Mr. Sinister

Characteristics

Gender: Male

Height: 6' 5"

Weight: 285 lbs (130 kg)

Eyes: Red

Hair: Black

Skin: White

Unusual Features: Shining eyes with no visible pupils and a red diamond upon forehead.

Origin

Nathaniel Essex

Nathaniel Essex was born in Victorian England during the 19th Century, coming to prominence in the latter half. It was the "first" mutant, Apocalypse who turned Dr. Essex into Mr. Sinister.

He was chosen because of his research and his obsession with Charles Darwin's theory on evolution, though he believed the morals of such men were getting in the way of true progress. He truly began his work in 1859 when he learned that humanity was steadily becoming mutant, thanks to what he classified as Essex factors.

His work was ridiculed and after his son's death at the age of four, thanks to numerous birth defects, he became even more intent at pursuing his work. He sought out a patron, all turning him down, including the Hellfire Club.

So instead he hired a group known as the Marauders who kidnapped victims for him from off the streets who he would then proceed to perform experiments upon. The victims of his tests included his four year old son, whom he exhumed simply to perform his experiments on him.

Nathaniel Essex Meets En Sabah Nur

It was then that Dr. Nathaniel Essex forged an alliance with Apocalypse after the Marauders stumbled upon the god-like mutant, accidentally awakening him. So it was that after seeing the potential of the geneticist that Apocalypse granted him powers by mutating him giving him his original powers of longevity, superhuman strength and a Healing Factor.

Jean Grey and Scott Summers tried to stop this transformation when they were sent back to the past but failed. It was because Madame Sanctity actually planned for them to make sure his transformation and rebellion against Apocalypse would succeed, as he was necessary for the birth of Cable.

Now Nathaniel took on the name Sinister, as it was the last word his wife had said to him before she died, after she had learned of his immoral activities. Apocalypse then commanded his servant to create a plague that would destroy the weakest but Sinister knew this was not his purpose. Rather he created a plague that only effected Apocalypse, driving his creator into his hibernation once again.

Early Years

It was soon after this event that he immigrated into the United States of America, often allying himself with or fighting against Apocalypse.

Then in 1891, under the name Nathan Milbury, he moved to New York City and took on the profession of an obstetrician. It was here that he had unrestricted access to a massive amount of generational genetic information. This included that of Daniel Summers and his wife, Amanda Mueller.

It was during this period that he crossed paths with two time-traveling mutants, Gambit the X-Man and Courier the shapeshifter. He used his scientific equipment to grant himself the shapeshifting abilities of Courier which now allowed him to hide his pale complexion without having to use makeup, as he had done before.

Gambit needed help to return to the present and Sinister was the one capable of providing the help needed. He re-implanted a piece of tissue into Remy's brain, this allowed Gambit to return himself and Courier into the present as his powers had increased exponentially thanks to the efforts of Sinister.

Sinister and Shaw

In 1915, for unknown reasons he granted Jacob Shaw the ability to shapeshift, this genetic manipulation both directly and indirectly caused the deaths of both Jacob and his brother, Esau Shaw.

Then sometime between the 1920's-1930's, he met Herbert Edgar Wyndham, a man who dreamed of cracking the genetic code for human DNA, a feat that Sinister himself had already accomplished. So the two began alongside one another, experimenting with genetic manipulation.

During the 30's he moved to California where he gathered individuals who were subjected to his experiments. While in Los Angeles he fell in love with Faye Livingstone, though he did not admit his feelings.

Yet one night when she discovered his secret laboratory she was confronted with the truth. Her genes contained the X-Factor which would allow her children to be more than human. She was horrified by this news and tried to escape but instead she was kept as Sinister's prisoner.

For months she was subjected to degrading experiments, breaking her in both mind and spirit. Sinister forced her to see beyond the illusion that was Nathan Essex. Yet one night, during a storm he opened the doors, releasing her without a word or gesture.

Eventually she was brought to the Carlysle Nursing Home in San Diego, as she was being overtaken by cancer. She was never married or child-bearing because of her love for Essex, this also meaning that the children Essex had wished for never came to exist.

However, during her time in the Nursing Home she received an annual visit from Mr. Essex, who never admitted to anyone, not even himself, why he did this. He was later confronted about the relationship but he refused that it existed saying that she was simply a useless husk to him.

She died in his arms after sharing a telepathic dance with him.

