Sylar

Sylar
First appearance	One Giant Leap
In-story stats
Known ability	Possibly telekinetic
Gender
Residence	Sylar's apartment

Character history

The name "Sylar" first appeared on a cassette tape in Genesis, the first episode.

He is then mentioned verbally in the next episode, Don't Look Back. Sylar is stated to be a suspected serial killer. His perceived victims are sometimes seen with their heads sliced open horizontally at the center of their skull and their brain removed.

Sylar knew the late Chandra Suresh, before he died. Chandra told his son, Mohinder that he thought that Sylar was "Patient Zero". In a taped phone call between Chandra and Sylar, the latter alludes that the former "made him this way" and refers to a mysterious "uncontrollable hunger" he now has. Chandra wanted nothing to do with Sylar at this point.

In the third episode, Mohinder and a friend visit an apartment believed to be Sylar's. No one was there at the time, so Mohinder broke in. Inside, Mohinder's friend, Eden, notes that Sylar has no photographs in the apartment but plenty of books on philosophy, as well as a copy of Chandra Suresh's book. Mohinder takes pictures of the apartment, including a picture of his father's book on a bureau, books on the shelves, and a book in a glass case. He stumbles upon a secret room behind the glass case. Inside is a map similar to one used by the Suresh's, but with many more connections and papers linked to several of them. Eden identifies Nathan Petrelli on one of the links. Mohinder finds another room in the secret area covered by vinyl tarps. Inside, the walls are covered in scrawls, possibly indicating that Sylar's mental state is unbalanced. Writings such as, "Forgive me. I have sinned," are written all over, some apparently in blood.

In the very next scene, a man believed to be Sylar went after Molly, the daughter of a couple Sylar is believed to have slaughtered. Matt Parkman and an FBI agent Audrey stopped him, with Matt protecting Molly and Audrey giving chase. When Audrey pulled her gun, the man somehow forced her backwards against a wall and made her point her own weapon to her head. When Matt arrived, he shot at the unknown man. However, when Matt turned to check on Audrey, the man stood back up and the bullets Matt had fired at him seem to fall to the ground. As Matt and Audrey looked back, the man appeared to disappear upwards out of frame.

Trivia

• A photograph on NBC's Heroes site shows a birth announcement for a Paul E. Sylar, dated June 11, 1962. The announcement appears to be pinned next to the map in Chandra Suresh's Brooklyn apartment.

Fan Theories

• Sylar is Mr._Bennet
• Sylar was a test subject of Chandra Suresh who manipulated his genes to give him all of the researched powers. This manipulation, however, has had a terrible side effect which causes his split personality (like Niki) to be extremely violent.
• Might have every power the heroes have combined.