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creative
The following is a compilation of my personal observations and conclusions based on
watching the "Heroes" television series episodes and value-added materials included on
the Season 1 & 2 DVD sets, and reading the graphic novels. As I do not have access to
on-air television or high-speed internet, I have not yet seen any episodes of Season 3.
****
DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
The "S"-shaped symbol which is found on or in close proximity to anyone with supernormal
abilities is the combination of two Japanese alphabetic characters which together translate
to "Godsend". The pantheon of characters in the "Heroes" series who have displayed (or
been implied to have) one or more Godsend Abilities so far is listed below, grouped by
association.
[Founders of "The Company"]
----------------------------------------
Adam Monroe - Cellular Regeneration, Longevity
Arthur Petrelli - (undisclosed - hinted to be some manner of Flight)
Angela Petrelli - (undisclosed - hinted to be Touch-based Suggestion Control)
Kaito Nakamura - Computer Intellect (recall, computation, short-term prognostication)
Bob Bishop - Metal Transmutation
Daniel Linderman - Touch-based Projected Cellular Regeneration
Charles Deveaux - Spatial Awareness (possibly Clairvoyance)
Maury Parkman ("Nightmare Man") - Telepathy, Perception Control, Dream Control
[The Founders' Descendants]
----------------------------------------
Hiro Nakamura - Time Control, Teleportation
Nathan Petrelli - Levitation, Supersonic Flight
Peter Petrelli - Permanent Proximity-based Absorption/Adaptation of Godsend Abilities
Elle Bishop - Electrocasting
Matt Parkman - Telepathy, Telecoersion (other mental abilities not yet disclosed)
Claire Bennet (biological daughter of Nathan Petrelli) - Cellular Regeneration
(Longevity implied but not yet demonstrated)
Powered Operatives of "The Company" (current & former)
----------------------------------------
Elle Bishop - see above
The Haitian (real name unknown) - Godsend Ability Dampening, Organic Memory Erasure
Claude - Personal Invisibility
Eden (Bennet's assistant, season 1) - Telecoersion
Candace (Sylar's keeper, Season 2) - Illusion Casting
Hana Gitelman ("Wireless") - Technomancy (telepathic influence of electronic devices)
Others with Godsend Abilities
----------------------------------------
Issac Mendez - Graphic Precognition
Ted Sprague - Thermonuclear Projection
Sylar - Intuitive Aptitude + Permanent Adaptation of Godsend Abilities
Zane Taylor (Sylar victim) - Room-temperature Liquification of Matter
Dale Smither (Sylar victim) - Extreme Auditory Perception
Charlene Andrews (Sylar victim) - Total Recall
Maya Hererra - Psychic-Poison Broadcast
Alejandro Hererra - Psychic-Poison Absorption & Dissipation
West Rosen - Levitation, Supersonic Flight
Meredith Gordon (Claire's Genetic Mother) - Pyrokinesis
DL Hawkins - Intangibility
Nikki Sanders (aka Jessica) - Extreme Strength, Stamina, Dexterity
Micah Sanders - Technomancy
Molly Walker - Location Finder
Monica Dawson (Micah's Cousin) - Adoptive Muscle Mimicry
"Liquid Man" (discussed but not yet seen) - Self-liquification
Detective Furokawa - Highly-Intuitive Language Translation (possible limited Telepathy)
Significant Recurring Characters with no apparent Godsend Abilities
----------------------------------------
Chandra Suresh (deceased parapsychologist & geneticist, author of book on Godsend gene)
Mohinder Suresh (son of Chandra, parapsychologist & geneticist for The Company, source of
natural antibodies to combat the Shanti Virus)
Victoria Pratt (Geneticist for The Company, retired after Batch 138 was nearly released 30 years ago)
Yaeko (Swordsmith's daughter & Takezo Kensei's princess in Feudal Japan, fell in love with Hiro 400 years ago)
Caitlin Brown (Peter Petrelli's girlfriend, lost in dystopian alternate future)
Noah Bennet (Claire's adopted father, operative of The Company)
Sandra Bennet (Claire's adopted mother)
Lyle Bennet (Claire's annoying little adopted brother)
Mr. Muggles (Bennet family's pet sharpei dog)
****
UNDERUSED CHARACTERS:
Detective Furokawa appeared once only, in Season 1 Episode 2, in an alternate timeline
future visited by Hiro Nakamura. He displayed the ability to convey vast amounts of
complex information while translating short, clipped phrases between Japanese and English.
