Theories:Events

This article will archive all of the published and fan theories that exist for events from Heroes.

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Dark Future

Theory	Citations	Notes
All paintings, and the events depicted in them, are set in stone and will inevitably occur. This includes the explosion and Nathan's (in reality Sylar's) position as President.	None.	+ Hiro can't make certain changes to the past. + So far, every painting and drawing has been realized. - This would lead to many angry fans, and would be a bad idea from a producers point of view. - Claire was not killed by Sylar in Homecoming. (String Theory) + A cheerleader did die, however, as depicted. - This theory goes against the theme of the show. Heroes is about saving the world, not letting it be destroyed.
The Future in unchangeable.	Charlie still died. (Seven Minutes to Midnight)	+ Since Hiro was able to travel to the past, yet he was unable to significantly alter it (because it would cause a time paradox), could mean that, since Future Hiro was able to travel to HIS past, he would not be able to significantly alter HIS present, even if all he did was make one statement. + Alternately, if something is changed, the future remains unchanged. For example, Hiro would have saved Charlie from dying, if it hadn't been for the fact of her blood clot. - This would lead to many angry fans, and would be a bad idea from a producers point of view. - Claire was not killed by Sylar in Homecoming. (String Theory) - This theory goes against the theme of the show. Heroes is about saving the world, not letting it be destroyed.

Explosion

Theory	Citations	Notes
The explosion could be a "rift" of the kind about which Future Hiro warned Peter. This could have been caused by Hiro taking the comic book back into the past with him, and that is what it looks like when things are taken out of their proper place in space/time.	None.	• Peter believes he is the cause of the explosion, but could be incorrect. The explosion began before Hiro jumped back to the present. - Isaac said he saw Peter explode, as did Peter in a precognitive state in Distractions. - Future Peter explicitly stated that it had been he who caused the explosion.
Peter absorbs all of the other main characters' powers, which cause him to overload and blow up the city.	According to Claude, Peter's illness was caused by exposure to too many powers. (Distractions)	+ It's possible increased exposure could cause a larger meltdown of the sort Peter began to experience in Distractions.
It's the simultaneous combination of Ted's abilities and Claire's that allow Peter to reach some sort of 'critical mass' without dying so as to be able to explode.	None.	+ This theory would explain why Claire's survival is so important, as a large enough nuclear explosion would cause problems, not just for the immediate area destroyed by the explosion, but potentially the entire world depending upon where the fallout spreads. - Future Hiro reveals that Claire's survival is important to keep Sylar from being able to regenerate on the day of the explosion. (Five Years Gone) - Most heroes on the show seem to have an in-built resistence to the effects of their own powers - when Ted began to meltdown in the Bennet household, he seemed to be almost disintegrating, but did not seem to suffer any long-term effects. (Company Man)
Peter becomes Sylar, through some mechanism.	The watch on Peter's wrist during his vision looks similar to the one Gabriel Gray was fixing when he took the name Sylar. (Six Months Ago) Peter's trench coat is also similar to Sylar's.	- Peter has been shown to wear a trench coat (Genesis), and a lot of the characters wear watches. - Peter's watch in the vision is not broken, and is a different shape than Sylar's.
Hiro attempts to kill Sylar to prevent the explosion. Unbeknownst to him, the man he stabs is not Sylar but instead Peter. This causes Peter to lose control and explode.	In the future, Peter and Sylar both acknowledge that it was Peter who explodes. Yet, Hiro is convinced Sylar is the one who explodes. (Five Years Gone)	+ In the future, Future Hiro's message to save the cheerleader is fulfilled, but Sylar is still alive. Peter and Claire are the only ones who can regenerate, so Hiro must have stabbed one of them. (Five Years Gone) - Sylar is still alive because present-day Hiro was not present in his timeline to be able to kill Sylar. In addition to this, present-day Hiro would not be present to stab Peter, who he thought was Sylar. • Candace has the ability to alter perception. Three possibilities are: she causes Peter to look like Sylar, Sylar acquires Candace's power prior and causes Peter to look like him, or Peter himself acquires Candace's power and makes himself look like Sylar.
Peter will duplicate Nathan's ability to fly to minimize the damage from the explosion	None.	- It should be noted that an air burst explosion (from 100-200 Feet) is much more damaging to surface buildings then one right at ground level.
If Peter turns out to be the cause of the nuclear blast, one possible escape would be for him to mimic Hiro's powers and jump back in time to the Mesozoic Era (a time in which a nuclear blast may be considered to have much less impact on the state of the world today -- humans have not yet evolved and many forms of life will eventually become extinct). He will become the cause of the extinction of dinosaurs.	None.	+ Isaac painted Hiro fighting a dinosaur. Maybe he will go after Peter and save him from the dinosaur. - The painting only shows Hiro in the museum, not back in time. + In the painting, the sword was unsheathed. In the museum, not only was it in its sheath, but it wasn't even a sword. - Dispite the disimularities between Issac's painting and the scene at the museum, there are also quite a few things that remain the same. For example, the dinosaur, the pose that Hiro makes and the dinosaur's open mouth. The resulting changes from the painting to reality could be caused by two things: 1) this was Issac's first attempt to paint-the-future without being high; 2) none of the paintings are exact- some are actually very different than what is shown on screen- it is the content of the scene that matters, not the percision.
Hiro jumps back to prehistoric times in order to find Peter and lend him the ability to return to the present day.	None.	• If the above turns out to be the case -- Peter saving NYC from the nuclear blast by taking it with him into the prehistoric past -- the others may realize or fear that Peter would be unable to return without being able to tap Hiro's powers, although in Distractions Peter learned he could use any ability he'd come into contact with, without the benefactor of the specific power being present. This could be a possible motivation for Hiro traveling back to a time and having to face a T-rex.
Nathan winds up in league with whoever plans to blow up New York or those who plan to take advantage of the disaster, using the disaster to distract away from the shady circumstances of his election victory and make himself look like a great leader in the process.	In Peter's vision, Nathan is very calm as Peter is about to explode. (Godsend) Linderman tells Nathan about how he knows of the coming disaster and plans to use it and Nathan's election to bring about a better world. (.07%) Angela Petrelli also knows about the coming disaster and encourages Nathan to go along with Linderman's plan.(The Hard Part)	+ It's possible Nathan expects he can fly to escape the explosion.
Peter does explode, but does so while using D.L. Hawkins's power of phasing. Isaac's paintings would still depict future events accurately, but nothing would be harmed.	None.	- There's no reason to necessarily believe that the explosion would also be phased merely because Peter is.
An explosion is caused by Peter, Ted, or another evolved human, but it's only an illusion staged for Hiro's benefit.	None.	+ Candace has the ability to create an illusion, only having the city appear to be destroyed. When Hiro arrives in NYC on November 8th, he needs to have a reason to go back and begin his mission to stop the explosion, or else a temporal rift could undo everything that happened since Hiro left Japan. • Ted is dead. (Landslide)
Mr. Bennet is the cause of the explosion.	None.	+ In Fallout, Mr. Bennet thanks Peter for helping Claire. Peter says that he was in the right place and at the right time. Mr. Bennet then says something interesting--that maybe I can be in the right place and repay the favor. This may be foreshadowing that he is the cause of the explosion. Ironically, he would be "repaying the favor." • It would be an interesting twist if the Mr. Bennet developed a power. - Mr. Bennet is still alive in Five Years Gone
Future Peter will travel back in time to prevent himself from exploding and destroying New York.	None.	+ When Future Hiro initially traveled back in time to tell Peter to save Claire, this did not directly prevent the explosion, as we see in Five Years Gone. Since Peter is still alive in the future, he will now have the opportunity to go back and prevent himself from exploding. + In Five Years Gone future Hiro dies, leaving Peter as the only person in the future with the ability to go back and try to fix things again (since Hiro's first attempt didn't directly prevent the bomb).
Sylar isn't the cause of the explosion in any of the future timelines.	None.	+ Future Hiro thinks that Sylar is the cause of the explosion because that's what the public was told afterwards. But as revealed by Peter in Five Years Gone, it was him who caused the explosion, and therefore saving the cheerleader didn't have the direct effect of preventing the explosion. - However, after killing Isaac and using his power in The Hard Part, Sylar seemed to see himself causing the explosion and began planning towards those ends.

