The Sinister Six[1] are one of the two main villainous factions (alongside the Inner Demons) of Marvel's Spider-Man. They were a team of super-criminals led by Doctor Octopus, who formed the group in an attempt to take revenge on his former business partner, Norman Osborn, clashing with Spider-Man when he interferes in their actions as a result.
History[]
Marvel's Spider-Man[]
After Mayor Osborn claims credit for the capture of Mister Negative, this infuriates Otto Octavius and pushes him over the edge. Osborn had already removed funding from his projects at this point and, according to Octavius, stolen his ideas and technology. Past history showed that, while they had worked together as scientists and co-founded Oscorp, Osborn was quite quick to break the rules and perform unethical experiments, such as when he used an untested substance called "Devil's Breath" on a young Martin Li and inadvertently created Mister Negative.
The increasingly unstable Octavius assumes the mantle of Doctor Octopus to exact his revenge, breaking all of the criminals out of Ryker's Island and the Raft. He had carried out careful and extensive research on each of th Sinister Six members in order to earn their loyalty by offering something in return. For Scorpion, he would clear Gargan's remaining debts and expunge his criminal record. Octavius also develops a corrosive agent that would free Rhino from his suit, which, according to Peter, a certain government agency spent years working on to no avail, the process of which only took Octavius a few days. Vulture, who now suffers from spinal cancer due to the power source for his wings, is offered a new form of treatment by Doctor Octopus. Finally, Octavius gives Electro a newly modified version of his harness to get him closer to becoming "pure energy", which is Electro's dream. For Mister Negative, he was revealed to have been in touch with him for a while, offering him medications to help with his condition in addition to both of them sharing the same goal of revenge against Osborn. Thus, they form the Sinister Six, with the singular goal of destroying Mayor Osborn and Oscorp. The group first clashes with Spider-Man when they gang up on him at the Raft; Doctor Octopus warns Spider-Man to stay out of their way and throws him off the edge of the Raft.
Afterwards, when Spider-Man is investigating Otto's secret hideout, he comes across a carefully constructed plan to destroy Norman's empire piece-by-piece and his legacy. Otto had planted an security explosive in the lair in case anyone found out about it, which leads Spider-Man to battle Vulture and Electro, eventually defeating them. He then has an encounter with Scorpion, who poisons him. After having to fight against the hallucinations of his own mind and barely escaping, Spider-Man has a second encounter with Scorpion, who is now accompanied by Rhino. He ultimately defeats the duo, leaving only Mister Negative and Doctor Octopus left. Spider-Man finds Mister Negative inside the Devil's Breath lab, where Li attempts to kill Osborn and claim his revenge. After defeating him in the ensuing battle, Spider-Man is confronted by Doctor Octopus, who soundly thrashes him and recaptures Osborn. To fight the supervillain, Spider-Man builds an armored version of his suit dubbed the Anti-Ock Suit via materials that were used to create Doctor Octopus's mechanical appendages. He then rescues Osborn before engaging in a showdown with Doctor Octopus atop Oscorp Tower, where Spider-Man defeats him.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales[]
Li's Inner Demons have now been defunct for some time as the result of the rise of a high-tech group of young criminals called the Underground, who rose to power shortly after his defeat. Roxxon secretly made Rhino their enforcer, before their crimes of using unstable and dangerous Nuform that could potentially millions of people in New York is exposed, with Rhino being arrested by the real authorities once more.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2[]
Two years after their failed attempt to take down Norman Osborn and his company, the supervillains who once formed the Sinister Six are still being held in captivity on the Raft or elsewhere in New York City. Their infamous notoriety and extensive criminal record came to the attention of Kraven the Hunter, who hunted down most of them shortly after his arrival.
While Kraven does not appear to pursue Doctor Octopus or Rhino, he finds and kills Scorpion, Vulture, and Electro, as well as Shocker. He also captures Mister Negative, but does not fight him, instead making him fight Miles Morales in a death duel, although he escapes. Mister Negative eventually has a change of heart and gives up his criminal ways, giving his powers to Spider-Man to break him free from the Symbiote's control. This action creates the Anti-Venom symbiote suit, which permanently replaces Peter's Symbiote Suit, albeit without any of the negative effects.
Norman Osborn later makes contact with Otto in the Raft, asking for his help in going after the Spider-Men. Octavius refuses, instead musing on a plan he has to enact which he refers to as "The Final Chapter".
Gallery[]
Original appearance[]
The Sinister Six first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (October 1964).