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{{Short description|Mutant-hunting robot in Marvel Comics}}
{{About||the comic book|Sentinel (comic book)|the DC Comics superhero|Alan Scott|the fictional imprint label|Sentinels of the Multiverse#Concept and development{{!}}Sentinel Comics}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=October 2023}}
{{Original research|date=October 2023}}
}}
{{Infobox comics organization <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
| name=Sentinels
| image=Sentinels (Marvel Annotated 2).jpg
| imagesize= <!-- default 250 -->
| alt = Three large purple and gray robots, with lights on their chests and their fingertips 
| caption=The Sentinels.<br>Art by [[Alex Ross]].
| publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
| debut=''[[Uncanny X-Men|The X-Men]]'' #14 (Nov. 1965)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Misiroglu |first1=Gina Renée |last2=Eury |first2=Michael |title=The Supervillain Book: The Evil Side of Comics and Hollywood |date=2006 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |isbn=9780780809772 |url=https://archive.org/details/supervillainbook0000gina/page/316/mode/2up |language=en}}</ref>
| creators=[[Stan Lee]]<br>[[Jack Kirby]]
| members=Sentinel Squad [[Office of National Emergency]]<br>[[Nimrod (comics)|Nimrod]]<br/>[[Master Mold]]<br>[[Bastion (comics)|Bastion]]<br>[[Prime Sentinel]]s<br>[[Wild Sentinels]]
| base=Sentinel Headquarters, [[New York City|New York]]
}}
The '''Sentinels''' are a group of [[Mutant (Marvel Comics)|mutant]]-hunting [[robot]]s appearing in [[American comic book]]s published by [[Marvel Comics]]. They are typically depicted as [[antagonist]]s to the [[X-Men]].

The Sentinels played a large role in several ''X-Men'' animated series, and have been featured in several ''X-Men'' [[video game]]s. The Sentinels are featured prominently in the 2014 film ''[[X-Men: Days of Future Past]]'', and made brief appearances in the 2006 film ''[[X-Men: The Last Stand]]'' and the 2016 film ''[[X-Men: Apocalypse]]''. In 2009, The Sentinels were ranked in ''[[IGN]]'' as the 38th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Top 100 Comic Book Villains|url=http://www.ign.com/top/comic-book-villains/38.html|website=[[IGN]]|access-date=4 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>

==Publication history==
[[File:The X-Men (Uncanny X-Men)-vol.1-14 (November 1965).jpg|thumb|upright|Sentinels' debut in ''[[Uncanny X-Men|The X-Men]]'' #14 (November 1965). Art by [[Jack Kirby]].]]
Created by [[Stan Lee]] and [[Jack Kirby]], they first appeared in ''[[Uncanny X-Men|The X-Men]]'' #14 (Nov. 1965).<ref>{{cite book |last1=DeFalco |first1=Tom |last2=Sanderson |first2=Peter |last3=Brevoort |first3=Tom |last4=Teitelbaum |first4=Michael |last5=Wallace |first5=Daniel |last6=Darling |first6=Andrew |last7=Forbeck |first7=Matt |last8=Cowsill |first8=Alan |last9=Bray |first9=Adam |title=The Marvel Encyclopedia |date=2019 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-7890-0 |page=318}}</ref>

Sentinels are programmed to locate [[Mutant (Marvel Comics)|mutants]] and capture or kill them. Though several types of Sentinels have been introduced, the typical Sentinel is three [[Storey|stories]] tall, is capable of [[flight]], projecting energy blasts, and detecting mutants.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brevoort |first1=Tom |last2=DeFalco |first2=Tom |last3=Manning |first3=Matthew K. |last4=Sanderson |first4=Peter |last5=Wiacek |first5=Win |title=Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History |date=2017 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1465455505 |page=110}}</ref> Pursuing genocide as the means of dealing with a threat has made the Sentinels an analogy for racial hatred and other negative types of [[fanaticism]] in Marvel stories,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wells |first1=John |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969 |date=2014 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490557 |page=45}}</ref> represent the horrific consequences of humanity's actions based on hate and ignorance, along with a caution of the risks of [[AI takeover]].

