AHiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) -- Time - Space Manipulation -- Japanese man traveling with his friend Ando. Powers are somewhat iffy, as he sometimes cannot manipulate the space time continuum at all, and at other times will overshoot his intended destination by miles and/or centuries. The son of a successful Japanese businessman, Kaito Nakamura.Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) -- Rapid Cell regeneration -- "The cheerleader", Mr. Bennet's adopted daughter; biological daughter of Nathan Petrelli and Meredith Gordon. She ran away from first "PrimaTech Paper", in Texas, and later her bio-dad and grandmother, in New York. She was voted her high school's Homecoming Queen thanks to Zach and the "unpopular" voters. Her blood can be used to heal others, not just herself.Niki Sanders (Ali Larter) -- Enhanced strength -- Micah's mom, married to D.L. Is afflicted with the multiple personality disorder that apparently is a result of the stress the power takes on the person's mind. MPD isn't considered a power as it can affect any of the heroes, not just Niki. Her power is her superhuman strength. After this she left Micah with family of DL's and went to the company to get "cured". While there, she was used by Matt's father to try to kill Bob, but then was injected with the "Virus", the new threat. In 2.11 "Powerless", Niki sacrifices herself to free Micah's kidnapped cousin, Monica Dawson, from a burning building.Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) -- Empathic Mimicry -- A registered nurse, Nathan's brother, was Simone's lover after being her father's Hospice nurse. Thought by outsiders to be mentally unstable. The first season's plot semi-revolved around the possibility of him exploding and destroying New York. As of the second season's premier it seems Peter is alive, but has no idea as to who he is or what he's capable of in terms of his abilities. He survived the "explosion" after he absorbed his niece Claire's regenerative capabilities. After dropping Nathan off at a hospital, he is taken captive by The Company. He breaks out with Adam aka Kensei, who later convinces Peter to help release a lethal virus. Nathan and Matt try to stop them, and are joined at PrimaTech by a vengeance seeking Hiro.Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) -- Flight --
Politician, Peter's brother. Claire Bennet's biological father. Appears his first experience with flight (that we know of) partially caused the accident in which his wife was paralyzed. Peter also dreamt the dream as it was happening/right before it happened. As of the end of "How to Stop an Exploding Man", newly-elected Nathan flies Peter high above the earth, saving New York from its seemingly unavoidable future. Due to this it is assumed he died, but returns in the second season as a much different man. It is said that since the occurrences in the season one finale he's become a drunk, driven away his wife and children, and it seems has left his elected position of congressman.Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) -- Telepathy -- Dyslexic police officer turned bodyguard after six-month duty suspension after a raid on PrimaTech paper factory to find where Sylar was being held was unsuccessful. Also, trying to mend his marriage to Janice, who is pregnant. As of the end of "How to Stop an Exploding Man", Matt is in critical condition. As of the beginning of season two, "Four Months Later", Matt and Mohinder are living together and watching over Molly Walker. Matt is hired by the NYPD after finally passing detective's exam, and claims to have split from his wife and unborn baby. In "Five Years Gone", Matt and Janice's child is in hiding and referred to as "Matthew", but in Season 2, Matt claims the baby is not his, but his ex-partner Tom McHenry's, and he is divorced. But when trapped in his father's psychic projection, his wife accuses Matt of abandoning them. His powers have evolved, and now instead of only reading thoughts he can put thoughts into people's heads, controlling them like his father, Maury, the "Nightmare Man" Molly is afraid of.D.L. Hawkins (Leonard Roberts) -- Phasing -- Most likely description for his power is being able to oscillate the atoms in his body at/near the speed of light. Was framed by Niki's alter-ego, Jessica, and jailed for stealing Linderman's two million dollars. Later killed Linderman for reasons unrelated to the money. Married to Niki, father to Micah. Was killed when he tried to rescue Nikki (Currently under possession of a new personality, Geena) from LA. Was dead before the first episode of the new season.Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey) -- Technopathy -- Child prodigy son of Niki and D.L. Read the same Mendez comic book Hiro had, which had not yet been released. Kidnapped by Candice Wilmer. Responsible for Nathan Petrelli's landslide victory in the 2006 election. Currently living with his father's relatives in New Orleans.Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera) -- Precognition -- Paints the future while in self-induced, trance-like state. Recovering from a heroin addiction. Appears to have an attraction to Simone. (The show started with Isaac & Simone in a relationship, which ended due to Isaac's heroin addiction, after which Simone & Peter became involved). Killed by Sylar after finishing the final "Ninth Wonders" issue and handing his sketchbook over to his messenger. A series of eight paintings he left behind drive several cast members in season two. It is unknown how many paintings he had left behind.Ted Sprague (Matthew John Armstrong) -- Induced Radioactivity --
