Excalibur1123

Movies!!

2008-12-19T23:23:00.000-08:00

1 Week Ago I Watch This Movies The Movies Is THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL The Film Is Realy Great The Cast Is KENAU REEVES as KLAATU and JENNIFER CONNELY as Dr. Helen Benson........The Story Is About Invaders Who Wan't To Kill All Human "Human Survive Earth Destroyed, Earth Destroyed Human Survive, Earth Survive Human Destroyed". Said Klaatu............Some Big Robot Based On The Picture Is A Klaatu Leader................................................ At The End The Stories The Human Extaminated Has Been Canceled Because The Shining Ball In The Central Park Is Go Away.... Klaatu Was Stop it...................................

The First THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL Is 1951....

Heroes Trailler

2008-11-23T04:45:00.000-08:00

My Favorite Tv Show

Heroes......i very like it!!!! and that video is season 2 teaser trailer.....i don't have season 3 trailler i want download it from youtube...

Doomsday

2008-11-23T04:11:00.000-08:00

DOOMSDAY

apa tahun 2012 adalah hari doomsday? saya kurang percaya tapi saya mulai percaya...karena beberapa peramal mengatakan tahun 2012 ada perubahan iklim yang sangat besar, tapi menurut NASA kiamat disebabkan oleh "PLANET-X" alias "NIBIRU" memang sih planet itu sedang melintasi orbit bumi..NASA mengatakan bahwa planet-x memiliki medan magnet yang sangat tinggi sehingga membuat inti bumi memanas....karena planet-x menghalangi matahari dan akhirnya bumi dan planet-x pun bertabrakan sehingga bumi hancur tiada sisa, namun belum diketahui sebenarnya apa yang membuat bumi hancur.......

---hmmmm....

2008-11-20T05:42:00.000-08:00

huhhhhhh...... th1s 1s G0nn4 b3 4l0n9 D4y.....

HaHaHaHaHa!!

2008-11-20T04:56:00.000-08:00

Im Create A New ID In Plasa.com

The Funny Jedi

2008-11-09T01:24:00.000-08:00

im a jedi!? hahahahahahahahahaha

Death City

2008-11-08T23:17:00.001-08:00

Lightning Superman

2008-11-08T23:14:00.000-08:00

Denzel Momongan

2008-11-08T23:06:00.000-08:00

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

2008-11-08T23:04:00.000-08:00

List of Characters in Heroes

2008-10-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

Main characters

In its inaugural season, Heroes featured an ensemble cast of twelve main characters. During the first season, the NBC Heroes cast page listed ten characters among the cast; Leonard Roberts arrived later, and Jack Coleman was promoted to series regular as of the eleventh episode.

For the second season of the show, Santiago Cabrera, Tawny Cypress, and Leonard Roberts left the main cast. Zachary Quinto and James Kyson Lee, who were recurring characters in the first season, were added to the main cast for the second season, and were joined by new cast members David Anders, Kristen Bell, Dania Ramírez, and Dana Davis. Anders was originally to be a recurring character, but was promoted to a series regular prior to the start of the season. He is credited as a guest star for the first four episodes of season two.

For the third season, Cristine Rose, recurring in the first two seasons, was promoted to series regular. Kristen Bell, David Anders, and Noah Gray-Cabey were no longer regulars and became guest cast. Additionally, Dana Davis was no longer part of the main cast as scenes involving her in the third season were cut.

Unlike most series, each main cast member is only credited for the episode he/she appears in.

Name	Main cast (seasons)	Guest cast (seasons)	Played by	Known special abilities
Claire Bennet	1, 2, 3	—	Hayden Panettiere	Rapid cellular regeneration
Noah Bennet	1, 2, 3	—	Jack Coleman	None
Elle Bishop	2	3	Kristen Bell	Electric manipulation
Monica Dawson	2	—	Dana Davis	Adoptive muscle memory^[1]
Simone Deveaux	1	—	Tawny Cypress	None
D.L. Hawkins	1	2	Leonard Roberts	Phasing
Maya Herrera	2, 3	—	Dania Ramirez	Originally poison emission;^[2] ability absorbed by Arthur Petrelli
Ando Masahashi	2, 3	1	James Kyson Lee	None
Isaac Mendez	1	—	Santiago Cabrera	Precognition (expressed through visual art)
Adam Monroe	2	3	David Anders	Rapid cellular regeneration
Hiro Nakamura	1, 2, 3	—	Masi Oka	Space-time manipulation (allowing teleportation, time manipulation, and time travel)
Matt Parkman	1, 2, 3	—	Greg Grunberg	Telepathy^[3]
Angela Petrelli	3	1, 2	Cristine Rose	Precognitive dreaming
Nathan Petrelli	1, 2, 3	—	Adrian Pasdar	Flight
Peter Petrelli	1, 2, 3	—	Milo Ventimiglia	Empathic mimicry (results in multiple acquired abilities)
Micah Sanders	1, 2	3	Noah Gray-Cabey	Technopathy
Niki Sanders	1, 2	—	Ali Larter	Superhuman strength
Tracy Strauss	3	—	Ali Larter	Cryokinesis
Mohinder Suresh	1, 2, 3	—	Sendhil Ramamurthy	Originally none; acquired superhuman strength, agility, and senses after injecting himself with a gene-altering formula^[4]^[5]
Sylar	2, 3	1	Zachary Quinto	Intuitive aptitude; multiple acquired abilities

Other characters with special abilities

Charlie Andrews

Played by: Jayma Mays
First appeared in: "Seven Minutes to Midnight"
Last appeared in: "Six Months Ago"
Special ability: Eidetic memory^[6]

Charlene "Charlie" Andrews is a waitress at the Burnt Toast Diner in Midland, Texas, where Hiro Nakamura and Ando Masahashi stop to eat on their road trip to New York. After she reveals to Hiro that she had recently developed the ability to quickly memorize and recall any information with great accuracy in a seemingly unlimited volume, Sylar murders her in the diner's storeroom, removing her brain in the same manner as his other victims.^[7] Hiro tries to prevent her murder by going back in time one day to warn her, but he accidentally goes back six months, to April 24 (Charlie's birthday). He convinces Charlie that both he and she have special powers by stopping time to make one thousand origami cranes. After taking a job at the diner and dating Charlie, Hiro buys two tickets to take her to Tokyo. Charlie ponders her feelings and tells Hiro that while she does not usually let people get close to her due to a blood clot in her brain that is killing her, he makes her feel happy and she loves him. However, when Hiro and Charlie are about to kiss, he inadvertently teleports back to present day Japan and is unable to return.^[8]

Bridget Bailey

Played by: Tehmina Sunny
First appeared in: BBC.com version of Heroes Evolutions
Last appeared in: "One of Us, One of Them"
Special ability: Clairsentience

Bridget Bailey is an evolved human, with the power to perceive the history of any object she touches, introduced by the BBC in its mirror of Heroes 360 information. Her exchanges with Mohinder Suresh were later included on NBC.com as part of Heroes Evolutions. Her first message, entitled "I need some advice", began on July 11, 2007.^[9]

The Heroes Evolutions site, Assignment Tracker 2.0, was updated on August 5, 2008 to include a new interactive map which revealed Bridget to be a Company agent paired with Berk Donahue.^[10] On the Evs Dropper blog, Bailey expressed regret that she was unable to aid in the war against Evs alongside her partner. In "Into the Wild, Part 3", Sean Fallon asks Gael Cruz about the "Bailey case", implying that he was assigned to aid her. Gael told him to forget it. Angela sends Bridget to meet Sylar in "One of Us, One of Them", where she is killed as soon as Angela leaves the room and her ability is absorbed.

Barbara

Barbara is one of the triplets along with Niki Sanders and Tracy Strauss. Little else is known about her, although a photo in Dr. Zimmerman's house features him with both Barbara and The German.^[11]

Stephen Canfield

Played by: Andre Royo
First appeared in: "Angels and Monsters"
Special ability: Gravitational manipulation^[12]

Stephen Canfield is an escapee from Level Five who can open "vortexes", temporary holes in the fabric of space-time that act much like miniature black holes, drawing all nearby matter out of reality itself. He was captured by the Company after accidentally killing his neighbor. After his escape, he is confronted by Claire and later Noah Bennet and Sylar. He later attempts to find and reunite with his family, but they now fear him and don't show up. The Bennets find him again, and Noah tries to force him at gunpoint to suck Sylar into a vortex. Refusing to become a "monster", and with nothing left to live for, he instead casts himself into one of his own vortices and disappears.

Brian Davis

Played by: David Berman
First appeared in: "Six Months Ago"
Special ability: Telekinesis

Brian Davis, who does not want his ability, reveals his telekinesis to Sylar. Brian then asks Sylar to make it go away. He is then killed by Sylar, making him the first of several victims.

Echo DeMille

Played by: Kiko Ellsworth
First appeared in: Going Postal: "A Nifty Trick"
Special ability: Sound manipulation

Echo DeMille was almost captured by the Constrictor and Howard. He uses his power to escape and kill the Constrictor and another pair of agents to make his escape. When trying to meet with his girlfriend, DeMille uses the brown note to avoid two more Company agents. He arranged to meet her thirteen weeks later at his family's cabin only to be ambushed by Penny and Connie Logan, Elle Bishop and several other paired agents. He incapacitates all but one with his ability and the man captures him. He is detained to Level Five where Angela Petrelli implies a former connection to him.

Charles Deveaux

Played by: Richard Roundtree
First appears in: "Genesis"

Charles Deveaux is the wealthy father of Simone Deveaux and a former patient of Peter Petrelli. After finding success via the stock market, he founded the Deveaux Society to "fund causes that bettered the world."^[13] He owns the Deveaux Building, the rooftop of which is a frequently-visited location in the series. Simone believes that Peter is "like a son" to him and that Charles has improved under Peter's care. Charles converses with Peter in the young nurse's dream about having the power of flight. After Peter wakes up, Simone tells Peter that Charles has passed away. Simone also tells Peter that, before dying, Charles said that he had flown with Peter, who said, "everything was going to be all right," and that there were heroes who were going to save the world.

Charles appeared, whether as a dream figure, as part of a time-travel journey of Peter's, similarly to Sanjog Iyer, or by some other mechanism is left deliberately unclear — and seemed able to see Peter while the latter is invisible to others in the "dream" (Such as his mother and Simone).^[14] Charles was part of a previous generation of "heroes", with Angela Petrelli, Kaito Nakamura, Linderman and others, who all were the founders of the Company. He was aware of Linderman's and Angela Petrelli's plans for New York, however, he opposed their plans and firmly believed that Peter's love and compassion, rather than Nathan's ambition, would save the world.^[13] It is revealed in the Heroes 360 Experience, that Charles was good friends with Richard Drucker while in college.

Eric Doyle

Played by: David H. Lawrence XVII
First appeared in: "Angels and Monsters"
Special ability: Puppet mastery^[15]

Eric Doyle is an escapee from Level Five with the power to control the actions of others, including their abilities. The sole proprietor of Doyle's Marionette Theater, he never married and had no children. He was originally captured by the Company after using his ability to make those he disliked commit suicide. While in Level Five, he befriends a powered agent named Michael, who has the ability to generate powerful lasers from his finger. However, in his escape from the facility, he joyfully kills Michael for having sided with the Company despite hating it.

In "Angels and Monsters", fearing that Claire has gone after Eric, Meredith Gordon goes to confront him but falls under his control. In "Dying of the Light", it is revealed that Eric has some obsessively romantic feelings for Meredith Gordon. Eric Doyle tries to make Meredith love him. When Claire and Sandra go to rescue Meredith, Eric controls them and forces them to participate in a deadly game of Russian Roulette. During Sandra's turn, she points the gun at Claire. Claire reminds Sandra that she'll be okay, and Sandra continuously pulls the trigger until Claire "dies". Thinking that Sandra has killed Claire, Eric turns his back and Claire knocks him out. Noah comes and tranquilizes Eric, with plans to send him back to Level Five.

"Flint"

Played by: Blake Shields
First appeared in "The Second Coming"
Special ability: Pyrokinesis

Flint is a prisoner of Level Five with the power of pyrokinesis, which manifests from his hands as blue flames. After escaping along with a dozen other prisoners, he robs a bank with Knox, Jesse/Peter and the German. When Sylar and Noah later intervene and are busy dealing with Knox and Jesse, Flint attempts to attack but is non-fatally shot by Noah and taken back to the Company. In "Dying of the Light", he is once again freed - this time by Daphne - and joins up with other villains at Pinehearst Industries.

"The German"

Played by: Ken Lally
First appeared in: "Berlin, Part 1"
Last appeared in: "One of Us, One of Them"
Special ability: Magnetism manipulation

The German is originally introduced in "Berlin, Part 1", where he is captured by the Company. He subsequently escapes in "The Butterfly Effect" along with a dozen other prisoners. In "One of Us, One of Them", he is killed by Knox after disagreeing with his plan.

Meredith Gordon

Played by: Jessalyn Gilsig
First appeared in: "The Fix"
Special ability: Pyrokinesis

Meredith Gordon, portrayed by Jessalyn Gilsig, is the biological mother of Claire Bennet. She has pyrokinetic abilities, which both enable her to create fire from her body and grant her immunity to the effects of it. She was originally believed to have been killed in an explosion while being hunted by Noah Bennet, though her powers enabled her to survive. Afterward, believing Claire to be deceased, she lived in Mexico until moving to Kermit, Texas. Clair manages to track her down after many years, though the two only meet briefly before separating. Meredith blackmails Claire's biological father, Nathan Petrelli, for $100,000 before leaving, and hides his identity from Claire, which angers her. She later returns at the request of Noah to help protect Claire from the escaped Level Five villains. She helps Claire to admit that, contrary to her claims that she wants to be trained so that she can help people, she actually wants to learn how to fight so that she can get revenge on Sylar. Meredith later confronts Eric Doyle, with whom she has past connections, believing Claire may have gone there. However, she is later rescued by Claire and Sandra Bennet, and she is asked to work with Noah. In "Eris Quod Sum", she is seen with Noah Bennet at Mohinder's lab/nest, where they run into Nathan Petrelli and Tracy Strauss. Seeing the two together, Meredith slyly remarks that Nathan "still has a thing for blondes."

Paulette Hawkins

Played by: Tina Lifford
First appeared in: "One Giant Leap"
Last appeared in: "The Kill Squad, Part 3"
Special ability: Power augmentation^[16]

Paulette Hawkins is D.L. Hawkins' mother. In "One Giant Leap", she defends D.L. in front of Niki. She is not seen again until "The Kill Squad, Part 3" where it is revealed that she had become a thorn in the Company's side and she was locked in one of the five levels. She is brought out by the Kill Squad to augment the powers of Brenden Lewis so a crater created by a Guyanan local could be covered in forestry. She performs her duty under the impression that she will be taken to her grandson, Micah, afterward. Against the Company's orders, she is shot upon finishing.

Alejandro Herrera

Played by: Shalim Ortiz
First appeared in: "Four Months Later..."
Last appeared in: "Truth and Consequences"
Special ability: Cease and reverse his sister's abilities

Alejandro Herrera is the brother of Maya Herrera. He is very protective of her, even after the initial discovery of Maya's power, which kills their friends and his new wife. When she runs away, he tracks her down and discovers his ability to stop the progression of the poison she emits and reverse the effect. Afterward, they try to escape from Mexico in order to go to New York, picking up Sylar along the way. While Maya trusts Sylar, he does not, and soon after, when he reveals his intention to force Maya to leave with him, Sylar kills him.

Sanjog Iyer

Played by: Javin Reid
First appeared in: "Seven Minutes to Midnight"
Special ability: Dream manipulation

Sanjog Iyer is an Indian boy whom Chandra Suresh had been observing prior to leaving for New York. Chandra's notes described Iyer as having a genetic marker allowing the boy to enter people's dreams, where he acts as a "spirit guide" of sorts. He appeared in the visions that Mohinder Suresh experienced after returning to India with his father's ashes. After Mohinder found Sanjog, he explained to Mohinder that he does not enter the dreams of others but that they instead come to him.

In "Seven Minutes to Midnight", the name on the file's label included a comma as a typo. On the NBC website, Suresh's map spells the name Sanjop Iyer. The episode "Homecoming" confirms the boy's name is Sanjog Iyer.

In an interview with Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite, they state that Sanjog's character was considered for the storyline involving Molly and her nightmare man, Maury Parkman. However, the idea was scrapped for reasons they did not reveal.^[17]

Sanjog has recently appeared in the Heroes graphic novels showing visions of the past to various individuals.

Bianca Karina

First appeared in: "Root and Branch: The Big Bag and Tag"
Last appeared in: "The Butterfly Effect"
Special ability: Lung adaptation

Bianca Karina is an agent of the Company who can adapt her lungs to enable her to breathe in any environment, including underwater. She is partnered with Devin Patterson and engaged to Gael Cruz. She is first seen in Root and Branch, Part 1 when she and Patterson capture one of Julien Dumont's rogue clones. She is next seen in Berlin where she, Gael and Devin are sent to capture the German. After Gael is incapacitated and Devin is killed, Bianca uses her ability to knock him out. With the help of Paul Harding and Ahlrich Dekker, they get the German to headquarters. At the end of the Evs Dropper arc, she defends Donna Dunlap from Gael, locking him in a cell. After Donna and Eric Thompson identify Connie Logan as Evs Dropper, she is leads those sent to fight her. Once the majority of agents are killed, Bianca shoots the root Julien Dumont and all clones are killed. In "The Butterfly Effect" and "Dreams Until Death", she and Gael confront Sylar outside the Bennet house after he leaves having taken Claire Bennet's ability, and she is killed by Sylar after she and Gael attempt to capture him. However, Gael identifies himself as "special", so Bianca gets a quick death and her power is not taken.

Knox

Played by: Jamie Hector
First appeared in "The Second Coming"
Special ability: Superhuman strength (fueled by others' fears)

Benjamin "Knox" Washington is an escaped former prisoner of Level Five who gains strength through the fears of others. He and Jesse Murphy were captured by Noah Bennet and the Haitian after the two used their powers in an attempt to take over a neighborhood. Knox claims that it was Jesse's constant talk of getting revenge on Bennet that kept him going in his years of incarceration.

When Elle Bishop later accidentally releases the Level Five prisoners, Knox accompanies "Flint", "The German", and Jesse/Peter on a bank robbery. However, wanting to draw Bennet to the bank, he alerts the police. When "The German" objects, he easily kills him with his strength. After Noah arrives and allows himself to be captured in order to free the prisoners, Knox discovers the truth about Peter, who uses Jesse's power in an attempt to save Noah and himself. When Jesse is freed by Future Peter, he and Knox attempt to kill Noah, but they are stopped by Sylar. Knox manages to escape as Sylar takes Jesse's ability. He is later recruited into Arthur Petrelli's group of villains.

In one of Angela Petrelli's dreams of the future, Knox is seen alongside Sylar, Adam Monroe, a woman resembling Tracy Strauss, and Maury Parkman, killing the Heroes. In the future portrayed in "I Am Become Death", Knox works with Clarie Bennet to hunt down Peter Petrelli, but his sadistic nature remains. After tracking Peter to Sylar's home, he engages in combat with Sylar, feeding off the fear of Sylar's son, Noah, to gain the upper hand against the former serial killer. However, after Noah is inadvertently killed because of the fight, Sylar's anger and grief cause him to lose control of his radiation abilities and explode in a nuclear blast, killing Knox.

Daniel Linderman

Played by: Malcolm McDowell
First appeared in: "Parasite"
Special ability: Healing others

Daniel Linderman, portrayed by Malcolm McDowell, has the ability to heal the injuries and illnesses of others. He served in the U.S. Army with Arthur Petrelli, whom he ended up healing from the brink of death, in the Vietnam War. After the war, Daniel found himself living a nomadic, solitary existence. Though he occasionally drowned his sorrows in alcohol, nothing eased the pain of his war memories. He eventually became a reputed mobster, and founder of Linderman Corporation under the guidance of Adam Monroe. In person, he is persuasive, gentle, and unfailingly polite, though he has no qualms about extortion or assassination. During the first season, he manipulates various events in order to ensure that the Company controls the United States, including talking Nathan Petrelli into wanting to become president, manipulating the lives of D. L. Hawkins and Niki Sanders, kidnapping Micah Sanders to alter election polls, and planning on letting the explosion kill six million people. He is later killed by D.L. during a standoff.

During the third season, McDowell returns as a guest star, as an illusion created by Maury Parkman in Nathan Petrelli's and Daphne's minds. He tells Nathan to become a politician again, and tells Daphne to recruit others for Pinehearst Industries.

Eden McCain

Played by: Nora Zehetner
First appeared in: "Don't Look Back"
Last appeared in: "Elle's First Assignment, Part 1"
Special ability: Vocal persuasion

Eden McCain was born as Sarah Ellis and raised in a small town. Her father frequently argued with her stepmother and left them when she was young. She was forced to do housework immediately after school for most of her childhood by her stepmother, a stereotypically cruel woman. Over time, her stepmother began to blame the girl for her father abandoning them. After years of this treatment, in response to a particularly violent tantrum, Sarah shouted "I wish you'd just die!" and caused her stepmother's heart to instantly stop beating. The house then caught on fire as a result of her stepmother's cigarette falling to the ground. After escaping, Sarah asked a passerby to take her west, and later adopted the name "Eden McCain".^[18]

Afterward, about six months before most of first season's events, Eden was a criminal doing any selfish thing she wanted. This changed when she was taken in by Noah Bennet. Bennet and his partner the Haitian pacified Eden's powers so that Bennet could persuade her into working with them. Her first assignment was to move in near Chandra Suresh and befriend him, so that she could remove the name of Bennet's daughter from a list of superhumans Chandra had made.

At the end of "Homecoming", Eden uses her power to put Sylar to sleep with the Haitian present. Later, in "Fallout", she suggests killing Sylar by using her power to make him kill himself. When Mr. Bennet disagrees, Eden takes matters into her own hands. She approaches Sylar outside his holding cell with a gun, then explains that she is going to give him the gun and he is going to commit suicide. During their conversation, Eden reveals that she was the next door neighbor of Chandra Suresh. Before she has a chance to invoke her power of persuasion, Sylar telekinetically jerks Eden through the glass wall of his cell, breaking her concentration. He then grabs hold of her throat and begins to choke her while she struggles to try and shoot him. Sylar claims that a gun will not work on him and that he will kill her and take her power. Eden quickly decides to put the gun to her own head and fire, taking her own life before Sylar can steal her power.^[19] Her body is later found in Sudbury, Ontario, having been dumped into Lake Ramsey.^[20]

Daphne Millbrook

Played by: Brea Grant
First appeared in "Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, Part 1"
Special ability: Superhuman speed

Daphne Millbrook is a thief that uses her super speed to commit crimes. Tim Kring and Masi Oka have called Daphne Hiro's archenemy. She becomes acquainted with Hiro Nakamura, who refers to her as "nemesis," after stealing his half of a chemical formula that gives ordinary people super powers. She works for Pinehearst Industries under the direction of Maury Parkman (who appears to her as Mr. Linderman), charged with recruiting members. One of the people she is to recruit is Matt Parkman, whom she is married to in "I Am Become Death". Parkman, having seen this future, tries to convince her to quit instead, since it will eventually get her killed. She sees that he is actually a good person and reveals to Parkman that although she is very conflicted about her work and the people she works for, she doesn't have a choice.

Jesse Murphy

Played by: Francis Capra
First appeared in: "The Second Coming"
Last appeared in: "The Sting of Injustice"
Special ability: Sound manipulation (expressed through voice)

Jesse Murphy is a former prisoner of Level Five. He is described by Knox as having no friends. He and Knox were captured by Noah Bennet and the Haitian after the two used their powers in an attempt to take over a neighborhood.

Years later, an alternate, future version of Peter Petrelli puts the present-day Peter in Jesse's body to keep him safe. However, present-day Peter is forced to leave with the other Level Five prisoners when Elle Bishop accidentally releases them. Peter accompanies a group of them on a bank robbery to make sure that no innocents are hurt. However, Knox figures out the truth and attacks, causing Peter to trigger Jesse's ability. Before Peter can stop the villains, though, the future Peter releases him and takes him to the future. Jesse, now free, attempts to kill Noah Bennet with Flint and Knox, but Sylar incapacitates them and takes Jesse's power, killing him.

According to executive producer Greg Beeman, Jesse's power was originally "Earthquake-stomp", but was changed to a sonic scream due to budget constraints.^[21]

Ishi Nakamura

Played by: Unknown
First appeared in "Cautionary Tales"
Special ability: Unknown

Ishi Nakamura was the wife of Kaito Nakamura and mother to Kimiko and Hiro. She was shown as deceased when Hiro was eight years old when he went back in time with his father in an attempt to convince him to escape his death. It was revealed that she had an ability in an interview with Aron Coleite and Joe Pokaski.^[22]

Kaito Nakamura

Played by: George Takei, Eijiro Ozaki (young)
First appeared in: "The Fix"
Special Ability: Unknown

Kaito Nakamura is a stern and powerful businessman in Japan and the father of Hiro Nakamura. He is the CEO of Yamagato Industries. He is described as a man with "real power" by his underlings. Mr. Nakamura does not want Hiro going around the United States trying to fulfill his "destiny". In reference to Takei's role as Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek television series, the license plate on Mr. Nakamura's limousine has the same number, NCC-1701, as the registration number of the Starship Enterprise.

