Thaal Sinestro () (or simply Sinestro) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, particularly those featuring Green Lantern. Created by John Broome and Gil Kane, Sinestro is a former Green Lantern Corps member who was dishonorably discharged for abusing his power. He has since endured as the archenemy of the superhero Green Lantern and is the founder of the Sinestro Corps.
Sinestro has appeared in various forms of non-comics media including shows, films, and video games. Ted Levine, Miguel Ferrer, Xander Berkeley, Ron Perlman, Victor Garber, Jason Isaacs, and others have voiced the character in animated television series and films. The character made his live-action film debut in the 2011 film Green Lantern, played by Mark Strong, and is currently portrayed by Ulrich Thomsen in the DC Universe, beginning with the series Lanterns.
Publication history
Sinestro was created by John Broome and Gil Kane, and first appeared in Green Lantern (vol. 2) #7 (August 1961). According to Kane, his appearance was modeled after British actor David Niven.
In 2009, IGN ranked Sinestro as the 15th-greatest comic book villain of all time.
Fictional character biography
Green Lantern Sinestro was born on the planet Korugar in space sector 1417. His dedication to preserving order originally manifests in his previous career, an anthropologist specializing in the reconstruction of ancient Korugan civilizations. One day, Green Lantern Prohl Gosgotha crash-lands near him, injured and apparently dying. Prohl gives his ring to Sinestro, who barely understands what to do with it before coming under attack from the Lantern's pursuer: a Weaponer of Qward. In the end, Sinestro has to destroy the ruins he was restoring to crush the Qwardian. Afterwards, Gosgotha turns out to still be alive and asks for his ring back so he can summon help. Addicted to the ring's power, Sinestro lets him die and convinces the Guardians that the ring chose him as Gosgotha's successor.Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant #1, DC Comics, 1999
When Hal Jordan joins the Green Lantern Corps, Sinestro, now a seasoned and respected Lantern, is assigned to be his instructor. Jordan is horrified at Sinestro's methods, though Sinestro maintains that he is only doing what he considers necessary to protect Korugar. During his training, Jordan helps Sinestro repel an attempted invasion by the Khunds. When Jordan disobeys orders and contacts the Lanterns for help, Sinestro's dictatorship is exposed, and he is forced to appear before the Guardians for punishment. Katma Tui, the leader of a Korugarian resistance movement who feels that Sinestro's "protection" keeps her people from growing as a society through contact with other alien races, is recruited as his replacement in the Corps. Tui eventually grows into one of the most respected Green Lanterns, but she and the rest of Korugar initially resists her appointment to the Corps. Due to Sinestro's actions, Korugar has come to consider the symbol of the Green Lantern Corps an emblem of terror and oppression.
Punishment and villainy
For using the power of the Green Lantern to instill fear rather than combat it, the Guardians banish Sinestro to the antimatter universe, a counterpart to the "real" universe made up of negative matter. Sinestro ends up on the antimatter world of Qward, the counterpart of the Guardians' homeworld Oa, which is ruled by the Weaponers of Qward, a race of warriors and scientists that bear a fierce hatred of the Guardians and all Green Lanterns. By exiling Sinestro to a world ruled by evil beings who specifically hate Green Lanterns, the Guardians hope to humble him. However, Sinestro is quick to seize the opportunity, persuading the Weaponers that he can use his knowledge of the Corps to destroy them for good.
Creating a yellow power ring for Sinestro to use, the Weaponers send him back to the "positive matter" universe to seek revenge. Sinestro quickly becomes the Green Lantern Corps' most powerful nemesis, partially due to a weakness in their power rings that prevent them from directly affecting the color yellow. Despite this, skilled Green Lanterns like Jordan, Sinestro's most hated enemy, always find ways to defeat him.
Pre-Crisis Sinestro first meets Hal Jordan after already making an alliance with Qward; the latter had already beaten the Weaponers three times. Sinestro takes him to Qward and is able to imprison him in a yellow bubble by threatening to kill 100,000 innocent people. Jordan uses his ring to create the illusion that it is nearly out of power. After releasing Jordan from the bubble to eliminate him, Sinestro is defeated and imprisoned in a specially constructed cell by Jordan, who does not take him back to his universe as it would go against the jurisdiction of the Guardians. By gradually sapping the cell's power, Sinestro escapes and continues to menace Jordan. He tries to attack the Guardians after kidnapping Jordan and assuming his identity to occupy a meeting of Green Lanterns and absorb power from their rings by casting an illusion of an attacking monster. However, Jordan escapes and defeats Sinestro, who is placed in a new prison empowered by the rings of hundreds of Lanterns, so he cannot drain it. However, Sinestro anticipates this and uses a backup yellow ring hidden in his boot to escape.
