Thaal Sinestro stands among DC’s most formidable villains, a relentless nemesis for virtually anyone who has worn a Green Lantern ring. But is Sinestro truly as powerful as his reputation suggests, or has circumstance occasionally worked in his favor? Looper’s video above offers a deeper look at Sinestro’s abilities. Here are the essential reasons every Green Lantern has good cause to fear him.
Sinestro began his story as a Green Lantern himself. After Prohl Gosgotha crash-landed on Sinestro’s homeworld of Korugar, Sinestro took Prohl’s power ring and left him to die, earning a place in the Green Lantern Corps. For a time, he operated as a hero and even mentored Hal Jordan, Earth’s first member of the Green Lantern Corps. Yet his treatment of Prohl revealed a darker side from the start. Sinestro eventually seized control of Korugar as a tyrant. When the Guardians of the Universe — the leaders of the Green Lanterns — discovered his actions, they removed his ring and banished him to the Antimatter Universe.
Naturally, Sinestro found a way back. He went on to kidnap an entire town on Earth, only to be defeated by Hal Jordan. At that point, Sinestro wielded a yellow ring, a weapon that should have given him a major advantage over a Green Lantern because yellow is one of the Corps’ central weaknesses. Hal’s extraordinary willpower, however, proved too much. Early defeats may make Sinestro seem less threatening on a universe-wide scale, but his strength and influence have grown considerably as the Green Lantern comics became increasingly complex. Over time, he amassed far more startling accomplishments.
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Sinestro leads the Yellow Lanterns and controls Parallax
DC Comics/Doug Mahnke
Green Lanterns draw their power from willpower, while Yellow Lanterns thrive on fear — specifically, their ability to inspire it in others. That power is tied to Parallax, a cosmic parasite. In the “Emerald Twilight” arc, Hal Jordan becomes infected by Parallax and turns into a villain. Sinestro is responsible for unleashing the entity that corrupts Hal in the first place, although the move eventually backfires when Hal, under Parallax’ influence, kills Sinestro.
After his revival, Sinestro returned to the same dangerous strategy while creating the Sinestro Corps, essentially a new name for the Yellow Lantern Corps. This time, he recruited major forces including the Anti-Monitor and Superboy-Prime. Sinestro once again released Parallax, which infected Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. His fondness for unleashing the entity is understandable: Parallax completely overwhelms both Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner, driving them to commit horrific acts. Later, in “Green Lantern” #20 by Geoff Johns, during “The Wrath of the First Green Lantern” arc, Sinestro becomes Parallax’ host himself. Unlike the Green Lanterns the parasite consumed, Sinestro retains control of his mind and body.
As a power ring wielder, Sinestro is unquestionably one of the strongest figures in DC Comics. Still, he has suffered plenty of losses over the years. His greatest weapon may be neither his yellow ring nor Parallax, but his calculating mind. Sinestro is a shrewd opponent who excels at identifying and exploiting an enemy’s deepest vulnerability. He may not belong at the very top of any ranking of the most powerful DC villains, but no Green Lantern can afford to dismiss him. For more on Sinestro’s powers and his most dangerous feats, watch Looper’s video above.