High amounts of radiation (at least 1800 curies) emit from his body during times of extreme emotion. Ted was initially suspected to be "Sylar", due to his wife's oncologist's death by immolation. Matt was able to determine that the death was an accident, caused by Ted's power. Ted cannot yet control his power, and he is also responsible for his wife's terminal cancer. Ted has the same mark on his shoulder as Matt, a symbol that resembles an RNA molecule, implying that the two are somehow connected. The symbol has since been linked to a specific type of drug-administering device, with 2 particular slash lines, that appears to have been used on all the heroes who have been captured, hence the matching lines. Killed by "Sylar" in the penultimate episode of the first season, meaning Peter is not the only potential destroyer of New York.Molly Walker (Adair Tishler) -- Clairvoyance -- Little girl whose parents have been murdered by a serial killer believed to be "Sylar". She first appeared in Heroes: Chapter Two 'Don't Look Back' (#1.2) Her powers are revealed in Heroes: Chapter Twenty-One 'The Hard Part' (#1.21) as being able to locate anyone. Currently her powers don't work as she is dying. Mohinder is trying to heal her with his own blood - as she has the same illness that killed his sister. Is living with Matt and Mohinder in Mohinder's apartment as of season 2. After being cured, she was attacked by "The Nightmare Man" when Matt tried to get her to track his father. The father had trapped Molly in a nightmare, leaving her body in a coma. Note: A "James Walker" appears in Chandra Suresh's database, and may be Molly's late father, who was found frozen and scalped by Sylar. Her mother is seen pinned to a wall by silverware, dead but otherwise untouched, so it is doubtful she had powers.Maya Herrera (Dania Ramirez) -- Poison Emission -- Introduced in Season Two, twin sister of Alejandro Herrera. Discovered on her brother's wedding day, that she has the power to kill by conjuring a unknown virus by pure thought after she discovered her brother's wife cheating on him. Whenever threatened or in a state of fear, her eyes turn black and she makes anyone within close quarters to make their eyeballs, ears, and mouths bleed out a black-putrid fluid. Only her bother, is immune to her ability and can stop her from hurting others. They go on the run from the law after she inadvertently kills her brother's entire wedding party from their home in the Dominican Republic, across Central American and Mexico hoping to reach New York to find Mohinder Suresh hoping he has the research to cure her. Paths with Syler cross when they pick him up in Mexico, after he escaped from 'the Company's' imprisonment and tricks her into helping him too find Suresh so he will regain his powers.Monica Dawson (Dana Davis) -- Muscle Mimicry -- Introduced in Season Two, and the older cousin of Micah Sanders, and resides in New Orleans, she discovers that her mind can imitate any action that she sees, from cooking shows, to wrestling, to any action stunts. Although most of the things she learned to do were from TV shows or on the screen of a portable video player, at one point she did some complicated skipping manouvers upon seeing it happen on the street. Mother died in Hurricane Katrina, and wants to leave New Orleans to make a new life for herself. Micah helps her to understand her abilities. Saved from a fire by Niki Sanders, who is considered dead at this point in time, in the season 2 finale.Elle Bishop (Kristen Bell) -- Lighting -- Crafty, sociopathic, sexually repressed daughter of Bob Bishop, and his chief enforcer/assassin for 'the Company'. Put in charge with looking after captive people with special abilities including Peter Petrelli and Adam Monroe. Sent to locate and capture or kill escaped subjects, including Peter, but has problems keeping her abilities low key and secret. Also assigned with spying on Claire Bennet.Tracy Strauss (Ali Larter) -- Freezing -- Introduced in Season 3 as a political advisor to the shady Governor Malden, and the dead-splitting image of the late Niki Sanders, she discovers her ability to freeze things and persons rock solid (thus killing them) and is sent to recruit Nathan Patrelli to offer a seat in the U.S. Senate in Washington D.C. When she confides her abilities to him, he confides his ability to fly to her. She goes in search of her orgins and to why she looks like Niki Sanders.Mohinder and Ando in the third season got artificial powers. Mohinder has enhanced sense's and Ando enhance's peoples powers.
