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[Jabroniville]

THE SENTRY (Robert Reynolds, aka The Void)
Created By: Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee & Rick Veitch
First Appearance: The Sentry #1 (Sept. 2000)
Role: The Wesley (writers love him, fans hate him), Supermanalogue, Flying Brick, Top-Tier Guy
Group Affiliations: The Avengers, The Triune Understanding, The Skrull Kill Krew, The Agents of Atlas
Avengers Grade: B-Level (powerful, but crazy)
PL 15 (275)
STRENGTH 19 STAMINA 18 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS -2 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Intimidation 16 (+14)
Perception 6 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Radiation) 4 (+10)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Crushing Pin, Improved Grab, Interpose, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Takedown

Powers:
`The Power of a Million Exploding Suns
Power Lifting 5 (800,000 tons) [5]

Impervious Toughness 21 [21]
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]
Super-Senses 8 (Extended Hearing 5, Microvision, Analytical Vision 2) [8]
Regeneration 10 [10]

"Power of a Million Exploding Suns"
"Radiation Control" Blast 19 (Feats: Split, Improved Critical 2, Penetrating 7) (48) -- [58]

• AE: Damage 15 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Penetrating) (45)
• AE: Environment 5 (Light) (10)
• AE: Dazzle Visuals 13 (Extras: Area-Burst) (Flaws: Touch Range) (26)
• AE: Healing 10 (Extras: Resurrection) (30)
  "Super-Strength Feats"
• AE: "Thunderclap" Dazzle Hearing 12 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Touch Range, Distracting) (24)
• AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 15 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Burst +3) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Ground) Linked to Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (25)
• AE: "Groundstrike Line" Affliction 15 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Line +3) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Ground) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (25)
• AE: "Shockwave" Damage 15 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Both Grounded) (30)
• AE: "Super-Breath" Move Object 14 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2) (Flaws: Limited to One Direction) (28)
• AE: Penetrating Strength Damage 15 (15)

Flight 14 (32,000 mph) (Feats: Dynamic) (29) -- [33]
Dynamic AE: "Super-Speed" Speed 8 & Quickness 8 (17)
Dynamic AE: Deflect (Ranged Projectiles) 12 (13)
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+19 Damage, DC 34)
Radiation Control +10 (+19 Ranged Damage, DC 34)
Radiation +15 Area (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Super-Strength Feats +15 (+15 Affliction, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +18 (+11 Impervious), Fortitude +18, Will +5

Complications:
Normal Identity (Robert Reynolds)- Robert occasionally loses the Sentry's power.
Enemy (The Void)- Who is actually Robert.
Relationship (Wife)
Involuntary Transformation (The Void)
Vulnerable (Mental Attacks & Control)

Total: Abilities: 90 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 146 / Defenses: 12 (275)

The Sentry- Patron Saint of Shitty Stories:
-There are many terrible characters throughout the history of comic books, but only a few can boast the fact that their sheer shittiness can destroy EVERY story in which they find themselves. Among them is Robert Reynolds, The Sentry.

-The Sentry's most interesting point is the "hoax" that was core to his creation- he was billed in Wizard Magazine and other sources as the supposed "Lost" Marvel hero of the early '60s- created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, but mothballed and forgotten about. Stan was interviewed saying he just felt "too powerful". So we saw random sketches, supposed covers, etc., for this yellow-clad Supermanalogue kind of Flying Brick hero, which Marvel now planned to put to creative use in a Limited Series called The Sentry, written by Paul Jenkins. HOWEVER, this was just a clever ploy- Marvel & Wizard hyping the crap out of his Limited Series run, and it seemed to work for the most part, even once the reveal came out. Now, plenty of comics fans know who Sentry is. Trouble is, very few like him. If it was JUST the limited series or two, it'd have been fine, but now Marvel basically suddenly had a GIANT Superman rip-off appearing in books on a regular basis, overpowering every team, and generally just being a lame character whose main job is to throw tantrums and whine about how much his life sucks, while showing off how powerful he is- the worst aspects of "Power Geeking", which consist of him easily hammering on people. Unfortunately, the writers are absolutely entranced with having a full-time Supermanalogue. "Writing my own version of Superman", without the "shackles" of continuity or editors (translation: "I can make him an asshole!"), is so fascinating to them- so even while Sentry's books tend not to sell that great, he inundates all the other books. I hate The Sentry.