Third Reich

In the 40's, under the alias Nathan Essex he began working with the Nazis though he frightened even them. He was nicknamed Nosferatu because of his appearance and the fact that he always took blood from everyone. Magneto remembers him from Auschwitz and says that he offered candy to children in return for blood samples.

During World War II, Sinister conducted Experiment N2, in an attempt to clone Namor. This clone was able to absorb all the moisture from Namor and then proceed to use it to douse Jim Hammond. However, N2 was defeated by Captain America, much to the surprise of Sinister.

The First New Marauder

It was during this time in 1944 that Sinister first worked with John Greycrow, the future first "new" Marauder, who in time would be known as Scalphunter.

After World War II, Sinister's labs were raided by the army of the United States. The journals that detailed his experiments were found by the Weapon Plus scientists Dr. Cornelius, Hines and Professor.

1946...Project: Black Womb, a government-funded project that performed experimented on babies (most of the mutants) had several important figures working amongst its staff, one of these was Brian Xavier, another was Nathan Milbury (whom most believe to be Mr. Sinister).

In 1968, Sinister and Greycrow were both in Vietnam and it is believed they were the reason for the tales told of the White Devil that snatched soldiers that were in the forests or even villagers from their homes, all who were never seen again.

It was also at this time that Sinister asked Greycrow to recruit Sabretooth as a member of his Marauders.

Modern Times

Scott Summers

For an amount of time spanning throughout several decades Sinister would observe developing mutant children that resided in the State Home for Foundlings which was located in Omaha, Nebraska. Yet it was in his laboratory under the orphanage where most of his horrific acts took pace.

He proceeded to cruelly manipulate the young lives of the mutant orphans eventually attempting to make them his minions while manipulating their adult lives, one of these many victims was Scott Summers.

It was also sometime during this period that Sinister spliced Alex Summers' mutant genes giving them to Ahmet Abdol who then became the Living Monolith.

Gambit

Years later, Sinister used Scalphunter to steer a desperate Gambit towards him. In exchange for a surgery that allowed Remy to control his powers better Sinister had Gambit work for him. Gambit's final task was to assemble and lead the Marauders into the Morlock Tunnels, initiating the Morlock Massacre.

Sinister initiated the Morlock Massacre for a single reason, he saw his signature in them (as many of them were experiments of Dark Beast, a student of the Age of Apocalypse's Mr. Sinister) and he would not allow unauthorized use of his theories, so they were slaughtered.

Though some of his Marauders did not survive the battle, many of them returned thanks to Sinister's genetics mastery and the fact that he had multiple clones of all of them.

He also considered doing the same with the Genoshan mutants, who were experiments of Sugar Man (another student of his Age of Apocalypse counterpart). Yet in the end he did not because the mutants were sterile and so in his opinion, they were not a tainting of his work.

Madelyne Pryor/Goblyn Queen

Because of his belief in the potential of the Summers bloodline and capabilities of a child from the Summers-Grey union he cloned Jean Grey, naming his creation Madelyne Pryor. But when she didn't manifest any abilities in her adolescence Sinister saw her as a failed experiment and a waste of time. Yet to his delight, the Phoenix Force decided to inhabit her body when Jean Grey "died" and Sinister's project was going according to plan once more.

He then gave her a set of false memories and left her where she would meet Scott Summers, in his hopes that they would have a child together. These plans came to fruition when the two wed and had a child together, Nathan Christopher Charles Summers. The two then moved to Alaska, a subconscious suggestion provided by Sinister. He believed that it was better for them to live in remote Alaska so that it would be easier for him to study and if necessary kidnap the child.

Cable

Sinister eventually did steal Nathan, only to temporarily lose him to the Goblyn Queen. After he regained the mutant child he lost him once again, this time to Cyclops who reduced him to a skeleton with his optic blast. But this proved ineffective as Sinister can completely reform himself after this attack.

Sinister had no idea that this conflict would catch the attention of Apocalypse, the one Nathan was bred to destroy. Apocalypse sensed this threat and infected Nathan with a techno-organic virus which would have overtaken him had his parents not given him to Mother Askani. She took him to the future where he was cared for and grew up to become Cable.

At one point, Sinister sent his mutant team, the Nasty Boys to aid an evil duplicate of James Madrox to kill the original Madrox...in the hopes that the Evil Madrox could continue to be free, however this failed and the evil Madrox was destroyed.

