The Sinister Six are a group of supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe, drawn from Spider-Man's rogues gallery. The original incarnation of the group was organized by Doctor Octopus, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964).

History

Original Sinister Six

After suffering three defeats in a row from the wall-crawler, Doctor Octopus realized that he would require assistance from Spider-Man's others enemies in order to defeat Spider-Man. After his recent defeat followed by the police successfully removing the tentacle pack, Doctor Octopus mentally controls his tentacles to come to him and he escapes from jail. Afterwards, he contacted every known supervillain that had crossed paths with Spider-Man, but only Vulture, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and Sandman responded. He also tried to get Doctor Doom, Green Goblin, and Lizard to join him, but Doctor Doom wished to focus his efforts on the Fantastic Four, Green Goblin refused as he was convinced that he was capable of defeating Spider-Man on his own, and Lizard's alter ego of Dr. Curt Connors had no vendetta against Spider-Man. Knowing he'd never be able to keep the team together for long, Doctor Octopus quickly formulated a battle plan in which each individual member of the Sinister Six would battle Spider-Man in a carefully chosen location, giving each of them personal glory and Spider-Man an early death.

Spider-Man himself had his own problems, as he had somehow lost his powers and prepared to return to normal life as a teenager. While blaming himself for the death of his Uncle Ben, Spider-Man lost his balance and fell down the side of a building, ending up clinging to a flagpole. As Peter returned to his normal life as a student and a freelance photographer, he was unaware of the fact that the Sinister Six realized the Daily Bugle secretary Betty Brant played a large role in Spider-Man's life and kidnapped her, along with an innocent bystander who turned out to be Aunt May. It was then left to the Vulture to spill the beans to J. Jonah Jameson while Peter Parker listened, warning him to inform Spider-Man that Betty was being held hostage along with Aunt May and if he wanted to see them alive, he'd have to battle the Sinister Six.

Despite not having his powers, Peter put on his Spider-Man costume and went to fight Electro at an electrical plant. During the battle, Peter somehow regained his superpowers when he dodged a bolt of electricity (the loss was speculated to be caused by his own self-loathing for the loss of his uncle, which he got over when facing a life-or-death situation), and easily defeated Electro by cutting of the power. He learned of the next location that he would meet another member of the Sinister Six from a card that Electro was carrying. Spider-Man then battled against Kraven (who confronted him with some wildcats) and defeated this foe too, who also had a card telling him where he could find the next member of the Sinister Six that he was to battle. The Human Torch then appeared and offered to help Spider-Man, but Spider-Man said the fight was personal. After defeating Mysterio (who used robots of the X-Men), Sandman (who Spider-Man defeated in an airtight box which had been constructed to trap Spider-Man when he touched the card but rendered the Sandman unconscious), and the Vulture (who forced Spider-Man to battle him without his web-shooters before being caught when Spider-Man uses a lsso the Vulture tried using to catch him), Spider-Man went up against Doctor Octopus, who first removed his arms to attack Spider-Man from behind, then sent him into an enormous fishbowl so he could kill him like a real octopus as he was wearing scuba equipment. The two foes battled and Spider-Man was victorious by tangling the tentacles with his webbing. Aunt May did not even realize she had been kidnapped and thought Doctor Octopus was a charming gentleman. All the members were jailed.

Return of the Sinister Six

In The Amazing Spider-Man #334-339, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Mysterio, Sandman, and Vulture escaped from prison and went to get revenge on the wall-crawler. However, times had changed as Kraven the Hunter had committed suicide, so Hobgoblin took his place. The group was organized once again by Doctor Octopus, who claimed they would try to defeat Spider-Man. However, this was a trick, part of a larger plan by which Octavius alone would be the master of the world. The Sandman, at this point in his career reformed, aided Spider-Man in defeating the Sinister Six, and ultimately stopping Octavius' plans to conquer the world.