This characterization of a strict Japanese patriarch is promptly turned upside down. In "Company Man", he is shown working with Thompson for the organization behind Primatech nearly fifteen years before the events of the series' present. He ordered Noah Bennet to adopt Claire on the provision that if she exhibits any abilities she is to be turned over to The Company. It is revealed that not only had he been waiting for someone on the Nakamura line to manifest and has known of Hiro's powers for a long time, but that he once had allies who also had powers. Mr. Nakamura is on Hiro's side in the attempt to stop Sylar, in direct opposition to the Linderman group. He spends some time training his son in swordsmanship using wooden bokken, revealing that he was once a part of a group of heroes. In 1977 as part of the 'Company Founders' he was influential in protecting strain 138 of the Shanti virus from being released in an attempt by Adam Monroe to 'start the world anew'.

When Ando Masahashi is teleported to Yamagato, Kaito informs him that his position has been filled and that he can take Hiro's old post. When Ando asks about Hiro's return, Kaito says that there is no need to cross a bridge before needed.

After receiving a marked photograph of himself hidden in his newspaper, he realizes that he is doomed to die. Upon sending Ando off to retrieve a sword, Kaito meets with Angela Petrelli, who had been similarly threatened. That evening, Kaito is thrown off the roof of the Deveaux building by a hooded individual whom he recognizes. Ando returns just as Kaito is thrown over, and sees his body in the street – but not that of his assailant. In "Cautionary Tales", Hiro goes back in time to prevent his death. Kaito is resigned to his fate, explaining to Hiro that their gifts cannot be used to play God. Hiro lets the murder play out, but uses his powers to learn that the assailant was Adam Monroe.

In a question and answer segment with writers/producers Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite, they confirmed that Kaito absolutely has a power, but it will not be revealed for a long while.^[23] A non-canon, deleted scene from the Heroes season two DVD boxset showed his ability as being able to analyze the probabilities of a situation and determine the outcome. However, it is to be stressed that this scene is not and cannot be taken as official confirmation of his ability.

Maury Parkman

Played by: Alan Blumenfeld
First appeared in: "Fight or Flight"
Special ability: Telepathy

Maury Parkman is Matt Parkman's father, having abandoned Matt when he was thirteen. He is one of the twelve founders of the Company. Like his son, Mr. Parkman is a telepath; however, his powers are much more developed than Matt's. Instead of just reading surface thoughts, he can read people's memories and manipulate their perceptions of reality, allowing him to trap people in nightmares based on their deepest fears and insecurities. He can either knock a person unconscious and manipulate their dreams, as he did to Molly Walker (and by so doing, left her physical body in a comatose state that lasted until Matt learned how to counter Maury's influence using his own powers), or he can induce "waking nightmares" that allow the person's real body to move, as he did to Matt and Nathan Petrelli, who were tricked into fighting each other while both were experiencing a nightmare scenario. He is also able to detect Molly's attempts to locate him using her power, and he does not require close proximity to affect a person's mind.^[3] His use of this ability has led Molly Walker to give him the name "the Nightmare Man."

Maury was one of several people swayed into believing that those with abilities are superior to humans by Adam Monroe, and when Adam escaped from the Company's custody, he sent Maury to kill those founding members who disagreed with him. He is implied to have been responsible for the self-inflicted wounds of Angela Petrelli. When he attempts to kill Bob, he is stopped by Matt, who manages to trap Maury in his own nightmare. However, he somehow manages to free himself, and later escapes Level Five with the other villains. On the orders of Arthur Petrelli, he then uses the guise of Linderman to manipulate Nathan Petrelli. He also begins assembling a new army of villains under the orders of Arthur Petrelli, under the condition that his son not be harmed. When Matt refuses to join Pinehearst, Arthur orders Daphne to kill him. Maury protests, but Arthur telekinetically snaps his neck.

Arthur Petrelli

Played by: Robert Forster
First appeared in: "War Buddies, Part 2: Unknown Soldiers"
Special ability: Power absorption that results in multiple acquired abilities

Arthur "Dallas" Petrelli^[24] is the primary antagonist of the third volume, "Villains". He is the husband of Angela Petrelli, the father of Nathan Petrelli, Peter Petrelli, and Gabriel Gray (Sylar), and, through Nathan, the biological grandfather of Claire Bennet. He fought in the Vietnam War under the alias "Dallas" alongside Linderman. After the war, Petrelli and Linderman "were brought together" into a group of twelve by Adam Monroe, with a mission to help save the world. Linderman tells Nathan that Arthur became disillusioned and gave up trying to save the world, resulting in his alleged suicide. Angela has stated that she and Arthur have gone through "great lengths" to protect Claire.

In the third season, Arthur is revealed to be alive and in charge of Pinehearst Industries, recruiting various posthumans to assemble a new group of villains. He is shown to be ruthless in this endeavor, killing any who oppose him. For example, he snaps Maury Parkman's neck without hesitation when he protests to Arthur ordering Daphne to kill Matt.

Arthur has the power to take the abilities of other posthumans through physical contact. The transfer is one-way, as he is unable to return them.^[25] The known powers he has taken are the regenerative abilities of Adam Monroe, Peter's mimicry and the powers he absorbed as a result, and Maya's poison emission.

Claude Rains

Played by: Christopher Eccleston
First appeared in: "Godsend"
Special ability: Invisibility

Claude Rains^[26] is a former employee of the Company. He was Noah Bennet's partner, also trained by Ivan Spektor. When the Company discovers that Claude is hiding the identity of a powered person from them, they order Bennet to kill him; during the assassination attempt, however, an injured Claude turns invisible and escapes. He then spends many years invisible, hiding from the Company. He is eventually found by Peter Petrelli, who had seen him in a dream. Having previous experience with empaths, Claude is convinced by Peter to help him master control of his ability so that he will not eventually lose control and explode. With Claude's help, Peter is able to recall powers that he had previously absorbed, but before the training can be completed, Bennet and the Haitian track them down with the help of Isaac Mendez. They barely manage to escape, and an angry Claude abandons Peter to avoid any future capture attempts by the Company.

"Hell's Angel" showed Claude and Noah attempting to capture Meredith Gordon. The Golden Handshake series showed Claude and his previous partner Haram attempting to capture Anya; Claude signs his name with the last initial "R". In "Sum Quod Sum, Part 1", Elle finds Claude in London, hoping that he will assist her in regaining control of her ability; when he runs away from her, she uses her ability during a rainstorm, knocking them both out.

Claude's power is limited to the visible spectrum; it does not make him inaudible,^[27] nor does it mask his body heat or other such emissions, allowing him to be tracked through thermal imaging or similar methods. Claude has the ability to see others using the same power; Peter, having copied Claude's power, can see him when they're both invisible as easily as any normal person can when he's not invisible. Claude's power extends to his clothes and other personal effects in his immediate vicinity, as demonstrated when Claude grabs a woman's purse and hands it to Peter, which becomes visible as Peter holds it in his arms; Claude also demonstrates the ability to render other people invisible through physical contact.

West Rosen

Played by: Nicholas D'Agosto
First appeared in: "Four Months Later..."
Last appeared in: "Powerless"
Special ability: Flight

West Rosen was abducted by Mr. Bennet and the Haitian and taken to Primatech Paper in Odessa prior to the start of the series. There, he escapes a lab by discovering his flying ability for the first time. He flies into a vent, where he sees Claire. Both West and Claire are very young at the time. Claire and West exchange words, until the Haitian comes to recapture West and wipe his memory clean. West is then released back home, with his newly discovered ability to fly.

West is a student at Costa Verde High School and classmate of Claire Bennet. He first notices Claire when he almost hits her with his car. The two strike up a friendship in Biology class.^[28] West has a philosophy that people are either 'Aliens' or 'Robots'. ^[29] 'Robots', in his opinion, are those who act normal and question nothing – the kind of people who do not "look up". 'Aliens' are unafraid to be different.

He asks Claire in which category she belongs, wondering where she fits in the social hierarchy of the school. He sees that she makes a point of not being noticed, and is intrigued.

West possesses the power of flight, and uses it to hover outside Claire's bedroom window, observing her. In "Lizards", while observing her through a window, West learns of Claire's ability when he witnesses her regrow a severed toe.

Claire and West strike up a relationship in the episode "Kindred". She is angry at his behavior towards her during biology class, but West literally sweeps her off her feet and flies them both to a beach, where they share a kiss.

West has a mark on his neck similar to the one found on Matt Parkman and Claude made by Noah Bennet. During a surprise visit to the Bennet home, West sees Claire's father and Claire tells him her father is the man that abducted him. West leaves in a frightened rage, flying away before Mr. Bennet can notice him.

In Cautionary Tales it is revealed that West's last name is Rosen. He captures Noah Bennet and asks him if Claire is in league with Noah. Noah replies that Claire lied to him about West, so she must care about him. Later, West helps Noah trade Elle Bishop for Claire. The episode ends with West holding Claire while she mourns the death of her father.

In "Powerless", West confronts Claire about her decision to reveal her power and Claire breaks up with him after a heated argument.

Dale Smither

Played by: Rusty Schwimmer
Appeared in: "Unexpected"
Special ability: Superhuman hearing

Dale Smither is a middle-aged woman working in a garage near Bozeman, Montana, where Mohinder and Sylar (impersonating Zane Taylor) meet her to discuss her ability. She describes her super hearing, saying that she can hear a rain storm from 40 miles away, a cockroach walking along the floorboards in her next-door neighbours' house and the slightest change in someone's heart beat. Dale listens to rap to drown out many unwanted sounds, saying that it helps her to nullify her power. She is murdered by Sylar shortly after their meeting.

Ted Sprague

Played by: Matthew John Armstrong
First appeared in: "Nothing to Hide"
Last appeared in: "Landslide"
Special ability: Induced radioactivity

Theodore "Ted" Sprague, born on August 28, 1973, he was first mistakenly identified by Matt Parkman and Agent Audrey Hanson as Sylar. Ted has the ability to generate and manipulate radiation, which he first discovers after being abducted by the Haitian. At first, his power is very destructive, replicating harmful side-effects such as radiation poisoning. He subconsciously emits a small amount of radiation constantly, which, while not immediately dangerous, was responsible for his wife's cancer. As a direct result of prolonged exposure to Ted, his wife Karen Gallagher Sprague fell into a coma and died within a few years. He is also able to produce an EMP when necessary. Through his anger, he tracks down Noah Bennet for answers and comes to be friends with Matt Parkman.

His powers are mimicked by Peter Petrelli who is unable to control them and later explodes. When they are trying to bring down the company, they are confronted by the police. Ted draws the attention while Claire and Peter can escape. He is subsequently arrested and transported in a van, but Sylar tracks him down and steals his power, killing him in the process.

Tracy Strauss

Played by: Ali Larter
First appeared in: "The Second Coming"
Special ability: Cryokinesis

Tracy Strauss, portrayed by Ali Larter, has cryokinetic abilities which enable her to freeze anything that she touches. Introduced in the third season, she is an adviser to the governor of New York who recruits Nathan Petrelli as a senator. She is the triplet sister of Niki Sanders and Barbara, all three having been genetically modified by Dr. Zimmerman and separated at birth. She has no knowledge of her origins and ability until Nathan mistakes her for Niki and a reporter shows her evidence of Niki's sexual endeavors. Her emotional reaction to the reporter causes her to inadvertently freeze and kill him. Tracy eventually visits Niki's funeral in New Orleans. There, she meets Niki's orphaned son Micah Sanders, who helps her discover that she and Niki were born on the same day to the same mother, Kelly Sullivan, and delivered by the same doctor, Dr. Zimmerman. After visiting Dr. Zimmerman, who tells her that there is no way to remove her ability, Tracy returns to New York where she tries to commit suicide, only to be saved by Nathan. The two visit Angela Petrelli, where they learn more about the Company's experiments, and Mohinder Suresh, who captures them as part of his experimental research. In "Eris Quod Sum," Tracy meets Meredith Gordon, Nathan's ex-girlfriend, and Noah Bennet when they arrive at Mohinder's lab, and learns about the relationships all three of them have with Claire Bennet. Meredith assumes that Nathan and Tracy are dating, but Tracy says otherwise. Tracy and Claire meet face-to-face when Peter Petrelli is being cared for, and Claire mentions Pinehearst, which Tracy apparently possesses knowledge of.

Zane Taylor

Played by: Ethan Cohn
First appeared in: "Road Kill"
Last appeared in: "Run"
Special ability: Liquification

Zane Taylor is the first person to respond to Mohinder's calls when Mohinder resumes his father's research. Zane leaves a phone message on Mohinder's answering machine, inviting him to Virginia Beach to talk; however, Sylar arrives first and impersonates Mohinder. After an anxious Zane displays his ability to liquefy objects, Sylar kills him. When Mohinder arrives later on, Sylar impersonates Zane and demonstrates Zane's power to liquefy the toaster instantly. When Mohinder asks for a DNA sample, Sylar swabs a sample from inside the cheek of Zane's corpse. According to the article reporting his death, Zane is a musician; he is even seen wearing a Ramones t-shirt, which Sylar then wears while impersonating him.

Candice Wilmer

Played by: Missy Peregrym (season 1) and Rachel Kimsey (season 2)
First appeared in: "Company Man"
Last appeared in: "Kindred"
Special ability: Illusion creation

Candice Wilmer is an agent of The Company, first introduced in the episode "Company Man". In Season 1, she is paired, for a short while, with Mr. Bennet and is seen using her powers to taunt multiple characters. After Bennet's betrayal to The Company is revealed at Candice's hands, however, she is seen operating on her own. Aiding Mr. Linderman in the kidnapping of Micah Sanders in ".07%", Candice is seen watching after Micah in "Landslide", in which she also guides him through rigging a voting machine to make Nathan Petrelli win an election for Congress. In the next episode and season finale, "How to Stop an Exploding Man", Candice is confronted and knocked out by Niki Sanders who, with D.L., came to New York for Micah.

Candice, changing back from her illusion of Niki Sanders

During the summer hiatus between Seasons 1 and 2, a four-part graphic novel was published that revealed Candice's real name to be Betty, and that the slender appearance portrayed by Peregrym is another illusion she created.

Her next and final appearance is in the third episode of Season 2, "Kindred", in which she is portrayed by Rachel Kimsey. It is revealed in this episode that after she came to, Candice adopted another appearance and the name Michelle, took the wounded Sylar under someone else's instructions to a remote area, and cared for him there until she was killed by him. After she dies, she turns into her real self, an obese woman (illuminating an earlier exchange between her and Micah), leading Sylar to condemn her for trying to be something she isn't.

Casting

Missy Peregrym formerly worked with executive producers Greg Beeman and Jeph Loeb on Smallville and was excited to be able to audition for the role because of it. However, she felt her first audition was "one of [her] worst performances" and was surprised to get another reading the following Monday, after which she felt she did "a little better."^[30] While filming, Peregrym stayed around set while the other actors played the illusions Candice cast in the show. The visual effects necessitated her to follow the other actors' exact actions as they filmed: from the parts where the viewer would see the illusion, to the parts where the viewer would see Candice or vice versa.^[31]

For Season 2, however, it became more difficult for Candice's character to be involved in the show. Peregrym was never contractually bound to Heroes for the second season,^[31] and after being cast in the show Reaper as a series regular, scheduling interfered with her availability to shoot her remaining scenes as Candice. This resulted in the writers' original plan for Candice and Sylar to have a multi-episode story arc being scrapped and the character getting killed off in her next episode. The producers attempted to collaborate with the producers of Reaper on shooting dates for the final episode in which Peregrym would appear, but although she agreed to work on a weekend, schedule changes for Reaper made this impossible. To work another actress into Candice's part and to explain the appearance change in the show, writer J.J. Philbin used exposition in her following line to Sylar: “I used to go by Candice. But ever since I dragged you off of Kirby Plaza, police are kind of looking for my old self. So, I went for a new look. What do you think? Too generic?” Rachel Kimsey then came in and her performance made a strong enough impression on writers and producers that they attempted to keep Candice, but couldn't.^[32]

Usutu

Played by: Ntare Mwine
First Appeared in "The Butterfly Effect"
Special Ability: Precognition (expressed through painting)

Usutu makes himself known to Matt after he is teleported to Africa by the future Peter Petrelli. He had painted an image of the earth exploding on a nearby rock. This image appears several times in the episodes "The Second Coming" and "The Butterfly Effect", painted on various objects in various places. He also seems to have an extensive knowledge of Matt's life, having painted the major events of Matt's story arc in Volume One when he was just a child. Like the precognition demonstrated by Isaac Mendez, this skill can be activated at will, though Usutu prefers to listen to music while he works. In a discussion with Parkman, Usutu reveals that he is aware of various changes in the timeline, specifically events that change his earlier predictions.

In addition to his powers, Usutu is able to make a traditional food paste from tree roots and hyena dung which temporarily allows others to engage in a "spirit journey." In practice, this spirit journey roughly translates into a series of precognitive visions of future events or postcognitive visions of significant past events that are personally relevant to whomever consumes the paste. This works even if they possess no innate power of their own or their power does not work as such. While Usutu mentions that this is a family tradition passed down for thousands of years, he freely shares it with Matt Parkman and Hiro Nakamura.

Additional family of the main characters

This list includes every non-powered relative of the main characters to have been seen either in the TV series or in the graphic novels.

Lyle Bennet

Played by: Randall Bentley
First appears in: "Genesis"

Lyle Bennet is Claire Bennet's younger brother and the son of Noah and Sandra Bennet. Lyle finds out about his sister's healing powers by watching a videotape showing her quickly recovering from such otherwise deadly experiences as being hit by a car and falling nearly thirty feet. He confirms his realization by stapling Claire's hand and watching it heal, though Claire convinces him to keep the secret and to hand her the tape.^[33] After Claire tells her father that Lyle knows about her powers, Mr. Bennet has the Haitian remove Lyle's memories about her healing abilities.^[34] but later he becomes aware of her powers again. Four months later he began a new life with the surname 'Butler', along with the rest of the family.^[28] Lyle's actual parentage has been questioned, after isolated instances of him being referred to as adopted; upon being questioned about it, one of the creators declined to answer directly, instead saying "for now, consider Lyle's true parentage undetermined."

Sandra Bennet

Played by: Ashley Crow
First appears in: "Genesis"

Sandra Bennet is Claire Bennet's adoptive mother and the wife of Noah Bennet. She has great affection for her pet pomeranian, Mr. Muggles. She does not seem to be aware of her husband's activities or her daughter's powers, and the Haitian has wiped her memories several times on her husband's orders.^[34] However, after Claire met Hank and Lisa, Sandra told Claire that she and Mr. Bennet had tried unsuccessfully to find her biological parents when she was a baby because they thought she might have a rare chromosomal disorder.^[35]

Sylar tries to murder her, but she is saved by Mr. Bennet and the Haitian.^[36] They also, once again, erase her memory of the event, which becomes evident to Claire when Sandra does not recall allowing her to skip school. After this erasure, her memory continues to degrade, as demonstrated by an event where she does not recognize Mr. Muggles or Claire, and then a few minutes later has no recollection of the episode. She complains of headaches and sees a neurologist. She collapses and is taken to the hospital, where she is diagnosed with a subdural hematoma.^[37] Upon her return to the house, she is held hostage with the rest of her family by Matt Parkman and Ted Sprague, and witnesses her daughter's regenerative powers.

After the hostage stand-off, she and her family stay at a hotel. She reveals to Bennet that he had told her everything the previous day, including what happened to Claire. Under her husband's orders, she only pretends that she has lost her memory. However, the illusion-casting Candice Wilmer impersonated her shortly afterwards in order to trick Mr. Bennet into revealing that he'd sent Claire away, and it is not clear at which point the impersonation actually began.^[38]

She wasn't seen again until "Four Months Later…", in which she has begun a new life with the surname 'Butler', along with the rest of the family.

In the alternate future portrayed in the episode "Five Years Gone", it is revealed that she leaves Mr. Bennet. Claire also used the name "Sandra" as an alias in this episode.

Damon Dawson

Played by: Carlon Jeffery
First appears in: "The Kindness of Strangers"

Damon Dawson is Monica's younger brother. When Micah comes to live with the Dawsons, Damon initially bullies him. But when Micah uses his power to tune in pay-per-view television, Damon starts to accept his cousin. He gets Micah's backpack stolen, which eventually leads to Niki Sanders' death.

Nana Dawson

Played by: Nichelle Nichols
First appears in: "Kindred"

"Nana" Dawson is Micah Sanders' Great Aunt and grandmother of Monica and Damon Dawson. She lives with her grandchildren in New Orleans after her daughter, Monica and Damon's mother, is killed during Hurricane Katrina. Niki Sanders leaves Micah in Nana's care when she leaves to join the Company.

Virginia Gray

Played by: Ellen Greene
First appeared in: "The Hard Part"

Virginia Gray is Sylar's adoptive mother. When Sylar visits Virginia, she constantly pushes Sylar to "be special," even saying that he could become President if he wanted to. Sylar reveals his powers, accidentally injuring her, and confesses his guilt since he thinks he will be the exploding man and kill a lot of people. Both instances only alienate the two, and Virginia demands that Sylar leave her house and give back her son Gabriel. She brandishes a pair of scissors at Sylar, but is accidentally stabbed in the heart when they struggle for the scissors.

Virginia is at first believed to be his biological mother, although Angela Petrelli now claims that she is his real mother and had given him up for adoption.

Paulette Hawkins

Played by: Tina Lifford
First appeared in: "One Giant Leap"

Paulette Hawkins is the mother of D.L. Hawkins, and Micah's grandmother. Her relationship to Niki is tense, questioning her ability to raise Micah. Paulette is convinced that D.L. was framed for killing his crew. In the 95th graphic novel "The Kill Squad (Part 3)" it was revealed that she has the power to make someone else's ability stronger. Currently deceased, as a result of the actions of The Kill Squad at the end of 95th graphic novel.

Kimiko Nakamura

Played by: Saemi Nakamura
First appeared in: "The Fix"

Kimiko Nakamura is the daughter of Kaito and older sister of Hiro. She is very intelligent and motivated, and wishes to advance in her father's company, Yamagato Industries. She accompanies her father to New York to retrieve Hiro.^[36] She gets along with her brother, in comparison to his and their father's strained relationship, as evidenced by the way Kimiko's pleas and reasoning get much further than Kaito's authoritative tactics (up to and including kidnapping). Hiro convinced his father that Yamagato has a successor in Kimiko.

Kimiko is present with Ando and Hiro at Kaito's funeral.

Janice Parkman

Played by: Lisa Lackey
First appeared in: "One Giant Leap"

Janice Parkman is the ex-wife of telepathic police officer Matt Parkman. Their marriage has been troubled for some time, with both becoming increasingly distant. Janice blames their problems over his jealousy of her prospering career while his has been stalling. However, when Matt disappears for a day, she is truly worried about him. Matt then tries to fulfill her every need by reading her thoughts to improve their marriage. Matt discovers that she had an affair with his ex-partner. Two weeks later, after Matt tells Janice of his ability to read minds, the pair's marriage and relationship begins to mend. When Matt gets a six-month suspension for his rogue actions at work, she provides him with emotional support and reveals that she is pregnant. Four months later Matt and Janice are divorced, and Matt later reveals to Nathan Petrelli that the child his wife bore is not his, but rather the man with whom his wife cheated.^[28] Matt Parkman saw a vision of his wife in a dream sequence or illusion created by his father (Maury Parkman), in which he was a holding a baby and saying that Matt left his son just like his father left him.

In the future of "Five Years Gone", it is revealed Janice and Matt bore a son whom they named Matthew and who presumably also has special powers. In the alternate future, Mr. Bennet had been running a relocation program for people with special powers, and had been in contact with Janice and Matthew Jr., as part of some arrangement with Matt Sr.

Heidi Petrelli

Played by: Rena Sofer
First appeared in: "Nothing to Hide"

Heidi Petrelli is Nathan Petrelli's wife and is involved with his strategies for his bid for congressional office. She uses a wheelchair for mobility after being paralyzed in a car crash in the episode Six Months Ago caused by Linderman's accomplices while Nathan was driving. Nathan, while trying to control the car, suddenly found himself flying for the first time. Tragically, he couldn't figure out how to get back down to his car and the car crashed into a highway barrier. During a brunch set up by her mother-in-law, an invited journalist implies that Nathan may have cheated on her with a blonde during his trip to Las Vegas to see Mr. Linderman. She doubts Peter's story with an innocent explanation of the woman, but when Nathan confirms it in private, she tells him she believes him. Heidi says that she is determined to recover but only if Nathan is true to her. Heidi remained unseen for most of the season. She did, however, return to the Petrelli mansion in Manhattan with her and Nathan's two sons, Monty and Simon.^[39]. Heidi has yet to meet Claire and is currently unaware that she exists and that she is Nathan's illegitimate daughter. Even though his men reportedly put her in this condition, Linderman heals Heidi, who now can walk again.^[40]

When Nathan drives Heidi away,^[28] she moves to Washington D.C.^[41]

Simon & Monty Petrelli

Played by: Justin Evans and Jackson Wurth
First appeared in: "Nothing to Hide"

Simon and Monty Petrelli are the juvenile sons of Nathan and Heidi, seen participating in the Petrelli campaign during the 2006 election.

