Mister Sinister

Born in Milbury House in Victorian London, Nathaniel Essex is the son of Admiral Erasmus Essex and Mary Essex. Earning a full scholarship to the University of Oxford, Essex becomes a biologist in 1859 and marries his wife Rebecca. A contemporary of Charles Darwin, Essex becomes highly interested in research regarding evolution and "survival of the fittest." He concludes humanity is undergoing increasing mutation due to what he calls "Essex Factors" in the human genome. After the loss of his four-year-old son Adam due to birth defects, Essex becomes more obsessed with his research in perfecting and improving the human race. Arguing that science is beyond morality, his questionable research methods and ideas lead to suspicion, mockery, and finally ousting from the Royal Society and the scientific community. Angry and bitter, Essex accepts that being a "monster" in the eyes of others may be necessary to achieve his goals.^[9]

Essex hires the criminal gang known as the Marauders to kidnap homeless people as test subjects for his experiments, including a man named Daniel Summers (an ancestor of Scott Summers). Essex learns that some humans are born with mutant genetics that make them superhuman and discovers that one called En Sabah Nur (Apocalypse)) is in hibernation. The Marauders awaken En Sabah Nur who then offers Essex an alliance, believing they have similar goals in perfecting the world and humanity.

Nur then intends to conquer 19th-century England but is confronted by Cyclops and Phoenix, heroes from the future who arrive via time travel.^[9] Nur defeats the two heroes, leaving them for Essex to experiment on. Phoenix tells Essex that continuing his work with Nur will lead to worldwide destruction, causing Essex to release the heroes and instead focus on his family, as Rebecca is pregnant again. However, Rebecca discovers Nathaniel's lab and subjects, including the remains of their son. Rebecca goes into premature labor after freeing the subjects, and her second child dies in stillbirth. Nathaniel finds Rebecca dying from blood loss and asks for forgiveness. She refuses, saying with her dying breath "To me, you are... utterly... and contemptibly... sinister!"

Following Rebecca's death, Essex continues his alliance with En Sabah Nur, becoming the villain's first "prelate." Apocalypse reveals he has alien technology belonging to the Celestials (god-like beings who manipulated humanity in the past, resulting in the creation of the Eternals and the Deviants, as well as humanity's genetic potential for superhumans). Apocalypse transforms Essex with a painful genetic transformation, turning him into an ageless being with chalk-white skin and a form of telekinesis. En Sabah Nur tells the transformed scientist to shed his past identity and choose another, and Essex renames himself "Sinister."^[9] Although he claims his humanity is gone, Essex continues to carry Rebecca's photo until 1882.^[9]

Sinister refuses to create a plague to wipe out most of humanity, so Apocalypse returns to his hibernation state, promising that when he returns he and Sinister will reshape the world.^[9] Following the death of Charles Darwin, Sinister travels to America and assumes the identity of obstetrician "Nathan Milbury" (taking the name of his ancestral home), head of the Essex Clinic in New York in the 1890s. He continues his experiments. coming to understand more humans are being born with an "X-gene", causing powers, traits, and abilities that often manifest during puberty or trauma. To study the inheritance of the X-gene, Sinister arranges for long-lived mutant Amanda Mueller to marry his former test subject Daniel Summers. On several occasions when Amanda is pregnant, Sinister pays her to feign miscarriage and then secretly bring him the child for study. Seeing great potential in the Summers genetic line, Sinister decides to monitor the family.

Around this same time, Sinister encounters two other mutants traveling from the future: Gambit and Courier. After experimenting with a cell sample from the latter man, Sinister gains complete control over his physical form, allowing him regenerative abilities and shape-shifting, while leaving Courier trapped in the form of a woman. Before the two time travelers leave, Sinister sees evidence of his own surgical techniques on Gambit.^[20]

In 1899, Apocalypse emerges from hibernation again and is pleased with Sinister's work, including the development of a deadly techno-organic virus. Sinister then injects the virus into Apocalypse, but it only weakens the villain. As Apocalypse returns to hibernation to heal, he promises to kill Sinister when next they meet. Sinister decides to engineer a mutant who can kill Apocalypse.^[21]

In 1907, Sinister works at the Ravencroft Institute and employs the mutant killer and mercenary Sabretooth as an agent. Sabretooth brings him the mutant called Logan for experimentation, but the man is then freed by coworker Dr. Claudia Russell (ancestor of the werewolf Jack Russell). Sinister leaves Ravencroft afterward.^[22] In 1912, Sinister encounters Grigori Rasputin and encourages him to father many children, promising they will have superhuman potential. Rasputin's descendants later include siblings Colossus, Magik, and Mikhail Rasputin.^[23] A few years after meeting Rasputin, Sinister grants shape-shifting abilities to Jacob Shaw (father of the X-Men villain Sebastian Shaw).^[24] It is possible that during the 1920s, Sinister also gave Herbert Wyndham information regarding how to map and break the human genetic code. Wyndam, a student of the Inhuman scientist Phaeder, later becomes the master geneticist called the High Evolutionary.^[25]

During World War II, Sinister works with the Nazi Josef Mengele, experimenting on children. He also encounters a young Max Eisenhardt (Magneto).^[26] Sinister leaves the Nazis, concluding they will lose the war. Sinister's research during World War II is later recovered and used by the Weapon X project.^[27]