Revenge of the Sinister Six

In Spider-Man vol. 1 #18-23, the group reunited once more in a bid to take over the world with alien weaponry. The line-up consisted of Doctor Octopus, Electro, Gog, Hobgoblin, Mysterio, Vulture. Sandman's foster family was hit with a bomb and Sandman (believing Octopus had attacked his foster family as punishment for betraying him) joined the other members of the Sinister Six in a plan to take revenge upon Doctor Octopus. Despite his grief however, Sandman contacted Spider-Man and asked him to shadow the group as insurance against him being double-crossed or surprises. By this point, Doctor Octopus had already obtained his lost adamantium arms (by killing a wealthy, unethical individual who offered to sell the arms to him) and stealing the old man's robot soldiers and weapons. Doctor Octopus easily defeated the other members of the six with them, then zapped Sandman with a weapon that transformed his living sand body into solid glass (Doctor Octopus, however, was apparently not responsible for the bombing of Sandman's foster family, which was apparently done by the other members of the Six in order to coerce Sandman into joining their revenge scheme; in addition, Octopus had not only anticipated the Six's plan to reassemble and take revenge upon him, but had deliberately facilitated it, even secretly paying Electro to help ensure the Six reassembled so that he could coerce the other members into aiding his scheme). The assembled Sinister Six went off on a rampage, stealing advanced weapons and technology from several sources, including raiding an alien dimension for advanced weaponry and attacking a facility specializing in cybernetics. In the process, they had several successful encounters: beating Spider-Man, the Hulk (in his Professor identity), the Fantastic Four, Sleepwalker, Deathlok, Nova, Solo, Cyborg X, and Ghost Rider. Before acquiring more advanced alien weapons, the Hulk trounced the other members of the Six, then got stomped upon by Doctor Octopus because Octavius had the adamantium arms. Defeated in his initial encounter with the Six, Spider-Man was left with hairline fractures on one arm and leg, but was able to pursue them with medical attention including cybernetic casts. Eventually, Spider-Man and several other heroes confront the villains as they are seizing a HYDRA base to gain access to deadly, world-devastating weapons (during the Six's raiding assaults on various locations, the group engaged in wanton mass murder, simply exterminating anyone who got in their way, shocking Spider-Man, as, despite their lack of scruples, these particular villains didn't generally kill wantonly). The last member of Octavius' Sinister Six was revealed to be Gog, and a combat between members of the super hero community summoned by Spider-Man (including the Fantastic Four, Nova, the Hulk, and Solo) broke out, ending when the broken-glass body of the Sandman shredded Doctor Octopus, nearly killing him.

Sinister Seven

A variation known as the Sinister Seven was formed by Hobogoblin to fight Kaine (a defective clone of Spider-Man that killed Doctor Octopus and Grim Hunter). Hobgoblin's Sinister Seven consisted of Beetle, Electro, Mysterio, Scorpia, Shocker, and Vulture. They finally found Kaine and a battle erupted. Spider-Man came and saved Kaine from being executed, the two then worked together and defeated the Sinister Seven.

Sandman's Sinister Six

Eventually Sandman and Mysterio II (the original had committed suicide following his fight with Daredevil) formed a new version of the Sinister Six, with Venom temporarily replacing Doc Octopus with the other members consisting of Electro, Kraven the Hunter II, and Vulture. Sandman used the Sinister Six in order to get revenge on Doctor Octopus for turning him into glass. The Sinister Six were defeated again, and Venom subsequently went on to attack the various members of the Sinister Six. He nearly killed Sandman and badly injuring Electro and Kraven the Hunter II before he and his symbiote were briefly separated from each other.

Sinister Twelve

In Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Norman Osborn had been unmasked to the public as the Green Goblin and imprisoned after losing a battle to Spider-Man. Defeated but unbowed, Osborn concocted a fiendish revenge plan. He contacted a group of supervillains who also bore grudges against Spider-Man, all of whom had been financed by Osborn's fortunes for years (It was revealed that most supervillains have corporate funding in the Marvel Universe). Eager to retaliate, the villains agreed to band together, and the Sinister Twelve was formed.

