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Sylar
Sylar face.jpg
First appearance One Giant Leap
Details
Formal name Gabriel Gray
Gender Male
Occupation Former carny,
former agent of Pinehearst Company,
former agent of the Company,
former clock/watch restorer



Gabriel Gray (or Sylar, which he got from his watch) is the main antagonist of the Heroes series. He was once a casual watchmaker until he was visited by Chandra Suresh who identified him as Patient Zero, and revealed advanced humans to him. From there on, Sylar became a serial killer, by examining other advanced human's brains to replicate their power, killing them.

Character Overview[]

Volume One[]

Sylar's real name is Gabriel Gray and he started out as a watchmaker. Initially, he had a talent for knowing how things worked simply by looking at them. He was clever, but not the kind of superpower he dreamed of. When Chandra Suresh approached him and told him about his theories, Gabriel felt his destiny was going to be fulfilled. But, after tests, Chandra told him he had no special abilities, so Sylar killed him. When Chandra's son, Mohinder, arrived, Sylar posed as Zane, one of the superheroes on Chandra's list. Mohinder soon realised this but not before leading him to some of the other heroes, including Isaac. Isaac told him his fate was to die at the hands of the heroes. Hiro, Matt and Peter were already after Isaac as they believed him to be the exploding man destined to destroy New York. They had also been trying to keep him away from Claire so he couldn't absorb her ability to heal, thus making him indestructible. Having killed Isaac, Sylar painted a picture of himself facing off against Peter at Kirby Plaza. Ando appeared in an attempt to stop him and revealed a comic book showing Hiro killing Sylar. Sylar dismissed it and headed off to face Peter. But it was Hiro who stabbed Sylar and seemingly killed him in the Season 1 finale, just as Isaac's comic had predicted.

Sylar is a serial killer, murdering people with abilities and taking them for himself by removing their brains. His next target is Claire Bennet but is stopped by the unexpected Peter Petrelli and is captured by The Company in the process. He eventually escapes and goes to Claire's house to finish what he started and confronts Sandra, Claire's mother instead. Then he decides to escape without her power after Noah Bennet attacks him and goes to Zane Taylor and acquiring his ability to melt objects. He meets Mohinder Suresh and pretends to be Zane Taylor to gain his trust in finding more people with abilities. He murders Dane Smither and acquires her ability of enhanced hearing. Then Mohinder discovers who he really is and drugs him, but secretly turns it off. He almost kills Mohinder until he meets Peter again and they face off. Sylar kills Peter but Mohinder knocks him unconscious and takes the list. Sylar finds Isaac Mendez and takes his power to paint the future.

He paints the future to foresee future events and decides to see his mother in Queens. His mother is afraid of him and then he accidentally kills her. He confronts Hiro Nakamura and taunts him for being so afraid to kill him. Then he goes to Kirby Plaza and faces against Peter Petrelli, Niki Sanders, Hiro Nakamura, Matt Parkman, and Noah Bennet. After he seemingly dies, his body disappears and leaves a trail of blood to the sewers.

Volume Two[]

He awakens to find himself with no powers and can't gain any new ones. Believed he is done for, he encounters Maya Herrera and Alejandro Herrera, both with abilities heading to New York City to find Chandra Suresh where he is also headed. When he introduces himself, instead of calling himself Sylar, he saids his real name, Gabriel Gray. After convincing Maya to use her ability to get pass the Border Police, Alejandro becomes distrustful of him. When he helps Maya control her ability, she decides to leave Alejandro behind and go to New York without him but with Gabriel. Then after an intense encounter, Sylar kills Alejandro with a knife. They arrive at Mohinder's apartment and Sylar reveals his true nature. When he was about to leave with the cure to the Shanti Virus, Elle Bishop attacks Sylar but still manages to escape and regain his powers using the cure.

