Emile Danko

Emile Danko
Portrayed by	Željko Ivanek
First appearance	Under the Bridge, Part 2
In-story stats
Known ability	None
Alias	Jakob Pradasa
Nickname	The Hunter
Gender
Date of death	Post-March 2007
Home	Washington, DC
Residences	Apartment in Washington, DC
Occupation	formerly Senior Agent of Homeland Security
Significant other	formerly Alena
Parent	Unnamed father

Emile Danko, also referred to as "the Hunter", was a former senior agent of the Department of Homeland Security, who served as the leader of a team of soldiers hunting evolved humans. He was originally doing this on behalf of his superior, Senator Nathan Petrelli, but since Nathan's ability has been exposed, Danko was left in full charge of the operation. He was framed by Sylar, who took on Danko's identity and killed some of his agents. After being given a compass by Joseph Sullivan, Danko was killed by Edgar, whom Samuel Sullivan had ordered to murder Danko and retrieve the compass before Danko could take him in.

Character History

Season Three

For an episode-by-episode summary, see Emile Danko: Season Three History.

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Orientation

Danko is killed by Edgar.

When Tracy Strauss attempts to drown Noah Bennet in his car, Danko shoots in the window, saving him. He proposes that Bennet and he team up to kill Tracy before she kills them and reveals that despite his operation being shut down, he's still hunting evolved humans. Later at an abandoned Building 26, Bennet attempts to save Tracy, himself and Danko by removing Danko's memories of Tracy. The Haitian erases his memories, but later Tracy approaches him in his apartment. Finding him with no memory of her she decides not to kill him. Danko then finds Edgar in his apartment who demands that he give him something. When Danko refuses, telling Edgar that he would never get it, Edgar kills him.

Jump, Push, Fall

Tracy calls Noah over to Danko's apartment, and he finds her crouching over Danko's body. She explains she had decided not to kill Danko when he had no memory of her, but a man arrived and killed him before she left. Noah notices all the wounds are around the stomach, and reaches inside, pulling out a key. He tracks the key to a safety deposit box that contained a compass which Samuel sent Edgar to retrieve.

Graphic Novel:Running in Circles

Edgar is sent by Samuel to retrieve Joseph's compass from Danko. Samuel tells him to kill Danko because it is what Joseph would have wanted.

Shadowboxing

Samuel claimed that Danko was the one who killed his brother, although it was really him.

Thanksgiving

Samuel and Joseph go walking near the Carnival. Joseph explains to Samuel about his ability while Hiro and Lydia watch on. Joseph tells Samuel that he has given a compass to a man from the government and that he was coming to get him. Hearing this, Samuel kills Joseph. Later on, Samuel changes his story that it was not Danko that killed Joseph, but Edgar.

The Fifth Stage

Danko's name and a picture of his corpse are on Noah's wall as he is trying to figure out what the compass means.

Graphic Novel:Bloodlines, Part 2

Lydia uses her empathy to discover that Arnold's son Mel has been captured and killed by Danko. Later, Joseph meets with Danko and tells him about the carnival. Interested, Danko agrees to Joseph's deal and is given a compass. Joseph tells him that he will need one of them to use it and tells him that he must only take Samuel.

Upon This Rock

Samuel attempts to justify killing his brother by saying to Claire that he was only protecting the family. Samuel tells Claire that Danko and the other men from the government lured Joseph in. He claims that Joseph led him right to the carnival. Samuel continues to say that Danko worked with her father and that Danko imprisoned her. He then asks Claire how she thought her father got the compass, implying that Danko gave it to him.

Let It Bleed

Edgar tells Noah that Samuel ordered him to kill Danko and to slice Noah open.

Heroes Evolutions

Gemini: Heroes Reborn

In the Quarry, Cassandra Hays finds a letter from Danko to Trevor Mason. In the letter (written on Department of Homeland Security stationery), Danko thanks Mason for the job offer at the Quarry, but politely refuses the job. He also offers to give Mason a list of replacement candidates for the Quarry job.

Heroes Reborn App

Prior to Heroes Reborn starting, the Heroes Reborn app was released with a video summary of Danko's history. The summary included:

• Ability: none
• Emile Danko is the government's new chief operative for rounding up evolved humans. (Cold Wars)
• Seeing "specials" as a worldwide threat, Danko takes few prisoners. (Trust and Blood)
• Begrudgingly partnered with Nathan Petrelli, Danko decides to force the issue of who's who. (Shades of Gray)
• Targeted by Matt Parkman, Danko must choose between his mistress and his mission. (Turn and Face the Strange)
• Danko is doomed when two separate killers come to take him down. (Orientation)

Memorable Quotes

"There are times in war when someone has to fall on a grenade."

- Emile Danko (Building 26).

"You're a dime a dozen, and eleven of the twelve are unreliable."

- Danko, to Noah Bennet (Cold Wars)

"How did you catch him?"

"I'm smarter than the average bear."

- Noah Bennet, Danko (Cold Snap)

Trivia

• According to Bryan Fuller "There was some talk about making Danko gay," but "it was decided it was best to not have our first gay character be a villain." [1]
• After shape shifting into Danko, Sylar notes that Danko has a mole. (Turn and Face the Strange)
• Danko speaks six languages. (I Am Sylar)
• Danko's pocket watch has Russian writing on it, suggesting that Danko, or at least his father, was born in Soviet Russia.
• In the commentary for Turn and Face the Strange, Mark Verheiden said that he named Danko in Trust and Blood because it became increasingly frustrating to continue referring to the character as "The Hunter". He chose to name the character after Rick Danko, a member of The Band. Mark also felt that the name was fitting because he felt Danko's character had a European feel.
• According to a sticky note on Danko's computer, his passcode is 4289721. (Shades of Gray)

See Also

• For a list of his victims, see Danko's victims.

Fan Theories

Please refer to Theory:Emile Danko for fan-created theories and other speculation.