Irony

Irony
Candice is killed with a Have a Nice Day mug.

Throughout Heroes, dramatic irony is used to underline themes, as well as to highlight comedic tones.

Episodic Recurrences

Genesis

• Peter begins to believe that he can fly and tries to convince his skeptical brother of it. When he attempts to prove his ability, Nathan himself is the one who takes flight.

Don't Look Back

• Brody states that Claire is "dainty". Soon afterwards, she is accidentally tackled, has her neck broken and regenerates.

One Giant Leap

• When Matt tries to explain that he can hear voices in his head, Audrey asks if the voices tell him to rob a store or kill the President. Matt later stops a man from robbing a store, and in a dark future, Matt works with the President who is actually a man he has been hunting hiding behind an illusion.
• Paulette Hawkins tells Niki that her son, D.L., would never murder anyone. Later, he kills Linderman.

Better Halves

• After long believing her husband guilty of murder, Niki discovers that she herself committed the crimes for which he was imprisoned.

Seven Minutes to Midnight

• Charlie goes to the back of the Burnt Toast Diner. As she aggressively slices off the top of a can, Sylar aggressively slices off the top of her head.

Homecoming

• Jackie is murdered by Sylar. She dies because she lied and took credit for Claire's heroism in Genesis.

Six Months Ago

• Hiro goes to the phone to try to call Ando. When the call is answered, it is not Ando, but the Hiro of six months ago who picks up the phone.

Fallout

• Peter, who is trying to prevent the explosion, has a dream in which he himself is the cause of the explosion.

Run!

• Hiro and Ando find a woman called Hope — immediately after Hiro tells Ando that they "need to find hope" — and because of her hopeful name, they decide to help her. She turns out to be a thief who attempts to kill the duo.

File:Thebridgecompare.JPG

Mr.Bennet shoots at Claude in 1999. The Haitian shoots Bennet on the same bridge seven years later.

Company Man

• Noah takes Claude to a bridge to shoot and kill him. 7 years later, he asks to be shot by the Haitian in the same location in order to protect Claire.

Parasite

• After holding Sylar captive, Mohinder draws spinal fluid from Sylar and tells him he "might actually do some good before [he] dies". Later, Sylar escapes, then tells Mohinder that he "might actually do some good before [he] dies" before he assaults him and pins him to the ceiling.

Landslide

• Despite having been working on Sylar's case for months, Audrey exchanges words with the killer without realising who he actually is.

Kindred

• Will says "Sláinte!" when he pulls his gun on Ricky. This Gaelic greeting means "to your health".
• Sylar kills Candice with a Have a Nice Day mug.
• After Sylar kills Candice, he comments that Candice was being something that she wasn't. Ironically, Sylar doesn't want to be and ignores that he is an "insignificant watchmaker".
• When West explains the mark on his neck to Claire, he mentions that the man in the horn-rimmed glasses, Claire's father, abducted him.

The Kindness of Strangers

• Sylar, a man who is on a hunt to acquire new powers, meets Maya, a woman who is trying to get rid of hers.

Fight or Flight

• Peter and Caitlin talk about his past, and Peter says that anyone can try and find him - it will not affect him. Ricky dies as a result.

Cautionary Tales

• Sandra tells Noah that an old saying says that girls tend to find boys just like their dads. Noah replies, "Because he can fly?" and Sandra ironically replies, "No, her real dad -- you."
• Noah who was so determined to get West out of Claire's life, ironically ends up asking him for help.
• Elle, who thought Noah had a deathwish for kidnapping her, ironically gets outsmarted by him and ends up shocking herself with her own power.

Graphic Novel Recurrences

• Hana meets Mr. Bennet in a children's playground to discuss life and death situations. (The Death of Hana Gitelman, Part 1)
• Betty, an obese female generally regarded as ugly, shares her name with a slang term for an attractive female. (Betty)
• Betty calls the people at her high school "fakes", all the while creating fake illusions of her own. (Betty, Part 3)