Following the presumed death of Peter, Nathan's depression and heavy drinking caused Heidi to leave Nathan, taking their sons with her. They currently live and attend a private school in Washington D.C.^[41]

Hal Sanders

Played by: Graham Beckel
First appeared in: "Six Months Ago"

Hal Sanders is the estranged father of Niki and Jessica Sanders. When the girls were younger, Hal was an abusive alcoholic. While both of them were beaten, Jessica took the brunt of Hal's abuse to protect Niki. When Jessica was ten or eleven years old, Hal strangled her to death. Niki somehow lost recollection of her childhood and only remembered that Hal eventually left her. Years later, Hal attempted to reconnect with his only remaining daughter, who was now a wife and mother. He offered much of the money he had made in the stock market to help Niki and her husband, D.L. Hawkins, raise their son, Micah Sanders. However, Hal later showed himself to be the same short-tempered man he has always been (after Micah took apart the laptop that Hal had given him) and was not accepted into the family's life. Later Niki's alternate personality, calling itself "Jessica", beat Hal up, gave him back the money he offered and told him never to come back.

Chandra Suresh

Played by: Erick Avari
First appeared in: "Seven Minutes to Midnight"

Chandra Suresh was born in Chennai and is Mohinder's late father, as well as the author of Activating Evolution, a book which appears to explain the reason so many people with powers are suddenly appearing. He found a means of tracking and locating potential powered people. He was also connected with Sylar, whom he referred to as "Patient Zero". On a taped telephone conversation from shortly before Chandra's death, however, he said he wanted nothing to do with Sylar, and insisted the man stop calling him. Before his death, Chandra kept a male lizard named Mohinder.

According to a dream Mohinder had, Chandra was killed while sitting in the driver's seat of his cab by a man wearing a watch, which was stopped at 11:53, a watch which Sylar is often seen wearing. Eden McCain, Chandra's one-time neighbor, claimed Sylar was his murderer. Sylar later claimed that Chandra became very close to him at one time and shared things he felt Mohinder was too "fragile" to know, including information on his sister.

Mrs. Suresh

Played by: Sakina Jaffrey
First appeared in: "Seven Minutes to Midnight"

Mrs. Suresh was born in Chennai and is Mohinder's mother and Chandra Suresh's widow. Following Chandra's funeral, she told Mohinder of his sister Shanti, who died prior to his birth. She expresses wishes that Mohinder would give up his father's research and return home to India to reunite with his former girlfriend Mira.

Shanti Suresh

Only appearing in photos

Shanti Suresh is Chandra Suresh's daughter, also born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. In the episode Seven Minutes until Midnight Mohinder Suresh's mother tells him that she had died at the age of five, two years after he was born. But in the later episode, The Hard Part, he states that he never got to see her because she died before he was born. His blood actually possessed the antibodies she needed to survive, but he was born just a few months too late. Chandra Suresh said she had a genetic anomaly.^[8] Her death, along with several other factors, prompted Chandra Suresh to begin his investigations into people with special powers. Sylar also knows about Shanti from his time working with Chandra.^[38] Mohinder was not aware of her existence until his mother told him.^[7]

Additional season 1 characters

This list includes every character not listed above, that appeared in three episodes or more of the first season. The characters are listed in the order they first appeared on the show.

Zach

Played by: Thomas Dekker
First appeared in: "Genesis"

Zach is a high school classmate of Claire Bennet and one of the first people to know of her powers. He videotapes Claire using her abilities.^[42] He tells Claire that he helped her win the Homecoming Queen election by campaigning for her amongst the "unpopular" crowd. He also gives her a book written by Chandra Suresh, which he says details information on her power.^[43] Claire is overwhelmed and later punches Jackie when she makes homophobic comments towards Zach. After Claire is grounded, Zach enters her bedroom using a ladder and convinces her to come to the Homecoming game.

After Claire tells her father that Zach knows about her powers, Mr. Bennet has the Haitian make him forget about his relationship with Claire and her powers. When Claire approaches him the following day, Zach doesn't remember having even spoken to her since sixth grade. Nevertheless, Claire convinces Zach to videotape her again and is able to rekindle their friendship.^[20] Zach subsequently helps Claire track down her biological parents while also helping to keep her actions secret from her adoptive parents.

Though it was originally intended for Zach to be gay, Dekker’s manager "didn’t want him to be playing a gay character" for career reasons, and his storyline was later changed.^[44]^[45]^[46] As producer Bryan Fuller detailed,

“

[W]e were definitely going down a route of making him the gay character and having him have a big role in [Claire's] life and sort of teaching her to come out about her ability and embrace herself and actually using the coming out metaphor and the gay metaphor in that instance as a fun piece of storytelling.

There was an unfortunate miscommunication and when the script arrived that had the line in it, 'I would take you to homecoming but you have to know that I don't like girls that way.' The actor [Thomas Dekker]'s, manager threatened to pull him from the show because he was up for the John Connor role in The Sarah Connor Chronicles and she didn't want him playing a gay character because it might affect Fox's interest in hiring him. It got really ugly.^[47]

”

Tina

Played by: Deirdre Quinn
First appeared in: "Genesis"

"Texas" Tina is the romance-novel-loving confidante of Niki Sanders who frequently takes care of Niki's son, Micah, and attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings with Niki. When Niki confides in Tina about having blackouts and possibly an alternate personality, Tina tells her that her troubles stem from psychological damage as a result of her dealings with the mob. In "Nothing to Hide", Tina finally meets and flees from Niki's alternate personality, Jessica, after Micah is taken away by D.L. Hawkins.

Audrey Hanson

Played by: Clea DuVall
First appeared in: "Don't Look Back"

Audrey Hanson is an FBI agent pursuing Sylar. Three months after Sylar begins his murder spree, Audrey catches sight of him in Chicago, but he eludes her by escaping on a subway after giving his cap and trenchcoat to an elderly man, whom Audrey shoots, mistaking him for Sylar.^[48]

While investigating the murder of Molly Walker's family in Los Angeles three months later, Audrey initially gets to know Officer Matt Parkman. He reveals to her his ability to read people's minds and she asks him to help the FBI find Sylar. Later, Sylar unsuccessfully attempts to seize Molly from FBI custody. During his escape, Audrey is almost forced to shoot herself because of the man's telekinetic abilities but is saved when Parkman intervenes.^[49]

Audrey again requests the aid of Officer Parkman when she suspects that Sylar has killed again. She takes Parkman to the morgue, where they examine the body of a dead oncologist who was burned alive. Audrey is exposed to a dangerously high amount of radiation while investigating the house of Theodore Sprague, whom she believes to be Sylar. She and Parkman find Sprague in the hospital with his dying wife, but Parkman persuades him to surrender.^[33] However, Sprague escapes after being taken into custody by Homeland Security, and she again enlists Parkman's aid in hunting him down.^[7] Audrey begins to bond with Matt, to the extent of giving him advice on his relationship with his wife, and she looks to become attracted to him.^[34] Two weeks later, Audrey and Matt have the FBI raid Primatech Paper Company.^[20] However, they find nothing. Audrey's superior then threatens her position with the bureau. Disheartened, Audrey harshly tells Matt their partnership is over. Audrey re-appears in the penultimate episode for the season and arrests Sprague on a tip from Sylar (posing as Isaac Mendez). After Sprague is killed by Sylar, she is seen at the accident site. When a police officer remarks on how the top of someone's head falls off, she walks by and replies, "You don't want to know."

Jackie Wilcox

Played by: Danielle Savre
First appeared in: "Don't Look Back"
Last appeared in: "Six Months Ago"

Jacqueline "Jackie" Wilcox is a cheerleader and high school classmate of Claire Bennet. Although she claimed to be "BFF" (best friends forever) with Claire and once revealed plans to run for class president with "good deeds" as her platform, Jackie is an obnoxious rival and dramatic foil for Claire. Jackie repeatedly taunts Zach about his sexual orientation. She is also apparently jealous of Claire and Brody Mitchum, who described Jackie as a gossip. Jackie is eager to be the center of attention and takes credit for a fire rescue Claire performed in "Genesis". Sylar mistakes Jackie for Claire after having read of Jackie's faked heroism and kills her by telekinetically slicing open her skull. Jackie's last word to Claire is "run".

Brody Mitchum

Played by: Matt Lanter
First appeared in: "Don't Look Back"

Brody Mitchum is a classmate of Claire Bennet and quarterback on the football team at the fictional Union Wells High School. During a celebratory bonfire Brody and Claire wander off to the bleachers, where he attempts to rape her.^[49] He accidentally throws her head on a tree branch and considers her dead. In "Collision" he is shaken to see her alive again. After Claire discovers that Brody has raped at least one other girl, she convinces him to let her drive them both home in his car but then, in an attempt to scare him, rams the car headfirst into a brick wall. She drags his unconscious body from the car when it catches fire and ultimately explodes.^[50] When he wakes up and sees Claire unharmed, he realizes that she isn't a normal human being. After learning of the attempted rape of his daughter, an enraged Mr. Bennet has his associate, the Haitian, wipe out all of Brody’s memory. Brody, severely injured, is later seen in a wheelchair attending Homecoming.

Hank and Lisa

Played by: Colby French and Karri Turner
First appeared in: "Better Halves"

Hank and Lisa claim to be a former couple and Claire Bennet's biological parents in "Better Halves". Mr. Bennet tells Claire that he has arranged through an adoption agency for Hank and his former girlfriend, Lisa, to meet Claire and answer her questions. Hank and Lisa tell Claire that they were high school sweethearts who split up before her birth. Hank wanted to keep Claire, while Lisa wanted to give her up for adoption. Hank tells Claire that he has a family history of heart disease and cancer, while Lisa tells that she has diabetes, but neither tell Claire anything that explains how she got her healing powers.

It is revealed that Hank is actually a doctor working with Mr. Bennet, who later performs tests on Sylar^[20]. Hank is killed by Sylar, who then escapes from containment at Primatech.^[51]

Aron Malsky

Played by: Kevin Chamberlin
First appeared in: "Godsend"

Aron Malsky is a lawyer formerly under the employ of Mr. Linderman. He is first seen visiting D.L. Hawkins to retrieve the case of money stolen by Niki/Jessica. He later visits Niki in the psych ward to notify her of her release, due to someone else supposedly confessing to her crimes.^[36] Matt Parkman becomes his personal bodyguard for the day while he's in California.^[52] Malsky then uses the two million dollars he retrieved from D.L. to buy diamonds for himself. He is finally murdered by Jessica who was sent by Mr. Linderman.

Thompson

Played by: Eric Roberts
First appeared in: "Company Man"

Thompson is an associate of Mr. Bennet at Primatech. This is a cover for his position as Bennet's superior in the as yet unnamed organization which investigates superhumans. The character is first mentioned in Wireless part two and introduced in the graphic novel "How do you Stop an Exploding Man?" part two. In the episode "Company Man," mostly seen in flashbacks of Mr. Bennett's past dealings with "The Company," but also getting a brief cameo at the end of the episode where he is seen shooting Ted Sprague in the shoulder, causing him to lose control of his explosive power, and expressing interest in Claire Bennet's complete recovery from her exposure to Ted's overload. Thompson is portrayed as a man who plays by the rules and takes his orders very seriously. Thompson informs Mr. Bennet that he is on death row and that he is just waiting for the order to kill him. His later appearances show him recruiting Mohinder Suresh into the company, and informing Mohinder of Molly Walker's condition.^[53]

Back at Primatech, Matt Parkman is able to extract the name Linderman from Thompson's head. When Parkman questioned Mr. Bennet as to whether or not Linderman was who they worked for, Bennet seemed totally oblivious to the fact that Linderman had any connections to the company. During a conversation with Nathan Petrelli, Thompson reveals that he knows and approves of the plans to blow up New York.^[39] When Nathan implies that Linderman doesn't have the situation under control, Thompson reassures him that Linderman does. Thompson gets his orders from Linderman.

Most of "The Company's" interactions took place at Primatech paper. However, its current operations are taking place at Kirby Plaza in New York, including Micah Sanders' project and Molly Walker's project. In Kirby Plaza, he dies when he is shot twice by Noah Bennet while attempting to kill Matt Parkman.^[40]

Additional season 2 characters

Ricky

Played by: Holt McCallany
First appeared in: "Four Months Later..."

Ricky is an Irish mobster, first appearing in the season premiere while searching for a shipping container with his partners Tuko and Will. They believed it to contain iPods, but instead found a half-naked Peter Petrelli handcuffed inside the empty container. Subsequently, Peter has been both Ricky's prisoner and part of his team, including a recent romantic liaison with Ricky's sister Caitlin. Ricky was murdered by Elle after refusing to tell her where to find Peter.^[3]

Bryan Fuller

Played by: Barry Shabaka Henley
First appeared in: "Four Months Later..."

Detective Bryan Fuller is Matt Parkman's partner in the NYPD. He and Matt are currently investigating the murder of Kaito Nakamura and the attack on Angela Petrelli. He is also Parkman's superior, as he promoted Parkman and made him detective after a successful training session^[28]. He arrested Angela Petrelli after her false confession to Kaito Nakamura's death. He is named after the writer/producer Bryan Fuller who worked on Heroes during season 1.

[edit] Yaeko

Played by: Eriko Tamura
First appeared in: "Four Months Later..."

Yaeko is the swordsmith's daughter in the legend of Takezo Kensei. She lives in Feudal Japan, 1671. In the stories, she is the love interest of Takezo Kensei, though Hiro Nakamura's time travelling reveals that it is actually Hiro whom she loves. Initially, Hiro enamors Yaeko to Kensei by posing as him and rescuing her. This lead to Yaeko eventually falling in love with Kensei, but upon discovering that it was actually Hiro who saved her in the first place, she concludes that she was actually in love with Hiro the entire time. Upon witnessing Hiro and Yaeko kiss, Kensei feels betrayed and turns Yaeko, her father (the swordsmith) and Hiro over to Whitebeard and his army. After they escape and Hiro scatters Whitebeard's army, Yaeko spreads his tale under Kensei's name.

In historical context (Heroes Evolutions), Yaeko was known as the Princess. She asked Kensei to protect Japan from Whitebeard, and Kensei did. This eventually lead to their wedding, which was interrupted by the "Dragon of Kiso Mountain." The Dragon was looking to take Kensei's love, the Princess. As a response to the Dragon's demands, Kensei cut out his own heart and gave it to the Dragon. What happens next is a bit of a mystery. Legend says that Kensei may have died, or that he was brought back to life by the Dragon, and he and the Princess went away together. However, according to legend, Yaeko is said to be the princess in question, and also the creator of the Takezo tapestries.

In the graphic novel The Ten Brides of Takezo Kensei, it is revealed that Yaeko had a granddaughter named Yumi, who married Adam Monroe. Adam became bored with her and faked his death by drowning.

Debbie Marshall

Played by: Dianna Agron
First appeared in: "Four Months Later..."

Deborah "Debbie" Marshall is the head cheerleader/captain of the cheer squad at Costa Verde High School. She has had negative interactions with both Claire and Martha. She does not want Claire on the squad. She also sees West in disguise come from the sky and seemingly kill Claire but when Claire is proved to be alive, the police think that she is seeing alcohol-induced hallucinations. She was suspended from school and cheerleading after having a blood alcohol of .13.

Will and Tuko

Played by: Dominic Keating and Adetokumboh M'Cormack
First appeared in: "Four Months Later..."

Will and Tuko are two associates of Ricky's. They reside in Cork, Ireland. They work with Ricky in some of his illegal ventures. Will betrays Ricky but is stopped by Peter^[41]. Will later reveals information to Elle about the whereabouts of Peter Petrelli. Tuko was on scene at the Wandering Rock Pub when Caitlin arrived to view the destroyed body of her brother.

Caitlin

Played by: Katie Carr
First appeared in: "Lizards"

Caitlin is Ricky's sister and a love interest of Peter Petrelli. As a worker at the Wandering Rock Pub in Cork, Ireland, she watches over Peter when he is taken captive by her brother. After Peter uses Isaac's ability to paint a picture of Caitlin and Peter standing outside of a cathedral in Montreal, she goes with him to Montreal, her motivation being that she wants to avenge her brother's death by killing Elle in return. At the end of "The Line", she and Peter accidentally travel one year into the future to find New York evacuated due to a deadly virus, and the country under martial law. In "Out Of Time", Peter returns to the present alone, accidentally leaving her stranded in the future being deported to Ireland. By eventually preventing the release of the virus, Peter stops that future from coming to pass.

Caitlin's fate was originally intended to be revealed in the cancelled volume "Exodus", but due to the writers' strike, it may never be known.^[54]

The Swordsmith

Played by: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
First appeared in: "The Line"

Yaeko's father and the creator of Takezo Kensei's sword. He made the guns for Whitebeard's army.

Whitebeard

Played by: Kurando Mitsutake
First appeared in: "How to Stop an Exploding Man"

Whitebeard was a warlord in 17th century Japan.

Victoria Pratt

Played by: Joanna Cassidy, Jaime Ray Newman (young)
First appeared in: "Truth & Consequences"

Victoria Pratt was a founding member of the Company and biological engineer. In 1977, she met Shanti Suresh and began to do research on the Shanti Virus. On Company orders, she experimented on the virus, and weaponized it, creating Strain 138, which is capable of killing 93% of the world's population, including normal and enhanced humans. When Monroe attempted to steal the strain, Pratt insisted that the program on the virus be stopped, and the strain destroyed. Kaito Nakamura and the other founders did not agree and locked the virus away at Primatech Paper in Odessa, Texas. Pratt was not happy about the decision.

In the present, Matt Parkman began to investigate the remaining Company founders. After discovering that most of them were dead, he used his abilities on Angela to persuade her to give him information on who Pratt was. Angela resisted, stating that Pratt was in hiding and wanted to be left alone. Matt was however able to get her name. Pratt was discovered in the present, hiding in Maine by Adam Monroe and Peter Petrelli. Fearing that she would be the next to die after hearing about the death of Kaito, she attempts to kill Monroe with no avail. After Peter uses his telepathy to find out where Strain 138 is hidden, Monroe and Petrelli attempt to release Pratt and set her free. However, after she attempts to shoot Peter in the head, Monroe kills her and leaves a death-threat photo on her body.

Additional season 3 characters

Dr. Zimmerman

Played by: Ronald Guttman
First appeared in: "One of Us, One of Them"

A former employee of the Company, Dr. Zimmerman helped create the formula that grants synthetic abilities. Under Company orders, he delivered Niki Sanders and Tracy Strauss, as well as their third sister Barbara, and gave them their abilities. After his tenure with the Company was over, however, many of his memories of employment there were erased.

A photo in his house features him with both Barbara and The German.^[55]

Webisode characters

Characters with special abilities who only appear in the webisodes.

"The Constrictor"

Played by: Mark Steger
First appeared in: Going Postal: "A Nifty Trick"
Last appeared in: Going Postal: "The House Guest"
Special ability: Constriction

The Constrictor is sent with Howard to capture Echo DeMille. After their first attempt fails, leaving Howard dying on the ground and bleeding from his ears, the Constrictor finishes Howard off and goes after Echo himself. However, he is killed by Echo after using his ability on Echo's girlfriend in an attempt to force him to surrender.

Graphic novel characters

This list includes every character not listed above, that has appeared in a graphic novel, and has a superhuman ability.

Abigail

First appeared in: "Sum Quod Sum, Part 1"
Special ability: Force field generation

Anya

First appeared in: "The Golden Handshake: Man Overboard"
Last appeared in: "The Golden Handshake: Severance Pay"
Special ability: Water absorption

When Claude meets his first partner Haram he also learns about Rollo Fusor, a criminal whom the Company believes is killing people by dehydrating them. Haram considers Fusor his first failed case, and bears a solid hate against him.

In 1990 the Company sends Claude and Haram to France to catch Rollo. However, when they are to arrest him, Rollo himself is dehydrated, and the real criminal is revealed to be his partner, Anya.^[56] While Haram and Claude are to arrest the unnamed woman, she attacks Haram, nearly killing him. Claude manages to stop her, and she is killed by Haram.

Abu Aswan

First appeared in: "History of a Secret"
Special ability: Levitation (objects)

Abu Aswan is a descendant of the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu who, after discovering that he can manipulate the weight of objects, suspects that his ancestors used similar abilities to build the pyramids. Visiting him in a dream, Sanjog Iyer tells him that the pharaoh had one of his kin stoned for publicly demonstrating the same ability, and persuades him to keep his ancestors' secret. His name was originally seen in the list by Chandra Suresh.

Felicia Brooks

First appeared in: "Donna's Big Date: Replay"
Last appeared in: "Into the Wild, Part 3"
Special ability: Disintegration touch

Felicia Brooks is a Company agent who was trained by Noah Bennet. She vigorously trains Donna Dunlap to be an agent herself, and is not seen with a partner. She rises up against Gael when she overhears him talking about the posthuman agents, and fights Penny Logan until Eric Thompson knocks everyone out with tear gas. She comments annoyance at other agents who blast discussions without questioning their importance first, and is extremely angered at Connie Logan's betrayal. She, Penny, and Connie had trained together, and it was implied that they were friends. She is among those sent to deal with Evs Dropper, and is killed in the process.

Au Co

First appeared in: "War Buddies: No Turning Back"
Last appeared in: "War Buddies: Introductions"
Special ability: Plant manipulation

Au Co was a Vietnamese girl killed by Arthur Petrelli on a mission during the Vietnam War. Arthur Petrelli and Daniel Linderman were on a mission to locate an airplane. They found it too late and there were no survivors, but "Dallas" decided to carry on with the airplane's mission to destroy Au Co. They presumed that it was a nearby farming village, but later realized that it was a young girl with the ability to make plants grow at a rapid rate. She was shot to death by Arthur despite Daniel's efforts to stop him. This event, and those leading up to it, eventually resulted in a close bond between Linderman and Petrelli.

Leonard Cushing

Appears in: "Trust Issues, Part 1"
Special ability: Acid secretion

Leonard Cushing is an agent of the Company who can secrete a highly potent corrosive from his hands. Cushing is Eric Thompson's partner until one mission where they are trying to find Evs Dropper. Thompson finds Cushing in a room with a fellow agent's dead, acid-burnt body. Thompson believes that Cushing is responsible. However, when Cushing is about to reveal something about Evs Dropper, Devin Patterson comes in and shoots him. With his final breath, he warns Thompson that Evs Dropper is always watching.

Richard Drucker

First appeared in: "The Last Shangri-La"
Last appeared in: "The End of Hana and Drucker"
Special ability: Electronic communication

Richard Drucker was an evolved human recorded by the Company. He is described in Evolutions as having hatred towards the founding members of the Company. He also attended college with Charles Deveaux, and they were friends before the start of the Company. They were both associated with an unidentified group, described as "like-minded individuals", but Drucker left the group in 1977 and moved to Bangalore. His physical body was destroyed in Bangalore in a plane crash. He is a distant relative of Hana Gitelman. The Company has extensive information on Drucker in its files.^[57]^[58]

He continued to exist within computers, like Hana, until they were both deleted while trapped in the Company's mainframe.

Julien Dumont

First appeared in: "Root and Branch: The Big Bag and Tag"
Last appeared in: "Into the Wild, Part 3"
Special ability: Replication

Julien Dumont was an agent of the company supposedly monitoring a bag and tag mission of several of his duplicates who had gone rogue in Antarctica, Australia and the Congo (though a holding room filled with more indicates that there were even more). While the duplicates in Antarctica and Australia are captured, the third jumps from a cliff and dies. When his partner and girlfriend, Sabine Hazel, reports back, Julien says he can still sense the third one alive, making her suspicious.

Following a tip from someone known only as Evs Dropper, Sabine realizes that the Julien she knows is really another duplicate, and demands to know what's happened to the real Julien. The duplicate claims that she's never met the real Julien, it's been him all along. Infuriated, she kills the duplicate and takes his keycard, using to access a Company holding cell where she finds the original Julien, kept in a coma and hooked up to machinery that activates his cloning powers involuntarily. The Company had been using him as an agent factory for years, producing an endless supply of clones to recruit while keeping the original alive and protected, as it is believed that if he dies, all his clones would die as well. Sabine proceeds to disconnect and extract Julien, even understanding he's not the Julien she loved, and the two flee from the Company. They are rescued by another Julien, who takes them to a safe house where Sabine finally meets Evs Dropper in person.

She is told by Evs (Connie Logan) that they were married and Penny is their daughter. Gael asked for Julien to be tested but tells her he was killed two years later. At the end of the battle, Bianca shoots Julien to kill the oncoming clones.