==Characteristics==
{{Expand section|date=January 2011}}

Sentinels are designed to hunt mutants.{{r|xmenv3no19to23}} While many are capable of [[tactic (method)|tactical thought]], only a handful are [[self-awareness|self-aware]].

Sentinels are technologically advanced, and have exhibited a wide variety of abilities. They are armed (primarily with [[Directed-energy weapon|energy weapons]] and restraining devices), capable of flight, and can detect mutants at long range. They possess vast physical strength, and their bodies are highly resistant to damage.{{r|xmenv3no19to23}} Some are able to alter their physical forms or re-assemble and reactivate themselves after they have been destroyed.

Some Sentinel variants have the ability to learn from their experiences, developing their defenses during an engagement. Several groups of Sentinels have been created or led by a single massive Sentinel called [[Master Mold]]. Some Sentinels are also equipped with an inconspicuous logic loop in case they should go rogue to convince them that they are mutants.

Because of their power, sophistication, and high mass production, Sentinels are sold on the black market.<ref name="modokheadcasesv1no2">''M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games'' #2 (March 2021)</ref> Entities obtain them—often in poor condition—for their own purposes (not necessarily mutant-related).<ref name="xmenv3no19to23">''[[X-Men (comic book)|X-Men]]'' (vol. 3) #19-22 (December 2011 - February 2012)</ref><ref name="avengerschildrenscrusadevol1no9">''Avengers: The Children's Crusade'' #9 (May 2012)</ref>

During the "[[Iron Man 2020 (event)|Iron Man 2020]]" event, a Sentinel appears as a member of the [[A.I. Army]].<ref>''[[Iron Man 2020 (event)|Iron Man 2020]]'' #1 (March 2020)</ref>

