Irony

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

Throughout Heroes, 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.
• Peter says that it "might be a little awkward if I ever wanted to ask [Simone] out" because they treat each other like brother and sister. They later become a pair of lovers.

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

• When Chandra is testing Gabriel's brain activity to see if Gabriel has an ability, Gabriel asks him about the testing: "So... What? You're gonna cut me open?" Later, Gabriel Gray assumes the name "Sylar" and cuts open his victims' -- those he believes to be evolved humans -- skulls to examine their brains.
• 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.
• Niki says that her life is "too much for one person." She later acquired a split personality.

Fallout

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

Godsend

• Peter is on his cell phone, trying to get get a flight out of New York so that he won't wipe out the city. He suggests going to Nevada. However, if he goes to Nevada, he would be in the same area as Ted, whose power is the source of Peter's exploding problem.

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.

Unexpected

• While in Bozeman, Mohinder discusses the murder of his father. He states, "What does it matter. Even if I did come face to face with him, justice could never be served." At that moment he is talking directly to Sylar who is masquerading as Zane Taylor.

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.

The Hard Part

• Virginia Gray says that "if [Sylar] wanted, [he] could be president." Sylar, in the dark future, became the president under the disguise of Nathan Petrelli.

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.

File:SylarAndMayainRogue.jpg

An ironic meeting between Sylar and Maya

The Kindness of Strangers

• Sylar, having seen Candice's "true form", tells her that it is silly that she is trying to be something she's not. In the dark future, Sylar uses Candice's ability to pretend to be President Nathan Petrelli.
• 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.

Powerless

• Adam Monroe is buried alive in the same cemetery with one of his victims, Kaito Nakamura.
• When West tells Claire revealing her power won't bring her father back, she turns around to see him standing in the doorway.
• Peter Petrelli almost helped Adam Monroe to cause the Shanti Virus outbreak that he was intending to prevent.

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)
• Elle comments to herself that if she had to attend Homecoming, she'd have to shoot herself. Eden does just this after replacing Elle and capturing Sylar on Homecoming night. (Elle's First Assignment, Part 2)
• Penny disagrees with her mom about using her appearance to get guys. But when her mom forces her to keep a beautiful appearance for a night, she has one drink too many and ends up using her looks to score a guy anyways. In addition, Penny's mom desires to show her daughter that an improved appearance can make her happy; but when Penny wakes up in bed having reverted to her normal self, Penny also realizes a different truth--that beauty doesn't last forever. (Faces, Part 1)
• After sleeping with Thompson, Jr., Penny sneaks away trying to hide from him that she used her mother's ability to alter her appearance to attract him, but she is later forced to tell him that she did so and learns that he likes the idea of her going out with him as someone new every night. (Faces, Part 2)