The Sinister Twelve was the largest gathering to date of Spider-Man's enemies. The major villains not part of the Twelve were either currently deceased (Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter), retired (Molten Man, Hobgoblin), incarcerated (Rhino and Doctor Octopus), or simply too unpredictable and wild to be trusted (Carnage).

Mac Gargan was the de facto leader of the Twelve while Osborn was in prison, and it was he who kidnapped Peter Parker's Aunt May and threatened to kill her if Spider-Man did not help Osborn escape from jail. A desperate Spider-Man, with help from the Black Cat, broke Osborn out only to be confronted with the Vulture, Sandman, Electro, Chameleon, Lizard, Hydro-Man, Shocker, Hammerhead, Boomerang, and Tombstone. Osborn, now in the guise of the Green Goblin, introduced them as the Sinister Twelve. The final member of the group, Scorpion, shocked everybody present when he arrived, revealing that he had bonded with Eddie Brock's alien symbiote becoming the new Venom which gave him greater strength and durability. Although Osborn was displeased with Gargan's new power, he nevertheless watched with glee as the assembled villains converged on the hopelessly outnumbered Spider-Man and Black Cat.

Despite the odds, Spider-Man and the Black Cat fought back in a heroic last stand. Before the two could be killed, salvation arrived in the form of Captain America, Iron Man, Daredevil, Yellowjacket and the Fantastic Four, who struck back at the villains. Spider-Man's wife Mary Jane Watson had called S.H.I.E.L.D. to aid him as she feared he was heading into a trap. A furious Green Goblin rocketed away and kidnapped her and Spider-Man pursued him, fighting off Venom (who was trying to stop him). Spider-Man and the Goblin clashed once again upon a bridge (not the one where Gwen Stacy was killed), this time with Mary Jane's life at stake.

Finally Osborn gave a vital clue as to Aunt May's whereabouts, and was defeated by a combination of being shot by Mary Jane, being struck by lightning, and attacked by Doctor Octopus (who was brainwashed by the police into trying to kill him). The Goblin fell into the river below, and Aunt May was found and saved.

In the aftermath, Peter received a present letter from Osborn, thanking him for all the "excitement" their rivalry has provided over the years and telling him to rest easy until they meet again. The rest of the Sinister Twelve were subdued by the heroes and arrested.

Civil War's Sinister Six

A new version of the Sinister Six apparently banded together during the Civil War storyline. The line-up consists of Doctor Octopus, Grim Reaper, Lizard, Shocker, Trapster, and Vulture. They were stopped by Captain America and his Secret Avengers off-panel and found bounded up by S.H.I.E.L.D.^[1]

Sinister 666

In the end of Amazing Spider-Man Extra #3, Kraven the Hunter (Ana Kravinoff) is seen vowing revenge on Spider-Man, and afterwards the words appear "Soon: The Sinister 666." The Sinister 666 storyline changed it's name to The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt storyline later in the process which involved Ana and her mother Sasha enlisting the help of Spider-Man's enemies to attack Spider-Man leading up to the resurrection of Kraven the Hunter.

"Big Time" Sinister Six

Following the events of the "Origin of the Species" storyline which involved Doctor Octopus assembling Spider-Man's enemies into targeting Harry Osborn's baby (who Doctor Octopus thought had some of Norman Osborn's DNA), only Chameleon, Electro, Mysterio, Rhino, and Sandman remained with Doctor Octopus to reform the Sinister Six when the baby did not inherit Norman Osborn's DNA. Their first plot involved sending Micro-Octobots to blow up an Air Force base. This was prevented by Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four.^[2]