==Types of Sentinels==
{{Trivia|section=y|date=July 2018}}
[[File:Sentinel - Evolution (Marvel Comics).jpg|thumb|upright|Evolution of the Sentinel. Art by [[Ardian Syaf]].]]
* '''Mark I''' and '''[[Master Mold]]''' - Created by [[Bolivar Trask]]. First appeared in ''X-Men'' #14. Trask sacrificed himself to destroy the Master Mold.
* '''Mark II''' - Created by [[Larry Trask (comics)|Larry Trask]]. This model was capable of adapting to and counteracting superpowers almost instantly. First appeared in ''X-Men'' #57.
**'''No.2''' - The robotic leader of Larry Trask's Sentinels, later "mutated" with the capability of creating space warps.<ref>''[[The Avengers (comic book)|The Avengers]]'' #102-104 (August - October 1972)</ref>
* '''Composite''' - Created by merging the remaining portions of five Sentinels destroyed by the X-Men and came under control of Ashley Martin. It rebelled against her and was subsequently destroyed.
* '''Mark III''' - Created by [[Steven Lang (character)|Steven Lang]] and Project: Armageddon, secretly funded by [[Edward Buckman]] and the [[Hellfire Club (comics)|Council of the Chosen]]. Based on incomplete notes of Trask and inferior to Mark II. First appeared in ''X-Men'' #98.
** '''X-Sentinels''' - [[Android (robot)|Android]] duplicates of the original X-Men who were created by Steven Lang. First appeared in ''X-Men'' #99.
* '''Mark IV''' - Created by [[Sebastian Shaw (character)|Sebastian Shaw]]. First appeared in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #151.
* '''Mark V''' - Created by Shaw for U.S. government's [[Project Wideawake]]. First appeared in ''The New Mutants'' #2.
* '''Mark VI''' - Created by Shaw Industries for Project Wideawake and used by [[Onslaught (Marvel Comics)|Onslaught]]. Also incorporated parts of Project Nimrod.
* '''Mark VII''' - Created by Shaw Industries. They were experimental and remote controlled.
* '''[[Nimrod (comics)|Nimrod]]''' - A prototype Super Sentinel that arrived from the "[[Days of Future Past]]" timeline and was later reactivated by [[William Stryker]].
** '''Project Nimrod''' - Created by an offshoot of Project Wideawake and was in the experimental stage, Project Nimrod was actually a self-awareness program that Nimrod implanted before its demise into the base's military computer cybernet, the program served as a sleeper virus that awaited the opportunity to access a Sentinel development program so it could use it to re-create Nimrod itself. Cancelled after [[X-Force]] interfered.
* '''[[Prime Sentinel]]s''' - [[Bastion (comics)|Bastion]]'s humanoid Sentinels. They were at first disabled humans infected with Nano-Sentinel technology at Prospero Clinic under the belief that they were being equipped with cybernetic nanotech implants to replace their lost limbs. Unbeknownst to many of them, they became sleeper agents for ''[[Operation: Zero Tolerance]]''. Upon activation by a mutant attack or near the presence of one, they would be transformed into armored [[cyborg]] beings with powerful weapons systems.
** '''Omega Prime Sentinels''' - The second generation of Prime Sentinels. Often simply called Omega Sentinels, their nanotechnology is more advanced than their brethren. Omega Sentinels have an eight-step cycle of transformation they undergo before becoming fully mechanical: Infection, Nesting, Replication, Dormancy, Activation, Union, Adaptation and finally Omega.<ref>''[[House of X]]'' #3 (October 2019)</ref> [[Karima Shapandar]] is one of them.
* '''[[Wild Sentinels]]''' - Built in secret by Master Mold in Ecuador, activated and used by [[Cassandra Nova]] for the genocide of [[Genosha]].
* '''Mark VIII''' / '''Sentinel Squad [[Office of National Emergency|O*N*E]]''' - Sentinels designed by [[Iron Man|Stark Enterprises]] which, unlike other Sentinels, requires a human pilot.
