Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard)

Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr. is a fictional character and the main protagonist on the popular ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital. He is the son of Mike Corbin and the late, Adela Corinthos.

Maurice Benard has played the role, that of a manic depressive mob boss living in Port Charles, since the character's storyline originated on August 13, 1993.

Development
According to General Hospital casting director, Mark Teschner, Benard was one of the few actors being considered for the role. Benard came in for a meeting with Wendy Riche, and the two immediately clicked. It was only a matter of how long it would take to get Benard on screen.
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Initially, the character was only supposed to last for six months as Benard was not interested in anything more than a year. Benard revealed that after his stint on , he was not interested in doing another soap. He joined the cast of General Hospital because he had gone broke and acting was all he knew at the time.

The producers offered him two separate roles, that of mobster Damian Smith, with a two year contract, and that of Sonny. In addition the role being short term, Benard also chose the role because he liked the character's name.

Benard revealed that just two weeks after starting work, he suffered a manic depressive breakdown. At one point he had stopped coming in to work but expressed his gratitude to the network for keeping faith in him instead of firing him immediately.

The role of Sonny Corinthos originated in the final weeks of Bill Levinson's tenure as head writer, in August 1993, prior to Levinson's replacement by Claire Labine. The role was originally intended as a six-month stint.

After four years with the series, Benard vacated the role on September 24, 1997. After a brief return on May 15 to July 8, 1998, Benard returned to the role full-time on December 18, 1998.

Like the character of Sonny, Maurice Benard also suffers from. Benard stated, "When I let it be known I was bipolar, we wrote it into the character." During 2006, Corinthos had an onscreen breakdown due to his bipolar disorder. The parallels between the story and Benard's real life experiences had Benard believing he was having his own "fourth break down," though Benard credits staying on his medication as keeping him grounded.
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His willingness to integrate his real life medical condition into Sonny's storylines have raised visibility of the disease, leading to Benard appearing on shows such as The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss the disease as well as being the spokesman for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.

The name of Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, as well as his occupation, is a reference to  characters and. These characters have a sister named Connie Corleone, which is alluded to in Kate Howard's real name, Connie Falconeri. Similarities have also been noted between Sonny and from  and the characters that surround them both. , who portrayed on The Sopranos, came on the show to portray Maximus Giambetti, father of Sonny's bodyguards Milo Giambetti and Max Giambetti. resww2

Benard has described cSonny as "unpredictable," and stated that: "You never know from one second to the next what he is thinking, feeling or planning. He's a man in personal conflict who maintains an outward appearance of calm at all times, at any cost."

Background
The character was originally scripted as being of Italian descent. However, it later revealed that Sonny is raised in the predominantly Italian neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. On his father's side, Sonny is of Greek and Irish descent. On his mother's side, Sonny is of Cuban descent. In 2012, Sonny's birth year was revised to 1969 when his aged was listed as forty-two on his arrest records.

After Mike abandons his family, Adela becomes involved with her boss, Trevor Lansing. Trevor is very understanding of the single mother, allowing Sonny to come to work with Adela, and even taking them on vacations to Martha's Vineyard. However, Trevor despises the young Sonny and when Adela gets pregnant, Trevor proposes; however, he forces Adela to choose between Sonny and their unborn child when Sonny accidentally causes a pregnant Adela to fall down a flight of stairs.

Adela gives up rights to her son, Ric, shortly after birth and when Sonny is seven years old, she marries New York Police officer Deke Woods. However, Deke is extremely abusive to mother and son. Sonny is claustrophobic due to being locked in the closet as a child by Deke. To direct Deke's attention away from his mother, Sonny begins acting out. Sonny uses his friends to escape his home life. He grows up with Lois Cerullo and is best friends with her brother, Louie. Raised by Adela, a devout Catholic, Sonny attends catholic school and is also very religious.

In his early teen years Sonny has brief sexual relationship with Olivia Falconeri, who hides the fact that she eventually gives birth to his son, Dante. Following the end of their relationship, Sonny becomes involved with Olivia's cousin, Connie Falconeri. Noticing Sonny and Deke's fights are getting more violent, and fearing one of them would end up dead, Adela asks Sonny to leave home when he is sixteen. For a while, Sonny is homeless and visits Adela when Deke is working. After stealing his car, local mob boss, Joe Scully takes Sonny under his wing giving him a place to live while Sonny works odd jobs for him.

When Sonny goes to visit Adela on her birthday, he finds her severely beaten and unconscious. Sonny confides in Scully who has Deke killed the next day. Adela passes away a few years later, when Sonny is nineteen. Sonny and Connie make plans to run away together once she is eighteen. However, once Connie skips town without him, Sonny goes to work for Scully full-time.

Scully sends Sonny to Atlantic City to run a strip club called The Sea Breeze when his son, Joe, Jr. proves to be incompetent. Sonny befriends one of the strippers, Theresa, whom Joe Jr. is infatuated with. In a jealous rage, Joe, Jr. kills Theresa. Scully helps him disappear while Sonny lies to the cops about Theresa's murder, one of which is Theresa's brother, then FBI agent, John McBain.

Sonny has five living children, one grandson and one stepdaughter:


 * A son named, Dante Falconeri, with his old flame, Olivia Falconeri. Through Dante and his soon-to-be ex-wife, Lulu, he has a grandson named, Rocco.
 * An adoptive son named, Michael Quartermaine, with his wife, Carly Corinthos-Jacks.
 * A daughter named, Kristina Corinthos-Davis, through a one night stand with attorney, Alexis Davis.
 * Another son named, Morgan Corinthos, with his wife, Carly Corinthos-Jacks.
 * Another daughter named, Avery Jerome-Corinthos, through a one night stand with mob boss, Ava Jerome.
 * Through his marriage to Carly, he gained Josslyn Jacks as a stepdaughter.

Storylines
In 1993, Sonny Corinthos arrives in town as a minor mafia employee, running a strip club called "The Paradise Lounge " for Frank Smith where he feeds Karen Wexler drugs as a way of keeping her working there. He begins to date the beautiful Brenda Barrett, the beginning of a popular Super Couple for GH. Sonny also befriends Stone Cates, Robin Scorpio, and Luke Spencer. Brenda, who is more attracted to Sonny than to his mob ties, introduces him to an old Bensonhurst friend, Lois Cerullo, who needed Sonny's money to finance a record label whose first artist is Lois's husband. The romance of Sonny and Brenda takes off amidst their new business relationship as partners of the record label, L&B.
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Sonny travels to Puerto Rico and informs the locals that Miguel, a second artist on the L&B label, is under the protection of Frank Smith's organization. Miguel soon begins flirting with a now-model Brenda, which makes Sonny jealous. The two reconcile after Sonny reveals he was abused as a child. When Luke Spencer kills Frank as a way of protecting Sonny, Sonny informs mob boss Hernando Rivera that he will be taking over the organization, which leads to Rivera kidnapping Lily, his daughter, Miguel, Sonny and Brenda. After they are rushed to safety, Sonny plots his next move, pretending to leave the mafia. Due to mafia ties, Sonny and Luke's club is blown up in which that night, Sonny discovers that Luke's driver, Mike Corbin is actually his father, Michael Corinthos, Sr. That year, Sonny's friend, Stone Cates is diagnosed with AIDS and helps him and his girlfriend Robin Scorpio deal with it.

Frank's son, Damian Smith, is revealed to be Joe Scully's silent partner, and the two begin to sabotage shipments belonging to Deception Cosmetics and pressure Luke for hush money. Sonny is reticent to take action against Scully, as he is the man responsible for saving Sonny from his abusive step father. During a confrontation at the docks, Mike is shot, and Sonny kills Scully, who was attempting to finish Mike off. Scully's men vow revenge attacking Brenda, Luke's family, and Stone. Lily discovers that Sonny's girlfriend and love of his life, Brenda, is planning on recording Sonny discussing his criminal activities to give to Mac Scorpio. Sonny discovers that this is true and throws Brenda out, although he wants to forgive her knowing her intentions were never to turn him in. Sonny and Lily begin a relationship, though they take things slowly. Sonny also learns that Robin is HIV positive, and Stone dies shortly after this.

After Stone's death, which Sonny illegally paid the hospital bills for, Sonny is arrested, and Lily agrees to reconcile with her father if he helps Sonny stay out of prison. Rivera agrees to help Sonny, but only if he marries Lily. Deciding he can live without love but not without trust, he agrees to marry Lily. Realizing that Sonny still loves Brenda, Lily offers to divorce Sonny, but fearing reprisals, Sonny declines and offers to take her on a second honeymoon. After being trapped in a avalanche at a ski resort on their honeymoon, Brenda and Sonny agree to reconcile but before Sonny could ask Lily for a divorce, she declares her pregnancy. Brenda lets Sonny go acknowledging his need to be an available father. Sonny and Brenda kiss passionately and declare their undying love for each other. Brenda eventually gets together with Jasper "Jax" Jacks.

