There has been much juicy discussion on the parents of Heroes, and since the show will be delving further into their stories in next season's Generations, I thought we should have a thread to bring them all together to compare, contrast, and theorize. Daddy and mommy issues have been a powerful, definitive force, from helping create Sylar to bringing Claire to NYC. This is the place to discuss everybody from Icy Ma Petrelli to Daddy Nakamura of the Sword Training of Destiny to Flydaddy Nathan, and the way they all appear to be inextricably intertwined and thematically paralleled.

What interests me is the system of silence these parents have visited upon the children: Chandra forcibly rejected Mohinder from his research, and purposefully lied about how many discoveries he'd made. HRG hid the answers he had about the nature of the Heroes (and the presence of others) from Claire for a long, long time. The Petrelli parents, Mr. Nakamura, and Charles Deveaux either never told their children what was going on, or waited until the very last moment to even give a hint of their involvement. This even extends into the second generation - Nathan and Meredith were both evasive with Claire, and Niki and DL were even worse with Micah. And of course, we would have no story at all were it not for the damages visited upon Gabriel Gray from his mother and Chandra Suresh.

If Six Months Ago is to be believed, Nathan only figured out his own powers very recently (and involuntarily at that), so I don't see him as being evasive. He's still in denial, while Peter developed his powers at a similar time and seems to have skipped denial altogether.

Meredith interests me. Was she threatened? Did she expect OWI to come looking for her?

HRG was following orders. Chandra thought he was protecting his son. As best I can tell Simone had no powers, so Charles Deveaux might never have told her anything. I'm assuming that the parents wait for a power to manifest because if they tell the kids they might try something stupid or there would be sibling rivalry the likes of which had not been seen since Cain and Abel if one got powers and the other didn't.

What interests me is the idea that there may be a breeding program. If that's the case, does Heidi have a power or the potential to carry powers? Will two people with powers (e.g.:D.L. and Nikki, Nathan and Meredith) always have a child with powers? Does that mean both Petrelli Parents were had the evolutionary jump?

And does any of this play into Papa Petrelli's "depression"?

I wanna know what happened to PapaGray. Ever since The Hard Part episode, which was a sad sad episode for Sylar, whether he would show up and meet his son. After the whole discussions about the Gray family in the Sylar thread, I am sure there are more to be discovered.

See, I don't see Niki and DL as being evasive with Micah. He's one of the first children to have a open, non-threatening dialogue with his parents about their powers, and his.

HRG kept it from Claire partially on the Company's orders, but I think, also to protect her. I think he wanted to keep her from the reality of it, and if he admitted or talked with her about it, it'd be harder for him to go back and pretend he didn't know anything about it, if the Company ever found out.

I think Papa Petrelli, well, I'd be very interested to know about him. I'm leaning towards, he didn't have powers. Otherwise, why would he have been so freaked out in the comics - wait, do you guys read the comics? I'll refrain from saying more, until I know.

Also, if Papa P doesn't have powers, than does that mean Mama P does? There's reason to believe only one parent needs them (The Petrelli's) but then there's reason to believe both need them too. (Micah, Claire)

What will that mean for Nathan's kids? AND - wasn't Janice pregnant at one point? So, what about Matt's kid

Also didn't Micah develop or at least understan his powers before his parents, or at leats before Niki, but not before Jessica.

I suspect this has more to do with the age he was when he discovered his powers than anything else. Kids will more readily accept the idea of the impossible being possible- Hiro also grasped the implications of his powers quickly despite being an adult because he was willing to believe in the possibility and didn't spend a lot of time telling himself he was nuts.

What about Matt Parkman Junior? Didn't Matt want to hide him because he was evolved?

Or because he couldn't be sure whether or not his kid carried the leap? Either way, I'd want my kid protected.

I also read that scene as implying risk, not a definite incidence of power.

Also, it's possible that Janice carried the gene needed for powers. Given her reactions to Matt's powers, I am assuming she doesn't have any herself (of which she's aware).

I think Molly only had one special parent. Based on nothing more than the fact Sylar doesn't seem like a wasteful guy. If Molly's mother had a power I think he would have gone for it too. Instead he just went for Molly's father and then later for Molly.

I thought of that too, the scene where Claude compares Peter to Darwin's pigeons. Perhaps the Company (Linderman, the parental Petrellis, Kaito, etc..) wanted to study the evolution of powers from one generation to the next. Some have a cause and effect link; if a parent can set you on fire, what better way to protect yourself than healing yourself.

