Empathic mimicry

Empathic mimicry
Peter mimics Isaac's precognition
Held by:	Peter Petrelli
Ability to:	Duplicate superhuman abilities
Examples of empathic mimicry

Empathic mimicry is the ability to "connect" with other people on a mental level. It includes the ability to duplicate the superhuman abilities of other evolved humans.

Characters

Peter Petrelli is the only character known to have this ability.

Limits

The full extent of Peter's empathic abilities are not known.

One aspect of his power is the ability to mimic the powers of other evolved humans near him. The exact range at which this occurs is not known, but the distance at which he can mimic the power of Claude is just several meters. He is able to duplicate Claude's ability almost immediately upon coming within range. Whether the maximum distance and minimum time is the same to mimic any power is unknown. Peter's control over other powers that he mimics varies; powers that require active concentration seem to be more difficult for him to duplicate or control.

Peter sometimes has dreams involving other people that coincide with important events in their lives. He had a dream about Charles Deveaux at the time of his death, and he dreamed that Nathan was in trouble at the time of his automobile accident. He has even seen people that he hasn't even met in his visions, including Matt Parkman, Niki Sanders, D.L. Hawkins, and "Claude Rains". Some of his visions appear to predict future events, but his predictive accuracy is uncertain.

Examples

• Peter duplicates his brother Nathan's ability to fly after Nathan drops Peter. Later, Peter doesn't realize that he is walking on air while in Nathan's presence. (Genesis, Don't Look Back)
• Peter duplicates Isaac's ability to paint the future. (Don't Look Back, Hiros)
• Peter duplicates Claire's ability to heal the fatal injuries he received in a long fall. (Homecoming)
• Peter duplicates Matt's telepathic ability, causing a disturbing feedback loop between them. (Fallout)
• Peter duplicates Claude's invisibility; Peter and Claude can't be seen by anyone but each other. (Godsend, The Fix)
• See Peter's visions for a list of dreams/visions he has experienced.

Possible Examples

• Peter may or may not have duplicated the abilties of:
  • space-time manipulation; Peter is able to communicate with Future Hiro when he stops time, and is at this point the only person with whom Hiro (present or future) has interacted normally during a time stop. Whether this is Peter's or Hiro's doing is still unclear. (Collision, Hiros)
  • telekinesis; in an interview with the writers, they suggested that Sylar's inability to actually hit Peter with the locker doors may indicate Peter deflects them. (Homecoming)

Notes

• Mohinder says that Peter's power is "like a sponge" to the powers of other evolved humans (and not like a "chameleon"), and it could be dangerous for him to get near someone with an "unstable" power. (The Fix)
• Claude opines that it is fitting for an "empath" to be a nurse, as though he has had a prior familiarity with people of Peter's ability (The Fix)
• Empathic mimicry should not be confused with power theft, Sylar's method of stealing or acquiring the powers of other evolved humans.
• In an interview, Tim Kring elaborated on the similarities and differences between Peter and Sylar's powers, calling them "two halves of a similar coin".

  "Both are able to absorb people’s powers, but in two very different ways. Peter’s is based on his empathy and his ability to connect with people and when he’s around them. Sylar actually has to take your brain and do something with it."

• Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli), in a behind-the-scenes video, reveals that Peter passes out at the end of "Fallout" because he is overwhelmed by all of the abilities he has been absorbing.

Gallery

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  Peter mimics flight.
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  Nathan attempts to save Peter, but drops him. Peter then flies in order to save himself.
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  Peter draws a prophetic sketch of himself flying near Nathan.
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  Peter levitates in Nathan's presence.
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  Peter may have mimicked Future Hiro's power to freeze time.
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  Peter mimics precognition.
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  Peter prophetically completes Isaac's unfinished painting.
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  Peter may be mimicking telekinesis.
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  Peter mimics rapid cell regeneration.
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  Peter mimics Claude's invisibility.
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  As Claude walks away, Peter reappears.