User:El Sandifer/Heroes/Characters



Heroes is known for its large ensemble cast - one of the largest on television.

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, excluding the delayed arrival of Leonard Roberts and a promotion to series regular for Jack Coleman as of Fallout (Heroes)|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.

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

Casting
Sendhil Ramamurthy's character of Mohinder Suresh was one of only a few characters that was changed based on casting. Suresh was originally designed to be a 55-year old professor, however, due to Ramamurthy's audition, the part was rewritten and made younger to fit him.



Hayden Panettiere was cast by Marc Hirschfeld, executive vice president of casting for NBC Universal Television. Hirschfeld explained that when they were trying to decide who the cheerleader should be, he literally picked up the phone and said to the producers, "You got to meet Hayden Panettiere." Dania Ramirez was cast on the series based on her work on The Sopranos. She was notified by Kring that he was creating a Latin character and wanted her to come and test. Ramirez was the only actress called in to test for the role. Kristen Bell was first approached about being cast in July 2007, during a train ride back from the San Diego Comic Con with Heroes actors Zachary Quinto and Masi Oka, and writers from the series. The writers had mentioned that if Bell "ever want[ed] to come on Heroes, give us [writers] a call", to which Bell said she would love to. Bell had several casting options, including American Broadcasting Company|ABC's Lost (TV Series)|Lost, however it was officially announced that she was cast in August 2007. David Anders auditioned for the role of Takezo Kensei. He read his scenes, impersonating Peter O'Toole, in which the producers responded by asking him to tone down the impression on his second audition. He was contacted two weeks later and given the part. Anders was aware at the time that his role was a recurring role that had the possibility of being promoted to a main cast role, however, he did not find out until the filming of Fight or Flight (Heroes)|episode five that he would be portraying Monroe, and that his character would be moving into the present.



La Padura stated that the character of Peter Petrelli was the hardest to cast due to conflicts regarding the Petrelli brother's 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. Adrian Pasdar was cast first. Milo Ventimiglia's role as Peter was the last to be cast and the most difficult. Greg Grunberg originally auditioned for the role of one of the Petrelli brothers. It was not a fit for him, but the production liked him so much, they rewrote the role of Matt Parkman to fit him. Originally Parkman's character was to be much younger, and La Padura was looking to cast a Ryan Phillippe-type actor for the role.

Jack Coleman was originally cast to only be in the pilot, with an open-ended contract. The connection between the characters of Claire and Mr. Bennet, and Kring's approval of Coleman's performance led to him being upgraded to a recurring character, before being promoted to the main cast roster. Dana Davis received the Heroes script during the 2007 pilot season. She auditioned once for the role and was cast.



La Padura also states that Masi Oka was the easiest actor to cast although casting the character was difficult due to a small pool of Japanese-speaking actors. Masi walked in the door and production knew he was "terrific" and "ideal" for the role. Ali Larter was cast for the show after reading several pilots during the 2006 pilot season. She auditioned for the role and was brought in a second and third time to meet with the studio and network respectively before being officially cast. Tawny Cypress also auditioned for the role of Niki, but was not awarded the part. Instead, Kring rewrote the role of Stella for her and renamed the character Simone Deveaux. Zachary Quinto auditioned for the role of Sylar, during the time when the series was currently airing. Tim Kring was not present at his first audition, but after a five day process, Quinto was awarded the role. Santiago Cabrera was cast through an interview process. When he auditioned for the production team, he went all out, doing the scene from the pilot when Isaac was under the influence of heroin. After the scene, the producers asked, "Well thank you very much for that. Maybe you would try it now not so on the effects of drugs." He eventually landed the role. Leonard Roberts was awarded the role of D.L. Hawkins, after he beat out Jimmy Jean-Louis Haitian (Heroes)|(The Haitian), who auditioned for the same part three times. The part of the Haitian was rewritten for Louis. The original concept for the Haitian was to be a character from New Zealand, who would have been called "The Kiwi."

