| Sonny Corinthos | |||||||||||||||||
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| Maurice Benard as Sonny Corinthos | |||||||||||||||||
| General Hospital | |||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Maurice Benard | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1993–1997, 1998-present | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | August 13, 1993 | ||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Bill Levinson | ||||||||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances | GH: Night Shift | ||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||
| Aliases | Michael Corinthos Jr. (birth name) Godfather & Mr. Sir (by Spinelli) Boss (by Max) |
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| Gender | Male | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Co-Owner of The No Name/Polluzo's Coffee importer (Legit) Owner of Clubs in the Caribbean (Legit) Mob boss |
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| Residence | Greystone Manor (120 Harbor View Road)[1] Port Charles, New York The Island (The Bahamas) |
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Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr. is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera General Hospital. 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.[3] Sonny is also one half of two of shows Supercouple pairings, Sonny and Brenda and Sonny and Carly.
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Michael “Sonny” Corinthos, Jr. is born on April 20, 1967[4] in the blue-collar Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn. His father, Michael “Mike” Corinthos, Sr is of Irish and Greek descent and his mother Adela is Cuban. Due to his gambling addiction, Mike believes Sonny would be better off without him and he later divorces his wife and changes his surname to Corbin to hide from loan sharks, according to Sonny.
As a teenager, Sonny has a brief relationship with Olivia Falconeri which results in the birth of their son, Dante in 1984. Sonny would soon fall in love with Olivia’s cousin, Connie and the two make plans to run away together until Connie changes her mind and leaves Sonny standing on a street corner. Sonny also grew up with Lois Cerullo and her family; Sonny develops a close relationship with her father, Carmine and would also be her daughter, Brook Lynn’s godfather.
Adela later becomes involved with her boss, attorney Trevor Lansing. When Adela is pregnant with their son Ric, she accidentally falls down a flight of stairs and Trevor blames young Sonny for the accident. Trevor forces Adela to choose between her sons, but Adela can’t bear to abandon Sonny, so she leaves Ric with Trevor. Adela later marries, Timothy Deacon “Deke” Woods, a police officer. Sonny and Adela are constantly abused by Deke both physically and mentally, including locking Sonny in a closet which eventually leads to his developing claustrophobia. After another beating from Deke lands Adela in the hospital, Sonny goes to criminal Joe Scully promising to work for him if he gets Deke away from his mother. After Deke is murdered, Sonny starts working for Scully. He would later become a powerful mob boss.
Sonny Corinthos originated during the final weeks of Bill Levinson's regime as head writer, in August 1993 (just prior to Levinson's replacement by Claire Labine). After four years with the show, Benard left on September 24, 1997, and after a brief return in the spring of 1998, has continued to portray Sonny since December 18, 1998.[3] In 2003, Benard won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the role.[5] Benard has described Sonny 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." [5]
Like the character of Sonny, Maurice Benard also suffers from bipolar disorder.[6] Benard stated, "When I let it be known I was bipolar, we wrote it into the character."[6] During 2006, Corinthos had an onscreen breakdown due to his bipolar disorder. The parallels between the story and Benard's real life expeirences had Benard believing he was having his own "fourth break down," though Benard credits staying on his medication as keeping him grounded.[6] 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.[7]
The name of Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, as well as his occupation, is a reference to The Godfather's characters of Michael Corleone and Santino "Sonny" Corleone. These characters have a sister named Connie Corleone, which is alluded to in Kate Howard's real name, Connie Falconeri.[8] Similarities have also been noted between Sonny and Tony Soprano from The Sopranos and the characters that surround them both.[9] Vincent Pastore, who portrayed Big Pussy Bonpensiero on The Sopranos, came on the show to portray Maximus Giambetti, father of Sonny's bodyguards Milo and Max Giambetti.[10]
In 1993, Sonny Corinthos arrives in town as a minor mafia employee, running a strip club 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.
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 HIV positive girlfriend, Robin Scorpio. 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 reluctant 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 discuss 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 an avalanche at a ski resort on the 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 Jax.
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 her 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, and joins the Corinthos-Rivera Organization. Sonny becomes involved the 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 that 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 causes 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 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 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 on A.J. and grants Carly a divorce. Carly and Sonny move in together and after Carly suffers a miscarriage, Sonny 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 love each other, Sonny and Carly rewed in 2001 in a Caribbean 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 with 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.
Although Luis is soon murdered by Alexis Davis, Brenda marries Jason as a way of preventing reconciliation with Sonny or Jax, but the marriage prevented them from testifying against Luis's murder. 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 eventually and have a baby, which Carly had difficulty conceiving. Sonny's half-brother Ric is overjoyed when Elizabeth becomes pregnant with their child, but is infuriated when Elizabeth falls down a flight of stairs after Faith Roscoe 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 leverage against Sonny to transport Sonny. Although Carly escapes, Lorenzo kidnaps a pregnant Courtney, who also escapes, causing her a miscarriage. Sonny is devastated and Courtney is declared infertile, like Carly. After confusing labor pains for torture, Sonny finds Lorenzo over Carly helping her giving birth. Sonny shoots Lorenzo but the bullet lands in Carly's head, causing her to go in to a coma, after giving birth to Morgan Corinthos.
