History ComicBook / TheSentry

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The Sentry has supposedly defeated Galactus either on his own or with the help of [[ComicBook/XMan Nate 'I use the Multiverse as my personal stepladder and create entire planes of existence with a thought' Grey]]. Debatable given never really shown even in a flashback, the Sentry's unreliable history and [[ManipulativeBastard the fact that Nate is very much his father's son]], but Nate's comment afterwards, when Norman Osborn implies that he was manipulating the Sentry ("Cleverness be damned, I just told him the truth."), and Nate's own colossal raw power, suggests that it might actually have happened.

* YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood: Basically his entire character in a nutshell. Could have been Earth's greatest defender, but turned out to be a deadly disappointment.

* YourCheatingHeart: Lindy has this issue in The Sentry V2; besides preferring the Sentry persona instead of ol' Bob, she also had to cope with her husband's unstable presence by seeking an affair with her Yoga instructor Ramón.

In terms of VideoGames, The Sentry was a playable character in ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance 2'' for UsefulNotes/NintendoDS and ''Marvel VideoGame/SuperHeroSquadOnline''.

Despite his death at the end of Dark Reign, the Sentry was resurrected by the Apocalypse Twins' new Horsemen in ''ComicBook/UncannyAvengers'', though Thor convinces him to help stop Exitar the Executioner. Sentry, having fully succumbed to his insanity and believing himself to be the successor of Apocalypse, agreed to do so... after he rid the world of the "cancerous" mutants. Having survived the incident, the Sentry was put into exile until he was called back by Dr. Strange in a terrible attempt to stop Loki, who had become Sorcerer Supreme and was looking for a spell that could potentially doom all, only for it to restore magic to the world. Upset, the Sentry told Dr. Strange never to call on him again and disappeared. He is set to return in his own ongoing series by Jeff Lemire as part of the ''ComicBook/MarvelAFreshStart'' initiative, taking place some time after this appearance.

* AxCrazy: As the Void.
* BackFromTheDead: While he's been resurrected several times, his most recent revival was when the Apocalypse Twins revived him as one of their Four Horsemen of Death. It's not known if the Void has been revived as well. It appears, going by Bob's word, the Void ''[[CompleteImmortality never died]]''. It simply got tired of being imprisoned in the sun and shuttled itself off to the White Hot Room. As of his later reappearance in ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'', it might be back... though the context leaves it somewhat ambiguous.

** After he survives being disintegrated, Bullseye wonders if, when he finally goes over the edge, they'll actually be able to kill him. [[spoiler: The answer is no, not unless he lets you. And even ''that'' seems to have stopped working.]]

* BrainsEvilBrawnGood: Shows both sides. He's a supergenius, but usually defaults to trying to smash things or throw them into the sun.

* CharacterShilling: Some of it's a consequence of him being a walking CosmicRetcon, the rest is just there for the usual reason.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The Sentry's eyes glow yellow when he uses most of his powers, blue when he's using his psychic powers, and red when the Void is about to emerge.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The Sentry has supposedly defeated Galactus either on his own or with the help of [[ComicBook/XMan Nate 'I use the Multiverse as my personal stepladder' Grey]]. Debatable given never really shown even in a flashback, the Sentry's unreliable history and [[ManipulativeBastard the fact that Nate is very much his father's son]], but Nate's comment afterwards, when Norman Osborn implies that he was manipulating the Sentry ("Cleverness be damned, I just told him the truth."), and Nate's own colossal raw power, suggests that it might actually have happened.

* TheDreaded: Bob is a feared figure due to the combination of mental illness and overwhelming power, but in the pages of Doctor Strange, The Void has proven to be one of the few things that truly horrifies ComicBook/{{Loki}}, likely thanks to the events of ''Siege''. Even as the new Sorcerer Supreme, Loki is visibly shaken and out of sorts throughout the confrontation.
* DrivenToSuicide: He's tried more than once. When he returned in ''Doctor Strange'', his attitude was to live in a hallucination constructed by Strange while his body floated in deep space, on the grounds that it was safer for everyone.

* MercyKill: [[spoiler: A reluctant Thor puts Bob out of his misery at the end of ''Siege''.]]

** Post his stint as Death in ''Uncanny Avengers'', he's cured, but voluntarily inside one constructed by Doctor Strange, inside his own mind, while his body is floating in deep space. [[spoiler: A desperate Strange lets him out.]]
** The new 2018 Sentry comic has Bob use a device to periodically visit an alternate universe where he can be both Sentry and the Void. [[spoiler: Things start to go wrong when the device, a one-of-a-kind gadget Tony Stark and Dr Strange made for Bob, gets stolen.]]