Donna Dunlap

First appeared in: "Donna's Big Date, Part 1"
Last appeared in: "Into the Wild, Part 3"
Special ability: Superhuman vision

Donna Dunlap was merely an everyday dental receptionist who happened to have telescopic, microscopic, and nocturnal vision. She went on a date with a disguised Eric Thompson. After receiving a mysterious warning from someone known as Evs Dropper, she left and stayed at her apartment. She later found out she was being watched by Thompson and Elle Bishop. As she tried to escape, she was stunned by Elle and taken into captivity. She is taken to the Company infirmary where she recovers next to Noah. Bob sees her exposure to Bennett as a risk and orders her memory of that day erased with hopes of later convincing her to help The Company. Evs Dropper reveals the erased events to her as proof of what was done and convinces her to fight against the Company. She is trained by Felicia Brooks and sees a picture of her death painted by Isaac Mendez. She becomes suspicious of Evs and renounces her allegiance, uncovering the truth of Cushing's murder in the process. She and Eric capture a rogue Julien clone and soon after try to stop an escaping Sabine and Julien. She and Eric are later dispatched to recapture Brenden Lewis, but both are knocked out and the support must capture him. She is interrogated by Gael later on, who thinks she is still working with Evs so she escapes with Eric (with Bianca's help) to a hotel where she is incapacitated and replaced by Penny Logan. She is captured by Connie, who nails her feet to a board and binds and gags her to a chair strapped with enough explosives to destroy a metal bridge. Eric tries to save her, but she pushes him over and falls into the painting's position as the bomb detonates.

Evan

First appeared in: "Revolutionary War: Pursuit"
Special ability: Replication

During the Revolutionary War, Adam Monroe, working as a mercenary for the British Empire, learns of a man who destroyed an entire town single-handedly, and claims he cannot be killed. Adam initially assumes the man has the same regenerative ability as he does, but upon meeting this man, Evan, Adam kills him on the spot. His crew is immediately attacked by an unseen army, and Adam soon finds himself fighting another Evan... and another, and another. It turns out Evan has the ability to duplicate himself, effectively making him a one-man army. Adam attempts to track down and kill the original Evan, believing this will stop all the duplicates; however, this proves futile when he finds that the duplicates can also duplicate themselves, and Adam is hopelessly outmatched.

Benjamin Franklin

First appeared in: "A Lesson in Electricity"
Last appeared in: "A Lesson in Electricity"
Special ability: Electricity absorption

Benjamin Franklin conducted experiments on electricity an held a kite with a key out during a storm where he was electrocuted, but discharged the remaining energy through his cat. He writes this in his diary which Joseph Priestley thinks must stay hidden.

Manuel Garcia

First appeared in: "Faces, Part 1"
Last appeared in: "Into the Wild, Part 3"
Special ability: Teleportation

Manuel Garcia had connections to Evs Dropper, and with her held, he managed to evade the Company by teleporting. He was eventually captured by Connie and Penn Logan while acting as agents and not as Evs Dropper. They managed to get close enough to him by Penny impersonating his girlfriend with Connie's ability. His name was revealed on the Assignment Tracker's interactive map. He was recruited into the Company after his capture and was killed while fighting Evs Dropper.

Howard Grigsby

First appeared in: "Blindsided"
Special ability: Bioluminescence

Howard Grigsby is a man with the ability to emit blinding amounts of light. He thinks he is the light of God, and is the reason that Noah Bennet must get his famed glasses. Near the end of Blindsided, it is also noted that he has been sent to a Level Five detention cell.

Guillame

First appeared in: "It Takes a Village, Part 1"
Last appeared in: "It Takes a Village, Part 4"
Special ability: Empathy

Guillame is the Haitian's father and a leader in their village in Haiti. He is known as the Houngan, the Priest, and his power to manipulate people's emotions has been able to protect his village from attack. He dies when jumping off a mountain.

Paul Harding

First appeared in: Heroes Evolutions
Last appeared in: "Into the Wild, Part 3"
Special ability: Hair manipulation

Paul Harding was listed on the assignment tracker map. Before the map was created, it was mentioned that he and his partner helped Bianca and Gael bring the German to Primatech Research. He left a discussion on Evs Dropper's blog about mysterious blue water, traveled with his partner, Ahlrich Dekker, to Calgary to capture an unidentified posthuman and angrily commented on being ordered back from the battle with Connie Logan by Bob Bishop while Dekker was sent on his own. He eventually arrived by himself and was killed in the subsequent battle.

Brendan Lewis

First appeared in: "The Kill Squad, Part 1"
Last appeared in: "The Kill Squad, Part 3"
Special ability: Plant manipulation

Brendan Lewis was captured once and it was suspected that his ability would mutate. When it does, he escapes and knocks a partnership unconscious and kills most of a support team before being recaptured. He is sent to a crater the size of a village in Guyana caused by a local manifesting his ability. Paulette Hawkins augments his power to cover the crater with forestry and he is killed in the process.

"Liquid Man"

First appeared in: "Team Building Exercise"
Special ability: Water transformation

A man with the power to transform his own body mass into a water-like liquid, who was apprehended by Ivan, Maarten, and Noah Bennet when they trapped him in a train's freezer car.

Connie Logan

First appeared in: "Faces, Part 1"
Last appeared in: "Into the Wild, Part 3"
Special ability: Appearance alteration

Connie Logan was agent of the Company, who was considered an invaluable asset for her ability to mold and reshape other people's faces as if they were made of clay, and to change their hair and eye colors as well as their vocal cords to precisely mimic the appearance and voice of another person, creating perfect disguises. The effect only lasts 24 hours, and she could not change her own appearance. She often worked with her non-powered daughter, Penny Logan.

The graphic novel Into the Wild reveals that she is the mysterious "Evs Dropper", and is working to bring down the Company alongside an army of Julien Dumont clones. She is also married to the original Julien. She and her daughter are killed by the Kill Squad in the ensuing battle along with the rest of her forces, though the Company suffered heavy casualties.

Maarten

First appeared in: "Team Building Exercise"
Special ability: Pyrokinesis

Maarten was Ivan's partner at the time when Noah Bennet was Ivan's protégé.

Marcus

First appeared in: "Normal Lives"
Special ability: Plasticity manipulation

While en route from Texas to California, Noah Bennet learns of a couple of murder victims whose bodies were unnaturally bent out of shape. Realizing the killer must be one of his early cases – Marcus, a man with the power to alter the plasticity of any object his fingers are touching, allowing him to easily bend or crumple them – he takes it upon himself to apprehend the man and turns him over to the Company.

Samir Mellouk

First appeared in: "Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, Part 1"
Special ability: Phasing

Samir Mellouk worked with Daphne Millbrook to steal rare artifacts from around the world. He is captured by Julien Dumont and Sabine Hazel.

Michael

First appeared in: "Doyle"
Special ability: Laser firing

Michael is a Company agent who can fire powerful laser beams from his fingertips. During the escape from Level Five, Eric Doyle used his ability to force him to kill himself with his own power.

Matt Neuenberg

First appeared in: "The Man with Too Much Brains"
Last appeared in: "The End of Hana and Drucker"
Special ability: Eidetic memory^[6]

Matt Neuenberg was a high school student who had difficulty fitting in and making friends, feeling that people are only ever interested in him for his ability to quickly memorize and recall vast amounts of information with great accuracy. After demonstrating his ability at a talent show, he encountered Elle and was taken to the Company, where he was subjected to painful experiments. Later, Elle told him that this was for his own protection, and that he and she want the same things.

Matt was eventually used by the Company to guard their computer from hackers. Through his efforts, an attempt to hack the Company computer by Hana Gitelman and Richard Drucker is stopped by downloading the information to his head before destroying the computer. However, he died when the Company downloaded the information from him.

Piper

First appeared in: "Different and the Same"
Special ability: Elasticity

Piper is a girl with the ability to bend her joints to superhuman limits.

Piper keeps having haunting dreams, causing her to not sleep. One night when she does fall asleep, Sanjog Iyer shows her a vision of the past where she was supposedly abducted by aliens. She finds herself on an examination table, but she uses her powers to escape. A girl named Debbie shows Piper to a window, through which Piper leaves the building. Debbie reveals she is Piper's sister who was separated from her at birth and taken by the Company. The "aliens" that abducted Piper long ago were actually Mr. Bennet and the Haitian. Piper wakes up and screams out Debbie's name. Piper's mother calls the doctor about Piper's "delusions of having a sister". The "doctor" is really Mr. Bennet who says he'll be right over.

Sparrow Redhouse

First appeared in: "String Theory"
Special ability: Unknown

Sparrow Redhouse was on Chandra's list. In 2011, in the possible future in which the destruction of New York City in 2006 isn't stopped, Future Hiro rescues Sparrow from police. When he scolds her for not obeying her curfew, Sparrow criticizes the government.

Sebastian Shell

First appeared in: Heroes Evolutions
Last appeared in: "Into the Wild, Part 3"
Special ability: Object displacement

Sebastian Shell was on the assignment tracker map. He was partnered with Julia Ryan and both were killed in the battle against Connie Logan and the other members of the Evs Dropper persona. In Evs Dropper's blog, he questioned the intentions of tracking agents (Bianca Karina), helped Ahlrich Dekker identify Calgary, helped crack a code as a training exercise and commented on Connie Logan's identification as Evs Dropper.

Linda Tavara

First appeared in: "War Buddies: Coming Home"
Last appeared in: "Moonlight Serenade"
Special ability: Aura absorption

Linda Tavara had the ability to see and absorb the auras of other people by touching them. Her hand glowed with a blue light when she did this. If she absorbed the life force of another evolved human, she also gained their power.

Linda first discovered her ability in her teens, during the 1960s. It is implied that her parents knew of it too, and fearfully took measures to keep her isolated. Despite this, Linda was enthralled by her power, and went out into the city to fully experience it. After some time, she spotted Ida Walker, an elderly woman whose aura glowed brighter than most people's. Though she seemed to understand right and wrong, she continually felt to urge to steal life forces. Thus, she absorbs Walker's aura and obtained the woman's ability to see the dead.

In her adulthood, she worked as a private investigator and possibly bounty hunter. However, she would routinely continue stealing the life forces of powered people, even if she was assigned to bring them to authorities. This led to suspicions from others, and these misgivings force her employer to fire her. Afterward, she is approached by a mysterious woman who hires her to locate certain individuals for her, all implied to have powers. After turning in two such people, Linda is tasked to find a man named Jason Welkes, but she instead absorbs his life force and disposes of the body. When asked, she repeated her previous habit of claiming she was unable to find the person. This leads the informant to question her competence, and threaten to take away her next assignment. In response, Linda aborbed the informant's life force, and stole a notepad regarding the next targets, which included Daniel Linderman and Arthur Petrelli.

Linda introduced herself to Linderman at a gas station, and he traveled with her while she gains his trust. After Linderman demonstrated to her his ability to heal others, Linda attempted to absorb his power. However, Linderman killed her with a stick before she successfully did so.

She was originally seen on Chandra Suresh's list.

Teenage patient

First appeared in: "Blackout, Part 1"
Special ability: Electricity absorption

At an unnamed New York City hospital, Mohinder meets a dying man who shows symptoms of the same blood disorder that Shanti and Molly shared. Mohinder tells the man that he can cure him by giving him a blood transfusion. Following the transfusion, it appears to Mohinder that it was unsuccessful, and while he is wondering why it worked for Molly but not this individual, the patient suddenly erupts with electricity. After witnessing one of the patient's seizures, Mohinder realizes that he does not have Shanti's illness; his own uncontrolled power is damaging his health each time it manifests. A Company agent arrives in the patient's hospital room to take him into custody, but another of the patient's seizures incapacitates the agent with electrical arcs. Mohinder gets the patient out of the hospital and attempts to drive him out of town, but another seizure disables the car. The patient explains that he had been at peace with dying because of the guilt he felt over the deaths caused by his seizures. Mohinder directs him to a secluded lakeside cabin where he can live in peace and learn to control his power.

Traveler

First appeared in: "The Last Shangri-La"
Special ability: Omnilingualism

Traveler answers a call from Hana Gitelman and is asked to deliver a message to Richard Drucker in Bhutan. He enters the country and easily adapts to his surroundings thanks to his command of languages. While traveling on foot, he falls down an incline and injures himself. He shouts for help before passing out. When Traveler awakens he is in a Bhutanese temple, being tended to by Buddhist monks. A man who appears to be Drucker asks for his message. Traveler informs him that his message is from Hana Gitelman, to whom Drucker is related.

Unnamed agents

First appeared in: "Walls, Part 1"
Special ability: Superhuman speed, electric manipulation, and superhuman strength

In an alternate future, one year after the explosion, Peter Petrelli and Hiro Nakamura infiltrate a prison complex where many "special" people are being unjustly detained, including Niki Sanders, and attempt to break them out. As they attempt to escape, they encounter a team of agents who attempt to stop them, including a woman with the power of super-speed, a man with the power to generate and manipulate electricity, and a man with incredible strength.

Unnamed deaf agent

First appeared in: "Going Postal"
Special ability: Sound absorption

Recruited by The Company especially to capture Echo DeMille, his body absorbs all sound, effectively making him permanently deaf.

Unnamed man

First appeared in: "Faces, Part 1"
Special ability: Nerve gas emission

A man who emits nerve gas when he sweats was captured by Penny Logan for the Company.

Ida Walker

Appeared in: "Moonlight Serenade"
Special ability: Spectral vision

Ida May Walker was one of Linda's first super powered victims. She said that she could see "angels" since she was little, though this was due to her power. Linda was drawn to her due to the fact that her aura glowed stronger then most. Her power was stolen by Linda and she was killed.

According to Heroes Evolutions, she is Molly Walker's grandmother.

List Charaters Of Heros

2008-10-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

Peter Petrelli

2008-10-30T04:47:00.000-07:00

Peter Petrelli, portrayed by Milo Ventimiglia, is a fictional character on the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. He is a former hospice nurse in his mid-20s formerly with the power to absorb and mimic the powers of other people with abilities. Sensitive and compassionate, the character was initially defined by his complex relationship with his older brother, Nathan. Since that time, Peter Petrelli had to deal with the possible outcomes that his abilities force him to make.

Character history

Origins

In the premiere episode, Peter Petrelli is a hospice nurse living in New York City. Differences between Peter and Nathan, an ambitious politician focused on his congressional campaign, cause tensions between the two, which are exacerbated when Peter starts having extraordinarily vivid dreams of flying. He confides in Nathan, who passes them off as a sign of psychological distress. Peter summons Nathan to witness as he jumps off a building to prove he can fly. However, it's Nathan who flies, catching Peter as he falls. Peter blacks out after the brothers lose their grip on each other, waking up in the hospital with muddled recollections of what happened. Nathan claims neither of them flew and Peter is led to believe he's going crazy. Attempting to discover the truth, Peter threatens to jump from another rooftop if Nathan doesn't tell him what really happened. Nathan admits that they both flew. Peter first thinks Nathan is only telling him what he wants to hear, until Nathan points out that Peter is levitating as they argue. Peter's later attempts to fly, when away from his brother's presence, are initially unsuccessful.

Peter decides to quit his job as a nurse. He confides to Simone Deveaux, the daughter of his dying patient, Charles Deveaux, that he has loved her ever since he first saw her. The two of them spend a night together, even though Simone doesn't know how she truly feels about him.

The first hint of things to come arrive in the form of Hiro Nakamura, a man with the power to manipulate time and space, who travels back in time to give Peter a message: "Save the cheerleader, save the world." He urges Peter to be "the one we need". He tells Peter to go and visit Isaac Mendez, a painter and ex-boyfriend of Simone. Hiro notes how strange it is to see Peter without his scar.

Saving the cheerleader

Peter visits Isaac and convinces him to see past their amorous connection to Simone. He learns that Isaac has predicted an explosion will happen in New York soon, and they are both convinced saving this unknown cheerleader is connected to averting the catastrophe. While in Isaac's company, Peter also confirms that his superhuman ability involves copying those of others, when he mimics Isaac's powers. He finishes a painting of Isaac's showing the cheerleader being killed by Sylar.

Peter has a dream of showing Simone's ailing father that he can fly, and is awakened by her ringing his doorbell to tell him that her father died shortly after telling her that he had dreamed of flying with Peter and is worried about the state of the world. Peter told him that there are people who care, who will save the world from destruction. Simone then tells Peter that she has sold the painting by Isaac to a man named Linderman in Las Vegas. Peter believes the painting will help him to save the world.

Peter goes to Nathan's house, hoping that his brother can help convince Linderman to give up the painting. When he gets there, he finds Nathan, their mother, and Nathan's family attending a brunch with a newspaper reporter. Peter saves his brother from adultery charges by claiming Nathan was arranging for a private clinic to treat Peter's mental illness. That night, Nathan tells a skeptical Peter he was temporarily kidnapped in Vegas, and warns that people will want to lock them up if they realize the two of them have powers.

Simone shows Peter a photograph of the painting which sends Peter to the high school in Odessa, Texas where he meets Claire Bennet, the cheerleader with superhuman regenerative abilities. Sylar soon shows up to kill Claire, and Peter manages to fight him off while Claire escapes, ending with the pair fall off the roof of the school. Sylar survives the fall, but it seems as if Peter hasn't. However, when Claire shows up, Peter mimics her healing powers. As he begins resetting his bones, he asks Claire to call the police. They show up while Peter is still covered in his own blood and arrest him.

During a dream, he sees Nathan and his wife get into the car accident that paralyzes her from the waist down. He realizes the accident was partially caused by Nathan's first use of his flying ability (leaving the car with no driver). Peter later asks Nathan about "the other car" (one chasing Nathan's in the dream) involved in the accident, a detail no one else knew except for Nathan and Heidi.

Training

Peter is in jail holding cell when he has a dream in which he is visited by his brother, who metamorphoses into Sylar. He is then interviewed by telepathic LA cop, Matt Parkman, during which they telepathically piece together Sylar's attack on Union Wells High. Peter tells Parkman that Claire Bennet was the real target. Claire visits Peter in his cell later, believing he shares her powers, and tells him that he is her hero. A short time later, Nathan gets Peter out of jail. Peter's health is visibly and quickly deteriorating for yet unknown reasons. On their way out of the building, he passes out and has a vision in which he sees the other main characters in a city street just before he explodes. In the vision, as Nathan walks up to him, he begins to explode. After recovering from the vision, Peter tries to explain it to Nathan, but falls into a coma.

Isaac Mendez' painting of an exploding man that causes the devastation.

Peter is comatose. In his comatose state, Peter continues to have the same vision, with a little variation. Eventually, a new face appears in his dreams. This man, a tall, bearded Englishman, is shown laughing. Another new scene indicates that Peter may be mimicking Ted Sprague's radioactive powers. Eventually, Peter wakes up, and decides that his next destination is "the desert". He makes travel plans, looking for a place where nuclear testing has been done. Las Vegas is recommended. As he's put on hold, he notices the Englishman from his dreams stealing from a purse. Peter confronts the man, who is shocked that someone can see him. Calling himself "Claude", he tells Peter to leave him alone. However, Peter instead insists "Claude" teach him how to control his abilities. "Claude" declines, and tells Peter to stop following him. Peter returns to his apartment to find Mohinder and Nathan there. Mohinder believes he can help him while Nathan is insistent that Peter not go running off again. To get away, Peter pretends to consider their help, then runs out the door. Mohinder and Nathan see an open window and assume Peter has flown out it. However, this was misdirection, as Peter is actually hiding invisibly with Claude. Claude agrees to train him.

The lessons commence in "Distractions". Claude tells Peter to separate himself from his loved ones. Peter fiercely disagrees, but Claude says that caring about people—particularly Nathan—is holding him back. Claude reminds Peter that he must learn to harness the powers he's previously mimicked intentionally (or face exploding), and without their inherent users present. Then, Claude pushes Peter off a tall building and tells him to fly. Peter falls onto a taxicab suffering fatal injuries, but survives by remembering Claire Bennet and mimicking her powers. Peter realizes that he does not need to push people out of his mind; he just needs to remember how those people made him feel to regain use of their abilities. He then starts to lose control thinking about too many others at once leading Claude to knock him out.

In "Unexpected", Peter is shown to have more control over the abilities he has absorbed. During a sparring session with Claude, Peter uses telekinesis to shield himself from a blow, which puzzles Claude since none of Peter's acquaintances has that power. Peter surmises that he must have picked it up from the man who attacked him in Texas. Later in the episode, when assaulted by Mr. Bennet and the Haitian, due to a betrayal by Isaac, Peter stops the taser darts in mid-air, then uses flight to save himself and Claude. After their escape, Claude blames Peter for bringing Bennet and Haitian after him (revealing that he has remained invisible in order to elude them) and leaves Peter on his own.

Peter then confronts Isaac about his betrayal but Isaac is adamant that what he was doing would save the world. Peter, however, concludes jealousy was Isaac's main motivation. When Isaac tries to shoot him, Peter becomes invisible. Thoroughly unnerved, Isaac begins to firing indiscriminately and accidentally shoots Simone three times in the chest as she walks through the door. Peter cradles Simone as he and Isaac both watch her die.

Saving the world

Peter goes to to see Mohinder Suresh and is attacked by Sylar. Fighting him off, Peter becomes invisible, but Sylar foils the attempt at evasion by spraying glass shards everywhere, one of which strikes Peter in the back of the head, rendering him dead. He is saved by Suresh, who takes his body to Nathan's home. Everyone believes him to be dead, but Claire - drawing from her own near death experience, finds and removes the glass in the back of Peter's head, allowing him to recover.

Unable to control his ability, Peter is about to explode.

Believing that he will be the one to cause the catastrophe, he tries to convince Claire to stay, as her ability will allow her to get close enough to stop him from exploding. The moment Peter comes in range of Ted, Peter's hands begin to glow, but Peter barely manages to rein in the newly-absorbed power. They decide to leave the city immediately and thwart the foreseen catastrophe, but Ted is captured by the FBI. Sylar attacks the transport vehicle carrying him and steals Ted's power, killing him. Realizing that Sylar now has Ted's power, Peter assumes that Sylar will become the bomb instead of him.

Peter confronts Sylar face to face in an attempt to stop him at Kirby Plaza. Matt Parkman and Niki Sanders intervene as well, and Hiro runs Sylar through with a sword. Peter discovers to his horror that his own lack of control over Ted's ability makes himself the one who will explode, causing the catastrophe. Nathan arrives and flies Peter high into the atmosphere where the younger Petrelli forces Nathan to let go, and explodes. Immediately after the explosion, Peter flies up to and catches a falling and radiation-burned Nathan.

Amnesia

After taking his brother to a hospital, Peter is apprehended by Bob and Elle and taken to a Company facility. Peter is told that the Company is developing a cure for his "disease," and that it would be best for him to stay in the facility until then. Peter, not willing to endanger any more lives after the near-miss at Kirby Plaza, readily agrees. Part of the treatment includes pills to suppress his powers, which Elle calls "Haitian pills."

Aside from dealing with an obviously smitten Elle, Peter leads an unremarkable life until he comes into contact with the inmate in the adjacent cell, Adam Monroe (who had been known as Takezo Kensei to Hiro Nakamura in feudal Japan). The four-hundred-year-old Adam insists that the Company has no interest in helping anyone. After Bob refuses to allow Peter to see his family, Peter comes around to Adam's point of view and covertly stops taking his medication. After five days, he is able to use his acquired phasing ability, to pass through the wall between his and Adam's cell. After the two finally meet face-to-face, they use the phasing ability to escape from the facility.

Fulfilling a promise he made to Peter, Adam goes with him to see his brother Nathan, who is still recovering from Peter's meltdown and explosion, in a Manhattan hospital. Mindful of his regenerative powers, Adam injects his blood into Nathan's IV, and the elder Petrelli's wounds begin to heal almost instantly. Knowing that Nathan's bedside would be the most logical place to find the pair, Adam urges Peter to flee quickly. They make haste but are confronted by Elle and the Haitian. Adam tells Peter to meet him in a warehouse in Montreal, and the two split up. Peter is pursued by the Haitian, who corners him in an empty container. Peter resists but is told by the Haitian that he deserves a better life than one spent imprisoned by the Company. The Haitian says that Peter's mother helped him in his time of need, so he is returning the favor. Peter does not understand what sort of alternative the Haitian has in mind; the Haitian puts his necklace around Peter's neck and erases his memory.

While Peter's family and friends mourn his death, an amnesic Peter is found half-naked and handcuffed inside a cargo container at a port in Cork, Ireland, by a group of thugs led by Ricky McKenna. The thugs accuse Peter of stealing the cargo container's alleged contents, which they had intended to take. After he and his henchmen beat him, Ricky is finally convinced that Peter is suffering from amnesia. He tells Peter his name and reveals that he has a box containing items (which were found on Peter's person) that will provide clues to Peter's former identity (credit cards, driver's license, etc.). However, Ricky will only hand over the box if Peter helps him and his gang with a job. Upon accepting and completing the job - by helping the gang rob a gambling house - Peter earns the box but is initially unwilling to open it for fear that he might not like who he was before. Caitlin, Ricky's sister, encourages him to do so, stating that she believes him to be a good person. The two quickly form a romantic relationship.

