Ability heredity
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 The Hawkins-Sanders family are all evolved humans. |
Several evolved humans descend from parents who are also evolved humans, indicating that special abilities may be hereditary.
About
The basic premise behind Chandra Suresh's research is that humans are on the brink of an advance of evolution, and that there are genetic markers in DNA/RNA that can be used to predict the emergence of special abilities.
Genetic Markers
Using data from the Human Genome Project, Dr. Suresh was able to create a list of humans that could possibly exhibit the abilities predicted by his theories. While Chandra was able to find one example, he was unfortunately murdered before he could go public with his discoveries.
Minors with Abilities
While most of the known evolved humans did not discover their special abilities until their 20's or 30's, there are a few examples of children who have demonstrated powers at much younger ages. Most of these children have parents who are also confirmed evolved humans. Observing certain trends in the "passing down" of genes, two minors with powers (Claire Bennet and Micah Sanders) share the common thread of both parents being special. Molly Walker's father James Walker is an evolved human, however nothing much is known about her mother except that Sylar did not remove her brain.
Sanjog Iyer has demonstrated special abilities as a child; information about his parents is unknown. Janice and Matt Parkman are expecting a child, though there is some question as to whether Matt is truly the father. In an alternate future, their son Matthew was noted as a "child of interest" to Homeland Security (Five Years Gone).
Siblings and Other Relations
Another indication that special powers run in families is the tendency of siblings to have powers, although it does not guarantee powers. Micah's cousin Monica has revealed special traits. However, for her they did not manifest until her early 20s. Her brother Damon has not exhibited abilities yet.
Nathan Petrelli, Peter Petrelli, and Gabriel Gray are brothers who have powers, and both of their parents have abilities. It should be noted that Nathan was given synthetic abilities because his genetic makeup was able to handle it. The Haitian and Baron Samedi are also brothers, both of whom have abilties, as did their father. Similarly, the twins Maya and Alejandro Herrera are siblings with complementary powers, but information about their relatives is unknown. Debbie and Piper are twins, yet one has an ability while the other does not. Niki, Tracy, and Barbara are triplets, and each was given a different ability, while siblings Flint and Meredith Gordon possess nearly identical abilities.
Uncle/niece relatives Richard Drucker and Hana Gitelman share the same ability of digital communication.
Siblings or children of evolved humans are not guaranteed to have powers of their own. For example, Nathan Petrelli has two sons, but neither of them has yet demonstrated special abilities, nor has Hiro's sister, Kimiko. Mohinder's sister Shanti Suresh may have had powers: she had some kind of genetic abnormality, her parents described her as "special", and she inspired her father's research. Mohinder, however, has not shown any evidence of naturally occurring powers.
Type of ability heritage differences
It is unclear, if it's necessairy to have both parents has evolved humans, in order for the child to possess an ability. Due to that, it is also unclear, if the child is of only one evolved parent, the child receives exactly the same ability, or if it's of both, receives an ability that is nothing like his fathers.
An example of child of both evolved parents is Micah Sanders (who has Technopathy), whose mother has Enhanced Strength and whose father has Phasing.
Matt Parkman has the exact same ability has his father, Maury Parkman. No information is given about his mother.
Examples of Inheritance
- Abu Aswan--a distant descendant of Khufu
- Claire Bennet--the daughter of Nathan Petrelli and Meredith Gordon, the granddaughter of Angela and Arthur Petrelli, and the niece of Peter Petrelli, and Flint Gordon
- Elle Bishop--the daughter of Bob Bishop
- Monica Dawson--the relative of Paulette Hawkins
- Hana Gitelman--the niece of Richard Drucker
- Meredith Gordon and Flint Gordon--siblings
- The Haitian and Baron Samedi--the sons of Guillame
- D.L. Hawkins--the son of Paulette Hawkins
- Maya and Alejandro Herrera--fraternal twins
- Jesse Murphy--the son of Jess Murphy
- Hiro Nakamura--the son of Ishi Nakamura
- Matt Parkman--the son of Maury Parkman
- Peter Petrelli--the son of Angela and Arthur Petrelli
- Santiago--the son of Edward and Iris
- Micah Sanders--the son of D.L. Hawkins and Niki Sanders
- James Walker--the son of Ida May Walker
- Molly Walker--the daughter of James Walker and the granddaughter of Ida May Walker
Notes
- In a Q&A session, writers Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite were asked whether or not it's a guarantee that powers are passed on, given that both parents are evolved humans. They answered, "In genetics, nothing is guaranteed. A random mix of traits." In another session they said, "We've seen that the existence of powers may be something passed on, but the powers themselves are a crapshoot of sorts. For example, phase-man + strength-girl = talks to machines."
- To date, Matt Parkman and Abu Aswan are the only evolved humans who have demonstrated what appears to be the same ability as one of their ancestors. Whether there are any differences between their powers is unknown.
- Maury initially appeared to be the more powerful of the two (Fight or Flight), but this is could have been due to Matt's lack of knowledge about the extent of his abilities. Matt's power has increased since his first encounters with his father, and he was eventually able to trap Maury inside his own dream (Out of Time).
- Abu Aswan's ancestor, Khufu, has not displayed his ability but it is claimed that he shared the same power as Abu Aswan. A member of Khufu's kin was able to levitate an object without touching it but so far Abu has only performed levitation while touching the object. (History of a Secret)
- It is still unclear whether children with the same abilities as their parents have greater ability, or if the power level has anything to do with age.
- Two evolved humans--Julien Dumont and Connie Logan--have a daughter who does not have any known abilities.
- Gael Cruz told Sabine Hazel that the child she carries inside her will have powers (Into the Wild, Part 3). Sabine is a human, and the father of the baby is a clone (who does not have powers), but writers Timm Keppler and Jim Martin said in an interview, "[Sabine's son] would have clone DNA, which the Company may have plans for."
- It should be noted that there is strong evidence to support the notion that the nature of a person's ability is related to that of the father. For example, Maury Parkman and his son Matt both share the same power, albeit currently at different strength levels. Arthur Petrelli has the power absorption, while two of his sons Peter Petrelli and Gabriel Gray have similar mimicry abilities.
- Conversely, descendants of those with synthetic abilities invariably have seemingly random abilities. Claire Bennet, daughter of synthetically powered Nathan Petrelli (flight) and naturally powered Meredith Gordon (pyrokinesis) has rapid cell regeneration. Micah Sanders, son of a synthetically enhanced mother also has a seemingly random ability. However, it is unclear if Micah's father, D.L. Hawkins is descended from naturally or synthetically powered family members (Paulette Hawkins), or even if his own power is natural or synthetic in nature.
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| Evolutions Abilities |
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| Graphic Novel Abilities |
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