This could only be possible if Furokawa has a Godsend Ability which greatly enhances his
capacity to translate languages. It is unknown if the series producer intends to further
develop this character at a later time (possibly as a potential future Sylar victim).
****
ADOPTIVE MULTIPOWERS:
Certain characters on "Heroes" have displayed a broad-based ability to collect and
permanently adapt the Godsend Abilities of others for their own use. Peter Petrelli's
version of this ability is passive, not harmful to the original ability-holder, and is
used by him for good purposes. Gabriel "Sylar" Grey, on the other hand, is a self-serving
sociopath who steals other people's special gifts for his own selfish and evil uses. It
is as yet undisclosed whether it is actually necessary for him to kill others to adopt
their Godsend Abilities, or if he kills them so as to be the sole owner of the powers he
steals, or if he kills just to experience the sick evil thrill of doing so.
It is also undisclosed if these two are the only ones with adoptive multipowers.
Peter Petrelli - Copies Others' Powers By Close Proximity
----------------------------------------
(Natural Ability) Empathy, Permanent Proximity-based Absorption/Adaptation of Godsend Abilities
Levitation, Supersonic Flight
Graphic Precognition
Time Control, Teleportation
* Thermonuclear Projection
* Cellular Regeneration (longevity implied but not yet demonstrated)
Metal Transmutation
Electrocasting
Telepathy, Perception Control, Telecoersion
Location Finder
Telekinesis
Extreme Strength, Stamina, Dexterity
Technomancy
Intangibility
Personal Invisibility
Intuitive Aptitude
Spatial Awareness (possibly Clairvoyance)
* = Alone, the Thermonuclear Projection ability is deadly but not explosive. The output of nuclear
radiation eventually takes its toll on the host body; the progressive degeneration of his tissues
makes it impossible for the host to do more than get very hot and emit toxic radiation in extended
bursts. Coupled with the Cellular Regeneration ability, however, the self-inflicted damage repairs
itself, making it possible for Peter to build up nuclear energy until it could explode. As the
Thermonuclear Projection power is adrenal in nature, it is imperative Peter not be pushed too hard
physically or emotionally, lest he suffer an attack of intense rage and start building up to critical mass.
Sylar (Gabriel Grey) - Steals Powers By Cutting Off Victims' Skulls & Eating Their Brains
----------------------------------------
(Natural Ability) Intuitive Aptitude, Permanent Adaptation of Godsend Abilities
Telekinesis
Room-temperature Liquification of Matter
Thermal Control
Extreme Auditory Perception
Thermonuclear Projection
Graphic Precognition
Total Recall
(...plus several others, as yet undisclosed)
****
FRACTURED MULTIPOWERS:
Nikki Sanders suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. She possesses extreme physical
abilities but cannot normally access them in her own persona. Her alternate personality,
Jessica, is a violent sociopath with full access to the Godsend physical abilities.
Nikki has at least one other personality who calls herself Gina, who may or may not have
access to Jessica's physical abilities. It may be that Nikki has still more personalities
and that each commands a different Godsend Ability. If so, Nikki is a Godsend multipower
whose full range of abilities and potential remains undisclosed.
****
DECAPITATION - NOT NECESSARILY FATAL, JUST A BAD WAY TO START YOUR DAY:
It is implied that the only way a Hero with the Cellular Regeneration power may be
killed is to destroy the brain (bullet to the head, decapitation, etc). However, Claire
Bennet has already been killed by having a sharp stick projected through the stem of her
brain; she revived instantly when the medical examiner removed the stick. It is therefore
likely that, if decapitated, she (or Adam Monroe, or Peter Petrelli) would actually grow a
brand new head.
The question is therefore whether the regenerating Hero, having grown their head back,
would be a tabula rasa, needing to be raised to mental maturity via several years of
parenting and reeducation, or if they could somehow regain their memories once the new
head was fully grown. It is possible that sufficient RNA traces may exist within the
body that partial memory (basic motor and language skills, at least) may be regained
as part of the regeneration process. ("Who am I? And, why are you looking at me so...
strangely?")
Possibly all that would be required to complete the process would be for the regenerating Hero
to hold her severed original head in her hands, triggering an electro-chemical download of all
the memories and experiences contained within.
