The Symbol

The Symbol
The Symbol
First appearance:	Don't Look Back

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A frequently appearing helix symbol is somehow linked to evolved humans.

Gallery of Appearances

The Symbol is found:

Volume One: Genesis

• 
  Twice on the cover of 9th Wonders!, Issue #14.
  (Don't Look Back)
• 
  On Chandra's map, in his Brooklyn apartment.
  (Don't Look Back)
• 
  Portrayed on Peter Petrelli's precognitive picture.
  (Don't Look Back)
• 
  On one of Isaac Mendez's many paintings seen by Hiro in the future.
  (Don't Look Back)
• 
  As a recurring shape shown in a genetic profiling program created by Chandra Suresh.
  (Don't Look Back)
• 
  In the swimming pool at a crime scene that Matt Parkman was investigating.
  (Don't Look Back)
• 
  On the front cover of Activating Evolution by Chandra Suresh.
  (One Giant Leap)
• 
  Drawn on Claire Bennet's geometry textbook.
  (One Giant Leap)
• 
  Drawn on a newspaper clipping of Nathan Petrelli, found on the map in Sylar's apartment.
  (One Giant Leap)
• 
  Drawn on a photo pinned to the map in Sylar's apartment.
  (One Giant Leap)
• 
  Drawn on a photo pinned to the map in Sylar's apartment.
  (One Giant Leap)
• 
  Drawn on a photo pinned to the map in Sylar's apartment.
  (One Giant Leap)
• 
  Drawn on a photo pinned to the map in Sylar's apartment.
  (One Giant Leap)
• 
  On the necklace of The Haitian.
  (One Giant Leap)
• 
  Designed on the hilt of Future Hiro's katana.
  (Hiros)
• 
  The tattoo on Jessica's shoulder, as captured on video.
  (Collision, Hiros, Fallout)
• 
  The tattoo In the underlayer of a painting that was thought to be of Niki Sanders, but revealed to be of her alter ego.
  (Better Halves)
• 
  On a Post-it note in Sanjog's file.
  (Seven Minutes to Midnight)
• 
  At a Greyhound bus stop in Utah at which Micah was waiting.
  (Homecoming)
• 
  On the hilt of the replica of Takezo Kensei's sword.
  (Godsend)
• 
  As a wood formation in the tank of the lizard named Mohinder.
  (Godsend)
• 
  In a plate of pasta being eaten by one of Claude's pickpocketing victims.
  (Godsend)
• 
  In the shards of glass from the broken display case after Sylar tosses Sandra into it. (closeup)
  (Distractions)
• 
  In Thompson's office.
  (Company Man)
• 
  On the front door of the Bennets' home as Ted Sprague bombards it with radiation.
  (Company Man)
• 
  In the arrangement of some stones on the curator's table in Linderman's archives.
  (Parasite)
• 
  In the wooden wreckage of the smashed bookcase.
  (.07%)
• 
  On a display of information about D.L. Hawkins and Niki Sanders in Linderman's archives.
  (The Hard Part)
• 
  On an ad for Jittetsu Arms in the Yellow Pages.
  (Landslide)
• 
  On a banner in Jittetsu Arms.
  (Landslide)
• 
  On Takezo Kensei's sword.
  (How to Stop an Exploding Man)
• 
  On Takezo Kensei's banner.
  (How to Stop an Exploding Man)

Volume Two: Generations

• 
  Scrawled on some death threats.
  (Four Months Later...)
• 
  In Molly's drawings.
  (Four Months Later...)
• 
  On Peter's necklace.
  (Four Months Later...)
• 
  Kaito receives a death threat tucked inside his newspaper.
  (Four Months Later...)
• 
  As Peter's tattoo fades away.
  (Kindred)
• 
  In Molly's eyes as she reveals the man who can see her.
  (The Kindness of Strangers)
• 
  Over Peter and Caitlin's heads, on the Montreal building in Peter's painting.
  (Fight or Flight)
• 
  On Maury Parkman's picture...
• 
  ...and on Bob's.
  (Fight or Flight)
  (Out of Time)
• 
  On the cover of 9th Wonders!, Issue #10.
  (Fight or Flight)
• 
  Above a door in Montreal.
  (The Line)
• 
  On young Hiro's toy Kensei sword.
  (Cautionary Tales)
• 
  Drawn by Adam Monroe on Victoria Pratt's photo.
  (Truth & Consequences)
• 
  On Hiro's sword as he charges at Peter.
  (Truth & Consequences)
• 
  On Peter's hand after he destroys the virus.
  (Powerless)
• 
  On a painting in Isaac's loft.
  (Powerless)