While Jax and Brenda wed, Lily takes Sonny's car keys and starts the car, which activates the bomb planted by Rivera which was meant for Sonny, killing Lily and the baby. Sonny later kills Rivera upon finding out and searches for Lily's first child with Miguel, Juan Santiago. Upon Lily's death, Sonny earns 30 million dollars, which he donated to General Hospital to create a hospital wing in Stone's name. Jason Morgan, who has suffered brain damage after his brother A.J. Quartermaine injured him while driving drunk, sells Sonny his stock in his family's company, ELQ Enterprises, and joins the Corinthos-Rivera Organization. Sonny becomes involved with various intrigues at ELQ, as does Jax who is working with Ned's mother Tracy Quartermaine to take over the company. When Jax tries to gain control of ELQ through nefarious means, Sonny decides to go after him and also tells him he isn't good enough for Brenda.

On Jax and Brenda's re-marriage date, Sonny brings home Jax's undivorced wife, Miranda Jameson. After Jax leaves Brenda to make sense of it all, Brenda and Sonny reconcile. When attempting to save Brenda Sonny is drugged, when Sonny is brought to the hospital, Sonny tells Brenda he loves her. Believing her marriage with Jax can work, she rejects Sonny. Lily's former lover, Harry Silver, arrives in town causing problems for Brenda and Sonny, leading Sonny to kill him. Fearing the mob life is too dangerous for him and Brenda, he offers to marry her and for them to leave town together. Sonny declares that he loves his life and has worked hard for it, but he loves Brenda more. After a nightmare where Brenda is blown up in a car bomb, Sonny decides he'd rather lose Brenda than see her die. He sends Jason to the altar to end things for him, leading her to have a mental breakdown and to reconcile with Jax.

Soon after returning to Port Charles and discovering that Brenda had died, Sonny soon engages in hate-sex with Carly Benson, Jason's girlfriend who is married to A.J. Quartermaine. After Jason leaves, Carly discovers that she is pregnant and is being blackmailed by A.J. Sonny, wanting the best for his child, discovers criminal evidence against A.J. Sonny then blackmails A.J. and he soon grants Carly a divorce. Carly and Sonny then move in together and after Carly suffers a miscarriage, after falling down the stairs at the Quartermaine's mansion arguing with A.J. Sonny then flies her to his island and begins to be a father figure towards her son, Michael Morgan.

As their dislike turns to love, they eventually wed in Summer 2000 as a legal front. After discovering how much they really love each other, Sonny and Carly rewed in 2001 in a Caribbean style wedding. After discovering the mob life is dangerous, Carly forces Sonny out of the mob. Seeing this as a betrayal, Sonny divorces Carly and sleeps with Alexis Davis. Alexis later discovers she's pregnant and claims that her former fiancé, Ned Ashton, is the father of her daughter, Kristina Davis. After almost losing Carly to car accident, they reconcile and Sonny remarries Carly in July 2002. Sonny and Carly are forced to face many dilemmas when Courtney Matthews, Sonny's sister, marries A.J. Quartermaine. Soon after, mob rival Luis Alcazar returns with an alive Brenda Barrett, who almost kills Sonny. Sonny is still attracted to and loves Brenda, a fact picked up by a jealous Carly. However, Sonny remains loyal to Carly despite his feelings, though he remains keloid of Brenda's attraction to Jax.
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Although Luis is soon murdered by Alexis Davis, Brenda marries Jason as a way of preventing reconciliation with Sonny or Jax, but the marriage also prevented them from testifying against each other over Luis's death. When Brenda leaves Port Charles, she and Sonny kiss passionately, proving that love has not been lost between the two. Carly witnesses the kiss and tells Jax, who was planning on remarrying Brenda. Brenda annuls her marriage to Jason and moves to Italy.

Sonny and Carly reconnect and eventually have a baby, which Carly had difficulty conceiving. Sonny's half-brother Ric Lansing is overjoyed when Elizabeth Webber becomes pregnant with their child, but is infuriated when Elizabeth falls down a flight of stairs after Faith Rosco pushed her, although Sonny is blamed. Desiring a child of his own, Ric kidnaps Carly and traps her in a panic room, taunting her that the child will be raised by him at birth. Lorenzo Alcazar, Luis's brother, later frees Carly but keeps her on a yacht as a way of using her as leverage against Sonny to transport Sonny. Although Carly escapes, Lorenzo then kidnaps a pregnant Courtney, who also escapes, causing her a miscarriage. Courtney devastated is declared infertile, like Carly. After confusing labor pains for torture, Sonny finds Lorenzo over Carly helping her give birth. Sonny hears Carly scream and shoots Lorenzo but the bullet lands in Carly's head, causing her to go in to a coma, after giving birth to Morgan Corinthos.

Sonny soon starts a short-lived relationship with Sam McCall that gets even more complicated when Sam discovers she is pregnant. Carly soon points out to Sam the strong resemblance to Brenda, the love of Sonny's life. Sonny then reunites with Carly and Jason requests that Sam lie about the baby's paternity and she agrees to tell everyone that he is the father instead of Sonny. While trapped in a fire at the Port Charles Hotel, Alexis admits to Carly that Kristina is Sonny's daughter not Ned's. After Sonny admits that Sam is carrying his child, Carly tells Sonny the truth about Kristina. Realizing the depth of both of their deception, the two decide to separate once again. When Kristina falls ill, Alexis badgers Sam in a attempt to force the expecting mother to undergo a risky procedure to have her unborn daughter donate stem cells to save Kristina's life. An unrelated medical condition, coincidentally timed with the fight, causes Sam to go into premature labor, and she loses her baby. Unbeknownst to an unconscious Sam, Sonny agrees to donate the stem cells to Kristina.

In 2005 A.J. Quartermaine, still desperate for a relationship with his son, kidnaps Michael and fakes both of their deaths. When Sonny discovers that Faith also played a part in his son's supposed death, the two have a heated confrontation that leaves her for dead. Carly suffers a breakdown, and is committed to a psychiatric hospital. Michael is eventually returned, and A.J. is killed by a doctor who tries to frame young Michael for it.

In 2006 Sonny briefly enters into a relationship with Jason's sister Emily Quartermaine, who is upset that her husband Nikolas Cassadine has become involved with Sonny's sister Courtney. Courtney is married to Jax, but problems arise from their inability to conceive. Courtney leaves town when she finds she is pregnant and doesn't know if Jax or Nikolas is the father. During this time Emily forces Sonny to confront his bipolar disorder. Fearing for Emily's safety, Sonny stages a kiss with Carly, who has in turn asserted her independence and is starting a business relationship with Jasper Jacks. When a deadly outbreak of encephalitis hits Port Charles, several residents die. Among them is Courtney, who gives birth to John Michael Jacks/Spencer Cassadine right before her death. Sonny and Emily attempt a relationship in secret, but when their relationship goes public, Sonny, fearing changes from his bipolar medication and for her safety, again ends things.

In early 2007 Sonny still in love with his ex-wife Carly discovers Jax and Carly have become engaged, though she is disappointed when Jax leaves town to help his wayward brother Jerry Jacks. Preying on this, Sonny is caught in a legal dilemma when Carly witnesses him shoot Lorenzo Alcazar in self-defense, and forces her to marry him temporarily, so they don't have to testify against each other in court. While attending a party at the hotel she owns with Jax, Carly and several other Port Charles residences are taken hostage by the mysterious James Craig who is really Jerry Jacks in disguise. Sonny declares his love for Carly, and when the two survive the hostage crisis, they make love. Sonny is heart broken when Carly divorces him and marries Jax right after their divorce was finalized. Sonny immediately began to see Kate Howard, a high profile magazine editor, who was really an old friend from Bensonhurst, Connie Falconeri, that Sonny dated. The two fall in love, which Carly despises. Trevor Lansing, Sonny's former stepfather, arrives in town with Anthony Zacchara, who causes problems for many of the people in Port Charles. Fearing Anthony is a murderer, Sonny sends his kids to live with Carly. Unfortunately, Diego Alcazar murders Michael and Morgan's nanny Leticia and Sonny's ex-girlfriend Emily in retaliation for the deaths of Luis and Lorenzo. Kate, fearing for her safety rejects Sonny's marriage proposal, which leads him to sleep with Claudia Zacchara.

In 2008 as Sonny's 12-year-old son, Michael, is starting to act like a mobster, he accidentally shoots Kate Howard. Kate doesn't press charges and as a way of showing that he can live without the mob, Sonny brings Kate and Michael to a warehouse, but when a gunman, hired by Claudia (for Sonny keeping Johnny kidnapped falsely) aims for Sonny, the bullet hits Michael, landing him in a permanent coma. Afterwards, Sonny agrees to sign away his parental rights to his sons with Carly, but refuses to do the same for his daughter with Alexis. Carly and Sonny have a one night stand, in which Kate finds out and the two break-up, only to reconcile and get engaged for an October wedding. Kate is shocked when Sonny brings her cousin Olivia Falconeri to town to be her maid of honor. Before the two can marry, Anthony Zacchara shoots Kate and frames Russian mobster Andrei Karpov for the deed.

