As the superhero movies and TV shows started getting more popular in the 2000s, Heroes gave viewers the opportunity to explore this genre unburdened by established IP. Created by Tim King, the NBC series introduced a world where people with superpowers live in secret. Multiple story arcs brought the starring cast of characters together, which primarily revolved around the threat of an exploding man destroying New York City, as well as the line, “Save the cheerleader, save the world,” and the eclipse that awakened many of their powers.
Heroes was instantly met with critical acclaim when it premiered in 2006, and season 1 later earned accolades like eight Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and winning Outstanding Program of the Year at the 23rd Annual TCA Awards. . The show’s cast was even acknowledged as “People Who Mattered” in Time Magazine’s 2006 Person of the Year issue. However, the later Heroes seasons weren’t nearly as well received, and viewership slowly dwindled. Season 2, in particular, was hampered by the 2007–2008 Writers of Guild of America strike, resulting in it being cut short after just 11 episodes.
NBC ultimately canceled Heroes after season 4. The 2015 follow-up Heroes Reborn earned mixed reviews and lasted only one season, and development has stalled on Heroes: Eclipsed, which was announced in 2024. Still, the Heroes franchise’s later reputation doesn’t detract from how enjoyable it was watching season 1. Among the highlights across these 23 episodes was watching the show’s 10 most powerful characters, whether it was through sheer physical force or their powers proving to be especially valuable assets.
10
Sylar
Born with intuitive aptitude, Gabriel Gray, a.k.a. Sylar, discovered during Heroes that his power allowed him to understand more than just watches and other complex systems. He could also copy a person’s powers by cutting open their head and examining their brain, as first demonstrated when he killed Brian Davis for his telekinesis.
The intuitive aptitude also gave Sylar a hunger to “understand” other people’s powers, which ignited his serial killing spree across the United States. By the end of season 1, his arsenal of special abilities included cryokinesis, enhanced memory, liquification, enhanced hearing, precognition, and radiation emission.
9
Peter Petrelli
While Sylar required direct access to a person’s brain in order to duplicate a person’s powers, Peter Petrelli unconsciously pulled off that same feat with his empathic mimicry just by being in proximity of another superpowered person. Unlike Sylar, Peter wasn’t able to master these abilities quickly.
So while passive abilities, like cellular regeneration, usually kicked in, it took him a while to get the hang of abilities that required active thought, like flight and invisibility. So although he had more powers than Sylar when Heroes season 1 was over, he wasn’t skilled at using most of them.
8
Niki Sanders
Niki Sanders’ enhanced strength made her literally the strongest of Heroes’ main characters before Mohinder Suresh gained that same power in season 3. Her feats of strength including easily tearing people apart, breaking out of restraint cuffs, and ripping open a safe box door.
However, for the majority of season 1, only Niki’s violent alter-ego Jessica was super strong. It was only in the season 1 finale that Niki was finally able to use her enhanced strength, as demonstrated when she effortlessly grabbed the parking meter Sylar was using as a weapon and beat him with it.
7
Hiro Nakamura
In terms of powers that are the most consequential to all existence, nothing beats Hiro Nakamura’s space-time manipulation. The “space” aspect enabled him to teleport anywhere he wanted in the world, and he was additionally able to slow down, fast-forward, and stop time, as well as travel to different time periods.
That last ability had the biggest ramifications for Heroes season 1 and the entirety of the groundbreaking superhero show. It resulted in the timeline being changed in various ways by both the present day Hiro and his future self, who hailed from the dystopic future shown in “Five Years Gone.”
6
Ted Sprague
The radioactive threat present throughout Heroes season 1 originated from Ted Sprague, who was able to emit radiation. Unfortunately, when this power started manifesting, the radiation in his body inadvertently gave his wife cancer and killed her. Ted never learned to fully control his power, and it frequently only emerged when he was agitated or angry.
This power, combined with his unstable nature, made him especially dangerous. However, Ted ultimately wasn’t the show’s “exploding man,” as Sylar killed him for his power. Peter subsequently gained it when he was near Sylar in Kirby Plaza, and he quickly lost control of the radiation as well.
5
The Haitian
The Haitian (later named René in Heroes season 4) was born with the power of mental manipulation, which he used in two ways throughout season 1. First, he could block the power of any person in his nearby vicinity, rendering them into a normal human.
Second, when he made physical contact with someone, he could knock them unconscious and erase their memories. These abilities made The Haitian one of The Company’s most valued agents, as he and his partner Noah Bennet could easily subdue their targets by weakening them physically and mentally.
4
Eden McCain
With the power of suggestion, Eden McCain, a.k.a. Sarah Ellis, could make a person do whatever she wanted with her spoken commands. So, up until Noah Bennet and The Haitian found her and recruited her into The Company, she was getting away with whatever she wanted.
However, it would sometimes take extra effort for Eden to instill complete obedience in someone. Sylar also showed resistance to her persuasion and almost gained this ability as a result. Eden prevented this by shooting herself in the head, so he couldn’t utilize his intuitive aptitude on her brain after she died.
3
Candice Wilmer
Candice Wilmer, another Company agent, was able to cast illusions. She primarily used this to alter her appearance in various ways, and it was confirmed in season 2 that her main season 1 form was a disguise. This shouldn’t be confused with the separate shapeshifting ability that was introduced in Heroes season 3.
Candice could also cast illusions on the surrounding environment, whether it was something a simple as hiding an object or making her surroundings look like a completely different location. These illusions didn’t just affect sight either, as they could also fool the other four senses, making Candice one of the show’s most talented manipulators.
2
Daniel Linderman
It’s ironic that murderous crime boss Daniel Linderman was born with the power of healing. By touching someone, he could heal any person’s wound or injury, perhaps best demonstrated when he cured Heidi Petrelli’s paralyzed legs. He was also shown rejuvenating plants, meaning his power affected all living things.
Consequently, that meant Linderman wasn’t capable of resurrecting the dead. His healing also didn’t kick in passively for himself like Claire Bennet’s cellular regeneration did, so Linderman instantly died when D.L. Hawkins phased his fist through his head in the Heroes season 1 finale.
1
Micah Sanders
Had Micah Sanders been born anytime before the 20th century, his technopathy would have been useless, and he would have lived an ordinary life. In the 21st century’s digital age, however, the ability to manipulate electronics came in handy on Heroes quite often.
Examples of Micah “talking” to machines included him repeatedly accessing information from computers, fixing a broken pay phone, getting an ATM to give him cash, and using a voting machine to ensure Nathan Petrelli won the congressional election by a landslide. Between his technopathy and genius intelligence, Micah was cemented as one of Heroes season 1’s most important characters.
- Release Date
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2006 – 2010-00-00
- Showrunner
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Tim Kring
- Directors
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Allan Arkush, Jeannot Szwarc, Adam Kane, Greg Yaitanes, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Roxann Dawson, Paul A. Edwards, John Badham, Donna Deitch, Kevin Dowling, Seith Mann, Ron Underwood, Paul Shapiro, Lesli Linka Glatter, S.J. Clarkson, Daniel Attias, David Straiton, Kevin Bray, David Semel, Holly Dale, Ed Bianchi, Nathaniel Goodman, Christopher Misiano, Ernest R. Dickerson
- Writers
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Tim Kring
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