Later it was Senator Steven Shaffran who tried to discredit X-Factor to help his own political career. However, Sinister revealed the Senator's plans to the team by taking on the form of Shaffran. For this reason, Shaffran tried to kill Sinister but when he shot him the bullet ricocheted off of Sinister's chest and killed Shaffran instead.

He later sent the Nasty Boys to recapture Malice, who had gone rogue and escaped him. In the end everything went according to his plan's, with Malice being unable to escape Polaris. Yet when Malice did escape, Sinister still succeeded when Malice's energy form was fatally disrupted as she became too strained when Polaris and Havok both tried to absorb her. After this success Sinister and the Nasty Boys saw that they had done their job and withdrew.

Sinister later unknowingly unleashed the Legacy Virus (which was created by Stryfe) upon mutant-kind, killing countless mutants both superior and inferior to himself.

It was during a conversation about the Legacy Virus, from which Sinister desired to protect the Summers line that Sinister said, "I care enough to wish you and your brothers to be protected from this illness."

He corrected himself in saying that he meant brother (referring to Alex Summers) but many fans began to wonder if there was another brother. Candidates for the identity of another brother to Scott have produced Gabriel Summers, Adam Neramani and even En Sabah Nur. Yet it is unknown if Sinister actually knew of multiple brothers to Cyclops or if it actually was just a mistake.

Sinister recruited the mutant Threnody in his effort to find a cure for the Legacy Virus. He used her, for her powers allowed her to track down those infected with the Legacy Virus. He would then study them, trying to create a cure.

However, it was Moira MacTaggert who developed the cure and released it through the self-sacrifice of Colossus. Sinister offered to show his gratitude to the X-Men by cloning Colossus but they refused.

Later Sinister joined the reformed Weapon X program under the guise of Dr. Robert Windsor. He claimed to be helping mutants escape from Weapon X's mutant concentration camp but was in reality taking them so that he could simply perform further experiments on them. One of the inmates, Maggott, gave one of his slugs to two children after foreseeing his own death...the slug was last seen in Sinister's laboratory.

Mikhail Rasputin

Not long after, Sinister began a new scheme in Russia involving Mikhail Rasputin, Piotr Rasputin and their lineage. It turned out that they were related to Grigori Rasputin. So it was that Sinister worked with Mikhail to kill all of the living relatives of Grigori Rasputin. It was his belief that Grigori's bloodline would be so concentrated that he could be reincarnated in his last living relative.

But when Colossus and Mikhail worked together to escape the influence of Sinister they realized he wanted Grigori to return to power was because he needed his own failing abilities to be stabilized.

Sinister admitted that he was weakened and no longer able to shapeshift nor teleport. He even remained injured after Colossus' attack, but he swore his vengeance, which would be fulfilled after his abilities were restored.

After the Decimation, it has not been revealed how this has completely impacted Sinister, since many of his powers were derived from the DNA of mutants.

The Marauders

In Apocalypse's most recent bid for world domination, Gambit was chosen as the Horseman of Death and Sunfire the Horseman of Famine. Following Apocalypse's defeat, Gambit and Sunfire fled to Japan to purge themselves of Apocalypse's influence. They decided to completely release themselves from their former lives only to be drafted by Sinister as members of his newest team of Marauders.

Sinister was one of nine supervillains that Beast came to for help after M-Day. It turned out that Sinister was working towards a solution to the Decimation of mutantkind and allied himself with Exodusand the Acolytes in this endeavor.

He had the two teams kill all those who knew of the future and to steal the Destiny Diaries (which held knowledge of the future). So the Marauders and Acolytes battled Iceman and Cannonball for the Diaries. The X-Men lost and Cannonball's mind was saved from being emptied by Sinister, thanks to Iceman. However, during the battle the Diaries were destroyed by Gambit, and Sinister stated that this was a serious setback to his plans.

Mystique

His purpose seemed to be to acquire the new mutant baby born after M-Day, although what he intended is still unclear.

Death of Sinister

Recently he met his end when he told Mystique, his new second-in-command of the Marauders, that there is nothing he can do to save the life of an unconscious Rogue. Mystique became angry and pushed his face against Rogue's, killing him instantly.

But it is unknown if this is a permanent death because of the fact that Sinister has survived "deaths" before, is a master geneticist capable of cloning and the fact that in the comic book world, "No one stays dead except for Bucky, Jason Todd and Uncle Ben."

Summers Obsession

Scott Summers and Jean Grey were sent back in time once so that they would make sure Mr. Sinister defied Apocalypse. This was a success, yet it was only the beginning of Sinister's obsession with the Summers bloodline.