Maybe there is more of a parental/genetic link to some of these powers. It was shown in later episode that it seems Linderman got DL and Niki together, perhaps he knew what kind of power their child would have. Since DL can phase through walls, he has some kind of molecular manipulation. A kind of manipulation that got passed down to Micah, which manifested as electronic manipulation.

We don't know what (if any) powers Ma and/or Pa Petrelli had, but maybe there is some kind of link from what they can do to what Nathan and Peter can do. Some have speculated that Mama P can teleport, in which flying would be a related power. Of course it doesn't explain Peter's power, but perhaps in season 2 a stronger link will become clearer.

So, when Eden told Bennet there may have been an encounter with someone who could stop time he was all "cool!" which seems like he isn't aware of Hiro. And if the OWI is not aware of Hiro's powers and he is not on the list, does that mean Kaito has protected him like Bennet did with Claire?


I really want to know what powers the older generation had/have. I hope we learn that.

I thought both parents were killed? Maybe Mom's power isn't "fun to play with" the way freezing is.

Mom of Molly was killed too, but her brain was left alone. Since we've never heard of Sylar stealing a power without taking off someone's head, I think that's what leads to the assumption that Mom didn't have a power at all- Sylar would hardly have left a perfectly useful brain behind.

Some normal people could be a carrier for the genetic defect without having superpowers themselves. I'm not any kind of genetics expert, but I do know that some diseases work this way - two healthy parents are carriers for a genetic disease, and their child gets it. Either that, or superpowers are a dominant gene, like brown eyes; there's a chance that it won't get passed on and any spawn will have blue eyes (think Simone), but on the other hand, it doesn't require two donors to manifest physically.

So somebody refresh my memory -- did Mohinder's sister have any powers, or is she related to all this only in that she had a disease that led her father to do considerable genetic study trying to find a cure? I saw most episodes two or three times during the season and read most of the first 10-12 comics, but I haven't been reviewing at all over the summer. I remember something about Mohinder seeing her, but if I'm right about that, it also seems it could have been purely because of the child he saw who worked with dreams, and wouldn't reflect the sister having any powers necessarily.

I also wonder if notions such as reincarnation will get folded into the story ... wonder how THAT would dovetail with the evolutionary element?

*sigh* I can't believe that Kaito is... I refuse to believe it. And did he have power? Why can't he protect himself from the Hoodie Face?

He's power must be passive. Jessica pushed Matt threw a window and his mind reading didn't really help me with that.



They never said if she did, but I'd guess she did. It is said, I think, Shanti started the father to his research etc. I wonder if her power was supressed because she was sick.

I wouldn't be surprised if we discover that some times the gene can be dormante and if two people who have that jean get together (Mr and Mrs. Suresh) they can have a person with an ablitiy and one with out.

[quick primer on Mendelian genetics]

Dominant- A single copy of the gene will produce the trait. So there's a 50/50 chance that any child of a powered parent will have the power trait. (ie. brown eyes.)

Recessive- 2 copies of the gene, one from each parent are necessary for expression of the trait. With one copy you're a carrier. (ie. blue eyes)

Incomplete Dominance- 2 copies of the gene produce a stronger version of the trait than one . (ie. red, pink and white roses.)
In terms of Heroes, Claire the product of two people with powers will have a strong power while a 1/2 sibling with a non-Hero parent will have a weak power.

Co-Dominance- Each copy of the gene expresses itself as a different trait. (ie. A, B, AB and O blood types.) This doesn't work for Heroes in that Claire can do something different from each of her parents. She heals rather than flies and starts fires.

[/quick primer on Mendelian genetics]

My personal opinion. I don't think that we're seeing random mutations, especially in a single gene. I suspect in many of the cases that the powers can be induced by choice.

Wouldn't it be sick if Chandra had secretly had a power?

"How can you be SO certain that people with superpowers exist?!"
"Uhhhhh... I just am."

(Note: I am not seriously advocating this theory)

As far as Shanti goes, it was implied she had a power but not stated outright. The strongest evidence, IMO, was Chandra directly telling Bennet that she was "special." But the writers left themselves some wiggle room if they want to retcon that she didn't actually have powers.

Carlos Mendez was named as one of the twelve.

Isaac's father, perhaps?