Mr. Sinister is one of the most powerful X-Men villains of all time, and is one of the most wicked characters in the Marvel universe. While he has been known to help out in situations when the world (and more importantly, his research) is threatened, it doesn’t change the fact that he is the Marvel equivalent to Dr. Mengele. Mr. Sinister might be the foremost expert on genetics in the Marvel universe and he has used this knowledge to turn himself into the ultimate supervillain. After the post-credits scene in X-Men: Apocalypse, the fans are still eagerly awaiting his inevitable appearance in the movies.
We are here today to reveal the numerous powers possessed by one the X-Men’s greatest foes. This stretches across all of his various incarnations, from the comic books to the animated TV shows. We’re looking at everything from his unmatched regeneration to his ability to steal the powers of others.
Here are 15 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Mr. Sinister Had!
15. Perfect Regeneration
Contrary to popular belief, Mr. Sinister is not actually a mutant. He started out as a regular human, named Nathaniel Essex, who originally lived in Victorian era London. Essex was transformed into a mutate (a human that was genetically altered to have superpowers), by Apocalypse, who was interested in Essex’s work in the field of genetics. Using his stolen Celestial technology, Apocalypse transformed Essex into the being we now know of as Mr. Sinister. He would later betray Apocalypse and hatch his own schemes, which involve creating the ultimate mutant.
One of Mr. Sinister’s most useful abilities is his unparalleled regenerative capability. Mr. Sinister can regrow his entire body from a single cell. This means that if you want to kill him, you need to annihilate every single part of his body. The regeneration process also happens very quickly, so it is difficult to incapacitate him in combat, as he can heal his wounds almost instantly.
14. Invulnerability (Except To Cyclops’ Optic Blasts… Sometimes)
When Mr. Sinister was given his new body by Apocalypse, he immediately began to improve it. Mr. Sinister’s plans involve lifetimes worth of research, so it was important he has a body that can survive in that time frame. Along with his regenerative abilities, Mr. Sinister is almost totally indestructible. His body is resilient enough to survive most forms of damage and only a being of immense power could seriously harm him. body also appears to be mostly made of solid matter, which means that he lacks a lot of regular internal organs that humans possess. Mr. Sinister can survive having holes blown through his body and cannot die from blood loss.
Mr. Sinister’s body appears to be mostly made of solid matter, which means that he lacks a lot of the regular internal organs that humans possess. Mr. Sinister can survive having holes blown through his body and cannot die from blood loss.
In the ’90s X-Men animated series, Mr. Sinister battled the X-Men on numerous occasions. According to the show, Sinister was weak to Cyclops’ optic blasts. Being struck by an optic blast did a huge amount of damage to Sinister, which he could not regenerate from quickly. This was often the only trump card that the X-Men had against him. This weakness occasionally appeared in the comics, though it has not been consistent. Whether Mr. Sinister is weak to optic blasts or not is generally up to whoever is writing the comic at the time.
13. Telepathy
Mr. Sinister has been known to manipulate certain events from behind the scenes. This means that he is often in contact with shady individuals. It is very fortunate that Mr. Sinister possesses powerful telepathic abilities, which allow him to read thoughts, defend himself from mental attacks, and control the minds of others. He can also use these powers to mask his presence from other psychics, in order to prevent them from tracking him and discovering his location.
The exact extent of Mr. Sinister’s psionic abilities has never been established. He likely isn’t as powerful as Charles Xavier or Legion, but he is stronger than many other telepaths. Mr. Sinister once defeated Nate Grey in a psychic battle. Nate Grey is a genetically engineered clone of Cyclops and Jean Grey from the Age of Apocalypse universe, who was created specifically as a secret weapon to destroy Apocalypse. Nate is an incredibly powerful telepath and Sinister managed to overwhelm him through psionic ability alone.
12. Telekinesis
Telekinesis is one of the most useful superpowers around, especially if it can be used on your own body. A reasonably powerful form of telekinesis is basically the same as having the Force from Star Wars. It can be used to manipulate anything in the world around you, from lifting heavy boxes to grabbing the TV remote that is selfishly hanging around on the other side of the room.
Mr. Sinister is a powerful user of telekinesis. Not only can he manipulate objects in the real world, but he can use it emulate other superpowers, in various inventive ways. Sinister can use his telekinesis to make his body levitate, which grants him the power of flight. He can lift several tons of weight (and possibly more) with the strength of his mind alone. Sinister can also augment his strength and physical resistance with telekinesis, as well as use it to deflect the effects of energy based attacks.