** '''T.O. Sentinels''' - An intended upgrade to the Squad O*N*E Sentinels conceived by director Robert Callahan, who sought to use a techno-organic substance to increase the effectiveness of the Sentinel program.<ref>''[[Astonishing X-Men]]'' (vol. 3) #9-10 (March - May 2005)</ref> Callahan later experimented with material from [[Warlock (New Mutants)|Warlock]], a techno-organic alien, to augment the Sentinel Squad Armor unit.<ref>''New Mutants: Dead Souls'' #6 (October 2018)</ref><ref>''[[Uncanny X-Men]]'' (vol. 5) #19 (August 2019)</ref>
* '''Bio-Sentinels''' - Human mutant corpse infected by a technological virus created by Kaga.<ref>''Astonishing X-Men'' (vol. 3) #31 (December 2009)</ref> They come with the innate capacity of weaponizing bio-technological apparati such as [[Brood (comics)|Brood]] designed missiles as a means of offense.<ref>''Astonishing X-Men'' (vol. 3) #32 (January 2010)</ref>
* '''Stark Sentinels MK I''' - The Stark Sentinels debuted during the ''[[AXIS (comics)|AXIS]]'' storyline. Under the influence of the [[Red Skull]] (who also had erased from him any memory of their construction), [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] created a model of [[adamantium]]-constructed Sentinels outfitted with Pym Particle technology with databases withholding knowledge of different super heroes he acquired after the events of ''[[Civil War (comics)|Civil War]]''.<ref>''Avengers & X-Men: AXIS'' #1 (December 2014)</ref>
* '''Mother Mold''' - A self-aware and capable of adaptation Master Mold variant head designed to create "Master Molds" which in turn create Sentinels. It was built in secrecy near the Sun by the group [[Orchis (comics)|Orchis]]. Mother Mold will lead directly to the creation of Nimrod, the ultimate nanotechnological Sentinel form.<ref>''[[Powers of X]]'' #2 (October 2019)</ref>
** '''[[Nimrod (comics)|Nimrod]]''' - Created in the modern era solely from contemporary technology and independent of its time-travelling counterparts by Dr. Alia Gregor on Orchis's Mother Mold.
* '''X-Sentinels''' - Orchis' new era of Sentinel, which is a modern Sentinel created by [[Mister Sinister]]'s clone Doctor Stasis. He pulled this off by building over his gene-spliced animal/human Chimeras and used the many corpses of Wolverine to perfect a process and converting them into Sentinel units, combining Wolverine's adamantium skeleton and claws with the latest Sentinel casing and systems prove to be a lethal combination.<ref>''X-Men'' (vol. 6) #22 (July 2023)</ref>
** '''Sentinel Zero''' - The first X-Sentinel to come online and built over the frame of Wolverine's adamantium skeleton. [[Firestar (Marvel Comics)|Firestar]] incinerated Sentinel Zero's Sentinel parts, leaving a smoking Wolverine skeleton.
* '''Stark Sentinel MK II''' - A new version of Stark Sentinel secretly created by anti-mutant industrialist Feilong and based on technology of [[Iron Man's armor]].<ref>''[[The Invincible Iron Man (comics)|The Invincible Iron Man]]'' (vol. 5) #5 (June 2023)</ref>
* '''Fireteam''' - A group of cyborg Sentinels created by Larry Trask from the harvested nanites inside [[Juston Seyfert]]'s body. This led to the creation of a new Sentinel Program which he uses to track down and capture the world's most dangerous mutants.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dodge |first=John |date=January 12, 2025 |title=Marvel Turns a Long-Lost Superhero Into the Source of the Next Mutant Tragedy |url=https://www.cbr.com/x-men-sentinel-new-x-men-tragedy/ |access-date=December 28, 2025 |website=CBR |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jansons |first=Isaac |date=January 13, 2025 |title=X-Men Reinvents a Forgotten Hero with a Dark Sentinel Twist No One Saw Coming |url=https://screenrant.com/x-men-juston-seyfert-sentinel-op-ed/ |access-date=December 28, 2025 |website=Screen Rant |language=en}}</ref>
** '''Lockstep (Bradley Hansen)'''
** '''Voivod (Dragos Teodorescu)'''
** '''Sawtooth (Camila Rivera)'''
** '''Shellback (Michael Babineaux)''' 
** '''Drumfire (Patricia Pham)'''
* '''Bloodhounds''' - The Bloodhounds were captured wolves that were turned into Sentinels to hunt mutants for the Graymalkin Prison.<ref>''Uncanny X-Men'' (vol. 6) #1 (October 2024)</ref>

