“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” – Leo Tolstoy

Thaal Sinestro, the terrifying Yellow Lantern wielder who spreads fear throughout DC Comics.

Morgoth, the Black Foe of the World from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

Many are the villains who seek to spread darkness and decay upon all life and good. Fewer and perhaps more dangerous still are the cunning sorts who take what is beautiful and noble and twist it to their vile machinations. In every good thing they see a way to corrupt, a plan to destroy, and something that can be made in their own shrouded and most malicious image.

Few in fiction describe such a contemptible concept as these two villains. The bane of the Lantern Corps and master of fear, and the traitor amongst the Valar and the darkest shadow to ever exist upon all the lands of Eä. These two dared to defy the will of their masters, taking what was good and beautiful and seeking to make it their own power and possession. While the forces of righteousness will never give up the fight to forever purge these villains, today the Lantern Ring of Fear will clash against the master of the fates of Arda to see whose shadow will continue to contaminate all life and reality.

Shields will be splintered, blades will be broken, and lights will be shattered, but will fear spread across all reality further, or will the shadow of Morgoth rise over the crushed corpse of Sinestro? Let all the cosmic planes beware, for only the might of the divine has any shot at salvaging life and hope once these two are through, but only one evil will survive to fight further in this DEATH BATTLE!

Before We Start…

For Sinestro, all of his Pre/Post-Flashpoint information will be taken into account as the standards in previous comic blogs have set, but what will likely be on people’s minds is the question of the inclusion of Parallax, the Emotional Entity of Fear itself. Will Sinestro be given Parallax in this fight? Unfortunately, Parallax is no longer standard to Sinestro.

Firstly, Sinestro did in fact hold onto the entity for a long duration of the New 52 and Rebirth eras of DC continuity. As far back as Forever Evil, Sinestro had Parallax under his control, as evidenced by the armor on his body, the usual indication he has Parallax, claiming he had full mastery of the entity, down to binding it to his very soul, having it for the duration of his Sinestro solo run and in numerous events such as the Green Lanterns/New Gods run. What isn’t as apparent is when Sinestro lost it later in Rebirth, in issue 7 of Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps. Hal and Sinestro have a climactic fight that leaves Warworld destroyed, seemingly killing Sinestro in the process while he had Parallax. But this is comic books! Both Sinestro and Parallax were actually considered alive, but still very separate nonetheless.

While Sinestro’s body was recovering, Parallax had resurfaced in Superman (2016) #29, shrunken in size but kidnapping and possessing children, until Superman finds and puts a stop to it, bargaining to be its new host to free the children. Then Sinestro comes back from the dead in the next issue and tries to reclaim the entity, battling Parallax-possessed Superman before taking the fight to Qward, where the entity then possesses the Weaponers until he separates from them and successfully escapes. Sinestro is unable to reclaim the entity in his ring, and Superman has to take down the entity itself by trapping it in a stray ring, giving it to Hal in issue #30 of Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps to be transported back to Mogo.

Since then, Sinestro has yet to reclaim Parallax at all, and afterwards began harnessing the Ultraviolet Lantern power. As for Parallax, the last we saw of it was when it escaped and encountered Reverse-Flash in Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #2, giving him a Yellow Lantern ring to destroy his former prison. So Sinestro and Parallax these days are separate from each other, thus it will not be considered standard.

That being said, we usually try and give characters a fair shake when it comes to research from the ground up, and Sinestro has undergone lots of changes and forms throughout his history that will be covered later in the blog, and Parallax will be mentioned; it just won’t be used for the debate!

Background

Sinestro

“In Blackest Day, in Brightest Night, beware your fears made into light! Let those who try to stop what's right, burn like my power, Sinestro's might!”

Across the vast cosmos of the DC Universe, the Green Lantern Corps have planted their feet as the universe’s law enforcement. Sure, threats have come and gone, rising and falling like the sun on a new day, and sure, most have been thoroughly vanquished, or buried in the past or written off as a mistake. But there is one threat to this law and order of the Guardians and their cosmic police force, one that started as one of their own kin, and became their own established Corps, dedicated to spreading a twisted form of order to the universe, one ruled by the emotion of fear. A mistake they would never, ever forget. Led by the dictator of Korugar, the arch-nemesis of Hal Jordan, with an army containing some of the universe’s most terrifying beings; this is the story of Thaal Sinestro.

Long ago, Sinestro was selected to become a member of the Green Lantern Corps, most noted for his honor and fearlessness, swearing the Green Lantern oath and wearing it proudly. His watch over Sector 1417 was the height of his career, making it a place devoid of criminal activity, and thus he was considered to be the greatest Green Lantern of all time. His greatness was recognized so much that he became a mentor to the rookie Green Lanterns that were to come. The Guardian known as Ganthet however, specifically requested for Sinestro to train an Earthling, one that he believed showed more promise then any rookie, one named Hal Jordan. And so, a friendship blossomed from Sinestro’s mentorship of the young Hal. As time went by, the two became like brothers, no different to Sinestro’s relationship with fellow Green Lantern, Abin Sur. But as time went on, something seemed different in the noble Sinestro. His stewardship of Sector 1417 became somewhat of an obsession; needing to keep it spotless and perfect, he began using questionable tactics that only a dictator could use, one that was not welcomed by his homeworld of Korugar, which was in his sector to watch.