It was announced on May 9, 2008 that Brea Grant, former cast member of NBC's Friday Night Lights (TV series)|Friday Night Lights, has been cast as Daphne for season three. Daphne, who calls herself "Speedster", is a villain with the ability of List_of_powers_in_superhero_fiction#Superhuman_speed|supersonic speed and will be Hiro's nemesis. Grant told the Associated Press, "I'm stealing a secret that's been kept in Hiro's family for a long time that he's just now found. He stops time right as I grab it, but in that second it took him to grab it, I almost make it out of the office."

Charlie Andrews

 * Played by: Jayma Mays
 * First appeared in: "Seven Minutes to Midnight (Heroes)|Seven Minutes to Midnight"
 * Special ability:Eidetic memory/Enhanced memory

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 City|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. 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 Thousand origami cranes|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.

Meredith Gordon

 * Played by: Jessalyn Gilsig
 * First appeared in: "The Fix (Heroes)|The Fix"
 * Special ability: Pyrokinesis

Meredith Gordon is the biological mother of Claire Bennet. She first appears in "The Fix (Heroes)|The Fix", in which she exhibits pyrokinetic abilities. According to a newspaper article found by #Zach|Zach and Claire, Meredith and her 18-month-old baby were reported to have died in a fire 14 years before the episode's events. The backstory is revealed in the List of Heroes graphic novels|22nd graphic novel, Hell's Angel: in 1992, Mr. Bennet (Heroes)|Mr. Bennet and Claude (Heroes)|Claude came to retrieve her, and it was Meredith who started the fire. Bennet leaves holding the baby Claire and later adopts her. After the fire, Meredith lived in Mexico for a while before moving to Kermit, Texas.

In "Distractions" Claire skips school to meet with Meredith for the first time since she was a baby. Afterwards, Meredith contacts Claire's biological father, Nathan Petrelli, to notify him of their daughter's survival. Claire meets with Meredith again, wanting to see her father. Meredith tells her not to rely on her father for anything other than money, "because it's easy". Meredith says that Nathan is giving them $50,000, with Claire entitled to half; however, she actually made a deal with Nathan for $100,000. She later tells Nathan that Claire had come hoping that he would take her away. Nathan agrees with her about sending Claire away before the meeting, which Claire overhears.

Alejandro Herrera

 * Played by: Shalim Ortiz
 * First appeared in: "Four Months Later..."
 * Special ability: Immune to his sister's powers and can revive victims she has infected.

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 virus she creates. Afterwards, 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 tries to leave with Maya, Sylar kills him.

Sanjog Iyer

 * Played by: Javin Reid
 * First appeared in: "Seven Minutes to Midnight (Heroes)|Seven Minutes to Midnight"
 * Special ability: Vision quest|Dream manipulation

Sanjog Iyer is an Indian boy whom #Chandra Suresh|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 (Heroes episode)|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 (Heroes 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.

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

Daniel Linderman

 * Played by: Malcolm McDowell
 * First appeared in: "Parasite (Heroes)|Parasite"
 * Special ability: Healing (others)

Daniel Linderman   served himself in the U.S. Army with Arthur Petrelli in the Vietnam War. Arthur would have died, if not for Daniel choosing to make him the second person he ever healed. After the war, Daniel finds himself living a nomadic, solitary existence. Though he occasionally drowns his sorrows in alcohol, nothing eases the pain of his war memories.

As an aged man, Linderman is a reputed mobster, and founder of The Company (Heroes)|Linderman Corporation. He also has ties to several of the List of Heroes characters#Main characters|main characters. He is an avid chef and collector of art and antiquities. In person, he is persuasive, gentle and unfailingly polite. However, he has no qualms about extortion or assassination. He is even willing to allow the deaths of several million people in order to safeguard the human race. In "Out of Time (Heroes)|Out of Time" Bob reveals that Linderman's belief that punishing humanity would help save the world stemmed from him being Adam Monroe's disciple.