Volume Three[]

Sylar finally cornered Claire and obtained immortality. Back from the dead, but not in the form of a zombie, Arthur Petrelli soon recruited Sylar to Pinehearst by pretending to be his father. When H.R.G revealed the truth, Sylar began to suffer a crisis of identity and family, and killed Elle, destroying their fledgling relationship. Hell-bent on discovering the truth about his parentage, he killed Arthur, bringing down Pinehearst and the threat to his power. But he was soon stopped by Claire who stabbed him and left him for dead in Primatech. In Volume 4, Sylar finally found his real father, who was dying of cancer. After easily overpowering his father in an attack, he realised that he needed a bigger challenge. He started working with Danko to catch other Heroes, gaining himself a very handy shape-shifting ability. However, his aiding Danko was all a ploy to get to the President. He killed Nathan, but at his moment of triumph he was taken out by Peter, who had copied his powers. The unconscious Sylar had his mind manipulated by Matt, forcing him to believe that he was Nathan Petrelli. He began his new life as Nathan, but was his true identity really gone for good?

He goes to see Claire again and is able to acquire her ability, but leaves her alive and alone. Then he goes to The Company to get to the Level 5 prisoners and take their powers as well, but in the process kills Bob Bishop and takes his power. Elle, filled with vengeance fights him head on along with Noah Bennet. After trying to acquire Elle's power, she electrifies him and shuts down the grid, allowing a dozen Level 5 prisoners escape upon the world. Sylar is captured and Angela reveals that she is Sylar's mother. Sylar decides to change his ways and work for The Company for redemption. He is partnered with Bennet and goes to get prisoners Knox, Flint, The German, and Jesse. They capture Flint, The German is dead, Knox escaped, and Sylar kills Jesse to acquire his ability, giving into the "hunger". Soon after, he is confronted by Peter Perelli and learns that they're brothers. When Peter was about to kill Angela, Sylar knocks him unconscious. Then he goes with Noah to capture another Level 5 prisoner and has a confrontation with Claire. Later he frees Peter from his coma and wants him to help Angela wake up. When Peter heads to a place called Pinehearst, Sylar refuses to let him go and then they fight, with Peter being the victor due to him having various abilities. Angela enters Sylar's dreams and convinces him to wake up in order to save Peter. He goes to Pinehearst and saves Peter, but is captured by Arthur Petrelli. He is convinced to join Arthur and throws Peter out a window but reduces his fall so he wouldn't die. Then he has a talk with Elle and is able to obtain her ability without having to kill her. She coaches him on controlling his ability and start to bond again. Arthur assigns them to capture Claire and bring her alive. The Eclipse begins and everyone's abilities stop working. Sylar and Elle are chased by Noah Bennet and don't stand a chance without their powers. Noah kills Sylar by slitting his throat but he regenerates when the Eclipse ends. He is about to kill Noah when Hiro returns and teleports Elle and Sylar to a beach. He realizes he can never change and kills Elle. He cremates her and shows remorse. He kills Sue Landers and acquires her ability to detect lies. He questions Arthur Petrelli on whether or not he is his father and then detects a lie, which makes him kill Arthur. Then he goes to Primatech and questions Angela Petrelli about being his mother. Along the way, he kills many Level 5 prisoners and Meredith Gordon by injecting her with adrenaline which makes her lose control of her ability. After Angela reveals that she knows who his real parents are, Claire stabs him in the back of the head, leaving him to die in the fire.

Volume Four[]