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Gives a brief one during the events of World War Hulk. The Hulk contends that the Sentry doesn't want to fight him. The response (paraphrased): "God help me, I do...because you're the only one I can hit like ''[[MegatonPunch this]]''."

* SuperSpeed: Sentry can fly to the Sun and back in seconds, and after his resurrection as a Horseman of Apocalypse, cross light years in moments.
* SuperStrength: The Sentry is one of the strongest heroes in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, capable of matching strength with the Hulk, [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], and [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules Hercules]]. The Void's strength is enough to break almost every bone in the Hulk's body.

First seen in ''The Sentry #1'' (September, 2000), Robert Reynolds was an overweight, middle aged, alcoholic until one day he awakens and realizes that he is the Sentry, a superhero with the power of '''one million exploding suns''', who must once again take the mantle of the hero to fight his archnemesis the Void, whom he fears is returning soon.

This rather strange origin story begun via a hoax that was perpetuated by Creator/StanLee himself in stating that there was a golden age superhero whom he just forgot about and wanted to weave into the continuity. Through a series of recursive flashbacks Robert Reynolds is seen fighting alongside Marvel's most popular superheroes including the ComicBook/FantasticFour, the [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]], and ComicBook/SpiderMan, and the entirety of the Sentry's first miniseries revolves around figuring out why everyone has LaserGuidedAmnesia surrounding his existence.

** This deserves some elaboration: After his resurrection as the Horseman of Death Sentry battled Thor. During this fight, The Sentry grabbed Thor and took off into space at a speed so fast that even Thor was disoriented by the sudden velocity. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Let me say that again]]; Horseman Sentry is so fast that the God of Thunder Thor, one of the strongest, fastest and powerful Avengers, was wondering "What the hell is happening?"

** This deserves some elaboration: After his resurrection as the Horseman of Death Sentry battled Thor. During this fight, The Sentry grabbed Thor and took off into space at a speed so fast that even Thor was disoriented by the sudden velocity. Let me say that again; Horseman Sentry is so fast that the God of Thunder Thor, one of the strongest, fastest and powerful Avengers, was wondering "What the hell is happening?"

* IndecisiveDeconstruction: As time goes on, it gets increasingly hard to tell if his CharacterShilling is part of a clever commentary on the shifting nature of reality in comics or just the writers desperately trying to convince fans that Sentry's really a likable and interesting character, honest.

* ChivieSpandex: In the original miniseries, the Sentry's costume upon returning into action is just a gray jacket with a small cape held in place with clothespins. As the series progress, it begins to look more and more like attire appropriate for a superhero. By the end of the fourth issue, it finally becomes a proper superhero uniform.

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: The ''Age of the Sentry'' has a number of characters with alliterative E names the recurrence of which he finds suspicious.

** The ''Age of The Sentry'' miniseries manages to take the Superman comparisons further. He's got the Sentress (otherwise known as ''Carol Danvers''), who's a Supergirl / Wonder Woman mash-up (the DistaffCounterpart but with a Wonder Woman-esque supporting cast), the ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' are the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes, and even some of the Sentry's unseen villains resemble Superman's.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/784766-sentry_returns001_super_7384.jpg]]

%%* DemonSlaying

%%* TheNeedless

%%* SpeedBlitz

%%* WouldHitAGirl: And kill a girl, too.

* SanityHasItsAdvantages: He's insanely effective once he stabilises his psyche vis-a-vis [[spoiler:merging with the Void]] in ''Fresh Start'', creating a godlike vigilante who is, for better or worse, his own man.

* OffWithHisHead: The Sentry killed ComicBook/SubMariner villain Attuma in this manner.

** And Morgan Le Fey.

* SealedBadassInACan: The Sentry was voluntarily imprisoned at the start of the 2005 ''New Avengers'' series, sporting a scraggly BeardOfSorrow.

* CurbStompBattle: Sentry has multiple examples of being the one issuing these out. Name a Marvel character and odds are Sentry has used his or her ass as a footstool before. The only exceptions are his draw with the Worldbreaker Hulk and his loss to Extremis ComicBook/{{Ultron}} until she was infected with a virus, allowing him to defeat her.

* CurbStompBattle: Sentry has multiple examples of being the one issuing these out. Name a Marvel character and odds are Sentry has used his or her ass as a footstool before.

* DependingOnTheWriter: Sentry has something like eight different origins, and the level and type of his mental psychosis fluctuates from issue to issue. Even the Void seems to change from split personality to separate entity on alternating weekends. His level of power also goes up and down, from "stronger than Thor, but it'd still be a fair enough fight" to "could smash the entire planet into gravel with a single pushup."

