Theory:Poison emission

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The following fan theories are about poison emission.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
Maya's ability is a personification of the bubonic plague, or the Black Death.	None	+ In the episode commentary for The Kindness of Strangers, Tim Kring says that Maya emits "a plague ... that makes people sick". The Black Death was a devastating plague in the 14th and 15th century that killed off 50% of the European population. + The fact that Maya cries black tears could be an allusion to the Black Death. + A curandera said that what Maya carried inside her was "black", which could be an allusion to the Black Death. (Lizards) • Maya's ability could literally be the Black Death, except with drastically different symptoms.
Maya's power is to drain the energy or the life out of someones body, and all the bad parts her body rejects, resulting in the black tears.	None	+ People who are in the vicinity when Maya uses her power collapse almost instantly, this could be because of losing the ability to remain standing.
Maya's power is a rapid release of the Shanti virus.	None	+ The narration for Maya y Alejandro indicates that mutations usually are formed to benefit, and the bad mutations still bring about benefits. + Bob worries what would happen if the Shanti Virus crossed over into the general population. + Very little is known about what the Shanti virus does, and the effect that Maya's power produces has never been seen before. - Symptoms exhibited by Haitian in Lizards and Molly Walker in The Hard Part do not resemble Maya's contagion; e.g., black tears are absent from Shanti Virus. - Maya's ability does not effect evolved humans exclusively. + In the Dark Future, the Shanti virus killed humans as well as evolved humans.
Maya's power will kill the man haunting Molly Walker.	None.	+ In Lizards the curandera said what Maya has inside her could "kill the devil." - This bit of foreshadowing may actually be referring to Sylar, who has recently joined up with Maya and Alejandro while in a depowered and relatively helpless state. - Or it could simply mean that Maya's ability is strong enough and evil enough to kill even the most powerful of beings. - We now know that that man is Matt's father and he's trapped in his own memories.
Maya's power is the ability to host a deadly virus.	" But, as a contrast, there are mutations that could harm the positive evolution of a species. Like the ability to host a deadly virus." Activating Evolution	+ In the text from Activating Evolution displayed in Maya y Alejandro Chandra has theorized this ability, if it's true she may be able to resist to any kind of viral disease, but became a carrier and can possible release all the diseases that she has came in contact at once. This is why her ability is so lethal. + If this is true and Maya learns to control her ability, she may be immune to the Shanti virus. She may also then hold the cure for any new variations to the virus.
Maya's power will be what makes the Shanti virus cross over to regular humans.	None.	+ Her powers are similar to that of an extremely fast acting airborne plague. If she comes in contact with the Shanti virus, her plague may mix with that and make it deadly to all - Strain 138 is what crosses over to the general public, and was made 30 years ago. + If she's infected with the Shanti virus, she could spread it to the population using her power.
Maya's power will kill Adam Monroe.	None.	+ In Lizards the curandera said what Maya has inside her could "kill the devil."
Maya's power is the ability to continuously emit waves of a unique type of energy that has a lethal effect on human physiology.	None.	+ That would explain how her ability works so quickly and is able to be 'withdrawn' so quickly with no lasting effects on people.
Maya's power is the psionic ability to make the brain produce a deadly substance.	None.	+ All powers come from the brain. + Most powers in the show are mental in nature. + Due the speed, range and effectiveness of her power, this sounds likely, explaining how she can kill people so fast. • If so, Alejandro power's was likely the ability to stop the production of that substance or the ability to force the production of a antidote for that substance.