Theory:Eclipse

Main Article Theories about eclipses Main Discussion

The following fan theories are about eclipses.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
The eclipses are activating powers.	Adam Monroe‎ regenerates for the first time (Lizards) after the 1671 eclipse (Four Months Later). Daphne could run after the one on October 1, 2006 whereas previously she needed crutches and braces in order to simply walk (The Caged Bird, Part 1)	- Linderman could heal others in 1968. (War Buddies) - Claude could disappear in 1991. (Company Man) - Several characters have powers six months before the 2006 eclipse: Gabriel has intuitive aptitude, Claire heals quickly, Eden talks suggestively, Niki/Jessica gets rough, the Haitian can block powers, Nathan flies, Matt starts hearing thoughts and Brain Davis can move things with his mind. (Six Months Ago) + These powers could have been activated by previous eclipses. Total eclipses occur a couple of times every decade. - Claire clearly manifested during Six Months Ago. No eclipse required. + Claire may not have necessarily manifested during Six Months Ago. This may have just been the first time her powers healed her so quickly or so effectively. It may have started by healing a cold or healing a cut twice as fast as normal but may have jumped in power recently or even when hitting puberty a few years earlier when brain chemistry is affected. This may also have been the worst injury she has sustained up to this point in her life as she has a very protective father and healing a common child-like injury such as skinned knees would not have been as noticeable. + Eclipses could be one way to activate powers, but not the only way. - Eclipses through history have been looked upon in many different aspects, including a new start or beginning; as well, they have been looked upon as links to the gods, an angry deity or the birth of a new god. Much like the cockroach symbolizes the pinnacle of evolution, the eclipse could simply be used as an artistic representation of the manifestation of these powers, a godsend. + It's Coming refers a lot to eclipses, and Mohinder actually states their appears to be a connection with the powers and the eclipse.
Eclipse mark a point in time when a series of events are about to happen.	None	+ Hiro's quest to stop New York from from going nuclear began almost immediately after the eclipse. + Total eclipses happen very rarely, so they can be regarded as a flag in the time line.
Heroes will end with an eclipse.	None	+ Heroes began with one, so it seems right to end with one. • Beginning and ending are opposites. It would seem just as right to end with the sun exploding, killing everyone.
There are two types of eclipses. One activates powers while the other one takes them away, but does not affect synthetic abilities.	None.	• The first eclipse that happened Peter asked Mohinder if it's going to be a total, Mohinder stated that in some parts of the world "yes", but to them it will be an Annular eclipse - Stating this, the eclipse they saw was a "Hybrid Eclipse" which is rather rare. The eclipse that is now coming, will be a Total Eclipse - one that completely blocks out the sun. - In The Eclipse, Part 1, the eclipse strips Nathan of his ability, which is a synthetic one. - In The Eclipse, Part 1, Mohinder's synthetic ability is also stripped away.
The recent eclipse will change the future of the entire show.	Interesting graphic.	+ Heroes must be re-branded while everyone remains powerless. See: * Heroes Re-Branded • Technically this isn't wrong... But it should be. Really it should.
The Moon is not the only thing causing the eclipse to occur.	None	• The eclipse appears to be a total or annular on opposite sides of the planet (New York and Tokyo) on the same date. Considering the total duration of a total, annular or hybrid eclipse this would be an unlikely event. • Hiro can stop time. Maybe his incredible want to see the eclipse did Freudian things to time. • Tokyo and New York aren't on exact opposite sides of the world. Still far away from each other though.
The ability-suppressing type of eclipse occurs very infrequently (dozens, if not hundreds, of years apart).	None	+ If one of this type had occurred in the last few hundred years, Adam would have aged to his real age, and died, just like when Arthur took his power away. - Perhaps Arthur actually used an unknown ability to kill Adam after taking his power, and Adam didn't just age quickly because his power was gone. + This is very unlikely, meaning that this type of eclipse may not have occurred for a very long time. - Maybe Adam knew that eclipses take away powers, so perhaps he made sure to be away from any location where one occurred. Of course, any past eclipses that took away powers could not have been like the one from The Eclipse, Part 1 and Part 2 because it seemed to cover more of the Earth than it should have. + This type of eclipse probably has not occurred for at least the last few decades, as Arthur would have experienced one previously and known that his powers would return, instead of having Mohinder try to find a solution. - Maybe Arthur didn't try to use his abilities during a previous eclipse of this type, so he didn't know they were even gone for that time period during any previous eclipses.
The Genesis eclipse originally had merely a symbolic connection to manifesting powers, but the writers of Season 3 changed their minds and claimed that the Genesis eclipse directly gave powers.	None	+ Linderman, Arthur, Angela, Murray, Hiro, Claire, Peter, Nathan, Isaac, Claude, The Haitian, Meridith, Flint, Usutu, Elle, and numerous others all developed their powers before the Genesis eclipse occurred. + In Season 3, Daphne claimed her power only manifested after the Genesis eclipse, Ando came to the conclusion that Hiro's powers manifested because of the eclipse, and Mohinder stated that all the powers he studied came because of the eclipse. • This creates an enormous plot hole if the eclipse indeed granted powers. + In his blog, Greg Beeman says, "I don’t think the Pilot’s eclipse gave powers… But others disagreed and that ship had sailed." This indicates that the consensus of the writers is that the Genesis eclipse gave powers.