What change had been wrought in Sinestro’s mind to make him turn so cold? The answer was left with the Sur family, both Abin and Arin. Abin in private had told Sinestro of a terrifying prophecy to bring death and blackness to the universe, and Sinestro dismissed it as folklore, a tale to scare only a child, likely made up by the Five Inversions, monsters who told the prophecy to Abin Sur. That would prove to be a great mistake, as Abin Sur would later mysteriously die, but Hal and Sinestro found his death was at the hands of Atrocitus, the leader of the Five Inversions and true teller of the prophecy. The behemoth was brought to justice, imprisoned on Ysmault, and when questioned, only taunted Sinestro with that same prophecy of a blackest night. Inwardly, he ignored the warnings. But outwardly, his stress began to show. He had a family with Arin Sur, the sister of Abin Sur, who secretly gave away her daughter before she also died mysteriously.

All of this would soon become apparent to the rookie Hal Jordan, who accompanied Sinestro on a diplomatic mission that would lead them back to Korugar, where Hal realized that Sinestro was not just a citizen there; he was their dictator. He forced the Korugarians to worship him as king and idol, and imposed strict rules of order and justice that sparked a rebellion from Korugar, which Sinestro could not control. Hal was understandably upset, and tried to get it through to Sinestro that this isn’t who he is, but striking Sinestro made him realize that this would lead to a trial with the Guardians of the Universe, and the two of them attempted to take refuge on Earth, but were found and arrested by the Manhunters. The trial went about as badly as one would think; Hal testified against Sinestro to the Guardians of the Universe for his crimes, and Sinestro was tried. The friendship was no more; his greatest friend had become his greatest enemy, and he swore revenge before his banishment to the planet Qward in a universe of antimatter.

It was there that he would work with the planet’s weapon makers to forge his own power ring. From this point on, Sinestro was no longer a Green Lantern. Dawning the color of yellow, the Qwardian rings would soon be put to use many years later, as the hierarchy of the universe was about to change; with the resurrection of the Anti-Monitor, the most terrifying enemy of the multiverse, Sinestro had the means necessary to build his own Lantern Corps; Yellow Lanterns they may be, but it was started by one man, thus appropriately to be named; the Sinestro Corps. The harnessers of fear. An enemy to the Green Lantern Corps. Dedicated to spreading order throughout the universe, striking fear in all who dare oppose their might.

Morgoth

(Morgoth discarded - Guillem H. Pongiluppi)
“I am the Elder King: Melkor, first and mightiest of all the Valar, who was before the world, and made it. The shadow of my purpose lies upon Arda, and all that is in it bends slowly and surely to my will.”

Long before time itself existed, before reality had a name, and before anything and everything had form, there was Eru. The One who is above all thrones forever, Ilúvatar, the unmatched supreme god of all things to and fro. Eru saw fit to create the Ainur, angelic beings that he would teach many great and wondrous things to, all parts of his perfect and majestic being. But the greatest of Eru’s skills was that of the creation of life itself, the Secret Fire. While some believed this was an item that existed within the Void, the Secret Fire was in truth with Eru, and a part of his natural greatness itself. But one of the mightiest Ainur who had learned many great and wondrous things from Ilúvatar sought this power for himself, and craved to change things to his own image, bringing about things that were not in his creator’s grand plan. This pride and rebellion would turn a once noble Ainur into the darkest shadow to ever cast itself upon the whole of all existence far and wide, and the name of this dark lord was Melkor.

Eventually, Eru Ilúvatar would decide to teach all of the Ainur a grand song of creation, with each Ainur using things their master had taught them to bring about a perfect and beautiful harmony for their maker to enjoy. It started well, but Melkor chose this time to strike, distorting the perfect song with his own ideas and images to bring it to chaos. Melkor battled Eru for command of the song and introduced many ideas like sorrow and evil to it, but he was ultimately outmatched by Ilúvatar in their music.

Nonetheless, Ilúvatar revealed the truth of the song, and the form it had taken in the Void. To you and I, this creation is known as Eä, which Middle Earth is a continent within, a mere speck in the grand reality Eru brought to pass. Ilúvatar gave all of his “children” a chance to enter this world to help bring his vision to pass and interact with his new creation, using the gifts and knowledge Eru had given them prior. Melkor was among them that took this opportunity, secretly scheming to take command of this new world in its young age and create it in his own image. As such, he became one of the Valar, one of the great angelic spirits of Eä, the mightiest beings to live after Ilúvatar himself.

But in time, Melkor would reveal his true colors once again, and wage war against the other Valar. His sins are innumerable and his darkness without limit, and there are not words enough here to speak of the great evils he brought forth upon the land and its free peoples. For all that was good, Melkor would seek to destroy, all that was pure, Melkor would corrupt, and every last shining light would not have peace while Melkor actively sought to snuff it out or claim it. The tortures he would put forth upon the land and its people are the stuff of legends, and many heroes would rise up over time to challenge his dark hold upon the world. He would eventually be renamed from Melkor, a child of Eru, to a new name, courtesy of the elf Feanor. He would become Morgoth, the “Black Foe of the World.”

Even in the darkest days, Morgoth’s cunning and strategies were nearly unstoppable, and his powers nearly unmatched by all who were not Valar. Many he would torment and bring great suffering upon, perhaps none greater than Turin Turambar, the cursed child of Hurin. But in all his dark wrath, for all his evil and wretchedness, Morgoth was always fighting a losing battle. For from the very beginning, everything Morgoth did would all someday turn back around and find a way to give more glory to his original master, Eru Ilúvatar, whose will was never truly able to be outmatched by Melkor. All he did was to Eru’s knowledge and infinite ability, and Morgoth is one day fated to fall forever in the end, Dagor Dagorath. On that day, Morgoth will rise once more to battle for control, but will be struck down by Turin Turambar, wielding the blade Gurthang, the “Iron of Death.”

