodlines breed naturally (rather than hastily transforming them) in order to produce the most racially-supreme beings.
Sinister eventually believed -- or realized -- that Scott Summers’ and Jean Grey’s mingled genelines would create a mutant of unparalleled power, one that could destroy Apocalypse and thus free him from the yoke of that ancient tyrant.
To this end, he created Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean Grey, though he was disappointed that the clone manifested no powers at adolescence and he considered the whole project a waste of time and effort. Upon “Jean’s” death on the Blue Area of the Moon (at the culmination of the Dark Phoenix Saga), the Phoenix Force left her body and entered Madelyne’s, much to Sinister’s delight. He arranged a set of false memories for her, and left her where Scott would eventually encounter her.
[edit] Nathan Christopher Charles Summers
Eventually the two wed and produced a child, Nathan Christopher Charles Summers. Madelyne convinced Scott to move with her back to Alaska and live out their lives there, a subconscious suggestion implanted by Sinister—the remote location made it easier for him to study and if need be abduct the child. Sinister eventually took the child, then lost it to Madelyne (now the Goblyn Queen), briefly regained it (following her death), then lost it to Cyclops, who blasted him with a supercharged Optic Blast and reduced him to a skeleton (X-Factor #39). A later engagement with Cyclops showed that his optic blast can do little to no permanent harm to Sinister who can simply reform himself after being hit.
Before Sinister could re-claim young Nathan, however, Apocalypse awoke. Sensing the threat posed to him, he infected Nathan with a technorganic virus which threatened to consume him. The only hope of saving him was for Scott & Jean to give him to a woman known as the Askani, who spirited him away to the future. Nathan survived, and came to be the man better known as Cable.
[edit] Havok
Later, a group of mutants known as the Nasty Boys appeared, working alongside an evil duplicate of James Madrox. The evil Madrox wished to kill the true Madrox to ensure his continued independence and sought Sinister’s help in doing so; he sent the Nasty Boys to aid Evil Madrox by fighting X-Factor. Eventually, the Evil Madrox was re-absorbed by the original Madrox, and subsumed into him.
Meanwhile, Quicksilver’s powers were being secretly overcharged by Senator Steven Shaffran, who was trying to discredit X-Factor in order to spur on his political career. Unknown to Shaffran, though, Sinister took the senator’s appearance and revealed Shaffran’s deeds to the team. Shaffran later confronted Sinister, and planned to kill him, but only succeeded in killing himself when his bullet ricocheted off of Sinister's chest. Later, Sinister sent his Nasty Boys to track down a rogue Malice, who was trying to break free of Sinister.
In an earlier confrontation with X-Factor, Malice had possessed Polaris, but Polaris’s powers prevented the possessing entity from departing Lorna Dane’s body—something Sinister knew would happen. Malice did eventually break out of Dane’s body, and was determined to escape Sinister’s control—for a being used to existence as an incorporeal energy being, entrapment in a physical body, even one as powerful as Polaris’s, was Hell for her. A massive fracas between Sinister and the Nasty Boys, Malice, and Havok and Polaris broke out. Both Alex and Lorna tried to absorb Malice (in order to prevent the other from being possessed), but the strain wound up fatally disrupting Malice’s energy form (as planned by Sinister). Seeing as the conflict had no meaning anymore, Sinister and his minions withdrew.
[edit] Legacy Virus & the “third Summers brother”
After the events of the X-Cutioner’s Song saga, Sinister unwittingly unleashed the Legacy Virus upon the Earth, a plague engineered by Stryfe, a clone of Cable. Sinister revealed to Cyclops Stryfe’s trick, and mentioned Cyclops’ “brothers,” something Cyclops picked up on and dubbed by many fans as the “third Summers brother”—though, technically, it wasn’t said that the brother was a Summers. Speculation abounds as to who that third brother is, though most evidence—and some quasi-official statements—indicate Adam X the X-Treme, is that brother. It was theorized that Adam-X is the product of the rape of Cyclops’ mother by the former Shi’ar emperor D’Ken, thus making Adam-X the illegitimate heir to the throne of the Shi’ar Empire. However, the third Summers brother has been revealed to be Vulcan, who was born at the time in which Christopher and Katherine Summers were prisoners of the Shi’ar. In any event, Sinister did not mention a specific number of brothers, thus Adam-X could still be another brother of Cyclops, Havok and Vulcan, though not technically a Summers.