Sam and Sonny start a short-lived relationship that gets more complicated when Sam discovers she is pregnant. Carly points out to Sam the latter's strong resemblance to Brenda, the love of Sonny's life. Nevertheless, Sonny 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. After Sonny admits that Sam is carrying his child, Carly tells the truth about Kristina. Realizing the depth of both of their deception, the two decide to separate again. When Kristina falls ill, Alexis badgers Sam in an attempt to force the expecting mother to undergo a risky procedure to have her unborn daughter donate stem cells to Kristina. 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.
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 confrontation that leaves her 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.
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.
Sonny still in love with ex-wife Carly discovers Jax and Carly become engaged, though she is disappointed when he 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. While attending a party at the hotel she owns with Jax, Carly and several other Port Charles residences are taken hostage by the mysterious Jerry Jacks. 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 to many of the residence. Fearing Zacchara is a murder, Sonny sends his kids to live with Carly. Unfortunately, Diego Alcazar murders Emily in retaliation for the deaths of Luis and Lorenzo, in which Sonny is devastated. Kate, fearing this is her fate, rejects Sonny's marriage proposal, which leads him to sleep with Claudia Zacchara.
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 Sonny marries 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. When Jerry Jacks, who knows of Claudia's culpability in Michael's shooting, begins sending her DVDs incriminating her, Kate, Olivia, Jax, and Ric each discover a DVD, but only Ric tells Sonny after he (still in love/ obsessed with Claudia) 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 her father, Anthony, and Ric teamed up to kill Kate so that eventually Anthony can lure Sonny in. 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, Jason and Sam find proof that is the one who responsible for Michael's shooting and inform Sonny. During a birthday party that he arranged for her at the Metro Court, Sonny alerts everyone in attendance to Claudia's guilt and verbally rips her to shreds. Backed into a corner, Claudia panics and takes a pregnant Carly hostage. When Sonny finds out that Michael had killed Claudia, 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 September 8, 2009 Edward Quartermaine is drugged and drives his car into the carnival. Dante pushes Morgan out of the way, and suffers injuries that cause internal bleeding. Kristina was buried in the mess and Michael finds her. Sonny was there when they brought her in and told her he loves her.
On January 28, 2010, Sonny and Jason find out Dominic is an undercover cop. The very next day, Dominic has a warrant for Sonny's arrest. Sonny is to be given one last good day before his arrest, but he finds out that Dominic has betrayed him. He 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.
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 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".
Sonny is soon put on trial for Claudia's murder, and Jax, determined to put him away for good, calls in federal prosecutor Claire Walsh. Guilt-ridden, Michael tries to tell Mac that he is Claudia's true killer, but Mac assumes that Michael is merely trying to protect Sonny and dismisses his statement. Nonetheless, in order to prevent Michael from trying to confess again, Sonny, Jason, and Carly arrange for him to be taken to Sonny's private island until the trial is over. Unfortunately, Claire immediately begins doing all in her power to find Michael, believing that his testimony will ensure Sonny's conviction.
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 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 also tells Carly that at first, he didn't see Kristina because of Alexis, then the custody battle then the fact that he was intimidated by her because she was his only daughter. But 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 of 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, who uses it to her advantage by having Johnny lie on the stand and say that Sonny beat Claudia. Sonny goes off in court about how Claudia got what she deserved, which Kristina witnessed; Kristina subsequently becomes convinced that Sonny is a physically abusive monster. 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, which severely damages Sonny's case; Sonny nonetheless comforts a grief-stricken Robin and reassures her 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 the abuse has been going on for months, which reduces both Alexis and Sonny to tears. Jason returns and reveals that he didn't kill Ethan, much to Sonny's relief; however, Sonny cannot understand why Kristina went to such lengths to protect Kiefer, especially since his mother never even went that far to protect Deke.
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. Meanwhile, Carly manages to greatly strengthen the odds in Sonny's favor by testifying that Sonny never intentionally killed Claudia, and only hit her to save Carly herself and her newborn daughter Josslyn.
Just as the verdict on Sonny is about to come in, Dante, having discovered that Michael was the one who killed Claudia and brought him back to Port Charles, enters the courtroom and surrenders Michael. 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 acting on a loophole she secretly inserted 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 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 ruining Claudia's life, plants a bomb in Sonny'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, ascertaining that abusers learn their habits from others, accuses Warren of having abused Kiefer himself, stating that his brutality towards Kristina comes from years of bottled-up rage and 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 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. Sonny is later thrilled to discover that, for once, Kristina does not blame him one bit.