Spider-Man and the Future Foundation stumble on a plot on a Caribbean Island by the Sinister Six which involves the use of a zombie pirate crew.^[3] During the fight with the Sinister Six, Spider-Man realizes that the Doctor Octopus, Electro, Rhino, and Sandman that they are fighting are robots while Mysterio and Chameleon are the only ones present. Meanwhile, Doctor Octopus infiltrates the Baxter Building to look for specific technology plans.^[4]

While the adult Avengers are dealing with the eruption of Mount Etna, Tigra and the Avengers Academy students learn that Electro has broken into a French lab. Once on the scene, the students discover the Electro is accompanied by the rest of the Sinister Six. The Sinister Six overpower the students and Doctor Octopus steals a device containing self-sustaining power. The team barely escapes before an explosion takes out the lab. Back at the academy, Henry Pym then tells the students that he has failed to prepare them for such a fight and they will train harder as a result.^[5] Doctor Octopus and the Sinister Six later fight Intelligencia and stole their Zero Cannon (a powerful weapon which change Earth's gravity field to send specific objects to space). Doctor Octopus later appeared in a robot suit which would help to keep him alive.^[6]

Doctor Octopus and Mysterio later coordinate the Octobots that have infiltrated the Apogee 1 Space Station. When Mysterio notices that some of the Octobots were disabled, Doctor Octopus orders the Octobots to finish their mission and then destroy the space station. Spider-Man, Human Torch, and John Jameson later discover that some of the space stations crew members have been taken over by the Octobots making them Octobot-controlled Zombies that obey Doctor Octopus' commands.^[7] While in their undersea base, Doctor Octopus and Mysterio discover that their Octobot-controlled Zombies have passed out. Doctor Octopus discovers that Spider-Man is on the Apogee 1 Space Station. Doctor Octopus then appears on the Space Station's screen stating that he has meddled in his plans for the last time and pushes a button that starts to move the Apogee 1 Space Station close to Earth. After Apogee 1 Space Station is destroyed and the crew is evacuated by Spider-Man, Human Torch, and John Jameson, Doctor Octopus tells the rest of his Sinister Six that his master plan is about to begin.^[8]

In the "Ends of the Earth" storyline, all of these preparations come to fruition in a plan to conquer the world.^[9]

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse 10th anniversary limited series, Mister Sinister assembles his own group dubbed the Sinister Six. However, this group is unrelated to the more established lineup of criminals. It includes Cloak and Dagger, Sonique, Sauron, Blob, and Phoenix.

Avataars: Covenant of the Shield

On the planet earth created by the Shaper of Worlds, the Sinister Six are known as the Six Most Sinister, a group of criminals operating a tollbooth in the Webwood who are led by the Goblin King. When the Champions of the Realm attempt to pass through the Webwoods, they are attacked by the Six Most Sinister, who they easily deal with and leave defeated as they move on. The group included Kraven the Hunter, Electro, Mysterio, Sandman, Lizard and Doctor Octopus^[10]

Marvel Zombies Return

The Sinister Six appear in an alternative universe that Zombie Spider-Man enters, working for the Kingpin and consisting of Doctor Octopus, Sandman, The Vulture, Mysterio, Electro, and Kraven the Hunter. They are quickly and violently ripped apart, bitten, and zombiefied (except Sandman who flees), and end up eating Spider-Man's friends, which causes them to be killed in retaliation.

MC2

In the MC2 universe, there was a group of Spider-Girl villains (Dragon King, Funny Face, Killerwatt, Mr. Abnormal, Raptor, and Sabreclaw) who banded together to defeat her. They called themselves the Savage Six.

Spider-Man: Reign

An older version of the Sinister Six, dubbed the "Sinner Six" appeared in Spider-Man: Reign. This version of the team, composed of Scorpion, Electro, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, Sandman, and Hydro-Man are forced into the employ of New York's fascist mayor, Mayor Waters via microchips placed inside them that would detonate if they attempted to leave the city. If they succeeded in killing Spider-Man, they would be given their freedom.