In the episode "Fight or Flight," Peter experiences a sudden resurgence of his acquired precognition power, painting a picture of a street intersection in Montreal, specifically the intersection of Boul. Saint-Laurent and Boul. Saint-Jacques (spelled Boul. Saint-Jaque in the painting), with a building that appears to be La Cathedrale de Notre-Dame in the background. Peter is unaware of it, but this is the warehouse that Adam had told him to meet him at two weeks prior (in "Four Months Ago..."). In "The Line," Peter and Caitlin travel there and find a note from Adam warning Peter about the Company. Peter accidentally jumps ahead in time with Caitlin to a desolate Times Square in New York City. A flyer on the ground, dated June 14, 2008, explains that Homeland Security had ordered an evacuation of the entire city.

The virus

In "Out of Time", Peter and Caitlin are captured and separated by a bio-hazard team in 2008. After being told he had already died, he meets his mother. His mother tells him that he is the one who can stop this future and save the world. When Peter sees Caitlin, they meet and hold hands through the fence barricade separating them. Before he can help her, he unwillingly returns to the present, leaving Caitlin trapped in the future. Repeated attempts by Peter to return to the future fail. Peter is soon startled by someone entering the Montreal safehouse and uses his acquired electricity power to attack the intruder. The person blocks the attack with his hand, which regenerates, and reveals himself to be Adam Monroe. He curiously asks why Peter attacked him, quickly discovering Peter's amnesia. He then helps Peter to restore his memories by encouraging him to use his acquired healing abilities to repair the damage to his mind. In "Truth & Consequences", Adam and Peter track down Victoria Pratt, who Adam says discovered the virus. Peter tells her he needs her help to save the future. When Victoria sees Adam, she shoots him. Peter reads Victoria's mind to discover the virus is at Primatech Paper in Texas. When Peter and Adam arrive at Primatech, time stops for everyone but Peter, a result of Hiro's powers. Hiro is shocked to find that Peter is working with Adam Monroe, then declares his intent to kill the man who killed his father. When Peter refuses to let Hiro pass, Hiro charges at him with his sword.

In "Powerless", Peter and Hiro fight in Primatech, though Hiro is ultimately knocked unconscious. Peter helps Adam Monroe break into the Primatech vault, but he is confronted once again, this time by a revived Hiro, Matt Parkman, and Peter's brother, Nathan. After a mental struggle with Matt, Peter is convinced by Nathan that Adam cannot be trusted. Peter turns to find that Adam had already slipped into the vault. Peter runs in to see the virus falling to the floor. He catches it and destroys the virus. Together, Matt, Nathan and Peter decide to reveal what the Company has been doing. During a press conference, headed by Nathan, an unknown assassin shoots Nathan twice in the chest, preventing him from revealing his power. Peter tends to his brother as the crowd panics.

Villains

At the start of the third season, the shooter is revealed to be Peter Petrelli from four years in the future. In the future, a formula is developed that allows any human to gain a power of their own, and through precognitive painting Peter discovers that the entire world will be destroyed by those either unable or unwilling to restrain themselves in the application of these abilities. Thus, he traveled into the past to keep Nathan from revealing his secret. He seals the real Peter inside the body of Jesse Murphy, a prisoner of the Company.^[1]^[2]

Peter, still inside Jesse, is freed from imprisonment when Elle inadvertently disables the security system for the complex. Peter telephones Nathan in order to warn him about his future self, then follows the other escaped criminals in the hope of keeping them from hurting people. However, they quickly discover that Peter is not actually Jesse, and nearly kill him before Noah Bennet steps in. Peter discovers how to use Jesse's power (sound manipulation) and uses this to free Noah, but before he can finish, his future self removes him from Jesse and takes Peter to the future.^[3]

In the future, Peter learns about the spread of abilities through the use of the formula and the fate that awaits the world if it isn't stopped. Future Peter tells present Peter that Sylar's intuitive aptitude can help to understand the cause and effect of time travel, thereby enabling them to change history. However, future Peter is killed by Claire, who claims he is a terrorist. Because the Haitian is present, future Peter cannot regenerate. Peter flees and tracks down Mohinder for help. Though Mohinder is unwilling, Peter telepathically extracts the information he needs.

In Costa Verde, Peter finds Sylar has reassumed his former identity of Gabriel Gray, and is now raising a small child in Claire's former home. Sylar is reluctant to give Peter his ability, but in light of the fate that awaits the world, relents and teaches him how to use it, with the warning that he will also gain the hunger Sylar himself suffers from. Claire, Knox, and Daphne show up to kill Peter, and in the ensuing battle Sylar's son is killed. Enraged, Sylar loses control of his radiation ability, destroying Costa Verde.

Peter and Claire survive due to their regeneration powers and Claire takes Peter back to the base. Nathan, now the President and married to Tracy Strauss, attempts to reason with Peter, offering Peter the opportunity to read his mind to see if he's sincere. Peter nearly kills Nathan upon gaining a morbid curiosity of how Nathan's mind works due to Sylar's powers. Angry with himself, Peter stops short of killing Nathan and travels back to the present Level 5 to confront Sylar. Sylar recognizes that Peter suffers from his hunger and reveals that he is Peter's brother.^[4] Still angry, Peter snaps Sylar's neck and nearly kills his mother to get the truth out of her. Sylar regenerates and knocks him unconscious. Peter is then placed in a medically-induced coma to keep him from harming anyone else.^[5]

In "Dying of the Light", Sylar revives Peter so he can help their comatose mother. Peter cannot wake her, but sees the Pinehearst Industries logo within her mind. When he decides to go there, Sylar tries to stop him, realizing that Peter will not be able to control himself. However, Peter's far more diverse set of powers allow him to overcome Sylar. When he arrives at Pinehearst Industries, he is greeted by his father, Arthur Petrelli, who steals his abilities when they hug. Arthur holds Peter captive, intending to use him to further his plans. Peter manages to escape thanks to Sylar, who throws him out a window. Though the fall should have been fatal, he lands with less force than he should have, leading Peter to speculate that Sylar softened the landing so it wouldn't kill him.

Alternate futures

In the alternate future of "Five Years Gone", it is revealed that Peter was the bomb that destroyed New York City. The rest of the world believes that it was Sylar who had exploded; Nathan set him up as a scapegoat in order to protect his brother. In this alternate future, Peter resides in Las Vegas with Niki Sanders, with whom he is now romantically involved. He has a very prominent scar across his face, although it is never revealed how he acquired it. When he rescues Ando and "future Hiro" from Matt Parkman, he stops time and teleports them both away. This version of Peter has also gained a variety of powers, including pyrokinesis, superhuman speed, and electric manipulation, though the latter two are only seen within the official graphic novels.^[6]
In the alternate future of "The Second Coming", Peter (with the same scar across his face as the "Five Years Gone" timeline) is running from something and enters a warehouse, where he encounters a black-haired, much darker Claire, armed with a handgun, obviously planning to kill him. Peter begs for his life, but Claire merely says "I'm sorry, Peter. I always loved you," and fires. Peter stops time just as she does so, avoids the bullet, takes the gun out of her hand, and then teleports into the past and shoots Nathan. He possesses at least two abilities the present Peter does not have: a form of illusion-casting to make himself look like present-Peter and and a form of body possession to hide his younger self in the body of Level 5 inmate Jesse Murphy, with Peter's being the dominant consciousness.

Casting

Jason La Padura, the casting director for Heroes, stated that the character of Peter Petrelli was the hardest to cast due to conflicts regarding the Petrelli brothers' ages. La Padura states the Petrelli brothers were originally written to be twins, and it became obvious in the production process that in order to have correct dynamic between the two characters, Peter had to be the younger brother. Milo Ventimiglia's role as Peter was one of the last to be cast and the most difficult. Greg Grunberg originally auditioned for the role of one of the Petrelli brothers.^[7]

Powers and abilities

Peter has the ability to mimic other powers, which Tim Kring states to be "based on his empathy and his ability to connect with people."^[8] According to Dr. Suresh, Peter's DNA automatically re-sequences itself to mimic the abilities of those around him.^[9] Originally, Peter could only mimic powers while in close proximity to their source, but learns how to recall previously mimicked powers with greater and greater ease with the help of Claude.^[10] Angela Petrelli describes Peter as being "the most powerful of all of us".^[11] Peter's abilities are stolen by Arthur Petrelli in "Dying of the Light", rendering him a normal human.

Not including those used by future incarnations of himself, Peter has demonstrated the following abilities:

Ability	Episode first exhibited
Precognitive dreaming	"Genesis"
Flight	"Genesis"
Precognition (expressed through painting or drawing)	"Don't Look Back"
Space-time manipulation	"Collision"
Rapid cellular regeneration	"Homecoming"
Telepathy	"Fallout"
Invisibility	"Godsend"
Telekinesis	"Unexpected"
Induced radioactivity^[12]	"The Hard Part"
Superhuman strength	"How to Stop an Exploding Man"
Electric manipulation	"Four Months Later..."
Phasing	"Lizards"
Pyrokinesis	"I Am Become Death"
Intuitive aptitude	"I Am Become Death"
Superhuman speed	"I Am Become Death"

Hiro Nakamura

2008-10-30T04:41:00.000-07:00

Hiro Nakamura (中村ヒロ, Nakamura Hiro^?) is a character on the NBC drama Heroes who possesses the ability of space-time manipulation, enabling him to teleport, manipulate time, and travel through time by bending the space-time continuum. He is played by actor Masi Oka.

According to the online comic on NBC.com, Hiro is named after Hiroshima, so that his family will always remember the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tim Kring has been quoted as saying, "It's no coincidence we named him Hiro... he truly is on a hero's quest."^[1] To this end, his name is often used as a pun. His co-worker Ando once called him "Super-Hiro" in jest.

Character development

Hiro was one of the last main characters to be created by Tim Kring; he was added to the pilot episode after Kring's wife noticed none of the existing main characters were happy about their powers.^[2] During a panel session, Kring explained that he developed Hiro as a comic book geek "trapped in a life that was kind of not of his making". Thus, viewers were introduced to Hiro as an office worker in a sea of cubicles.^[3] In an interview, Tim Kring noted, "I didn't start off by saying I want a guy who can teleport. I started off by saying I wanted a guy who felt trapped in a life that was not his dream and what could be a power that would be most wish-fulfilling for that character? And that was the ability to teleport out of that life." ^[4]

Fictional character synopsis

Hiro Nakamura is an office worker, specifically a level-3 programmer at Yamagato Industries, living in Tokyo, Japan who one day discovers he has the power to manipulate time and space (The Crane). An otaku, Hiro is an avid fan of superheroes and science fiction. Naïve and over-eager, Hiro is the one character that aspires to the pure heroism of comic book crime fighters, shouldering the responsibility to use his powers for good. His best friend is the skeptical Ando Masahashi. At the start, Hiro is only able to speak Japanese, relying on Ando as his translator, but as the series progresses, his English slowly develops. Hiro's Blog, maintained by NBC and written from Hiro's point of view, is updated after each new episode is aired, usually about the events of the episode.

Genesis

At the start of the series, Hiro's power is developed enough for him to turn the second-hand of his clock back one second. It is later discovered that this same power made a train fourteen seconds late. Ecstatic at these accomplishments, Hiro confides in his friend, Ando, who is extremely skeptical of Hiro's new abilities. At Ando's suggestion, Hiro teleports himself into the women's bathroom of a local club, though Ando is not looking at the time. Seeing Hiro dragged out of the bathroom, Ando states that this only proves that he is a pervert, and a crestfallen Hiro walks away as Ando yells sarcastically that he is a "Super Hiro!" As Hiro returns home on the train, he sees a vacation ad for New York City. At this point Hiro's power inadvertently activates, teleporting him to Times Square.

New York

Hiro appears extremely happy to have successfully used his ability. He soon discovers a comic book called 9th Wonders! in a nearby newsstand that shows himself standing in Times Square with his hands up and yelling, "I did it!", an incredibly accurate depiction of Hiro's arrival in New York. He attempts to pay in Japanese yen, and runs off with the comic book. Hiro then discovers that the story includes what has already happened between himself and Ando, and his discovery of his abilities. Hiro decides to find the artist and writer, Isaac Mendez, by visiting his loft.

Hiro visits Isaac's loft, discovering the artist's dead body, partially decapitated with the brain removed. Hiro is arrested by the police and during the interrogation discovers he has traveled not only through space, but through time as well. It was October 2 when he left Tokyo, and he arrived in New York November 8. Just as Hiro discovers this, he witnesses a cataclysmic explosion. Before the blast reaches him, Hiro turns back time to the exact moment he left Tokyo and teleports himself back to the train he was standing on, still holding the comic he picked up in the future.

Mission

After going to the future, Hiro decides that he must save the world by preventing the explosion. Hiro then persuades Ando that his powers are genuine by saving a young girl from an oncoming car (as predicted by the comic book from the future).

They take a plane to Los Angeles but go the rest of the way by car, because that is what the comic book says they do. Hiro and Ando then have several misadventures in Las Vegas, starting when Ando decides to hit the casinos. Ando convinces Hiro to use his powers to cheat, stopping time to give Ando winning hands in poker games. The two make a lot of money but are later thrown out of the casino and then beaten up by a player they had cheated.

After an argument, Hiro and Ando go their own separate ways. Hiro ends up in a diner near Las Vegas where he sees Nathan Petrelli literally fall from the sky like a meteorite. After Nathan enters the diner, Hiro briefly talks with the man, and Nathan decides to give Hiro a ride back to the casino, where he and Ando are reunited.

Their attempts to call Isaac Mendez are finally successful, as Peter Petrelli answers the phone, relaying a message from Hiro's future self, and tells them to come to New York City. However, the pair are detained further when the same player they cheated earlier forces them to play a poker game to make money to repay what they gained before. Ando and Hiro manage to escape shortly before the other players are slaughtered by Jessica Sanders. Hiro is crestfallen that he is unable to prevent their deaths but is comforted by Ando, who claims Hiro is still beginning his journey to become a true hero.

Hiro exercises his power as a hero again when he and Ando run across D.L. Hawkins and his son, Micah, at the scene of burning car wreck with a passenger trapped inside. As D.L. frees the passenger, the vehicle explodes and Hiro freezes time to save them. Hiro complains about not having super strength when he is forced to drag the pair away from the explosion. After he unfreezes time, he shows the future edition of 9th Wonders! to Micah and speaks to him in English about his space-time manipulation powers.

Charlie

Continuing their journey to New York, Hiro and Ando stop at a diner in Texas and meet a waitress named Charlie, who recently developed powers of her own. As Hiro talks to Charlie, who finds him to be "sweet," Sylar watches them talk. Charlie is later found murdered in the diner's storeroom with her brain removed, just as Hiro had found Isaac's body in New York. Not wanting to fail to save someone like he did in Las Vegas, Hiro goes back in time in an attempt to prevent her murder, promising Ando that he'll return in five seconds.

Hiro's attempt to teleport to the day before Charlie's death goes awry, landing six months in the past, on the day of Charlie's birthday. Though he considers another time-travel attempt, the possibility of being eaten by a dinosaur dissuades him. Hiro tries to warn Charlie and protect her from the "very bad man", but ends up forming a close relationship with her after his attempts to convince her fail. Eventually, he asks her to come with him to Japan. As the date of their departure gets closer, Charlie reveals that she has a blood clot in her brain and will die no matter what. She says she was going to give up before Hiro came and that she has fallen in love with him. Just as they are about to kiss, Hiro inadvertently teleports to Japan some time after he and Ando had left for the United States. Unable to return via his own powers, he is forced to make his way back to the diner through normal means. Ando, happy to see Hiro again, assumes Hiro used his powers (not least because Hiro now appears in a photograph on the Diner's wall taken with Charlie six months previously) and was successful, but Hiro explains that he failed and made his way back through public transportation. After this incident, Hiro's powers appear to weaken.

The novel Heroes: Saving Charlie expands and changes the events of the history. Hiro's love story with Charlie is expanded, as is her own role in foretelling her demise. They dated and fell in love during the months Hiro teleported back to, and eventually told her that her memory was a power like his own. He did convince her to go to Japan with him, and they ended up in the same bar where Hiro has first told Ando his mission was to save the cheerleader, and save the world. Charlie realized Hiro lied to her (he had told her his mission was to save her) and went back to the US to live her final days with the people she knew her entire life.

The Quest for the Blade of Takezo Kensei

In "Fallout", Hiro and Ando find their way to Claire's high school, but arrive after Sylar's attack and believe her to have already been killed. Ando tries to be optimistic about the situation, claiming that "save the cheerleader, save the world," is just a progression of events — save the cheerleader and then save the world — and not a conditional statement. Hiro doesn't accept the claim, believing that he would have meant it as a conditional statement. While thinking about their next move, Hiro is called by Isaac Mendez, who arranges a meeting with them in Texas. Once they meet, Hiro shows Isaac the future 9th Wonders! comic, much to the artist's surprise, then asks him to paint the future. At first, Isaac isn't convinced he can do so without drugs, but once he realizes that some of his rough sketches depict Hiro traveling back to save Charlie, he tries again. Hiro recommends that Isaac concentrate, using the same face he makes when activating his own powers, and Isaac manages to activate his power successfully. Isaac's painting depicts Hiro brandishing a sword while encountering a carnivorous theropod dinosaur, seemingly confirming Hiro's earlier fears. Hiro remarks, "I really need to find that sword."

Two weeks later, at the beginning of "Godsend", Hiro and Ando go to the Museum of Natural History looking for the sword that Hiro saw in Isaac's painting. They find it in a glass case on the back of an ancient warrior, Takezo Kensei. On the hilt of the sword is the symbol that appears in various points throughout the series. Hiro recalls a story his father told him of Kensei and how the sword was believed to have benefited him. He decides to steal the sword, believing it will help him control his powers. While doing so, he brandishes it against a model dinosaur in the museum, mimicking the picture Isaac had drawn earlier. However, the museum's version of the sword is only a wooden replica made by the Linderman Group. He returns to Isaac's loft, where he meets Simone Deveaux. Hiro also happily re-encounters Nathan (whom he addresses as "flying man"). After introductions and brief discussions, Simone recommends Hiro go back to Las Vegas with the dinosaur painting and see Mr. Linderman, an avid collector of Isaac's paintings.

Return to Vegas

In "The Fix", Hiro and Ando are chased by unknown men. Eventually, they are captured by the men, and Hiro is told that the men work for someone "truly powerful." Hiro and Ando are then told to stop their quest. Hiro declines, even after being offered first class plane tickets back to Japan. The men state their boss won't be happy and bring the two to him. Hiro then realizes the men work for his father, Kaito.

In "Distractions", Hiro's father tries to convince him to go back to Tokyo, admitting that it was a bad idea to start him off at the bottom and offering him a job as Executive Vice President of the company. After Hiro's initial refusal, his father rips up Isaac's painting. Kimiko, Hiro's sister, admits to him that, though his father is too proud to admit it, the company has gone through hard times. Ando reminds him that his powers are declining and it might not be a bad idea. Hiro eventually convinces his father that his sister is a better candidate to take over the company. Mr. Nakamura then lets Hiro continue with the mission.

In "Run!", Hiro and Ando are again sidetracked by a weeping Las Vegas showgirl named Hope. Hiro and Ando get separated while trying to retrieve a bag for Hope. Hiro is locked in a closet by Hope, then later freed by a Gaming Commission agent, who is looking for her. After watching Ando get shot during a firefight between the agent and Hope in "Unexpected", Hiro feels his mission is too dangerous to bring Ando any further. Hiro defeats Hope by unexpectedly using his powers to reverse the bullet in time one second sending it back into the gun, disarming Hope. She and the agent are arrested but since Hiro had his eyes closed he doesn't realize he used his powers which haven't been working lately. He leaves the Versa with Ando and boards a bus alone (greeted by comic icon Stan Lee playing the bus driver).

In "Parasite", Hiro tries to enter Linderman's casino, but becomes aware that he has been red flagged and is not to enter the casino. As Nathan Petrelli enters the casino to meet with Linderman, he uses his influence to help Hiro get inside. Hiro delivers the painting to Mr. Linderman's vault, where the vault curator accepts it. While the curator is in another room, Hiro locates the sword and steals it, with the help of Ando, disguised as a security guard. Hiro teleports them both out of the building to escape the other security guards, but they find themselves on top of the Deveaux building, in a post-apocalyptic New York five years after the explosion.^[5]

Dark future

In ".07%", Hiro decides to learn as much as he can about the future to know what went wrong with his attempts to stop the bomb. He and Ando enter Isaac's apartment, but find it netted with newspaper articles suspended on strings, each article relating to the explosion and even the heroes themselves. Just then, Hiro and Ando hear a sound, and Hiro takes out his sword to confront whoever it is, but is shocked when he comes face to face with his future self.

In "Five Years Gone", Hiro learns from his future self that the bomb still went off. The younger Hiro in turn reveals to his future self that their present day Claire was rescued and Sylar got caught, but Sylar himself wasn't killed yet. This gives Future Hiro hope, but before they can do anything about it, Matt Parkman and his Homeland Security team break into Isaac's loft and begin a raid. Ando and Future Hiro manage to escape but present day Hiro is apprehended by Matt and the Haitian. Hiro is brutally interrogated by Matt, who doesn't believe he is telling the truth about time travelling. Mohinder Suresh is called in to investigate Isaac's loft, where he is convinced about Hiro's story but fails to convince the President, Nathan Petrelli (who is in fact Sylar in disguise). The President orders Mohinder to kill present day Hiro, but Mohinder finds he can't bring himself to do it. In the meantime, Ando and Future Hiro enlist the aid of future Peter Petrelli and they break into the building Present Hiro is captured in. They defeat all the guards and with the aid of Mohinder manage to rescue Hiro. Unfortunately, before Hiro and Ando manage to travel back to their time, Future Hiro is shot by Matt Parkman, who is in turn stopped by Peter, who uses telekinesis to close the door on Parkman. Hiro is shocked to see his future self die, but when Ando confides he believes in Hiro now and shows him a copy of the 9th Wonders comic book in which Hiro stabs Sylar with his sword, Hiro gets his confidence back and travels back to the time from which they came.

Stopping Sylar

In "The Hard Part", upon their return to the present timeline, Hiro proudly vows to New York City that he'll do his best to save it. However, he does realize it will be the hard part of his destiny. Hiro and Ando return to Isaac's loft, hoping to fill in the gaps of the futuristic comic book. However, they arrive to find that Isaac has been killed by Sylar. When Hiro and Ando hear Sylar in the bathroom, they hide behind a painting. Sylar hears their heartbeats and uncovers their hiding spot. However, Hiro teleports Ando and himself to safety before they are found.

Hiro and Ando continue to follow Sylar and watch him meet with his mother, attempting to reconcile with her. After Sylar's mother is accidentally stabbed, Hiro stops time and approaches Sylar, sword drawn. However, as he swings, time resumes and Sylar grabs Hiro's sword. Sylar begins to freeze the sword, and - as Hiro teleports to safety with Ando - it breaks in two.

In "Landslide", after Ando looks in the Yellow Pages for someone who can repair the sword, he finds an ad bearing the helix symbol seen throughout the series. Upon arriving, they encounter Hiro's father Kaito, who tells Hiro that he is worthy of the family destiny. He also trains Hiro to fight and kill with a sword. When Hiro is done training, he and Kaito discover that Ando, thinking that Kaito had convinced Hiro to return to Japan, bought a sword and has left to confront Sylar alone.

In "How to Stop an Exploding Man" Hiro teleports to Isaac's loft to find Ando about to be killed by Sylar, but manages to teleport them both out of danger and back to Japan. Hiro returns with Ando's sword, leaving the Kensei sword with Ando, telling Ando that it is "so you know I'll be back." Upon returning he stabs Sylar. Sylar uses the last of his strength to send Hiro flying toward a building, forcing Hiro to teleport to save himself. In doing so, however, he sends himself three centuries into the past to Kyoto, Japan, circa 1671. Upon collecting himself, he finds himself caught in the middle of a battle between a small group of samurai about to attack a figure on the horizon, who appears to be Kensei, the original owner of Hiro's blade. Before the battle begins, however, an eclipse shadows the scene.

Generations

Japan - 1671

In "Four Months Later...", the premiere episode of Season 2, Hiro freezes time as the archers from the battle scene at the end of "How to Stop an Exploding Man" are about to kill him. He then teleports who he believes to be Takezo Kensei away from the battle and into a small forest. There, he learns that the man is a decoy, and that the real Kensei, an Englishman in samurai armor, had been hiding in a tree in order to snipe the enemy with a crossbow. After some conversation, Hiro realizes that, by interfering in the battle, he has changed the past, and Otsu is razed. The swordsmith's daughter, a woman named Yaeko, who Kensei was supposed to wed according to the legend, grows angry at Kensei and takes back her father's sword given as payment, saying that she will go fight the bandits herself. Kensei reacts to this with general apathy.

In "Lizards", Hiro impersonates Kensei by donning his armor in order to make sure the bandits don't kill Yaeko and to prove to her that Kensei is a hero. Scaring off the bandits using his abilities, Hiro as Kensei wins the heart of the Yaeko. Encountering the real Kensei afterwards, Hiro manages to convince him to help Yaeko rescue her father. However, as they are about to leave, the bandits return and fire arrows at Kensei, seemingly killing him. However, once the arrows are removed, Kensei regenerates in a fashion similar to Claire Bennet.