Sonny immediately wants revenge, and is furious that Jason won't act on his behalf. Sonny begins to feel the pressure of not having mafia backed power, and ends things with Kate who is still recovering from her wounds.Anthony offers Sonny control of his business if and only if Sonny marries his daughter Claudia. Sonny agrees, much to Kate's disgust and dismay. Sonny is able to kill Karpov, and uses Carly as an alibi when questioned, causing Jax to leave her yet again. In early 2009 when Jerry Jacks, who knows of Claudia's culpability in Michael's shooting, begins sending DVDs incriminating her. Kate, Olivia, Jax, and Ric each discover a DVD, but only Ric tells Sonny because he is (still in love/ obsessed with Claudia) but she didn't want to have anything to do with him. Ric then blackmails Claudia into sleeping with him for several weeks. Due to Jerry erasing the DVDs, Ric had no proof but the marriage was strained. Claudia told Sonny that she discovered that Anthony and Ric teamed up to kill Kate so that eventually Anthony can lure Sonny into his trap. Claudia and Sonny find their marriage is actually working, and the two begin to make love.

When Claudia realizes that Jason could learn the truth about her involvement in Michael's shooting, Claudia steps up her physical relationship with Sonny, hoping a child could save her life. Claudia succeeds at getting pregnant, and Sonny is dismayed to learn that Carly is also pregnant with Jax's child and could easily die due to health complications. When Michael wakes up from his coma, Sonny is thrilled and fights with Carly to have Michael live with him due to her health. Claudia supports him and Michael moves in temporarily but due to a confrontation with a hired Zacchara soldier, Dominic Pirelli, Carly moves Michael in with the Quartermaines, which causes Sonny grief. Sonny discovers that Claudia is actually carrying his child and later regrets it when she is in a car accident and miscarries their son. When they discover that it was Sonny's daughter, Kristina, who accidentally ran her off the road, Sonny and Claudia ultimately forgive a remorseful Kristina and agree not to turn her into the police.

On October 28, 2009 Jason and Sam find proof that Claudia is the one who is responsible for Michael's shooting and Jason informs Sonny. During a birthday party that Sonny arranged for Claudia at the Metro Court, Sonny alerts everyone in attendance to Claudia's action's, as well as the Jacks brothers' involvement. Sonny then verbally abuses and rips Claudia to shreds, shocking everyone in attendance. Backed into a corner, Claudia panics and takes a pregnant Carly hostage at gunpoint. When Sonny finds out that Michael had killed Claudia to protect his mother and baby sister, he sets the wheels in motion to cover it up and offers his son his support in dealing with the feelings that come with murdering another person and explains that he did good.

On January, 28 2010 Sonny and Jason find out Dominic is a undercover cop trying to take Sonny down. The very next day, Dominic has a warrant for Sonny's arrest, Sonny is to be given one last good day before his arrest. Sonny seeks revenge on the day of Josslyn's christening (Carly's daughter with Jax). Sonny has an assignment for Dominic, and Dominic heads to Sonny's house, assuming he will be capable of arresting Sonny on his own, without backup. Dominic is actually walking into a trap. After Dominic gives a heartfelt speech as to why he wants Sonny to pay and why he should be arrested and sent to prison, Sonny says "goodbye detective" and shoots Dominic point blank in the chest. Olivia comes in only moments after and says "Oh my god, Sonny! You just shot your own son." Sonny appears to be in shock until Olivia further drills it into him that Dominic is actually Dante, their son.
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On February 2, 2010 Sonny tells Jason what happened and that Dante is his son with Olivia. Jason begs Sonny to flee the country so that he will not be brought up on a murder charge against a police officer, which guarantees life in prison. Sonny is very shortly after arrested at the hospital for Claudia's murder. Michael is there when they arrest Sonny, Sonny tells Olivia to tell Dante that he loves him and didn't want to leave. Sonny then gets out of jail on bail because Dante lies that he was snooping through one of Sonny's desk drawers when he found a gun, and upon trying to take out the clip he accidentally shot himself. Olivia during later questioning by Mac Scorpio and Agent Rainer says she didn't see what happened. Sonny goes to the hospital to see Dante and when he walks in Dante says "Hey Dad".

On March 15, Sonny's daughter Kristina is badly beaten by her boyfriend, Kiefer. When questioned, Kristina lies to protect Kiefer, saying it was Ethan. Sonny is furious and tracks Ethan down to The Haunted Star with a gun. He is only infuriated more when Ethan accuses Kristina of lying. Sonny leaves Ethan alive after prompting from Dante and Lucky, but he immediately goes to Jason to set up a hit against Ethan. Jason is unsure but Sonny wants "justice". A few days later, Sonny stops Jason from questioning Kristina, dismissing any inconsistency in her story. When Kristina realizes what Sonny is planning she goes off on him, yelling and begging him not to harm Ethan. Though Sonny tries to calm his daughter down, she won't be happy until he promises not to hurt Ethan and Sonny won't be happy until Ethan is six feet under. Alexis finally gets through to Sonny and tells him that he needs to "act like a fricking father" and respect Kristina's wish to have Ethan remain alive.

The next day Carly finds Sonny in his living room, wearing the same clothes as the day before, drinking and sulking. She thinks he's having another breakdown. He explains that he blames himself for what happened to Kristina and how the only thing that got him through his abusive childhood was that he thought it was over when he left and that none of his loved ones would ever experience the same kind of pain. He continues to explain the parallels between Deke and Ethan (or Kiefer) and what an animal he thinks Ethan is. He thinks this whole thing could have been avoided if he had paid more attention to Kristina and taught her about guys like Deke. He believes his lack of presence in her life made her vulnerable.

A few days later Sonny goes to visit Kristina at her house, briefly seeing the real abuser Kiefer. Sonny asked if there is anything he can do for his daughter and Kristina stated she does not want Ethan to pay for what he did (or what she says he did) to her. Though Sonny tries to deny it, Kristina knows her father wants Ethan to die. Sonny tells Kristina she sounds like her grandmother. He tells her a little bit about how his stepfather used to beat his mother (leaving out how his stepfather beat him too). Kristina is shocked that he never told her and he says he doesn't like talking about it. She then states he knows how she feels and wants the whole incident to be over. Sonny holds Kristina while she cries. Sonny will only let Ethan live because he sees how it would hurt his daughter if he killed him, but he swears if Ethan walks he'll kill him. He only tells Carly that at first, he says how much he loves his little girl and how he finally can relate to her on the fact that they have both been abused (though he is unaware at this point the extent of her abuse). Sonny promises to protect Kristina and his sons, and make sure they are never afraid again.

When Sonny finds out that Kristina dropped the charges against Ethan, he goes ballistic. His tirade is witnessed by Claire Walsh, the state prosecutor called in by Jax to assure Sonny's conviction. Claire has Johnny lie on the stand and say that Sonny beat and abused Claudia. Sonny goes off in court about how Claudia got what she deserved, which Kristina witnessed. Robin is later called to the stand, and though she initially paints Sonny in a positive light, Claire turns it around by forcing Robin to admit that Sonny had insulted and threatened Claudia at her birthday party; Sonny nonetheless assures Robin that she did the right thing. He is dismayed when Maxie is later called to the stand to testify, but ends up grateful when she avoids questions involving Michael. After Maxie's testimony, Kristina is admitted into General Hospital having been attacked by Kiefer again. After finding out from Alexis, Sonny immediately assumes that Ethan was the one who did it and sends Jason out to kill him before Alexis has a chance to tell him the whole story; fortunately, Lucky intercepts Jason before he can do so.

Afterwards, Sonny listens outside Kristina's hospital room when Dante arrives to get her statement. After some encouragement from Dante, Kristina finally admits that Kiefer was the one who attacked her both times and that he had also hit her on multiple occasions beforehand, which reduces both Alexis and Sonny to tears. Jason returns and reveals that he didn't kill Ethan, much to Sonny's relief. After overhearing Kristina speak highly of Dante to Alexis, Sonny asks Dante up to the roof of the hospital to thank him for showing Kristina that she could trust him enough to tell him the truth.

However, Dante rips into Sonny, informing him that Kristina only lied in the first place because she thought that Sonny would kill Kiefer, and her biggest concern at the moment is whether or not Jason has been sent out to do so when it should be getting better. Dante proceeds to accuse Sonny of being a horrible father, and when Olivia walks in on the fight, Sonny takes his frustration out on her, stating that Dante only hates him because Olivia never gave them a chance to be father and son. Olivia holds her ground, however, and when she leaves, Dante snaps and slugs Sonny on Olivia's behalf, stating that he hates Sonny for who he is, not what his mother did. Sonny simply warns Dante that he can only push him so far. Unconcerned, Dante states that this only proves his point and dares Sonny to "come and get him."

On the same night of Kristina's second beating, Kiefer is hit by a car. Sam and Molly find him on the side of the road and bring him to the hospital only for him to die shortly after his arrival. Ethan is accused and arrested, but soon released, while Kristina initially suspects that Sonny and Jason are responsible. However, Jason manages to convince Kristina that he and Sonny had nothing to do with Kiefer's demise, and the driver is eventually discovered to be Alexis; she had accidentally hit him while driving Kristina to the hospital. Nonetheless, Kiefer's abusive nature and the truth quickly become public knowledge, and Ethan is given a clean slate.