Post-Crisis Before the Guardians take a leave of absence from their universe to attempt mating with their female counterparts, the Zamarons, they construct an inescapable prison for Sinestro and thousands of others on Oa. Sinestro escapes himself through the mental manipulation of the Mad God of Sector 3600. Wielding nearly unlimited power, Sinestro murders entire star systems until he is subdued by the Green Lantern Corps. Guilty of multiple acts of genocide, Sinestro is put on trial again by the assembled membership of the Green Lantern Corps. Finding him guilty, they condemn him to death and execute him. Sinestro manages to cheat death by sending his essence into the Central Power Battery and shutting it down. While in the Battery, he also makes a startling discovery about the ancient weakness to yellow within the Green Lanterns' light.
Hal Jordan enters the Battery in an attempt to restore the powers of his fellow Lanterns and ultimately defeats Sinestro, whose spirit is condemned to remain trapped inside the Central Battery, powerless, for eternity. Yet Sinestro earns an even greater personal victory as the so-called "yellow impurity" turns out to be Parallax, the embodiment of fear.Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps-Secret Files & Origins #1
Mosaic While John Stewart is on Oa, the spirit of Sinestro is absorbed into Stewart's power ring during the reactivation of the Central Power Battery.Green Lantern (vol. 3) #13 (June 1991) He tortures and subjugates Stewart's consciousness to seize control of his body. Under Sinestro's influence, Stewart wreaks havoc on Mosaic World. He attacks the builders and threatens those close to Stewart, including Rose Hardin and her son, Toby. Stewart manages to fight back from within his mind by summoning mental projections of his allies from the Green Lantern Corps for emotional support. The possession finally breaks when Toby attacks Stewart, causing Sinestro to flee Stewart's body.Green Lantern: Mosaic #1-3 (June-August 1992)
Parallax
In the meantime, the return of the Guardians results in the Corps being re-established. The newly restored Corps is short-lived, thanks to the efforts of Mongul and Hank Henshaw. Mongul and Henshaw use several nuclear devices to destroy Coast City, Hal Jordan's hometown. Driven mad with grief, Jordan is possessed by Parallax and wipes out most of the Green Lantern Corps. As a last-ditch effort to halt Jordan's rampage, the Guardians free Sinestro from the Central Power Battery and send him to stop Jordan. After a battle, Jordan snaps Sinestro's neck, apparently killing him.
Return Sinestro is revealed to have survived when Kyle Rayner discovers the existence of Parallax and reveals it to Green Arrow and the Justice League. Nearly killing the two heroes, Sinestro is stopped by the newly resurrected Hal Jordan, who reclaims his ring and is purged of Parallax's influence. The two fight to a draw, with Sinestro escaping to the antimatter universe when Jordan damages his ring.Green Lantern: Rebirth #5 (April 2005)
Sinestro later appears in the mini-series Villains United, in which he captures Lady Quark for the Secret Society of Super Villains, a group of which Sinestro previously was a member. Here, he plays a major role in the Society's massacre of the Freedom Fighters, who are investigating the meeting place of other villains, but walk into an ambush. Sinestro kills Black Condor, then defeats Uncle Sam, leaving him for dead.
Sinestro Corps
After the Battle of Metropolis, Sinestro retreats to the antimatter universe, allies with the Anti-Monitor, and embraces the doctrine of spreading fear. The Green Lantern Corps is once again reformed with the return of Hal Jordan so Sinestro decides to found the Sinestro Corps, offering yellow power rings to the most feared and savage warriors of the universe. He is also revealed to have masterminded the death of Kyle Rayner's mother by having Despotellis infect her as part of a plot to break Rayner's will and make him Parallax's latest host.
The Sinestro Corps War begins with an attack on Oa. Sinestro returns to Korugar to confront his successor, Soranik Natu. Sinestro defeats her, but makes it appear she has defeated him. This will force her to stay on Korugar to fulfill her responsibilities as "the Savior of Korugar".Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #14 (July 2008)
Sinestro returns to Qward and joins the battle occurring there. He confronts Earth's Green Lanterns, and upon their escape, follows them toward Earth, the Sinestro Corps' real target.Green Lantern (vol. 4) #23 (September 2007) The Sinestro Corps begin attacking Earth. Sinestro reveals to Hal, Guy Gardner, and John Stewart that he intends to turn Earth into the new homeworld for the Sinestro Corps.Green Lantern (vol. 4) #24 (October 2007) During the battle, the Guardians enacted new laws to the Book of Oa. The first new law was to give the Green Lanterns the ability to use lethal force. Sinestro claims he has achieved his overall goal because now the Green Lanterns spread fear by being unchecked. Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner beat Sinestro in hand-to-hand combat.Green Lantern (vol. 4) #25 (December 2007) Sinestro is imprisoned in Oa's Sciencells, where he learns from Hal Jordan that he has received a death penalty. Despite his personal defeat, Sinestro claims victory. Sinestro's overall goal through his war was to groom his former Corps for a more active, forceful role in the universe. With the enactment of the Corps' new laws and the approval of lethal force, the Green Lantern corps will inspire fear, creating the same effect as the Sinestro Corps: order through fear. With the hunt for the members of the Sinestro Corps becoming one of the Green Lantern Corps' highest priorities, many of those who wield yellow power rings have been incarcerated in Oa's Sciencells.
Rage of the Red Lanterns