The X-men's Greatest Villain, part 1

[sigmund_droid]

Posting part 1 of my several part series outlining the evolution of this mystery character starting today with the first ever appearance.

Who do I consider the X's greatest villain?





That's right, our favorite mutant-hunting machine.

Here's what I plan to show with my multi-part showing of the Sentinel villain

1. First appearance.
2. Master Mold.
3. Nimrod.
4. Days of Future Past.
5. The Genosha genocide.
6. Battle at the remains of Genosha.
7. Bastian.

Please let me know if there is some large appearance by a Sentinel (in any form) that requires addition to this list. I'm sure I've missed something.

So why do I think they are the greatest villains? Most X-fans would at the very least argue with me and at the very most claw at me with their imitation Wolvie gloves. "Magneto!" they say "only a fool would choose anyone but the Master of Magnetism!" or "Dark Phoenix is, you clod!" Well I can't deny that those two are fantastic villains...but they just don't do it for me and number 1. Magneto is often extremely close to anti-hero status and can often be somewhat reasoned with. Dark Phoenix CANNOT be reasoned with but has ties to Jean and the Phoenix. I find Dark Phoenix to be more of a force of nature (that's not a bad thing).

There's no way you're reasoning with a Sentinel, if you're a mutant then it's hand-beam time.



The Sentinels are primarily a symbol of the prejudice and injustice the X-men must fight on a daily basis. The sentinels are uniform and many, constantly receiving upgrades that increase their lethality. Sentinels are a frightening, foreboding figure that has committing countless atrocities in the X-men universe.

Enjoy chit-chat, on to the scans.

Prof X attends a Television program head by one Bolivar Trask who had announced that it is time to deal with the mutant "menace" He unveils his creations...



Mark I Sentinels! What evil plan does Trask have?!



uhhh probably not "I will get blasted".

The X-men arrive at the studio (them being the original Marvel Girl, Iceman, Cyclops, Beast, and Angel) and fight a lone sentinel. Things look grim when suddenly..



hmmm Why did the Sentinel topple over? Is something else controlling them!?

Find out next installment!

Comments

[q99]

Yea, the Sentinels have always been not-all-that trustworthy for humans either :)

[sigmund_droid]

Hey now the Sentinels have always looked out for the betterment of Mankind.

Sure that involves alot of hand-beaming and enslavement but you gotta crack a few eggs y'know?

[autumn_lily]

That chibi X-Men picture at the top made me giggle with an almost child-like glee!

[btravage]

Sentinels always came off wrong to me, the the OP said, the X-Men are about prejudice, and every great X-villain leads back to that in some major way. The question this raises for me is, when were minorities ever chased by big scary robots?

[sigmund_droid]

As far as I know, they haven't been but "big scary robot" is primarily due to the extreme power that the minorities possess or are SEEN to possess. A modern, more realistic equivalent would be the usage of tanks or military aircraft.

Sentinels are in essence, overkill. They're massive and can level entire cities with their power.They were also built with little foresight so they come to represent much of the witch hunts that have plagued humanity.

[icon_uk]

I see them as more of a representative of the inhuman application of unfair laws, unfeeling, uncaring, applying the letter, not the spirit of the law.

[lucky_gamble]

Looking forward to the Genosha Genocide. That was before my time (comics wise) and def a point of tragedy in X-men's history.

[randyripoff]

Funny, I always though the greatest enemies of mutants were the bigoted citizenry of the Marvel 616 universe.

[sigmund_droid]

You see Sentinels as their "arm" ,

Basically their hatred personified into a form the X-men can fight. Until that hatred turns back on them (as cheesy as that sounds)

[silicondream]

Jeez, it took about three seconds to go from "Behold my awesome robot!" to "STAY BACK DAMN YOU I AM YOUR CREATOR AUGGGHHH" that time. This makes Brainiac 5's performance with C.O.M.P.U.T.O. look good.

[sigmund_droid]

Well you know until...

[crinos]

I think the only one that was worse was Hank Pym and Ultron.

[ebailey140]

Don't forget the Roy Thomas/Neal Adams issues that introduced the giant version of the Sentinels (X-Men 57-59) that's their most iconic look, as well as being one of the important stories that marked the beginning of the transisition from the Silver Age to the Bronze Age. Picture years of the Silver Age style, then suddenly what Buscema was doing on Avengers, Steranko on SHIELD and Captain America, and this...