Sinister later took in the mutant Threnody, and used her unique powers to track down victims of the Legacy Virus, which he could then study and work on to develop a cure. Moira MacTaggart, long-time ally to the X-Men and one of the top genetic immunologists on the planet, eventually developed a cure for the Virus. This cure was released thanks to the sacrifice of the mutant Colossus. Sinister offered to clone him to his fellow X-men as a form of gratitude (though he may have had ulterior motives), but they refused.
[edit] Freedom
Fortunately for Sinister, Cable also had a deep grudge against Apocalypse, and when Apocalypse merged with Cyclops at the climax of The Twelve story arc, Cable and Jean Grey tracked the merged being back to Apocalypse’s birthplace of Egypt. Jean separated Apocalypse’s astral form from Cyclops’ body, and Cable sundered the freed spirit, fulfilling his destiny as written by Sinister. This gave Sinister the freedom he’d long sought, as Apocalypse had always kept him on a tight leash.
While Sinister has succeeded in his quest to eliminate Apocalypse, this has by no means ended his task. Mister Sinister desired research above all else in his world of genetics; bloodlines and gene pools are his chess pieces. Apocalypse was a threat to this work. Now without hindrances, Sinister can truly begin his work in genetics, no matter the cost in lives or suffering.
By eliminating Sinister’s former master, the X-Men may have unleashed an even greater threat to the world. Sinister continues his research into mutant genetics, and recently reappeared in the pages of the new Weapon X series, in the guise of Dr. Robert Windsor.
As Windsor, Sinister supposedly helped a number of prisoners escape from Weapon X's concentration camp Neverland. However, Sinister merely took these mutants to his personal labs to perform experiments on them. At the same time, Sinister created a group of superpowered beings called The Children, which he was forced to give up to John Sublime, after Sabretooth killed the first of the Children: Hans.
Sinister later appeared in Russia in the limited series Colossus: Bloodline to confront Colossus and Mikhail Rasputin about their family’s shrouded history. He paired with Mikhail to kill off all of his living relatives to allow the essensce of Grigory Rasputin to be concentrated in one host and become reincarnate. After the brothers fought Sinister’s influence, it was discovered that the reason he wanted Grigory in power was to stabilize his own failing abilities. Sinister admitted that he was weakened—being unable to shapeshift or teleport and actually sustaining injuries from Colossus’ attack—but vowed vengeance for when he did have his abilities restored.
[edit] House of M and Beyond
Mister Sinister’s had a small, yet significant, presence in the divergent House of M reality (as seen in Cable & Deadpool #17). While remaining a physiologicaly altered geneticist, this Sinister was a quite gentle, friendly person—even to the point of offering the visiting trio of Deadpool, Cannonball and Siryn a (drugged) barbecue dinner. Sinister was apparently rejected from society for experimenting on mutants, which was taboo under Magneto’s rule, and lived on a secluded Nebraska farm. Despite the difference in personality, this Sinister was also responsible for the birth of an infant Cable, who Sinister believed was a potential savior for the world of the House of M.
Beyond a one-panel appearance in House of M: The Day After one-shot (not identified by name, but his facial markings were unmistakable), Mister Sinister has not made his presence known. It is unknown what effect, if any, had the massive depowering of mutants in Sinister, as some of his powers were obtained by enhancing himself with mutant DNA. In any event, Sinister presented himself before Sunfire and Gambit after the two former Horsemen of Apocalypse abandoned their master and decided to sever all ties with their former lives.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Mister Sinister possesses a wide array of powers which have been depicted inconsistently at times. During his introduction in the “Inferno” arc, Sinister was an overwhelming foe able to launch attacks on the astral plane, fire energy bolts capable of destroying the X-Mansion and create force-fields capable of holding both the X-Men and X-Factor at bay. His power levels appeared to be more than a match for the X-Men who were unable to defeat him until they discovered he was vulnerable to Cyclops’ optic beams. Sinister later dismissed this weakness as a feint although his reasons for this deception were never explained.
