The Sentry.'s page

This young Caucasian man stands well over six foot tall with extraordinarily broad shoulders and a small waist. His blue eyes are brilliant with a sparkle of ruby red. He wears his short black hair slicked back with one curl escaping in the middle of his forehead. His square jaw is clean shaven.

The Sentry was created by Dr. Emil Hamilton within Project Cadmus, often referred to simply as Cadmus, which was a secret division of the United States government dedicated to countering the power of metahumans in the world, particularly the members of the Justice League. Many catalysts drove the origins of the Cadmus project, such as Superman going rogue by invading the Earth after being brainwashed by Darkseid and the conquests of Earth by the Imperium and the Thanagarians. Then, Superman shared with the US government the full details of what happened in the Justice Lords' universe where their Luthor was killed by their Superman and established a new world order, in order to secure a presidential pardon for Lex Luthor so he could help the Justice League defeat the Justice Lords. A veteran intelligence operative, Amanda Waller, led the running of simulations to show that if the Justice League decided to do the same thing, the US government would have been defenseless against them, despite General Hardcastle's rogue operations aimed solely at designing counter measures to Superman. Waller was appointed director of Project Cadmus, charged with creating effective countermeasures against a rogue Justice League. Luthor was a secret benefactor to Cadmus, which allowed its funding to remain off-the-books, hence its budget was hidden from the government budget. It has been suggested that Cadmus was a division of the C.I.A, but Waller had a direct line to the President of the United States.

Technology alone would not repel a technologically superior opponent. The cornerstone of the Cadmus agenda was to aim their countermeasures at all the seemingly "good" metahumans based on the cynical belief that they cannot be trusted, no matter how well-intentioned they may seem. Cadmus research branched out in several different directions to develop weapons that would be effective against the League.

Dr. Emil Hamilton was in charge of the genetics division of Cadmus creating cloned or genetically engineered metahumans conditioned to be loyal to the government, including Doomsday, Galatea, the Ultimen, and Superboy. For example, Doomsday was engineered with Kryptonian DNA to be superior to Superman, in case he ever went rogue again, and was repeatedly subjected to brainwashing simulations that humiliated him and fueled his rage towards Superman. And, Galatea was a cloned version of Supergirl, which was artificially aged to her physical prime, in order to have another Kryptonian under government control. She was indoctrinated in Cadmus's philosophy as their personal weapon and rigorously trained to develop her abilities to the pinnacle of her potential; although, she was more ruthless and deadly with none of the moral conscience that made Supergirl hold back from killing people.

One of the most brilliant scientists on the planet, Hamilton was renowned for his inventions. Before Cadmus, when Superman appeared as the hero of Metropolis, Hamilton and S.T.A.R. Labs formed a research partnership, since Hamilton shared Superman's dedication to justice and was quick to see how his talents could benefit Superman's efforts. As one of Superman's closest allies, Hamilton was perhaps the most affected when Superman turned rogue after being brainwashed by Darkseid. Even more unsettling to him was when Superman escaped custody and brought a severely injured Supergirl to Hamilton for medical treatment. When Hamilton confessed that he was reluctant to do so for fear of being charged with treason, Superman, in a flash of angered desperation, threatened him into cooperating. Although Superman immediately apologized for his rash act, Hamilton was shaken by the revelation, even when free of the brainwashing, Superman was still capable of such wrath. Already thinking ahead, Hamilton took the opportunity to steal a sample of Supergirl's genetic material, as he had already done with Superman.

After many morally questionable projects, Dr. Emil Hamilton realized that the only being who could keep Superman in check was Superman himself, so he attempted to create another Superman. In secret, Hamilton created Subject 23, codename Sentry, a clone of Superman which was artificially aged to his physical prime. Instead of indoctrinating him like Galatea, simulated memories of a healthy childhood in Smallville, Kansas, where Superman was the best superhero in the world were implanted in Subject 23.

Hamilton was reassigned when Project Cadmus was eventually disbanded, and Subject 23 slept within an unpowered, opaque, gestational cloning tube which was packed up with everything apparently salvageable in the Cadmus genetics laboratories and stored in an immense US government warehouse. He wears a modified red, white, and blue Superman suit with a stylized S symbol. In his hand, Hamilton left a hand-written note saying, “Sentry, do better than Superman.”

The Sentry wants to live up to the ideals of his predecessor Superman who he has never met, and those expectations are set by those around him and programmed memories of a healthy childhood in Smallville, Kansas with Superman as the best superhero on Earth. He has accepted his role but maybe years later he could become cynical, because his ideals are artificially grounded in a healthy Smallville childhood.

Since he is newly born, he is curious, eager to learn, and very impressionable.

• Motivation: Acceptance The Sentry does good to gain the trust and acceptance of others and perhaps discover what it means to be human and Kryptonian.
• Power Loss The Sentry is a clone using Kryptonian DNA. Sometimes that special brew doesn't come together perfectly.
• Born Yesterday As a recently decanted clone, the Sentry understands very little about the world.
• Programmed memories His memories of a healthy childhood in Smallville were programmed and may glitch.
• Legacy The Sentry is intended to live up to the best expectations of Superman. Sometimes this puts him in difficult situations.
• Solar Battery His Kryptonian DNA is powered by the radiant energy of yellow suns.