Empathic mimicry

Empathic mimicry
Peter mimics Isaac's precognition
Held by:	Peter Petrelli
Ability to:	Ability to mimic other powers on an empathic level.
Examples of empathic mimicry

Empathy is the ability to "connect" with other people on a mental level. Empathic mimicry is an effect of this power that allows for the duplication of the superhuman abilities of other evolved humans.

Characters

Peter Petrelli is the only character known to have this ability.

Limits

Peter possesses an empathic ability which has multiple effects.

One aspect of his power is the ability to mimic the powers of other evolved humans near him. The exact range at which this occurs is not known, but the distance at which he can mimic the power of Claude is just several meters. He is able to duplicate Claude's ability almost immediately upon coming within range. Whether the maximum distance and minimum time is the same to mimic any power is uncertain. However, in Homecoming, Peter mimics Claire's regenerative ability when she is significantly farther away than the maximum distance for his mimicking of Claude's ability, and in Don't Look Back, he shows traces of Isaac's precognition the next day after accompanying Simone to Isaac's apartment. This suggests some variability in his ability to use different powers outside of close proximity to the person being mimicked. Peter's control over other powers that he mimics varies; powers that require active concentration seem to be more difficult for him to manifest or control. Peter seems to absorb powers involuntarily, but he may not be aware of absorbing a power that requires active concentration to use. In Distractions, Peter discovered the ability to recall a power that he had mimicked weeks before.

Peter sometimes has dreams involving other people that coincide with important events in their lives. He had a dream about Charles Deveaux at the time of his death, and he dreamed that Nathan was in trouble at the time of his automobile accident. He has even seen people that he hasn't even met in his visions, including Matt Parkman, Niki Sanders, D.L. Hawkins, and Claude Rains. Some of his visions appear to predict future events, but his predictive accuracy is uncertain, and may be a result of his having mimicked Isaac's precognitive powers.

UPDATE There is now strong evidence that Peter's ability is more spongelike (As Suresh said) than previously known. When he was thrown off a building in a test to try and fly again, he was unable to harness the ability~ but when he fell on a taxi cab and was presumeably dead from the force, he easily pulled his impaled body out of the car's wreckage, and begins healing quickly. Knowing that Claire is still in Texas, this implies that his comment of "remembering how he felt about her" helped him grasp the power and made it active again. Upon realizing this amazing collection of abilities he had gained, (Painter, flying, healing, invisibility, possibly others [he was near Sylar @ Homecoming, and possibly Haitian & Matt, when in jail]). This brings up the distinct possibility that he is the polar opposite of Sylar, although they both can collect powers, Sylar's method is ridiculously more viloent.

Examples

• Peter duplicates his brother Nathan's ability to fly after Nathan drops Peter. Later, Peter doesn't realize that he is walking on air while in Nathan's presence. (Genesis, Don't Look Back)
• Peter duplicates Isaac's ability to paint the future. (Don't Look Back, Hiros)
• Peter duplicates Claire's ability to heal the fatal injuries he received in a long fall. (Homecoming)
• Peter duplicates Matt's telepathic ability, causing a disturbing feedback loop between them. (Fallout)
• Peter duplicates Claude's invisibility; Peter and Claude can't be seen by anyone but each other. (Godsend, The Fix, Distractions)
• When Peter is impaled on top of a taxi, he regenerates, though nobody with that power is nearby. (Distractions)

Possible Examples

• Peter may or may not have duplicated the abilties of:
  • space-time manipulation; Peter is able to communicate with Future Hiro when he stops time, and is at this point the only person with whom Hiro (present or future) has interacted normally during a time stop. Whether this is Peter's or Hiro's doing is still unclear. (Collision, Hiros)
  • telekinesis; in an interview with the writers, they suggested that Sylar's inability to actually hit Peter with the locker doors may indicate Peter deflects them. (Homecoming)
• See Peter's visions for a list of dreams/visions he has experienced.

Notes

• Mohinder says that Peter's power is "like a sponge" to the powers of other evolved humans (and not like a "chameleon"), and it could be dangerous for him to get near someone with an "unstable" power. (The Fix)
• Claude opines that it is fitting for an "empath" to be a nurse, as though he has had a prior familiarity with people of Peter's ability (The Fix)
• Empathic mimicry should not be confused with power theft, Sylar's method of stealing or acquiring the powers of other evolved humans.
• In an interview, Tim Kring elaborated on the similarities and differences between Peter and Sylar's powers, calling them "two halves of a similar coin".

  "Both are able to absorb people’s powers, but in two very different ways. Peter’s is based on his empathy and his ability to connect with people and when he’s around them. Sylar actually has to take your brain and do something with it."

• Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli), in a behind-the-scenes video, reveals that Peter passes out at the end of "Fallout" because he is overwhelmed by all of the abilities he has been absorbing.

Gallery

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  Peter mimics flight.
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  Nathan attempts to save Peter, but drops him. Peter then flies in order to save himself.
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  Peter draws a prophetic sketch of himself flying near Nathan.
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  Peter levitates in Nathan's presence.
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  Peter may have mimicked Future Hiro's power to freeze time.
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  Peter mimics precognition.
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  Peter prophetically completes Isaac's unfinished painting.
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  Peter may be mimicking telekinesis.
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  Peter mimics rapid cell regeneration.
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  Peter mimics Claude's invisibility.
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  As Claude walks away, Peter reappears.