AGabriel Gray (Zachary Quinto) -- self-dubbed "Sylar." The most prominent villain of the first season, responsible for hunting down and killing other people with powers. He was contacted by Suresh, who hoped to discover some inherent power. When Sylar was rejected by Suresh, he sought to make himself special. Calling on his experience as a watchmaker, he murdered a man who proved to have telekinesis and dissected his brain. He acquired the power of telekinesis and has used his power to murder others. It is conjectured that he can acquire other powers by dissecting the brains of people who possess powers. Due to contracting the disease currently assaulting those with powers, he is currently unable to use any abilities, though he is not aware of this and believes he may have lost them during the fight at the end of season 1. It is unknown if he can still obtain new powers while in this state, as he attempted to do so with Candice (Michelle) while under capture by the company after the events of season 1.Ted Sprague (Matthew John Armstrong) -- debuted on the show as a possible villain, possessing the ability to become radioactive when experiencing heightened states of emotion. He was responsible for the death of a doctor, but Matt discovered that Ted accidentally killed him with the use of his power. At the time of his death in "The Hard Part," the only villainous act Ted committed was holding the Bennett family hostage in their home. Ted was in FBI custody for the second time when Sylar killed him in order to appropriate his power.Daniel Linderman (Malcolm McDowell) -- Casino owner/mob boss who knows about powers and collects Isaac's paintings, is very probably a villain. He has manipulative power over Niki and D.L., and strong connections with Nathan Petrelli and his late father. As of "Landslide," he is dead ( or so we are led to believe).During the first season, Noah Bennet initially seemed to be a villain, but now the real villain behind his mysterious actions seems to be "The Company," which includes Thompson (Eric Roberts), (perhaps formerly) Kaito Nakamura, Linderman, (formerly) Eden, and Candice Wilmer (AKA Michelle) (Missy Peregrym). During the second season, the company has different members/new members introduced that were present but not seen in Season 1. These include Ivan (Bennet's old mentor), Bob Bishop (Stephen Tobolowsky), and his daughter, a lightning-powered girl named Elle Bishop (Kristen Bell). Also, Niki seems to join "The Company," and Mohinder infiltrates "The Company" (although his allegiances seem to actually swing towards joining "The Company"). (Note: In the second season, it is easy to question whether "The Company" is truly an evil organization after the death of Linderman.)Maury Parkman (Alan Blumenfeld) -- Matt Parkman's father, referred to by Molly Walker as "Nightmare Man." Revealed so far is the fact that he can see Molly when she attempts to look for him with her powers and appears frequently in her nightmares. It has been suggested that his powers allow him to enter the minds of others, though he chooses to do so through dreams. He is living in squalor when Matt and Nathan track him down, but the group photo of The Twelve seems to have been taken only a few years prior, and all pictured seem to suggest all twelve had a fairly high class of living. Maury traps Matt and Nathan in nightmares to get away from them. He is mentioned as being one of Adam Monroe's supporters before The Twelve broke up. He is presumably behind the attack on Angela while she is in police custody for the murder of Kaito Nakamura. He later convinces Niki to kill Bob Bishop while inside Company Headquarters before Matt is able to trap him inside his own nightmare and freeing Molly at the same time. This breaks Maury's hold on Niki and thereby saving Bob as well.Takeso Kensei/Adam Monroe (David Anders) -- Hiro's idol, who turned against Hiro when his love, Yaeko, fell in love with everyone's favorite "SuperHiro." Despite his regenerative abilities, he was believed to have been destroyed in an explosion that occured after the two fought. However, his powers appear to not only include regeneration, but also immortality. Kensei is revealed to be the true identity of "Adam Monroe," the mastermind who is attempting to kill all of his old partners, which he begins by attacking Kaito Nakamura by shoving him off the roof of the Deveaux Building in front of Ando. Ando rushes to the side, but only sees Kaito's body and two large pools of blood on the sidewalk. Angela Petrelli later falsely admits to the murder (possibly to protect herself from Adam), and in doing so, she reveals she and Kaito once had an affair.Arthur Petrelli (Robert Forster) -- Father of Nathan and Peter Petrelli and husband of Angela Petrelli. Thought to have been dead, he returns in full power by taking Adam Monroe's power of cellular regeneration/immortality in Volume 3, "Villains". Arthur's ability has been described as a version 1.0 of Peter's ability. Peter has empathic mimicry and can take on the abilities of others while they still retain their abilities. Arthur just takes others' abilities. As the head of Pinehurst, Arthur is working to create a formula that would let anyone who wanted an ability to get an ability. In Volume 3, Peter and others are working to prevent that from happening.Emile Danko (Zeljko Ivanek) -- In Volume 4, "Fugitives", Nathan turns against his own kind and becomes a villain, along with Danko, in their hunt to track down those with abilities. Nathan uses his political pull with the President to put together a task force that will round up people with abilities, good or bad.Samuel Sullivan (Robert Knepper) -- In Volume 5, "Redemption", we are introduced to Samuel Sullivan, from the Sullivan Brothers Carnival. Samuel has the ability to control earth, and the carnival exists as a "family" of other people with abilities. It is revealed in an old film reel Chandra Suresh recorded at Coyote Sands that Samuel is increasingly dangerous the more people with abilities he surrounds himself with. His brother Joseph knew this and worked hard to prevent this from happening. Samuel found out about his ability when Mohinder visited the carnival to talk to Joseph and later murdered his brother. Samuel is manipulating others at the carnival to accomplish his own purposes.