And then Eru’s children will sing his song renewed, with Morgoth’s taint no longer there to poison it. Eru’s will could never truly be remotely challenged by Morgoth’s dark might. But the supreme lord of all that is evil in Eä will never give up the fight until Eru’s supreme plan is finished, and all the world should tremble and fear at the mention of his evil name.

Experience & Skill

Sinestro

Sinestro possesses tremendous attributes as a Lantern, fitting for his occupation as a leader and warrior. Even before becoming a Green Lantern, Sinestro was an archaeologist, constantly able to recount the past events of history, even in noticing the smallest of things down to a building’s architecture or a person’s species, thus Sinestro is a genius in those fields of study. On the field of battle, Sinestro is similarly no slouch in combat, specializing in martial arts taught to him by the greatest masters on Korugar, martial arts that have taken down Lobo, and even without a ring on, Sinestro has demonstrated superb skill and grappling, taking down Korugarian beasts that were constantly adapting to his attacks with ease. He has faced Green Lanterns many times, besting them in combat like Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner, the latter of whom he fought ringless with boxing styles taught to him by Korugarian Grandmasters such as hammerfist, and Kyle claimed he had trained with Batman. He also has a good grasp on the power and versatility of his ring and how to use it, and was even able to teach Saint Walker how to use his hope charge on Sinestro Corps rings to boost their power to 200%, despite seeming impossible.

Perhaps more terrifying than Sinestro’s skill is his sheer intelligence as a leader. The Sinestro Corps is an army composed of the universe’s most terrifying beings, and they are put to a stop by Sinestro’s threatening words, showing an intimidation factor and grasp he has on his members. Overthrowing him is null and void, as shown by Arkillo getting rather easily taken down by him after his return. Soranik, Sinestro’s daughter, spoke of Sinestro’s intelligence as if they were all merely pieces on a cosmic chessboard that Sinestro commands, stating that everything Sinestro does is part of a bigger plan. Sinestro has also been stated to be a master tactician on multiple occasions, and that he has cheated death multiple times, and Kyle Rayner noted him as a master strategist, and master with any weapon he can lay his hands on.

He’s been a few steps ahead of his enemies many times, such as when he planned ahead for Bekka’s invasion on New Korugar by enacting the world-killer Despotellis to stow away on Arkillo’s stolen ring to garner information on Bekka. Or when he was beaten by Mongul, who said Sinestro is always plotting which was confirmed, as he sent out a distress flare in advance that reached the Sinestro Corps, making a construct that explained the entire situation to them. He also knew Lyssa was the traitor of the Sinestro Corps from the start, and planned ahead for that. Sinestro also has a way of words, and an influence that cannot be explained. He manipulated Bekka, a New God warrior into joining the Sinestro Corps despite her blatant superior power and skills. Even more impressive is manipulating Hal, who had amassed many Green Lantern rings prior to becoming Parallax, into taking off all his rings except one, to fight on even grounds.

Morgoth

(Fingolfin vs Morgoth - mattleese87)

To call Morgoth “experienced” would not even begin to do the darkest blight upon existence any justice for his capabilities. Morgoth has been fighting since before the beginning of time, engaging in a duel of melodies against his own creator Ilúvatar, and it stands to reason that he would be a nightmarish foe against all beings in the world of Eä as well.

Morgoth engaged in active combat against the other Valar long before the elves and men were properly entered into the world, which the Silmarillion describes as ages forgotten. For years upon years he contended with the forces of the Valar for control of the world, even as the only one of their rank fighting against all of his former brothers and sisters. While Morgoth would eventually choose to generally operate as a military leader, it is abundantly clear that the dark lord is fully capable of direct personal combat, having personally engaged in it throughout the ages before elves and men appeared. Even when he was significantly weaker in the future, he was still able to comfortably battle and defeat the powerful elf king Fingolfin, albeit while taking a heavy wound while dealing the killing blow.

Even when not directly fighting, Morgoth is shown to be a great threat, as a monstrously good tactician and an effective leader of his dark forces. From the dark halls of his fortresses, Morgoth often directed and commanded his armies in whatever plan for destruction he had cooked up that time, with generally some level of success if not an outright victory. Morgoth had a history of seeing the plans of his enemies coming ahead of time and swiftly crafting a counter-plan that would immediately crush them underfoot, or creating some new threat that could not previously be accounted for to catch everyone off guard. This happened numerous times, such as with the creation of dragons, or powerful diseases that could wipe out entire armies before they had a chance to attack. Morgoth’s stratagems and tactics would always be a threat throughout all of Middle Earth, all the way to his final defeat, marking him as an extremely dangerous force be he on the battlefield or not.

And of course, there is his own intelligence in all sorts of situations. Morgoth is already a dangerous commander, but he is also feared for his immense cunning, setting up problems years before they come to pass. He has effectively deceived many beings of great wisdom or knowledge, be it by abusing their innocence, pride, or other such flaws, almost always finding a mark to target and utilize on his given agenda. He is a major player behind the cursed Oath of Feanor, which wrought immense conflict and numerous rounds of genocide amongst the elves, he has outwitted the Valar numerous times, and is essentially almost always a step ahead of his enemies until the rise of Earendil. This is made all the worse by his patience, as the dark lord is entirely willing to wait as long as it takes to ensure his plans succeed and he has his targets exactly where he wants them, further enhancing the effectiveness of his plots.