With Kensei's newly discovered power, Hiro realizes how he became the hero of legend. Since Kensei isn't quite ready to accept his destiny, Hiro forces him to play out another of his legends, this one the retrieval of the "fire scroll" from 90 angry ronin. The task convinces Kensei to take up his own mantle, and he likens Hiro to his conscience — except he pays attention to Hiro. Believing his task to be done, Hiro initially decides to return to his own time, but during the attempt suddenly stops and returns to Kensei.

Hiro, determined to preserve the timeline, decides to remain in feudal Japan until Kensei defeats White Beard and saves Japan. They locate White Beard's army camp and Hiro helps Kensei rescue Yaeko's father. However, in a moment of weakness, Hiro gives into his own desires and confesses his love to Yaeko and they kiss, unaware that Kensei is watching them. Hiro tries to apologize, but Kensei reverts back to his old ways and knocks Hiro unconscious and turns him, Yaeko, and her father over the White Beard's soldiers. According to Hiro's note to Ando, this causes a currently unknown alteration to the timeline.

Hiro is kept prisoner in White Beard's camp where they use opium to dull his senses, preventing him from using his powers. Yaeko manages to free herself from her shackles and removes the opium. Hiro is able to focus just enough to teleport them to safety. Later, Hiro returns to White Beard's camp to destroy the guns. Before he can set the gunpowder cache on fire, Kensei confronts him and the two engage in a sword fight. Hiro tries to persuade Kensei to join him to stop White Beard, but Kensei refuses, and vows to Hiro that as long as he lives he will destroy everything he holds dear. Hiro teleports out right before the guns explode. He meets Yaeko under the cherry blossoms one last time, and tells her the final tale in the legend of Kensei, where he is forced to cut his heart out. Yaeko vows that as long as she has a breath in her she will tell his story as the story of Takezo Kensei. They share a final kiss, and Hiro teleports out, leaving Yaeko alone under the cherry blossoms.

Return to the present

Hiro then teleports back to the present day, effectively fulfilling the final task by leaving Yaeko behind, and he learns from Ando that his father has been killed. Hiro attempts to go back and prevent his death in "Cautionary Tales", but his father convinces him that they cannot play God with their gifts. Hiro accepts this advice, but uses the opportunity to learn that Kensei was the one responsible for murdering his father. In "Truth & Consequences", Hiro is able to learn more about Kensei and his new name, Adam Monroe. He travels back in time to 1977 and learns that Adam was imprisoned by his father after he almost releases a virus that could kill everything. He learns that the virus will be kept in the Primatech facility in Odessa, Texas. Determined to avenge his father's murder, he teleports to the facility with his sword and stops time. There he sees Peter Petrelli for the first time since "How to Stop an Exploding Man". Hiro declares his intentions to Peter, but Peter refuses to let Hiro harm Adam. Peter's hand crackles with electricity as Hiro lets out a battle cry and charges with his sword drawn.

In Powerless, Hiro confronts Peter, but is knocked unconscious. Later, he is reunited with Nathan Petrelli and Matt Parkman, who are there to stop Peter and Adam from getting the virus. Hiro teleports into the vault and confronts Adam for the first time since the tent in White Beard's camp. Hiro tells Adam he should not have let Adam live long ago, then grabs Adam and teleports him away. Hiro later reveals to Ando that Adam will not hurt anyone ever again. The scene cuts to Adam locked in a casket, buried alive in a Japanese graveyard.

Villains

In "The Second Coming", Hiro has taken his father's place as head of Yamagato. His family's lawyer gives him a tape his father recorded telling Hiro that in the office safe is one half of a formula that could destroy the world if in the wrong hands. Out of curiosity he opens the safe and the envelope containing the formula, which is then stolen by a speeding superhuman named Daphne. Hiro attempts to stop her but she moves so fast that she moves normally, while he has slowed time to a near halt, and she knocks him to the floor.

Hiro then travels to the future to see how the formula would affect the world in order to stop it. He teleports to Tokyo at an undetermined point in the future, and finds everyone fleeing in terror. He also sees Future Hiro and Future Ando, the latter demanding that Hiro give him the formula. Future Hiro refuses and draws his sword to strike Future Ando, who then electrocutes Hiro with a red lightning power and runs off with the formula. Present Hiro then sees the whole city, perhaps the world ripped apart by a horrible cataclysm, then teleports back, telling Present Ando that they must find the formula at all costs.

Hiro and Ando chase Daphne to her home in France, where they almost get the formula back but Hiro has to let Daphne and the formula go when she threatens to kill Ando. Unbeknownst to Daphne, Hiro had placed a tracking device on her and starts teleporting after her. They locate Daphne in Berlin, Germany. Daphne tells the two that she has come to steal the other half of the formula. It appears that the Haitian is also there to collect it for Angela Petrelli. Hiro and Ando knock the Haitian out and get the other half of the formula, but are intercepted by Daphne who steals it from them. Before Hiro can stop time, he and Ando are captured by the Haitian and locked in Level 2 of the Company.

Hiro and Ando, while in the custody of the company, find themselves arguing due to the feelings Hiro has regarding the future he has seen. After resolving their differences, they attempt an escape through the ventilation shaft, only to be stopped by the Haitian. He takes them to Angela, who scolds Hiro for losing both halves of the formula. Ando supports Hiro and declares they will get the formula back, goading Angela to say that Hiro already has the key to doing so. Hiro and Ando are next shown in a graveyard, digging up Adam Monroe.

In "Angels and Monsters", Hiro, Ando and Adam go to a bar, where Hiro is knocked unconscious by a provoker, who was aiming at Monroe. Adam flees while Hiro is knocked out. Depressed, they decide to drink at a bar where they meet Daphne and Knox, who captured Adam. Knox says that he will let Hiro join them if he kills Ando. Thinking fast to get in as well as save his friend, he goes back in time, snatches some fake blood and a retractable sword, tells Ando of an hour ago of his plan, and returns to the present, getting into Pinehearst without losing Ando.

In "Dying of the Light", Hiro is told to go to Africa to find a precognitive painter named Usutu. Hiro's attempts to sneak up on him result in him being knocked unconscious by a shovel after viewing a picture of the event. He then made a second attempt only to have the same result. After Hiro decides to use conventional methods over using his powers, Usutu allows him to approach and comments that Hiro has passed his test as he had been overly reliant on his ability. He then shows him the pictures of those Hiro has to fight.

In "Eris Quod Sum", Hiro and Ando are given food from Usutu. Hiro eats some and his eyes go white, right before passing out and Ando blames Usutu for trickery but Usutu claims that Hiro did not choose a path so one was given to him.

Alternate futures

Another Hiro Nakamura, this one claiming to be from the future, first appears in "Collision". When he appears to Peter Petrelli in a subway, he freezes time in order to speak with Peter privately. He urges Peter to "save the cheerleader, save the world" and to "be the one we need," but doesn't elaborate for fear of causing a rift in the space-time continuum. He also mentions that Peter looks different "without the scar."
The future Hiro appears to be much more fit, confident, and experienced than his present self. He sports a soul patch and ponytail, no longer wears glasses, wears a black overcoat, carries a katana on his back, and speaks fluent idiomatically-correct English. Future Hiro's fluent accent is in fact Masi Oka's real voice, deepened for dramatic effect. He is also much more serious, focused, and calm than the current-day Hiro, and his sense of humor appears to be diminished. The future Peter Petrelli speculates that it was Ando's death in the explosion that changed Hiro.
He appears again in the episode ".07%" when he meets with present Hiro and "Five Years Gone" which tells a side story about himself. Future Hiro also appears in the graphic novel Heroes #30 "String Theory" in which he acts as a nightwatcher who watches over people with powers getting hunted down by normal, human police officers. In this issue, Hiro rescues a girl named Sparrow and the two seem to know each other. He also explains a bit what happened in the future after the bomb went off. The issue ends with the final scene of ".07%".
- Before "Five Years Gone" takes place, in the graphic novel series "Walls" Parts 1 and 2, Hiro and Peter break other people with special abilities out of a prison, though Hiro and Peter aren't able to stop time, because one of the others block the ability, though Hiro does draw his sword.
- In "Five Years Gone" the scene starts again with Hiro and Ando meeting Hiro's future self. He tells them how they aren't supposed to be there and asks why the future hasn't changed. Future Hiro learns that present day Hiro has not had the chance to kill Sylar yet. He decides that he must get present Hiro back to the past so that he can stop Sylar, but before Future Hiro can do so, Matt Parkman, his Homeland Security squad, and the Haitian raid the loft. Future Hiro and Ando are able to escape, but present day Hiro is captured.
  Future Hiro begins recruiting people so that he can free present day Hiro and goes off to Las Vegas to seek Peter's help. Ando and Future Hiro encounter Niki, who is currently in a relationship with Peter. Niki tells them nothing about Peter, but when prompted, tells them that she knows that Mr. Bennet is in Texas, helping those with abilities to establish new identities and hide from the government.
  Once there, Future Hiro asks Bennet for help, specifically requesting D.L. Hawkins, Candice Wilmer, and Molly Walker. While at first Bennet doesn't want to help, he agrees when he hears that they know Claire is alive.
  Future Hiro and Ando then begin talking about what happened to Ando in the future. Right when Hiro is about to tell Ando something important, he is shot with a taser by Matt. Before they are about to be captured, Peter comes and by utilizing Hiro's power, is able to help them escape.
  With Peter's help, Future Hiro and Ando are able to enter the building where present day Hiro is being held and make it to him. Right after they free present day Hiro, future Hiro tells them he will take them back to their time since present day Hiro still doesn't have full control of his powers, but before he can do it he is shot and killed by Matt Parkman. Before Future Hiro dies he gives Ando Isaac's incomplete comic book.

In an alternate future shown in "The Second Coming," a future version of Hiro, while dressed the same as the aforementioned future version, has the same hairstyle as his present-day self, and still wears glasses. He argues with Ando and is then murdered by him with an energy-based superpower, in Tokyo, just before an unknown force destroys the city.

Powers and abilities

Hiro possesses the power to control of the space-time continuum, giving him the power to manipulate time, travel through time, and teleport to any location at will. Specific examples of temporal manipulation include slowing time relative to himself and rewinding time specific to certain objects (a clock, a train, and a gun in various episodes). As demonstrated by his encounters with Daphne, a woman with the power of super speed, Hiro cannot stop time completely. Hiro has shown the ability to teleport both himself and others in physical contact with himself, both through space and time.

Although stressful events and practice have helped Hiro to develop his abilities, Hiro initially has trouble with the more complicated teleportation and time travel abilities. For example, when he teleported to New York, he inadvertently traveled five weeks into the future as well. Although he was able to travel back to the same time and place from which he left, he was only able to do so when his life was in danger from a nuclear explosion. Later, when he attempted to save Charlie's life by traveling to the day before her death, Hiro accidentally ended up six months in the past. He also inadvertently teleported to Japan from Texas just as he and Charlie were about to kiss and then could not teleport back, no matter how hard he tried.

After the incident with Charlie, Hiro's powers began weakening, eventually becoming completely unusable. He seeks out Takezo Kensei's sword in the hope that it will focus his failing powers. After obtaining the sword, Hiro exhibits the ability to teleport other people along with himself, which he uses to rescue himself and Ando from an impending attack by casino guards in "Parasite", though this too resulted in an inadvertent trip five years into the future, after the explosion had occurred. The episode "Five Years Gone" marks his first successful use of teleportation and time travel. By "The Hard Part", Hiro has improved his skill in teleportation, as he uses it twice without traveling any discernible distance through time. His father attributes this to a matter of confidence rather than any effect caused by the sword. In addition to his power over time, Hiro is skilled with a katana, having been trained by his father.

Time alterations

Hiro's trips have given Hiro his own unique timeline, which is reflected in some of Isaac Mendez's paintings of Hiro. Along with the existence of an alternate future version of himself, Hiro has come across or induced a few time paradoxes or alterations in the series.

In "One Giant Leap", Hiro travels with Ando to the United States even though Ando was still in Japan when he had previously traveled to the future New York City. When directly questioned about this by Ando, Hiro says they are changing the future.
Between the episodes "Seven Minutes to Midnight" and "Six Months Ago", Hiro traveled six months into the past in Texas.
- There, he changed history again by forming a close relationship with Charlie in the past. This change was most noted by a picture which had originally shown only Charlie at her birthday party now showing both her and Hiro.
- At one point, Hiro accidentally gives himself a phone call from Texas to Japan, while trying to contact Ando, though he immediately hangs up after he realizes it was the Hiro in Japan who had answered, afraid of coming into contact with his past self.
- In "Seven Minutes to Midnight", Charlie said that someone had given her a Japanese phrase book on her birthday. In "Six Months Ago", it is Hiro who gives her the phrase book.

Ironically, in general, the future shown in "Don't Look Back" seems to be even more certain, as changes that have been or intended to have been made have been made futile:

In "Six Months Ago", Hiro accidentally travels back in time six months to prevent Charlie from dying, only to find out that she has a blood clot in her brain and will die anyway.
In "Unexpected", Isaac received a gun from Mr. Bennet - the same gun Hiro found in Isaac's apartment when he traveled forward five weeks.
As of ".07%" Sylar has killed Isaac in a similar manner to his original death.
In "String Theory", it is revealed that Future Hiro tells Peter to "Save the Cheerleader" so that the failed attempt to stop Sylar from exploding might prove successful.

However, the future has proven itself to not be entirely certain, as the characters were able to stop the explosion from destroying New York City in "How to Stop an Exploding Man".

Starting at the end of Season 1 and through much of Season 2, Hiro was in 1671 Feudal Japan. There he becomes personally entwined in the history and events surrounding the warrior, Takezo Kensei. Recognizing the man is not as history portrays him, Hiro works to help Takezo fulfill his 'destiny'. This results in Hiro personally influencing many major events.

In "Lizards", Hiro impersonates Takezo and uses his powers to disarm 11 bandits ("The Battle of Twelve Swords") and gains the gratitude and admiration of Yaeko, the swordsmith's daughter.
In "Kindred", Hiro forces Takezo to face 90 angry ronin in order to retrieve the 'Fire Scroll', fulfilling another part of Takezo's 'legend'.
In "The Line", Hiro helps Takezo rescue Yaeko's father and discovers how Takezo will 'save' Japan, destroying the illegal firearms that White Beard's army are planning to use to overthrow the Emperor. However, Hiro gives into his own desire for Yaeko, causing Takezo to side with White Beard. Hiro destroys the guns by himself. Yaeko later asserts that Hiro is the person the "Takezo Kensei" legends are about and vows to spread the legends under that name. To fulfill the final part of the legend, cutting out his own heart, he leaves Yaeko behind and returns to the present.

Isaac Mendez

2008-10-30T04:35:00.000-07:00

Isaac Mendez is a fictional character in the NBC drama Heroes. Portrayed by Santiago Cabrera, he has the ability to paint the future.

Character overview

Genesis

Beginning

Isaac Mendez's story begins in the first episode, where he is a struggling, tortured artist living in New York City. His girlfriend and art dealer is Simone Deveaux. Mendez is addicted to heroin, and has had little success quitting permanently, putting a strain on his relationship with Simone. This strain is worsened when Isaac realizes he can see ambiguous future events and paint them--but only when high on heroin. Isaac at first assumes the paintings to be "evil" and tries to destroy them, but Simone sees them as artistically impressive. Near the end of the pilot, Isaac overdoses. Simone brings help in the form of nurse Peter Petrelli, who realizes that Isaac has painted a picture of him without having previously met him. With Peter's help, Isaac survives the overdose.

After he recovers, Isaac seems to have accepted his "destiny" to save New York from a large, nuclear-level, mushroom cloud explosion he saw in one of his precognitive trances and painted on his loft floor during his overdose. Isaac has also come to believe he needs the heroin to "paint the future". Simone doubts Isaac's powers and refuses to stand idly by while he ruins his life using heroin, so she leaves him. During their conversation, Simone also mentions that Isaac's comic book, 9th Wonders!, may be late as he continues with his precognitive painting.

In the fourth episode, Simone comes to Isaac requesting new paintings for a showing at her art gallery. Isaac offers earlier works instead, saying that he needs the newer ones to tell the future. Simone doubts she can even sell the older ones and is still unconvinced of Isaac's powers. Isaac proclaims he knew about her kiss with Peter the previous evening. Simone assumes that Isaac had followed her, but he shows her his drawing, saying he made it seven weeks prior. Isaac then said he needs money for "painting supplies", by which he means heroin, which he hopes will help him find a way to stop the nuclear explosion. Simone leaves and Isaac breaks out his "tools" to shoot up. At one point in the episode, he says "I'm gonna be a hero". After shooting up, he experiences a vision of Claire Bennet at her school around Homecoming time, being chased and cornered by a shadowy figure.

Save the cheerleader

In the fifth episode, Peter visits Isaac to find images of "the cheerleader" that a future version of Hiro Nakamura told him to save. However, Isaac is distraught over the current state of his life and feels he's wasted his time. Peter disagrees and persuades Isaac to look past their differences. Peter finds the unfinished painting he is looking for, though Isaac explains he cannot finish it, as he is out of both heroin and money to buy more. Peter still believes they should keep trying and, through his ability to mimic other people's powers, manages to finish the painting himself, saying he can see the finished work in his mind. The phone rings after he finishes. Isaac explains that it's just some Japanese man that he can't understand, and Peter realizes that it's Hiro.

In "Better Halves", Isaac and Peter realize they don't know who the cheerleader was or where she lives. They notice that one of Isaac's canvases of the future is missing. Isaac realizes that Simone has taken it to sell with his other paintings. He doesn't remember what he painted since he was high at the time. After Peter leaves to try to track down the painting another way, Eden McCain visits Isaac's apartment, claiming to be a fan.

In the following episode, Isaac and Eden are in a paper plant in Odessa, Texas where Mr. Bennet works. Bennet tells Isaac that he helps people with special powers to better use them, and suggests that he teach Isaac to use his powers without heroin. Bennet explains that he desperately needs Isaac to create another painting of the cheerleader's attack, as he believes it will let him protect his daughter Claire. Isaac tries again to paint without the drugs, but after that proves unsuccessful, Mr. Bennet has Eden persuade Isaac to take heroin and paint an image.

In "Homecoming", Isaac paints a picture of a man glowing brightly, which Isaac later describes as "a man exploding", rather than anything related to Claire. Then, in "Fallout", he begins painting again, though he doesn't believe the paintings to be anything more than art since he hadn't taken any drugs since painting the previous image. After Eden tells him that Claire has been saved, he realizes that the future can be changed. Eden gives him a phone and an access card, suggesting that he do something. To that end, he calls Hiro and arranges a meeting. After meeting Hiro, seeing the future issue of 9th Wonders!, and realizing that his most recent drawings were in fact of events from the then-future, he decided to again paint without heroin. Relaxed and advised by Hiro to concentrate, he successfully activated his powers, painting a picture of Hiro, brandishing a katana, encountering a dinosaur. Hiro mentions that he found Isaac killed by Sylar in the future.

Back to business

Two weeks later in "Godsend", Isaac is doing well and has returned to New York. He's maintained his friendship with Hiro and Ando, who are also in New York. At his loft, Isaac is visited by Simone and Nathan Petrelli, Peter's brother, as Nathan wants to check out the "future paintings". Simone hadn't realize Isaac is home. Now clean and able to paint without heroin, Isaac professes his continued love for Simone. She's speechless. Suddenly, Hiro returns, disappointed that he was not able to find the real Kensei sword. Hiro then excitedly greets Nathan ("flying man"), who he had met once previously. After introductions and catching up, Hiro states that Linderman has the sword he wants. Simone remembers that Linderman is an avid art collector, as she has sold him several of Isaac's paintings. To this end, Simone recommends Hiro travel to Las Vegas with one of Isaac's paintings and meet Linderman.

During the events of "Distractions", Isaac is revealed to be actively seeking Peter Petrelli via his power because he has seen that Peter explodes. Isaac is later revealed to be working with Mr. Bennet when he calls him to notify him of Peter's whereabouts.

Later, during the episode "Unexpected", Mr. Bennet visits Isaac at his apartment, where Isaac tells him about the search for Peter and how he has discovered that Peter has been invisible. Mr. Bennet then tells him about how this means that Peter has met an old friend of Mr. Bennet's, referring to Claude. He then gives Isaac a gun and tells him he expects him to be a hero. Later, after Peter escapes Bennet and the Haitian, and Claude abandons him, he appears in Isaac's apartment blaming Isaac for "turning him in". He attacks Isaac with his telekinesis, then turns invisible when Isaac pulls out the gun. As he dodges around Isaac's apartment, taunting him, Isaac tries to listen to where he is and shoot him. He finally hears a distinctive sound, but when he fires it is revealed he has shot Simone, who collapses into Peter's arms.

Relapse

Isaac blames Peter for Simone's death and tries to shoot him, but Peter escapes. Isaac places Simone's body on his bed. Later, the police, having been sent by Nathan Petrelli, come to his home, saying that Simone was reported missing and neighbors heard a disturbance and gun shots. Then Mr. Bennet and Candice, disguised as Simone and hiding Simone's body, come in and the police excuse themselves. Bennet says they have created an alibi in which Simone will be in Europe for months. Isaac is clearly distraught and begs Bennet to take him with him. After they refuse and leave, Isaac decides to go back to using heroin. He paints a series of pictures, including one of himself with his head sliced open, as had been seen in the future by Hiro in the episode "Don't Look Back.

Death

In the episode ".07%", Isaac gives a messenger that works for the publishing company, the next issue of 9th Wonders. As a gift, he also hands over his sketch book. As the man leaves, Isaac looks at the pictures of himself with his head sliced open. Later, Sylar locates and confronts Isaac, who has just finished painting another picture of his death. When Sylar comments that most people start screaming at that point, Isaac calmly states that he has accepted his fate. He also reveals that he has also painted a vision of Sylar's death. When Isaac refuses to give Sylar the drawings, Sylar flings him to the ground and impales Isaac's wrists and ankles with paint brushes. Isaac states that he sent the painting away and that all his life he has destroyed everything he has loved. He goes on to say that he can now die content and, through this final act, can "finally get to be a hero." Sylar stands over Isaac, the camera pans away, and Isaac screams as Sylar slices into his skull.^[1]

Later Isaac's body is seen, dead on the floor, the top of his skull missing as Sylar uses his ability to paint the future, albeit in a twisted, more nightmarish style.

Post-Death

In the alternate future of "Five Years Gone", Future Hiro has taken over Isaac's loft, using it to construct a timeline resembling a giant mobile in an attempt to track the path of his trips through time and their effects, intending to isolate a point in history that he can travel to in an attempt to avert the destruction of New York.

In "The Hard Part", Sylar is using Isaac's loft to continue painting the future.

Generations

Series of 8

In "Lizards", Noah Bennet reveals that Isaac Mendez had painted eight paintings and had sent them out to unknown locations prior to his death. Noah Bennet is the first to receive one of the eight paintings which depicted Kaito Nakamura laying dead on the ground. In "Kindred", Mohinder Suresh discovers another painting in Isaac Mendez's loft which had yet to be sent out. This painting depicts Noah Bennet laying dead on the ground from a gun shot wound to the head, while Claire stands near by with an unknown shadowed character.

In "The Line," the other 6 paintings in the Series of 8 are discovered by Noah Bennet and The Haitian. The remaining six depict Claire Bennet lying on a staircase; a man holding a vial of clear liquid; Niki Sanders pounding on a door; Peter Petrelli and an unknown man standing together looking out of a window, with a bio hazard symbol visible; Hiro Nakamura and Kensei sword fighting; and Mohinder Suresh after firing a pistol, possibly one issued by The Company.

Powers and abilities

Isaac has the power of precognition, which allows him to depict images of the future, usually while in a trance-like state. While in this state, his pupils and irises fade into light white color and he becomes unresponsively focused on painting the images in his mind. Very little context comes to Isaac when he sees the future. He can't tell anything about the people, places, or events involved beyond what he specifically sees at that moment. Thus, he is often surprised to find out weeks later what his work is actually depicting. Also due to the previous heroin use, Isaac was not able to clearly remember certain images after he painted them, as he stated in "Better Halves". It would seem that his precognitive abilities also augment his natural abilities as a painter, as Simone once complimented how much she appreciates the works he creates when he is high, and from the way Peter completed the unfinished portrait in "Hiros" when he first actively duplicated Isaac's power despite the latter having no innate talents whatsoever as a painter.

Originally, Isaac's powers were triggered by the use of heroin, and he was unable to use his powers without it. During the episode "Hiros", Peter Petrelli mimics Isaac's precognitive ability without the use of heroin to finish a picture when Isaac was out of drugs. A TV Guide article from early October, 2006, revealed that he would eventually try to find out if his power works without using heroin.^[2] In "Seven Minutes to Midnight", Isaac attempted just this, but was unsuccessful. He does so successfully in "Fallout", after relaxing and taking advice from Hiro Nakamura to concentrate. Neither Peter, nor Sylar, after acquiring Isaac's abilities, needed heroin to paint the future.