In the Genesis (Heroes)|series premiere, Linderman sends two thugs to Niki Sanders' home to collect on a loan she could not repay, but the thugs are killed. In "Collision (Heroes)|Collision", one of Linderman's subordinates gives Niki the opportunity to repay her debt by being the bait in a badger game targeting Nathan Petrelli; Jessica, Niki's alternate personality, eventually complies. Nathan, however, realizes that Linderman needs him to win the congressional seat he was running for, and convinces Linderman's associate to "donate" $4 million to his campaign, rather than the originally agreed-upon $2 million, and suppress the tape. Later on, in a meeting with him, Nathan holds a gun on Linderman. Linderman subsequently reveals to him the extent of his knowledge regarding Nathan's, Peter's and Claire's powers, as well as those of many others, before offering him the victory in the election, as well as an eventual position in the White House. In "Distractions (Heroes)|Distractions", he arranged for Niki Sanders' freedom from prison in exchange for Jessica's services as an assassin.

In the episode "Landslide (Heroes)|Landslide", Linderman heals Nathan Petrelli's wife List of characters in Heroes#Heidi Petrelli|Heidi's paralysis. Later Linderman meets with Candice and Micah at the building in New York. By promising Micah his freedom and enough money to make his family live happily ever after, Linderman persuades him to adjust the election results so that Nathan wins by "a landslide" by manipulating the outcome through one of the networked electronic voting machines. At night, Linderman gets an unexpected visit from Jessica and Micah's father, D.L. Hawkins. Linderman pulls out a loaded gun and tries to shoot Niki, but D.L. takes the bullet for her. In return, he uses his phasing powers to phase his fist through Linderman's skull, leaving a fist-sized hole after removing it, killing him.

Eden McCain

 * Played by: Nora Zehetner
 * First appeared in: "Don't Look Back (Heroes)|Don't Look Back"
 * Special ability: Mind control|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".

Afterward, about Six Months Ago|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 Haitian (Heroes)|the Haitian pacified Eden's powers so that Bennet could persuade her into working with them. Her first assignment was to move in near List of characters in Heroes#Chandra Suresh|Chandra Suresh and befriend him, so that she could remove the name of Claire Bennet|Bennet's daughter from a list of superhumans Chandra had made.

At the end of "Homecoming (Heroes)|Homecoming", Eden uses her power to put Sylar to sleep with the Haitian present. Later, in "Fallout (Heroes)|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 Mind control|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. Her body is later found in Greater Sudbury|Sudbury, Ontario, having been dumped into Lake Ramsey.

Kaito Nakamura

 * Played by: George Takei, Eijiro Ozaki (young)
 * First appeared in: "The Fix (Heroes)|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 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|Starship Enterprise.

This characterization of a strict Japanese patriarch is promptly turned upside down. In "Company Man", he is shown working with #Thompson|Thompson for the organization behind Primatech nearly fifteen years before the events of the series' present. He ordered Noah Bennet (Heroes)|Noah Bennet to adopt Claire Bennet|Claire on the provision that if she exhibits any abilities she is to be turned over to The Company (Heroes)|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.

Maury Parkman

 * Played by: Alan Blumenfeld
 * First appeared in: "Fight or Flight (Heroes)|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 The Company (Heroes)|Company. Like his son, Mr. Parkman is a Telepathy|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. 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 attempted to kill Bob, he was stopped by Matt, who managed to trap Maury in his own nightmare.

Claude

 * Played by: Christopher Eccleston
 * First appeared in: "Godsend (Heroes)|Godsend"
 * Special ability: Invisibility

Claude has the power to render himself invisible to the naked eye. This power is limited to the visible spectrum. It does not make him inaudible, nor does it mask his body heat or other such emissions, allowing him to be tracked through thermal imaging or similar methods. In addition, Claude has the ability to see others using the same power; Peter, having copied Claude's power, can see him as easily as any normal person when invisible.