Following World War II, Sinister adopts the name "Dr. Nathan Milbury" again and works on Project: Black Womb with Dr. Kurt Marko (the father of Juggernaut), Dr. Alexander Ryking, and the precognitive mutant Irene Adler. They conduct research on many mutant children and take note of several families that may produce mutant children later, allowing Sinister to monitor these bloodlines for decades.^[28] Concerned his own physical death may be inevitable, Sinister uses the Cronus Device to implant his own hidden cells of his genetic information into the DNA strands of the Marko, Ryking, Shaw, and Xavier family lines. In time, their descendants can act as hosts for Sinister's consciousness.^[29]

During the Vietnam War, Sinister sets up a lab in Saigon and has his agent Scalphunter bring him soldiers and civilians for experimentation. In 1968, Sabretooth investigates Sinister's operation but is then bribed and blackmailed to not interfere.^[30] Some years later, as "Dr. Milbury", Sinister becomes a professor at the University of Oxford. His students include Moira MacTaggert and the mutant telepath Charles Xavier, who realizes he cannot sense Milbury's thoughts.^[31][a]

Years after Sinister's time at Oxford, Dark Beast, a corrupt version of future X-Men member Hank McCoy from an alternate timeline known as the "Age of Apocalypse", enters the mainstream Marvel reality. This version of McCoy is a former student of his reality's Sinister. Dark Beast makes his way to New York City and experiments on many mutants, using techniques his Sinister taught him. Several of his surviving test subjects become deformed or disabled by their own abilities as a result, choosing to hide underground and join a sewer-dwelling mutant community known as the Morlocks. Dark Beast's experiments indirectly lead to Sinister ordering the Mutant Massacre.

Returning to America, Sinister creates an orphanage to monitor some of the children of families he first observed during Project: Black Womb. The State Home for Foundlings in Omaha, Nebraska hides a high-tech, underground laboratory. Later, young Jean Grey's mutant telepathy prematurely activates when she witnesses the death of her best friend. Becoming aware of Jean's power, Sinister plans to kill her parents and bring her to the orphanage, only to learn the Greys have already contacted the now adult Charles Xavier for help, due to his background as a leading geneticist and psychological expert in trauma cases. Not wishing to be detected by Xavier, who at this point has already fought terrorists and superhuman menaces, Sinister decides to keep his distance after acquiring a DNA sample from Jean.^[14]

Soon afterward, Sinister discovers a recently orphaned mutant boy named Scott Summers (descendant of Daniel Summers) released the same type of optic blasts displayed by the time-traveling hero Cyclops. Sinister tracks down Scott and his younger brother Alex, both of whom survived an airplane explosion that seemingly killed their parents. Scott awakens in the hospital and accidentally releases another optic blast, unable to shut off his power (perhaps due to brain-damage suffered during the fall). To experiment on the boy in a controlled environment, Sinister causes Scott to slip into a coma then arranges for him and his brother to be entrusted to the State Home for Foundlings. Sinister allows Alex to be adopted by people he can easily monitor, then spends the next year conducting experiments on the comatose Scott. Concluding the boy will never be able to fully control his power, Sinister learns the kinetic force blasts can be blocked by ruby quartz lenses. After placing temporary mental blocks in Scott, Sinister allows the boy to awaken. Scott experiences migraines until he is given ruby quartz glasses.^[15]

Scott spends a few years in the care of the State Home for Foundlings. Hoping to make Cyclops an isolated warrior who can be easily manipulated, Sinister takes on the guise of Nate, another orphan who acts as Scott's overly territorial friend while sometimes bullying him.^[32] As part of his long-term plan, Sinister allows Scott Summers to be adopted by a criminal named Jack Winters, who abuses the boy and forces him to help with crimes. Rather than bend to his abusive guardian, Scott resists and is discovered by Professor Charles Xavier and his ally FBI agent Fred Duncan. With Duncan's help, Scott becomes Xavier's ward and the first official recruit of the original X-Men, a team of mutant heroes trained to stop mutant terrorists. Jean Grey joins this same team weeks later.^[33] Sinister continues to monitor Scott somewhat but keeps his distance so the telepathic Xavier and the other X-Men do not become aware of and interfere with his plans. Not long afterward, Sinister hires the villains Blob and Kraven the Hunter to fight and wound each of the X-Men. This results in a battle that draws the attention of the teenage hero Spider-Man. Kraven then brings the blood samples of the X-Men and Spider-Man back to Sinister for study, even providing a sample of his own DNA.^[34]