****
IMMORTALITY - NOT AS GREAT AS IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE:
Open letter to Adam Monroe:
So, a real estate developer bulldozes a graveyard sometime in the middle of the 23rd Century
and out of an unearthed coffin pops a living breathing englishman, mad enough to spit nails and
jonesing for revenge on a certain time-bending japanese adventurer who's been dead and gone
now some 200 years.
My advice? Get over yourself. You have bigger problems now.
Face facts, Adam. You've been alive now for 600 years (the last 200 locked in a small wooden box),
and there's no indication you will ever be able to die. This means that, in 300,000 years, when the
Sun explodes and incinerates the inner planets of the Solar System, if you are still present your
life will consist of burning to death, coming back to life, and burning to death again, over and over
throughout all eternity.
It would therefore behoove you to not be present for the death of Planet Earth. You should give some
thought as to how to encourage mankind to leave its cradle and move on out into the larger universe, so
that you can go with them. That won't be possible if you murder 97+% of the human species. Warts
and all, we are your only hope of escaping a fate far worse than mere death.
****
TOSSING THUNDERBOLTS IS, LIKE, SO LAST CENTURY:
Elle Bishop's ability to dishcarge electrical current was zealously overstimulated by her
father at an early age, to the extent that, at the age of 24, she is capable of putting out
enough megawattage to melt steel or fry a full grown man to ash in seconds. However, there
are other possible applications to her power, as yet unexplored, which could serve her
effectively without the risk of inflicting pain or death on others, if desired.
The human nervous system is basically a microwatt-rated electrical device. If Elle could
be trained to limit her output to microwattage, she could use her gift in the manner of a
TENS therapy device (Transdermal Electro-Neural Stimulation), enabling her to relieve pain
as well as inflict it. (In essence, she could be both the good and bad cop simultaneously.)
With sufficient training, she might even be able to electrically induce pure pleasure or
other simulated sensations in the nervous systems of those she touches (effortlessly seduce
lovers, induce unconsciousness, etc).
Elle might also learn to use her electric output to interfere with or even override control
of certain types of electronic devices, or to draw electrical energy out of powered systems
to render them inert. With time and effort, she may be able to learn how to produce
alternating current, or safely absorb it.
****
A BUG IN YOUR EAR:
The Shanti Virus, named after Shanti Suresh (deceased daughter of Chandra, sister of
Mohinder), is the only revealed instance of a nonhuman life form posessing a Godsend
Ability. It is a disease pathogen which supresses the Godsend Abilities of those it
infects. This is closely analogous to The Haitian, who can temporarily supress other
people's Godsend Abilities by proximity. (The virus posesses the same ability; it remains
in proximity as long as it continues to live in a victim's bloodstream.) If left unchecked,
the Shanti virus will eventually kill anyone it infects.
Batch 138, a mutated strain of the Shanti Virus which was cultured by The Company 30 years
ago, is a weaponized airborne pathogen which attacks and swiftly kills powered and power-
less humans alike but apparently does not suppress Godsend Abilities (Season 2 alternate
ending - the virus is released with the Petrelli brothers and Matt Parkman standing at
ground zero; normal people throughout the town of Oddessa, Texas drop like flies and the
Heroes eventually get sick as well, but the Heroes' abilities are apparently unaffected).
The Company's oft-heard dogma "The cure is almost perfected" may therefore be interpreted
to mean that the ultimate goal of The Company is to create a strain of the Shanti virus that will only
kill powerless humans, but leave super-powered humans in perfect health. (Ie, encourage
the evolution of humanity by wiping out the non-powered 97+% of the human population of
Planet Earth all in one stroke.) Meaning that ordinary humans are the disease The Company
wishes to cure. This is exactly the kind of thing The Company's original founder, Adam
Monroe the 400-year-old ronin, would come up with.
****
LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE:
Stipulating that a possible Godsend Ability may be "Animal-form Self-transformation", there
exists the possibility that the Bennet family's pet dog, Mr. Muggles, may yet be revealed
to be an operative of The Company under deep cover. Alternately, Mr. Muggles may be an
innocent victim of an as-yet undisclosed assault by someone with a "Transform Other
To Animal" ability.
...Or he could just be an overgroomed mutt with a brain the size of a peanut.
****