Claude's power also extends to everything in his immediate vicinity, namely his clothes and other personal effects. This is exemplified 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.

Claude seems to have complete control of his power. In the episode "Company Man", Claude claims to Mr. Bennet in a flashback that he was present during several meetings but could not be seen. It is worth noting however that he stated to Peter Petrelli that he has been invisible for quite some time in order to hide from Bennet and The Company, implying that his constant invisibility is his choice.

It should be noted that Claude Rains was a film star who portrayed the invisible man in the movie of the same name.

West Rosen

 * Played by: Nicholas D'Agosto
 * First appeared in: "Four Months Later..."
 * Special ability: List of comic book superpowers#Flight|Flight

Prior to the start of the series, West is abducted by Mr. Bennet and the Haitian and taken to Primatech Paper in Odessa. 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. West has a philosophy that people are either 'Aliens' or 'Robots'. '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 (Heroes)|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 (Heroes)|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 tattoo 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 %28Heroes%29|Powerless, West confronts Claire about her decision to reveal her power and Claire breaks up with him after a heated argument.

Ted Sprague

 * Played by: Matthew John Armstrong
 * First appeared in: "Nothing to Hide (Heroes)|Nothing to Hide"
 * Special ability: List of comic book superpowers#Radiation manipulation|Radiation manipulation

Real name Theodore 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 electromagnetic pulse|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 arrested and transported in a van, Sylar tracks him down, kills him and absorbs his powers.

Candice Wilmer aka Michelle

 * Played by: Missy Peregrym (season 1) and Rachel Kimsey (season 2)
 * First appeared in: "Company Man"
 * Special ability: Illusion|Illusion-casting

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 (Heroes)|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. Hawkins|D.L., came to New York for Micah.

Image:Niki - Candice.jpg|250px|right|thumb|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 (Heroes)|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, a very overweight woman (illuminating an earlier exchange between her and Micah), leading Sylar to condemn her for trying to be something she isn't.

Missy Peregrym formerly worked with executive producers Greg Beeman and Jeph Loeb on Smallville (TV series|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." 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.

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, and after being cast in the show Reaper (TV series)|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.

Charles Deveaux

 * Played by: Richard Roundtree
 * First appears in: "Genesis (Heroes)|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." 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). 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. It is revealed in the Heroes 360 Experience, that Charles was good friends with Richard Drucker while in college.

Hana Gitelman

 * Played by Stana Katic
 * First appeared in: ''User:Phil Sandifer/Heroes/Episodes/Unexpected|Unexpected

For more information, see /Hana Gitelman

Hana Gitelman is an Israeli soldier with the power to control and talk to machines. She makes only small appearances in the television series, but is a major player in some of the User:Phil Sandifer/Heroes/Graphic novel|graphic novels.

Shanti Suresh

 * Only appearing in photos

Shanti Suresh is #Chandra Suresh|Chandra Suresh's daughter, also born in Chennai. She died at age five while Mohinder Suresh, whose blood actually possessed the antibodies she needed to survive, was only two. Chandra Suresh said she had a genetic anomaly. 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. Mohinder was not aware of her existence until his mother told him.

Arthur Petrelli

 * Only appearing in photographs on the show, with additional appearances in official tie-ins.

Arthur "Dallas" Petrelli is the deceased father of Nathan Petrelli and Peter Petrelli, and through Nathan, the biological grandfather of Claire Bennet. Under the alias "Dallas" He fought in the Vietnam War alongside Mr. Linderman|Linderman and was the first of his unit to know about Linderman's healing powers. After the war, Petrelli and Linderman "were brought together" with a group of twelve, with a mission to help save the world. Linderman reveals to Nathan that Arthur became disillusioned and gave up trying to save the world, resulting in his suicide. Angela has stated that herself and Arthur have gone through "great lengths" to protect Claire. It was said by Bob in the webcomic "Elle's First Assignment, Part 1", that Arthur Petrelli was a power player on a level with Linderman.