The Sentry's History:
-The Sentry's some dude who was the "Greatest Hero Ever" in the old days, living this ideailstic "Mary Sue" life- he was great pals with Reed Richards & the Hulk, helped out Spider-Man, and slept with Rogue (whom he could touch). However, it slowly came to light that his arch-nemesis, the Void (who could permanently wreck people by creating fear and hopelessness within them) was actually split off from his own mind and body by his powers. The Void would doom the entire human race, so the hard decision was made to wipe the minds of everyone on Earth (including his own), leaving him forgotten. That was kind of it- this big tragedy, if a bit Retcon-y. I mean, I strongly dislike "Everything you know is WRONG!" stories, but at least this one doesn't really F up the status quo.

-Unfortunately, Brian Michael Bendis decided to make him a central character in his Avengers update- it was a true Superteam, sure (adding Spidey & Wolverine to the Cap & Iron Man backbone of the team, then sticking in a high-profile minority and female character with links to his fave books from the '70s), but adding the most powerful hero in the Marvel Universe was fraught with peril. Bendis was allowed to indulge some of his worst habits- showing people being giant screw-ups (Robert Reynolds had become a depressed failure of a writer with a bad relationship with his wife, and was riddled with mental illness), and showing people winning fights in rapid fashion, without any thought to tactics or methods- just people reacting to stuff.

-The Sentry overwhelmed many stories, got a new mini-series by Jenkins (where he grows "lackadaisical" about taking his medication), and it's revealed that the Void was created due to the machinations of Mastermind (in a big rip-off of The Dark Phoenix Saga). Finally he fights the Void and throws it into the sun, despite knowing he'll never entirely be rid of it. He grows increasingly hostile and full of rage on Norman Osborn's "Dark Avengers", immediately ripping off Morgan Le Fay's head when the team confronts her. However, she regenerates and kills him- then he's revealed to be pretty well immortal by just popping up at home-base, then does the same thing when the Molecule Man disperses him. He and the Void are separated, and then Bendis finally re-writes Robert's origin story: He was just some junkie in need of a fix, and drank an attempt at recreating the Super-Soldier Serum (but 100,000 times more powerful)- thus turning him into a royal f*ck-up from the very beginning. Finally, he murders Ares, then is casually killed off during Siege by a returning Thor, after the Void is fully-released.

-And then... the character just disappears? Why'd he never regenerate from THAT? I dunno, but Thor wraps his remains in a cape and throws them into the sun. He's later used as a mind-controlled goon in an Uncanny Avengers story-arc that also used Banshee and a couple others like that, so it's clear people didn't think much of him once Bendis was through.

The Sentry's Suckiness:
-So why was this character SO BAD? Well, he comes off as a combination of Excessively Complex and Utterly Boring- he got a ton of Origin Stories, acted like a loon, yet has no compelling internal characterization- he's just a collection of mental illnesses rather than a complete CHARACTER, especially as all the retcons set in and he was now just some druggie. His very presence would overwhelm stories because he was more powerful than everyone else on his team by far, and then they started pulling "Oh, he can't die" stuff- it was like he was created just to win fights on BattleBoards. That Bendis seemed absolutely besotted with the character while everyone else didn't really care made it all the worse- I remember people raging against the Sentry's use constantly back in the day, but NOPE- Bendis loved him so much he'd show up on even the evil Avengers roster.

-But yeah- people like The Sentry just... DOMINATE their stories. You can't simply ignore or avoid someone who's that insanely powerful AND crazy- he either starts ranting openly, or he just pulls a "Goku" and wipes out the enemy because he's the best. It's irritating- at least with MOST awful characters you can simply ignore them or get issues where they're not so omnipresent, but not so with The Sentry. Add in the fact that it seems like Marvel Writers are just jealous of DC for having Superman and wanting to do "Superman Stuff" with him, and you've got something worse- I consider it a great advantage that Marvel never really had a "Superman"- that One True Powerhouse above all others, to whom everyone looked at as some kind of paragon. Marvel was grittier and things were more of a broad level, rather than so focused on one guy. The Sentry ruined all that.