===Related mutant-hunting creations===
[[File:Sentinel X-Men Schism Vol 1 1.png|thumbnail|250px|The X-Men battle Sentinels in ''X-Men: Schism'' #1 (July 2011). Art by [[Carlos Pacheco]] and Cam Smith.]]
* '''[[Tri-Sentinel]]''' - A giant-sized, six-armed, three-faced combination of three Sentinels created by [[Loki (Marvel Comics)|Loki]] and acquired by the [[Life Foundation]].
* '''Soviet Sentinels''' - Created by the Soviet Union and later purchased by Cuban government officials.<ref>''[[Mystique (character)|Mystique]]'' #3-6 (August - November 2003)</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=July 2018}}
* '''Super-Sentinels''' - Using [[Nanotechnology|Nano-Sentinel technology]], [[Weapon Plus]] created artificially evolved superhumans at ''[[Weapon Plus#The World|The World]]''. Three of the creations were chosen to form the mutant-hunting Super-Sentinels: Huntsman, [[Fantomex]] and Ultimaton, who were intended to be presented to the public as superheroes to make the extermination of mutantkind look "like a Saturday morning cartoon".
* '''Colcord's Sentinels''' - Several Boxbots were created by [[Madison Jeffries]] (aka Box) to serve the [[Weapon X]] Program, run by [[Malcolm Colcord]]. In one variation of the ''[[Days of Future Past]]'' timeline seen in the ''Weapon X: Days of Future Now'' limited series, one of the Boxbots evolves into a new Master Mold and a new form of Sentinels.
* '''Hardaway''' - A cyborg created at Camp Hayden, killed by the [[Mutant Liberation Front]], who called himself a '''Bio-Sentinel'''.
* '''X-51 ([[Machine Man]])''' - Captured by Bastion and "infected" with Prime Sentinel nano-bots which reconfigured and reconstructed his systems thereby giving him similar capabilities to Nimrod,<ref>''Cable and Machine Man'' Annual (May 1998)</ref><ref>''Machine Man & Bastion'' Annual (June 1998)</ref> such as adapting to almost any situation and programming that at times forced him to attack mutants.<ref>''X-51'' #1-2 (September 1999)</ref>
* '''[[Juston Seyfert]]'s Sentinel''': A rebuilt Sentinel (likely a Mark V or Mark VI) that was reprogrammed to obey Juston Seyfert. Initially, Juston controlled the Sentinel by riding on its shoulder; he now has built a cockpit into it. Juston and his Sentinel are former members of [[Avengers Academy]] and featured in ''[[Avengers Arena]]'', where the Sentinel is destroyed and Juston apparently killed.<ref>''[[Avengers Arena]]'' #12 (September 2013)</ref>
* '''Sentinaughts''' - One of the types of sentient robots who live in the free robot city of The Core,<ref>''[[Secret Avengers]]'' #25 (June 2012)</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=July 2018}} Sentinaughts are apparently based on the Sentinel design. They vary in size from roughly human to the large stature of traditional Sentinels.
* '''Nano-Sentinel''' - Microscopic Sentinel type of tech created by Cassandra Nova and implemented in various ways by other users.<ref>''[[New X-Men (2001 series)|New X-Men]]'' #123 (April 2002)</ref> They attach themselves to the brains of humans and mutants alike.<ref>''[[X-Men Red]]'' #5 (August 2018)</ref>
** An unknown form of human-made Sentinels were created by [[Simon Trask]] using a nanite-based Sentinel Tech virus. At Trask's command, the victims are transformed into Sentinels loyal to him.<ref>''Uncanny X-Men'' #500 (September 2008)</ref>
* '''Adamantium Cyborgs''' - Near-fully mechanical mutant hunter killers refitted by Weapon X with the titular metal as an endoskeleton using sentinel based nanotech. Coming in numerous alphabetical categorical batches, these bionic weapons can shed their skin revealing a murderous automaton with the abilities of various X-Men heroes and villains integrated into them.<ref>''[[Weapon X]]'' (vol. 3) #1 (June 2017)</ref>
* '''Core/Central Command''' - A biotech Master Mold variant behind the design parameters of the new Prime Sentinels.<ref>''Uncanny X-Men'' (vol. 4) #15 (January 2017)</ref>
* '''Box Sentinels''' - Smaller and faster Sentinels based on the [[Box (comics)|Box]] technology created by a joint venture between [[Department H]] and Orchis to track down and capture mutants in Canada.<ref>''[[Alpha Flight (comic book)|Alpha Flight]]'' (vol. 5) #1 (October 2023)</ref>