The Message

Theory	Citations	Notes
Claire's survival is critical, so that Peter will be able to utilize her regenerative ability in a showdown with Sylar.	Peter is able to duplicate Claire's ability even when she is not present. (Distractions)
If Sylar is able to gain Claire's power, he will become indestructible and a bigger threat than he would be otherwise.	In the comic String Theory, it is revealed that Future Hiro enlisted Peter's help in order to stop Sylar from getting Claire's power.
The message is two different commands, meaning the characters have to save the cheerleader, and save the world.	Ando seems to think so. (Fallout)	- Hiro thinks the latter part depends on the former part, and it's his "future self" who gave the message. (Fallout) - In the comic String Theory, Future Hiro thinks that saving Claire's life will save the world. This seems to suggest that the latter part depends on the former part.
Claire's regenerative ability will be used to enter the radioactive area caused by the explosion to stop Peter Petrelli (or possibly Theodore Sprague) from dying/overreacting.	Claire goes into the house to tranquilize Sprague and survives the radiation burns. (Company Man) Peter certainly seems to think this is the case and gives Claire a gun to prepare to kill him if he loses control. (The Hard Part)
The message is vague for a reason. Had Future Hiro been too specific with the message (relaying Claire's full name, her address, or even the town where she lived), he might have created a paradox, possibly causing a rift. Had this occurred, he would instantly have been pulled back into his "present"	None.	+ This is similar to what happened after his attempt to persuade Charlie to come to Japan with him. (Six Months Ago)