Sinister concludes that offspring of Jean Grey and Scott Summers could represent the ultimate stage of mutant potential, possibly a mutant capable of destroying Apocalypse. Using Jean Grey's cell sample, Sinister creates a clone who is rapidly aged. When the clone shows no sign of the X-gene, Sinister leaves her in a hibernation chamber. Years later, Jean Grey suffers catastrophic radiation poisoning but is saved by the cosmic Phoenix Force, who desires her to be a host. With her increased power, Jean creates a new body for her consciousness and the cosmic Phoenix Force to occupy, while creating a healing cocoon to repair the damage done to her original body. As "Phoenix", Jean becomes a more powerful hero. She is later temporarily corrupted, causing the Phoenix Force itself to become a corrupt and deadly entity. The new "Dark Phoenix" asserts control, burying Jean's personality. Jean's personality later resumes control and she eventually kills herself rather than allow Dark Phoenix to rise again and destroy more lives. Without a host, the Phoenix Force reverts to its original nature and feels remorse for its role in Jean's death. To make amends, it restores Jean's consciousness to her original body, now fully healed. Simultaneously, the Phoenix Force causes a spark of life in the Jean Grey clone Sinister created.^[14]

Deciding his clone may be useful after all, Sinister names her Madelyne Pryor (a joke on the fact that she was birthed from a "prior existence", a cell sample taken from a previously existing person). Sinister gives "Maddie" false memories and documentation of a life where she is a pilot who survived a plane crash that occurred at the same time Jean Grey killed herself. After influencing her personality to be one that will appeal to Scott Summers and will also fall in love with him, Sinister arranges for Maddie to have a job working alongside Scott's grandfather in Alaska.^[14] Unaware of her own true nature, Maddie meets Scott at a Summers family reunion. Seeing Maddie's resemblance to Jean and hearing about the timing of her experience in a plane crash, Scott wonders if Pryor is somehow his first love reborn. Maddie admits to having feelings for Cyclops but insists she is her own person and must be seen as such rather than as a copy of Jean Grey. Scott concedes and over time the two fall in love, deciding to marry soon afterward. They have a son, Nathan Summers. While Christopher was Scott's father's name and Charles was Professor Xavier's first name, it is later said that Sinister influenced Scott and Maddie to name their son Nathan Summers after him as well. Scott decides to leave behind the dangerous world of the X-Men so he can raise his family in peace in Anchorage, Alaska, nearby his own grandparents.^[15]

Studying the sewer-dwelling community known as the Morlocks, Sinister decides these mutants should not be allowed the chance to mix with the gene pool of other mutants and humans. His studies also reveal that several Morlocks bear signs of genetic manipulation based on his own research (due to Dark Beast's experiments). Enraged that someone has used his "signature" without his permission, Sinister decides to wipe out the mutant Morlocks living beneath Manhattan. He hires the mutant thief Gambit (who has not yet time traveled and so considers this to be his first meeting with Sinister) to recruit a new team of Marauders who will work with Sabretooth and Scalphunter. In exchange, Sinister performs surgery on Gambit to correct a defect that would have ensured the mutant thief would one day lose control of his powers.^[35]

Before sending his Marauders against the Morlocks, Sinister learns the Avengers have discovered Jean Grey is alive and well in her cocoon. Sinister decides to seize the opportunity and at last kidnap Nathan Summers for experimentation. When Scott Summers learns of Jean's reappearance, Sinister mentally influences him to immediately leave Alaska to see for himself that it's actually her, leaving his family behind and without protection. Sinister then continues his mental influence, causing Scott to abandon his family and remain in New York City with Jean and the other original X-Men recruits.^[15] The group of old friends decide to create a new team together called X-Factor.^[36] With Cyclops gone and occupied, Sinister sends his newly formed Marauders to attack the now vulnerable Summers house in Alaska. The Marauders attack Maddie and leave her for dead, then take Nathan Summers to the State Home for Foundlings. Meanwhile, Sinister erases all records of Maddie and arranges for the furniture from the house in Anchorage to be removed. Unbeknownst to Sinister, Maddie is taken to a hospital and survives, though she slips into a coma.^[37]

Returning to New York, the Marauders are finally sent after the Morlocks. Using his stealth and tracking skills, Gambit leads the group to the Morlock community but abandons the group when he learns they intend murder. The Marauders dismiss Gambit and begin their slaughter, causing the "Mutant Massacre" event, a series of battles that include the X-Men, the new X-Factor team, and other heroes such as Thor. Some of the Marauders are killed in action. Scanning the mind of Sabretooth, the X-Man called Psylocke learns the massacre was ordered by someone called "Sinister", alerting the X-Men to his presence for the first time.^[38]

Soon afterward, Cyclops returns to Alaska to make amends with Maddie and be a father. Discovering the house is completely empty, he concludes Maddie left with Nathan, deliberately leaving no trace of where she might be. He is then confronted by Master Mold, the robot whose primary task is to create mutant-hunting Sentinels. During the battle, Master Mold refers to Cyclops as one of "the Twelve" who must be destroyed.^[39] Later on, Master Mold explains the Twelve are "The dozen mutant humans who will one day rise up and lead all of mutantkind in war against Homo sapiens in the twilight of Earth."^[40]

Months after Nathan's kidnapping, Maddie awakes from her coma, amnesiac.^[41] After regaining her memory, she contacts and reunites with the X-Men. Now bitter and increasingly desperate regarding her missing child, Maddie believes Scott completely abandoned them and never cared enough to contact her or look for her.^[42] She later joins forces with the demons S'ym and N'astirh who take advantage of her state of mind and corrupt her, turning her into the Goblyn Queen and leading into the "Inferno" storyline. During this storyline, the mutant precog Irene Adler (now calling herself Destiny) sends the X-Factor team to Sinister's lab where they discover and rescue Nathan along with other children. The Goblyn Queen then arrives and retrieves Nathan and several other babies to use as sacrifices for a demonic ritual.

