Baron Sam Sinister von Barron, later Lord Sam Sinister von Barron, is a treasure hunter and Johnny Thunder's arch nemesis. He is the leader of the Adventurers Villains.
Biography[]
Sam Sinister's early history is unknown. He presumably grew up in Barron, and grew in political power until he was the Baron von Barron. At one point, he lost his left hand and received a scar on his left cheek. It is possible that Johnny Thunder may have been indirectly involved in this, which may have caused Sam Sinister to hate Johnny Thunder.
Egypt[]
Sam Sinister and one of his partners, Slyboots, followed the Adventurers to Egypt after learning about the legendary Re-Gou ruby. He rode his personal bi-plane, the Bi-Wing Baron, across the desert and spotted Johnny Thunder driving towards a sphinx. After Johnny Thunder recovered a map from inside the sphinx, Baron Sam Sinister landed the Bi-Wing Baron and knocked over an obelisk. The obelisk landed on Johnny, trapping him and allowing Sam Sinister to steal the map and escape in the Bi-Wing Baron.
Baron Sam Sinister was pursued by the Adventurers in Harry Cane's hot air balloon. He escaped easily by shooting at the balloon, forcing the Adventurers to crash-land. He met up with Slyboots, and they decided to wait for the Adventurers to enter the Temple of Anubis first, hoping that they would set off all the booby traps.
When they did enter the forbidden ruins, not all the booby traps had been set off yet, and Slyboots was nearly buried under a flood of sand. Sam Sinister helped Slyboots out, and together they snatched the Re-Gou out from under the Adventurers' noses. However, Pharaoh Hotep III appeared and cast a magic spell that caused the Re-Gou to be too hot to hold, forcing Sam Sinister to drop it. Slyboots fled, triggering another booby trap that activated a rolling boulder, chasing him out of the temple. Sam Sinister was caught on the other side of a revolving wall, where he was trapped with Pharaoh Hotep III and his curse of bad mummy-related jokes.
Later, Johnny Thunder returned to the ruins to locate another ruby as a Christmas gift to the museum. When he retrieved the ruby, the revolving wall that Sam Sinister was trapped behind spun, and Sam Sinister took advantage of this and escaped.
Dino Island[]
Baron Sam Sinister, Alexis Sinister, and a big-game hunter named Mr. Cunningham followed the Adventurers to Hidden Dino Island. Sam Sinister figured out how potentially rich he could become if he captured some of the dinosaurs and revealed them to the public. Thus, the three of them decided to capture the dinosaurs.
Sam Sinister, Mr. Cunningham, and Alexis Sinister later were on an unidentified land mass looking out at Dino Island. Sam Sinister and Mr. Cunningham worked together to build a dock and a boat, which they use to reach Dino Island. They rebuilt the boat into a car and plane, which they used to trap a stegosaurus and a triceratops into a canyon.
Sam and Alexis Sinister both received word from Mr. Cunningham concerning Johnny Thunder and Mike crash-landing in the Island Hopper due to dense fog. Sam Sinister decided to use this to his advantage, to get Johnny Thunder captured and out of the way of his dinosaur-hunting plans. Alexis Sinister screamed in imitation of Pippin Reed, tricking the Adventurers into running towards her. As soon as they were close enough, Sam Sinister fired a net at them from his All Terrain Trapper. They were captured, but an angry T-Rex arrived. Sam and Alexis Sinister fled, but they ran into one of their traps while the Adventurers escaped.
At one point, Sam Sinister was using his Island Racer when it broke down. He rebuilt it into a smaller compact car and used it to travel until he reached a gorge. He took apart this small car and rebuilt it into a bi-plane, and flew over the gorge.
Both the Adventurers and Adventurers Villains were trapped on a smaller island with an erupting volcano. Sam Sinister and Johnny Thunder formed a small peace treaty, and they worked together to build a massive plane, which they used to get the dinosaurs to safety by chasing them into a cage. Then, they rebuild the cage into the T-Rex Trailer Transport and drove the dinosaurs to the coast. They then used the T-Rex Transport Ship to escape the island with the dinosaurs.
However, as soon as they were back on the main Dino Island, Sam Sinister and Mr. Cunningham build a massive camp, and captured many dinosaurs. However, while they were out hunting for more, the Adventurers rescued the dinosaurs on a large unidentified ship that they built.