Equipment

Sinestro

Yellow Lantern Power Ring

Made in a universe of antimatter by the Weaponers of Qward and forged with the terror of a dying planet, the Yellow Lantern Power Rings are the weapon of choice for Sinestro and the Sinestro Corps. They channel and act as a conduit to the yellow energy of fear, and are considered one of the most durable and powerful weapons of the universe, giving them abilities that manipulate the very fundamental forces that make up the universe, such as light, radiation, gravity, electromagnetic energy, and other forces, only limited by the skill and imagination of the user. Sinestro has pretty dangerous control of the ring, even to the point of controlling the rings wielded by the rest of the Sinestro Corps, having a self-destruction protocol that can kill any Sinestro Corps member at any point if he sets it in motion. Should foes use these rings, Sinestro’s programmed an override that lets him control other yellow rings when touching them. Superman even implied he's capable of telepathically speaking to his Sinestro Corps, even when he is offworld.

He can also use the ring for more minor, but useful applications such as a source of light in a dark tunnel system, or as an extensive galactic encyclopedia, as when someone becomes a part of the Sinestro Corps, all their history and secrets are became accessible to Sinestro, being able to recount stories of his members with ease. He can also use it to discern technology, such as when he used the ring to figure out how a Motherbox worked. Sinestro’s control of the ring is so precise even that when Hal was temporarily inhabiting Sinestro’s body, he felt his mind being driven mad, and when he tried to muster willpower, the ring was warping it.

Yellow Lantern Power Battery

The Yellow Lantern Power Battery is the source of energy for the Yellow Lantern Ring, its supplier of power. They can also double as a way to create even multiple Yellow Rings at once. They are linked to the Yellow Lantern Central Power Battery on Qward, and unlike most Lanterns, the batteries themselves do not require a recharge. Sinestro’s capable of summoning it whenever needed.

Morgoth

Grond

(John Howe - Fingolfin's Challenge)

A mighty war hammer forged in the darkness of Angband, also known as The Hammer of the Underworld. Morgoth used this as his primary weapon of choice in direct, close-range combat, wielding the massive hammer as one would utilize a mace. Given Morgoth’s monstrous size and capabilities, the hammer is gifted with nightmarish blunt power, with the earth itself shaking at every swing of the weapon and craters of fire being formed at every strike.

Morgoth most famously took this weapon to do battle against Fingolfin, the High King of Noldor, in one-on-one combat. While Morgoth was heavily wounded in the battle and rendered with a limp, he ultimately won the duel, and Grond struck the noble elf down for good. Eras later, the Dark Lord Sauron would even name a specialized battering ram that would break down the gates of Minas Tirith after this weapon of Morgoth, forever cementing the hammer’s legacy in a line of terror.

Spear

(John Howe - The Killing of the Trees)

Not much is known about the spear owned by Morgoth; it was used to combat the two trees: Laurelin the golden tree, and Telperion the silver tree. With the assistance of Ungoliant, the primordial spider, the two were set upon the trees. Under the gaze of Unlight, Morgoth and Ungoilant assaulted the trees, Morgoth striking them with his spear and draining them of their life. Ungoliant drained the remains of these trees’ life, though their last flower and last fruit later became the sun and the moon.

Silmarils

(Beren recovers a Silmaril - Anke Eißmann)

The Silmarils are without a doubt the greatest and most wondrous creations made in all the land of Eä. But they are also the source of immense grief, bringer of genocides, progenitor of sorrows innumerable. These three glorious gemstones were forged by the great elf Feanor, the most skilled master of his craft to ever walk amongst the elves. They were forged with the very light of the Two Trees of Valinor, the sources of light in the world before Morgoth and Ungoliant destroyed them, and the sun and moon came to be. Their beauty as such is without compare, being the last sources of that noble light that once blessed the world before Ungoliant enshrouded it all in her insatiable hunger. All beings large and small have desired the Simarils, but few have ever claimed them for any period of time. But amongst the ranks of those few, Morgoth does stand in this number.

The sheer beauty of the Simarils is unmatched in almost all of existence, at least for the eyes of any being that doesn’t happen to be Ilúvatar himself. Their allure and grandeur are as such that pretty much any being will likely come to crave them for themselves, be they noble or dark. Their creator, Feanor, was so twisted in his foolish pride, wrath, and obsession with his creations that he and his kin swore a dark and terrible oath to kill any and all beings that hindered their possession of the gemstones, a foul mistake that would lead them to genocide more than one innocent group of their own kin, only to fall to Morgoth anyway and fail in their oath at the end of it all.

It should also be noted that the gems are blessed with some power, the wicked who touch the stones will be burnt violently, forced to either release their great desire or burn in suffering for an extensive period of time until they are relinquished. Even those who circumvent the burning will still be weighed down by their righteous light source, a power even Morgoth couldn’t fully overcome. But this problem isn’t limited to him, and any evildoer whatsoever will suffer the same fate if they come into contact with the Simarils, be they friend or foe of the Dark Lord. Ultimately, two of the Simarils were lost this way, as the vile kin of Feanor had long lost their right to wield their own creations and were destroyed by that which they coveted. The last Simaril survived, now forever owned by Earendil the Mariner, one of the few righteous beings to ever possess one and the elf responsible for bringing down Morgoth and Feanor’s kin at the end of the First Age.

Armor and Crown

("And Morgoth came" - Jenny Dolfen)

Clad in armor of jet black looked as if charred by hell itself. The armor is all black except for the Silmarils shining on his crown. A tower of steel spikes adorn it making it look like an instrument of hell is walking in front of you. His crown which he is never seen without made of Iron is a reminder who the one true dark lord and king of all that is and all that ever will be.

