Precognition

Precognition
Isaac paints in a prophetic trance.
Originally held by:	Isaac Mendez (deceased), Usutu (deceased), Matt Parkman
Absorbed by:	Peter Petrelli (lost), Sylar (lost), Gabriel Gray (exposed future), Arthur Petrelli (deceased)
Ability to:	Foresee future events
Examples of precognition

Precognition is the ability to accurately foresee future events.

Characters

Confirmed

• Isaac Mendez is the first character known to have this ability.
• Peter Petrelli has absorbed this ability from Isaac (Don't Look Back), but lost it when his father stole it from him (Dying of the Light).
• Sylar stole this ability from Isaac but lost it to the Shanti virus. (.07%)
• Usutu had this ability.
• Arthur Petrelli stole this ability from Peter. (It's Coming)
• Matt Parkman manifests this ability.(A Clear and Present Danger)

Future

• In a possible future, Gabriel Gray is able to use this ability. (I Am Become Death)

Unconfirmed

• According to NBC.com's interactive map, Byron Bevington possesses precognition. (Heroes Evolutions)
• According to Chandra's journal, a Brazilian teenager potentially had this ability. (Seven Minutes to Midnight)

Limits

Isaac Mendez

Isaac always made prophecies in the form of paintings or drawings.

When painting a prophetic image, Isaac entered a trance-like state and his eyes became completely white. He was largely unaware of his surroundings in this state. (He did not enter such a trance when making prophetic sketches.)

Isaac was able to depict the past, the present, and the future. The 9th Wonders! graphic novel that Isaac created (namely, Issue #14) contains events from both the present and future timelines (see here for more information). Additionally, at least one of his series of eight paintings depicts a scene from 1671.

Isaac was initially able to make prophetic images only under the influence of heroin. In Fallout, he overcame this limitation.

As of Distractions, Isaac could focus his precognitive powers. He made numerous paintings in an effort to locate Peter Petrelli, but he did not realize that all of them were accurate until he realized that Peter was invisible in them.

It is not known if all the works Isaac created were prophetic or not.

It seems that Isaac could only know the future by painting it because he had to look at the finished work. Peter seems not to make any mention of what he saw in the future, so painting the future is the only way to "record" what one sees. (Distractions)

The events depicted in prophetic images are not completely inevitable. Isaac painted a mural depicting the the explosion happening at ground level, and he and Peter later created several images depicting the destruction it caused. Thanks to the actions of several characters, the explosion occurred at a very high altitude, where it apparently did no damage to the city.

Peter Petrelli

Peter looks at a blank canvas and is able to see flashes of a painting from a distance. Once in front of the canvas, he appears to be locked into the precognitive trance until he finishes. (Fight or Flight) He is also able to do a sketch of him hovering with Nathan nearby after going to help Isaac after a heroin overdose and later draws some pictures of the explosion future which he shows to Claire.

Sylar

It is unknown if painting is the only way for Sylar to manifest this power, as Sylar was shown receiving quick flashes of the future after killing Isaac in his loft. Sylar lost this power to the Shanti Virus and didn't gain it back once he was cured.

Usutu

Usutu has painted numerous images of Matt Parkman on rocks around his home. Usutu somehow knows when events have changed to invalidate one of his precognitive paintings; and he painted over one such obsolete image with a new image. (One of Us, One of Them) Usutu can apparently extend this ability to others by having them use his ritual paraphernalia.

Future Gabriel

In the exposed future Sylar, now going by Gabriel, has somehow regained his ability to paint the future. After he refused to give Peter his intuitive aptitude so he could correctly change the future, Peter had him paint the future to prove to him that the world would be destroyed if he didn't change how things went. Future Gabriel painted a picture of the world being destroyed and this convinced him to give Peter his power.

Arthur Petrelli

Arthur uses this ability to draw a picture of the eclipse (It's Coming) and many other prophetic drawings, such as Claire in Noah's arms, and Sylar and Elle embracing (The Eclipse, Part 1).

Matt Parkman

When he was transported to Africa, Matt Parkman was lead by Usutu into a state similar to precognition (what Usutu termed a spirit walk) when he consumed a paste made by Usutu. Later, in visions, Usutu has appeared to Matt and explained to him that he must now become the Prophet. Matt replies, "I can't even draw", but almost immediately after uttering the words, his eyes turned white, and he drew three prophetic sketches with a pencil and paper, manifesting the power of precognition (A Clear and Present Danger). Since then he has used pencil, crayons, and, most recently, paint to document his prophecies. His precognitive state is indistinguishable from natural precognitives such as Isaac Mendez or Usutu. Unlike Isaac, he apparently cannot focus his powers as he tried to focus them to find Daphne, but only kept painting the same image of his own personal future over and over again whereas Isaac was able to focus his power to find Peter.

Selected Examples

• 
  Isaac painted and sketched numerous prophetic images.
• 
  Peter has also created a few paintings and sketches.
• 
  Sylar, after killing Isaac, has created some paintings.
• 
  Usutu wears a Walkman when he paints.
• 
  Arthur draws the future after taking all of Peter's abilities.
• 
  In a possible future, Gabriel paints again.
  (I Am Become Death)
• 
  Matt draws the future after being told by Usutu that he must now be the Prophet.
  (A Clear and Present Danger)

Memorable Quotes

"Look around you at all these paintings! Every one of them has come true."

- Isaac Mendez (to Simone Deveaux) (One Giant Leap)

"You think you can paint the future? Paint one without me in it."

- Simone Deveaux (to Isaac Mendez) (One Giant Leap)

"You really can paint the future, just like the professor said. Fantastic."

- Sylar (to Isaac Mendez) (.07%)

Notes

• In Distractions, Peter's eyes glazed over like Isaac's do when he entered a prophetic trance, and Peter again had visions of himself exploding. This was later confirmed to actually be a prophetic dream, an ability he had absorbed from Angela Petrelli. Why his eyes glazed over remains unknown.
• Despite having six present characters with access to the ability and at least two future ones, only one known person in the Heroes Universe can still access it. Peter Petrelli lost the ability to his father (Eris Quod Sum); Sylar lost the ability to the Shanti virus (Four Months Later); Isaac Mendez was killed (.07%); Usutu was also killed (Villains); Arthur Petrelli was, likewise, killed (Dual). In the present, only Matt Parkman retains the ability (A Clear and Present Danger). The future versions of Sylar and Peter Petrelli seen in I Am Become Death were able to paint the future. However, Future Peter was killed and Future Gabriel's fate was undetermined.
• In the Season 3 week 13 edition of BEHIND THE ECLIPSE writers Aron Coleite and Joe Pokaski explained how Matt became precognitive: "Matt’s ability is to access the mind – or at least that’s how it started. But as he grew powerful and as Usutu opened it up more to the “dreamtime,” he began to access that same plane of consciousness that Isaac and Usutu drew from to paint."

See Also

• For the similar ability to dream the future, please see precognitive dreaming.
• For the artwork created by this ability, please see Arthur's drawings, Isaac's paintings, Peter's paintings, Sylar's paintings, Usutu's paintings, or Matt's drawings.
• For the similar state that Usutu induced in Matt and Hiro with his paste, see spirit walk

Fan Theories

Please refer to Theory:Precognition for fan-created theories and other speculation.

Evolved Human Abilities edit
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