** The ''Age of The Sentry'' miniseries manages to take the Superman comparisons further. He's got the Sentress (otherwise known as ''Carol Danvers''), who's a Supergirl / Wonder Woman mash-up (the DistaffCounterpart but with a Wonder Woman-esque supporting cast), the ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' are the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes, and even some of the Sentry's unseen villains resemble Supe's.

* InformedAttribute: The Sentry was often pushed as being the ultimate hero that aside from being the most powerful was an inspiration to everyone, their best friend, as smart as Reed Richards, and involved in nearly every major Marvel event from convincing [[IronMan Tony Stark]] to stop drinking to being the best man at [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed and Sue's wedding.]] Outside of stories written by his creator and maybe one or two others these attributes were never demonstrated. He never demonstrated intelligence on par with Reed or being a major inspiration or friend to anyone. The attempt to force the idea down readers' throats that he was all that yet it was never demonstrated is another reason he is despised.

* HealingFactor: A pretty powerful one which puts even Wolverine and Hulk to shame (at least until the ComicBook/ImmortalHulk's introduction).

* HealingFactor: A pretty powerful one which puts even Wolverine and Hulk to shame (at least until the Immortal Hulk's introduction).

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: The ''Age of Sentry'' has a number of characters with alliterative E names the recurrence of which he finds suspicious.
* AllegoricalCharacter: A recurring enemy of Sentry, even appearing more than the Void, in the ''Age of Sentry'' mini is a villain named Cranio who has three brains. He always boasts of being [[{{Catchphrase}} three steps ahead of him]] and is a recurring figure in hallucinations. Given Sentry normally has three personalities in conflict he might be a representation of Robbie being his own greatest enemy and the greatest threat to others.

* BackFromTheDead: While he's been resurrected several times, his most recent revival was when the Apocalypse Twins revived him as one of their Four Horsemen of Death. It's not known if the Void has been revived as well. It appears, going by Bob's word, the Void ''[[CompleteImmortality never died]]''. It simply got tired of being imprisoned in the sun and shuttled itself off to the White Hot Room. As of his latest reappearance in ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'', it might be back... though the context leaves it somewhat ambiguous.

* BearsAreBadNews: One of the Sentry's foes was a giant bear. The Sentry couldn't defeat it, just convince it to hibernate.

* BewareTheSuperman: Being powerful to such a degree is more than dangerous when also having such serious mental problems. As seen in ''Dark Reign'', he is very easily manipulated. And not to talk about what happens when the Void breaks out. Breaking literally every bone of the freakin' '''Hulk''', rampaging through New York or levelling the whole city of Asgard (the reputation accrued by the latter feat is one Doctor Strange later exploits when [[spoiler: he needs a distraction and points Bob at Asgardia.]] And that's by far not everything that this psycho has unleashed during his life.
** After he survives being disintegrated, Bullseye wonders if, when he finally goes over the edge, they'll actually be able to kill him. [[spoiler: The answer is no, not unless he lets you.]]

* ConspicuousTrenchcoat: The Void's wardrobe of choice throughout ''The Sentry'' limited series.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Bob finds out that a yoga instructor is putting some moves on his wife; sometime later, the Sentry saves 150,000 people from a crashing boat, while the Void hurls a jet airliner into a building and kills 150,000 people. Ramón the yoga instructor was in that building.
* TheDreaded: Bob is a feared figure due to the combination of mental illness and overwhelming power, but in the pages of Doctor Strange, The Void has proven to be one of the few things that truly horrifies Loki. Even as the new Sorcerer Supreme, Loki is visibly shaken and out of sorts throughout the confrontation.
* DrivenToSuicide: He's tried more than once. His most recent attitude has mostly been to live in a hallucination constructed by Doctor Strange while his body floats in deep space, on the grounds that it's safer for everyone.
* DrugsAreBad: Sentry tries his best to hide his drug-filled past from everyone he can.

* {{Expy}}: His original series seems to be heavily inspired by Creator/AlanMoore's rework of ''Marvelman''/''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}''. Both feature middle-aged guys who are vaguely haunted by their past as the most powerful person on the planet. Down to details like being jealous of their super selves, their wives being more attracted to their other selves and their origins in a secret government program. Which makes the Sentry an {{Expy}} of a reworked DarkerAndEdgier CaptainErsatz of a CaptainErsatz, as Marvelman was a British copy of [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]], who was himself a copy of Superman. So he's like {{Superman}}'s fifth cousin twice removed.
** He's also ''very'' similar to Triumph, an extremely powerful Creator/DCComics hero who was {{Retcon}}ned into being a founding member of the JusticeLeagueOfAmerica during ''Comicbook/ZeroHour''. He even fell victim to a TimeyWimeyBall that forced his comrades to forget about his existence.
** The ''Age of The Sentry'' miniseries manages to take the Superman comparisons further. He's got the Sentress (otherwise known as ''Carol Danvers''), who's a Supergirl / Wonder Woman mash-up (the DistaffCounterpart but with a Wonder Woman-esque supporting cast), the ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' are the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes, and even some of the Sentry's unseen villains resemble Supe's.