Sinister reforms his Marauders, even resurrecting the fallen ones through his now perfected cloning technology. He then confronts Madelyne and reveals her true origins. At the end of Inferno, Maddie dies and her life-force and memories merge with Jean Grey's. As the X-Factor and X-Men teams fight Sinister, the villain reveals his many manipulations of Scott Summers over the years, how he mentally influenced Scott to abandon his family, and his quest to create offspring from his and Jean's DNA.^[15] After realizing the villainous scientist may be vulnerable to his power, Cyclops releases a high-intensity blast that seems to atomize Sinister, leaving only charred bones. The battle over, Scott and Jean decide to raise the baby Nathan together.^[15] In truth, Sinister is alive, having decided to fake his death so he can retreat rather than continue to battle both X-Factor and the X-Men single-handedly.^[43]

Later on, Nathan is fatally infected by a techno-organic virus. Rather than watch his son die, Cyclops sends him into the future where treatment exists. Soon afterward, Gambit joins the X-Men team after having befriended the X-Man called Storm. His connection to Sinister and the Mutant Massacre is not revealed for some time. Many months after Nathan Summers is sent into the future, the X-Men learn he grew up to become Cable, a powerful mutant time traveler and one of Apocalypse's most persistent enemies. This also makes the mutant terrorist Stryfe a son of Cyclops in his own way, as he is a clone of Cable.

Sinister recruits a new team of agents called the Nasty Boys^[44] and allies with Stryfe, now leader of the terrorist Mutant Liberation Front.^[45] During this time, he establishes a new cover identity of "Mike Milbury", a neighbor to Scott Summers' grandparents. During the storyline "X-Cutioner's Song", Stryfe gives Sinister a canister he claims contains a sample of his own genetic material, in exchange for a service.^[46] When Sinister opens the container, he is angered to find it seemingly empty. He later realizes that he unknowingly unleashed the Legacy Virus, a pathogen engineered by Stryfe that targets mutants.^[47] Not long afterward, Scott Summers meets Mike Milbury, who then reveals himself to be Sinister, still alive. Sinister warns of the Legacy Virus and also hints that there is a third Summers brother unknown to either Scott or Alex. When the villainous Dark Riders arrive to attack Cyclops, Sinister declares the mutant hero under his own protection.^[43] Not long afterward, Scott and Jean Grey marry while Sinister monitors from afar, interested in the possible offspring that may result. Some time later, he recruits a new agent named Threnody, a mutant who can sense the dying and draw energy from them.

Not long after Scott and Jean's wedding, the X-Men learn that due to an alteration to history, their reality is about to be replaced by another. Believing they are about to die, the X-Man Rogue kisses her teammate Gambit, something she had not done before due to the risk that her energy absorbing abilities could harm him. During the kiss, she sees his memories and learns of his past relationship with Sinister.^[48] The alteration to the timeline is due to Xavier's powerful mutant son Legion traveling back in time to kill Magneto before the X-Men have even formed, but accidentally killing Charles Xavier instead. This creates a new "Age of Apocalypse" reality where Apocalypse conquers much of the Western hemisphere and Magneto forms his own team of X-Men rebels, naming them in honor of his fallen friend Charles. In this reality, Sinister helps Apocalypse rule, adopts both Alex and Scott Summers as his personal soldiers, and recruits Henry McCoy (Dark Beast) as his lab assistant. Believing Apocalypse will ultimately destroy the Earth in his quest to eliminate the weak, Sinister still works to create a living weapon against him using DNA from Scott Summers and Jean Grey. The result is a powerful teenage mutant named Nate Grey.

Later on, the timeline is restored. Rogue is disturbed by Gambit's connection to Sinister, which is later revealed to the rest of the X-Men. This drives a wedge between them and Gambit for some time.^[35]

The Age of Apocalypse reality is seemingly erased but some of its inhabitants are transported to the original timeline. Dark Beast is transported to the past and experiments on several Morlocks. Nate Grey winds up in the modern day Marvel Universe, appearing on Earth only days after the X-Men thought their world would wink out of existence. Learning of Nate and his similarity to Cable, Sinister assigns Threnody to earn the young man's trust. When Threnody develops genuine friendship with Nate and decides to leave Sinister's employ, the Marauders are sent after her. Nate intervenes, killing the entire team except for Prism (though Sinister later clones the fallen again).^[49]

Apocalypse gathers the Twelve, now revealed to be twelve powerful mutants he can use to ascend to a god-like state of power, with Nate Grey acting as a new host. After this plan fails, Sinister takes on the appearance of an elderly man, "Dr. Essex", and visits the High Evolutionary. He influences the powerful geneticist to use his advanced space station to remove the powers of all mutants on Earth, causing widespread injury and several deaths, including most of the community of evolved mutants known as the Neo.^[50] Sinister then reveals his true nature and takes over the High Evolutionary's satellite, intending to use it to alter the genetics of people at his discretion, making Earth a giant lab where he could create the ultimate race of superhumans. Sinister's plan is then stopped by the X-Men, who restore mutant powers to all of those with the X-gene.^[51] The surviving Neo then hunt Sinister to avenge their fallen members, killing 17 clone doppelgangers.^[52] Sinister later resurfaces as Dr. Robert Windsor, experimenting on mutants again, with Scalphunter acting as his bodyguard.^[53] Later on, an encounter with Colossus and the hero's brother Mikhail Rasputin reveals that Sinister's powers are weakening and he is becoming desperate to find a way to restore them.^[23]

