"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight" - no evil, except for Sinestro, that is. Originally a Green Lantern himself, Sinestro is now one of the Emerald Knights’ most formidable adversaries. So what turned him from a hero into a villain?
The Origin of Sinestro, The Greatest Green Lantern
Thaal Sinestro was created by John Broome and Gil Kane and made his debut in Green Lantern #7 back in 1961. However, it was 1999’s Secret Origins of Super-Villains #1 by Ron Marz that provided a deeper insight into Sinestro’s past. Born on the planet Korugar, Sinestro was originally an anthropologist who studied ancient ruins, but that all changed when a Green Lantern called Prohl Gosgotha crashed at one of his sites. The gravely injured Lantern loaned his ring to Sinestro in time for him to fend off his pursuers, giving him a taste of the ring's power. Afterward, rather than use the ring to help save Gosgotha’s life, Sinestro chose to let him die so he could keep it for himself, unbeknownst to the Guardians of Oa. So really, Sinestro’s career as a heroic Green Lantern was rooted in villainy from the very beginning.
Despite the underhanded methods Sinestro used to become a Green Lantern, he proved to be a valuable asset to the corps. In his prime, Sinestro's fearless nature, strong will, and determination made him one of the greatest Green Lanterns of all time, and the lack of crime and disorder in his sector served as proof. Sinestro was also very close to Abin Sur, the predecessor to Hal Jordan, and was shown to have married Abin’s sister, Arin, in Green Lantern #45. After Abin died and passed his ring to Hal, Sinestro served as his mentor. The two became good friends, but as we all know, their friendship wouldn't last.
Hal and Sinestro worked together to bring Abin Sur’s killer to justice, but Sinestro became increasingly unhinged after hearing about a prophecy regarding a rebellion on his homeworld of Korugar. He began to employ more drastic, oppressive policing methods to quell the chaos before it began, not realizing that it was his use of such methods that would bring the prophecy to fruition. Eventually, Arin sent their daughter away out of fear of Sinestro, and Arin herself later died under mysterious circumstances. All this further contributed to Sinestro’s undoing, which culminated when Hal Jordan arrived on Korugar and discovered Sinestro had essentially made himself into the planet’s dictator. As punishment for his use of fear and unjust ruling of Korugar, the Guardians banished Sinestro to the anti-matter universe - a decision that wound up seriously backfiring.
How Did Sinestro Become a Yellow Lantern?
The anti-matter universe is home to Qward, a planet that is essentially the exact opposite of Oa. The Weaponers of Qward have a longstanding rivalry with the Guardians, so when Sinestro was banished there, they quickly became allies based on their mutual hatred of the Green Lanterns. With the Weaponers’ help, Sinestro forged a new kind of ring - one powered by inspiring fear instead of willpower. This new ring created yellow energy constructs, making it the perfect counter to the Green Lanterns, whose weakness was literally the color yellow.
The Weaponers were able to send Sinestro back to the positive matter universe, but he was eventually defeated by Hal Jordan and imprisoned in Oa’s central power battery following Crisis on Infinite Earths. From there, Sinestro was able to awaken the entity known as Parallax, the literal embodiment of fear, which proceeded to corrupt Hal Jordan. The now-evil Hal laid waste to the Green Lantern Corps. In a last-ditch effort, the Guardians released Sinestro to try and stop him, but Hal seemingly snapped Sinestro’s neck, leaving his rival dead and the corps in ruins. However, it was later revealed that Hal actually battled a construct of Sinestro. The real Sinestro managed to escape and reignite his career as a villain without Hal Jordan to oppose him.
Eventually, Hal returned and the Green Lantern Corps was reformed, but Sinestro would soon have a corps of his own. After the events of Infinite Crisis resurrected the Anti-Monitor, Sinestro enlisted his help in creating the Sinestro Corps, also known as the Yellow Lantern Corps. Based on Qward, the Sinestro Corps would operate similarly to the Green Lantern Corps, but with the goal of spreading fear. After amassing enough troops, Sinestro launched an attack on Oa, sparking an event that would become known as the Sinestro Corps War. Sinestro was eventually captured, but some other Yellow Lanterns remained at large. Following the disappearance of the Green Lanterns in 2015’s Sinestro #14, Sinestro tries to assert his corps as their replacement, leading to another battle between the two corps when the Green Lanterns return.
Sinestro Creating A Yellow Lantern Corps Was Just The Beginning
Sinestro has become much more than just Hal Jordan’s rival - in fact, he’s been a key player in some major DC storylines. As a member of Lex Luthor’s Secret Society of Super-Villains, Sinestro participated in the Battle of Metropolis in Infinite Crisis. But Sinestro has also fought alongside the heroes. In the Blackest Night saga, Sinestro merged with Entity, the embodiment of life, to become the first White Lantern, and used his newfound power to turn the tide in the fight against the Black Lanterns. Sinestro also helped the Green Lanterns defeat Krona in the War of the Green Lanterns, after which he was even offered a new ring and position in the corps.
Sinestro is one of those characters that know how to toe the line between hero and villain. While he’s done some unquestionably terrible things, he almost always acts with the intention of upholding or restoring order. It’s the violence of his methods and power-hungry nature that ultimately skews him towards being a bad guy, but he’ll fight alongside the good guys when it's necessary. At the end of the day, that moral ambiguity is what makes Sinestro so interesting.