On April 27, 2010, Sonny talks to Kristina about the event, and he finally admits to her that his stepfather abused both him and his mother. Kristina tells him of Alexis' theory that she stayed with Kiefer even after he hit her because she felt rejected by Sonny; however, Kristina reassures him that Kiefer was her own mistake. On May 13, Sonny goes to the Haunted Star to apologize to Luke and Ethan, also admitting that Kristina was right to assume that he would go after Kiefer and he believes that his current situations with his own children may be karmic justice for going after Ethan. Though Luke is somewhat reluctant to forgive him, Ethan tells Sonny that Kristina is a good kid and that he merely hopes that things work out for her. In June, Kristina channels her anger and frustration at Kiefer towards Sonny and begins to pretend-date Johnny in order to spite him. Sonny, believing that Johnny is taking advantage of his daughter to get back at him for Claudia's death, plants a bomb in Jonny's car, though his plan backfires when Kristina sneaks out to see Johnny and is caught in the bomb along with him; fortunately, neither are severely injured. Though Sonny denies any part in the bomb, Kristina sees through his lies and goes off on him, though she nonetheless agrees to stay away from Johnny to keep Sonny from going after him.

Sonny, finally fed up with Kristina's disrespectful attitude and smart mouth towards both him and Alexis, arranges several new ground rules for her; Kristina is now cut off from her credit cards, has a curfew, and must come to Sonny's house for dinner every Tuesday. Alexis follows suit and takes away her car, and Kristina reluctantly agrees to follow their new rules to make up for all the trouble she caused. Kiefer's father, Warren Bauer, becomes obsessed with getting revenge on Kristina and Alexis and begins plotting for months to "prove" that Kristina is still lying about Kiefer hitting her. On July 19, 2010 Warren harasses Alexis, Sonny, and Kristina at the country club.

Sonny quickly stands up for them and openly accuses Warren of being abusive to Kiefer himself because abusers are taught, not born, stating that Kiefer's brutality towards Kristina comes from years of rage of Warren hitting Kiefer. Sonny also comments that, ironically, he now has a little more sympathy and compassion for Kiefer, though Warren denies ever hitting Kiefer, it is obvious from his reaction that Sonny is correct. After he departs, Sonny and Kristina share a private conversation. Sonny reassures Kristina that he meant what he said about feeling bad for Kiefer, and also states that, if he were still alive, he would have gotten him some help. Kristina thanks him and states that, while Kiefer did awful things, he wasn't an awful person, to which Sonny replies that he isn't either. On July 23, 2010, Warren's vengeance reaches a boiling point when he attempts to outright kill Kristina and Michael at General Hospital, shooting Mac and Ethan in the process. However, Warren is shot and killed by Mac before he can harm Michael and Kristina. When Sonny finds out, he reassures Kristina that, though he can somewhat sympathize with Kiefer for what Warren did to him, he would never lay his hands on a woman like Kiefer did.

Just as the verdict on Sonny is about to come in, Dante enters the courtroom and surrenders Michael as Claudia's true killer. Once Dante's allegations are proven, Judge Carroll, angry that the trial was a farce and fed up with Diane and Claire's courtroom antics, unfairly sentences Michael to five years in Pentonville to punish everyone in the courtroom for covering up Claudia's murder and for making a mockery of his court. To protect Michael, Jason makes a deal with Claire and is sent to prison as well. Guilt-ridden over their roles in Michael's incarceration, Claire and Dante eventually convince the judge to release Michael on the conditions that he live with Dante and have minimal contact with Sonny. Jason, however, is forced to remain in Pentonville, and Diane, despite her best efforts, is unable to find a way to get him out. However, Claire manages to get him a brief exoneration period when Franco returns to Port Charles, and eventually gets him out permanently on a technicality after discovering a loophole in his plea bargain. Though Jason is naturally suspicious of Claire's intentions, Sonny assures him that Claire was only righting a wrong because neither Jason nor Michael should have been in prison to begin with.

In an attempt to revive her career after the embarrassing Michael Corinthos debacle, Claire makes it her mission to put Sonny in prison, permanently. Sonny offers to help her in putting Johnny away, by pushing Johnny into taking action against him. Claire agrees, but she later confides in Lucky that she is merely playing Sonny, and plans to double cross him; Sonny is a "bigger win" than Johnny. However, Claire soon develops genuine feelings for Sonny and excuses herself from any further cases against him due to conflict of interest.

On August 27, 2010 Sonny shoots Johnny in self-defense, but Ronnie Dimestico hides Johnny's gun to make it appear as though Sonny had shot him in cold blood. However, Dante and Jason find pictures that prove that Johnny was attacking Sonny, and Claire is soon rightly convinced as well. Sonny eventually gets off on bail and flees to Rome to see Brenda. However, he returns on September 13, 2010 and turns himself in to prove his innocence. Kristina comes to visit him, and admits that she missed him and regrets all the time she spent hating him and blaming him for everything. Kristina tells Sonny that she is glad he returned because Michael needs him, and Sonny promises to be the best father he can be to both her and her brothers.

Jason tells Sonny that the only way to get the charges dropped is to negotiate a truce with Johnny, and Sonny immediately agrees after reflecting that his vendetta against Johnny nearly cost both Michael and Kristina their lives; Dante subsequently tricks Johnny into going to the station and changing his verdict, and Johnny and Sonny successfully proctor a peace agreement. Afterwards, Claire and Sonny engage in a romantic relationship, though Sonny secretly admits to Dante that he is only romancing Claire because he is on the rebound. Sonny and Claire's weekend getaway in September 2010 is cut short when she is called back to work. Brenda is waiting to greet Sonny upon his arrival home and Sonny realizes he can't pass up a chance to be with the love of his life. Brenda, however, says she wants nothing to do with Sonny, but Sonny wants to be free (of Claire) to pursue Brenda anyway.

In early October 2010, Sonny breaks up with Claire because of Brenda. Claire is hell bent on getting back at Sonny for leaving her, and renews her efforts to throw Sonny in prison. To this end, Claire confronts Jason and threatens to have Michael sent back to Pentonville unless he testifies against Sonny, but Sonny arrives at that moment. However, it is not until Jason threatens to call Diane in that Claire admits that she was bluffing and never had any intention of turning Michael in. Sonny and Claire later realize Carly set them up; they decide to give their relationship another try (after Brenda insists to Sonny that she doesn't want to rekindle their flame). Claire and Sonny's romantic moment is cut short when they learn Brenda has been brought in to the PCPD.

On November 5, 2010, Ronnie gives Claire proof that Sonny was the one who car-bombed Johnny, and Sonny is arrested. Upon discovering, an angry Kristina immediately comes to the police station and confronts Sonny. Sonny doesn't know what to say to her, but Kristina ultimately realizes that he was only trying to protect her and forgives him, and proceeds to insist that it was her fault because everyone kept warning her that pretending to date Johnny was dangerous. However, Sonny takes responsibility and apologizes for letting things get this far, declaring that the worst mistake of his life was letting Kristina grow up thinking that he didn't love her, because he does love her more than anything. Kristina is visibly touched by Sonny's words, and finally makes peace with him. Subsequently, Claire disposes of the evidence against Sonny when they discover that Ronnie had acquired it without a warrant.

Sonny ultimately chooses to break things off with Claire to help her salvage her career and because of his lifelong love for Brenda, but she does him one last favor by convincing the judge to lift the restrictions on Michael's parole, allowing Sonny and Michael free rein to see each other at any time; Claire reassures Sonny that she accepts that he has moved on and tells him to follow his heart. Some time later, when faced with the possibility of being transferred to Alaska, Claire, at Sonny's advice, instead resigns from her position as federal prosecutor and joins Sonny's legal team at Diane's firm.

On December 27, 2010, Sonny and Brenda get engaged in the rose garden of the late Lila Quartermaine. Sonny tells Brenda he has "never been able to let her go" despite the passage of time, other marriages and having children. Brenda says no at first, but after some convincing she accepts Sonny's proposal. In late December 2010/early January 2011, Kristina, Molly, Michael, and Morgan are among those caught in the ski resort bus crash. Though Michael and Molly come out relatively unscathed, Kristina and Morgan are hospitalized with hypothermia and a broken leg, respectively, while Kristina's friend Ali dies from brain trauma. Sonny comforts Kristina when she blames herself for Ali's death. Subsequently, Molly begins to suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder which she initially mistakes for bipolar disorder.

On January 11, 2011, Sonny gives Brenda two rings - one that he was supposed to put on her finger at their first wedding in 1997 and the second to assure her that he will show up on their second wedding in 2011. Sonny shows Brenda a third ring that symbolizes their future together, and how much he'll always love her. He tells her he will give her the third ring at their wedding. The wedding of Supercouple Sonny Corinthos and Brenda Barrett took place on February 18, 2011 and was on air for 6 days. The wedding marked a four-year ratings high for GH in a climate of gloom and doom for soap operas in general. The bride wore an Oscar de la Renta white-and-pink gown and the groom wore a black Dolce & Gabbana suit. During the elaborate wedding ceremony, the couple faced a slew of hurdles. First, Jason went missing and there was concern that he would not be available to give Brenda away. Edward Quartermaine refused to stand in Jason's place due to objections over Brenda's choice of groom. Next, Carly threatened Brenda with revealing her secret past with Dante and insisted the Brenda leave the Sonny at the alter and get away in the limo she had waiting outside.