Two months later, he survived the destruction of Primatech and finds his adoptive father, Martin Gray to find out who is biological father is, who is revealed to be Samson Gray. Sylar goes to his address and is ambushed by agents. He takes them down and then captures Daniel Simmons to interrogate. He goes to the Campbell's' house, a neighbor of his biological father and brings Simmons with him. There he discovers Luke Campbell, an outcast with the ability to emit microwaves and was saved by him when Simmons was about to kill him with his gun. Losing his lead on his father, he leaves but reluctantly takes Luke with him. He questions Luke's connection with his father and then are confronted by agents. He escapes but leaves behind Luke when he got the location of his father's whereabouts. He returns to kill the agents and obtains a laptop, taking Luke with him. Going to an abandoned cafe, he flashes back to the day he was given away and witnesses his biological mother get murdered by his own father. He vows to kill him and leaves Luke behind. He finally comes face to face with his biological father, Samson Gray and learns he is dying of cancer. After his confrontation, he leaves his father to die of the cancer bitter and alone. He begins helping Danko round up people with abilities, including Eric Doyle and in the process, he obtains the ability to shape shift. After going through an identity crisis, he meets Micah Sanders and he is convinced to impersonate Nathan Petrelli to get close to the President. After confronting Nathan Petrelli, he moves his weak spot so Danko can't kill him. He frames Danko for the murders of several agents and meets with Claire as Nathan. She finds out who he really is and then he clashes against Peter and Nathan. Peter manages to replicate his ability and Sylar kills Nathan by slitting his throat. He shifts to Nathan and later Liam Samuels to get close to the President, but it was revealed to be Peter, injecting him with a strong tranquilizer. Matt Parkman erases his memories and transplants Nathan in order for him to convince The President that he has made a huge mistake. Now he is living his life as Nathan Petrelli, unaware of his old life and unknowingly accesses his natural ability to fix a clock running a minute and a half fast.

Portrayer[]

  • There was a persistent rumour claiming that Sean Bean would be playing Sylar, though this was highly disputed. The role was eventually revealed as being played by Zachary Quinto. Quinto also plays Mr. Spock in the 2009 Star Trek feature film.

Birth of a Sylar[]

According to a news clipping on Sylar's wall, a "Paul E. Sylar" was born on June 11, 1962. This would make that man 44 in 2006. [1] Whether or not this Sylar is the same as the above mentioned character has not been verified. It's more accurate to say he invented the name himself in the episode "Six Months Ago" as he repaired a watch before the arrival of his first victim in his watch-repair shop. He later on wears that specific broken watch sharing his nick-name.

Advanced Human Powers[]

His original power was Perceptive Comprehension, which is the power to comprehend any complex system from merely visually perceiving them, which manifested in his life as a supreme skill at repairing watches and clocks. This power allows him to understand how other powers work by exposing the brain of other advanced humans and examining them to find out how their power works and "replicate" it, although this process is typically fatal. In It's Coming, he was able to take Elle Bishop's power of electrokinesis without physically harming her by using some "empathy". In Into Asylum, Sylar is also able to gain a power without removing the top of his victim's head but still causing him physical pain.


File:Syler Tries.jpg

Sylar is thrown back after attempting to cut off the top of Elle's head.

So far, Sylar has replicated the following powers from his victims:

  • Telekinesis - taken from Brian Davis (Six Months Ago) retained even after the Shanti virus.
  • Cryokinesis - taken from James Walker (Don't Look Back) lost to the Shanti virus.
  • Eidetic Memory - taken from Charlie Andrews (Seven Minutes to Midnight) lost when Hiro changed the past, preventing him from gaining this power.
  • Liquefaction - taken from Zane Taylor (Run!) lost to the Shanti virus.
  • Superhuman Hearing - taken from Dale Smither (Unexpected) lost to the Shanti virus.
  • Precognition - taken from Isaac Mendez (.07%) lost to the Shanti virus.
  • Radiation Manipulation - taken from Ted Sprague (Landslide) lost to the Shanti virus.  
  • Illusion, the ability to create images in people's minds, taken from Candice Wilmer. Sylar was never actually able to use this ability due to the effects of the the Shanti virus.

After being cured from the Shanti Virus, he has lost all of the abilities he acquired except for telekinesis and gained the following powers soon afterwards.

Notes and references[]

Main and Minor Characters edit
AdamAndoAngelaClaireD.L.ElleHiroIsaacJessicaMattMaya

MicahMohinderNathanNikiNoahPeterSamuelSimoneSylarTracyMonicaEmma
WestBobLyleZachEdgarJaniceMauryKnoxDoyleFlintMeredithArthurMattyKaito
AlejandroClaudeCandiceDaphneLaurenSandraLydiaDanko

  1. Template:Cite web
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