He saw it as being the perfect bloodline, being the most "racially-supreme" as it has been bred naturally rather than forced (as Apocalypse would have it done).

Sinister once used the identity of Mike Milbury when living in Alaska where he was the neighbor to Phillip & Deborah Summers (the grandparents of the Summers brothers).

It was many years later that he came to realize that a child of Jean Grey and Scott Summer's genes would be a mutant with unimaginable power, capable of destroying Apocalypse, so that Sinister could finally be free.

He even became an important figure at the orphanage where Scott Summers was raised, giving them a history. But it was the base of his experiments as beneath the orphanage was his laboratory.

Powers

Recovery from Optic Blast

Cerebro

Sinister was genetically changed by Apocalypse. This mutation has granted him an extended lifespan, which is why currently he is nearing two hundred years of age. Complimentary with Apocalypse's genetic engineering he gained superhuman strength and a resistance to injury. Through his own experiments, Sinister has spliced the DNA of others to gain their abilities such as telekinesis, telepathy, shape-shifting abilities, and the power to shoot energy blasts from his hands. He is also able to reform himself, allowing him to completely heal from Cyclops' optic blast.

Of all those Exodus knows, Sinister is one of the six most powerful telepaths, meaning he is very powerful. He is also arguably the greatest geneticist in the Marvel Universe, though it can be debated. He is capable of doing a vast amount of things including augmenting his own power, cloning his deceased servants and many other abilities.

Sinister also has a vast array of technology, which has helped him both gain new powers and do other astounding feats through genetics. He also has his own Cerebro that enables him to locate any mutant, anywhere.

Many writers of Mr. Sinister have described his powers as "inconsistent" since he seems to gain powers when they are needed, and sometimes they will never be seen again. This may be signs of an adaptive ability.

Alternate Realities

Earth-295

Earth-295 Sinister

In the Age of Apocalypse, Sinister is once again a servant of Apocalypse but this time it was because of the fact that he was one of Apocalypse's Horsemen.

As he was one of Apocalypse's mightiest Horsemen he was given a portion of North America to rule over and was left in charge of the Breeding Pens where he was supposed to make a race of better more powerful mutants. This was how he followed his master's mantra, "survival of the fittest", by creating the fittest.

Sinister then created his own police force, the Elite Mutant Force, who were powerful mutants meant to keep his Breeding Pens under control. The head of the Elite Mutant Force was Sinister's apprentice, Dark Beast. And the teams included members: Cyclops and Havok (who in this reality were raised by Sinister), Aurora and Northstar, Amazon and Cannonball, and formerly Emplate and the M Twins. Ironically if you refused to join the Elite Mutant Force you would become an inhabitant of the Breeding Pens, the mutants that the EMF guarded.

And because of all those at his disposable he used his genetics and their DNA to create the Madri, the Infinites, Apocalypse's army and the Brain Trust. He also created Nate Grey (with the genetic material of Cyclops and Jean Grey) whom he intended to have kill Apocalypse.

Nate Grey

Sinister betrayed Apocalypse in this reality as well, believing that Apocalypse would eventually wipe out all life on Earth if his plans went unchallenged.

So it was that he gave some classified information to the Human High Council with the help of Jean Grey and Weapon X. He covered up all of this by destroying his personal lab (which was inside of the Statue of Apocalypse) and seemingly faded from existence.

Under the guise of "Essex" Sinister then came across the runaway Nate Grey, killed some of his companions and then informed him of the reason he was created, only to be attacked by his creation.

Sinister then understood that Grey was too powerful, and began to fear that he himself would die after the attacks he suffered through.

Yet he eventually recovered and learned that Jean Grey's DNA is special in that it might allow her to tap into the power of Mutant Alpha, the "first mutant". So to get her body he blackmailed Magneto and then used her to create his team, the Sinister Six.

Earth-1610

Earth-1610 Sinister

This Sinister has a very different appearance from any other version in the fact that his skin is normally pigmented and heavily-tattooed. He is also seen as being well-muscled and more of a fighter than a thinker. He often acts psychotic and delusional, and frequently speaks with a heavy stutter.

Mr. Sinister of the Ultimate universe had worked for Green Goblin and Oscorp developing experimental drugs. After taking the drugs himself he was granted powers including the ability to hypnotize and control others, as well as render himself invisible to artificial scanners and cameras. One of the most memorable moments being Sinister's infamous "Choke Yourself" command where he caused someone to do just that.