Also, Sam and Jason figure out the Balkan is actually Brenda's lawyer, Theo Hoffman, and he has been using his proximity to the bride to wreak havoc. Brenda finally makes it to the alter, but objects to her own wedding, knowing what Carly would do so if she didn't. After telling Sonny about her miscarriage and her relationship with Dante that involved hiding her pregnancy with crime lord Alexander by having Dante declare himself the father, Brenda starts walking away from the alter - assuming the wedding is off after her secret is revealed. Sonny stops her, forgives her on the spot and decides that he cannot let her leave like he did in 1997. Sonny gives a memorable speech about how much he loves Brenda and how her father was wrong to make her believe she's not worthy of love. Sonny and Brenda marry amidst a mostly happy crowd.

As Sonny and Brenda leave to embark on their honeymoon, a bomb explodes in the limo that Brenda was in. This scene was a reference to the famous 1996 "Clink...Boom!" scene, when Brenda and Jax marry ("Clink") just as Sonny's wife, Lily, dies in a car accident ("Boom"). Sonny is shocked and devastated at the thought of losing Brenda and vows revenge. He refuses to leave her body at the site of the explosion and insists on seeing her body. When they lift the tarp, we learn that it was Sam in the car, and Brenda is nowhere to be found. Sonny and Jason finally figure out that Theo as the Balkan wanted revenge on Brenda and Dante for killing his son, Alexander. Theo had taken Brenda to a cave hideaway and questions her about her son with Alexander. Brenda insists she had a miscarriage, but has her own suspicions that maybe her son is alive without her knowing it. After an extensive search Sonny, Jason and Dante find the cave where Balkan is hiding Brenda. After a stand-off, Sonny lets Balkan and his people go in order to save Brenda, who has been injected with a deadly neurotoxin.

Sonny brings Brenda to GH, where she makes a full recovery after support from family and friends. Sonny takes her to Positano, Italy for their honeymoon, where she admits she sometimes misses her son, whom she still believes she miscarried in her 7th month of pregnancy. The honeymoon is cut short by news of young Jake's death in a car accident caused by Luke Spencer. Sonny and Brenda head home to be with Jason through this devastating time of his life. Upon discovering that Luke was the one who hit Jake, Sonny goes to talk to him. Though Sonny reassures Luke that it was an accident, Luke is adamant in his grief and self-loathing.

Suzanne brings Brenda's son back (Lucian), but Sonny doesn't believe it's Brenda's real son, so he said get a DNA Test. That night Lucian was kidnapped. Sonny and Dante team up to find him, and figure out Suzanne took him, though Brenda is too emotionally distraught to believe them. She is upset that Sonny refuses to believe that one of his enemies might have taken him. Sonny and Dante figure out Suzanne took Lucian, and track her down to San Antonio. He brings Carly along to help calm Lucian down, in case things get out of hand, and doesn't tell Brenda about his lead because she is too upset to think rationally. Sonny, Dante and Carly find Suzanne-only she has another little boy with her named Alec. Sonny realizes Lucian was not Brenda's son, just as he suspected, and Suzanne took him when she realized she was going to be proven wrong with the DNA test. Sonny and Dante manage to capture Suzanne, and she is taken into custody. Sonny brings Alec home to Brenda, who, though confused, makes an effort to get to know Alec. She also lets Sonny know how hurt she was when he chose to take Carly with him even though it was Brenda's son he was trying to rescue. Brenda and Sonny get back to a normal life.

In Summer 2011, Sonny frames Jax for drug possession and raping Grace Yang, while Jax is in a custody battle with Carly for Josslyn. Brenda mad at Sonny for framing Jax, leaves Sonny with Jax and takes her son Alec. Sonny heartbroken is furious at Jax and when he find's out he's back in town he goes after him. Sonny soon finds out that Jax is back in town trying to kidnap his daughter after he lost custody of her. Sonny going around town like a mad man trying to find Jax tracks him down at Robin's house intent on killing him. Sonny and Jax then have some harsh words for each other trying to prove their points. Sonny who's had enough pulls out his gun and fires a bullet meant for Jax but it grazes Robin instead. Jax got away but Sonny had his private jet tampered with and Jax's plane crashes and he is presumed dead. In Fall 2011, Sonny gets over his heartbreak when Kate returns and they start dating. Sonny is finally happy even with his daughter Kristina going to Yale. In December 2011, Sonny returns to Bensonhurst with Kate and confronts his demons of childhood abuse at the hands of his stepfather Deke. On New Years, it is revealed that Jax is alive and Carly had known for a while. Sonny and Kate mad, lash out at Carly for having Sonny take the blame.

In February 2012, Sonny gets shot at a party by jumping in front of Dante in the parking garage. Sonny knowing it was Anthony or Johnny Zacchara goes to Johnny's penthouse intent on killing him but Carly and Dante stop him. Then Sonny goes after Anthony and goes to the Quartermaines mansion (At this time he is married to Tracy.) and tries to shoot him, but Tracy stops him. On the same night, Sonny's longtime best friend Robin "dies" in a fire. Sonny is very upset when he hears the news. Later in the night Anthony's tires get shot which causes a crash causing the death of Starr's boyfriend and daughter (characters coming to GH from OLTL). At first, Dante thinks it's Sonny, but he says it's not him. Dante then tells him they will do a test to see what type of gun it is and leaves. Later in the horrible night, Kate asks Sonny to choose between Anthony and Kate. Sonny chooses Anthony which upsets Kate, so they break up, which leaves Kate heartbroken. It is currently believed to the people of Port Charles that Connie shot out Anthony's tires and caused the accident and the two deaths. In actuality, Johnny Zacchara is the true culprit.
 * -|2012-13=

In Summer 2012, Sonny helps the police and other parties in finding the antidote to Jerry Jax's water pathogen. Sonny and Kate later try to marry, but Connie (Kate's DID alter) reveals herself and announces to everyone at the wedding that she's not marrying Sonny, and even if she wanted to it's not legally possible. This is due to Connie blackmailing Johnny Zacchara into marrying her a few days before, and if Johnny didn't she would tell everyone that he caused the accident that killed Starr Manning's boyfriend and her daughter earlier that year. In October, Sonny also has to deal with the disappearance of his best friend and enforcer Jason Morgan and the arrival of once-thought to be dead, A.J. Quartermaine.

In late 2012, Shawn Butler becomes Sonny's friend and associate after Jason died in a gunshot by Faison, even Detective Padilla could've protected Jason if she would've stayed in Port Charles longer, but she moved to New York City. Despite all of his failures, mistakes, and crimes he's committed, his new associate Shawn and his lawyer Alexis are always there to help Sonny get Kate back.

With many people around leaving or not there for Sonny, Sonny has a drunken New Years. Kristina was going to leave for Los Angeles, Michael being stuck in the middle of Sonny and A.J. Quartermaine, and Kate turning into her alter Connie. On January 7, 2013 he has a drunken dream about Kate coming to the Gym to go back to Sonny. However, Alexis calls and says that their daughter Kristina is at the hospital and needs moral support. Alexis and Sonny arrive to see Kristina and Connie fighting about Trey. Connie gets emotional about the thought of losing her son Trey. Sonny mistakenly calls her Kate, thinking that Kate broke through and started getting emotional and hugs her. Connie gathers herself and storms off, saying that Kate is not the only one that has feelings. He later goes to Connie/Johnny's place to comfort Connie.

Tracy Quartermaine contacts Sonny to help her keep her CEO position of ELQ Industries from A.J. Quartermaine. He ends up wishing Tracy good luck at keeping her position, but cannot help her. A.J. comes to ELQ and sees Sonny leaving from Tracy's office. Michael also comes to ELQ and states that he has evidence that Tracy used dirty money to fund ELQ few years back. Tracy leaks the story about ELQ being funded by mob money to Connie Falconeri. However, Connie tells A.J. and Michael that Sonny leaked the story.

On the Valentine's Day episode, Sonny sleeps with Connie. Kate returns and sees that Sonny slept with Connie and leaves. Kate is told that Joe Scully Jr. is dead and how her son Trey had died. Kate and Sonny go to the scene of Trey's death (or at least the place where his death was caused). Kate tries to gain some memory of what happened. Kate and Olivia talk about their romantic issues and Kate decides to talk to Sonny. Kate and Sonny make up and have sex on March 6, 2013. Later when Sonny is sleeping, Kate goes downstairs and starts talking to Connie, He goes downstairs and sees that the mirror in broken. Connie re-emerges and gives Sonny the excuse of Max and Milo breaking the mirror. Sonny is still under the impression that Kate is still in control. Sonny goes to Olivia's and wants to see Kate, but Olivia tells him that she left already. Sonny suspects that Connie is back, which he is correct. Connie publicly announces to the crowd at the Floating Rib that the book she stole from Molly Lansing Sonny's niece is hers. Connie later after talking to Sonny reveals to everyone that Molly is the true author.

He attends the 2013 Nurses' Ball until Carly kicks out Brenda. He goes to Dante's with Olivia on the 11th of April. He comforts Olivia when they suspect the worse and they find out that Luke, Laura, and Dante have been traced to Cassadine Island. Sonny leaves and goes back to his house. He suspects that there might be an ambush happening due to the front door being open, but finds Michael in the living room. After Sonny puts his gun away, Michael tells Sonny about him sleeping with Brenda, they talk and Sonny forgives Michael and lets him leaves. Sonny contacts one of his henchmen to bring Brenda to his house, but stops that when he hears a knock on the door. He opens the door and Connie shows up. She tells Sonny that she is Kate and Connie merged into one person but she can't be with Sonny without risking her alters coming back.

