Faith and religion

Faith and religion
Maya resigns herself to a convent in Venezuela.

Many characters believe that there is a God from which they get their powers. There are also several references to religion and the faith that individuals have.

Episodic Recurrences

Genesis

• Mohinder speaks of God creating man in his own image, joking that God's image is that of a cockroach. He postulates that man might be worthy of God's image if he evolves.

Don't Look Back

• Mohinder mentions God intervening in our lives and keeping us safe.
• An article in the Odessa Register refers to a "Good Samaritan"'s deeds during a train wreck.

One Giant Leap

• Mohinder and Eden discover a hidden room in Sylar's apartment with the phrase "forgive me Father for I have sinned" written numerous times on the wall.

Seven Minutes to Midnight

• Mohinder mentions that the Earth is large enough to fool you into thinking that you can hide from God.
• Mr. Bennet tells Isaac that not every bag and tag case goes smoothly and that there was such a case. A women left behind a baby girl who had no one to take care of her. At that time, him and his wife had difficulty conceiving a child and he says that it was like God reaching down and giving them a miracle.

Six Months Ago

• After quoting the Biblical book Ecclesiastes, Mohinder wonders if there is any sign of big events -- he asks if it's "a whisper in God's ear".

Godsend

• Ando translates part of the Symbol to mean "Godsend", and calls Hiro's power a godsend. Hiro thinks the sword is a "sacred object".
• When Claire says she doesn't consider her power a gift, the Haitian says that powers are God-given and should be respected.
• In jail, Niki prays to God for help. Jessica takes over and says, "Who needs God when you've got me?".

Run!

• Sylar (posing as Zane Taylor) tells Mohinder that he had an epiphany that made him feel at one with nature and God.

Unexpected

• Peter, feeling Isaac betrayed people like him by working for the Company, references the New Testament. He asks Isaac, "[What did] they give you[,] money? Drugs? What's a Judas get these days?"

Company Man

• After realizing her daughter has a unique power, Sandra thanks God and tells Claire that she prayed so hard and her prayers were answered. Sandra tells Claire that she always thought Claire was a miracle; when someone rises from the dead, it's a miracle. Claire doesn't believe she's a miracle--she's not sure if her abilities are God-created or if they come from somewhere else. When Ted agrees that God didn't make them this way, Sandra insists that God makes us all the way we are.
• Later, when Claire expresses anger at her father, Sandra expresses her faith in her husband. She tells Claire, "God gave you a second chance. Please give your father one."
• Mr. Bennet tells Matt that Ted wants revenge the biblical way.

Parasite

• Sylar tells Mohinder to give him "salvation" by giving him the list.

.07%

• Sylar telekinetically pins Isaac to the floor of his apartment, stabbing paintbrushes through his wrists and ankles in a fashion reminiscent of Christ's crucifixion. Like Christ, Isaac knows he is going die and accepts his death, knowing that this is his fate and his part in "all of this."

Five Years Gone

• As Sylar (disguised as Nathan) walks up to Peter, he says that their confrontation -- being brother versus brother -- is almost biblical.

The Hard Part

• Virginia Gray thanks the Lord that he brought her son home safely. She also wears a cross and has several statues of Mary on her shelves.
• Virginia Gray disappointedly condemns her son by telling him that he is damned.

Landslide

• Nathan says in his speech that his father always said that we should use what God gave us to help people and to make a real difference.

How to Stop an Exploding Man

• Angela tells Charles that he is in her prayers.

Four Months Later...

• Maya wears a cross necklace.
• An old villager asks Hiro if there is no God to protect them from Whitebeard.

Lizards

• The Haitian and Mohinder discuss at length whether or not God would allow the Shanti virus to exist.
• Hiro tells Yaeko that his father once told him that deer are the messengers of God.
• A curandera tells Maya that what she carries inside her is black, enough to kill the devil, and that Maya is cursed.

Kindred

• After discovering his ability, Takezo Kensei exclaims "Lazarus risen!" and claims Hiro is a devil who cursed him. Later, Kensei asks how he and Hiro can have abilities, and Hiro explains that some believe their abilities are gifts from God.