The Sentry's Might:
-What's scariest about this build is that it's modern-day, emo & whiny, low-Will Save Retard Sentry, and not the 'elite' Silver Age version. Yeah, his CRAPPY version takes up 287 points. He's got pretty much all sorts of damaging effects, and more power than any build I've done in 3e aside from the uber-Hulks and Cosmic Beings. He's just extra powerful all around, and really boring to build. Flying Bricks like this are generally easy to stat, given that they're so generic that EVERYONE'S done enough builds of them to make half this crap default. *yawn* Next build.



The Void contains some additions to The Sentry's moveset:
Morph 4 [20]
"Shapeshift" Variable 10 (Includes Massive Strength & Blast Boosts) [70]
"Infini-Tendrils" Blast 16 (Extras: Will Damage) [48]
Plus maybe some Weather Control-type stuff. As a whole, The Void is likely PL 18 or something insane like that- he can hold off dozens of superhumans at once, has beaten The Hulk in seconds, and is basically unstoppable.

[HalloweenJack]

I didn't mind the original limited series and I was willing to give the character a shot...but then Bendis's New Avengers was really boring.

And then you have the little things like Rogue sleeping with him, which is mentioned in passing once the Sentry is dead....and it totally alters Rogue's story.

And every damn story was "oh the Void! The Void! Avoid the Void!"

[M4C8]

Honestly, I don't hate the Sentry as a concept, what I do think is stupid though is his origin, like a serum that has the potential to be that effing powerful is just left lying around a professors lab where some random junkie can break in a drink it? yeah no. I hate retcons but that's something I wouldn't mind being changed.

Weirdly, despite the fans negative reaction the 'secret greatest hero ever' and 'the most powerful hero ever' was also how they hyped the Blue Marvel when he was introduced.

[KorokoMystia]

Honestly, I don't hate the Sentry as a concept, what I do think is stupid though is his origin, like a serum that has the potential to be that effing powerful is just left lying around a professors lab where some random junkie can break in a drink it? yeah no. I hate retcons but that's something I wouldn't mind being changed.

Weirdly, despite the fans negative reaction the 'secret greatest hero ever' and 'the most powerful hero ever' was also how they hyped the Blue Marvel when he was introduced.

The origin is meant to be deliberately Golden Age/Silver Age-y, I think ,but yeah, it's..pretty dumb.

[Goldar]

Is Sentry the physically strongest Marvel character? or would it be Gladiator? Or New Hyperion? Or Thanos (without the Gems)?

[Ken]

Is Sentry the physically strongest Marvel character? or would it be Gladiator? Or New Hyperion? Or Thanos (without the Gems)?

It depends on how angry the Hulk is about it.

[Goldar]

Is Sentry the physically strongest Marvel character? or would it be Gladiator? Or New Hyperion? Or Thanos (without the Gems)?

It depends on how angry the Hulk is about it.

Ahahaha. But I think the Hulk would have to be very, very, very, very angry to compete.

[Ares]

Sentry had literal "plot device" strength. Sometimes he was so strong he was the only person who could fight evenly with a fully enraged, unleashed Hulk during World War Hulk, but at other times Hercules and Blue Marvel could fight evenly with him, and Wonder Man was said to have "Sentry" level strength, implying he was "only" a typical Class 100 type. He ripped Ares in half, but then got killed by Thor. Guy was exactly as powerful as the plot demanded, even moreso than other comic characters.

As for the Sentry himself, I didn't really see him as adding anything new to the MCU that couldn't have been done with another character. If you wanted a "Superman with feet of clay" thing, you could have easily used Wonder Man. If you wanted a "Superman that is secretly evil" thing, you could have just used King Hyperion pretending to be regular Hyperion. But Sentry seems like some wildcard people wanted to use just because he was this collection of psychological problems that gave them free reign to do whatever.

As I mentioned here, I'd either massively retcon Sentry's entire existence, or just kill him for good. Or do something where his powers are used to re-empower other heroes that might have been on a downward slide, giving them a bit of an upgrade. Hell, I might just have Wonder Man take Sentry out in a move meant to be a self-sacrifice, but Simon actually absorbs some of Sentry's power in the process, returning to Earth no longer "a tad below Thor" in power.