He has exhibited limited shapeshifting. He once reduced himself into a semi-liquid state. At times he has demonstrated superhuman strength, which may be a product of his shapeshifting. He has frequently shown a remarkable resistance to injury and excellent regenerative abilities—he has survived having a large hole shot through his head, and apparently survived having the flesh blasted off his bones at the climax of the Inferno story arc. He has also demonstrated reasonably strong telepathic powers in the past, including the ability to mentally paralyze a foe he’s touching, erasing the memories of Jean Grey at the end of the Inferno arc, and being able to withstand a psychic assault from Psylocke, a high-level telepath. He has also exhibited some minor telekinetic abilities, such as mentally moving objects and firing blasts of concussive force from his hands or from the diamond-shaped scarlet mark on his forehead. He was believed to possess the power of teleportation, but it was revealed this was not an innate ability, but a function of his tesseract headquarters, which was far bigger on the inside than on the outside (like the TARDIS from the television series Doctor Who).
Sinister is a genius and a geneticist of the highest order, able to predict genetic mutations and splice DNA. (It is quite probable that he is the result of self-experimentation—his shapeshiftng power is due to a procedure he performed on himself with help from a time-traveling Gambit.) He can also produce large amounts of clones; he has done so with all his Marauders, and with Jean Grey. He at one time possessed tissue samples of thousands of people, dating possibly as far back as the 1860s, including several American Presidents. He is a master surgeon, having excised a portion of Gambit's brain, and then later restored it (although from Sinister’s point of view, he restored a portion of Gambit’s brain and later excised it, as Gambit was travelling back in time when the restoration was completed, possibly a predestination paradox), and a skilled mechanical engineer, having created devices that seem taken from the tales of Jules Verne. He possesses a good deal of knowledge in psychology, and is a skilled manipulator. Many of his bases seem to have some quasi-biological properties, able to “grow” tentacles from a surface to hold a prisoner at Sinister’s mental commands.
Sinister is a ruthless man who has no compunctions about ruining the lives of others to get what he wants. He prefers to operate in the shadows, letting lackeys and unsuspecting dupes do his dirty work. He is arrogant, confident, and expects total obedience from his underlings. He is known to have collaborated with members of the Nazi party.
[edit] Notes and trivia
Originally, according to creator Chris Claremont, Mister Sinister did not have the Victorian background, but was a mutant whose natural non-enhanced form was an eight-year old child who could never age, while his enhanced form was an eight-year old’s image of a supervillain; his enmity with Cyclops stemmed from their shared childhood in an orphanage. In his original appearances in X-Men and Classic X-Men, these plotlines were hinted at, but others ended up writing an alternate origin for the character once Claremont left the franchise. The appearance of Sinister as a child at the orphanage was later written off as a disguise.
[edit] Other versions
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
In the Age of Apocalypse, Sinister was brought back into Apocalypse’s servitude as one of his Horsemen. Sinister ruled over a part of North America and was tasked with creating stronger, more powerful generations of mutants, for which he was given control over vast Breeding Pens, in which thousands of mutants and humans were captured for genetic experimentation. To maintain control over the Breeding Pens, Sinister assembled his personal taskforce, the so-called Elite Mutant Force, formed mostly by mutant siblings with great genetic potential. The EMF lineup was formed by Beast (Hank McCoy, Sinister’s apprentice), the Summers Brothers (Cyclops and Havok, both raised by Sinister), the Beaubier twins (Aurora and Northstar), and two of the Guthrie Clan (Amazon and Cannonball), who replaced the deceased Emplate and the catatonic Monet Twins. Those mutants who refused to join the EMF were imprisoned in the Breeding Pens.
Thanks to his access to nearly infinite genetic material and test subjects, Sinister was one of the responsibles for the creation of the Infinites, Apocalypse’s genetically engineered army, the Madri, a fanatical cult formed by the duplicates of Jamie Madrox, and the Brain Trust, using the brains of six psychic mutants, intended to pacify the prisoners of the Breeding Pens.
However, like he had done in the past, Sinister would betray Apocalypse, as Sinister considered that Apocalypse’s plans would bring about the total annihilation of life on Earth. Sinister secretly gave classified information to the Human High Council through Jean Grey and Weapon X (Logan). He also created Nate Grey, using the genetic material of Cyclops and Jean Grey, a nearly all-powerful psychic intended to assassinate Apocalypse. To coverup his actions, Sinister destroyed his personal lab, hidden in the Statue of Apocalypse and disappeared. He approached the runaway Nate Grey, killing some of his companions in the process, such as Forge and Brute, who recognized Essex, who had experimented on him. Sinister informed Grey of his destiny, but was attacked by Grey. Sinister realized that Grey was even more powerful than intended, and believed that he might actually die from the wounds the boy inflicted.
