Theory:Arthur Petrelli

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The following fan theories are about Arthur Petrelli.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
Mr. Petrelli was an evolved human.	None.	+ Both Linda Tavara and Victoria Pratt insinuated it.
Mr. Petrelli had a power related with probability.	None.	• He kept winning in the card games. (War Buddies, Part 2). - He could just be good at cards, and have a good poker face. + Based on the seemingly random nature of evolution, and the fact that Linderman says that D.L. & Niki were orchestrated, and have an evolved child, it's possible that Arthur does have some control over chance. + Several cards are present in the Company's vault. + Dallas was the only squad member who survived in War Buddies, Part 2 because Austin healed him, which could be seen as an act of luck. + If it was a Viet Cong sniper, they were trained not to leave any alive. Arthur survived to be healed because of the chances that the shot would miss any fatal location. + His law firm represented Linderman in his many actions. Lawyers occasionally lose; however, Linderman is never scared in his "business ventures" so Arthur must be either a good lawyer or really lucky. + Arthur thought he was invincible. Having infinite good luck will do that to a person. - If Arthur was so lucky, he wouldn't have had any reason to commit suicide, and he'd have survived any attempt on his life. + It could be that Arthur never committed suicide and faked his death to escape the Company. + Not neccessarily. To a man in a severe state of depression, "lucky" might reflect a successful suicide attempt rather then a failed one. Equally, people do not become depressed solely by being unlucky, which means he would not be saved from it by luck.
Mr. Petrelli has the power of immortality.	Angela Petrelli states that Mr. Petrelli thought he was invincible. (Don't Look Back)	+ Angela's comment suggests that he was in some way resistant to death, but as he is (most likely) dead, he was clearly not immune to injury. Perpetuity would explain both these facts. • Mrs. Petrelli has lied about her family's "delusions of grandeur" on more than one occasion. - Petrelli knew Linderman had the healing power, so any physical injury could always be healed. Perpetuity isn't necessary and is likely not the case, since he seems to have eventually died. + In Elle's First Assignment, Part 1, Bob compares Claire's power to Linderman and Arthur. Both of their powers involved healing. - Bob refers to Claire's bloodline saying that "she comes from great stock", mentioning that "she could be the next Linderman or Arthur Petrelli", in an excellent leader quality, not in the nature of her abilities, at that point in time Claire's powers were unknown.
Arthur had no powers.	None.	+ In War Buddies, Mr. Petrelli displays no powers. - It's possible that Arthur's power hadn't activated yet. - The photo shown in The Kindness of Strangers showed Mr. Petrelli in the presence of a group of people, some of whom have displayed powers. • Arthur may have been the human voice to the group. He may have urged human-centric ideals to the Company such as human-evolved human partnerships, etc. - Linderman told Nathan that Mr. Petrelli had "great power". • Linderman was an old friend to Arthur, and may have been speaking metaphorically. - It is repeatedly stated by Angela that Nathan and Peter are like their father in that they have delusions of grandeur, despite the fact that they have powers. Angela is clearly covering up the powers of her sons, and it would seem is doing the same with the powers of the father. • Mrs. Petrelli has lied about her family's "delusions of grandeur" on more than one occasion. + Arthur wears horn-rimmed glasses, possibly a purposeful homage to another powerless, but powerful character. - "They both wear glasses, therefore they both are powerless" is a deceptively inconclusive point. • Like Bennet, Arthur has military/special ops skills. He may have been skilled in ways unrelated to evolved abilities. - Every Company agent appears to be trained in military ops; for example, Eden was an expert in hand-to-hand combat in Elle's First Assignment. • Perhaps Mr. Petrelli was trained before his power was unleashed, or his power has nothing to do with combat. + All of the group of twelve don't necessarily have powers. It would be helpful for them to have a lawyer to help build the company, and he would already know of Linderman's powers. He has also previously shown that he can fight for the greater good, which the company tends to do. - The group of twelve came together because they all had powers. - In Elle's First Assignment, Part 1, Bob compares Claire's power to Linderman and Arthur. This wouldn't make sense if Mr. Petrelli had no power. - In War Buddies, Part 7, Arthur's name is in Linda's notebook, which most probably holds names and addresses of people she hunts for taking their abilities. It would not make sense to have Arthur's name there if he had no powers.