The Kindness of Strangers

• Maya, Alejandro, and Derek find a half dead Sylar lying in the middle of a road. Sylar claims that he had been robbed, and the trio show compassion towards him. This parallels to the Parable of the Good Samaritan, which tells the story of a Jewish man who had been attacked and robbed, left to die on the road. A Samaritan comes across the beaten man, and shows compassion towards him, tending to his needs.
• When Maya meets Sylar, he introduces himself as Gabriel Gray, and she replies, "Like the angel?" Also, she tells Alejandro that them meeting Sylar is a sign from God that they are on the right path.
• Monica expresses guilt at praying for an escape from Katrina-ravaged New Orleans while everyone else was praying for the recovery of their community.

Fight or Flight

• After finding out about Monica's ability, Micah compares her to a 9th Wonders! superhero named St. Joan.
• Monica and Micah discuss why God might have given them powers.

The Line

• Maya tells Alejandro that God sent Sylar to help them.
• Ivan says that if Noah shoots him, he condemns himself to hell.

Out of Time

• Bob says that Adam Monroe thought himself to be a god, and that Linderman was one of his disciples.

Four Months Ago...

• Maya is a nun at a Venezuelan convent, which contains a crucifix of Jesus.

Cautionary Tales

• Kaito tells Hiro that they have the power of gods, but should not play God.
• In Hiro's eulogy, he says his father taught him to understand that certain things are in God's hands, but for everything else, God has given us the gift of choice.

Truth & Consequences

• While preparing to break into a house and retrieve Micah's comics and D.L.'s medal of valor, Monica dons a hooded sweatshirt as a disguise. Micah claims that she is St. Joan.

Powerless

• Adam tells Hiro that God didn't like what became of the Earth, so he wiped out the inhabitants with a global flood that lasted 40 days and 40 nights. Hiro argues to Adam that he isn't God.
• Angela says on the phone that a Pandora's box has opened.

The Second Coming

• Nathan believes that God brought him back to life after being shot. Afterwards he goes to a church, prays, and says what he thinks is God's message.
• Linderman speaks of "God's plan."
• In a voice-over, Mohinder reads from "The Second Coming", a poem by William Butler Yeats that contains numerous religious references.
• Sylar believes that if humans used their brains to their full potential, they could learn the answers to questions such as "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

The Butterfly Effect

• Linderman tries to get Nathan to accept Governor Malden's offer to become a Senator, claiming that it is "God's plan." Nathan retorts that Linderman knows nothing of God's plan.
• Claire wonders if you still have a soul when you cannot feel anything.

Graphic Novel Recurrences

• In his childhood, Mohinder's grandmother tells Mohinder stories about Kali that inspire him to avenge his father's murder. (Monsters)
• Sheila explains to her mother that an angel wrapped her in his coat and flew her to safety. (Trial By Fire)
• Hana is inspired by her progenitors' faith and their adherence to Judaism and its principles. (Wireless, Parts 1, 3, and 4)
• Hana wirelessly admonishes child pornography subscribers to "log off, kneel down and pray." (The Path of the Righteous)
• In an apartment fire, Noah sees Claire, and thinks of her as a little angel in hell. (Hell's Angel)
• Hana does not believe religion is a good topic for a first date. (War Buddies, Part 1)
• Austin's family has religious paraphernalia in their house and when Austin heals his mother, Austin's father says God answered their prayers. (War Buddies, Part 3)
• Baby Nathan is seen playing with an angel action figure. (War Buddies, Part 5)
• Hana says that when she was a girl, she imagined heaven filled with clouds and angels with beautiful feathered wings. She continues and says that the heavens are filled with angels -- satellites. Thousands and thousands of satellites that, like angels, watch over us. They see everything we do, every call we make, every e-mail we write, they know how we live, and they know how we die. (The Death of Hana Gitelman, Part 1)
• Hana has a flashback of when she tried to fly like an angel with her umbrella. Later, Hana is in space and looks down at the Earth, commenting that that was how the angels saw it, observing, watching everything. (The Death of Hana Gitelman, Part 2)
• Guillame is the Houngan in a religiously Vodou village in Haiti. It is believed he was chosed by the Loa, and that he "walk[s] with Legba and Ogun", and "lay[s] with Samara and Delun." The Haitian says that neither god nor man could have loved his father more than he did. (It Takes a Village, Part 1)
• The Haitian narrates that Guillame's hanging was a punishment for "betraying the Loa". After Guillame is freed, he says that he must show that the Loa is still on his back; he plans on making a sacrifice to Ogun and Loa to restore his power. Later, the villagers exclaim that Guillame has lost favor with the Loa. When the Haitian recalls his father punching him, he narrates that it was then that he learned that the old gods, it they even existed, were not listening. (It Takes a Village, Part 2)
• The Haitian visits the crossroads to receive redemption from the gods before traveling to America. (The Crossroads)
• Adam again exclaims "Lazarus risen!" when he kills Evan for an apparent second time. After killing many Evans over the course of seasons, Adam proclaims to Evan and his clones that only gods live as long as he does. He also narrates that he was alone, while gods should have disciples. (Revolutionary War, Part 2)
• In Ancient Egypt, Khufu kept his and his kin's ability in hiding so as not to anger the gods. (History of a Secret)
• Howard Grigsby believes that his ability is a gift from God. He also quotes Jesus Christ, calling himself 'the light of the world.' (Blindsided)
• Ida May Walker tells her dominoes partner she can see "angels". Later, Linda Tavara tells Ida May she is an angel. (Moonlight Serenade)
• Donna Dunlap is nailed to a board through the feet, creating wounds that resemble those of Jesus Christ. (Into the Wild, Part 3)