Later, Baron Sam Sinister captured a small T-Rex hatchling. He was then pursued by Johnny Thunder and Mike, but outran them both and even stole Mike's Swamp Boat. He later slowed them down by creating a large landslide which blocked their path. He brought the T-Rex hatchling towards a large volcano, hoping to force the Adventurers to give up. His plan backfired when the volcano erupted, and he was forced to leave the T-Rex hatchling behind. They were both rescued by the Adventurers, but while the Adventurers returned the hatchling to its parent, they tied Sam Sinister up to a tree.
Minifig Handbook[]
Several years later in early March, Baron Sam Sinister followed the Adventurers to Brazil, where they found the hidden temple of the lost Zuzu tribe. After they recovered the Ancient Stone of Time, the Adventurers made camp and fell asleep. Sam Sinister took advantage of this, snuck into their camp, and stole the Ancient Stone of Time. However, he tripped over a wire that Pippin Reed set up, and a picture of him stealing the stone was taken.
Two months later, Sam Sinister traveled to Mt. McKinley in search of the Russian Czar's stolen diamonds. He found them in a small case with the royal seal of the czar on it. Knowing that the Adventurers were also looking for the diamonds, he decided to take the diamonds but leave the case with one of his monocles inside.
The Adventurers followed Sam Sinister to the Colorado River, where he sabotaged their raft. Sure that the Adventurers would perish in the Colorado River's rapids with a damaged raft, he made camp and fell asleep with the diamonds in plain sight. However, once he woke up, he discovered that the Adventurers had taken the diamonds while he was asleep and were already on their way to bringing them to the museum.
The Lost Treasure[]
Sam Sinister later snuck into Johnny Thunder's office. There, he found a letter concerning the legendary Golden Bull of King Minos. He followed the Adventurers to Greece, where he stole their map and made his way to the Minotaur's labyrinth. Thanks to Pippin Reed's photographic memory, however, the Adventurers too were able to find the labyrinth, and while Sam Sinister did what he could to find the three keys leading out of the labyrinth, the Adventurers found them first. He followed the Adventurers to an isolated island with a large cliff and a temple at the top. While Johnny Thunder scaled the cliff using rope, Sam Sinister simply used a jetpack to reach the top. However, the jetpack ran out of fuel, and he crash-landed next to the temple, where he was tied up by Johnny Thunder.
Orient Expedition[]
Sam Sinister rose in political power, now the Lord von Barron. He dressed himself in fancier clothes, and grew a a goatee. He followed the Adventurers to Marco Polo's house in Venice, where he learned of the Golden Dragon and a clue in India.
He made it to India first, where he allied himself with the tyrant Maharaja Lallu. They worked together to try and pry the location of the Sunstone out of a villager named Babloo, but Johnny Thunder intervened and rescued Babloo. Angered, Sam Sinister followed the Adventurers and Babloo in his car. However, the Adventurers were able to stop him when Babloo's elephant, Giri, threw a tree in Lord Sam Sinister's way. Sam Sinister crashed his car, and was forced to stop his pursuit. However, somehow he managed to reach the Scorpion Palace first. Johnny Thunder tricked him into moving the claws of a massive scorpion idol, which triggered a rolling boulder that chased him away. Sam Sinister doubled back, and learned about the Golden Sword at Mount Everest.
He followed the Adventurers' Aero Nomad in his personal bi-plane, and tried to force them down. However, the Adventurers tricked him again into crash-landing. He met Ngan Pa the Yeti Hunter, and together they captured the Adventurers. However, somehow the Adventurers escaped, but not before Lord Sam Sinister reached the Temple of Mount Everest. He was catapulted out of the temple by a booby trap, but had already guessed the location of the next clue to the Golden Dragon: China.
Lord Sam Sinister quickly traveled east, where he met Emperor Chang Wu. This alliance would give Lord Sinister control over legions of Chinese soldiers, which he used to capture the Adventurers numerous times. However, while he was captain of one of the Emperor's Ships, the Adventurers snuck aboard and hid in the cargo area, so unbeknownst to him, Lord Sinister was actually taking his foes to the Dragon Fortress. While Lord Sam Sinister found the Golden Helmet, hidden in a secret chamber of the fortress, the Chinese soldiers eventually were able to successfully capture Johnny Thunder and his friends. Sam Sinister took the Golden Shield and Golden Sword from them, but was forced to flee when the monstrous Jun-Chi entered the chamber. He found an ancient statue of the Wanderer, two mysterious locked doors, and a switch. Upon throwing the switch, the Wanderer woke up and chased Lord Sam Sinister away. He dropped the Golden treasures and fell through a trapdoor. Lord Sam Sinister eventually escaped.