Volume Three: Villains

• 
  In Usutu's painting in Africa...
• 
  ...and a similar one in New York.
  (The Second Coming)
• 
  In Future Mohinder's notes.
  (I Am Become Death)
• 
  On a cardboard in the background as Maya discovers one of Mohinder's victims. (Angels and Monsters)
• 
  In Angela's eye.
• 
  In Peter's drawing of the Pinehearst logo.
• 
  In Usutu's painting of four villains.
  (Dying of the Light)
• 
  In the title card for the episode Villains.
• 
  In the position of the boxes in Angela's office.
  (It's Coming)
• 
  On a pendant at Ditko.
  (Our Father)
• 
  In Flint's wound.
  (Dual)

Volume Four: Fugitives

• 
  On a wall...
• 
  ...and on a seat in Big Jim's Franks & Fries.
  (Exposed)
• 
  In Noah's glasses.
  (1961)

Volume Five: Redemption

• 
  In Lydia's tattoo.
  (Orientation)
• 
  On a poster opposite Claire's dorm.
  (Ink)
• 
  In a collection of pushpins.
  (Hysterical Blindness)
• 
  On "Nathan's" hand before he cleans it.
  (The Fifth Stage)
• 
  Once again, on the Kensei sword.
  (Pass/Fail)

Heroes Reborn

• 
  On a poster for the June 13 summit on Quentin's board.
  (Dark Matters, Part 5)
• 
  As the logo for the June 13 summit.
  (Brave New World)
• 
  In a flower arrangement at the summit.
  (Brave New World)
• 
  On a secret door in the floor of Hachiro Otomo's study.
  (Brave New World)
• 
  On a wall inside Renautas Headquarters.
  (The Needs of the Many)
• 
  As a red painting...
• 
  ...and a blue painting in the Kravids' home.
  (The Lion's Den)
• 
  In the symbol for St. Jude's Hospital.
  (June 13th, Part Two)
• 
  On Hiro's bolo tie.
  (June 13th, Part Two)
• 
  On an evo DNA scanning machine.
  (Sundae, Bloody Sundae)
• 
  As a yellow painting in Erica's home.
  (11:53 to Odessa)

Graphic Novels

• 
  As one of Hana's earrings.
  (The Death of Hana Gitelman, Part 1)
• 
  On Hana's ring.
  (The Death of Hana Gitelman, Part 1)
• 
  On a necklace worn by Guillame.
  (It Takes a Village, Part 1)
• 
  In the sand, as drawn by Guillame.
  (It Takes a Village, Part 3)
• 
  As the embodiment of a serpent-crane.
  (The Crossroads)
• 
  In an arrangement of rocks.
  (The Crossroads)
• 
  In Molly's nightmare.
  (Molly's Dream)
• 
  Within the shape of the Nightmare Man formed by cockroaches.
  (Molly's Dream)
• 
  On Adam's sword during the Revolutionary War.
  (Revolutionary War, Part 1)
• 
  In the first Pinehearst, in the shape of deer antlers.
  (Truths)
• 
  On a sign in New York.
  (Rebellion, Part 3)
• 
  In Youssef's pomegranate juice following the 9/11 attacks.
  (Godsend, Part 1)
• 
  In a light fixture at Primatech Paper.
  (Godsend, Part 2)
• 
  In the scar a spider queen gave to Farah.
  (Godsend, Part 3)
• 
  On a banner in New York, NY.
  (Godsend, Part 4 variant cover)
• 
  On a wall at Primatech.
  (Godsend, Part 5)
• 
  In Mr. Vance's graffiti.
  (Godsend, Part 5)
• 
  In a panel division on page 8 of Godsend, Part 5.

Heroes Evolutions

• 
  As the secret login link to the hidden Company files area on primatechpaper.com. Note that the "rungs" on the symbol are placed incorrectly.
• 
  In a painting by Isaac Mendez titled Godsend in the online archives on corinthianlasvegas.com.
• 
  In the arrangement of the black boxes in the crossword puzzle on Hiro's blog.
• 
  During its opening credits of the documentary Sword Saint.
• 
  On a map marker.
• 
  On lanterns at Kensei's wedding.
• 
  On corinthianlasvegas.com after Micah hacked into the site.
• 
  On corinthianlasvegas.com after Hana hacked into the site.
• 
  In waves in the sky on a picture found in Linderman's archives of corinthianlasvegas.com.
• 
  In a double helix shape in the sky of a Diaspora photo.
• 
  In the shape of the wind over a soccer game.
• 
  In Samkhya symbolism, as seen in a Global News Interactive video about Richard Drucker.
• 
  In the logo for Pinehearst Company.
• 
  In iStory's "Friend or Foe" logo.
• 
  In constellations on the menu for the video game Enigma.
• 
  In a child's drawing as a collectible in the video game Gemini.