Due to the event known as M-Day, most mutants lose their powers overnight and it seems there are no new mutant births occurring on Earth. Later on, a mutant named Joe Buggs is murdered by a mysterious mutant hunter. His friend Ed seeks the X-Men for help, claiming the killer is Kraven the Hunter (believed dead at the time). The X-Men consult with Spider-Man, Kraven's greatest enemy, and the heroes discover the true killer is Sinister's later creation, Xraven, a telepathic hunter. Realizing Xraven believes he is Sinister's "favorite son," Cyclops invites the hunter to read his own mind. Seeing Cyclops' memories of Sinister's obsession with him and learning the scientists treats all of his soldiers and creations like pawns, Xraven flees but takes DNA samples of the X-Men Shadowcat, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine. Later, Mister Sinister tells Xraven he plans to create a new generation of mutants through cloning. Realizing Sinister will enslave these mutants, Xraven destroys the samples and causes the destruction of Sinister's lab and hideout. Sinister survives, but Xraven's fate is unknown.^[54] During the storyline Blinded by the Light, Sinister sends the Marauders and Acolytes to murder all those who have knowledge of the future.^[55]

Some time later, the first new mutant since M-Day is born. Sinister sends agents to kidnap the child in the storyline "X-Men: Messiah Complex." Later, Sinister (whose powers are still weakened) is confronted by Mystique, who presses the villain's face against an unconscious Rogue. Rogue's energy absorption abilities are amplified at the time, causing her skin-to-skin contact with Sinister to kill the villain almost instantaneously.^[56]

Mister Sinister is eventually able to fully possess the fifth clone of Alice, returning in The Uncanny X-Men #544. Now dressed in Victorian-era garb and using knowledge gained from Apocalypse, he merges with the alien giant known as the Dreaming Celestial, gaining great power. Sinister turns San Francisco's residents into doppelgangers of himself and attempts to create a society resembling 19th century England, which he claims to now see as a perfect culture. His true plan is to gain the attention of the alien Celestials so they might deem humanity too chaotic and then eradicate the species, leaving him to rebuild the planet with a better version of humanity. The X-Men restore San Francisco and defeat Sinister, who loses his enhanced power.^[57]

Foreseeing the Phoenix Force will one day return to Earth, Sinister tells the young mutant Hope Summers about its existence, knowing she will be its choice for a new host. In truth, he intends to steal the Phoenix energy by using a group of Madelyne Pryor clones.^[58] When the Phoenix Force arrives on Earth during the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, its power is divided between five people, including Cyclops. The Phoenix Five track down Mister Sinister, learning he has built his own city (based on Victorian-era London) within Subterranea that is inhabited by clones of himself, several of his agents, and some acquaintances. Sinister orders his clones to war against the Phoenix Five.^[59] After help arrives, the Phoenix Five kill each and every clone of Sinister present.^[60]

In the aftermath of "Avengers vs. X-Men," Sinister visits Cyclops and explains that some time ago he killed the X-Men public relations manager Katie Kildare, placing his own personality in the woman's mind while a secondary Sinister clone was left in charge of the city. While his clones and resources are gone, he still lives and will strike again.^[61] Sinister, now again in a cloned body of his old form, then infiltrates the X-Men's original mansion home, recently renamed the Jean Grey School, through its student Ernst. Ernst provides Sinister access to DNA samples from the mutants within the school in exchange for providing her friend Martha Johansson with a new body. His efforts are ultimately foiled by the students and Spider-Man, who was asked by Wolverine to help locate the school's mole. Sinister escapes but his new DNA samples are destroyed.^[62]

When the Inhuman city of Attilan is under attack, its leader Black Bolt releases Terrigen Mist across Earth, the same mutagenic agent derived from Terrigen crystals that unlock an Inhuman's superhuman potential. This causes many humans with latent Inhuman genes (due to an ancestor) to discover new powers. It also proves deadly to mutants after sustained exposure.^[63] Mister Sinister experiments on unwilling subjects obtained by his Marauders to see if Inhuman and mutant DNA together can create a genetically superior species. His tests prove such a species would be unstable. After witnessing the explosive death of a test subject that is an Inhuman clone of Cyclops, Sinister is defeated by the X-Men. He and his Marauders were mentioned to have been arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D.^[64]

「ウルヴァリンを追え」のストーリーライン中、ミスター・シニスターのローガンの細胞サンプルが泥棒に盗まれ、泥棒はそれをオークションにかけようとする。シニスターは泥棒を攻撃するが、その後X-23と戦い、撤退を余儀なくされる。^{[ 65 ]}オークションの参加者は韓国国家情報院のヘリキャリアに避難し、アイアンマン、ジェシカ・ジョーンズ、ルーク・ケイジ、スパイダーマン、X-23は売り手のデクラン・フェイを尋問する。彼は彼らをケルゲレン諸島に案内し、そこでミスター・シニスターは地球上のすべての人間の遺伝子構成を収集している。^{[ 66 ]}シニスターは最近、暗殺チームが彼の研究成果を盗んだことを明かす。その後、ヒーローたちは彼のデータベースを破壊してから去る。^{[ 67 ]}

