Who is Sinestro?

First Appearance: Green Lantern #7 (1961)

He was once the greatest Green Lantern...until he became a renegade...then he became the greatest threat to the Green Lantern Corps.

He is Sinestro.

PC: Andrew James Rocha

Sinestro is a brilliant strategist, a skilled fighter, and a dangerous villain. He is tall and thin with purplish skin, and on his left hand is a bright golden ring that radiates with fear. He has been a Green Lantern, a dictator, a prisoner, and one of the most dangerous criminals in the universe.

Every hero has a nemesis worse than any of the others; one that is just as dedicated to doing wrong as the hero is to doing right. Batman has the Joker, Superman has Lex Luthor, and Green Lantern has Sinestro.

But who is Sinestro and how did he become the villain that he is today? Before becoming the infamous supervillain, Sinestro was the Green Lantern of space sector 1417, known thoughout the Green Lantern Corps for his incredible willpower and fearlessness. He considered the other Green Lanterns as his peers and nothing more, except for Abin Sur, who was his best friend. 

After Abin Sur's death, Sinestro became the mentor and friend of Abin Sur's successor, Hal Jordan.  As powerful a Green Lantern as Sinestro was, Hal Jordan would be the one to surpass him.

Sinestro's fall from respect and power began when he revealed to Hal Jordan the secret behind the order and peace of his homeworld of Korugar and space sector. Sinestro overthrew the government of Korugar and established himself as a dictator, abusing the power of his ring and controlling the planet's populace through fear. 

Labeled as a renegade, Sinestro was stripped of his power ring and swore revenge on the Green Lantern Corps and Hal Jordan. Sinestro would come up with scheme after scheme to exact his vengence, even teaming up with other supervillains from Earth and taking on the Justice League of America.

Sinestro would eventually harness the power of fear in a yellow power battery and arming hundreds of the universe's most dangerous and sadistic killers and monsters with yellow power rings. Sinestro has always been one of the most interesting villains in the DC universe, but armed with a power ring, Sinestro would become one of the most terrifying.

Recommended Reading:
"Tales of the Green Lantern Corps"
"Rebirth"
"Sinestro Corps War"