Additional family of the main characters
This list includes every 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 (Heroes)|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 factor|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. After Claire tells her father that Lyle knows about her powers, Mr. Bennet (Heroes)|Mr. Bennet has the Haitian remove Lyle's memories about her healing abilities. 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. 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 (Heroes)|Genesis"

Sandra Bennet is Claire Bennet's adoptive mother and the wife of Noah Bennet. She has great affection for her pet pomeranian (dog)|pomeranian, Mr. Muggles. She does not seem to be aware of Mr. Bennet (Heroes)|her husband's activities or her daughter's powers, and The Haitian (Heroes)|the Haitian has wiped her memories several times on her husband's orders. However, after Claire met #Hank and Lisa|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.

Sylar tries to murder her, but she is saved by Mr. Bennet and Haitian (Heroes)|the Haitian. 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. 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.

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 (Heroes)|The Kindness of Strangers"

Damon Dawson is Monica Dawson|Monica's younger brother. When Micah Sanders|Micah comes to live with the Dawsons, Damon initially bullies him. But when Micah uses his Technopathy|power to tune in pay-per-view television, Damon starts to accept his cousin.

Nana Dawson

 * Played by: Nichelle Nichols
 * First appears in: "Kindred (Heroes)|Kindred"

"Nana" Dawson is Micah Sanders' Great Aunt and grandmother of Monica Dawson#Heroes|Monica and List of characters in Heroes#Heroes|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.

Kimiko Nakamura

 * Played by: Saemi Nakamura
 * First appeared in: "The Fix (Heroes)|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. 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 telepathy|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. Matt Parkman saw a vision of his wife in a dream sequence or illusion created by his father (Maury Parkman), in which 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 (Heroes)|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 Mr. Linderman|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 Niki Sanders|a blonde during his trip to Las Vegas, Nevada|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. . 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.

When Nathan drives Heidi away, she moves to Washington D.C.

Hal Sanders

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

Hal Sanders is the estranged father of Niki Sanders|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 (Heroes)|Seven Minutes to Midnight"

Chandra Suresh was born in Chennai and is Mohinder Suresh|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 "Index case (medicine)|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 Chinese Water Dragon|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 Seven Minutes to Midnight (Heroes)|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.

Other 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 (actor)|Thomas Dekker
 * First appeared in: "User:Phil Sandifer/Heroes/Episodes/Genesis|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. 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|Chandra Suresh, which he says details information on her power. Claire is overwhelmed and later punches #Jackie Wilcox|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 Mr. Bennet (Heroes)|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. 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. 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 Broadcasting

Audrey Hanson

 * Played by: Clea DuVall
 * First appeared in: "Don't Look Back (Heroes)|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.

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 power 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.

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. However, Sprague escapes after being taken into custody by Homeland Security, and she again enlists Parkman's aid in hunting him down. 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. Two weeks later, Audrey and Matt have the FBI raid Primatech Paper Company. 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."

Thompson

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

Thompson is an associate of Mr. Bennet (Heroes)|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 (Heroes)|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.

Back at Primatech, Matt Parkman is able to extract the name Mr. Linderman|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. 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.

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.

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

Caitlin

 * Played by: Katie Carr
 * First appeared in: "Lizards (Heroes)|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. Due to Peter's altering of history by destroying the virus, her fate is unknown.

Victoria Pratt

 * Played by: Joanna Cassidy, Jaime Ray Newman (young)
 * First appeared in: "The Kindness of Strangers" in a photo.

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.

Graphic novel characters
The graphic novels exist to expand on the world of the television series, often revealing background information about major and minor characters. Several characters are introduced in the comics. For more information, see User:Phil Sandifer/Heroes/Graphic novel|the graphic novel section of the article.