Theory:9

The Number 9

Writers Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite have commented in a series of interviews titled Behind the Eclipse that fans of the series Heroes should be watching for the number nine (9) to have a significance in the show.

So far, the significance of nine has either been minimal or hidden. If you think you have a good theory about it, take a stab at it here.

Symbolic Meanings of the Number 9

The numerological significance of just about any number can apply to just about any situation, like a fortune cookie. Does the number 9 really have any more of a special application to Heroes than any other number?

Possible applications:

• In Hindu mythology, the 9 major celestial bodies are personified as the Navagraha, one of whom (the moon) is named "Chandra".
• Also in Hindu mythology, Vishnu, considered the supreme being by many, has had 9 avatars (incarnations). A tenth avatar is predicted.
• The number 9 is present in many Chinese myths. The Chinese Netherworld supposedly has nine rivers in a nine-headed dragon. Also, ancient Chinese believed that the sky consisted of nine parts, the earth had nine separate countries, and each of those countries had nine mountain ranges.
• In Pythagorean numerology, the number nine is significant for a number of reasons. First, it is the highest value assigned to a letter or date. Second, because of the method of adding digits used, nines can be "cast out": a number like 19 is reduced as followed: 1+9=10; 1+0=1. In other words, you can simply drop the nine and reach the same result quickly.
• In Greek mythology, there were 9 muses, responsible for creation of the arts by way of inspiration. They were the daughters of Zeus, king of the gods.
• In Egyptian mythology, the Ennead were a group of nine gods and goddesses. Before passing onto the afterlife, a person had to be judged as worthy by the Ennead.
• The world in Heroes is at the end of one era just before the dawn of another.
  • The number 9 is the last digit before the start of double-digit numbers (in base 10). This feature is the reason the number nine has certain unique mathematical properties, such as the digits of every multiple of 9 adding up to 9 or another multiple thereof.
  • In French the word neuf means both nine and new. In German, the words for nine and new are neun and neu, and in Spanish, nueve and nuevo.
• 3 is considered a lucky number, and 9 is 3 x 3, so the number 9 is even more potent.

Occurrences of the Number 9

9th Wonders! Comic Book

The most apparent episodic use of "9" is the comic book title, 9th Wonders! The title is a play on the original "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". Many believe other sites built after the original Seven Wonders constitute an "Eighth Wonder"; it is plausible that evolved humans are the "Ninth Wonder".

The original Seven Wonders are the:

• Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Iraq, destroyed ~500 BC
• Statue of Zeus in Olympia, Greece, destroyed in AD 462
• Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, Turkey, destroyed in 401 BC
• Mausoleum (Tomb of King Maussollos) in Bodrum, Turkey, destroyed in AD 1522
• Colossus of Helios in Rhodes, Greece, destroyed in AD 654
• Lighthouse of Pharos in Alexandria, Egypt, destroyed in AD 1480

9 Evolved Humans

Obviously there are a lot more than 9 people on the show with powers. But there might be a main group of 9. The promotional image of the main characters includes 11 people, 9 of whom are known to have powers. These 11 people appear in Peter's vision.

• The nine with powers are: Peter Petrelli, Nathan Petrelli, Hiro Nakamura, D.L. Hawkins, Niki/Jessica Sanders, Micah Sanders, Isaac Mendez, Claire Bennet, and Matt Parkman.
• The two without powers are Simone Deveaux and Mohinder Suresh.
• Claude Rains appears later in a similar vision.

Miscellaneous Occurrences

• The suicide-bombed bus in Isaac's painting is number 009. When Isaac first tries to explain his ability to Simone he shows her the painting and says, "Look at the number."
• In Distractions, the license plate on Kaito's limousine is "NCC-1701". In addition to being the registry number of the USS Enterprise on Star Trek, the digits in the number 1701 add up to 9.
• According to its logo, Primatech Paper was founded in 1962. 1+9+6+2=18, 1+8=9
• In Unexpected Sylar and Mohinder are in rooms 22 and 23, respectively. 2+2+2+3=9. In front of these rooms they talk about the possibility of inhibiting people's superhuman abilities and about Chandra Suresh's murder.
• Primatech and Montecito are both 9 letters long.
• When Hiro teleports himself from the underground to New York,the time in the clock nehind him is 11.43. 1+1+4+3=9

Memorable Quotes

"That being said, we did lots of research in crafting our stories - some of which came from Hindu and Indian mythology. Remember how we've said the number 9 is important? Has anyone looked into that yet? If you haven't, start digging. Maybe if we're nice, we'll give you some more hints on this for a Hannukah/Christmas/Kwanza present."

- Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite

"The name certainly means something - but in general we were just looking for an anthology title as cool as "Tales to Astonish" or "Amazing Fantasy". But the number 9 is pretty important in the grand scheme of things."

- Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite (in reference to the 9th Wonders! comic book title)

"Make sure you expand your mythology search to the subcontinent."

- Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite (in reference to a theory about the significance of the number 9) [1]

External Links

• Interview #1 on ComicBookResources.com
• Interview #2 on ComicBookResources.com