However, Sinister eventually recovered. Following Apocalypse’s death, Sinister blackmailed Magneto in order to obtain the body of Jean Grey. Sinister heard that Jean was an Omega-level mutant and the host of the Phoenix Force, and intended to use her power for his own purpose. With her, Sinister was capable of creating his new team: the Sinister Six.
[edit] Earth X
In the Earth X alternate timeline, Sinister is actually an older Colossus who became obsessed with Jean Grey and travelled back in time to the Victorian Era. This was possibly a joke, to make Nightcrawler feel better about his existence as Belasco.
[edit] Ultimate Universe
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Sinister has been heavily reimagined. He is portrayed as a scientist working for Norman Osborn who is specialized in stealth and mind-altering drugs. It is also hinted that he might have experimented on Gambit during his youth. Striking is also that Sinister’s outer appearance is extremely different from his mainstream Victorian gentleman ways: in this universe, he is a muscle-bound, heavily tattooed bodybuilder. He has the word Sinister tattood on his forearm, hence the name. He experimented on himself and acquired superhuman powers, namely the ability of mind control—so strong that even Professor X could not neutralize him, allowing Sinister to throw him down a flight of stairs—and being invisible to anything but the naked eye. His powers are strong enough that he can kill a person by telling them “Choke yourself.”
However, he also lost his sanity in his process, and began to hallucinate of a Lord Apocalypse, who “ordered” him to kill mutants. (In that respect, he seems similar to Norman Bates of the famous Psycho film.) After shooting several young mutants (possibly Marrow, Maggott, Synch and Destiny), he failed to kill Jean Paul Beaubier and tried to kill the X-Men, but was incapacitated by Rogue and imprisoned in the Triskelion of the Ultimates. It is there that he sees a vision of Apocalypse, which reveals that he might not have been hallucinating (though whether this 'vision' was merely another of his hallucinations is unclear). The vision has one command for him. “Choke yourself.” Sinister survived his suicide attempt and is still contained within Triskelion. In Magnetic North, Sinister mentioned that "A child is coming. The master will be reborn", presumably referring to Apocalypse. Some fans speculated it could mean Cable, but as Ultimate Cable has been revealed as the future version of Wolverine, it is now unknown as to who the "Child" will be, although some fans believe it could be Nate Gray, the X Man, this has not been confirmed.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Television
- Mr. Sinister was a recurring villain on the X-Men animated series and was voiced by Christopher Britton. Interested in the creation of more powerful mutants, Sinister had an obsession with Cyclops and Jean Grey, as well as other powerful mutants such as Magneto. Like his comics counterpart, this Sinister was capable of emitting energy blasts from his hands and was vulnerable to Cyclops' optic beams. He was served both by the Nasty Boys and the Savage Land Mutates. Like in the comics, Sinister was originally a British scientist during the Victorian era, though he wasn't mutated by Apocalypse. This version of Sinister experimented on mutants and obtained organs from his minion, Jack the Ripper, and used the knowledge obtained through his activities to mutate himself. An ancestor of Professor X, Dr. Xavier, was one of Sinister's opponents and attempted to save his victims. Despite his origins having no link to Apocalypse, Sinister joined forces with him when Apocalypse plotted to rewrite reality by harnessing the power of the axis of time.
- Before being canceled, Sinister was set to appear an issue of the X-Men Evolution comic book spin-off. It was part a of plot that started in issue #8 (which centered around Beast meeting a friend online who knew of his mutant condition). Unfortunately, the storyline wasn't followed up in issue #9, a stand alone issue, which was the finale issue published.
[edit] Video games
- He first appeared at the final cut scene of X2: Wolverines Revenge where as Wolverine celebrates his victory over lady Death Strike, he is being watched by Mister Sinister and Apocalypse. What they said hinted at a sequel but one was never made.
- Sinister also appears in the video game X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, as Apocalypse's right hand man, being one of the more important villains. He is hinted to have sabotaged Apocalypse's experiment, which gave him the power of four mutants with harmonic DNA. The end of the game shows him standing on top of an Egyptian Pyramid, laughing menacingly, suggesting that he will be the primary villain in a hypothetical sequel.
[edit] External links
Categories: Fictional evil scientists | Fictional English people | Fictional cloners | Marvel Comics mutates | Fictional characters with the power to shapeshift | X-Men villains | Fictional telepaths | Fictional characters with telekinesis | Fictional characters with the power of accelerated healing | Marvel Comics immortals | Fictional Misters | Weapon X | Fictional geniuses | Fictional evil geniuses