Cyclops tricked them at the climax, but that ultimately just made the situation worse when they came back from where he sent them in Avengers 102-104.




X-Men 98-101 would have to be considered one of the most important X-Men stories, ever, just for it's ending.

[sigmund_droid]

Beautiful, I'll try to track these down.

You're definitly right, the introduction of the giant Sentinels is a key issue. I'll add that.

I'll re-read the other ones. Thanks Ebails!!

[auggie18]

For me, my favorite X-Villain is Madelyne Pryor. Not because she has a great story, but because her villainy is rooted in one small mistake. She loses her husband, her son, her home, but she stays strong. Keeps fighting the good the fight, despite her lack of super powers. Then she makes one mistake and everything falls apart. A wrong answer to a question asked in a dream and BAM! She's a villain! Ignoring that it was editorally mandated, there's something so powerful about someone's minor mistake during a weak moment changing the course of their whole life.

Not to mention how brutal she was during Inferno. Because that...that was scary.

[valismedsen]

+1!

[proteus_lives]

Aside from a few great Nimrod stories in the '80s, I've always considered the Sentinels to somewhat flat.

I'd have to go with Magneto, Shadow King or Proteus. The "Defend humanity from evil mutants." angle of things.

[sigmund_droid]

wow you like Proteus? I NEVER saw that coming! (XD)

Yeah most argue to me that the Sentinels are just cannon fodder, like the puddies from Power Rangers.

But I ask you this, were the puddies responsible for the complete destruction of the Power Ranger's timeline?

...

Actually maybe they were, I never watched Power Rangers much.

[cainofdreaming]

Hmm, I wonder. Was Unit Pi supposed to come out of its computing cycle in 2012? I might be misremembering the year, but hopefully we'll get a story if I'm not.

[arilou_skiff]

They're not exactly threatening-looking. They're purple and look kind of cuddly.

[sigmund_droid]

Really? they always freaked me out as a kid.

Not going to lie, probably would pee myself if I saw a giant purple man-robot stomping towards me.

[blackruzsa]

Since I was a kid, I always saw the Sentinels as the monsters in the X-men universe, even if they weren't the most evil. They were ruthless machines that were the constant threat. (except that one good one, but you know)

Definitely a good choice.

Adorable first picture.

[ebailey140]

When it comes to the primary core X-Men villains, the Sentinals rank just after Magneto, I'd say.

Never was fond of Bastion, partly because it was a transformation and watering down of a more complex character in Nimrod. Nimrod had such a nice character arc, back when Claremont had made the world of the X-Men such a layered one.

[tpsreports]

If memory serves me, after the sentinel falls over Professor X reads its mind. Telepathy doesn't work that way.

[khamelea]

It does, according to Scanners!

[recognitions]

They're goofy-looking motherfuckers, though. One of the Kirby designs that's aged particularly badly, I'd say.

[darrylayo]

Blasphemy!

[nickfury90]

In Secret Coming, the main sentinel is a combination of Master Mold and Bastion, yes? So that would make him...

...Master Bastion.

Thank you, good night!

Also, there's gonna be lots and lots of Sentinels in the upcoming Scism X-men event, Jason Aaron and the covers confirmed, so look forward to that!

[crinos]

My favorite Sentinel Scene comes from the 90's cartoon.

*After Master Mold reveals he plans on conquering humanity*

Trask: This is all wrong, I made you to protect humans from mutants.

Master Mold: That is illogical: Mutants ARE Humans.

Trask: What?

Master Mold: Therefore, Humanity must be protected from itself.

Which is why bulding fighting machines based on hatred and bigotry makes me a sad panda (for another example, see Davros and his Daleks. Of course, He's worse than Trask; Trask was just a misguided bigot, Davros was just a genocidal maniac.)

[tsunamiwombat]

I found that hilarious, that the machine could figure out what Trask couldn't- that mutants were humans.

Que pewpew lazer beams.

[crinos]

I also like the scene where Wolverine is talking to Luke Cage about having Sentinels guarding the school, and Wolverine explains that the Sentinels are to them what Burning crosses would be to him.

[tsunamiwombat]

Burning Crosses that crush your home and shoot lazer beams at you.

I recall back when the Superhero Registration Act thing was still new, someone commented on Ironman meeting the illuminati about it, "Xaviers response should just be a terse "Sentinals, Bitch.""