Olivia Falconeri decides to take Sonny out to the Metro Court for his birthday, but this turns somewhat disastrous when Sonny and A.J. Quartermaine start to argue and Sonny punches AJ. AJ has panic attack and is escorted out. Sonny soon finds out from Connie information she got from Johnny Zacchara in jail that there's a online gambling ring getting military children hooked onto gambling and that Sonny's son, Morgan is involved. Sonny and Shawn later go out in search of Morgan, they make several stops before finding him with Michael and his new girlfriend, Kiki, getting bullied by thugs Morgan owes money two. Sonny then pays Morgan's debt and brings him back home.

In August, Sonny's girlfriend Connie Falconeri is shot and dies in her office by an unknown assailant. Sonny does everything he can by calling 911 keeping pressure on the wound but the damage is to severe, but before Connie dies she writes "A.J." in her own blood to name the person who shot her. Sonny sees this and automatically thinks A.J. Quartermaine shot Connie, so he goes to the Quartermaine's mansion and confronts a drunken A.J., who was in Connie's office earlier that night with a gun and threatened to kill her for the article she wrote that cost him ELQ. Sonny screams at A.J. to confess but he doesn't because he doesn't remember what happened. Sonny who's had enough clobbers A.J over the head with his gun and points the gun at his head, and as he's about to pull the trigger Dante and Michael rush in and try to talk Sonny down but it's no use. Sonny hell bent on killing A.J doesn't care what anyone says until Michael breaks through to him and tells him if he kills A.J. then they won't be father and son anymore. Sonny then stands down and tells Dante it's on him to arrest A.J. and put him away for life.

In September, Sonny heartbroken over Connie's death really breaks down and almost's commits suicide. Olivia finds him at the Haunted Star and tries to talk him down but it's really no use. Dante, Michael, and Morgan later find them and all four try to make Sonny see reason but he sill doesn't listen. Michael then gives a heartfelt speech to his father, followed by Dante and Morgan and he eventually puts down the gun and they leave. Later on that month Sonny still hell bent on self destructing stops taking his medication and everything comes to a head at Morgan and Kiki's wedding reception party at the Metro Court Hotel where things go bad. Sonny shocking everyone in attendance reveal's to Michael, that Morgan lied about Kiki and Michael being cousins because Morgan was afraid that if they knew the truth Kiki would leave him for Michael. Morgan then tries to make Sonny take it all back but the damage is done. This devastates Morgan and he lashes out cruelly at his father in front of Carly, Olivia, Michael and Kiki for revealing the truth. He then calls Sonny a terrible father, a criminal and says he's always loved Michael more than him anyway. Morgan then brings up Connie and this rages Sonny to grab him and almost attack him but he doesn't. After the fiasco at the hotel Carly and Olivia bring Sonny back home, Carly then asks Olivia to leave so she can talk to Sonny privately. Carly and Sonny then have an argument about what he did to Morgan and he insists it was the right thing to do, Carly then realizes Sonny's off his meds and that's why he did what he did at the party. Carly tries to get Sonny to take his medicine but he doesn't want to stating that it wouldn't be fair to Connie's memory and that he should feel the pain instead of feeling better. Carly eventually gets through to Sonny telling him he has a family that loves him and need's him in their lives, Sonny finally listens and decides to take his medicine.

In October, Sonny after taking his meds starts feeling better and is in a much better state of mind, also with Shawn's help he starts to focus more on his business as there has been a new threat in town, while trying to repair his relationship with Morgan. Sonny and Shawn soon find out that the new threat is "Derek Wells" who is really Julian Jerome and his sister, Ava Jerome who want to take back the territory Sonny has had for twenty years as they believe it belongs to their family. Things get even worse for Sonny when he finds out Morgan is sleeping with Ava and working for Julian as he still blames Sonny for having him lose Kiki to Michael, and for loving Michael more then him.

In December, Sonny and Shawn capture Carlos Rivera (who was holding TJ hostage) in Sonny's warehouse and hold him hostage. Julian and Morgan arrive and they want Carlos back. Sonny and Shawn say no and Julian fires a shot at Sonny. The shot mises and Sonny, Shawn, and now Max fire back. A shootout has errupted inside the warehouse. Sonny shoots Carlos in the arm while Shawn and TJ leave. Morgan sneaks up behind Sonny and holds hom at gunpoint. Julian wants Morgan to kill his father as Sonny tells Morgan to not listen to Julian. Morgan accidently shoots Max in the chest and flees with Julian. Anna arrives and Sonny says that he accidently shot Max. As a result, Sonny is arrested, but is later let free.

On March 4, 2014, Sonny finds A.J. choking Ava and commands him to let her go. A.J. tries to tell him that he didn't kill Connie, but Sonny flashed back to A.J. choking Connie and shot him in the chest at a point blank range. Realizing that he broke his word to Michael, a guilty Sonny leaves with Ava. On March 31, A.J. dies from complications and Sonny is overwhelmed with guilt, which causes him to be tormented by A.J.'s ghost. Sonny ends up having to come clean with Carly after A.J. tells her that Sonny shot him; luckily Carly decides not to tell Michael or anyone else. A few days later, Micheal asks Sonny to come to A.J.'s funeral to support him; hesitant at first Sonny ultimately does. While guilt ridden at A.J.'s funeral, Sonny has sex with Ava inside the Quartermaine crypt. Not long after, Morgan walks in and realizes what just happened.
 * -|2014-15=

In May 2014, Julian tries to kill Ava on orders from his boss for giving Sonny information on their business. Sonny later has Shawn get Ava out of town and hides her on his island until things die down. On May 23, Shawn tells Sonny that Ava shot Olivia last year and had Carly and himself take the blame for it. Later on, Carly plays Sonny a recording from A.J.'s phone that she got cleaned up with Spinelli's help stating that Ava killed Connie. After hearing this Sonny tells Carly that he is going to kill Ava. Sonny then goes to his island to pay Ava a visit and reveals that he knows she shot Olivia and killed Connie last year. Sonny then pulls out his gun intent on killing Ava, she begs him not to but he's heard enough. Just as Sonny is about to kill Ava she reveals to him that she is pregnant with either his child or his son, Morgan's child. She shows him a positive pregnancy test but he insists that she go to a doctor of his choice to confirm it. On June 4, a blood test confirms that Ava is indeed pregnant.

Sonny keeps Ava prisoner in his house, so he can kill her as soon as the baby is born. Ava eventually escapes with Julian's help. Sonny also starts to focus on wooing Carly away from Franco. Carly eventually gives in and sleeps with Sonny. Sonny tries to get Carly to leave Franco, but she refuses. Sonny decides Franco is a liability and he and Shawn plot to kill Franco and frame Heather for the Crime. When Max is shot on Halloween, Sonny blames Ava and holds her at gunpoint. While all this is going on, Franco and Heather have captured Shawn; and Franco, who was aware of Carly's infidelity, shows Michael a video of Sonny admitting he killed AJ. Michael heads to the brownstone with a gun and holds Sonny at gunpoint. Michael lets Ava go and confronts Sonny about his betrayal. Michael then prepares to gun down Sonny, but Dante and Morgan arrive and stop Michael from shooting him. Dante then arrests Sonny for A.J.'s murder. Sonny agrees to plead guilty of the charges against Duke and Carly are dropped, and Scott gleefully agrees.

Sonny is transferred to Pentonville where he informs Duke that he pleads guilty to get the charges against Duke dropped. Sonny asks Duke to run the business and Duke agrees. Carly visits Sonny, not wanting him to be alone on Thanksgiving, and tells him that Michael took the Quartermaine's last name. After briefly being taunted by Carlos, who so released due to Sonny's arrest; Sonny is approached by Johnny, who expresses sympathy towards Sonny for having his son/grandson kidnapped, and offers his resources. Sonny thanks Johnny as two inmates approach them. Johnny apologizes to Sonny, but explains that he has gained power within the prison walls, and could lose it if he shows weakness. He also explains to Sonny that he wanted to create the Port Charles Mob Alliance by taking over his and Julian's territories. Johnny then allows his guys to violently assault Sonny.

Shawn later informs Sonny that the baby is a girl and she has been saved from Franco and Nina Clay. He also mentions that she is safe with Morgan and Kiki and Franco, Nina, and Ava have all been arrested. On December 19, the baby's DNA doesn't match Carly's making her Sonny's daughter. Later, Johnny tells Sonny that his brother, Ric is alive and he's going to kill him if Sonny doesn't hand over his territory. Unfortunately for Johnny, Shawn makes one of Julian's associates, Jordan Ashford (actually an undercover agent working for Anna) join the plot in saving Ric. Johnny gets raged and orders Carlos Rivera to kill him prompting Sonny to attack him, but Franco stops him from attacking Johnny. Ric is eventually saved from Carlos by Shawn and Jordan.