Mr. Petrelli is not dead, but in hiding from Mr. Linderman, possibly as a part of the Witness Protection Program. He faked a suicide, possibly with the help of Nathan to protect his wife and family and so not to be put into a position either against his son or against Mr. Linderman.	Peter did not sense his own father's passing, like Charles Deveaux's or Nathan's accident. Their mother stated that Nathan was the one who found his father dead.(Genesis, Six Months Ago).	• Since Peter's father supposedly committed suicide after Nathan's accident, he had already experienced his first vision. - This theory requires that nobody other than those in on the fake suicide had seen Mr. Petrelli's body or that they were somehow able to produce what appeared to be his body. - While Nathan tells Peter that their dad is dead from a heart attack, Angela Petrelli told Peter in the hospital not only that his father suffered delusions of grandeur and had committed suicide, but that he had attempted it several times before. If his death was faked, those previous attempts are no longer explained. • Mrs. Petrelli has lied about her family's "delusions of grandeur" on more than one occasion.
Linderman orchestrated Mr. Petrelli's death to look like a suicide.	None.	• Linderman clearly has enough power to do such a thing, and he benefited from Mr. Petrelli's demise in that Nathan switched from being about to prosecute him to being a "candidate in his pocket." - It is implied that his father's death was one of the main motivations for Nathan to begin working with the FBI to bring Linderman down. - It is implied that, in some way, Adam Monroe was responsible for each 'group of twelve' death so far.
Mr. Petrelli did not have delusions of grandeur. His suicide was a way to make Linderman's healing power public.	Linderman has healing power. Mr. Petrelli decided to report the truth, but Linderman denies everything about his healing powers. Linderman states he might be delusional. (War Buddies, Part 5)	• Petrelli pushed Linderman going public about his healing power by committing suicide, forcing him to heal him. Previous attempts were covered up by the media and one time, Linderman just refused to heal him, thus indirectly killing. + Although Linderman said that Petrelli was delusional, it was clear that he wasn't (at that time). - It was stated by Angela Petrelli that Mr. Petrelli had major depressive disorder. She went on saying that this disorder can start from delusions of grandeur - thinking you're invincible or indestructible. (Don't Look Back) - Linderman claiming that Petrelli was delusional could have merely been a reference to Petrelli's illness. • Mrs. Petrelli has lied about her family's "delusions of grandeur" on more than one occasion.
Mr. Petrelli was Mr. Bennet's biological father.	Noah Bennet's father needed glasses. (Company Man) Mr. Petrelli needed glasses and apparently wore a horn-rimmed version. (The Kindness of Strangers)	+ All of Mr. Petrelli's sons (if you include Noah) are named after prominent Biblical characters. - A lot of Anglo Saxon Names appear in the bible, including Matthew, Thomas, Gabriel, and Daniel aka D.L.
Arthur's power was weather manipulation.	None.	+ During Bob's explanation to Nathan about the strong influence Adam has on people, he talks about a snowstorm that was for Nathan and could've easily been a tsunami, insinuating that Arthur was the creator of the snowstorm. - He seemed to be talking in a general manner, not actually indicating that the snowfall was actually for Nathan in any way. There's no reason to suspect that snowfall in Miami would have been anything special to Nathan, especially as they (at least seemingly) are from New York. - The article referenced is from November 21, 2006 Miami Bugle; Arthur Petrelli allegedly died April 2006. + Just because the article the text is extracted from is from that date, that doesn't mean the that the intention of the article in the show is to be from that date as well. The date is conspicuously absent from the clipping in the book. + A newspaper clippings on the map reads "'Rain' Man Saves Town from Drought". - There's nothing to tie that clipping to Arthur Petrelli specifically, it just seems to make it clear that there is a weather manipulator out there.