その後すぐに、シニスターはアイスマンの増大した力と支配力に強い関心を抱くようになる。^{[ 68 ]}

2019年のPowers of Xシリーズでは、過去のある時点でシニスターが南太平洋の島に最初のクローンコミュニティを作り、それをバー・シニスターと名付けたことが明らかになる。そこで彼は、DNAサンプルのコレクションに関してプロフェッサーXとマグニートーから接触を受ける。Xavierはシニスターに、安全で確実かつ冗長性のある包括的なデータベースを作成するために、ミュータントのDNAのカタログ化を優先するよう依頼する。その見返りとして、シニスターが自力では入手困難なサンプルを提供すると申し出る。リーダーのミスター・シニスター・クローンはこの取引に興味を示さないが、機能的なX遺伝子を持つ別のシニスター・クローンによって突然殺され、彼もミュータントとなる。このシニスター・クローンはコミュニティのリーダーとなり、Xavierとマグニートーが思い出すように言う日まで、この取引と遭遇の記憶をテレパシーで抑圧することに同意する。^{[ 69 ]}

It is apparently this version of Sinister, or another X-gene clone with his memories, who survived the slaughter of the Phoenix Five. This meeting between the mutant Sinister clone, Magneto, and Xavier may have taken place soon before the first X-Men team was formed (in which case, the mutant Sinister has been the primary version the X-Men have fought over the years), or during the early 1980s era of X-Men stories (during which time Magneto and Xavier sometimes acted as allies again and before Xavier regained the ability to walk from 1983 to 1991), or during the early or late 1990s era of stories (indicated by Xavier using a Shi'ar hover chair he started using in 1991, Moira MacTaggert's journal claiming the meeting happened before her apparent death in 2001, and Magneto operating openly as he did from 1990 to 1991 and from 1997 to 2001, whereas he was believed dead from 1992 to 1993, was catatonic from 1993 to 1995, and was operating in secret as Erik the Red from 1995 to 1997).^[70] The existence of this mutant version of Sinister helps explain why the villain is classified as an "Alpha-level mutant" in X-Men (vol. 2) #94 (1999) despite previous stories establishing Nathaniel Essex was born a human without an X-gene and was granted powers by Apocalypse using alien technology.^[9]

Sometime later, along with other mutants, the X-gene Sinister is welcomed to the new mutant community existing on the island Krakoa. At the invitation of Xavier, Magneto and Apocalypse, he joins the Quiet Council of Krakoa, agreeing to not continue his schemes to harvest the DNA of mutants.^[70] In Marvel's 2019 relaunch of its X-Men franchise, Dawn of X, Sinister finds himself already bored with his new status on Krakoa, and decides to resume his schemes by utilizing a loophole in the Quiet Council's rules. To begin, he starts a file concerning Franklin Richards, the mutant son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman.^[71]

Immortal X-Men #8 (January 2023), which opens in 1895 London, revealed that the powers that Apocalypse gave Essex were slowly deteriorating and killing him, and to survive he needed to feast upon the flesh of innocent people who he killed, prompting two long-lived mutants, Mystique (Sherlock Holmes/Raven Darkhölme) and Destiny (Irene Adler) to confront and imprison him. Essex told the two women that Apocalypse did grant him the power to see the future, including major developments in the 20th and 21st centuries such as the escalation of the scale of war and the rise of the machines as the dominant beings on the planet. After Mystique secretly kills Essex in his cell, covering up her crime in her Holmes form, Destiny finds in a basement level, four human-sized tanks, each one marked with one of the four suits found on playing cards, smashed open and empty. One of them was the Mister Sinister that the X-Men know and continued the original's deep interests in mutants.^[18]

During the "A.X.E.: Judgment Day" storyline, Emma Frost learns of Mister Sinister's clone Doctor Stasis and informs the Quiet Council of Krakoa.^[72]Ajak and Makkari are shown to have Sinister as their prisoner.^[73] Sinister later informs Destiny about the Progenitor's judgment and that it has an "off switch".^[74] After the final judgment from the Progenitor, Sinister suggests making clones of Magneto to deal with the Progenitor.^[75] Sinister is with Ajak, Makkari, Sersi, and Wolverine when Jean Grey informs them what is happening outside of the Progenitor. Sinister and Wolverine briefly end up in Grey's mind before being thrown out by the Progenitor.^[76]

Emma Frost would later inform Mister Sinister that Moira MacTaggert is still alive and had been a mutant with timeline resetting abilities.^[77] Mister Sinister began using the Moira Engine by inserting his DNA codes into every mutant. This flaw was undone by Hope Summers.^[78]

