Theory:Nathan Petrelli

Main Article Theories about Nathan Petrelli Main Discussion

The following fan theories are about Nathan Petrelli.

For help on adding theories, see the help section.

Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
Nathan's power was aerokinesis, or the ability to control air.	None.	+ This would explain how he flies (propelling himself by riding on air currents), how he protects himself during flight (surrounding himself with a condensed air force field), and how he heard Peter tell Claire, "there is no other way" (How to Stop an Exploding Man). Nathan amplifies the sound waves and carries them to his ears. • If Nathan's power is aerokinesis, then he might be able to do more than fly. He may also be able to control air to create focused blasts of wind, keep the air around him warm or cool, and direct air currents that carry sounds to his ears. + With this, he could have protected himself from the radioactive blast when he sent Peter into the sky. - Nathan was severely scarred from the explosion in Four Months Ago. + That was a pretty huge explosion. Nathan's injuries aren't that terrible compared to actually being caught in the explosion. • It is possible that Nathan hasn't considered that application of his power, and thus was not shielding himself at the time. • Neither was he when he avoided his accident. He used it passively. - The temperature of a nuclear fireball is over 10 million degrees, which would have heated such a shield to the point where it provided no protection. It's more likely that after Nathan dropped Peter, Peter quickly flew as far as he could before exploding, just far enough to not kill Nathan. • Peter's powers were malfunctioning. He couldn't fly until AFTER he exploded. + This could explain how he appears to be able to breathe normally even at higher altitudes. - It appears as though most of his flying is done near the ground, no higher than a few thousand feet, which, in most cases, isn't high enough to largely affect a person's ability to breathe. - It is unlikely condensed air would stop a nuclear blast of that size. Also Elle referred to West as the "flying boy" (he has the same power as Nathan). + Hiro refers to Nathan as the "flying man". Elle could merely be unaware of this secondary function, or she could merely be using the phrase "flying boy" colloquially. West's ability could also be different than Nathan's.
Nathan and Peter Petrelli are brothers with Hiro Nakamura.	Hiro's biological mother may actually be Angela Petrelli, since we know she slept with Kaito Nakamura. (Lizards)	- Ishi loved Hiro too much for him to be the fruit of an extramarital affair. - She would know if Hiro wasn't her son. She wouldn't have been pregnant with him if she wasn't. • It is always possible to change someone's memory.
Nathan was not blood related to Peter.	None.	+ Peter and Arthur have similar powers. + Peter was born with abilities, Nathan was not. - Nathan's ability could have been taken from him by Arthur.
The Haitian could not prevent Nathan from flying away because he can not stop synthetic abilities.	None.	- The Haitian may simply have been pretending to assist Noah Bennet but was actually preventing him from capturing Nathan since he is Angela Petrelli's son.
The sailor seen at the end of the graphic novel "Playing with Fire" looking at Meredith was Nathan.	None.	+ Nathan served as a U.S. Navy pilot, according to votepetrelli.com. + If you follow the years correctly, Meredith and Nathan would have met about the time of this graphic novel.
Nathan was the son of Maury.	None.	+ Peter and Arthur have similar powers. + Matt has the same power as his father. • Nathan's ability could have been taken from him by Arthur. • Nathan was given a synthetic ability. Arthur could have felt bad about stealing his ability and gave him a new one. + Angela has alluded to have cheated on Arthur before.
Nathan's warning the President about evolved humans without lumping himself in with them may be a reference to how Adolf Hitler wanted to eliminate Jewish people while being part Jewish himself.	The end of Dual.	+ There is symbolism in the show. - This doesn't mean that everything has to be symbolic or metaphorical in the show. + Nathan would not turn himself in nor his mother or Claire. + Nathan could be considered "part evolved human" as he has synthetic abilities. - There hasn't been any definitive, conclusive evidence that Hitler had indeed Jewish heritage. • Nathan and Niki did have common grounds which they both knew, besides sleeping with eachother: he wouldn't want to put his kids through something like that, yet he's willing to do it to another child who has control over their ability? No mercy unless blood related to him, otherwise he'd feel guilty. - Nathan can't possibly have an attachment to Claire the same way he has for his boys, him turning Micah in says it pretty clear: he'll turn anyone who's not his family, regardless of any connection to him. ((minus)) Nathan was willing to imprison Peter after it became clear that he couldn't manipulate Peter anymore.
Nathan's ability was in fact ability replication, but he needed to be injected with ability's donor blood.	None.	+ Arthur and Peter Petrelli are able to somehow replicate abilities. - Nathan's ability is synthetic, it makes sense for his ability to be different. + Peter's new synthetic ability is very alike to the original one. + West was captured from the company so he could be the original donor of fight. - Nathan had no involvement with the Company affairs after being injected with the formula, at least until after manifesting his ability. + Arthur, Angela and Linderman, Company´s founders, had all stated that Nathan had a role to play in their plans. - Doesn't mean he had an ability, they could want someone with political power. - So far we saw at most two evolved humans from one family possessing the same or similar ability - Maury and Matt (Matt's son has an ability different from telepathy), Meredith and Flint (Meredith's daughter, Claire, has an ability different from pyrokinesis). The same may apply to Petrelli family. - This would mean that Nathan's current ability would be rapid cell regeneration, because he was injected with Adam's blood.
Nathan's body is in cold storage, and will be brought back in a future episode.	None.	• Angela seemed very shocked by Nathan's death. She may want to have Nathan's body if there is a chance the real Nathan could be revived. + While Nathan can't be given a proper burial, Angela might want to hold on to her son's body.
Nathan can be revived like Noah was, using Claire's blood.	Noah was dead, but was brought back to life. Nathan can be brought back too.	- Noah and Angela would likely have tried that first if it was possible, instead of just turning Sylar into "Nathan". + If Angela was as persistent on having Matt 'save Nathan' as before, they might not have considered other possibilities. - It may be too late. • If they planned to do it, they would have done it. Had they done it, they could have got rid of Sylar instead of forcing him to become Nathan. • While it may have been possible to revive Nathan with Claire's blood, Sylar moved his death spot and could therefore not be killed. This way, Angela did not actually lose her son (mentioning that Matt would save Nathan), and Sylar was seemingly eliminated. • They should have been able to kill Sylar when he was unconscious. Noah even said that the last thing he wanted to do was to lie to his family and say Sylar is dead. But they had to keep Nathan "alive", and not just for Angela's wishes; they couldn't let Nathan be killed by "one of them", or it would ruin the freedom they were working for. • Yes, but they could eliminate Sylar making him think he was anybody else, and save Nathan using Claire's blood. • Just burning Sylar completely, or removing his head, would have killed him for good. • It's hard to tell whether burning his body would kill him for good, since we're not exactly sure on how the kill spot works. Maybe a foreign object has to keep it separated in order for it not to regenerate. Also, it seems that removing the head of someone with the ability to regenerate kills the person, as seen in one of Angela's visions where Claire dies. Nathan's head was partially removed, with the main blood lines to the brain cut off, so it's hard to say whether or not Claire's blood would regenerate him, since his head is pretty much cut off from his body. • If his body is burned completely, he would be dead, since there is nothing left to regenerate. Ashes could not regenerate, since there is not even a brain left at all. • It might not even be possible to burn Sylar's body completely if the regeneration is passive. Adam Monroe survived the fire at Whitebeard's camp. • Although Adam did survive the fire, he remained as a charred body for a while, as Hiro saw what he believed it was his corpse. - Both Adrian Pasdar and Jack Coleman have confirmed that Nathan is permanently dead. • Source for that? - It has been explained that Nathan bled out, so an injection with regenerative blood wouldn't help.