A side effect of the drugs is that Sinister went insane, hallucinating that Ultimate Apocalypse ("Lord Apocalypse" as referred to by Sinister) wanted him to do his bidding. This would include Sinister killing ten mutants in order to bring about the arrival of Apocalypse.

Sinister went to Xavier Institute for Higher Learning's Mansion, intending to kill Professor X as well as nine other mutants. Sinister's hypnosis was powerful enough that Xavier was unable to stop him and was thrown down a flight of stairs.

After going on a rampage killing mutants Sinister was subdued by Rogueand imprisoned in the Triskelion by the Ultimates. In prison Sinister was shown seeing another vision of "Lord Apocalypse" who was displeased with Sinister's incompetence.

In an ironic punishment Lord Apocalypse told sinister "Choke Yourself." Sinister was put on suicide watch for weeks, and anything that could be used as a weapon was kept away from him. Despite efforts on the part of S.H.I.E.L.D., Sinister was discovered dead in his cell from suffocation with his shirt stuffed down his throat. Later it would turn out that Sinister had actually faked his own death (by what means is unknown), and escaped the S.H.I.E.L.D. morgue.

Earth-1610 Apocalypse

Now on the loose again, Sinister donned a belt and clothing resembling what he saw Apocalypse wearing. Hearing tales of the mutant Morlocks hiding out in the sewers of New York, Sinister made his way through the sewers until stumbling upon a small, green mutant (presumably Leech).

He told Leech to lead him to the others, but Leech didn't trust him. Sinister hypnotized Leech to take him with him. Meanwhile, back at the Xavier Mansion, Jean Grey had used Cerebro to discover that Sinister was still alive, and to locate him. She and Cyclops contacted Bishop's X-Men to apprehend him before he could kill again.

When Sinister arrived at the Morlock's home he was greeted by Nightcrawler, who quickly recognized Sinister from the X-Men's first encounter with him. He teleported Leech to safety. Sinister made his way through, beginning to kill the remaining mutants. As he did he was greeted by Sunder who he hypnotized into bringing him easy targets to kill.

At this point the X-Men teleported in and tried to stop Sinister. He continued to kill until he was only one away from his quota. He was about to kill Dazzler when Angel swooped in and grabbed him to save his girlfriend.

Sinister told Angel that he would make a fine number ten and before the X-Men were able to stop him he shot Angel, killing him. Sinister's body fell to the ground, and then began to glow and rise up. He flew through the roof of the Morlock tunnels, and onto the streets above, changing as he went. By the time he stood up again he was no longer Sinister, but now stood tall as Apocalypse.

As Apocalypse he telepathically put The X-men, SHIELD, the Fantastic four and Spider-man against eachother. This was stopped when Xavier returned from the future and fought Apocalypse, though Apocalypse eventually won. Jean gave in to the Phoenix force and telekinetically tore at Apocalypse until he was Sinister once more.

POWERS

While Sinister's drug induced enhancements include several powers, most of them are not offensive in nature. He can control the actions of others, and cannot be detected by any form of cameras, sensors, or anything but the naked eye. Sinister's preferred weapons are a set of pistols. Also unlike his 616 counterpart, Sinister's usual attire is street clothing including a white tank top and a knit cap. He also has tattoos (mostly tribal designs) on his left arm and the word "Sinister" tattooed on his right forearm. Sinister has a red gem in the middle of his forehead which glows when he activates his powers.

Earth-58163

Earth-58163 Sinister

The Sinister of this reality, though established minimally was still quite significant in the House of M storyline. In that reality he is also a geneticist whose physiology has been altered but he differs in the fact that he is a gentle, friendly person.

This kind personality was shown when he gave Wade Wilson, Samuel Guthrie and Theresa Cassidy a -drugged- barbecue dinner when they arrived at his secluded farm in Nebraska.

Before this visit he had been rejected by society for his experimentation on mutants, something that had become illegal when Magneto came to power.

Yet in this reality it was still Sinister who was responsible for the birth of Cable. In this reality however he was the infant Cable's caretaker as he believed that Cable would be the savior of his world.

Earth-1298

In the Mutant X universe Sinister used Gambit, something he is remembered for doing in the Earth-616 universe.

He had Gambit steal two children from a facility, a boy and a girl. The boy was made to become X-Man and Sinister planned to kil