During the "Sins of Sinister" storyline, Mister Sinister went through several Moira Engine resets with the latest one having his dreams realized where the corrupted Quiet Council of Krakoa conquered Earth and turned everyone into Mister Sinister-like beings. He tried to ascend only to learn that one his clones had done the job. The latest Moira was able to warn Mother Righteous. A clone of Rasputin IV from another timeline would later help to apprehend Mister Sinister, who was remanded to the Pit of Exile.^[79]

While Sinister was trapped within the Pit of Exile, the genetic code he had implanted into the assassinated council members was nullified by Forge, with one key exception; Professor X, whom Sinister had experimented on as a child. As Krakoa was destroyed by Orchis, with mutantkind scattered, the part of Sinister within Xavier began looking for ways to overcome its host, and began piloting his body while he slept, simultaneously working on a way to fight the Sinister Dominion. After Xavier discovered the truth, Sinister revealed himself to him. He opened his mind to Xavier and managed to convince him not to kill himself and to work together with Sinister to stop the Dominion.^[80]

Xavier and Sinister eventually discover the truth behind the four Nathaniel Essex Sinister clones; they were all created to absorb data, leading to the birth of a fifth "child" of Nathaniel Essex: an "apex AI" called Enigma, the same force revealed that stands above all creation, and is coming to end Eternity, the personification of the multiverse.^[81]

In truth, years ago, Essex decided the only way to defeat the coming machine supremacy was to join them, creating his own all-powerful artificial intelligence, which is where Enigma comes in. Enigma - using a Crown symbol similar to a card deck's King - is the 5th "child" of Essex, an AI that was able to reach Dominion outside time and space after all four clones attempted to reach said status, got incredibly close, and then failed to ascend.^[19]

Mister Sinister hides his identity from the others by implanting his memories into a modified clone of Cypher. He wants Professor X to kill Moira MacTaggert so that the Enigma will not rise to power.^[82] Professor X allows Rasputin IV to kill Mister Sinister.^[83] After Krakoa relocates to the White Hot Room, Mister Sinister is revived by the Five and uses Krakoa's Atlantic and Pacific branches to return the X-Men to Earth.^[84]

At a S.H.I.E.L.D. Black Site in Green Point, Florida, the X-Force fight Mister Sinister and his Nasty Boys, who he has revived. After the Nasty Boys disintegrate, Sinister takes control of Archangel, dubbing him Blood Angel while planning a campaign against Apocalypse. Boom Boom makes Sinister swallow her explosive sphere, but he regenerates his head and throws her against a computer containing the National Security Record of the mutants that lived on Krakoa. When Sinister tries to get Blood Angel to take his right hand, which would place a DNA component in him, Hellverine slices off his right hand. Blood Angel reverts to his original form and he uses the Death Seed to destroy Sinister's body.^[85]

Doctor Stasis is a clone of Mister Sinister with a suit of clubs on his forehead who dedicated his life to unlocking the full potential of humans rather than mutants. Flashbacks reveal that he was involved in experiments leading to the origins of Captain America, Hulk and Spider-Man, among others. Like Sinister, Stasis heavily employs clones, using animal chimeras as servants and having dinners with disposable clones of his late wife and sons.^[90]

In the present day, he became the director of the Orchis Petal of Human Resources. As a precaution to protect himself from psychic attacks, Stasis wears a full mask over his head.^[91]

Orbis Stellaris is a clone of Mister Sinister with a suit of spades on his forehead who became an intergalactic arms dealer and used alien technology to prolong his life. He took over the World Farm and later clashed with S.W.O.R.D.^[92]

Unlike the previously mentioned entities, Mother Righteous is not a clone of Essex himself, but of his deceased wife Rebecca.^[93] She is a supremely skilled magic-user and collector of magical artefacts,^[94][95] and a vicious dealer for sorcerous favors with persons like Margali Szardos^[96] and Selene.^[97]

First mentioned as a force that stands above all creation and a serious threat to the Marvel Universe which forced the Beyonders to orchestrate the destruction of the Seventh Cosmos through the Molecule Man and the Incursions. A glimpse of the Enigma was first seen by Loki after he survived the destruction of the Seventh Cosmos, and before he landed in Taaia's Sixth Cosmos.^[98] The God of Stories describes it as the Crown Above All Things, a menace from beyond the threshold of time, beyond the multiverse itself. Enigma is actually Nathanial Essex's 5th "child", an "apex AI" which used the other four Nathaniel Essex clones to achieve Dominion.^[19]

An alternate universe version of Nathaniel Essex appears in "Age of Apocalypse". This version, also simply known as Sinister, is a member of the Horsemen of Apocalypse, making him one of the ruling council that oversees Apocalypse's dominion. Sinister adopts Alex and Scott Summers directly after they are orphaned, becoming their foster father. Scott becomes Sinister's obvious favorite son, creating great resentment and animosity in Alex. Later on, Sinister recruits the amoral scientist Hank McCoy, also known as Dark Beast, as his lab assistant.^[102]

Sinister becomes disillusioned with Apocalypse's empire, convinced that his actions will eventually destroy Earth. Wishing a living weapon he can use against Apocalypse, Sinister clones a powerful mutant from the combined genetic codes of Scott Summers and Jean Grey. Sinister names the genetically engineered boy "Nate Grey", deciding that while Jean Grey was the boy's mother, he himself was the father. Sinister accelerates Nate's aging and the boy quickly becomes a teenager, his mutant X-gene granting him immense psychic powers.^[103] One night, not knowing the boy's intended purpose or their connection to each other, Cyclops finds and frees Nate from Sinister's secret lab in the Blightlands.^[104] After learning of his purpose, Nate rejects Sinister, refusing to be used as a weapon.^[105]

