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. - According to Dawn Olivieri [1], most of the carnies do 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 hates him for killing Joseph. + Edgar hates him for killing Joseph. - Caleb and Eli liked Samuel. + If the carnies find out that Samuel sees them as little more than glorified batteries, they might form a mob and lynch him. - A mob of carnies surrounding Samuel would only give him more power, allowing him to kill or further manipulate them. • The power to control dirt and other minerals would allow Samuel to intimidate a mob of angry specials, not manipulate them. - As shown in Brother's Keeper, the more specials around Samuel the more powerful he becomes. If they are throughly scared and intimidated, they would presumably do whatever he asked. + Samuel won't be able to protect himself from powers like telekinesis, super speed, spontaneous combustion or puppet master. • Terrakinesis may not actually require hand motions. Like telekinesis, it may be used with the power of the mind, with the hand gestures directing the power. If this were true, telekinesis and puppet master would not be an absolute solution. - It is unlikely that the writers would make Samuel so easy to kill off, based on his importance to the current story arc. He presumably has some sort of unknown defense, otherwise, he would have not been so quick to accuse Edgar of murder. + Samuel blackmails the Bowmans (Smoke & Mirrors), and in an alternate ending of iStory he kills Chris. The Bowmans may rise against him. - Samuel is more than powerful enough to defeat two people and their small child, even if they do possess an ability.
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 did lose his enhanced speed and gain terrakinesis when they shook hands, although 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; with empathic mimicry 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. + Micah isn't omniscient, and there is no proof the carnival itself is evil. Only Samuel has displayed evil. - 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 insistence may not have begun until he killed Joseph. 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. • We fear the unknown, as Albus Dumbledore said in Harry Potter 6. Humans were prejudiced as well. And in the first X-Men film, we see that Magneto was a Holocaust survivor. Hitler was scared of the Jews because he didn't understand. And remember in the episode 1961, "Nazis" were mentioned by Charles Deveaux. - "Egomaniac" is such a strong term. Everyone in Heroes has their own sins. + But some of them are true villains.
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 thought he did. - Samuel needed Chandra's film, not to kill Mohinder.
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 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	• 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. • It is currently unknown what the specifics are behind Samuel's power enhancements, he may able able to "retain" the force he absorbs from evolved humans for use at a later date.
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.
Evolved humans with more potent abilities give Samuel more power then those average or mundane abilities.	None	+ Samuel goes out of his way to obtain powerful individuals, even when it is incredibly difficult to do so. For example, he went to great lengths to try and recruit Jeremy Greer, even though Jeremy was mentally unstable, dangerous and incarcerated. If every evolved human gave Samuel the same amount of power, it is doubtful that he would go after Jeremy as opposed to a less difficult target. + This may also be why Samuel was interested in recruiting Peter and Sylar - they have multiple abilities and may be able to increase his power more than other evolved humans.
Samuel wants Tracy to find Eli so he can make Eli clone himself, rapidly increasing evolved human numbers around him so he can make himself more powerful.	None	+ Samuel's ability gets stronger when there are more evolved humans around him. + It would be a way to make himself powerful much faster than recruiting several evolved humans. - Samuel sent Tracy to find Eli before learning that. • Samuel was already recruiting people before that, it could simply be yet another reason to bring Eli back. • It isn't known if Eli's clones can clone themselves, that is, if they also possess the ability. Julien's clones couldn't replicate, but Evan's could. • Eli's clones are like shells of the root person, so calling them each an evolved human might be too generous.
Samuel will be defeated by Sylar.	None	+ Sylar has a powerful combination of powers that would give him a chance against a fully powered Samuel. - Samuel has the power to potentially split the earth in half. Sylar does not possess that amount of power. + Sylar would want to steal his power. - Only Samuel and Mohinder know Samuel's power is magnified by other evolved humans. - Sylar may not remember Samuel. - No matter how strong Sylar's motivation is, Samuel is exponentially more powerful.
Samuel will use his power to create a giant rock man, much like Uluru.	None	+ His ability would allow him to do this. + Especially with the more carnies he gathers. + It would be a good way for him to cause destruction if he wanted to, without putting himself in immediate danger. - It would also expose the existence of evolved humans.
Samuel was more responsible than Alice Shaw or Angela in what happened in Coyote Sands.	Mr. Suresh had to have some way to know what Samuel was all about and everything was covered in sand quite easily, a sandstorm is way more than mere uncontrolled weather.	+ Samuel has made time controlling individuals help him travel. + Samuel is probably the one that split the world when artificial powers made him overcharged. What could have happened in Coyote Sands, where many powerful individuals were brought together? - A storm was reported to wipe out Coyote Sands, not an earthquake or anything related to earth. + Baby Samuel may have unconsciously produced a massive sandstorm with terrakinesis. Because the sand particles would not be dependent on wind currents for speed, they could easily move fast enough to literally flay anyone caught within it alive.
Samuel will not split the world in half.	None	+ It would be a horrible way to end the show. + The Heroes always save the world. + Matt can paint the future, he hasn't painted anything recently.
