TRI-SENTINELS

Classification: (Original) Giant humanoid mystiyal robot; (later versions) giant humanoid robots (not so mystical anymore)

Creators: (Original) Loki; (later versions) Life Foundation

Users/Possessors: Count Nefaria (Luchino Nefaria), Life Foundation (Carlton Drake, others), Loki, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Mendel Stromm

Enemies: Black Panther (T'Challa), Cyclone (Pierre Fresson), Hydro-Man (Morrie Bench), Looter (Norton G. Fester), Nova (Richard Rider), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Stegron (Vincent Stegron), Thor (Odinson)

Aliases: Spider-Bot (one Tri-Sentinel renamed by Spider-Man)

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man I#329 (February, 1990)

Powers/Abilities: Their strength level is Class 100 or approximate. They shoot bolts from their hands and eyes, tear gas from their hands and can fly. The original could create energy shields or fields both in his interior and exterior, magically override technological backup self-destruction devices, regenerate and fire tentacles from his palms and use his inner components as projectiles (only against people inside him).

Limitations: He's made of metal, so he melts near Vibranium. Besides, he's vulnerable to the powers of Captain Universe TM.

Height: 60' Weight: 110 tons

History: The saga Acts of Vengeance was originated by Loki getting together a group of criminal masterminds (Magneto, Red Skull, Kingpin, Mandarin, Doctor Doom and the Wizard). Want to know more about it? Go to its record here at the Appendix.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#329) - When Loki was finally defeated by Thor, and his group disbanded, he left Earth a farewell gift: he merged three Sentinels who were property of Sebastian Shaw, a mutant, enemy of the X-Men, into one. The new mechanical creature, the Tri-Sentinel, was programmed by Loki to destroy the nearest nuclear power plant, so he went to the one in Amity Point. With cosmic Spidey being unable to gain an advantage, Shaw activated the self-destruct mechanism in his sentinels. The Tri-Sentinel was a robot impregnated with magic, so, after a few seconds standing still, he started moving again. Fortunately, those few seconds were enough for Spidey to focus on an energy blast that reduced the Tri-Sentinel to scraps. After that, humanity was no longer in danger, so Spidey lost his cosmic powers.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#351-352) - The Life Foundation, an organization that believes in WW3, and in the collapse of global economy, and also sells luxury houses in secure bases to rich people who think they'll need it. The Tri-Sentinel was meant to be the security part. They recovered the remains of the robot, and used an electromagnetic field to prevent him from fully regenerating. Then, they installed a sealed container with Antarctic Vibranium inside the robot's head. Vibranium is able to melt any metal nearby, and the container should open when Carlton Drake, frontman of the Life Foundation, flicked a switch. When activating the robot, it rejected the new directives, and re-instated Loki's. Of course, once again the Tri-Sentinel was able to block the signal to the container, preventing the self-destruction. Spider-Man and Nova got the task of tackling him (they were both inside the Life Foundation's base). Spidey got inside the robot's head, while Nova tried to slow him down on the outside. Inside, Spidey had to avoid the defense mechanisms of the Sentinel, and was able to disable the flying ability. With it on the ground, Nova was still helpless to stop it, until he used the magnetic cannon of a Foundation aircraft. The Sentinel stopped for a few seconds, but his regenerative powers were enough to render the magnetic ray useless. Fortunately, that nick of time was all that Spidey needed to break through its control center and manually open the Vibranium container. As he fled, the Tri-Sentinel's regenerative powers were losing the battle to the Vibranium. The Sentinel melted before reaching a heavily populated area.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Amazing Spider-Man V#4 (fb) - BTS) - The Life Foundation kept building Tri-Sentinels as security for survivors of the apocalypse. Eventually they filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy.

   Mendel Stromm found out about one of their facilities on a subreddit. He took control over a Tri-Sentinel and sent it on a rampage in Lower Manhattan.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#3) - The local authorities and Spider-Man (at that point Spider-Man was split from Peter Parker...it is too complicated to explain, but Spider-Man lacked the usual responsibility he is known for and only used his power). During a lengthy battle Spider-Man cracked open the Tri-Sentinel and managed to reprogram it so it served him as his personal steed and battle mecha.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#4 - BTS) - Stromm was infuriated that he had lost control over the Tri-Sentinel and looked for answers on the Life Foundation's Tri-Sentinel Beginners CD-ROM, but after a nice woman introduced the Tri-Sentinel in a video the CD-ROM had a fatal error. Stromm wasn't pleased, but swore revenge on Spider-Man.

   Meanwhile Spider-Man gave the front-facing head of the Tri-Sentinel a new, Spider-Man-themed paint job and renamed it Spider-Bot.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#4) - Spider-Man used the Spider-Bot to help him quickly take down the likes of Looter, Stegron, Hydro-Man and Cyclone. In the process he caused a lot of destruction.

   During his fight with Looter he destroyed several art pieces. During the battle with Stegron he destroyed an entire wing of the Museum of Natural History. His battle with Hydro-Man knocked out the power grid from Columbus Circle to the Bronx. During his fight with Cyclone a dog park was destroyed.

   Meanwhile Kindred (the not so Harry Osborn) led Stromm to a giant Sentinel (a Tri-Sentinel Master Mold) that created more Tri-Sentinels for Stromm.

(Amazing Spider-Man V#5) - Stromm sent an army of Tri-Sentinels to New York City, but paid with his life when Kindred slew him. Spider-Man and Peter Parker merged again (technology was involved) and used Spider-Bot in battle against the Tri-Sentinels army. While Spider-Bot beat on some of the other Tri-Sentinels, Spider-Man hacked into the Tri-Sentinels' network via the Spider-Bot and led them away from the city to the Life Foundation facility where they originated from. Arriving at the facility the Tri-Sentinels were taken over by Kindred shortly after Spider-Man found the dying Mendel Stromm. The Tri-Sentinels crashed into the facility and were destroyed while uttering the phrase "Guess my name" to Spider-Man (Kindred was behind the final sequence).

(Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic#2) - Count Nefaria sent a Tri-Sentinel after Thor and Black Panther to distract them while he robbed Vibranium from an old S.H.I.E.L.D. armory. The heroic duo ultimately incapacitated the Tri-Sentinel when Black Panther destroyed its central processing unit after Thor hit it with an electromagnetic pulse.

Comments: Created by David Michelinie, Erik Larsen and Andy Mushynsky.

Bottomline (what you need to know for this profile), there's something called the Enigma Force that imbues a champion with the power of Captain Universe whenever humanity is in danger. Acts of Vengeance endangered it, and Spider-Man was chosen as the champion, so he got cosmic powers.

What was the original Tri-Sentinels' mission? Currently, none, it melted. Before, it was a giant magical robot and destroyer of nuclear power plants. Even before that, 3 giant robots and destroyers of mutants.

In Wolverine & the X-Men I#16 (November, 2012) Kade Kilgore introduced potential buyers to Kilgore Arms' version of the Tri-Sentinel before it was destroyed by the Phoenix Five.

Profile by Henrique Ferreira courtesy of Spider-Fan.
Update by Markus Raymond (2018 and onward).

Clarifications: Not to be confused with:

• any other sentinel, especially those with just one head
• or any other "Tri" characters