11. Immortality
Mr. Sinister is obsessed with genetics and the questions behind the growth of all living things. In the Marvel universe, some people are born with the ability to destroy cities and some aren’t. Why is this? Where do mutants come from? What is it in their DNA that makes them develop superpowers? Mr. Sinister is determined to discover the meaning behind the madness of genetics, and use it to his advantage.
In order to do this, the first thing Mr. Sinister needed was immortality. This was a gift granted to him by Apocalypse, who originally supported Sinister’s work. Mr. Sinister has remained alive since the 1800’s and will likely never die of natural causes. This is necessary for his work, as Mr. Sinister needs to see how life develops from the moment of birth, in order to gauge the effects that the outside world has on the creation of Homo superiors. He can’t do that if he only has one lifespan.
10. Body Theft
Killing Mr. Sinister is hard work. He cannot die from old age or natural diseases, and he is practically indestructible. If you somehow manage to harm him, then it won’t take long for his wounds to heal. Mr. Sinister is smart enough to realize that there are lots of other super powered beings out there and one of them might have what it takes to annihilate him one stroke. As such, he prepared a method that would allow him to cheat death.
Mr. Sinister created a virus that was distributed into several unknowing hosts. It contained a complete copy of his DNA, that would override the body of its host upon death. This would allow Sinister’s mind (through his telepathy) to find the host and take it over. Through this method, Mr. Sinister could survive a final death.
When Mr. Sinister was accidentally killed by Rogue during the Messiah Complex event, the virus became activated. The host was a woman named Claudine Renko, who would go on to become Miss Sinister. As the new host of Mr. Sinister’s powers, Miss Sinister could take on her old form if she wished. Instead, she chose to keep her base form of a beautfiul woman and mainly wore dominatrix style clothes, because comic books.
9. Shape Shifting
Mr. Sinister spent many years working in the shadows. He did not make his presence known to the X-Men until after the Morlock Massacre. Despite this, he was seemingly involved with the development of Scott Summers for years before he joined the team. Sinister was also involved with Gambit, whom he used to hire for unsavory missions. It was revealed that Gambit’s big secret was that he was involved with the planning of the Morlock Massacre, whilst working for Sinister.
As a character who mainly manipulates people, rather than engaging in combat, Mr. Sinister needs abilities that can help him influence the minds of others. One of the main properties of his mastery over his cellular structure is the ability to change his appearance. Mr. Sinister is a master shapeshifter, who can transform his body into any substance, as well as make weapons and armor from his own flesh. Sinister’s shifting ability is not limited to size, like Mystique, who cannot transform into anything that is either a lot bigger or smaller than her base form. This means that Mr. Sinister can transform into animals and use their unique natural talents, such as flight or enhanced senses.
8. Mass Clone Creation
Mr. Sinister is known for breeding clones. He was the creator of Madelyne Pryor, as well as X-Man in the Age of Apocalypse universe. Making clones is not an easy task, however, and it is not something that can be done on a large scale.
When Mr. Sinister gained the power of the Dreaming Celestial (who was slumbering in San Francisco), he briefly acquired almost godlike abilities. Mr. Sinister used this power to create a copy of London, from the time when he first lived there. He filled it with clones of himself, with the intention of combining all of their abilities, in order to create the perfect army.
The city of Sinister London did not last long. When five members of the X-Men gained the powers of the Phoenix Force, they used it to annihilate the city and its inhabitants. The Dreaming Celestial’s power was restored and Mr. Sinister’s dream was left in ruins.
7. Concussive Blasts
After Mr. Sinister made himself known to the Marvel universe, he became able to involve himself directly in the politics of the mutant world. It was due to Mr. Sinister’s machinations that the Legacy Virus was unleashed upon the world, which took the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of mutants. To his credit, Mr. Sinister did his best to rectify this mistake, though even this act of altruism may have been nothing more than survival on his part.
When Mr. Sinister became directly involved with the X-Men, he was often forced into combat with other superpowered beings. One of Mr. Sinister’s most commonly used powers is the ability to fire bolts of sheer energy from his fingers. These can be used to quickly incapacitate his foes, without killing then outright. The non-lethal aspect of his concussive energy blasts is useful for when he needs to capture his enemies alive. While Sinister often fires these blasts from his hands, he can emit them from any point on his body.
6. Force Fields
Mr. Sinister is absurdly difficult to kill. While he can’t just be shot in the head, rolled up in a carpet, and thrown off a bridge, his plans can still be foiled. Unlike foes who seek mass destruction, like Apocalypse, Mr. Sinister has specific plans, that require the genetics of certain individuals. One way in which to defeat Mr. Sinister is to screw up these plans, by removing the people that are necessary for their completion.