Support

A special case for this blog: We will be giving both Sinestro and Morgoth supporting units/armies due to how specific their ties to them are (i.e. through creation,corruption, or control). However, we won’t be giving either any specially named individuals in their armies like named Yellow Lanterns (i.e. Arkillo, Despotellis, Bekka, etc…) or named members of Morgoth’s army (i.e. Sauron, Ancalagon, Gothmog, etc…) as that would take waaaaay too long to research and shift the focus away from both characters into an army battle. Though, with the exceptions of (temporary) members like Superboy-Prime and the Anti-Monitor, no notable individual in each combatant’s armies would change much.

Sinestro

Manhunters

At one point, Sinestro acquired an army of Manhunters that he reprogrammed to be part of the Sinestro Corps, and have many usages such as storing Yellow Lantern rings, enough to reach Earth’s heroes and villains such as Scarecrow, Harley Quinn, Deathstroke, Wonder Woman, and even Superman, and even uses them to mass produce the rings. Even when using a large portion of the Manhunters as suicide bombers to attack the Pale Bishop, he still had hundreds of them he could use at his beck and call. He even has a Manhunter that houses an Indigo power ring, allowing him to teleport at a far greater range than Lanterns can normally (Sinestro himself said the Indigo Tribe’s teleportation abilities allowed them to teleport across a galaxy in the blink of an eye). They can also be charged by Sinestro and members of his Corps.

Paragon

In his time working under Lex Luthor and Perpetua, Sinestro was sent to deal with a growing threat on the planet of Alpha Seti IV, where he would face off against a race of giant, nigh-invulnerable beings known as Paragons. The Paragons are powerful enough to battle with Sinestro wielding the power of the Ultraviolet Ring possess "instant" regeneration stemming from an entire microscopic civilization, the Microns, that devote their entire lives to the Paragons, almost all of which is spent repairing the cell damage of the Paragons. This makes them essentially immortal to where Sinestro considers they are invulnerable by his capabilities. After scientifically expanding the Microns’ extremely short-lived lives by another 0.2 seconds, he makes the Microns doubt their loyalty to the Paragons and makes them loyal to him, stopping their healing factor. This leads to almost the entire Paragon species being wiped out… with the exception of one that he has under his servitude, having convinced the last Paragons' Microns to continue their work.

The Sinestro Corps.

Not too long after the resurrection and return of Hal Jordan as a Green Lantern, Sinestro began his recruitment drive for his very own Sinestro Corps, beginning with Arkillo of Sector 674. As with his own ring, the Yellow Rings of the Sinestro Corps were forged through the slave labor of the Weaponers of Qward and are inherently built to travel to and from the antimatter universe. Even without a wearer, these rings are fast enough to blitz multiple Green Lanterns and even Ion. In their first major attack on the Green Lanterns on Oa, just several Sinestro Corps. members managed to kill over 48 Lanterns and a growing number beyond Oa, even in the presence of experienced Lanterns like Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kilowog, etc…

A larger group managed to eventually bring down Kyle Rayner while he hosted Ion and broke his Willpower to leave him vulnerable to possession by Parallax. The combined might of the Corps threatened the universe itself during the Sinestro Corps War, though when aided by its then-members of Superboy-Prime, Cyborg Superman, and the Anti-Monitor, only barely stopped by the full might of the Green Lantern Corps, Guardians of The Universe, and all of Earth’s heroes working together. More recently, they were enough to face off against the armies of New Genesis and soundly defeated them, even managing to convert the New God Bekka into a member of the Corps.

And it goes without saying, all members of the Sinestro Corps. have access to basically all the abilities Sinestro has demonstrated with his ring (minus the Corps-wide self-destruct button), just to lesser degrees than the master of the Fear himself.

Morgoth

Dragons

(Dragons of Morgoth - Anato Finnstark)

Dragons were long-lived, powerful, cunning, possessing subtle intelligence, great physical strength, and covered in nearly impenetrable scales everywhere except their undersides. They had an overwhelming lust for treasure, especially gold, and were known for sleeping on hoards of all they had stolen. Dragons lived for greed, taking was their salvation. Originally bred by Morgoth for war dragons are ancient powerful creatures. The first dragon Glaurung, the father of dragons, appeared first in the war of the great jewels.

Glaurung did not meet the expectation of what a dragon should look like and this led to off shoots of dragons such as great serpents and drakes. As more of these beasts of flame were bred to fuel Morgoth's war machine where Ancalagon The Black, the strongest, biggest and most terrifying of the dragons would be made. Within this time frame the war of wrath against the Valar would take the dragons from Morgoth all of them dying in his army some fled and would lead to dragons such as Smaug who after his death in the third age was presumed to be the last great dragon ceasing to exist these once powerful beasts.

Trolls

(The Hobbit 05. Trolls - Alan Lee)

Large, strong and really stupid some able to speak but not well nigh impervious to damage by normal means but one major weakness of weakness to sunlight where it turns them to stone. Trolls were used more in the ladder years of Melkors reign; thousands died in the war of wrath. They would mainly be used by Sauron of his grand army. Several offshoots exist of trolls of Cave Trolls, Ologs are the forms they inhabit and are shown as and are still a major issue in Middle Earth.

