Theory:Samuel Sullivan

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The following fan theories are about Samuel Sullivan.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
Samuel will get killed off by someone from the carnival.	None	+ Nobody seems to like him. - To quote Lucius Accius, "Let them hate, so long as they fear." They may not like him, but he's in charge, and a scary guy. It would not be the first time someone ruled through intimidation. + Samuel seems to genuinely fear incurring the wraith of the entire carnival, or at the very least seeks to maintain their approval. Hence his desire to conceal his "misdeeds" from them. - As shown in Brother's Keeper, Samuel simply wanted to acquire a film to strengthen his powers. - Lydia at least seems fond of him. + Not at all, as seen in The Painted Lady. + If the carnies find out that Samuel sees them as little more than glorified batteries, they might form a mob and lynch him.
Samuel wants Peter to regain empathic mimicry.	Doesn't mean it's possible, though.	+ Lydia said Samuel tries to fill the void of Joseph's death. It was implied that Samuel wants to fill it with Peter, whom he seems to be very interested in. + It is unclear how the compass tattoo appeared on Peter's arm, but since Samuel was smiling, it may be because Peter somehow replicated his ability. • Samuel could have put the tattoo there when he and Peter shook hands. • Peter should have lost his enhanced speed and gained terrakinesis when they shook hands. - Peter has some amount of control over his ability, he has touched numerous people in the past without taking their abilities. + When Peter grabbed Emma, he unintentionally replicated her ability. + He could have replicated it passively because he could connect with her, it can be a sign that his empathy is returning. - He lost super speed when he replicated Emma's ability, if his empathy was truly returning he would have been able to retain both. + It could start with acquiring abilities through touch without meaning to. It's midway between his current ability and his original ability. - Peter acquired abilities through touch without meaning to when he gained his new ability. Therefore, this is not a new phenomenon. + At that point, he was still getting used to his new, limited ability, now that he has control over them, it could be a sign that it's becoming stronger.
Samuel's family got new members thanks to Rebel and Ellen.	None	+ Sabine Hazel is at the carnival and was helped by people. + Having Micah helping people to safety by moving them to the carnival makes sense. + Lydia notes that the carnival has obtained many new "family members" recently, more so than is typical (something she is concerned that Joseph would not have approved of). - Micah wants to help people, not for them becoming evil, so he wouldn't send them to the carnival. + Is Micah omniscient? And there is no proof the carnival itself is evil. Only Samuel has displayed evil. Besides the theory says Micah and Leona. Maybe Leona is linked to the carnival? - If Samuel had been met by members of Rebel, he would have either bamboozled them into staying or destroyed their lives until joining his 'family' seemed like the only option. + Samuel's path of deception may not have begun until after Danko went vigilante and killed Joseph after the disbanding of Building 26. Alternatively, while Building 26 was still active, he may have felt that Rebel was more important out in the field saving evolved humans rather than with him at the carnival.
Samuel is a John the Baptist/Christ figure.	None	+ He baptized Sylar to welcome him into his family. - This could just be symbolic of new carnival members being reborn into a new life.
Samuel is the Heroes equivalent of Magneto.	None	+ Samuel Sullivan is an egomaniac evolved human with an extremely prejudiced view of humans and a penchant for destruction. That sounds a lot like Magneto.
Samuel tried to travel back further in time to kill Mohinder, but failed.	None	+ Samuel wouldn't have any reason to kill Mohinder at the point he did. - Samuel needed Chandra's film, not to kill Mohinder.
Samuel hid Charlie somewhere in the past near Mohinder.	None	+ Samuel might not have had time to do much else before Arnold died. - Samuel wants to keep Charlie hidden from Hiro, but presumably wants Hiro to do something with Mohinder. For obvious reasons, keeping them together would be illogical.
Samuel and Sylar will have a fight.	None	+ If Sylar gets his memories back, he might see terrakinesis as a useful ability to have. + Sylar has eventually turned on every single person who has ever tried to recruit him. + Also, if Gabriel found out about what Samuel's been doing to recruit new family members, he might take Samuel on for moral reasons.