Scorpion was tossed out a window and presumably killed by Spider-Man. Electro and Hydro-Man were killed when Spider-Man caused the two to fall onto each other. Spider-Man defeated both Kraven and Mysterio and left them webbed up.

After his long-lost daughter was killed by the Reign (policemen under Waters' control), Sandman confronts Waters who gives him the detonator. As Spider-Man is battling a series of Venom symbiotes, Sandman gives him the detonator before allowing himself to be devoured by the symbiotes. Spider-Man presses the detonator, causing the rest of the Six to presumably explode.

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe an Ultimate Six consisting of Sandman, Doctor Octopus, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, and Green Goblin (who tried to recruit Spider-Man through blackmail) went up against Nick Fury and the Ultimates after the villains escaped the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison they were held in after each had been defeated by Spider-Man and arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D. for illegally altering their genetic codes. Spider-Man temporarily fought for Green Goblin believing he had kidnapped Aunt May. When Captain America informed Spider-Man that she was safe in S.H.I.E.L.D custody, Spider-Man turned on the Ultimate Six and helped the Ultimates defeat the Ultimate Six.

In Ultimate X-Men Annual #1, the X-Men fought simulations of the five in the Danger Room.

The Ultimate Six return in the "The Death of Spider-Man" storyline. It is revealed that Norman Osborn did not die as originally thought but had survived. He transforms and escapes at the first chance. Along the way, he breaks out fellow prisoners Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, and Vulture (who replaces Spider-Man). The Six steal a helicopter which Electro pilots and escape before taking refuge in someone's apartment. It is their luck that they have escaped at the same time the Ultimates fight the New Avengers as there will be no one to stop them from attacking Spider-Man.^[11] Unfortunately, Doctor Octopus doesn't want to kill Spider-Man stating that he and Norman Osborn were responsible for Spider-Man's creation. Norman Osborn retaliates by turning into the Green Goblin and killing Doctor Octopus.^[12]

The remaining five make their way to Elijah Stern's lair, where the Vulture's suit is upgraded and Kraven gets a set of blasters and knives. The five go to Peter's house in Queens and confront Johnny Storm and Bobby Drake, who were staying there at the time. Johnny defeats Norman with a powerful blast, but is quickly defeated by Sandman while Bobby is defeated by Electro.^[13] Peter arrives on the scene and dispatches Vulture and quickly defeats the other three with ease. Sandman gets back up and assists Vulture into knocking down Peter. Electro regains consciousness and is prepared to deal the final blow. Aunt May suddenly arrives on the scene, shooting Electro multiple times. This causes Electro to unleash a huge amount of electricity which renders Kraven, Sandman, and Vulture unconscious. As May and Peter embrace, Norman gets back on his feet and prepares to attack.^[14]

Swinester Six

In the Spider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special, Peter Porker aka Spider-Ham faces the Swinester Six. The group consists of Green Gobbler (a turkey who is this reality's version of Green Goblin), Doctor Octopussy Cat (a cat who is this reality's version of Doctor Octopus), Sandmanatee (a manatee who is this reality's version of Sandman), Eelectro (an electric eel who is this reality's version of Electro), the Buzzard (an opossum who is this reality's version of Vulture), and Mysteriape (a gorilla who is this reality's version of Mysterio).^[15]

Spider-Man Magazine

In the 'Spider-Man Adventures' magazine, a version of the sinister six appears, formed by Doctor Doom. It consisted of Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Electro, Rhino, Sandman and Venom (Mac Gargan), they appear in a multi-part storyline with Spider-Man fighting each member in a different timeline. In the final part, the Sinister Six and Doctor Doom fight Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. All are defeated, though Vulture went into the main Baxter Building and tried to steal some gold statues only to be pummeled by the heroes.