Villains' Alliance[]
After Sinister's escape, he continued acting against the Adventurers. He hired new henchmen and sent them out to capture treasure before the Adventurers. Things remained rather typical for him and his organization, until he made a discovery. From that discovery, he began drafting a new Evil Plan, and to accomplish this Plan, he realized he would need allies.
Sinister entreated all of his fellow villains to join him. Some accepted quickly, like Mr. Cunningham, Xeng Li, and a handful of other even more minor villains. Those who refused, specifically Maharaja Lallu, Emperor Chang Wu, and Senor Palomar, refused to take orders from him. The Villains' Alliance was joined by Ngan Pa and his Yeti Hunters on the recommendation of Xeng Li. All the villains and their henchmen agreed to work with Sinister to mutual benefit.
Raid on the Museum[]
The first group action the villains performed was a raid on the National Museum. While searching for funding for his project, Sinister came up with a clever scheme. If the villains could steal treasures from the National Museum and make it look like someone else did it, they would escape the LEGOLAND government's wrath and also be able to make a lot of money by selling treasures on the black market. It would be vengeance on those villains who refused to join Sinister's alliance.
First, agents of Sinister's organization were sent to infiltrate the Museum. This was done with the assistance of the captured pilot Roy Bishop, who had been shot down. Bishop was tortured into revealing information about the city and Museum's defenses.
After the infiltrators were in, a fleet under the command of Admiral Xeng Li was launched. Ostensibly a naval force sent by the Empire of Xi'an, it was in reality a group of pirates who used to serve in the navy of Xi'an. The ships, flying Chinese flags, shelled LEGO City and then landed "troops"- in reality Yeti and Big Game Hunters, mercenaries who attacked the Museum, gained access (with the assistance of the infiltrators) and looted it. Many treasures were stolen and brought onboard the fleet, just as Sinister had calculated.
Sinister knew that the treasures would enrich the newly formed Villains' Alliance. He also knew that the attack would be seen as an act of war by Xi'an, and the LEGOLAND military would soon attack the Evil Emperor, something that would both be a distraction and a retaliation for the Emperor's refusal to join the Alliance.
Abilities and Traits[]
Sam Sinister's age is not confirmed; however, because he refers to Johnny Thunder as "Johnny boy" in the Lost Treasure, it is presumed that he is much older than Johnny Thunder. He is well-known for his missing left hand, which has been replaced by a hook, the scar on his left cheek, his large mustache (and goatee that he grows later on), and his monocle that he constantly wears over his right eye. As the Baron von Barron, he wore a general's clothing and a pith hat, but after becoming Lord von Barron, he wore a top hat and fancier black clothing.
Sam Sinister is known for being manipulative, having convinced rulers such as Lallu and Chang Wu to be on his side. He is an excellent racer, and has the uncanny ability to always follow the Adventurers whenever they find the location of a treasure. He is not incredibly brave, usually running from the first sight of danger, or letting Johnny Thunder activate booby traps first. Sam Sinister once described himself as a dishonorable man.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Sam Sinister's name is under much dispute. When he was first introduced as a character, his name was Baron von Barron, and Slyboots was named Sam Sinister. This was later changed in the Dino Island line, where Baron von Barron was identified as Sam Sinister, but Slyboots was left unnamed. In LEGO Racers 2, Sam Sinister was identified as Sam Sanister, while Slyboots was given his current name. For some reason, in LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge, Sam Sinister is named Mr. Hates, which has not appeared anywhere else in the Adventurers line. His name remained Sam Sinister in the online minigames, the Minifig Handbook, the Orient Expedition line, and Johnny Thunder RPG.
- Sam Sinister is depicted with a heavy German accent in LEGO Racers; however, he does not carry this accent anywhere else in the story or in the Johnny Thunder RPG.
- Although Sam Sinister apperas in LEGO Racers, LEGO Racers 2, LEGO Island 2, Soccer Mania, and other sources, these follow a different timeline than the Johnny Thunder RPG and are thus left out of this article.