In the Age of Apocalypse 10th anniversary limited series, Sinister collected the seemingly dead Jean Grey after discovering that her connection to the Phoenix Force saved the world from annihilation. When Magneto was credited with saving the planet, Sinister confronted him and revealed the truth. With Magneto now the head of the Department of Mutant Affairs, Sinister blackmailed him to keep his X-Men away even though Sinister was wanted for war crimes.^[106] Jean breaks free from Sinister's control and bombards him with the Phoenix energy, heavily charring his body. Sinister is impaled by both Weapon X and Kirika, killing him.^[107]

An alternate universe version of Mister Sinister appears in Mutant X. This version is responsible for Christopher Summers and his wife Katherine Anne Summers meeting, ensuring that Cyclops and Havok would be born. Sinister joins forces with a villainous Xavier and clashes with this reality's version of Apocalypse, who becomes allies with Jean Grey and Magneto. Sinister and Xavier create the clone Madelyne Pryor, guiding her to meet and fall in love with Havok, leading to a son named Scotty. Sinister also creates another Summers clone called X-Man (a version of Nate Grey). He and Xavier hope to control the evolution of humanity, but Xavier distances himself from Sinister and eventually kills him.^[108]

An alternate universe version of Mister Sinister appears in X-Men: The End. This version is the genetic donor of Gambit, who he created as a "son" using his own DNA and that of Cyclops. Apocalypse arranged for Gambit to be kidnapped and then sent to be raised by the Thieves Guild in New Orleans.

Gambit develops a variation of Cyclops' powers, giving him red eyes and the ability to charge things with explosive force instead of releasing kinetic force from his body.^[109] Taking on Gambit's appearance, Sinister kills Rogue when she arrives to rescue the children. In the end, Rogue's adopted mother Mystique murders Sinister in vengeance.^[110]

In Paradise X, an alternate universe first introduced in the 1999 miniseries Earth X, an older Colossus reveals that he was Mister Sinister all along. After years with the X-Men, he fell in love with Jean Grey and then traveled back in time to learn how to preserve her as a clone, leading to his transformation into the psychopathic geneticist Sinister who then fought the X-Men, including his younger self.^[111]

An alternate universe version of Nathaniel Essex appears in the Ultimate Marvel imprint. This version is a tattooed street thug and former OsCorp scientist who experimented on himself after failing to perfect his formula on stealth and mind-altering drugs to create a super-soldier who could evade any form of detection and hypnotically persuade others. He seemingly experiences hallucinations of a being called "Lord Apocalypse" who orders him to kill a number of mutants to complete his transformation.^[112] After committing suicide in the Triskelion,^[113] Sinister returns to life and transforms into a form resembling Apocalypse.^[114]

An alternate universe version of Mister Sinister appears in X-Men Forever. This version is a mutant who is over a century old but stuck in the body of a ten-year-old child. Reasoning that no one would be intimidated by his true appearance, Sinister utilizes an android avatar to command the Marauders.

In the Marvel 1602 reality, Lord Nathaniel Essex is a former advisor to King James II, revealed to be a witchbreed murderer of women. He was caught by witch hunters Angela and Lady Serah.^[115]

• Nathaniel Essex / Mister Sinister appears in X-Men: The Animated Series, voiced by Christopher Britton.^[116] This version mutated himself amidst his research to save his ailing wife, culminating in his obsession with Cyclops and Jean Grey.
  • Mister Sinister appears in the first season of X-Men '97, voiced again by Christopher Britton.^[117][118]
• Mister Sinister appears in Wolverine and the X-Men, voiced by Clancy Brown.^[116] This version was born a mutant, is obsessed with creating and weaponizing the "ultimate mutant", and leads the Marauders in collecting mutant DNA.
• Mister Sinister appears in the M.O.D.O.K. episode "If Saturday Be... For the Boys!", voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.^[119][120]

• Mister Sinister appears in X2: Wolverine's Revenge, voiced by Christopher Corey Smith.^[116]
• Mister Sinister appears as a boss in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, voiced by Daniel Riordan.^[116] This version experiments on Genoshan prisoners on Apocalypse's behalf.
• Mister Sinister appears as a boss in Marvel Heroes, voiced by Steve Blum.^[116]
• Mister Sinister appears as the final boss of Deadpool,^[121] voiced by Keith Ferguson.^[116] Throughout the game Deadpool has to kill clones of Sinister, which aggravates both of them. Sinister plans to use an army of clones to take over the world, which Cable says will lead to its destruction.
• Mister Sinister appears as a boss in Marvel Avengers Alliance.
• Mister Sinister appears as a playable character in Marvel Contest of Champions.
• Mister Sinister appears as a playable character in Marvel: Future Fight.
• Mister Sinister appears as a playable character in Marvel Puzzle Quest.^[122]
• Mister Sinister appears as a playable character in Marvel Strike Force.^[123] This version is a member of the Marauders.