In "Distractions", it is revealed that it's possible for Isaac to paint specific people and places if he honed his powers. This honing skill is used to find Peter but Isaac thought it did not work when he drew what seemed to be random scenery when actually Peter was invisible at that location. As evidenced in the episode Isaac reveals that he can interpret his drawings far better than while on heroin.

Artwork

Main article: Artwork of Isaac Mendez

Isaac's painting of Manhattan's destruction in "Genesis", which forms the primary story arc of the first season.

Each piece is made for the show by comic book artist Tim Sale, who uses an ink wash paint style on paper media. Isaac is only shown painting the beginning outline or adding final coloring to the paintings.^[3] The events depicted in each painting are often straightforward and recognizable, but others can be more subjective and open to interpretation. It is common to see a painting with seemingly no significance to the story, only to see it come to fruition in a later episode. For example, a painting of a hand holding a glass of boiling water appeared in pilot episode, "Genesis". This comes to pass seven episodes later during Ted Sprague's interrogation. It was originally supposed to have happened in the 2 hour pilot episode, where a terrorist had the same powers, when he was cut, Ted Sprague was thought up.^{[citation needed]}

Star Wars Episode 3 : Revenge Of The Sith

2008-10-30T04:33:00.000-07:00

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It was the sixth film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology.

The film takes place three years after the onset of the Clone Wars; the noble Jedi Knights are spread out across the galaxy leading a massive clone army in the war against the Separatists. After Chancellor Palpatine is kidnapped, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his former apprentice, now Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, are dispatched to eliminate the evil General Grievous. Meanwhile, Anakin's friendship with the Chancellor arouses suspicion in the Jedi Order and proves dangerous to the Jedi Knight himself.

The film was released in theatres on May 19, 2005, and received generally positive reviews from critics, especially in contrast to the previous two prequels. It broke several box office records during its opening week, and went on to earn over $850 million worldwide, making it the second highest grossing film in the Star Wars franchise (not adjusting for inflation). It was the highest grossing film of 2005 in the U.S., the second highest grossing film of 2005 worldwide behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It is also the first and only Star Wars film to be rated PG-13 in the United States, and 12 in the United Kingdom.

Plot

Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are leading a mission to rescue the Republic's leader Chancellor Palpatine, who has been kidnapped by the Separatist leader General Grievous. The Jedi maneuver to Grievous' ship, where they successfully locate the Chancellor. Sith Lord Count Dooku appears, and Anakin kills him in a lightsaber duel. The Jedi free the Chancellor and attempt to escape, but are captured by General Grievous. Obi-Wan and Anakin manage to break free, but Grievous traps the Jedi and the Chancellor inside the damaged cruiser and leaves in an escape pod. Anakin is forced to crash-land the ship on one of Coruscant's landing tracks.

On Coruscant, Anakin is reunited with his wife, Padmé Amidala, who tells him that she is pregnant. Anakin is overjoyed at this news. However, Anakin is troubled by visions of Padmé dying in childbirth—visions similar to those he had of his mother just before she died. Later, Obi-Wan privately tells Anakin that the Jedi council wants him to spy on the Chancellor because they believe him to be corrupt, an order Anakin resents since the Chancellor has become something of a mentor to him. As the Chancellor's bodyguard, Anakin develops a close friendship with Palpatine, who subtly manipulates Anakin in their conversations, making him distrust the Jedi. Palpatine claims to know of an ability to prevent death.

Obi-Wan is sent to Utapau, where he engages and kills General Grievous. Meanwhile, back on Coruscant, Palpatine reveals himself to Anakin as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who has been controlling the Republic and the Separatist movement. Anakin leaves to expose him to the Jedi Council. Jedi Master Mace Windu arrives at the Chancellor's office shortly thereafter and eventually subdues Sidious in a lightsaber duel. Just as Anakin arrives, Windu is about to kill Sidious. Anakin quickly disarms Windu, believing Sidious holds the only way to save his wife. Windu is consumed by Sidious's torrents of Force lightning, being thrown out a window to his death. Anakin then submits to the dark side of the Force and becomes Sidious's Sith apprentice: Darth Vader. He then orders Vader to kill all Jedi inside the Jedi Temple, then to go to the Mustafar system and eliminate the Separatist leaders.

Darth Sidious orders clone troopers across the galaxy to turn against their Jedi Generals by enacting a pre-programmed directive, Order 66. Numerous Jedi across the galaxy are seen being exterminated, although both Yoda and Obi-Wan survive. Meanwhile, Darth Vader and the 501st Legion storm the Jedi Temple and slaughter all of the Jedi, including younglings, in the temple. Afterwards, he goes to Padmé and tells her the Jedi have attempted to take over the Republic and leaves for Mustafar, where he slaughters the Separatist leaders. Senator Bail Organa rescues Obi-Wan and Yoda, and brings them to the Jedi Temple before heading to the Senate building. Sidious (as Palpatine) informs the Senate of a Jedi plot to overthrow the Republic. As a result, he announces that the Republic will be reorganized into the "first Galactic Empire".

In the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan and Yoda stand in shock over the bodies of the younglings and reconfigure a signal to warn any remaining Jedi to keep away. Obi-Wan looks into the security recordings and, to his horror, sees a hologram of Vader carrying out the orders of Darth Sidious and kneeling to him. Though he initially refuses, Obi-Wan eventually agrees to find and kill Anakin. Obi-Wan then meets with Padmé, who refuses to believe his claims about Anakin's fall to the dark side. When she departs for Mustafar, Obi-Wan secretly stows away onboard. When the couple is reunited, Padmé pleads with Vader to leave public life with her, but he refuses, believing that he can overthrow Sidious so that he and Padmé can rule the galaxy together. Vader sees Obi-Wan emerge from Padmé's ship, and suspects her of betraying him. Enraged, he uses the Force to choke Padmé until she passes out.

Obi-Wan and Vader break into a vicious lightsaber duel. The duel brings them out of the facility to unprotected areas of the volcano planet. Obi-Wan eventually gains the advantage of higher ground, and when Vader attempts to attack again, Obi-Wan swiftly dismembers him, removing his legs and non-mechanical arm and leaves him to die. While screaming in agony, Vader tumbles down the embankment to the edge of the lava where he catches fire, sustaining near-fatal burns and critical lung damage. Obi-Wan leaves Mustafar with Padmé and Vader's lightsaber, reluctantly leaving Vader to die. On Coruscant, Yoda had engaged Palpatine in a duel which worked its way into the main Senate Conference Stadium. The duel ends unfinished and Yoda is forced to flee and is once again air lifted by Bail Organa. Shortly after Vader's defeat, Palpatine rescues Vader and sends his troops to revive his apprentice.

Padmé is given medical assistance. However, she has lost her will to live. She manages to deliver twins, a boy and a girl, and names them Luke and Leia respectively. Padmé then dies, but not before insisting to Obi-Wan that there is still good in Anakin. On Coruscant, Vader's missing limbs and damaged body parts are replaced by cybernetic prostheses and implants. Vader is put into a full suit of black armor and is sealed in a respirator mask, which will allow him to survive his injuries. Upon inquiring with Sidious about Padmé's condition, Vader is informed that, in his anger, he himself killed Padmé. Vader unleashes a furious scream of mournful rage and destroys droids and equipment throughout the room with the Force while Sidious looks on with a malicious, contented smile, satisfied that Vader's hatred and rage has survived the mutilation of his body.

Aboard Bail Organa's ship, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Organa agree to keep the children hidden and separated; Obi-Wan and Yoda will watch and wait until the time is ready for the Skywalker children to do their part in the battle against the Sith. Bail orders C-3PO's memory banks wiped. Padmé is given a state funeral on Naboo. Vader and Palpatine oversee the construction of a space station. Leia is taken to live with Bail Organa and his wife, while Luke is transferred to Tatooine to live with Owen and Beru.

Cast

Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi: Obi-Wan is a General for the Galactic Republic and is a Jedi Master who sits on the Jedi Council. He often travels and performs missions with his best friend and former Padawan, Anakin.
Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader: Anakin has been recently promoted as the youngest ever Jedi Knight to join the council, but was denied the title of 'Master'. However, upon learning of his wife's pregnancy, he begins to have recurring visions of her dying in childbirth. Because similar visions accurately foretold the death of his mother, he swears to himself and his wife to do whatever it takes to stop this.
Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala: Padmé is Anakin's wife-in-secret; she has recently become pregnant with twins. As Senator of Naboo, she has taken a cautious look at the growing amount of power that is being given to the Supreme Chancellor and her husband's increasingly dark behavior.
Ian McDiarmid as Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious: As the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Palpatine enacted the start of the Clone Wars against the Separatists. As a result, the Senate has voted him emergency powers and has recently been voting more and more to him. The Jedi Council oppose this, and begin to distrust him. The feeling is mutual for Palpatine, who only confides in Anakin Skywalker, in addition to being an unofficial mentor. In reality, Palpatine is the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious, who finally steps from the shadows to exact the revenge of the Sith using the powers he has accumulated as the Supreme Chancellor to destroy the Jedi Order and the Republic it serves and lure Anakin to his side.
Frank Oz voices Yoda: The wise old leader of the Jedi Council. He is a friend and mentor to many Jedi. He plays a major role in the Battle of Kashyyyk.
Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu: Windu is a Jedi Master who sits on the Jedi Council and is also a Jedi General in the Clone Wars.
Matthew Wood voices General Grievous: Grievous is the evil General of the Separatists' droid army. The film's opening crawl reveals that he is the individual responsible for kidnapping Palpatine. He answers only to Count Dooku (whom he knows as Darth Tyranus) and his master, Darth Sidious.
Jimmy Smits as Senator Bail Organa: Organa is a Senator in the Galactic Republic and friend to the Jedi, who grows concerned at the growing power of the Chancellor.
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: C-3PO is Padmé Amidala's personal protocol droid created by Anakin Skywalker.
Kenny Baker as R2-D2: R2-D2 is Anakin Skywalker's astro-droid and good friend and C-3PO's counterpart.
Silas Carson as Nute Gunray & Ki-Adi-Mundi: Gunray is the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, who is at odds with Grievous and dares to question his leadership.
Temuera Morrison as Commander Cody and Clone troopers: Cody and the clone troopers are part of the army for the Republic. As seen in Attack of the Clones, they are the clones of the bounty hunter Jango Fett.
Christopher Lee as Count Dooku / Darth Tyranus: He is a Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious, Leader of the Separatists, and Grievous' superior, and together they kidnap Palpatine.
Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca: Chewbacca is a Wookiee who is friends with Yoda, and fights alongside him in the Battle of Kashyyyk.

It was announced in 2004 that Gary Oldman had been approached to provide the voice of General Grievous,^[1] however, complications arose during contract negotiations after Oldman learned the film was to be made outside of the Screen Actors Guild, of which he is a member. He backed out of the role rather than violate the union's rules.^[2] Matthew Wood, who ultimately voiced Grievous, disputed this story at Celebration III, held in Indianapolis. According to him, Oldman is a friend of Rick McCallum, producer of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and recorded an audition as a favor to him, that was never chosen.^[3] Wood, who was also the supervising sound editor, was in charge of the auditions and submitted his audition anonymously in the midst of 30 others, under the initials "A.S." for Alan Smithee.^[4] Days later he received a phone call asking for the full name to the initials "A.S.".^[5] An internet hoax said John Rhys Davies was considered for the role.^[6]

Cameo appearances

Lucas makes an appearance at the Coruscant Opera House as a blue faced being named Baron Papanoida who can be seen outside Palpatine's box. It marks Lucas' only appearance in any of the Star Wars films. His three children also appear in cameos: his son, Jett, as a young Jedi-in-training called Zett Jukassa who is killed defending the Jedi Temple against clone troopers; his daughter, Amanda, as a character called Terr Taneel, seen in the security hologram; and daughter Katie as a blue-skinned alien named Chi Eekway, visible when Palpatine arrives at the Senate after being saved by the Jedi, and talking to Baron Papanoida at the Opera House. When Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Palpatine arrive via shuttle to the Senate docks after crash landing on Coruscant, the Millennium Falcon can be seen landing on one of the lower platforms as the shuttle approaches.^[7] And while not a direct cameo, it was confirmed in the Revenge of the Sith online text commentary that a growl of Tarfull's in the scene of Yoda's departure from Kashyyyk is actually Itchy's growl from The Star Wars Holiday Special.^[8]

Much of the crew also make cameos in the film. Nick Gillard, the stunt coordinator, plays a Jedi named Cin Drallig (his name spelled backward, without the k).^[9] Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in the original trilogy), appeared in a speaking role as Captain Colton, the pilot of the Rebel Blockade Runner Tantive IV.^[10]

Production

In 1973, Lucas claimed to have written the Star Wars saga's fundamental story in the form of a basic plot outline. He would later profess that at the time of the saga's conception, he had not fully realized the details — only major plot points throughout the series.^[11] He began working on Episode III even before Attack of the Clones was released, offering concept artists that the film would open with a montage of seven Clone War battles.^[12] As he reviewed the storyline that summer, however, he says he radically re-organized the plot.^[13] Michael Kaminski, in The Secret History of Star Wars, offers evidence that issues in Anakin's fall to the dark side prompted Lucas to make massive story changes, first revising the opening sequence to have Palpatine kidnapped and Dooku killed by Anakin as the first act in the latter's turn towards the dark side.^[14] After principal photography was complete in 2003, Lucas made even more massive changes in Anakin's character, re-writing his entire turn to the dark side — he would now turn primarily in a quest to save Padmé from death, rather than the previous version in which that reason was one of several, including that he genuinely believed that the Jedi were evil and plotting to take over the Republic. This fundamental re-write was accomplished both through editing the principal footage, and new and revised scenes filmed during pick-ups in 2004.^[15] He transformed his notes concerning Episode III into a screenplay in 2003 and 2004, in addition to allowing playwright Tom Stoppard to ghost-rewrite it and polish its dialogue.^[16] During production, a large number of fans speculated online about the film's subtitle; rumored titles included Rise of the Empire, The Creeping Fear (which was also named as the film's title on the official website on April Fool's 2004), and Birth of the Empire.^[17] Eventually, Revenge of the Sith also became a "guessed title" that George Lucas would later announce to be true.^[18] The title is a reference to Revenge of the Jedi, the original title of Return of the Jedi; Lucas changed the title scant weeks before the premiere of ROTJ, declaring that Jedi do not seek revenge.^[19]

After the earliest draft of the screenplay was submitted, the art department began designing the various ways that each element could appear on screen. For the Kashyyyk environment, the art department turned to The Star Wars Holiday Special for inspiration.^[20] Over a period of months, Lucas would approve hundreds of designs that would eventually appear in the film. He would later rewrite entire scenes and action sequences to correspond to certain designs he had chosen.^[15] The designs were then shipped to "pre-visualization" to create moving CGI versions known as "animatics". Ben Burtt would edit these scenes with Lucas in order to previsualize what the film would look like before the scenes were even filmed.^[15] The pre-visualization footage featured a basic raw CGI environment with equally unprocessed CGI characters performing a scene (typically an action sequence). Steven Spielberg was also allowed to assist both the art and pre-visualization department's designs for several action sequences in Revenge of the Sith.^[15] Later, the pre-visualization and art department designs were sent to the production department to begin "bringing the film out of the concept phase"^[15] by building the various sets, props and costumes. To determine the required sets, Lucas analyzed each scene with the staff to see which moments the actors would come in most contact with the set, warranting the set to be constructed.

During this time, actors Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor rehearsed extensively with stunt coordinator Nick Gillard to memorize and perform their climactic lightsaber duel together. In addition to performing the scenes as actors, they rehearsed each fight scene together for months on end. Like the previous two prequel films, McGregor and Christensen performed their own lightsaber fighting scenes without the use of stunt doubles.^[21] The speed at which Anakin and Obi-Wan engage in their duel is mostly the speed at which it was filmed, although there are instances where single frames were removed to increase the velocity of particular strikes. An example of this occurs as Obi-Wan strikes down on Anakin after applying an armlock in the first half of the duel.^[11]

Although the first scene filmed was the final scene to appear in the film (shot during the filming of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones in 2000),^[22] principal photography on the film occurred from June 30 to September 17, 2003. The film was shot entirely on sound stages at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, although practical environments were shot as background footage later to be composited into the film. These included the limestone mountains depicting Kashyyyk, which were filmed in Phuket, Thailand (they were later damaged by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami). The production company was also fortunate enough to be shooting at the same time that Mount Etna erupted in Italy. Camera crews were sent to the location to shoot several angles of the volcano that were later spliced into the background of the animatics and the final film version of the Mustafar planet.^[15]

Revenge of the Sith eventually became the first Star Wars film in which Anakin Skywalker and the suited Darth Vader were played by the same actor in the same film. As Christensen recounted, it was originally intended to simply have a "tall guy" in the Darth Vader costume. But after "begging and pleading" with Lucas, the Vader costume used in the film was created specifically to fit Christensen. The new costume featured shoe lifts and a muscle suit.^[23] It also required Christensen (who is 6 ft 1 in or 1.85 metres tall) to look through the mouthpiece of the helmet.^[24]

While shooting key scenes, Lucas would often use an "A camera" and "B camera," or the "V technique," a process that involves shooting with two or more cameras at the same time in order to gain several angles of the same performance.^[15] Using the HD technology developed for the film, the filmmakers were able to send footage to the editors the same day it was shot, a process that would require a full 24 hours had it been shot on film.^[15] Footage featuring the planet Mustafar was given to editor Roger Barton, who was on location in Sydney, Australia cutting the climactic duel. All other footage was forwarded to lead editor Ben Burtt at Skywalker Ranch in California.

The post-production department began work during filming and continued until weeks before the film was released in 2005. Special effects were created using almost all formats, including model work, CGI and practical effects. The same department later composited all such work into the filmed scenes—both processes taking nearly two years to complete. Sith has 2,151 shots that use special effects, a world record.^[25]

As the DVD featurette Within a Minute illustrates, the film required 910 artists and 70,441 man-hours to create 49 seconds of footage for the Mustafar duel alone.^[15] Members of Hyperspace, the Official Star Wars Fan Club, received a special look into the production. Benefits included not only special articles, but they also received access to a webcam that transmitted a new image every 20 seconds during the time it was operating in Fox Studios Australia. Many times the stars, and Lucas himself, were spotted on the webcam.^[26]

Releases

Revenge of the Sith premiered at the Cannes Film Festival (out of competition) on May 15, 2005. Its theatrical release in most other countries took place on May 19 — the same day and month as the release of 1999's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1977's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and 1983's Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi were also released on the same day and month, six years apart). The global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas claimed one week before the premiere that it may have cost the US economy approximately US$627 million in lost productivity because of employees who took a day off or reported in sick.^[27] Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a traditional venue for the Star Wars films, did not show it. However, a line of people stood there for more than a month hoping to convince someone to change this.^[28] Most of them took advantage of an offer to see the film at a nearby cinema, ArcLight Cinemas (formerly the "Cinerama Dome").^[29]

A copy of the movie leaked into peer-to-peer file sharing networks just hours after opening in theaters. The movie was a time-stamped workprint, suggesting it may have come from within the industry rather than from someone who videotaped an advance screening.^[30] Eight people were later charged with copyright infringement and distributing material illegally. Documents filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney allege that a copy of the film was taken from an unnamed Californian post-production office by an employee, who later pled guilty to his charges.^[31] The illegal copy was passed among seven people until reaching an eighth party, who also pleaded guilty to uploading to an un-named P2P network.^[32]

Shortly after the above-mentioned print was leaked, it was released in Shanghai as a bootleg DVD with Chinese subtitles. The unknown producer of this DVD, for unexplained reasons, also elected to include English subtitles, which were in fact translated back into English from the Chinese translation, rather than using the original English script. This translation was particularly inept, leading to unintentional humor; the title of the movie, for example, was given as Star War — The third gathers — Backstroke of the West. One error in translation that recurs several times in the film is that the phrase "it seems" was rendered as "good elephant". The mis-translation also caused the word "fuck" (a mis-translation of "work") to appear three times in the subtitles, and rendered Darth Vader's cry of "Noooooooo" as "Do not want".^[33] This last translation error would later be popularized as an internet meme.^[34]

Rating

Revenge of the Sith is the only Star Wars film to receive a PG-13 (12A in the UK) rating from the MPAA, officially for "sci-fi violence and some intense images," namely for the scene in which Darth Vader is set aflame. Some critics, including Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper, later responded that the film could be handled by children as long as they had parental guidance, hence a "PG rating."^[35] At the same time, Lucas had stated months before the MPAA's decision that he felt the film should receive a PG-13 rating, because of Anakin's final moments and the content of the film being the darkest and most emotional of all six films.^[36] All previously released films in the series were rated PG. The PG-13 rating had not existed when the films in the original trilogy were released; however, the films in the original trilogy were later re-submitted to the MPAA due to changes in the re-released versions and once again received PG ratings. When Revenge of the Sith was released in Canada, it was given a PG rating in most provinces, excluding Quebec, where it was rated G. In Great Britain it received a "12A" rating (equivalent to the American "PG-13" rating). In Australia the film was rated M for mature audiences (similar to PG13).

DVD release

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released on DVD on November 1, 2005 in the United States and Canada, on October 31, 2005 in the United Kingdom and on November 3, 2005 in Australia. It was also released in most major territories on or near the same day.^[37] The DVD was a two-disc set, with picture and sound mastered from the original digital source material. Unlike any other films directed by Lucas, Revenge of the Sith was released on DVD without any noticeable alterations from the film's original theatrical cut. The only alteration made was the change of a scene transition near the end, which involved the change from a wipe to a straight cut.

The DVD included a number of documentaries including a new full-length documentary as well as two featurettes, one which explores the prophecy of Anakin Skywalker as the Chosen One, the other looking at the movie's stunts and a 15 part collection of web-documentaries from the Official Website. Like the other DVD releases, included is an audio commentary track featuring Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, animation director Rob Coleman, and ILM visual effects supervisors John Knoll and Roger Guyett. Six deleted scenes were included with introductions from Lucas and McCallum. An Xbox game demo for Star Wars: Battlefront II along with a trailer for the Star Wars: Empire at War PC game was featured on the second disc.

This release is notable because, due to marketing issues, it was the first Star Wars film never to be released on VHS in the United States.^[38] However, the film was released on VHS in Australia, the United Kingdom and other countries in the world.^[39]

Reaction

Unlike its predecessors, which received mixed reviews, critical reaction towards the film was largely enthusiastic, especially in comparison to the first two prequels. Film review site Rotten Tomatoes calculated an approval rating of 79% based on 251 reviews, making it the highest rated out of the prequel trilogy with 63% and 66% received by The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones respectively.^[40] The film received a 7.9/10 average rating on the Internet Movie Database out of 145,640 votes (as of August 2008). Some critics considered it the best of the prequels,^[40] while other reviewers judged it to be the best Star Wars film since Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. A. O. Scott of The New York Times concluded that it was "the best of the four episodes Mr. Lucas has directed," and equal to The Empire Strikes Back as "the richest and most challenging movie in the cycle." In a 2007 summary of the 100 Best Science-Fiction Films on Rotten Tomatoes, Revenge of the Sith was placed 51 out of 100, making it the only prequel film in the Star Wars series to earn a ranking.

Much of the criticism for the film was directed towards the dialogue, particularly the film's romantic scenes. Critics and fans alike were quick to jump on such lines as "Hold me, Ani. Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo...where there was nothing but our love..."^[40] Critics have claimed this demonstrated Lucas' weakness as a writer of dialogue, a subject with which Lucas openly agreed when receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.^[41] Though many critics and fans saw it as one of the best of the series, or at least, the strongest of the three prequels, some saw it as more or less on par with The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.^[40]

Some American neoconservatives criticized the film, claiming it has a liberal bias and is a "weak" commentary on the George W. Bush administration and the Iraq War. Some websites went so far as to propose a boycott of the film. Lucas defended the film, stating that the film's storyline was written during the Vietnam War and was influenced by that conflict rather than the war in Iraq. Lucas did note, however, that "The parallels between Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable."^[42]

Box office performance

Revenge of the Sith was released in 115 countries. Worldwide gross for the film eventually reached nearly $850 million — ranking the film second worldwide in 2005, behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.^[43] The film earned an estimated $16.5 million from 2,900 midnight screenings in North America upon its release. In total, it earned a record $50 million on its opening day.^[44] It was surpassed the following year by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest which earned $55.5 million on its opening day.^[45]

With only the May 19 earnings, the film broke four box office records: midnight screenings gross (previously held by The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, $8 million), opening day gross (Spider-Man 2, with $40.4 million), single day gross (Shrek 2 with $44.8 million) and Thursday gross (The Matrix Reloaded with $37.5 million).^[44] Its single day gross record and opening day gross record were later surpassed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on July 7, 2006, when that movie grossed $55.5 million on its opening day,^[45] and midnight screening gross was broken by The Dark Knight on July 18, 2008 with $18.5 million.^[46] It still retains its record for Thursday gross, however.