Vampires

(Thuringwethil - Tolrone)

The servants of Morgoth we know the least about. We know that a vampire, Thuringwethil, served as Sauron and Melkor’s messenger and possessed great feathered wings and iron claws whose cloak Luthien would use to sneak into Angband. And according to the Middle Earth Role Playing Game, Vampires are ancient beasts from the pits of Morgoth and are spirits similar to the Nazgul, able to wield weapons alongside their sharp talons.

Wolves

(Melkor, Sauron, and his wolves - `rlagusdk24)

(Yes this is the best image we could find of Melkor-Morgoth’s wolves, all the others are Sauron’s)

While wargs, great wolves, and werewolves are more closely associated with his lieutenant, Sauron, Morgoth did have his own army of wolves to call on in battle. These wolves (or creatures in wolf-shapes) fought alongside the other dark creatures in Morgoth’s army or were used as mounts for Orcs. The origin of these wolves come from Sauron's imprisoning of dreadful spirits in the bodies of fell beasts, the first of these was the Werewolf Draugluin, with it being suggested in the Middle Earth RPG that some of these spirits are actually Lesser Maiar, whose spirits are only temporarily removed from the physical plane after being slain and will return to seek out their slayer.

Morgoth himself was also capable of creating more powerful wolves, having taken one of Draugluin’s sired wolves, fed him flesh straight from his hand, empowered him, and filled him with a strong devouring spirit and thus became known as Carcharoth, the Red Maw. While “lesser” wolves like wargs would just be comparable to and can even be slain in combat against men and elves, the strongest of wolves like Draugluin and Carcharoth can fight extensively against Huan, The Hound of Valinor that defeated Sauron in the First Age, the latter of the two managing to mortally wound Huan and poison him with Morgoth's venom.

Orcs

(In Mordor - John Howe)

Perhaps the most well known example of Melkor’s corruptive power is his “creation” of the Orcs, his most numerous servants by far that act as the footsoldiers of his army. Their exact origin is unclear, as Tolkien himself conflicted on whether they were originally Elves, Men, monstrosities bred from multiple creatures and the Children of Iluvatar, or animated clumps of stone. Regardless of the truth, the important detail is that they are begotten from Melkor’s corruption of what was already created.

Melkor instilled within them the natural desire to commit wicked and cruel acts and carry out evil both for his name and just for their own sport. Orcs are independent to some degree as, in the absence of their master for long enough periods, they can disobey his orders and go off on their own. They even possessed their own languages and dialects and could identify between different breeds of Orcs, suggesting they had a society amongst themselves besides a militaristic hierarchy (though one not much expanded upon). Orcs are also explicitly not immortal, having lifespans closer to Men, needing sustenance such as food and water, and were subject to disease like any other mortal. Men under Morgoth who degraded mentally to where they were reduced to Orc-level minds and habits interbred with Orcs to create Men-Orcs, which were large and cunning, and Orc-Men, which were treacherous and vile.

While not as powerful as much of the rest of Morgoth’s army, Orcs are still fairly strong on their own. Generally speaking, Orc armies are a match for the armies of men, elves, and dwarves given sufficient numbers, siege weapons, and leadership (though other creatures like Trolls and Dragons tend to help a lot). The best of the Orcs can match and harm some of the best warriors in Middle Earth such as Legolas who can move faster than normal human sight. Others can catch arrows just inches away from their face, are tough enough to survive being buried and pull themselves out of stone blocks falling on top of them, and some can even do battle with and survive multiple battles against the likes of Talion, who can easily smash apart stone statues and can draw upon the power and experience of Celebrimbor, an ancient Elf from the Year of the Trees who almost defeated Sauron during the Second Age.

Interestingly, it’s noted in The History of Middle Earth that a few of the corrupted Maiar under Morgoth became Orcs, now earthbound and unable to return to their spirit forms. These heavily degraded Maiar are still called powerful among the Orcs, but are noted to be "impotent" and "infinitely recessive" compared to what they once were. These Maiar Orcs were referred to as Boldog, recorded as Orc Captains or Great Orcs throughout history that were never slain and only less formidable than Balrogs.

As to their autonomy, Tolkien’s final word on whether or not they did have a soul and purpose beyond serving Morgoth seemed to hint towards a yes. That, if their origins as corruptions of men were true, then perhaps only a small number of the dark lord's forces were truly drones for him to control and "absorbed" in him. After all, if Morgoth needed to “corrupt” Orcs in the first place, then they certainly were not always evil and were thus not to be denied mercy when an Orc asked for it as some humans thought.

Men of Darkness

(Easterling Skirmisher - AlMaNeGrA)

Since the Awakening of Men, Morgoth had always sought to corrupt the favored children of Eru. While we know of his dark corruption twisting the forms of mortals and binding their spirits to monsters, there are examples of Morgoth taking the more simple approach: Bending men to his will and bringing them under his service directly. Chief examples of these are a culture of men known as the Easterlings, who often fought alongside Morgoth’s Orcs and would oppress the other Free Peoples of the world. One of Morgoth’s greatest victories was even won by the Easterlings, feigning loyalty to the House of Fëanor only to betray them in battle and cause the fall of the once mighty Elven House. Not only is their martial force as an army enough to turn the tides of battle against even the most formidable of Elves, but it is in their treachery and cruelty that makes these Men of Darkness some of the greatest threats in Middle Earth.