==In other media==
===Film===
{{main article|X-Men (film series)}}

[[File:X-Men Days of Future Past - Sentinels.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The Sentinels as they appear in ''[[X-Men: Days of Future Past]]'' (2014); the '''Mark I''' model in 1973 (left) and the '''Mark X''' model in 2023 (right)]]
* The Sentinels were originally meant to appear in ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]'' (2000). In an early draft written by [[Andrew Kevin Walker]] and turned in during June 1994, [[Henry Peter Gyrich|Henry Gyrich]] and [[Bolivar Trask]] use three 8 feet (2.4 m) tall Sentinels to attack the [[X-Men]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Andrew Kevin |last=Walker |author-link=Andrew Kevin Walker |title=X-Men First Draft |url=http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/x-men_walker3.html |website=Daily Scripts |access-date=July 13, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726144619/http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/x-men_walker3.html |archive-date=July 26, 2019 |date=June 7, 1994 |url-status=live}}</ref> Following several rewrites and new scripts, the Sentinels were eventually dropped from the film.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kendall |first1=Gene |title=15 Rejected X-Men Movie Ideas That Almost Happened |url=https://www.cbr.com/x-men-movie-moments-that-almost-happened/ |website=[[Comic Book Resources]] |publisher=Valnet Inc. |access-date=July 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726150301/https://www.cbr.com/x-men-movie-moments-that-almost-happened/ |archive-date=July 26, 2019 |date=March 10, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* A Sentinel appears in ''[[X-Men: The Last Stand]]'' (2006) as a Danger Room simulation. 
* Two variations of the Sentinels appear in ''[[X-Men: Days of Future Past]]'' (2014).<ref>{{cite web|author1=CS|title=Mark Millar Talks X-Men: Days of Future Past and Kick-Ass 3|url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=99760|website=ComingSoon.net|access-date=5 November 2017|date=1 February 2013|archive-date=4 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204000351/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=99760|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="fxguide"/><ref name="sentinels"/> The prototype '''Mark I''' Sentinels were designed by [[Legacy Effects]] with [[Digital Domain]] building digital models based on a full-scale practical model while the future '''Mark X''' variants, based on Nimrod Sentinels,<ref name=fxguide>{{cite web|url=http://www.fxguide.com/featured/future-threat-x-men-days-of-future-past/|title=Future threat – X-Men: Days of Future Past|publisher=Fxguide|first=Ian|last=Failes|date=May 27, 2014|access-date=October 16, 2014}}</ref><ref name=sentinels>{{cite video|title=Sentinels: For a Secure Future|location=''X-Men: Days of Future Past'' Blu-ray|year=2014|publisher=20th Century Fox Home Entertainment|type=Featurette}}</ref> were computer graphics made by [[Moving Picture Company]]. In the film, the prototypes are said to be built using space-age polymers and are equipped with chest-mounted vent-like structures that grant flight capabilities as well as arm-mounted Gatling guns while the future Sentinels are smaller, sleeker, and built with adaptive mechanical scales, hands that can reform into blades, and emitters in their heads capable of firing energy beams. This version of the Sentinel program was originally created in the 1970s, with Bolivar Trask experimenting on mutants to accelerate his research, though he found little success in gaining support for his project. After [[Mystique (film character)|Mystique]] assassinated Trask in 1973, the U.S. government approved the Sentinel program, captured Mystique, and experimented on the latter to give the Sentinels the ability to adapt to and utilize any mutant power. However, the Sentinels subsequently target humans due to their potential for having mutant descendants, culminating in a dystopian future where most of humanity and mutant-kind are nearly extinct by 2023. After [[Kitty Pryde]] uses her ability to project the minds of others into their past selves on [[Logan (film character)|Logan]] to rally [[Charles Xavier (film character)|Charles Xavier]] and [[Magneto (film character)|Erik Lehnsherr]]'s younger selves and avert Trask's assassination, the pair eventually succeed, causing the U.S. government to realize that not all mutants are a threat to humanity and abandon the Sentinel program.
* The Sentinels make a cameo appearance in ''[[X-Men: Apocalypse]]'' (2016) as Danger Room simulations.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Marveldatabase|Sentinels (Earth-616)|Sentinels}}
* [https://www.marvel.com/teams-and-groups/sentinels Sentinels] at Marvel.com

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{{Ultimate X-Men}}
{{New Mutants}}
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{{Stan Lee}}
{{Jack Kirby}}

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