On January 5, 2015, Morgan tells Sonny that he is a father again. On January 6, it is revealed that Johnny didn't murder his grandfather, Anthony and he is let out of Pentonville. On January 8, Julian falsely confesses to Anthony's murder (Carlos ordered him to because he'll kill him if he did not) and goes to Pentonville where he meets with Sonny. On January 9, Julian is threatened by Johnny's thugs and Sonny leaves them to kill him. Instead, Sonny kills one of the thugs, Julian kills another in a fight, and the other ones are dragged out of the cell by security. Sonny and Julian decide to work together against Johnny and Julian's boss. Julian tells Sonny that his boss looks like Luke Specncer, and is holding the real one captive. Sonny wonders if it could be Luke thought to be dead identical cousin, Bill Eckert. Sonny asks Shawn to dig up Bill Eckert's grave, and they find it is empty. Sonny and Julian believe that the fake Luke is Bill Eckert. Sonny attempts to warn Michael about "Bill Eckert", but is coldly rebuffed. Sonny and Julian then receive a call from "Bill", implying he is going to hurt Michael and Lucas. Sonny and Julian decide to break out of Pentonville, but Franco overhears them.

On January 29, Sonny along with Julian, Ava, and Franco all escape Pentonville in order to save their loved ones but Luke sends out both Johnny and Carlos to kill Sonny, Julian, Ava, and Franco. Johnny and Carlos then cause Julian to crash the car causing Sonny, Julian, Ava, and Franco to go unconscious. On February 2, Sonny, Julian, Ava, and Franco all wake up and are then approached by both Johnny and Carlos who began firing shots at them. Sonny and Julian grab their guns and fire back. Later on, while Carlos goes to deal with both Ava and Franco, Johnny decides to deal with both Sonny and Julian. Julian however is shot in the leg by Johnny. Johnny then confronts Sonny and is ready to shoot him, but Julian manages to shoot Johnny in the shoulder. After Johnny and Carlos escape, Sonny goes to see Ava and finds out she is hanging on the ledge of the bridge, Sonny tries to help get her up, but Ava falls down into the water.

On February 3, Sonny finally confronts Luke who he thinks is Bill Eckert and holds him at gunpoint, Luke taunts Sonny and even tells him that he killed his son (Dante), this caused Sonny to get angry and threaten to kill Luke. Luke then tells Sonny about the bomb on the Haunted Star and that if he makes it in time he can see Michael before he dies. On February 4, Sonny manages to get to the Haunted Star and sees Michael with the bomb, Sonny quickly grabs the bomb and jumps into the water where the bomb then explodes. Sonny is later on saved after almost drowning in the water and is then rushed to GH. On February 9, the Governor of New York tells Sonny how grateful he is that Sonny saved his daughter and many other people from an attempted bombing on the Haunted Star. He is so grateful that he gives Sonny a full pardon, which means Sonny will not be heading back to Pentonville as he is now a free man. Sonny's sudden release from Pentonville however upsets Michael who tells Sonny that he is going to pay. At the end of the show, Sonny visits Morgan and Kiki wanting to see his daughter, Avery.


 * -|2016=

Crimes Committed

 * -|1990s=
 * Has been involved in "unscrupulous" mob-related activities
 * Arrested in Atlantic City for the murder of John McBain's sister Theresa (Joe Scully arranged for the charges to be dropped)
 * Put out a hit that resulted in the death of Lieutenant Poletti
 * Put out a hit on Jagger Cates. [1993]
 * Helped Luke Spencer break Frank Smith out of prison [1994]
 * Shot and killed Joe Scully, the man who had befriended him as a teenager and had Sonny's stepfather killed [1995]
 * Broke Brenda Barrett out of jail when she was arrested for murdering Pierce Dorman [1997]
 * Arrested by the FBI for racketeering [Sep 1999]
 * Adultery; slept with Carly Benson while she was married to A.J. [Nov 29, 1999]


 * -|2000s=
 * Blackmailed A.J. into giving Carly a divorce [Mar 2000]
 * Arrested by the FBI when Carly and Roy DiLucca set him up [Apr 2001]
 * Helped fugitive Angel Ellis skip town [Oct 25, 2001]
 * Arrested for locking Skye Quartermaine in a boathouse; not guilty [Mar 2002]
 * Faked his death to flush out Luis Alcazar; later shot him after Alcazar found Brenda and Jax at her old cottage [Sep 2002]
 * Shot both Lorenzo Alcazar and Carly Corinthos [Oct 24, 2003]
 * Held a gun up to Faith Rosco's neck [Oct 31, 2003]
 * Attempted murder; tried to shoot and kill Lorenzo Alcazar [Nov 26, 2003]
 * Kidnapped Sam McCall [Nov 26, 2003]
 * Adultery; had an affair with Sam McCall, while married to Carly [2003]
 * Shot and killed Ben Rogers to protect Sam [Jan 9, 2004]
 * Sent Jason to kill Brian Beck [Feb 5, 2004]
 * Held Brian at gunpoint [Feb 11, 2004]
 * Killed the assassin who planted the explosive in his limo [Apr 2004]
 * Arrested for racketeering [Nov 18, 2004]
 * Held Sam and Jason at gunpoint (Sonny thought Sam kidnaped his daughter Kristina at the time but she was innocent) [Feb 2005]
 * Involved in a shootout with Faith Rosco and two of her men [Feb 2005]
 * Ordered the massacre of the entire Sandoval family (Sonny's orders to his men were anybody who worked for or were associated with the family were to die) [Mar 2005]
 * Attacked Edward Quartermaine [June 22, 2006]
 * Helped Jason Morgan and Sam McCall hide from the police [Nov 2006]
 * Shot Lorenzo in the head in self-defense [Jan 2007]
 * Involved in a shoot out with Lorenzo’s men in The Cellar [Apr 2007]
 * Ordered Jason to kill Lorenzo Alcazar [May 2007]
 * Unlawful imprisonment; kidnapped Johnny Zacchara and held him prisoner in an abandoned mental hospital because he thought Johnny had kidnapped his son, Michael and shot Kate [Mar 2008]
 * Assulted Spinelli when he threw him against a post which caused Spinelli to hit his head [May 27, 2008]
 * Adultery; slept with Carly Jacks while she was married to Jax [May 19, 2008]
 * Shot and killed Andrei Karpov [Nov 2008]
 * Held Trevor Lansing at gunpoint [Feb 2009]
 * Held Anthony Zacchara at gunpoint and threatened to kill him [Feb 2009]
 * Knocked out Jason Morgan, who tried to prevent Sonny from shooting Anthony [Feb 5, 2009]
 * Fired shots at Anthony Zacchara [Feb 5, 2009]
 * Obstruction of justice; covered up the murder of Claudia Zacchara [Nov 2009]


 * -|2010-12=
 * Attempted murder; shot his son Dante Falconeri in the chest at point blank range (Dante was an undercover cop at the time and neither him nor Sonny knew about their connection as father and son) [Jan 29, 2010]
 * Arrested and tried for the murder of Claudia Zacchara; the charges were dropped when it was revealed that Michael had murdered her [arrested Feb 2010; Apr-May 2010]
 * Threatened Ethan Lovett many times [Mar-Apr 2010]
 * Ordered Jason Morgan to kill Ethan Lovett multiple times [Mar-Apr 2010]
 * Adultery; slept with Carly Jacks while she was married to Jax [May 12, 2010]
 * Attempted murder; set a bomb off in Johnny Zacchara's car trying to kill him, but accidently almost killed his daughter Kristina instead [Jul 2-6, 2010]
 * Shot Johnny Zacchara in self-defense; Ronnie Dimestico, a crooked cop made it look like attempted murder [Aug 2010]
 * Jumped bail and went to Rome [Aug 2010]
 * Framed Jax for drug possession [Jul 2011]
 * Punched his son, Dante, in the face rendering him unconscious [Aug 2011]
 * Attempted murder; tried to shoot Jax, but shot a bullet that grazed Robin's arm instead, right in front of her daughter [Aug 2011]
 * Tampered with a private jet owned by Jax which caused his plane to crash (Jax survived the accident) [Aug 2011]
 * Broke into Johnny Zacchara's home, choked him, held him at gunpoint and almost shot him over his balcony; Olivia Falconeri stopped him from killing Johnny [Sep 2011]
 * Broke into Johnny Zacchara's home and attempted to shoot him; Dante and Carly stopped him from killing Johnny [Feb 2012]
 * Broke into the Quartermaine's Manision and tried to kill Anthony Zacchara; Tracy Quartermaine stopped him from killing Anthony [Feb 2012]
 * Held Johnny Zacchara and Kate Howard at gunpoint because they slept together (Kate was Sonny's girlfriend at the time; but she wasn't in her right state of mind) [Apr 2012]
 * Held Todd Manning at gunpoint and threatened to kill him [May 2012]
 * Had Jason kidnap Joe Scully, Jr. and tie him up in one of his warehouses [Jul 2012]
 * Held Joe Scully, Jr. hostage at gunpoint [Jul 2012]
 * Shot Jerry Jacks in the hand turning it into a shootout on the docks [Sep 2012]
 * Had Shawn Butler kidnap Connie Falconeri [Nov 2012]
 * Beat up A.J. Quartermaine [Dec 2012]