In other media

Television

• In the 1994 animated series, the Sinister Six was called the Insidious Six. Fox Kids censors felt that the word sinister sounded too menacing for a children's program (even though another Fox Kids children's program, X-Men had Mister Sinister as a villain). The Insidious Six was formed in the beginning of Season 2 as a two-part episode premiere, it was created by the Kingpin to settle off his debt with his enemy, Silvermane, and consisted of Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Shocker, Chameleon, Rhino and Scorpion to kill Spider-Man. When they realize the connection of Peter photographing Spider-Man, they kidnap Aunt May. The Insidious Six manages to overpower, tie up and unmask Spider-Man (who was losing his powers), only to assume Peter came to fight them himself because he couldn't find the real Spider-Man. When his powers return, Spider-Man defeats them. The Insidious Six return in Six Forgotten Warriors. Kingpin has once again recruited the Six in an attempt to unlock a Doomsday machine, with Vulture replacing the deceased Mysterio. They are again defeated and incarcerated.

• The Sinister Six appeared in The Spectacular Spider-Man episode "Group Therapy." It consists of Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Shocker, Vulture, Rhino, and Electro. Like in the original version of the team, Doctor Octopus is the leader of the team. The team's members have all previously been members of the Sinister Six in either the comic books or other animated Spider-Man programmes. The villains pooled their resources and organized a well-planned jailbreak orchestrated by Hammerhead on Tombstone's orders, then went after Spider-Man. After realizing that his previous strategy's wouldn't work, Spider-Man beat a hasty retreat. Going to bed that night, he wished that he could wake up tomorrow and see the Six back behind bars. The black suit, like a malignant genie, took over his body as he slept and met Dr. Octopus and his team. Spider-Man—or, specifically, the symbiote acting as Spider-Man—defeated all six handily, using both a few new tricks which were previously impossible in his standard blue-and-red costume and the Six's own talents and weaknesses against each other. Peter later awoke, bone-tired, late in the day to find his idle wish had been granted. The Bugle reported the Sinister Six has been captured, and his own byline below photos of the battle stared him in the face. He realized the symbiote suit was "wearing me" and was horrified. Of note is that the team never actually uses the codename "Sinister Six" amongst themselves; it's only used in the Bugle headline reporting their defeat and capture. Spider-Man does, however, refer to them as the 'simpleton six' during their second encounter.^[16] In "Reinforcement", the Master Planner arranged the reformation of the Sinister Six ((this time explicitly named as such) (Which had Doc Ock and Shocker replaced by Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter) with an android stand-in for Quentin Beck and illusion of Adrian Toomes as Rhino and Sandman escape. Kraven the Hunter busted out Electro from Ravencroft, but Doctor Octopus was unwilling to join them (though this was in the following episode to be Doctor Octopus feigning unwillingness to fool the Ravencroft staff and that like in the comics, he was the Master Planner). Electro and Vulture attacked the skating rink near the town's Christmas tree causing Spider-Man to lure them away. After taking out Vulture and Electro, Sandman and Rhino attacked. Upon driving them to the pier, Spider-Man doused Sandman with a hydrant (with some of it freezing him through the cold night air) and then sent Rhino under the icy water. With Sandman completely frozen, Mysterio and Kraven attack using illusions of Doctor Octopus and Shocker. Upon hitting Kraven's face with a perfume bottle, Spider-Man is attacked by Mysterio's technological Homunculis. Kraven unwittingly gave away Mysterio's robot duplicate which was about to explode. Spider-Man swings away the nearby Santa Claus and elf as Kraven is knocked out by the explosion and webbed up. Upon trapping and making sure it's the real Mysterio, Spider-Man tries to get him to tell him who the Master Planner is. With Mysterio taken into custody, Tinkerer had managed to extract the other members at the last minute. It should also be noted that the latter incarnation has the most members of the original Sinister Six from the comics, with only Rhino replacing Doctor Octopus.

Video games

• In the NES game Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six, it had the second line-up: Electro, Sandman, Mysterio, Vulture, Hobgoblin and Doctor Octopus.