Samuel will find Ando, who will supercharge his ability, causing the Earth to split in half.	None	+ It would be the ultimate evil action to do as a villain. - Samuel would gain nothing from splitting the world in half. - If the planet split in half, everyone would die, including Samuel and the evolved human he wishes to be part of his carnival. + This may occur as an unintended consequence of them encountering each other, rather than a master plan on Samuel's part. + Samuel may be planning to use the carnival as an Ark to gather together and save as many evolved humans as possible before he destroys the world of Man. One of the carnies' powers, or a combination of their powers, may allow the carnival to survive the world's destruction.
Samuel killed Joseph, not Danko.	None	+ When Lydia came to the carnival, she felt Samuel's hunger for power. + Samuel and Joseph had some discrepancies about letting Lydia stay, which proves they weren't a lovely family. - Samuel seems genuinely unhinged by Joseph's death. + It's entirely possible for Samuel to have murdered Joseph and then felt badly about it afterwards. + Joseph was shown trying to stand in the way of Samuel and his lust for power. + Joseph kept an aspect of Samuel's power hidden from him for decades. Samuel referred to it as a betrayal. If he went back to the carnival after attacking Mohinder, he may have then flipped out and murdered Joseph.
Samuel wants someone who can carry multiple abilities like Sylar or an empath so he will not have to recruit a new member every time he needs to use a certain ability.	None	+ Not every person with an ability will mesh with the rest of the carnival. Having a mimic (or someone with intuitive aptitude) would eliminate the need for such people. - He risks to be overthrown by Sylar, then. • Sylar is not all-powerful. Given that Samuel has an entire army of carnies and a powerful ability himself, it's possible he has some way of "containing" Sylar.
Samuel and his family are somehow connected to Ricky (Caitlin's brother) and his crew.	None	• They're both Irish. - Having an accent doesn't make you Irish. • Samuel said his and Joseph's first family "didn't work out too well". + Ricky calls his crew his family. Samuel calls the carnival his family. - This doesn't suggest these two families are connected. • Ricky's crew and members of the carnival all have circle-like tattoos on their arms. - Only Samuel was shown to have a compass tattoo.
Samuel will split the earth in half because someone in the family/all of his family will be killed.	None	+ Hiro could trap the entire carnival to get information about Charlie's whereabouts, breaking Samuel's heart, making him break the earth. - Samuel isn't powerful enough to split the planet alone. + Samuel can multiply his power a thousand-fold on his own. If this isn't enough he can increase it exponentially higher if he was supercharged. - Samuel can't multiply his power on his own, he becomes more powerful in the presence of more evolved humans, if the Carnival was all gone he would be at his weakest. - Hiro is not the killing type. • Hiro wouldn't kill them, but he would trap them somewhere in time.
Samuel was responsible for the destruction of Tokyo that Hiro witnessed in "Villains".	None	+ Samuel's power is amplified by the presence of other ability users. + In this future, abilities were widespread and common, potentially amplifying Samuel's terrakinesis to untold heights.
Samuel will split the earth in half accidentally.	None	+ Peter lost control of his induced radioactivity because it was too much for him to handle. If Samuel is surrounded by too many evolved humans, supercharged, or both it may be too much for him to contain. This will cause him to lose control like Peter did, but on a much larger scale. - Peter lost control because it was a newly acquired ability and he was unaware of how to control it, whereas terrakinesis is the power Samuel's sole ability, so should be able to handle it well both in terms of control and of intensity. + Peter only lost control of that ability when he started fighting Sylar. When he met Ted, he was able to contain it.
Samuel gets stronger with every ability around him, not every evolved human.	None	+ That may be the reason why Samuel wants someone with more abilities. - Prior to Hiro acquiring the Coyote Sands film from eight weeks ago, Samuel did not know what specifically makes his power stronger. + It would make sense why he gets stronger only near people with abilities.