 * -|2013-14=
 * After a verbal argument, punched A.J. in the face [Apr 29, 2013]
 * Held Franco at gunpoint and threatened to kill him [May 2013]
 * Ordered Shawn Butler to kill Franco [Jun 2013]
 * Threatened the life of Carly Jacks [Jun 2013]
 * Ordered Shawn to beat up Franco [Jul 2013]
 * Clobbered A.J. Quartermaine over the head and rendered him unconsious [Aug 27, 2013]
 * Held A.J. at gunpoint and almost killed him (Michael stopped Sonny) [Aug 27, 2013]
 * Punched a reporter [Sep 2013]
 * Ordered a hit on Julian Jerome [Nov 2013]
 * Kidnapped Carlos Rivera, tied him up in a warehouse and threatened to kill him (ordered a hit on him) [Dec 2013]
 * Shot Carlos Rivera in the arm during the shootout at his warehouse [Dec 23, 2013]
 * Briefly held his son, Morgan at gunpoint [Dec 23, 2013]
 * Covered for his son, Morgan in the shooting of Max Giambetti by letting himself be arrested [Dec 23, 2013]
 * Ordered Shawn and Duke to beat up Julian Jerome [Jan 24, 2014]
 * Shot and killed A.J. Quartermaine [shot him in the chest at point blank range on Mar 4, 2014; A.J. later died of complications in the hospital on Mar 31, 2014]
 * Held Ava Jerome at gunpoint and almost killed her [May 29-30, 2014]
 * Unlawful imprisonment; forced Ava to live in his house during her pregnancy and then after the baby is born, he'll kill her [Jun-Jul 2014]
 * Held Julian Jerome at gunpoint and threatened to shoot out his knee caps [Aug 1, 2014]
 * Stole a painting and statue from the Jerome Gallery [Aug 1, 2014]
 * Paid a women to pretend to be Mickey Diamond's sister, so Alice Gunderson could get the man's heart [Aug 7, 2014]
 * Sent Shawn, Max, and his thugs to try and kidnap Ava (they failed) [Sep 2014]
 * Obstruction of justice; covered up the murder of Kobe the hit man Fluke sent to try and kill Michael [Sep 2014]
 * Broke into Julian Jerome's penthouse (along with Shawn) [Oct 2014]
 * Ordered another hit on Franco in order to stop him from marrying Carly [Oct 2014]
 * Was planning on pinning Franco's murder on Heather Webber [Oct 2014]
 * Sent Shawn to bust Heather Webber out of Miscavige [Oct 2014]
 * Held Ava at gunpoint and threatened to kill her again [Nov 6-7, 2014]
 * Assaulted Johnny Zacchara and held a sharp toothbrush against his throat [Dec 2014]
 * Assaulted Johnny and held a sharp toothbrush against his throat for a second time (Franco stopped Sonny) [Dec 23, 2014]
 * Assaulted Franco [Dec 23, 2014]


 * -|2015-present=
 * Got into a fight with and killed one of Johnny's thugs in defense of Julian and also sent another inmate to the infirmary [Jan 9, 2015]
 * Acquired a contraband cell phone [Jan 19, 2015]
 * Attacked Julian [Jan 19, 2015]
 * Knocked out Johnny's thugs [Jan 19, 2015]
 * Threatened to kill fellow inmate, Gino [Jan 19, 2015]
 * Beat up a prison guard [Jan 28, 2015]
 * Impersonated a prison guard [Jan 29, 2015]
 * Beat up a second prison guard [Jan 29, 2015]
 * Escaped from Pentonville along with Julian, Franco, and Ava [Jan 29, 2015]
 * Engaged in a gun battle with Johnny and Carlos [Feb 2, 2015]
 * Held Luke Spencer at gunpoint [Feb 3-4, 2015]
 * Lied in court; lied about Avery being at his house [Mar 5, 2015]
 * Threatened Julian with death unless he gave up the person who fatally shot Duke in the stomach (which was Carlos) [May 14, 2015]
 * Ordered Shawn Butler to kill 'Jake Doe' [May 15, 2015]
 * Attacked Scott Baldwin following an argument [Jun 5, 2015]
 * Shot and killed a Russian mobster during a failed mob meeting [Aug 5, 2015]
 * Held Charlie Heineck at gunpoint and threatened to kill him if he didn't let T.J. Ashford go [Sep 4, 2015]
 * Threatened to kill Ava again [Oct 7, 2015]
 * Assault; manhandled Ava Jerome after she kept antagonizing him (he tightly grabbed her wrist and wouldn't let go) [Nov 9-10, 2015]
 * Continues to threaten Julian [Jan 26-27, 2016]
 * Punched Landon Dixon [Feb 19, 2016; shown on Feb 24, 2016]
 * Held Dixon at gunpoint [Feb 19, 2016; shown on Feb 24, 2016]

Health and Vitals

 * Physically abused by his stepfather as a child
 * Suffers from claustrophobia due to being locked in the closet as a child
 * Beaten up by Jagger Cates [1993]
 * Shot while helping to break Frank Smith out of jail; passed out while driving and crashed his car into Brenda's [1994]
 * Nearly died from being injected with heroin [Nov 1996]
 * Shot outside the police station and nearly died [Dec 2000]
 * Nearly died when his warehouse was set on fire
 * Stabbed by Sorel at Lily's gravesite [Jun 6, 2001]
 * Slightly injured when a bomb he was wearing in a showdown with Sorel went off [2001]
 * Beaten up by Lorenzo Alcazar when Alcazar kidnapped him to demand the return of his drugs [2003]
 * Shot by Det. Brian Beck [Dec 2, 2003]
 * Injured his leg during the inferno at the Port Charles Hotel [Feb 12, 2004]
 * Injured in a train wreck [Nov 2005]
 * Fell ill during the encephalitis plague that hit Port Charles [Feb 2006]
 * Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a.k.a. manic depression; he passed this down to his to his son, Morgan [revealed 2006; Morgan's bipolar disorder was revealed on Dec 2, 2015]
 * Held hostage at gunpoint at the Metro Court Hotel by Jerry Jacks and the rest of his team (known as the Metro Court hostage crisis) [Jan-Feb 2007]
 * Shot at a couple of times by Jerry Jacks during the Metro Court hostage crisis [Feb 2007]
 * Beat up and tied up during the Metro Court hostage crisis [Feb 2007]
 * Rendered unconscious during the Metro Court explosion [Feb 2007]


 * Suffered a concusion after a shoot out with Lorenzo’s men in The Cellar [Apr 2007]
 * Shot in the shoulder by Anthony Zacchara [Nov 16, 2007]
 * Stabbed and thrown in the bay to die; was saved by Carly [Oct 31-Nov 3, 2008]
 * Shot in the shoulder by Ronnie Dimestico; he took the bullet for his son, Dante [Feb 2012; revealed May 2012]
 * Held at gunpoint by Todd Manning [Mar 2012]
 * Held at gunpoint by Starr Manning [May 2012]
 * Experienced a fever after ingesting the toxin Jerry Jacks had placed in the Port Charles water supply [Sep 2012]
 * Had a hallucination; saw Connie Falconeri when she wasn't really there [Sep 2013]
 * Tried to commit suicide by gunshot while going through a breakdown over Connie's death [Sep 2013]
 * Held at gunpoint by Julian Jerome [Dec 19, 2013]
 * Almost got shot by Julian Jerome [Dec 23, 2013]
 * Held at gunpoint by his son, Morgan [Dec 23, 2013]
 * Put his gun in Morgan's hands and told him to shoot him (Sonny) [Jan 4, 2014]
 * Hallucinations; haunted several times by A.J.'s ghost as to how he is going to live with getting away with killing him [Apr 2014]
 * Had a hallucination; saw Connie Falconeri when she wasn't really there [Oct 2014]
 * Held at gunpoint and almost killed by his son, Michael [Nov 6-11, 2014]
 * Assaulted by inmates under the orders of Johnny Zachhara [Dec 8, 2014]
 * Rendered unconscious in a car accident caused by Johnny Zacchara and Carlos Rivera under Luke's orders [Jan 30, 2015]
 * Had multiple shots fired at him by Johnny and Carlos [Feb 2, 2015]
 * Held at gunpoint and almost killed by Johnny Zacchara [Feb 2-3, 2015]


 * Jumped into the water with a bomb [Feb 4, 2015]
 * Threatened by Nina Clay (she threatened to stab him in the eye with a shrimp fork) [May 26, 2015]
 * Held at gunpoint by Charlie Heineck [Sep 2, 2015; shown on Sep 4, 2015]
 * Shot in the chest by Paul Hornsby and required surgery to remove a bullet lodged near his heart [Sep 2, 2015; shown on Sep 4, 2015; revealed Sep 21, 2015]
 * Almost got shot and killed by Charlie and two of his men [Sep 2, 2015; shown on Sep 8, 2015]
 * Had a seizure due to a blood clot in his brain and required surgery [Sep 28-29, 2015]
 * Tried to get out of his wheelchair to exit the hospital and as a result he fell to the floor [Oct 22, 2015]
 * Threatened by Ava Jerome [Nov 5, 2015]
 * Held hostage at gunpoint in a chapel-full of people by Landon Dixon [Feb 19, 2016; shown from Feb 23-24, 2016]
 * Threatened by Dixon multiple times [Feb 19, 2016; shown from Feb 23-24, 2016]