René
| The Haitian | |
|---|---|
| |
| Portrayed by | Jimmy Jean-Louis |
| First appearance | One Giant Leap |
| In-story stats | |
| Known ability | Mental manipulation |
| Formal name | Unknown |
| Gender | |
| Occupation | Works for AWI |
The Haitian is an assistant to Mr. Bennet. He has the power to manipulate other peoples' minds, at least to the point of making them forget all or part of their memories and blocking the powers of mind readers. He wears a chain with The Symbol.
Character History
One Giant Leap
Officer Matt Parkman is reading people's thoughts at a bar in Los Angeles when he spots a mysterious man whose thoughts he cannot read. As Matt stands up, he collapses to the floor.
Collision
Matt wakes up in an unknown location to find Mr. Bennet and the man standing over him. The man appears to be able to keep Matt out of Mr. Bennet's thoughts, but with only partial success. Mr. Bennet tells the man to "go deep and clean him out." Later, the man again accompanies Mr. Bennet as he abducts Nathan Petrelli.
Hiros
Matt wakes up on his couch last remembering being at the bar and assuming that he just had too much to drink—evidently the work of the man's powers. In Las Vegas, the man and Mr. Bennet attempt to kidnap Nathan, but he flies away. Later, the man accompanies Mr. Bennet home to Odessa, TX where he erases Brody Mitchum's memory.
Homecoming
At the top of the hill, Eden is leaning against a tree, waiting for Sylar. Upon seeing her he pauses momentarily before raising his hand. Using her power of suggestion, Eden tells Sylar that he doesn't want to hurt her and that they need to talk. She tells him to tell her all about himself, but first he needs to sleep. The Haitian surprises Sylar and covers his eyes. Sylar quickly falls to the ground
Six Months Ago
The Haitian stops Eden's powers after she abuses them on Officer Parkman. He then assists Mr. Bennet with controlling Eden's behavior.
Fallout
At Primatech Paper Co., while Eden and Mr. Bennet argue about Sylar, Eden makes a comment suggesting that the Haitian cannot speak.
While Officer Parkman and Audrey Hanson question Claire and Mr. Bennet, the Haitian blocks Matt's telepathy. Later, when Officer Parkman and Audrey are staking out Primatech Paper Co., Mr. Bennet and the Haitian walk outside, and Matt tries to read their thoughts, but the Haitian's powers block him once again.
The Haitian enters Claire's room and places his hand over her mouth. He finally speaks, telling her that he works for her father, who sent him here to make her forget what she knows. He admits to erasing the memories of Lyle Bennet and Zach, even to the point of erasing Zach's memory of his friendship with Claire, and to erasing Sandra Bennet's memories many times. He tells her that her father will be home soon, expecting Claire to not remember anything, but that it's important that she does remember. He asks her if she can keep a secret.
Godsend
At the abandoned refinery, Claire talks to the Haitian and asks whether she's safe or if she still needs saving. He tells her she's safe for now. Claire tells him that she wants to talk to Peter Petrelli, but he tells her that she's not supposed to remember Peter, that he's being watched, and that if she tries to contact him, her father will find out. Claire complains that everything in her life has been a lie, and he confirms her suspicion that Hank and Lisa work for her father. She tells him the only person she could trust was Zach, but that he took Zach from her. She begs him to restore Zach's memories, but he tells her his "gift" doesn't work that way. She says she doesn’t consider her power a gift, but he says that their powers come from God and should be respected accordingly.
The Fix
After hanging wind chimes outside her window to let him know she needs to see him, Claire Bennet meets the Haitian at the abandoned refinery and, complaining that her entire life is a lie, asks about her birth parents. The Haitian tells he he knows nothing about her real father, but that Mr. Bennet told him her real mother died in a fire fourteen years ago.
Distractions
The Haitian and Mr. Bennet come rampaging into the Bennets' home, just in time to stop Sylar from killing Sandra Bennet. Mr. Bennet tells the Haitian to get Sylar — and kill him. Unsuccessful, the Haitian returns to erase Sandra's memory.
Powers
The full extent of the man's powers are not known at present.
- He has the ability to block mental abilities (to date, Matt's telepathy and Eden's suggestion) but evidently not other powers (like Nathan's flight). This power works at a distance, and does not require a line of sight: when Audrey was questioning Claire, the Haitian was outside the room and around a corner. (Fallout)
- He can erase memories. He has selective use of the power, allowing him to delete memories of certain events while leaving other memories intact instead of just deleting a specific period of time from someone's memories. The range of this power is unknown, but it is probably limited to people he can touch. He cannot restore memories that he has erased.
In Fallout, Mr. Bennet states that all evolved humans except Sylar have only one power, so all of his abilities must be different manifestations of the same power.
Memorable Quotes
"He sent me here to make you forget. Like he sent me to your friend, and your brother, and your mother so many times. He'll be here soon, expecting that you won't remember anything, but it is very important that you do. Tell me Claire, can you keep a secret?"
- - The Haitian (Fallout)
"What you can do, what I can do — that is God. Respect it accordingly."
Notes
- The Haitian rarely speaks. In fact, Eden McCain was under the erroneous impression that he couldn't speak. He finally broke his silence by speaking to Claire Bennet. (Fallout)
- It seems that in speaking to Claire, the Haitian may have a different agenda than that of his "boss," Mr. Bennet.
- The Haitian and Eden seem to have honed their abilities before any other evolved humans.
- The Haitian has been called "The Man at the Bar", "Mysterious Man", "Mystery Man", "Mysterious Black Guy", "MBG", "Mr. Bennet's Assistant", "Mr. Bennet's Cleaner", "Spooky Euro-Dude", and "SED".