Balrogs

(The Balrogs of Morgoth - Thylaccine)

Perhaps the greatest examples of how deep Morgoth’s corruption extends, the mighty Balrogs were the most powerful of Morgoth’s forces for they were once Maiar, lesser spirits among the Ainur, either drawn to his power or corrupted into his service. Also known as the Valaraukar, the Balrogs are scourges of fire cloaked in darkness that wield whips of fire and were usually among his most faithful servants and chief among the Umaiar, the evil Maia that joined Melkor. Their strength were known to be so great that they could match the mightiest forces of men and elves, drive away the primeval spider Ungoliant and free Morgoth from her webbing that he could not escape from on his own, and even dared face off against Manwe, King of the Valar himself, altogether as a wave of flame (though they didn’t last long). Collectively, Tolkien thought there were between three to seven Balrogs within Morgoth’s army. Famously, a Balrog that survived the end of the First Age all the way into the Third Age, Durin’s Bane, dueled to a mutual kill with the wizard Gandalf the Grey, whose true identity was that of the Maia Olórin.

It’s worth noting that the Balrogs were not the only Maiar in Morgoth’s army. Of course there was Sauron, Morgoth’s first lieutenant and greatest of all his servants, but it’s noted that beneath Sauron were not only the Balrogs but other degraded and corrupted Maiar. Some having been so reduced in power and attached to their physical forms that they had become Orcs. The Maia Ossë was also once a servant of Morgoth before being turned back to the Valar Ulmo. Also, apparently Balrogs can "get it down" and multiply. Yeah, that’s a thing.

Abilities

Sinestro

Fear Instillation

Sinestro has the ability to manipulate fear in a variety of ways, and apply it in even more twisted ways. Depending on what the fear is or how grave said fear is, the constructs and attacks of the ring become more powerful, especially when that fear is exposed, which can almost easily allow Sinestro to amplify that fear, which would make Sinestro stronger and weaken the opponent mentally, to the point of making them irrational and experiencing true horror. And even without the ability working, Sinestro himself invokes fear in those who encounter him, often being cited as one of the most intimidating beings in the universe. When Power Ring encountered Sinestro, his first instinct was to run and hide from him.

Fear Empowerment

Fear can also be manipulated to make Sinestro stronger. The more numerous the terrors are and the more people with residual fear, the stronger Sinestro and his abilities become. The range at which is so great that Sinestro can use the fear of the entire Earth to make himself stronger.

Energy Construct Creation

The trademark Lantern ability. Sinestro is able to create hardened constructs of yellow light, only limited by the skill and imagination of the user. Every Lantern has a unique application, and for Sinestro, his use of constructs is exactly what you would imagine; to instill fear. His constructs are made to invoke terror and dread, often taking the form of items or people of fear or disgust, depending on who he is going against, or as a form of intimidation, the latter of which usually comes in the form of weapons, ranging from weapons such as buzzsaws that severs limbs, a bow and arrow, maces, guns and swords, tendrils, or even a hangman!

When it comes to constructs meant to scare, it usually comes in the form of monsters, ranging from ram-like aliens, or pharaohs. In more specific instances, he’s made constructs of the fears of his enemies, such as making a Darkseid construct against Highfather, or a Czarnian construct to scare Lobo, or sometimes just…of himself! In instances of more weirder applications, Sinestro has used his constructs for things such as mimicking fingers and a Lantern ring to give Arkillo fingers, or making constructs in Mongul’s mouth that suffocate him. They can even regenerate from attacks from Bekka, a New God. Even at just 5% charge he can make constructs.

Energy Manipulation

Sinestro can harness the yellow light of fear in the form of energy blasts or projection. They’re powerful enough to skeletonize other Lanterns such as Power Ring, or even turn them to dust, and can harm enemies as weak as Killer A.I., or even as strong as UItraman, the Crime Syndicate Superman, or Lobo. Sinestro’s demonstrated enough understanding on how to manipulate fear that he can control blasts shot by other yellow ring users who have little understanding of fear.

Force-Fields

Sinestro can also use energy to make strong and durable force-fields, most commonly used for defending against a variety of attacks, from lasers to full-blown supernovas at times. He can make them in many ways, such as simple barriers or shields, or protective bubbles around others. Sinestro’s force-fields have protected him from the nuclear meltdown of Deathstorm, and similar energy constructs from the Thunderer’s weapons. He can even surround the force-field around himself and channel it into his fists for augmentation.

Flight

Sinestro can fly across space with ease, fast enough to use black holes as wormholes and reach interstellar travel.

Electromagnetic Scanning

One of the more technical but versatile abilities of the ring, Sinestro can detect a variety of effects and phenomena found on the Electromagnetic Emotional Spectrum, which come to Sinestro usually in the form of an analysis and warning of what the ring picks up, including but not limited to; vibrational anomalies (It detected the Crime Syndicate from 142 miles away), nuclear energy, Star Sapphire energy, atmospheric alterations from the planet Warworld,

Lifeform Scanning

Sinestro can use the ring to refract light in areas he can’t see, scanning the area for heat signatures or to see who is nearby, and how many, usually giving him additional information such as what they are holding or what kind of threat they are. He can even use it to identify a deceased species.

Teleportation

At shorter ranges, Sinestro can use the ring to teleport himself, such as when he teleported the Injustice League from the Secret Sanctuary to the Batcave.

Dimensional Travel

Lanterns at times have shown the ability to use black holes as wormholes to get to destinations faster, going across entire space sectors. In even rarer instances, Lanterns can make portals or gateways that allow them to travel across galaxies or even universes. Sinestro was able to make a portal to send his Sinestro Corps back to their universe after their battle on Qward in the antimatter universe. This extends to being capable of sending others such as Kyle Rayner to the Antimatter universe; a place where even the Magicks of the Spectre & Phantom Stranger cannot survive, theorized to work by unzipping their molecules before they’re transported. Folding them into nothingness. Sinestro also has a weird failsafe way of using dimensional travel, as when he was seemingly killed again by Hal Jordan, his ring caused a molecular split in the fabric of reality that sent him back to the antimatter universe.