* HurlItIntoTheSun: After defeating the Void, Bob hurls it into the sun after giving it [[ScrewYourself a kiss]].

* IdealHero: ''The Sentry'' limited series reveals that the Sentry persona is actually Bob Reynolds' idealized version of himself: the handsome, invincible champion of the entire planet.

* MoodWhiplash: The Age of The Sentry issue 4 has a story about the Sentry's birthday. Typical Silver Age nonsense, with Jean Grey fawning over the Sentry's dog, and two Nick Furies in one place, and then the art changes to a more modern style, as one of the Sentry's villains arrives, with images of planets exploding behind him... phew, good thing Bob just zoned out for a minute there, folks!
* MultipleChoicePast: In truth, it is still not clear ''exactly'' what the relationship is between Bob Reynolds, the Sentry and the Void (Is the Void the real Bob Reynolds, or is the Sentry, or is neither, or are they both?), exactly what the serum was he took or even whether it actually ''did'' anything, what the exact nature and source of his powers is (I am a superhuman! I am actually the angel of Death! I am a refugee from another universe! I am Galactus!), how the Void really came into existence and whether he is really dead. This, of course, fits in very nicely with the notion that the Sentry is bugnuts insane, and genuinely does not know what happened, being a RealityWarper of undefined limits, subconsciously even altering reality to suit whatever his psychosis says is the real story that day.

* PsychicPowers: The Sentry has shown psychic powers strong enough to give Comicbook/DoctorStrange pause. It is believed that Bob used this power to erase the entire planet's memory of the Sentry, including his own.
* PsychoSerum: The serum that gave Bob his powers was a new version of the Super Soldier serum [[UpToEleven amplified 100,000 fold]]. According to ''The Sentry'' limited series, Bob became the insane Void persona from the moment he injested the serum.

* {{Retcon}}: Sentry is retconed into having been an important person to many [[CharacterTitle title characters]] in the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks silver age]].

* SealedBadassInACan: The Sentry was voluntarily imprisoned at the start of the ''New Avengers'' series, sporting a scraggly BeardOfSorrow.

* ShockwaveClap: One of the Sentry's attacks. He uses this one against a bunch of the Void's attack drones in ''The Sentry #8''.
** He may have picked it up from or taught it to his buddy, The ComicBook/IncredibleHulk.

* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: Sentry only gets stronger with time. He cannot be completely destroyed (see his immortality trope entry) and can exchange punches with Hulk and Thor. Sentry can impress even Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, with his psychic and telepathic abilities and possesses molecular manipulation on the same level as Molecule Man. Moving faster than the speed of light is a simple matter for Sentry and he can travel distances in seconds that even the speedier characters require minutes for. The only weakness Bob has is his unstable mind but making use of this weakness is a huge gamble even for master manipulators because they risk releasing the Void.

* SuperSpeed: Sentry can fly to the Sun and back in seconds, and after his resurrection as a Horseman of Apocalypse, cross Light Years in moments.
* SuperStrength: The Sentry is one of the strongest heroes in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, capable of matching strength with the Hulk, [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], and [[ComicBook/IncredibleHercules Hercules]]. The Void's strength is enough to break almost every bone in the Hulk's body.

* SuperWeight: He is often said to be Level 6. He supposedly stalemated Galactus, has often been compared to ''the power of a million exploding suns'', defeated a Molecule Man without beliefs on his abilities and therefore at full power (Post-Retcon however), and was said to be a Biblical angel of death, capable of causing greater destruction than the multi-universal damage of the Scarlet Witch, but we never actually see anything concrete, beyond easily overloading the Absorbing Man, who has had no trouble copying {{Mjolnir}} in the past. As it is, he is a powerful Level 5.

* TomatoInTheMirror: Compounding his issues with the Void being a part of him, Robert was devastated to find out that the serum he took [[spoiler:would have worked on ''anyone''. He wasn't special, he was just there to take it, leading to those who made the serum destroy all their research because one lunatic with godlike powers was bad enough as is.]]

* YourCheatingHeart: Lindy has this issue in The Sentry V2, besides preferring the Sentry persona instead of ol' Bob, she also had to cope with her husband's unstable presence by seeking an affair with her Yoga instructor Ramón.