[catsi563]

Is Sentry the physically strongest Marvel character? or would it be Gladiator? Or New Hyperion? Or Thanos (without the Gems)?

It depends on how angry the Hulk is about it.

Ahahaha. But I think the Hulk would have to be very, very, very, very angry to compete.

He was World War Hulk the Big Green guy kicked Sentries rear end roundly

[Goldar]

Thanks guys.

Do you think Blue Marvel is "Sentry-Level" strength, or above, or is his power more anti-matter?

Count Nefaria is the character that comes to my mind as perhaps the strongest character, with Power Man's strength multiplied by 100.

What say you -all?

[Ares]

It depends on how angry the Hulk is about it.

Ahahaha. But I think the Hulk would have to be very, very, very, very angry to compete.

He was World War Hulk the Big Green guy kicked Sentries rear end roundly

Not really. Hulk and Sentry went at it evenly, until all their power was drained out of them, and they were left as just Bruce Banner and Robert Reynolds, with Bruce managing to knock Reynolds out. Then I think that was when Mee'k revealed he was a traitor, revealed he set the warp core off, tried to kill Rick Jones, and the Hulk went full on World Breaker Angry, requiring an orbital weapon to take him out.

[Ares]

Thanks guys.

Do you think Blue Marvel is "Sentry-Level" strength, or above, or is his power more anti-matter?

Count Nefaria is the character that comes to my mind as perhaps the strongest character, with Power Man's strength multiplied by 100.

What say you -all?

I believe Blue Marvel fought Sentry evenly when they battled. Herc did the same when he fought Sentry.

Count Nefaria's been all over the place power wise. It's doubtful he literally had 100 times the power of the people they used as a basis for his abilities, otherwise he would have killed Wonder Man and Thor with single hits. During his initial fight with the Avengers, it was clear that both Thor and Wonder Man could hurt Nefaria, so he had a little above Class 100 durability, but his strength seemed to be noticably greater, as Thor was comparing Nefaria's strength to the Destroyer Armor. Nefaria even caught Thor's hammer with one hand a lot easier than Superman did.

So I'd say that if Thor, Wonder Man, Hercules and Hyperion are all 100's in strength and durability, and Ben Grimm is an 80 in strength/durability, then Nefaria was probably a 120 in durability and a 150 in strength.

When he fought against the Avengers and Thunderbolts, Nefaria seemed to be completely unphased by the heroes attacks, but his strengh was never enough to really put any of them down for long. He also wasn't fighting anyone in Thor or Hyperion's power range, with the strongest person there being She-Hulk during her Class 80 days. So Nefaria's strength only seemed to be around that of a Class 100 person, but his durability was either that same 120, or possibly higher.

These days Nefaria seems like he's either a basic evil Class 100 flying brick, or he's slightly above that, enough to have an edge over guys like Hyperion or Thor, but not by a whole lot.

[RainOnTheSun]

Trying to get consistent power levels out of Marvel comics (or DC, probably) is a doomed proposition. At the absolute most, a single writer might have a consistent opinion on the subject.

[Ares]

I think that comics tend to fall into reliable "tiers" more than exact power structures, and that you can look at a character's "averages" to get a feel of the character's general perceptions.

Two people might not agree on whether the Thing or Colossus is stronger than the other, but most would agree that they tend to fall into the same strength tier, and that neither of them are as strong as the Hulk or Thor. Likewise, there are likely dozens of one-off powers that Superman, Thor, Green Lantern and the Silver Surfer have pulled off, but everyone knows and agrees on the powers they use all the time.

So there is some overall consistency in terms of where characters relate to each other, even if the individual feats can vary wildly.

[Jabroniville]

Generally, that's why I try to build characters out to more "averages"- statting up everyone to their maximum showing just rewards Power-Geeking and excessive displays of power from a nutty writer, while statting someone up from the time they lost to a Mook is also a mistake. It's why, when statting up The Thing and The Hulk, I based Hulk's elevated PL off of countless showings where he demonstrates massive power.