René
| The Haitian | |
|---|---|
| |
| Portrayed by | Jimmy Jean-Louis, Sheku Fofana (young Haitian) |
| First appearance | One Giant Leap |
| In-story stats | |
| Known ability | Mental manipulation |
| Formal name | Unknown |
| Gender | |
| Occupation | Formerly worked for The Company (now on the run) |
The Haitian was Mr. Bennet's partner, and has taken his adoptive daughter Claire on the run from The Company. He has the power to manipulate other peoples' minds making them forget part, or all, of their memories. It appears that he can also block or disrupt the abilities of mind readers. He openly wears The Symbol around his neck.
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 a hospital-bound 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.
Graphic Novel:Fathers & Daughters
In Sylar's cell, the Haitian assists Mr. Bennet in apprehending Sylar, who has attacked Eden. The Haitian then accompanies Mr. Bennet to Eden's father's home where Mr. Bennet orders the Haitian to erase all of the derelict father's memories, but instructs him to "leave the guilt".
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 her 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.
Graphic Novel:Road Kill
At the Bennets' home, the Haitian and Mr. Bennet shoot Sylar.
Unexpected
The Haitian and Mr. Bennet travel to New York City and meet with Isaac Mendez in his apartment. There they learn that Peter Petrelli has encountered Claude Rains. With the help of Isaac's paintings, they find Petrelli and Rains on the rooftop of the Deveaux Building. After using heat detecting goggles to bypass their invisibility, Bennet and the Haitian fire tasers at each of them. While Bennet successfully hits Rains, the taser that the Haitian fires is stopped by Petrelli (using space-time manipulation and telekinesis). Petrelli then takes Rains and flies away. The Haitian and Bennet then end their pursuit after Bennet receives an urgent call from Claire. They then return to Odessa.
Company Man
Fourteen years ago, Mr. Bennet meets the Haitian for the first time when the Haitian erases Sandra Bennet's memories of finding incriminating evidence about Mr. Bennet's secret life. The Haitian is sent by Thompson so that they will not need to kill Sandra to contain the company secret.
In the present, Mr. Bennet discovers that the Haitian can talk and that he has been helping Claire. The Haitian leads Claire, Sandra, and Lyle to safety from the Bennets' home and away from Ted Sprague who was holding them hostage. Mr. Bennet reports the Haitian to Thompson for protecting Claire, and pretends that he never knew of Claire's ability. Bennet is then sent to kill the Haitian, but instead colludes with the Haitian to take Claire to safety, and cover it up by injuring Bennet on the bridge with a gun and "going deep" to clear Bennet's memory of anything that will lead the The Company to Claire.
Parasite
On Mr. Bennet's orders, the Haitian prepares to take Claire out of the country. En route, he stops to make a phone call, speaking in French. At the airport, Claire steals the Haitian's passport and boarding pass, and an airport security agent stops the Haitian from proceeding. The Haitian goes to Peter Petrelli's apartment in New York City to greet Claire there -- along with Claire's grandmother, Angela Petrelli.
Graphic Novel:Family Man
After a stop at an Odessa coffee shop, Mr. Bennet is shot by the Haitian on the bridge. He turns to Claire and tells her they need to go.
Powers
The full extent of the Haitian's powers are not known at present.
- He has the ability to scramble 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. He apparently needs to touch someone to erase memories. He claims he cannot restore memories that he has erased (Godsend).
- The Haitian's ability seems to have a dangerous side effect on those who have been repeatedly subjected to it. Sandra Bennet, who has had her memories wiped by the Haitian numerous times, has suffered severe headaches, amnesia, and loss of consciousness. Dr. Beth Lindall diagnosed these symptoms as a subdural hemorrhage. At one point, she temporarily couldn't recognize her beloved dog, Mr. Muggles, and her daughter, Claire.
- Thompson explains that when they found the Haitian, he was mute, and that when asked to describe his ability, the Haitian drew a picture of himself "pulling memories out of someone's head like little grub-worms" (Company Man).
- Mr. Bennet states that all evolved humans except Sylar have only one power (Fallout), so the Haitian's 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, Thompson was initially under the erroneous impression that he couldn't speak, although Mr. Bennet knows he can speak. He finally broke his silence by speaking to Claire Bennet (Fallout). The Haitian also speaks French, as is customary in Haiti (Parasite).
- It seems that in speaking to Claire, the Haitian has differing loyalties than that of his now former partner, Mr. Bennet.
- 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".
- He is also jokingly referred to as "The Haitian Sensation That's Sweeping the Nation" by Jack Coleman (Mr. Bennet) during cast commentaries. This may be a reference to the sarcastic commentary website Television Without Pity, which routinely refers to him as "the Haitian Sensation".
- In the commentary for Parasite, it was revealed that before the casting of Jimmy Jean-Louis, the Haitian was originally intended to be a Maori warrior from New Zealand.
Fan Theories
Please refer to Theory:René for fan-created theories and other speculation.