Arthur attempted to kill himself because Linderman could always heal him, but Linderman let him die.	None.	+ Linderman has the power of healing. Arthur thought he was invincible. Arthur could have theoretically been seeing how far he could push himself to the edge and have Linderman bring him back. It would explain his attempted suicides, and why he was meeting with Linderman on the night of his death. + Linderman might have decided that Peter and Nathan were ready for the Big Plan, so he disposed of Arthur to both inspire the brothers and prevent him from interfering in Linderman's scheme.
Arthur Petrelli has the power of rapid cell regeneration.	Angela Petrelli states that Mr. Petrelli thought he was invincible. (Don't Look Back)	• Claire is unable to regenerate if the killing object is still inside of her. It is possible that Mr. Petrelli injured himself in such a way as to be unable to regenerate. Angela Petrelli seemed unknowing of this, as Claire was the one that had to pull the piece of glass out of Peter's head to revive him. • It is not when the object is inside you, but when the injury is to the head (specifically the back). Adam explicitly mentions that it is impossible to recover from a severe blow to the head. + Both Adam Monroe and Victoria Pratt seem to have experience in knowing that there is "no coming back" from decapitation even with rapid cell regeneration (Cautionary Tales). This could possibly be because Arthur Petrelli had it and died in this way. + In Elle's First Assignment, Part 1, Bob compares Claire's power to Linderman (healing) and Arthur. - He could mean that Arthur was the head of the Company, as he says to Elle that she could be taking orders from Claire in a few years. + Bob said that it was Claire's blood that could make her the next Linderman or Arthur. - At that point in time, Claire's abilities had not manifested and were not known. So they couldn't have been compared to anything. - Dallas didn't regenerate when shot; he had to be healed by Austin. (War Buddies, Part 2) - It's possible that his ability wasn't triggered yet. Parkman, Sylar, Peter Petrelli, etc, didn't know they had an ability until late 20's or early 30's. Adam Monroe did not know he was able to regenerate and surely would have, if it had been in effect since birth.
Arthur Petrelli was a bad guy.	None.	+ In Truth & Consequences, Victoria tells Peter, "Adam's a murderer, and since you're helping him, you're one too... Just like your parents." • It should be noted that Arthur was a soldier who fought in the Vietnam War, and has killed people (such as Au Co).
Arthur Petrelli has empathic mimicry.	None/	+ Some powers seem to be inherited. + Arthur allegedly thought himself invincible, and this would be similar to Adam and his ability to regenerate, while he is also said in Elle's First Assignment, Part 1 to have a power similar to Linderman. + Arthur is said to have shown no abilities in War Buddies, which would be consistent with an empath who had not yet been both 1) not near anyone with an active ability, and either 2a) not aware of his own abilities, or 2b) not near any evolved human at all. + Arthur appears to communicate with Maury Parkman telepathically in Angels and Monsters.
Arthur Petrelli is the true villain of Heroes.	According to War Buddies, "Dallas" has an extremely utilitarian philosophy, torturing a native for several hours to find the lost Skyhawk, and then destroying an entire village along with killing a young girl to win the war. Many of the antagonists related to the Company appear to use the same modus operandi: Linderman wanted to unite the world by killing .07% of its population.	- Most sources claim Mr. Petrelli is dead. • However, this could be a cover-up; it is a cliché tactic of villains to fake their death so their operations are not uncovered. + In Truth & Consequences, Victoria tells Peter, "Adam's a murderer, and since you're helping him, you're one too... Just like your parents." + Arthur was a close friend of Linderman, and one of the founders of the Company. Linderman was a main villain of season one, and certainly the most manipulative. He is also married to Angela, who also supported Linderman. + Bob claims that Linderman was Adam's disciple; however, Arthur appears to have taught Linderman more about "the ends justifying the means" than Adam did. (War Buddies, Part 5) + Bob says that with her power (the same as Adam's), Claire could "become a major player. The next Linderman. The next Arthur Petrelli." The emphasis on Arthur could be indicative of something. (Elle's First Assignment, Part 1) + Linderman told Nathan that Mr. Petrelli had "great power." (Landslide)
Arthur Petrelli is Howard Grigsby.	None.	+ Both characters have been said to have delusions of grandeur. - It is unlikely that a minor graphic novel character would actually be a central character.