According to box office analysis sites, Revenge of the Sith set American records for highest gross in a given number of days for each of its first 12 days of release except for the seventh and eighth, where the record is narrowly held by Spider-Man 2. On its fifth day it became the highest grossing movie of 2005, surpassing Hitch ($177.6 million). The film earned $158.5 million in its first four-day period, surpassing the previous four-day record held by The Matrix Reloaded ($134.3 million), and joining Spider-Man, The Matrix Reloaded and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as the only movies to make $100 million in three days. In eight days, it reached the $200 million mark (record tied with Spider-Man 2) and by its 17th day, Sith had passed $300 million (surpassing the record of 18 days of Shrek 2). It was eventually the third fastest film (after Shrek 2 and Spider-Man) to reach $350 million.^[43]

The film ended its run in American theaters on October 20, 2005,^[43] finishing with a total gross of $380,270,577. It ranks 9th in all-time domestic grosses and is the highest-grossing movie of 2005 in the U.S., outgrossing second-place The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by nearly $90 million.^[43]

[edit] Awards and nominations

Despite being the best reviewed and received film in the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith received fewer award nominations than the previous films. It became the only Star Wars film not to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects; however, it was nominated for Best Makeup (Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley), losing to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.^[47] It also won "Best Picture" awards at the People's Choice Awards (Dramatic Picture),^[48] Saturn Awards (Sci-Fi Film),^[49] Empire Awards (Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film),^[50] and the Teen Choice Awards (Action/Adventure Movie).^[51]

The film did however receive the fewest pre-planned Golden Raspberry Awards nominations: only one, for Christensen as Worst Supporting Actor,^[52] which he won.^[53] (The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones received seven nominations each, with one and two wins, respectively.) It is the only Star Wars prequel not to receive a Razzie nomination for "Worst Picture". Christensen did, however, win the "Best Villain" award at the MTV Movie Awards.^[54]

[edit] Deleted roles

Scenes of a group of Senators (including Padmé) planning on organizing an alliance to prevent the Chancellor from receiving any more emergency powers were cut; they featured a young Mon Mothma. They were discarded to achieve more focus on the story of Anakin.^[11] Lucas wrote early drafts of the script in which a 10-year-old Han Solo appeared, but the role was never cast or shot. The scene where Yoda arrives on Dagobah to begin his self-imposed exile was also cut, but is featured in a deleted scene in the DVD release, though McCallum has stated that he hopes Lucas may add it to the theatrical release when and if he releases a six-episode DVD box set.^[11]

Many scenes concerning Jedi deaths during the execution of Order 66 were cut. The deaths of Barriss Offee and Luminara Unduli were either cut from the film or never filmed in the first place. The death scene of Shaak Ti aboard the Invisible Hand (which can be viewed in the DVD deleted scenes section) is considered non-canon, as she was later confirmed to be alive.

Bai Ling filmed minor scenes for the film playing a senator, but her role was cut during editing. She claimed this was because she posed for the June 2005 issue of Playboy magazine, whose appearance on newsstands coincided with the movie's May release. Lucas denied this, stating that the cut had been made more than a year earlier, and that he had cut his own daughter's scenes as well.^[55]

Lucas had previously promised to explain the mystery behind the erasure of the planet Kamino from the Jedi Archives setup in Attack of the Clones.^[11] This may be viewed as a plot hole; however, Lucas did this in order to focus more on Anakin's story in the film. As a compromise, Lucas permitted author James Luceno to explain the mystery of Kamino's erasure and the origins of the Clone army in his novel Labyrinth of Evil.

[edit] Cinematic and literary allusions

See also: Star Wars sources and analogues

Throughout Revenge of the Sith Lucas refers to a wide range of films and other sources drawing on political, military and mythological motifs to enhance the impact of his story. Perhaps the most media coverage was given to a particular exchange between Anakin and Obi-Wan, which led to the aforementioned controversy: "If you're not with me, you're my enemy," Anakin declares, to which Obi-Wan responds, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." In the novelization, Mace Windu says that the new laws decrease liberty in the name of security, but he doesn't feel safer. Despite Lucas' insistence to the contrary, The Seattle Times concluded, "Without naming [President George W.] Bush or the Patriot Act, it's all unmistakable no matter what your own politics may be."^[56]

Palpatine's appearance and actions are reminiscent of Doctor Mabuse, particularly as portrayed by German actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge in Fritz Lang's films. Anakin also bears a resemblance to the mad scientist Rotwang from the classic film Metropolis, again directed by Lang. Both Anakin and Rotwang wear a menacing leather glove on one hand and are obsessed with saving — or resurrecting — a lost loved one. Also, Rotwang builds the android whose appearance heavily influenced the image of Lucas' C-3PO, who was built by Anakin prior to The Phantom Menace.^[57]

Palpatine has been compared to Iago, the villain of William Shakespeare's Othello by many, including McDiarmid himself. In Othello, Iago manipulates the title character into believing that his wife Desdemona has committed adultery with his confidante and lieutenant. In Revenge of the Sith, Vader comes to believe that Padmé has betrayed him to his former master, Obi-Wan. In both cases, blind rage drives the husband to strangle his wife.^[58]

Darth Vader and his legion of Clone troopers march on the Jedi Temple in a direct reference to the well-known "Potemkin Stairs" sequence from The Battleship Potemkin.

Following the march on the Jedi Temple sequence (itself a direct tribute to Sergei Eisenstein's "Potemkin Stairs" montage in The Battleship Potemkin; save that the white-armored troopers are marching up the steps), Lucas' editing schemes during Order 66, the slaughter of the Separatists and the declaration of the Galactic Empire are reminiscent of the montage of massacres during the christening scene of The Godfather, a film directed by friend and mentor Francis Ford Coppola.^[59]

Certain plot points, including that of Palpatine building his own "monster" and especially the final scenes are comparable to the story of Frankenstein. Notably, Vader is assembled by various parts while a thunderstorm rages outside and then raised on the platform he was assembled on. He struggles and breaks free from the platform, stumbling forward.^[59]

McDiarmid, Lucas, and others have also called Anakin's journey to the dark side Faustian in the sense of making a "pact with the devil" for short-term gain. Midway in the film, Lucas intercuts between Anakin and Padmé by themselves, thinking about one another in the Jedi Temple and their apartment, respectively during sunset, in a sequence without dialog and complemented by a moody, synthesized soundtrack. Lucas' coverage of the exterior cityscapes, skylines and interior isolation in the so-called "Ruminations" sequence is similar to the cinematography and mise-en-scene of Rosemary's Baby, a film in which a husband makes a literal pact with the devil.^[60]

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (soundtrack)

The soundtrack to the film was released by Sony Classical on May 3, 2005, more than two weeks before the release of the film. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices.^[61] John Williams was also composer and conductor of the score for the other five films in the Star Wars saga. A music video titled A Hero Falls was created for the film's theme, "Battle of the Heroes", featuring footage from the film and was also available on the DVD.^[62]

The soundtrack also came with a collectors' DVD, Star Wars: A Musical Journey, at no additional cost. The DVD, hosted by McDiarmid, features 16 music videos set to remastered selections of music from all six film scores, set chronologically through the saga.^[63] This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editors' Picks of 2005 (#83).^[64]

[edit] Novelization

Main article: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (novel)

The novelization of the film was written by Matthew Stover. It includes much more dialogue than the film, including a conversation between Count Dooku and Darth Sidious, where the reader learns Palpatine lied to Dooku about what the Empire would truly be. The novel includes many minor details. For example, during the Battle of Coruscant, Anakin's callsign is Red 5, a reference to Luke's callsign in the climactic battle of A New Hope, and one of the Republic capital ships is commanded by Lieutenant Commander Lorth Needa, who becomes Captain Needa in The Empire Strikes Back. There are also references to the Star Wars: Republic comic book series, such as the Battle of Jabiim (Volume 3). In addition to this, the siege of the Jedi Temple is much more violent and far more graphically explained than the cinematic version.^[65]

Some unseen or unheard-of elements to the Revenge of the Sith story were fleshed out in the course of the novel. Such examples include more discussions between Anakin and Palpatine, confirming Palpatine's former master as Darth Plagueis. Not only is Saesee Tiin revealed to be a telepath, but his horn, lost in the Clone Wars, is revealed to have grown back. These are a few examples of many descriptions of characters' feelings and inner narrative. There are even some humorous lines added in, including extra dialogue in the Grievous vs. Obi Wan battle--Grievous explains how he was trained by Count Dooku, and Obi Wan answers, "Ironic; I trained the man who killed him."^[65]

[edit] Video game

Main article: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (video game)

A video game, based on the film, was released on May 5, 2005, two weeks before the film. The game followed the movie's storyline, for the most part, integrating scenes from the movie. However, many sections of the game featured cut scenes from the movie, or entirely new scenes for the game.^[66] The style of the game was mostly lightsaber combat and fighting as Obi-Wan or Anakin.^[17] It also has a form of multiplayer mode, which includes both "VS" and "Cooperative" mode.^[17] In the first mode, two players fight with characters of their choice against each other in a lightsaber duel to the death. In the latter mode, two players team up to combat increasingly difficult waves of enemies.^[17]

One unique and popular aspect of the game was that it included an alternate ending, which functioned as such to both the game and the movie, which involved Anakin killing Obi-Wan, instead of Obi-Wan defeating Anakin as in the movie. After Obi-Wan's death, Anakin receives his red lightsaber from Sidious; Anakin uses it to kill Sidious, and declares himself the new Emperor of the galaxy.^[67]

The Lightsaber

2008-10-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

The lightsaber is a fictional weapon that plays a key role in the movies, games and novels that constitute the Star Wars universe. Lightsabers are science fiction versions of their namesake, the saber. Instead of a metal blade, the lightsaber generates a brightly colored energy blade about one meter in length. Though they often behave like regular swords, they are also depicted as able to cut through most matter with little or no resistance and to deflect projectiles and other weapons in the Star Wars universe. The lightsaber first appeared in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977). Rotoscoping was used to create the lightsaber's distinct appearance in the original trilogy. For the prequel trilogy, the effect was created using digital rotoscoping.

Within the world of Star Wars, the lightsaber "blade" consists of a very tight loop of highly focused energy, or a loop of plasma contained in a strong magnetic or other field. When deactivated, a lightsaber appears as a polished metallic handle, about a foot long. Lightsabers emit a distinctive hum when active, which rises in pitch and volume as the blade is moved rapidly through the air. A loud crackling noise is heard when the blade comes into contact with an object or another lightsaber blade. According to a 2008 survey of approximately two thousand film fans conducted by 20th Century Fox, the lightsaber is the most popular film weapon.^[1]

Production

Concept and creation

Nelson Shin, renowned South Korean animator, was approached by his manager to work on the visual effects for a live action movie. He was tasked with drawing the lightsaber to match the film scenes that the film producers brought. Shin explained to the people from Lucas Film that since the lightsaber is made of light, the sword should look "a little shaky" like a fluorescent tube. He also suggested that when printing the film on an optical printer, one frame should be inserted that was much lighter than the others, making the light seem to vibrate. Shin also recommended adding a degausser sound on top of the other sounds for the weapon since the sound would be reminiscent of a magnetic field. The whole process took one week, surprising his company, and Lucas Films demonstrated the film to him, having followed his suggestions, including using an X-Acto knife to give the lightsaber a very sharp look.^[2]

Visual effect

When the prequel trilogy began filming, George Lucas said that all Jedi would have blue, green, or similarly-colored lightsaber blades, not only to differentiate themselves from the Sith, but also to give them their own visual identity. Whenever there were flashes of blaster fire or explosions around, the color of a Jedi's lightsaber would shine through.

There is a visual inconsistency throughout the Star Wars saga in regard to the light the sabers themselves cast. Light is typically cast across the face of a digital character, such as Yoda in Episodes II and III. When a saber passes by a human figure, there is very little glow cast across the figure or face. An exception is that during the Dooku/Skywalker fight in Attack of the Clones, the actors shot close-ups while holding, essentially, neon tubes colored appropriately for their blades. This was not done to contradict anything previously stated but purely dramatic effect.

Arguably one of the most sought-after props in film history, various toy replicas have been released, ranging from essentially a flashlight with a plastic tube attached, to accurate copies of the original film props, complete with motion-sensitive sound effects and colored blade. Toy lightsabers are consistently the best-selling of all Star Wars related merchandise.

Sound

The characteristic sound, that was added later by the sound effects team, is a combination of a film projector's idling motor and interference caused by a television on an unshielded audio cable. The latter sound was discovered accidentally when sound designer Ben Burtt was moving house, knocking his microphone behind his television and creating the sound.^{[citation needed]}

Prop construction

For A New Hope, the original film prop hilts were constructed from old camera-flash battery packs and other pieces of hardware. The 'switched-on' sword props were designed with the intention of creating an 'in-camera' glowing effect. The 'blade' was three-sided and coated with a retroreflector array—the same sort used for highway signs. A lamp was positioned to the side of the taking camera and reflected towards the subject through 45-degree angled glass so that the sword would appear to glow from the camera's point-of-view. A motor in the hilt caused the blade to spin so that a reflective surface was always presented directly to the camera. This also created the familiar 'flickering' effect. Ultimately, this process yielded unsatisfactory results and animation was employed to enhance the brightness of the sabers. At this point, the artistic decision was made to assign different colors to the blades. For The Empire Strikes Back, the lightsaber-blade props were simple white rods, and the glow effect was achieved entirely through a special kind of animation called rotoscoping, in which animation is drawn over live footage to maintain precision. In Empire of Dreams on the 2004 DVD release, Mark Hamill originally thought that the sabers would simply be post-production "cartoon" blades, but a real rod was necessary to have something to hit against in knowing where to stop a swinging sword and to let the animators know where to "draw" in the special effect. Strangely enough, the lightsabers remained un-rotoscoped for the Special Edition's theatrical release, but were finally fixed when the Special Edition was released on DVD. For Return of the Jedi, the lightsaber hilts were machined from aluminium. In place of the glowing blade, carbon rods were used as blade reference during fight scenes. In Return of the Jedi, the prop blades' shadows can be seen during the fight sequence between Luke and Vader.

For the prequel films The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, the lightsaber props were upgraded to resin "stunt" hilts and aluminum tubes. Early on, the intense activity of recording these scenes revealed powdery flakes of debris against the green/bluescreen backdrops, a dust produced when the stunt blades slammed together. This was corrected by simply wrapping the stunt blades in color-coded construction paper. For the final film of the Star Wars saga, Revenge of the Sith, the aluminium was replaced by a carbon-fiber blend specifically manufactured for the production. These props had to be reinforced because during the early stages of these props' use, they would often snap from the impact when the actors used them to film combat sequences. The filming of one lightsaber sequence, such as the final Obi-Wan/Anakin duel on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith, could take several months because each actor had to memorize a complex sequence of more than one thousand moves and execute them perfectly.

Theories and ideas that inspired the creation of the lightsaber

The strongest inspiration for the lightsaber may be the "force-blade" from the Lucky Starr series of science fiction novels for young adults, originally published 1952-1958 by Isaac Asimov under the pen name "Paul French." The force-blade is described as: "The most vicious weapon in the Galaxy. Outwardly, it was merely a short shaft of stainless steel that was a little thicker than the haft of a knife but which could still be held nicely in the palm. Within it was a tiny motor that could generate an invisible nine-inch-long, razor-thin force-field that could cut through anything composed of ordinary matter. Armor was of no use against it, and since it could slice through bone as easily as through flesh, its stab was almost invariably fatal." In the documentary Empire of Dreams, George Lucas stated that the origin of the lightsaber stemmed from his desire to place swordfights similar to those in The Adventures of Robin Hood in the Star Wars films. The laser property was inspired simply by the need to make it futuristic (metal swords would feel out of place in futuristic setting that relied on lasers for its firearms). In fact, the first draft of The Star Wars names the weapons "laser-swords."

Far Out Space Nuts Tv Show: Lucas was working on a film lot in the early '70s, and wandered into the studio cafeteria one day to see the Space Nuts cast sitting around having lunch wearing various alien costumes - Chuck McCann believes that was the influence for the Cantina scene. McCann thought that the lightsaber was inspired by the "laser sword" from the Space Nuts episode Tower of Tagot. ^[3] Lightsabers were called "laser swords" in the first draft of Lucas' script and several concept paintings.

Inspiration for a "power sword" may have come from an episode of Lost in Space, called "The Challenge", in which The Ruler (played by Michael Ansara) proves his bravery, as much to his son Quano (played by Kurt Russell) as to the humans. He challenges Professor Robinson to a duel with what appears to be electrified épée, powered by a cumbersome battery pack attached to the belt. The sound made by the parrying blades was very reminiscent of the movies.

Larry Niven mentions a weapon called a "variable sword" in The Soft Weapon, one of the Known Space stories. The sword is a monomolecular filament held rigid by a forcefield, resulting in a weapon that could cut through nearly anything. [1]

A weapon, called a "rod", mentioned in the 1969 novel Wolfling, by Gordon R. Dickson, is similar. It consists of a black rod that projects a cone of white lightning, capable of varying from a length of six inches to 10 feet. Interior art drawn by Kelly Freas for the March 1969 Analog Science Fiction and Fact serial shows a duel similar to a lightsaber duel.^[4] Cover art for the Jan 1969 edition also shows this weapon.^[5]

[edit] Combat choreography

According to Nick Gillard, the various styles were devised for the prequels and intended to further characterize their practitioners.^{[citation needed]}

"I developed different styles for the characters, and gave each of them a flaw or a bonus. So with Obi, for instance, he's got a very business-like style--when he was younger he could border on the flashy and might twirl his lightsaber a bit, because he was taught by Qui-Gonn. Qui-Gonn was brash, that rubbed off on Obi and Obi then taught Anakin, who was way too old to learn anyway." "I think the style really worked well. The Jedi style of fighting is an amalgamation of all the great swordfighting styles. Melding them together is the difficult part--to move from a Kendo style to, say, Rapier requires a complete change in body and feet movement, and this must look effortless. The style moves seamlessly between the different disciplines, but remains technically correct throughout. It's unlike any other style of fighting and I think it's beautiful to watch." ^[6]

The duels were specifically choreographed to be miniature "stories." Gillard's goal in choreographing the action for Episode I was to create stunts that flow from the story. "You can't just think, 'I'm a stunt coordinator, I'm going to make a big stunt happen'," Gillard says. "It's all about making it tie in nicely with the film so that you don't notice the stunts." Creating narrative through physical expression, Nick wrote each fight as an individual story that supports the overall structure of the movie. "All the fights have a beginning, a middle and an end," he says. "I worked hard to write them like a story."....No two sword masters have exactly the same style, and the subtleties of distinct identities are woven into the choreography of the lightsaber battles. "It was important to me that each character in Episode I have a distinctive fighting style," he says. Some of this shading came from the classic Star Wars Trilogy."^{[citation needed]}

When interviewed for theforce.net, Gillard further notes how, at the beginning of The Phantom Menace, he set out certain styles and particularly faults for the various saber-wielding characters. "Once you know the line of them, you know why they're going to do something."^[7]

The stage combat used in the films are a combination of Kendo, Iaido, and various western sword styles including traditional fencing. "I figured that since the Jedi had chosen a lightsaber, they'd have to be really good with it," says Gillard. "So I took the essence of all the great sword fighting techniques, from kendo through saber, épée, and foil, and flowed them together."^{[citation needed]} "These lightsaber fights seem to fall into two categories: On the one hand, those strongly influenced by Asian martial arts experience, typically adapting Japanese kenjutsu and kendo, the familiar Filipino Arnis/Escrima, or the stylistic Chinese Opera kung fu clichés of non-stop twirling and obsessive spinning with extra wide exaggerated motion." ^[8]

Changes for the prequel trilogy

In writing the prequel trilogy, George Lucas said that he wanted the lightsaber combat in the prequels to be of a more "energized" form than of that in the original trilogy. In the original movies, the only people who fought with lightsabers were Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his protégé, Luke Skywalker. George Lucas was looking for the kind of sword-fighting that was "reminiscent of what had been done in the previous films but also something that was more energized. We'd seen old men, young boys, and characters who were half-droid, but we'd never seen a Jedi in his prime. I wanted to do that with a fight that was faster and more dynamic-and we were able to pull that off."^[9]

The movies' stunt coordinator, Nick Gillard, said that: "they chose a short-range weapon, and so they would have to be very good at it... They would have to study every great sword fighting style: kendo, iaido even including stuff like "tennis and even some tree-chopping, everything you could swing at." He explains that having chosen such a short-range weapon to use against blasters, the Jedi would have to be well skilled in all manners of fighting and defending themselves. Combining a variety of disciplines from various fencing styles to martial arts "with a touch of tennis and tree chopping," he created the distinctive 'Jedi Style' seen in the Episode I lightsaber battles." ^[10]

[edit] Depiction

[edit] Origin

Lightsabers are the principal weapons of the Jedi, but are also used by the Sith and other groups of Force-users. Their use is usually restricted to the Jedi for several reasons, primarily because lightsabers are very difficult to control by those who are not Force-sensitive. The creation of the weapon itself also requires the use of the Force to such a degree that it is impossible for non-Force-sensitives to integrate the finer pieces. However, lightsabers remain prized by some collectors, and some black market sales do occur.

Lightsaber technology was developed over thousands of years. The first lightsaber models, used thousands of years BBY, had to be connected to an external power source. The technology was vastly improved as smaller, lighter power sources were discovered and implemented. In the Expanded Universe, the cutting area of a lightsaber is portrayed as being only a few micrometres wide, with all of the rest being coronal discharge, as is illustrated in "Dark Force Rising".

[edit] Types

There are several types of lightsabers in the Star Wars universe, including short, dual-phase, double-bladed, those attached to the end of a staff, and those connected by a chainlink.

[edit] Colors

In A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, the first two films of the saga, lightsaber blades were colored either blue or red.

During the initial editing of Return of the Jedi, Luke's new lightsaber was blue, and appears so in an early trailer. This was changed because of the fact that in the scene where it first appeared, Luke's blue-bladed lightsaber would not have contrasted enough with the blue sky. As a result, the first green-bladed lightsaber was created.^[11]

Mace Windu's purple-colored lightsaber in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith was colored differently because actor Samuel L. Jackson requested it. Mace's lightsaber is purple because of the Hurikane crystal he received while on a mission to the planet of the same name.

The various Expanded Universe (EU) sources, action figures introduced several new colors, which are now canon to the series. Red is usually associated with the Sith whereas blue and green colors are usually associated with the Jedi. However in games such as Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords, the color choices can be yellow, cyan, viridian, violet, silver, and orange.

Also, in the newest game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the final lightsaber color that can be unlocked is black. This color has a black inside with a white outline.

The Kenner figure of Luke Skywalker in his Tatooine costume from Episode IV was released with a yellow lightsaber blade, a colour which had no canonical evidence at the time. Although several Star Wars computer games - such as Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast - allow the player to select a yellow lightsaber blade (often following the entering of a suitable cheat code), yellow is still not regarded as a canonical colour for a lightsaber.

Seven forms of lightsaber combat

According to the Expanded Universe book Star Wars: Attack of the Clones The Visual Dictionary by David West Reynolds, each Jedi chooses the style of lightsaber combat that best suits him or her, noting the existence of seven forms: Shii-Cho, Makashi, Soresu, Ataru, Shien/Djem So, Niman and Juyo/Vaapad.^[12]

In the extended universe of Star Wars, other forms of lightsaber combat are known to exist. Sokan was developed for the Hero's Guide Star Wars RPG source book, web supplement.^[13] Jar'Kai, as seen in the film, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and noted in the Expanded Universe, allows for the use of two lightsabers, one in each hand.^[14]^[15]

Lightsabers in popular culture

Luke Skywalker's prop lightsaber flew aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-120 in 2007.

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (July 2008)

In 2007, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars, the lightsaber prop used by actor Mark Hamill in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was flown aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-120 to the International Space Station and returned to Earth.^[16]

Toy lightsabers powered by a 9-volt battery have been constructed with a plastic electroluminescent lamp constructed with conductive materials zinc sulphide and indium tin oxide, with electrical circuitry screen-printed onto the plastic.^[17]

Some animated shows use Lightsabers as a spoof towards the Star Wars franchise. Examples include The Simpsons and Family Guy. While other animated series use lightsaber devices for their own plots such as in Futurama, where the cops use lightsaber-like batons to beat people with and Duck Dodgers where they are part of the assortment of weapons used.

In the title sequence of the Disney series Even Stevens, animated versions of the two main characters turn their television remote controls into lightsabers and duel with them.

Lightsabers are also commonly seen in different manga and anime series, such as Lost Universe and Yat Anshin Uchuu Ryokou as well as movies and video game franchises. Sometimes these weapons are given a different name to differentiate them from the Star Wars franchise. A notable example is with the long-running anime/manga series Mobile Suit Gundam and its sequels and the lightsaber which is called a beam saber is used commonly with various mecha that are part of the series. Another example would be the Blood Berry (and various other Beam katana), used by Travis Touchdown in the video game No More Heroes. The deuteragonist Zero from the Megaman X series also uses a variation commonly known as the Z Saber first as a secondary weapon in the second and third games, then as a primary weapon in the later games.