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 steals and 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. During this time, Kristina, having come to some degree of terms with her father, visits him at the police station and admits that she missed him and is glad he came back, and Sonny promises to be the best father he can be to both her and her brothers. After Kristina leaves, Jason visits and tells Sonny that he needs to agree to a truce with Johnny, and Sonny unhesitatingly agrees after reflecting that his vendetta with Johnny nearly cost Michael and Kristina their lives; Dante subsequently tricks Johnny into coming to the station and amending his statement, and the two proctor a peace agreement.
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.
Hurt and angry, Claire redoubles her efforts to put Sonny in prison, at one point threatening to put Michael back in Pentonville unless Jason testifies against Sonny, but Sonny successfully does damage control and calls that bluff. The two eventually get back together in late October after Brenda makes it clear that she does not want to rekindle her flame with Sonny.
In early November 2010, Sonny is arrested after it is discovered that he was indeed the one who blew up Johnny's car. Upon discovering this, Kristina immediately goes to the station to confront him. Contrary to expectations, Kristina forgives him for planting the bomb and insists that it was her fault because everyone kept warning her that pretending to date Johnny was a bad idea. However, Sonny takes full responsibility and apologizes for letting things get this far, telling Kristina that, out of all the mistakes he has made, the worst was letting her 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 the two embrace and finally make peace. Sonny is subsequently cleared of all charges when Claire discovers that Detective Dimestico obtained the evidence against him without a warrant.
Eventually, Sonny permanently breaks things off with Claire, both to help her salvage her career and because of his love for Brenda, but she does him one last favor by convincing Judge Carroll to approve of a petition to allow him to see Michael freely.
On December 27, 2010, Sonny and Brenda get engaged in the rose garden of the late Lila Quartermane. 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 bride leave the groom 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 that 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 Balken wanted revenge on Brenda and Dante for killing his son, Alexander. Theo has 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. After discovering the death of Jake Spencer in a hit-and-run, Sonny and Brenda immediately cut their honeymoon short and return to Port Charles to be there for the devastated Jason.
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. Sonny later attends the failed intervention of Luke.
In late April, Suzanne returns Lucian, Brenda's presumed-dead son, to her, but this begins to cause problems in their marriage; Brenda has doubts about raising Lucian in a mob environment, while Sonny, distrustful of Suzanne, doubts that Lucian is actually Brenda's son and convinces her to get a DNA test. However, before they can, Suzanne kidnaps Lucian and spirits him away to San Antonio.
Sonny and Dante immediately make plans to pursue Suzanne, and Sonny convinces Carly to come with them. On the plane ride, Sonny and Carly discuss their tempestuous marriage, and Sonny states that Carly most likely would have had a much better life if they had never gotten together in the first place. Carly immediately stops Sonny and tells him that, while she does have regrets about their relationship, she has none in regards to Michael and Morgan because both boys grew up knowing that Sonny deeply loved and cared for them. Sonny, Carly, and Dante arrive at a home where they find a pictures of a boy who is not Lucian. They realize that Lucian was a decoy and that this boy is Brenda's real son. Later they find Suzanne and Alec at a park. They all return to Port Charles and Alec introduces him to his mother.
Brenda is having a hard time bonding with Alec then she did with Lucian. In May 2011, Jax is trying to get full custody of Josslyn because he thinks Carly is an unfit mother. This causes problems in Sonny and Brenda's marriage. Brenda wants Sonny to adopt Alec as his son but Sonny doesnt want anymore children. In June 2011 Sonny attends Kristina and Michael's graduation until Michael punches a boy in front of everybody. Sonny later threatens mayor floydd to give him Michael's diploma. Sonny and Alexis rush to the Dominican Republic to stop Kristina and Ethan wedding but learn he is only divorcing Maya.
In early July Carly tells Sonny that Jax is calling Michael and Morgan to testify. Sonny barges in to Jax's office not knowing the court mediator is there and tells him he will give him one last chance to share custody with Carly or he will regret it. brenda and Alec are shot at in a car but Sonny says they were never in danger. Sonny tells Brenda not to mention it to the Judge. On July 15, 2011 brenda tells the judge about the incident. Sonny later realizes that Jax paid the mediator off to make it look like Carly is a bad mother, and subsequently blackmails said mediator into helping him frame Jax for possession of drugs. Brenda realizes the truth and leaves Sonny. On July 21, 2011 Brenda gives Sonny her rings back and get on a plane with Alec and Jasper Jacks to Rome. Both Sonny and Brenda realize that once Brenda became a mother with Alec, she decided to put her child's welfare above her own happiness with Sonny. Sonny lets her go to give Alec a better life, admiring the woman she has become.
Unable to handle the loss of Brenda, Sonny begins a self-destructive downward spiral. When Jax returns to town and kidnaps Josslyn, Sonny immediately becomes outraged and goes out to kill Jax, blaming him for his losing Brenda. This vendetta quickly consumes Sonny, leading him to show total indifference when Jason, who was also out looking for Jax, is hospitalized from a severe head injury. He eventually tracks Jax down to Robin's house, and accidentally shoots Robin while trying to shoot Jax. Jax is then "killed" when his plane crashes because of sonny tampering with it.