Names of Biblical Reference

• Adam (Adam Soo Hoo, Adam Monroe)
• Andrew (Charlie Andrews)
• Angel (Angela Petrelli)
• Aaron (Aron Malsky)
• Bishop (Robert Bishop)
• Cain (Eden McCain)
• First and Second Corinthians (Corinthian Casino)
• Daniel (Daniel Buzzetti, Daniel Linderman, D.L. Hawkins)
• David (Brian Davis, Sheriff Davidson, David, David Berman)
• Eden, Garden of (Eden McCain)
• Elijah (Sarah Ellis)
• Gabriel (Gabriel Gray)
• Hannah (Hana Gitelman)
• Genesis (Genesis)
• Isaac (Isaac Mendez)
• James (James Walker)
• Jacob (Jackie Wilcox)
• John (Janice Parkman, Hana Gitelman, Ivan)
• Joseph (Joe Landers)
• Mary (Molly Walker)
• Matthew (Matt Parkman, Matthew)
• Micah (Micah Sanders)
• Nathan (Nathan Petrelli)
• Noah (Noah Bennet)
• Paul (Paulette Hawkins, Paula Gramble)
• Sarah (Sarah Ellis)
• Simon Peter (Peter Petrelli, Simone Deveaux, Simon Petrelli)
• Thomas (Thompson)
• Zechariah (Zach)

Other references

• "In His Own Image" is the title of the original, unbroadcasted version of the pilot, and refers to God creating man in His own image.
• "Genesis" is the name of the first book of the Old Testament and Torah as well as the title of the first volume of Heroes and its first episode.
• Theodore comes via French from the Greek name Theodōros, composed of the elements theos (god – in Greek, θεός) + dōron (gift – in Greek, δώρον), meaning "gift of God".
• "Bennet" is a variant of Bennett, meaning "blessed."
• Virginia Gray's first name may refer to the Virgin Mary, who was visited by the angel Gabriel and received the news that she would be the earthly mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
• Chandra's name refers to the Hindu lunar deity Chandra.
• Shanti's name can refer to inner peace or the Buddhist paramita Ksanti, meaning patience, forbearance, and forgiveness.
• The graphic novels titled Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration could refer to the title "Our Lady of Blessed Sacrament", a title referring to the Virgin Mary in the Catholic faith.

Notes

• yamagatofellowship.org's repository page has a picture of Thor, the Norse god of thunder and war.
• Included in Linderman's archives is a painting of Christ by Matthias Grünewald called Isenheim Altarpiece: The Resurrection.

Trivia

• In an interview with Jeph Loeb, he said that Tim Kring originally wanted Sylar to be a priest before becoming a killer.

See Also

• Judaism
• Kali
• Vodou

Fan Theories

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