Nathan Petrelli

Nathan Petrelli
Portrayed by	Adrian Pasdar
First appearance	Genesis
In-story stats
Known ability	Flight
Gender
Residence	Nathan Petrelli's home
Occupation	U.S. Congressional candidate
Significant other	Wife (unnamed)
Parents	Mother (unnamed), Father (unnamed, deceased)
Sibling	Peter Petrelli (younger brother)

Character history

Genesis

Currently operating out of New York, Nathan is running for election to the U.S. House of Representatives. In this episode, the pilot, he is approached by his brother Peter, who tells him that he has been having strange dreams and believes he can fly. Nathan is unconvinced. Eventually, their conversation is interrupted by the news that their recently widowed mother has been arrested for shoplifting. Nathan, still primarily concerned with his candidacy, cuts his mother no slack and soon leaves her at the police station with Peter. Afterwards, Nathan watches from an alley as Peter jumps off a building in an attempt to fly. As Peter falls, Nathan flies into the air and grabs his hand, surprising them both. A cliffhanger ensues as the brothers lose their grip on one another.

Don't Look Back

Peter wakes up to find Nathan at his bedside in a hospital. Oddly, Nathan denies that he flew and tries to explain away what happened as if it were simply a failed suicide attempt by Peter. Much later that night, Nathan is on a rooftop watching as Peter threatens to jump off the edge of the roof unless Nathan says that he flew. Nathan eventually admits that he did fly. Peter fears that Nathan is lying, but both brothers soon learn that Peter can fly as well when he begins to walk on thin air.

Also in the episode, Hiro Nakamura, a character able to manipulate time, travels to a possible future five weeks from October 2—the date at which the episode took place in the fictional world and debuted on TV—where Nathan wins his race by a landslide.

One Giant Leap

When approached by Peter with information about the power of flight, Nathan is still more focused on his campaign and says he has a family to take care of. That evening, Nathan holds a press conference where he broaches the subject of depression. He reveals that his father suffered from it, and that it was the cause of his death, and also claims that Peter attempted suicide, causing his brother to leave. Later in a parking lot, Nathan is getting into his car when a furious Peter assaults him with a punch to the jaw before being overpowered by a number of bodyguards. Although he is called an SOB by his own brother, Nathan calmly retorts, "careful, Pete, that's our mother you're talking about". Nathan tells Peter that he had to say those things before the press made up their own notions about him. Nathan exclaims that Peter should understand why he made the choice to tell everyone, but Peter merely shrugs and leaves.

Collision

Nathan is being "harassed" by Mohinder and refuses to listen to him. He prepares to leave for Las Vegas to meet Mister Linderman. There, Nathan encounters Niki Sanders who is supposed to sleep with him by the order of Mr. Linderman. She refuses at first for respect for Nathan's wife but once her alter-ego kicks in, she returns to his hotel room and sleeps with him. They are shown later sleeping and being watched by Mister Bennet and the mysterious man from the bar. He orders the mysterious man to "take just the one." In the commercial for episode five Nathan is seen flying away from the two implying that it is Nathan they take.