Monica Dawson

Monica Dawson
Portrayed by	Dana Davis
First appearance	The Kindness of Strangers
In-story stats
Known ability	Adoptive muscle memory
Gender
Home	New Orleans, LA
Residence	A single-family home in post-Katrina New Orleans
Occupation	Fast food service
Parent	Unnamed mother (deceased)
Grandparent	Nana Dawson
Sibling	Damon (brother)
Other relatives	D.L. Hawkins (cousin once removed, deceased), Jessica and Niki Sanders (cousins-in-law once removed, deceased), Micah Sanders (second cousin)

Monica Dawson is an evolved human from New Orleans, LA with the ability of adoptive muscle memory. She is Micah's second cousin and acts as a surrogate to him in Niki's absence.

Character History

Season Two

For an episode-by-episode summary, see Monica Dawson: Season Two History.

Monica wishes Nana, Damon and her cousin Micah before going to work. Just before she leaves, she sees a television program about cutting tomato roses. At Burger Bonanza, she talks with Camille about her frustrations with home and work. As she talks, she absentmindedly cuts a tomato rose, just as she'd seen the cooking show host do earlier. At home for dinner, Monica sees that Damon is watching the wrestling match Micah rigged to watch. She witnesses a wrestler perform a kicking move before heading back to work to close. Back at the restaurant, Monica tries to lock the front door, but a man forces his way in and draws a gun on her. As the man robs the cash register, Monica performs a stunning spinning kick--an exact copy of a move she witnessed the wrestler perform on television--and sends the robber through a glass partition.

Monica finds Micah playing the piano and mimics Micah's piano-playing and begins to play the same song, not realizing she is doing so until Micah points it out. Because of her surprise at this, Micah realizes that she is a muscle mimic like a female crimefighter in the 9th Wonders! comic named St. Joan. He tells her so, also revealing his own ability and that of his father. The two go out to test her ability and agree to keep it a secret between the two of them. After they return, Monica answers a knock at the door and finds Mohinder standing on the other side.

Mohinder tests Monica's ability at the Company's hospital. At the instruction of Bob, Mohinder comes up to Monica with a syringe with the new variant of the Shanti virus, telling Monica it's standard procedure. Mohinder decides against it and leaves the room. Later, Bob brings Monica to her home and give her a cover story for her absence, a list of contact information and a video iPod with footage of many different physical skills for her to learn using her ability.

After her brother gets Micah's backpack, along with his comics and his father's medal, stolen, Monica tells Micah she knows where the boy who stole the backpack lives and takes Micah there. Disguising herself in a black hood, Monica watches a video of parkour on the iPod Bob gave her, then breaks into the deserted house and easily finds Micah's things. However, the house is broken into by a group of arsonists who capture her and throw her in the back of a van. She is taken to an abandoned building and tied up. The arsonist starts spreading gasoline all over the floor. Monica manages to get her phone out of her pocket and turned on. Using Micah's ability, Niki is able to track Monica's cell phone and find her. She enters the burning building, unties Monica, and helps her escape before the building explodes with Niki in it.

Evolved Human Abilities

Monica has the ability of adoptive muscle memory which allows her to perfectly replicate, without practice, any physical motion that she has witnessed; either in person or by watching it on television. She is a copycat, able to replicate motions without active concentration, as shown when she absent mindedly cuts a tomato into an intricate rose. When watching a move performed, she goes into a short trance-like state as she memorizes the movement.

Memorable Quotes

"It's all about attitude, Camille."

"What's about attitude?"

"Life. And today is the first day of the rest of mine."

"You sound like a fortune cookie."

- Monica Dawson, Camille (The Kindness of Strangers)

"Half the people in this county are living in FEMA trailers, and you wanna spend good money to watch grown-up men jump around in their underwear."

"You can walk down Bourbon Street for that."

- Monica Dawson (to Damon), Nana Dawson (The Kindness of Strangers)

"I know what it's like to lose someone you love - to wish that you had a piece of them, something solid to hold on to. Anybody try to steal my mom's piano - I'd feed them their teeth."

- Monica Dawson (to Micah) (Truth & Consequences)

Equipment

• iPod - A gift from Bob, it is preloaded with every skill she will ever need to learn. (The Line)

Notes

• In a CBR Q&A session, Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite elaborated on Monica's powers. "Monica can only do things within her physical limit. Now as an athletic 20-year-old girl, there are a lot of things within her limit. But, no--if she saw Nathan fly, she couldn't fly."

See Also

• For other uses of Monica, see Monica (disambig).
• For articles related to Monica, see Related Articles:Monica.
• For images of Monica, see Images of Monica Dawson.

Fan Theories

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