• In Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six, the Sinister Six consisted of Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Sandman, Vulture, Scorpia, and Kraven the Hunter.

• In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, their name is changed to the Syndicate Six and it consisted of Doctor Octopus, Chameleon, Scream, Beetle, Hypnotia, and Electro.

• In the Sega CD version of The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin, the members of the second line-up all appear as bosses.

• There was a DOS game called Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Six, an interactive game with multiple endings. The roster was Doctor Octopus, Chameleon, Mysterio, Hobgoblin, Vulture, and Shocker.

• Though the Sinister Six does not appear in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, the members of the original roster appear in the different dimensions. The game features Kraven the Hunter and Sandman as bosses in the Amazing universe, the Vulture's Noir counterpart as a boss in the Noir universe, as well as the Ultimate counterpart of Electro and the 2099 counterpart of Doctor Octopus, with Mysterio as the final boss of the game. Also, the regular version of Electro was present in the DS version of the game as did the 2099 version of Vulture.

Theater

• In Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the Sinister Six is created by the Green Goblin for the purpose of destroying Spider-Man. Here, it consists of Electro, Carnage, Swarm, Kraven the Hunter, Lizard, and original character Swiss Miss. In this version, their comic-book origins are ignored. Instead, they share a common origin as former research scientists whom Green Goblin deliberately mutates into "freaks," in part as punishment for having abandoned Osborn Industries.

Novels

During Adam-Troy Castro's Sinister Six trilogy of Spider-Man novels, a new Sinister Six- consisting of Doctor Octopus, the Vulture, Electro, Mysterio, the Chameleon, and original member Pity, who can generate a psionic-based darkness- are formed by Gustav Fiers, a notorious criminal known as the Gentleman, who wishes to kill Peter Parker in revenge for the actions of his parents in thwarting some of the Gentleman's schemes in the sixties, having already been responsible for betraying his parents to their true killer, the Red Skull (Fiers requested that the Skull leave Peter alone because he preferred the challenge of fighting adults who could understand what was happening and possibly fight back to present some kind of challenge rather than the ease of taking out helpless children). To this end, seeking to score a victory against Spider-Man to overshadow all of the wall-crawler's own successes- while also making a profit both because that is his usual M.O. and because it makes his victory all the sweeter-, having freed the Six from jail, Fiers arranges a 'Day of Terror', featuring the Sinister Six mounting various attacks across New York to distract Spider-Man while Electro and Pity steal an ink-destroying catalyst from a nearby facility, subsequently remaining underground before stealing a powerful generator from an adamantium research facility a week later.

With this equipment, Fiers planned to trigger a massive electromagnetic pulse that would blank out all databanks in Manhattan- the only reason he ever risked working with loose cannons like the Six in the first place was because Electro's powers were the only way he would have the energy to trigger the pulse-, subsequently releasing the catalyst from his private plane to destroy all ink in New York, triggering a complete financial collapse due to all the documents and information lost- to say nothing of the anarchy that would result as gang warfare became the only way to survive-, while the Gentleman's own recently-purchased material wealth would significantly increase in value. However, Electro, the Vulture and Mysterio were all taken out before Electro could trigger the pulse thanks to the efforts of Spider-Man and S.A.F.E., Doctor Octopus and the Chameleon both attempted to betray the Gentleman and take control of his plan, and Pity was convinced to help Spider-Man defeat her two former teammates when he informed her that the currently-missing Doctor Octopus had always hated not being in charge and had almost certainly left the fight to go after the Gentleman. Fiers subsequently died of gunshot wounds caused when the Chameleon attempted to take his place and reap the benefits of his scheme (only to be caught by Octavius), the Chameleon ended up in the hospital due to hypothermia after the Gentleman's plane crashed into cold water, Octavius vanished for a time after bailing out of the plane himself, and Pity disappeared, with her final fate remaining unclear.