The Eclipse suppresses powers in a different way than the Shanti virus does.	None	+ Sylar succumbs to "the hunger" and kills Candice, even though his power is suppressed by the Shanti virus. When the Eclipse occurs, he tells Elle that he's without "the hunger" for the first time since he experienced it.
Adam Monroe survived until 2007 because the eclipses that give and take away powers only happen every 370 years.	Total solar eclipses are rare events. Although they occur somewhere on Earth every 18 months on average, it has been estimated that they recur at any given place only once every 370 years, on average. The total eclipse only lasts for a few minutes at that location, as the Moon's umbra moves eastward at over 1700 km/h. Totality can never last more than 7 min 31 s, and is usually much shorter: during each millennium there are typically fewer than 10 total solar eclipses exceeding 7 minutes. The last time this happened was June 30, 1973 (7 min 3 sec).	+ 1603 (Total eclipse) + 68 years = 1671 (Annular, gives and takes away powers) 1973 (Total eclipse) + 34 years = 2007 (Hybrid eclipse, gives and takes away) + But if Hiro Nakamura was never sent to 1671, then Adam would've still became evil. He could trick Hiro into teleporting him to 2011, where he would release the Shanti virus and take over the world. So that Adam could escape the next eclipse in 2041, when he could just use a cryogenic tube or have someone with freezing put him in that state. - The first time Adam saw Hiro in the present was when he was already trying to release the virus. Therefore, it doesn't make sense that it was his plan all along to trick Hiro into teleporting him into the future. Besides, he dropped the virus before being teleported, so even if he somehow expected to go to 2011, he certainly had no plan to unleash the virus then. - We don't know when the last "power taking eclipse" occurred, so we have no reference to determine how frequent it occurs. - The Genesis eclipse, for instance occurred in Japan, Las Vegas, and New York. This is impossible in real life. The shows eclipses do not match up with real life eclipses, and vice versa.
The Genesis eclipse strengthened abilities, while the one in Volume Three weakened them to the point that they resemble what the abilities were like before the Genesis eclipse, but this doesn't actually stop the powers.	None	+ This make more sense than the eclipse giving the abilities. - It doesn't have to make sense. If an eclipse can weaken abilities in a fictional world, who's to say that it can't give abilities as well? + This would explain how Adam survived so long, and though this is a fictional world, eclipses are looked upon (in some people's perspective) as a flag in the timeline, or maybe that a new beginning will happen, such as powers weakening or strengthening.
The eclipse affects abilities of those who need to have their abilities affected, be it triggering it or taking it away.	None	- Tim Kring has said that there is no definitive answer to how the eclipse affects abilities. - This would require the eclipse to have some sort of sentience.
The eclipse had different effects on all the evolved humans.	None	+ The eclipse never gave the abilities but could have heightened them. - Daphne had no indication of super speed that could be heightened by an eclipse. • The eclipse could've helped manifest HER ability but that may not have been the case for them all, eg: just before the eclipse, Claire performed an act of heroism, she wouldn't have been in there unless she had an ability, the impending eclipse may have had something to do with this, the eclipse connected everyone. • Claire certainly didn't rescue the man because of the eclipse, in fact, she didn't do it to save him, she did it to see if her ability could handle it. • But in the end she did save him. The eclipse may have sparked something in people, Peter found more confidence after the eclipse, he already had an ability but perhaps (for him) it sparked a certain element that he didn't have alot of before. - It's not the result that matter, it's the intent, and Claire didn't save him out of heroism, she did it out of curiosity about her own ability. + She entered the fire to test her ability, but when she saw the man, she went out of her way to save him. - Peter became more confident the moment he started to control his abilities, which only happened after he trained with Claude, which in turn happened some time after the eclipse. • Re-watch One Giant Leap or Collision, one of those and listen to what Simone says. • Opinions aren't facts, Peter's actions weight more than Simone's opinion.
If one's powers aren't set off by some event in their lives (a kind of epiphany), the eclipse sets them off instead.	Nathan flew before the eclipse, in his accident (Six Months Ago).	+ Isaac first demonstrated his ability by doing drugs. + This would make sense with what is known about how abilities work. Mohinder finds out from Maya that her ability first manifested when she was upset/angry, which would have caused a rush of adrenaline. Nathan knowing that he was about to crash would have caused the same sort of rush. Isaac would have felt a similar rush from doing drugs. Also, despite being only a baby, Claire may have had such a rush in the fire that separated her and Meredith. Meredith's ability went out of control when Sylar injected her with adrenaline. You could also feel the same sort of rush from looking upon such a beautiful sight as an eclipse. This would explain why some peoples' abilities manifested before any eclipse we hear about.
Apart from giving and removing abilities, eclipses have many other ways to affect them.	None	+ The fact Adam lived 400 years implies that depowering eclipses are rare. The only other seen effect is letting evolved humans manifest their powers. Eclipses occur frequently enough, so it's redundant to say they remove powers once and give them 99 times: they may as well supercharge abilities, weaken or even alter them, as Mohinder speculated it has something to do with affecting human's biorhythms.