One of Mr. Sinister’s abilities allows him to both protect and capture his targets. Mr. Sinister can create powerful force fields, which are strong enough to resist the effects of Cyclops’ optic blasts without breaking. These can be created on a personal level, to shield his body from harm. The force fields can also be used to protect others from attacks. He can create force fields of varying sizes and shapes, depending on the situation in which they are needed.
5. Power Disruption
Mr. Sinister is primarily an X-Men villain. This is due to his interest in the genetics of the Homo superior race. As such, he usually has little involvement with the likes of Spider-Man or the Avengers. Mr. Sinister is usually involved with mutants, which is a daunting prospect, as he is dealing with an entire group of beings that possess super powers. It is not out of the realm of possibility that there could be a mutant out there with the ability to destroy Mr. Sinister, as Rogue accidentally did in Messiah Complex.
When it comes to dealing with mutants, Mr. Sinister has the most useful ability of all. He can reach into the minds of mutants and create temporary mental blocks, which will prevent them from using their powers. There seems to be some strict limits to this power, as he could easily defeat the X-Men if he could use it on a group of mutants at once. As such, it is most effective against individual foes.
4. Teleportation
Mr. Sinister has exhibited the ability to teleport himself and others. There has been some dispute within the X-Men comics about whether this is an ability that Mr. Sinister actually possesses. Some members of the X-Men (such as Beast) have speculated that Mr. Sinister can only teleport with the aid of technology and that it has some severe limits because of this. It may be possible to block Mr. Sinister’s access to the devices that allows him to teleport, which would rob him of one of his most useful abilities. As it currently stands, the issue remains unresolved.
From what we have seen in the comics, Mr. Sinister can teleport over huge distances. This seems to be limited to within the Earth’s atmosphere, though this may also be due to Mr. Sinister’s lack of interest in cosmic events. It may be possible for Mr. Sinister to travel to other worlds, should he require the need to. As it stands, he can move both himself and a few other individuals in a single teleport, which can cross a distance of hundreds of miles.
3. Super Strength
Mr. Sinister has numerous ways in which he can incapacitate his foes. He can use his telepathy to paralyze them, he can hold their body in place with telekinesis, he can make a prison out of force fields, or he can blast them with energy. As he is a villain in a superhero comic, it is inevitable that Mr. Sinister will be forced into a melee with the X-Men. Sooner or later, he is going to have to take a punch from Colossus or Rogue.
In order to prepare for a situation in which he is forced to use his fists in combat, Mr. Sinister gave himself super strength. He can lift at least ten tons of weight, using the strength of his body alone. If he needs more power, then he can augment his strength further with telekinesis. While Mr. Sinister’s other powers often make his super strength redundant, it is still highly useful in the rare situations when he needs to lay the smackdown on some unruly mutants.
2. Super Speed/Reflexes
The ability to move fast is one of the most incredible super powers of all time. This can be seen in X-Men: Days of Future Past, when Quicksilver proved that he was one of the most powerful mutants on Earth. He was so powerful, in fact, that they had to contrive a reason not to bring him along, in order to give the villains a fair chance. It’s just a shame that his counterpart in the Marvel Cinematic Universe wasn’t quite as up to snuff, as he couldn’t even catch a few bullets.
While Mr. Sinister is not as fast as Quicksilver, he is still faster than most other superheroes. His superior body allows him to run at speeds that are far greater than what even the best athlete can accomplish. Mr. Sinister’s reflexes are also quicker than your average person, which makes him very difficult to surprise in combat.
1. Power Theft
When Mr. Sinister was first transformed by Apocalypse, he did not have all of the powers mentioned on this list. Mr. Sinister performed experiments on his own genetic structure, which allowed him to gain total mastery over his body. It is through this process that he was able to gain more super powers, as they are all an extension of his cellular control.
All of the powers on this list would be impressive enough for one character to have. The thing is, Mr. Sinister isn’t done yet.
Mr. Sinister gained the ability to control his body from a mutant known as the Courier, who was an old ally of Gambit. Sinister orchestrated a plan where he kidnapped the Courier, in order to copy his ability to control his cells. With enough time and energy, Mr. Sinister could feasibly grant himself the powers of any mutant that he could get his hands on. The X-Men are lucky that Mr. Sinister doesn’t seem to be interested in acquiring any of their mutant gifts. If that changed some day, then they may find themselves trapped in his laboratory.