Unaired Scenes

• 
  On the cover of 9th Wonders!, Issue #5, by Isaac Mendez.
  (from promotional materials)
• 
  In a notebook on a desk at Chandra's apartment in Brooklyn.
  (from an unaired scene of Genesis)
• 
  On D.L.'s arm.
  (from an unaired scene of Genesis)
• 
  On Candice's belt.
  (from a Kindred storyboard panel)

Various Explanations

Great Talent and Godsend

When Hiro locates his katana in a New York City museum, Ando believes that the Symbol is actually a combination of two Japanese characters — sai (才), which translates to great talent, and yo (与), which translates to godsend. (Godsend)

Later, when Ando sees the symbol in Jittetsu Arms, he calls the symbol "Godsend" again. (Landslide)

• 
  Ando notices this character, yo, in a symbol on the hilt of Takezo Kensei's sword.
• 
  The Japanese Kanji character yo translates to godsend.
• 
  The Japanese Kanji character sai translates to great talent.
• 
  The two characters may combine to resemble the Symbol.

The Kanji dictionary defines yo as "bestow; participate in; give; award; impart; provide; cause; gift; godsend" and sai as "genius; years old" leading to a broader definition of the symbol under Ando's explanation, possibly as "bestowing talent/genius" or "providing/imparting ability".

The Serpent and the Crane

While sketching the symbol in the sand, Guillame tells his son the story of the serpent and the crane. The serpent was a creature of ambition, tired of crawling on its belly and eating grubs and mice. One day, he spotted the crane. The crane was carefree and stupid, but could fly. The sun shone on her always; she slept in the clouds and drank from the rainbows. The serpent found the crane at her watering hole, swallowed her whole, and was able to fly using her wings. The serpent flew around the sun and to the moon; he ate the clouds and played in the rain. However, Guillame notes, "What good is it to fly, if you have nowhere to go?" He says that the serpent lost touch with the ground. Guillame then scratches through his sketch. (It Takes a Village, Part 3)

In March, 2007, the adult Haitian returns to the crossroads where his father died. He summons the Loa and imagines he sees a serpent with wings, from whom the Haitian asks a blessing. (The Crossroads)

Other Uses

• Ando tells Detective Matt Parkman that the symbol on Kaito's death threat is the crest of Takezo Kensei. (Lizards)
• Angela tells Detective Parkman that the symbol was the logo of her husband's law firm. (Lizards)

Notes

• An unaired scene of Genesis shows the symbol in a notebook on a desk at Chandra's apartment in Brooklyn.
• Another deleted scene from Genesis shows the symbol, seemingly carved or cut into D.L.'s arm as he lies outside of his cell at the Moab Federal Penitentiary, as guards swoop in on him.
• The Symbol strongly resembles a stylized RNA strand.
• In an interview, writers Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite call Isaac's paintings of the symbol "helix paintings".
• In the Company Man episode commentary, the Symbol is referred to as the "single helix".
• Tim Kring called this symbol a "Heroes glyph".
• In an interview concerning the Symbol, Tim Kring says, "I would just say that part of the fun of watching the show is seeing how certain things crop up. And if you look at that symbol carefully, you might be able to figure it out. By the way, the symbol also shows up in places viewers can't see: On the door of a room in the soundstage where Heroes shoots, the sign reads 'PROPS' — with that special S as the symbol."
• In an interview, Joe Kelly said he made up the story of the serpent and the crane (It Takes a Village, Part 3) so it would be "in the terms of the Haitian's culture, and since the symbol looks a little like a snake with wings or feet."
• It seems that the symbol of Pinehearst Company is two of these symbols overlapping to form a representation of DNA.
• The eBook Brave New World describes the symbol as a "glyph" that "resembled a broken strand of DNA helix, but different from any found in most normal humans."

Trivia

• When the shot zooms in on the symbol on the hilt of the replica sword in the Museum, the symbol is reversed. (Godsend) This may be due to the reverse side of the hilt being a mirror image of the other side.
• Counting repeat appearances like Jessica's tattoo, the Haitian's necklace, the algorithm, and the covers of 9th Wonders! and Activating Evolution, the Symbol has appeared in every episode from Don't Look Back to Dual. However, the symbol did appear on Chandra's desk in a promotional image for Genesis.
• Issue 14 of 9th Wonders! shows the Symbol twice. Both times it has been rotated 180 degrees.

See Also

• For other uses of helix, see helix (disambig).

Fan Theories

Please refer to Theory:The Symbol for fan-created theories and other speculation.