Samuel and Alice Shaw will meet up somehow, and use their abilities together to cause massive destruction.	None	+ Their abilities (terrakinesis and weather control) compliment each other, one controls the ground while the other controls the sky. + Samuel and Alice both seem to bear some responsibility for the destruction of Coyote Sands. This may have been foreshadowing what is to come. + It is unlikely that we have seen the last of Alice, and this would be a good way to tie her back into the story.
Samuel Sullivan's mother is Kelly Sullivan, the adoptive mother of Niki Sanders.	None	+ They have the same last name. - They seem too distant. + It could add to the drama, like Claire being Nathan's biological daughter.
Samuel will hurt Claire to get Sylar back to his carnival.	None.	+ Sylar is acting strange when Claire is around; maybe he is in love. - Samuel risks to be hurt by Sylar, then. • Samuel appears to be more powerful than Sylar. • Samuel has one very powerful ability, but Sylar has dozens of them. • Samuel's one ability appears to be far more potent then all of Sylar's powers combined. • Telekinesis, alchemy, sound manipulation, and electric manipulation should do the trick. • Not if Samuel defended himself. • Sylar can heal himself, or fly. • Samuel can encase Sylar in rock and then bury him deep within the earth. • Sylar may use telekinesis and disintegration to make his way out. • Sylar can pick up more abilities before fighting Samuel. • Sylar has been one of the main villains since the start of the show, excluding Arthur Petrelli's storyline. It would be bad writing to continue to near omnipotence after using him for so long. • Samuel was quite insistent on bringing back Sylar's true self. It's unlikely that he would do that if he had no way to contain him. + Samuel may know this because Lydia told him. + Samuel wants Sylar back, and Samuel isn't after Claire. - Samuel chose Sylar instead of Peter because he would have never followed him. It's been clear his power limitation is absolutely not considered as a problem on the show (all Peter's lines about it, Samuel saying he can replace Joseph and of course, Samuel being a one power guy, which means Peter is at least as powerful), the only way he could get to Peter, is by having Claire with him. Exactly what he did with Hiro and Charlie. Claire's link is Peter, even more since his brother just died. It would make no sense if it was Sylar (who already escaped and who has no person who means anything to him now he's psycho killer again so he can't be blackmailed). The only way to corrupt a hero is to use their close relative. He did it with Hiro, it seems logical it's the same he wants with Peter. He knew Sylar wouldn't have trouble with killing or doing bad deeds "for the carnival", and he also knew Pete would never do it. Just like Hiro.
Samuel's plan is to create a new continent for people with abilities.	None	+ Samuel is powerful enough to move continents so he can create a new one. - Creation of a new continent will not go unnoticed and will attract too much attention to evolved humans, which may cause a war. • Creating a new continent would kill a lot of ordinary people. • The laws of physics sometimes don't apply in Heroes, the same may go for plate tectonics. • Samuel could kill all the ordinary people with earthquakes before creating the continent. • A continent of evolved humans would be hard to defeat. - Nuclear bombs will destroy them. • Those with precognition would see the bombs coming ahead of time, those with flight could stop them mid route and technopaths could stop them before they were even launched, and even use them against their owners. These, as well as many other possible situations, could potentially stop a nuclear warhead. • Evolved humans can have own nuclear bombs, and they can be used over and over. • Samuel uses some trick to make the carnival disappear, and evolved humans with power absorbing abilities can be of great use to him. • It's most likely Teddy using his ability to make the carnival disappear and reappear. + Samuel wants to create a big family. + Samuel would use the new continent as a some kind of ark for people with abilities and then he would kill all the ordinary people maybe with earthquakes.
Samuel will trick Sylar by "feeding" him an ability that will somehow inhibit him.	None	+ Samuel has some way to reform Sylar.
Samuel intends to reveal the existence of evolved humans to the world, using the resultant upheaval to draw more 'specials' to his side.	None	+ Samuel claims to be the Messiah of evolved humans. Arranging for a tragedy which revealed the existence of abilities (like in the explosion future) would lead to widespread persecution of evolved humans. If Samuel then announced that he would protect anyone who joined his 'family', he could increase the size of the Carnival (thus increasing his power) a hundredfold.
A side-effect of Samuel's ability allows him to manipulate the emotions of evolved humans.	None	+ Samuel managed to assume absolute, unquestioned leadership of the Carnival in a remarkably short time. + Samuel convinced Claire to join the carnival, despite the fact that Becky (who murdered her first roommate and attempted to kill Gretchen) was working under his orders. Likewise, Gretchen (who has no ability) was able to see through Samuel's manipulations. + This would explain how Samuel went from "listless drunkard" to "charismatic leader" in two months. - An ability isn't necessary to be an effective manipulator. - Samuel knew that there was a way for him to get stronger, merely knowing that could have boosted his self confidence. - Joseph was no longer there to force some humbleness into him.
Samuel will die at some point in the future.	None	+ Every villian on the show, with the exception of Sylar, has been killed off- Linderman, Adam, Arthur, Flint, Maury, Knox, and now Danko.