Poison emission

Poison emission
Maya and her victims cry black tears.
Held by:	Maya Herrera
Ability to:	Emit a poison
Examples of poison emission

Poison emission is the ability to emit a deadly poison, killing people in one's vicinity.

Characters

• Maya Herrera is the only character known to have this ability.

Limits

When distressed, Maya emits a black liquid from her eyes. People near her when she manifests these symptoms rapidly become ill and die, also leaking black liquid from their eyes. The blood of Maya's victims also turns black (Maya y Alejandro). The maximum range of this effect is not yet known, but seems to be substantial, as she is able to kill all of the guests at a wedding reception (Four Months Ago...).

Maya's power incapacitates people who are affected almost immediately, leaving little opportunity for them to try to attack her. What would happen to victims if she were killed or rendered unconscious while manifesting her power is not known. Alejandro's ability can negate this power and even reverse the effects on victims if applied quickly enough.

Maya used to have little, if any, control over her ability. Thanks to Sylar, she can now stop the manifestation of her power without the help of Alejandro. Her power spontaneously manifests when she feels emotional distress: fear, grief, anger, etc. She has yet to activate her power under other circumstances, and she does not appear to be able to "target" the power against particular people.

Viral Infection

Maya's Poison Emission ability is remarkably similar to several other strands of hemorrhagic fever, which cause rapid bleeding form various openings in the body. These could be the nose, mouth, ears, and, like Maya, the eyes. Poison Emission resembles the Filovirus Reston Ebolavirus, Filovirus Sudan Ebolavirus, Filovirus Ivory Coast Ebolavirus, and Filovirus Bundibugyo Ebolavirus. Each of these types of Ebola cause rupturing of vein and artery lining, which therefore act as a catalyst for bleeding. Maya's Poison Emission may be a spin-off of one of the Ebola viruses, as it could rapidly cause hemorrhaging in the frontal lobe, a portion of the brain long attributed to paranormal abilities by parapsychologists. Frontal lobe bleeding would most likely find an outlet in the eye, wherein its blood pour.

Memorable Quotes

"It is a new illness. You fear it will spread. You fear... yourself. What you carry inside you is black. Enough to kill the devil. No one can heal you. You are cursed."

- Curandera (to Maya) (Lizards)

Notes

• Maya's ability is referred to in several updates on Hana's website.
• In the episode commentary for The Kindness of Strangers, Tim Kring says that Maya emits "a plague ... that makes people sick".
• In Powerless, Maya refers to this ability both as a "sickness" and as a "poison". Dania Ramirez also has referred to this ability as a "venom" in some interviews.

Selected Examples

• 
  In a Central American town, a corpse leaks a black liquid from its eyes...
• 
  ...and from its torso.
  (Maya y Alejandro)
• 
  Maya's tears turn black while using her ability...
• 
  ...and she is responsible for the death of many people.
  (Four Months Later...)
• 
  Maya's ability affects Nidia their border guide, but she is revived by Alejandro.
  (Lizards).
• 
  When Sylar tells Maya that Derek is ratting her out, her tears flow...
• 
  ...and Sylar begins to fall victim to them.
  (The Kindness of Strangers)
• 
  Sylar persuades Maya to use her ability to kill men patrolling the U.S. border.
  (The Line)

See also

• Virus (disambig)

Fan Theories

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