Peter's dreams

Theory	Citations	Notes
Peter's dreams are not entirely predictive and can be changed.	When Peter explodes in his dream he does not yet have a visible scar which future Hiro said he will have. (Hiros) His dream about Charles Deveaux didn't come true. (Nothing to Hide)	- It's unclear at this point how Peter will develop a scar, if at all, now that he can regenerate whether Claire is present or not. (Distractions) + Simone and Isaac have died, but appear in the dream. - Peter dreamed of Nathan turning into Sylar, which turned out being true. However, the circumstances of this change are very different in the future reality to how they were in the dream. (Five Years Gone)
Peter envisions himself as other people in his dreams rather than himself.	Peter dreamt of flying but the dreams seem to have had Peter seeing things through Nathan's eyes. (Genesis)	+ Peter has a dream of Nathan's accident and he reaches upward as he wakes up while Nathan was reaching downward at his car. (Six Months Ago) + This could also be the case with the bomb. He can be seeing himself as Ted or Sylar. - In his second version of the dream regarding The Explosion, Nathan addresses him as Peter.
Peter's power revolves around empathy, and therefore allows him to put himself in the shoes of others during these prophetic visions.	Peter dreams he was flying when, in reality, Nathan flies. (Genesis)	- However, Peter has flown, including shortly after Nathan dropped him, so the dream did come true in a fashion. + His main power also seems to be empathetic, since no actual physical contact is required to absorb powers. With the bomb, he could easily be putting himself in the shoes of Ted or Sylar. • In the jail cell dream, it could be that Nathan is supposed to eventually turn evil, since he turned into a face which Peter associates with evil: Sylar. As of Five Years Gone it is seen that Sylar uses the power of illusion to portray Nathan.
Peter's dreams are a lingering effect of duplicating Isaac's power of precognition, making them truly prophetic.	Peter duplicated Isaac's precognition. (Don't Look Back, Hiros, Distractions) He can recall abilities he has duplicated in the past (Distractions)	- Peter's interpretation of his dreams is compatible with Isaac's prophecies and Hiro's experience in the future. - Peter began experiencing his dreams long before he met Isaac, although we have no way of knowing whether or not they passed near to each other before then, especially considering that both of them knew Simone. (Genesis, Six Months Ago) • In Distractions, Peter experienced Isaac's precognitive powers without needing to paint/draw an image.
Peter's dreams are not a separate power nor the result of his copying another person's power. They are a manifestation of his empathy powers allowing him to tap into the collective unconscious of humanity.	None.	+ This would explain how Peter is seeing people who he has never met before but who are still connected to him in ways he can't yet perceive.
Peter's dreams are merely symbolic of future events, and not literal representations of the future.	None.	+ In his explosion dream, Isaac is pulling Simone away from him. This could symbolize Isaac's reunion with Simone which Peter witnesses. (Distractions), or perhaps Isaac taking Simone away from him, by causing her death. (Unexpected) + Also, Peter's blowing up could be a symbol for the stress his powers are causing him. + In an interview, Tim Kring states that Peter's exploding dream "obviously had all kinds of strange, surreal dream imagery in it."
Peter's dreams are not truly precognition, but a form of Astral projection, caused by his empathic abilities.	None.	+ Most of Peter's dreams only occur while he is unconscious, meaning it is possible that his spirit/soul is leaving the body and going somewhere else. • It is also possible that he absorbed this ability from Simone's father. (See Charles Deveaux theories)
Peter's dreams are the result of his copying Sanjog's power.	None.	- The dreams are too unlike Empathic mimicry to be the same power. • It may be that the range with which Peter can copy a power depends on the power; he has copied different powers at different ranges, and Sanjog's power seems to have a larger range than any other thus far. - However, this cannot be proven. Peter has never met Sanjog. They are on opposite sides of the globe.
Sanjog is giving Peter the dreams in an attempt to help him	None.	+ There is no apparent range to Sanjog's power and he can accurately depict images of place people and events he has never seen. Peter mostly has these vision when he's unconscious, just as when Sanjog entered Mohinder's dreams before he'd ever met Mohinder. - However, Peter has also had visions while awake, and stylistically the dreams are very different. Mohinder's were of past events and exact, whereas Peter's are of future events and vague.
Peter's prophetic dreams are a power he absorbed from his mother.	None.	+ It is implied that Angela Petrelli has an undisclosed power (.07%). + Angela Petrelli would be the only person with powers that Peter has come in contact with for which we can not attribute any of his powers to. - There is no direct evidence that Angela Petrelli has such a power. + Angela said she knew Peter and Nathan had powers long before even they knew, which could imply that she saw it in a vision.

The train wreck

Theory	Citations	Notes
The train may have been derailed in order to steal nuclear material.	According to the newscast Isaac sees, it was registered to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (Genesis)	+ See In His Own Image. The train wreck was initially part of a nuclear terrorist plot in the unaired pilot episode. The engineer, a character who eventually evolved into Ted Sprague, was originally a terrorist. This basic plot was abandoned, but some aspects of it remain.