Phasing

When Hal was in Sinestro’s body, he used the ring to phase through a force-field surrounding the Green Lantern Central Power Battery.

Telekinesis

Sinestro can telekinetically pull objects with his ring, or encase a person in energy to ragdoll them around. He’s also used it to restrain foes, such as holding Soranik in place.

Astral Projection

At one point, Sinestro had his spirit imprisoned in the Green Lantern Central Power Battery after trying to destroy it, as we learn that he was roaming as a spirit and didn’t realize where his body was, and reached for it as if he was going to take it back. Later down the line, his memories were restored when his psyche put the ring back on, and when he was given weaker bodies to hold his revenge-driven spirit energy, he was able to fight the Spectre (Hal Jordan) in a battle that took place in Hal Jordan’s mind.

Possession

Sinestro was able to possess John Stewart’s body, in an attempt to regain his own body. While possessing John, Sinestro stated that his soul had mind control and he wrestled Guy Gardner for control of his body.

Life-Force Absorption

As he outright stated to do so himself, Sinestro is capable of absorbing the life forces of others(as you can see in the image above), most prominently, he did so to the likes of the Emotional Entity, Parallax. Honestly not that much to say here.

Resistances

Emotional/Mental Manipulation/Illusions: Two times was Sinestro is hit by the Paling’s emotional purging:

- He was faced with his greatest insecurities, such as Hal Jordan being hailed as the greatest Green Lantern, Hal’s relationship with Soranik, and Hal being the leader of the Sinestro Corps, but resists the emotion purging due to his mastery and control over the emotion of fear.

- Then the Pale Bishop himself used his emotional purging to make Sinestro revisit his worst moments in life; The death of Abin Sur, the destruction of Korugar, his exile as a Green Lantern, encounter with Parallax, then shares the fear with Pale Bishop, recounting his leave of the Guardians, but ultimately Sinestro resists the purging due to his mastery of fear and fear he senses in the Pale Bishop. For reference, this same emotional purging harmed Black Adam and Romat-Ru, a Sinestro Corps member.

Sinestro has also used meditation and self-rite to control the whispers and control Parallax had over Sinestro, gaining mastery over the entity. For double reference, Parallax mentally assaulted the Green Lantern Corps, taking over hundreds of them except Guy Gardner and Kilowog). He’s also broken out of Pink Sapphire’s crystal which was attempting to convert him and relive the memories of his greatest love.

Assimilation: The New God Metron said that Lantern rings are capable of passing through the Source Wall, a place primordial gods have died trying to go, becoming a part of the wall.

Matter Manipulation: Due to their rings, Lanterns are stated to be resistant to the Third Army's conversion abilities, which completely rewrite a person's organic matter, and extract the heart.

Radiation: Lantern rings protect them against radiation.

Soul Absorption/Manipulation: When an aspect of Spectre Hal tried to absorb Sinestro’s spirit into his being, Sinestro easily broke out, and reformed his psyche after attacks from Spectre Hal.

Paralysis: As mentioned prior, broke out of Pink Sapphire’s crystal which keeps one in a suspension animation.

Morgoth

Valar Physiology

(Morgoth - Kulisuzu)

Of all the powers in Tolkien’s legendarium, there are none so great as that of the Secret Fire, the divine power held exclusively by Eru Ilúvatar. The Secret Fire is the power of all creation, to not just be able to make things but give them life and souls. It is by this power that Ilúvatar created all things living or not, including Morgoth himself. But do not be fooled, the Secret Fire is not something that can be acquired, it is quite literally part of Ilúvatar himself, one of his divine innate abilities. It is this ultimate power that began Morgoth’s fall. Morgoth, in his selfish pride, coveted the Secret Fire for himself, but never succeeded in acquiring it for obvious reasons, prompting his vile rebellion against all that is good. But despite this, Eru’s power of life still runs through the evildoer, just like it does with any other living being in all the land of Eä and beyond. And as such, there is much to go over in just how life, souls, and bodies in Tolkien’s writing works.

As an Ainur spirit, Morgoth is unique in that he does not really need to have a body (also called a Hroa), and it is really something more akin to clothing for him. The Valar used these bodies to take on physical forms in Eä, and to be perceived by the beings they were accompanied by such as elves or men, but they are by no means a requirement to a Valar’s survival. Should the body somehow be destroyed, then they can just keep operating as a spirit or rebuild their body anew with some of their energy. This energy is limited, but as a Valar, Morgoth should have enough energy to rebuild his body multiple times over, or he can just forgo this use of energy and fight on as a Valar spirit.

But there’s much more to how the Valar spirits work than just that. Ainur spirits are essentially indestructible, even against the face of their own creator. Sauron was capable of surviving the fall of Numenor as a spirit, and of course any Valar would be superior to such a showing, Morgoth included. Should their energy be diminished enough then they won’t be able to act as a threat or force anymore, but outright killing them is pretty much impossible, as Tolkien himself has stated. As such, a Valar like Morgoth can utilize a body to fight and make himself perceivable by those he wishes to interact with, but he does not need one to fight on, and destroying his spirit is incredibly hard, if not impossible.

In addition, Morgoth specifically has been stated to share the powers and knowledge of every other Ainu in Tolkien’s works - as a result, he should have access to all of their abilities, though obviously abilities that he has actually used personally take precedence.