Sylar

Sylar
Portrayed by	Zachary Quinto
First appearance	One Giant Leap
In-story stats
Known ability	Power Absorption known powers gained Telekinesis
Formal name	Gabriel Gray
Alias	Gabriel Sylar
Gender
Residence	Sylar's apartment
Occupation	watchmaker

Sylar is believed to be a serial killer who pins some victims to walls with household objects (and no signs of physical contact) and removes the brains of others. Chandra Suresh identified him as Patient Zero in his research.

Character History

Genesis

Mohinder Suresh finds a cassette tape in his late father's apartment, labelled "Sylar".

Don't Look Back

Sylar is stated to be a suspected serial killer. His suspected victims are sometimes seen with their heads sliced open horizontally at the center of their skull and their brain removed. Other victims are pinned to the wall with various household objects and no apparent signs of physical contact. Audrey Hanson, an FBI agent, investigates a murder scene she believes to have been the work of Sylar, and Matt Parkman uses his new powers to locate the victim's missing daughter, Molly Walker.

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.

When Hiro travels to the future to November 8 he visits Isaac Mendez in his home. Hiro finds Issac dead with his head sawed off and his brain removed, in the same style as Molly Walker's father.

One Giant Leap

Mohinder and Eden visit an apartment believed to be Sylar's. When no one answers, Mohinder breaks in. Inside, 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.

Meanwhile, a man believed to be Sylar attempts to abduct Molly, who is being held in a safe room in the Los Angeles FBI headquarters. Matt and Audrey stop him, with Matt protecting Molly and Audrey giving chase. When Audrey pulls her gun, the man somehow forces her backwards against a wall and makes her point her own weapon to her head. When Matt arrives, he shoots at the unknown man. However, when Matt turns to check on Audrey, the man stands back up and the bullets Matt had fired at him seem to fall to the ground. As Matt and Audrey look back, the man disappears.

Hiros

Sylar appears in a painting by Isaac Mendez which Peter Petrelli finishes. It reveals that Sylar will murder and remove Claire Bennet's brain if nothing is done to stop it.

Nothing to Hide

Audrey believes she's found another of Sylar's victims, Robert Fresco, but it turns out the victim was instead accidentally killed by Theodore Sprague.

Seven Minutes to Midnight

In Midland, TX, Hiro and Ando talk to a waitress, Charlie, in the Burnt Toast Diner. Meanwhile, sitting at a table is a man wearing a ballcap. He pulls a glass to his hand using his powers, revealing a broken analog watch reading 11:53.

When Charlie is discovered murdered, the top of her head sliced off, Sylar is nowhere to be found. When Hiro sees Charlie's body, he immediately recognizes the wound as identical to that suffered by Isaac in the future timeline.

At the Primatech Paper Co. warehouse that serves as his headquarters, Mr. Bennet reveals to Isaac Mendez that Sylar is a superpowered serial killer who is hunting and killing other individuals with powers, and confirms that the painting Peter Petrelli helped Isaac finish shows Claire, Bennet's own daughter, murdered by Sylar. He tells Isaac he needs him to paint where Sylar is so they can stop him before he kills Claire at her homecoming the next night.

In India, Mohinder Suresh has a strange dream. In it, he watches in horror as his father, Chandra Suresh, is murdered by a passenger in his cab. The man smashes through the partition and slams Chandra's head against the window. As he does so, he cracks the face of his watch, stopping it at 11:53.

Homecoming

A shadowy figure stands in front of the trophy case at Union Wells High School, reading the newspaper clipping about Jackie Wilcox's award for supposedly rescuing the man from the train wreck. On his hand is a broken watch — it's Sylar.

Later, the lights in the locker room suddenly go out and a shadowy figure passes by. Jackie protests as Claire attempts to lead her to safety, and suddenly Sylar grabs Jackie by the neck, pins her against a locker, and lifts her up in the air. Claire jumps on Sylar, but he throws her off and sends her flying into a wall. Jackie screams. Sylar covers Jackie's mouth and puts his finger in the air near her forehead. Suddenly there's a slicing noise and Jackie's skull is sliced open spraying blood everywhere.

When Claire regenerates, Sylar realizes she's the one he's after, and chase her out into the hallway, where she runs into Peter. Peter tells Claire to keep running and stops to face Sylar. Using telekinesis, Sylar rips the doors off of the hallway lockers and sends them flying towards Peter. Peter dodges a few of them and runs away with Sylar pursuing. With Sylar at the bottom of the stands, Peter tells Claire to run and find a lot of people as he believes Sylar doesn't want to be seen. Claire runs off and suddenly Peter looks up to find Sylar standing right in front of him. Sylar grabs Peter and they both fall off the bleachers and onto the pavement below.

Sylar climbs a hill to escape. At the top of the hill, Eden is leaning against a tree. Upon seeing her he pauses momentarily before raising his hand. Using her power of suggestion, Eden tells Sylar that he doesn't want to hurt her and that they need to talk. She tells him to tell her all about himself, but first he needs to sleep. The Haitian surprises Sylar and covers his eyes. Quickly Sylar falls to the ground.

Powers

It is still unclear what Sylar's original power is. Sylar appears to have discovered how to steal the superpowers of other evolved humans. To date, he has definitely stolen Brian Davis's telekinestic ability, and probably others. The exact mechanism by which Sylar steals these powers is not at present known; however, he believes that Chandra Suresh is correct that the abilities are based in the brain.

Speculation: Unconfirmed information follows.

• Given that Chandra Suresh identified Gabriel Gray as a possible evolved human, it's possible that the ability to steal powers either was his original power, or the process is somehow dependent on his original power.
• Sylar is suspected to have stolen one or more of the following powers: cryokinesis, regeneration, super-jump, or flight
• Sylar can tell that Chandra Suresh's watch is broken and also claims that Brian Davis is "broken". Thus he could possibly have the power of telling if something is broken.
• Molly's father is frozen solid while eating dinner, mid bite, with the top of his skull removed (Don't Look Back)
• After being hit by several of Matt's bullets, Sylar rises a minute later, almost "lifting" himself from the floor, seemingly unharmed. The sound of metal hitting to the floor is heard, as if Sylar was able to shield himself from the bullets. (One Giant Leap)
• Sylar escapes, possibly by leaping up the wall or flying.(One Giant Leap).

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. However, the casting of 29 year-old Zachary Quinto seems contrary to this information, as does the revelation that "Sylar" is an assumed name. In all likelihood, since the announcement only ever appeared clearly in promotional photos, the character concept has changed since the original announcement was designed and there is no "Paul E. Sylar".
• The apartment Sylar was using in "One Giant Leap" was number 613. The apartment Mohinder rents out in New York is apartment number 316. Each number is the other backwards. In Judaism, the number 613 corresponds to the number of "mitzvot[1]," or obligations, that a person is required to attempt in order to fulfill his covenant with God. This list was first compiled by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon in the 12th century C.E. Although a former altar boy, Sylar may be aware of this.

Fan Theories

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

Notes

• In an interview, Tim Kring responded to the question "Are Sylar and Claire's father connected?" by saying "There is a connection between the two, which will become clear in later episodes."
• Kristin Veitch of E! indicates that Sylar's character "is the opposite of what you'd think it would be."