Emile Danko

Emile Danko
Portrayed by	Željko Ivanek
First appearance	Under the Bridge, Part 2
In-story stats
Known ability	None
Alias	Jakob Pradasa
Nickname	The Hunter
Gender
Home	Washington, DC
Residences	Apartment in Washington, DC
Occupation	formerly Senior Agent of Homeland Security
Significant other	formerly Alena
Parent	Unnamed father

Emile Danko, also referred to as "the Hunter", is a former senior agent of the Department of Homeland Security, who served as the leader of a team of soldiers hunting evolved humans. He was originally doing this on behalf of his superior, Senator Nathan Petrelli, but since Nathan's ability has been exposed, Danko was left in full charge of the operation. He was framed by Sylar, who took on Danko's identity and killed some of his agents.

Character History

Season Three

For an episode-by-episode summary, see Emile Danko: Season Three History.

When Tracy Strauss is attacked in her home by a team of government agents, she tells them that she will not beg. One agent steps forward and shoots her without hesitating. He then calls Nathan Petrelli, announcing that he has the first one. Danko then goes about capturing Mohinder Suresh and Matt Parkman before loading every captured individual onto Flight 195. When the plane goes down, Danko is one of the first to arrive on the scene and organizes several teams to hunt down the fugitives. After an agent opens fire on Daphne Millbrook, Matt Parkman uses his power to make the agent kill his fellow team members. Seeing no other alternative, Danko shoots Gibson dead.

In Building 26, Danko commands most of the agents within the building and pays close attention to the conversations held between Abby Collins and Nathan. After releasing Tracy in order to make Abby see the truth, Danko begins to have differences of opinion with Nathan, and often disagrees with him. When Peter Petrelli nearly kills Danko, he pushes for the agents to use any methods they see fit whilst in the field but Nathan overrules him. Danko, suspecting that Nathan has an ability, interrogates both Angela Petrelli and Tracy to try and gain some knowledge. Danko is briefly fired before he exposes Nathan, and he is placed in full command of the operation. To get back in his good books, Noah Bennet offers to give Danko Rebel by releasing Tracy. Danko is hesitant but listens to Noah's advice. He sends teams after other Petrelli family members such as Angela and Claire, effectively ending her free pass. After Tracy unleashes her cold snap, Danko shoots her ice statue to ensure her death. Following the deaths of several of his agents at the hands of James Martin, Danko teams up with Sylar, who manages to kill Martin. The pair see the benefits of working with each other and agree to keep killing other specials until Sylar is the only one left.

Seeking vengeance for the death of Daphne, Matt tricks Danko into revealing the one person who truly loves, a woman named Alena. Matt reveals that Danko has been lying to Alena, ending their relationship. With his personal life under attack, Danko also finds his professional life beginning to crumble, as Sylar is becoming increasingly harder to control. Eventually tiring of trying to control him, Danko tries to kill Sylar by stabbing him in the back of the head. After this fails, Sylar frames Danko for murder and he is placed in confinement with Noah Bennet. The two men make a pact to kill Sylar but Danko goes back on his word and tries to take down Bennet. He is finally stopped when Hiro Nakamura stops time and injects Danko with a sedative that knocks him out.

Memorable Quotes

"How did you catch him?"

"I'm smarter than the average bear."

- Noah Bennet, Danko (Cold Snap)

Trivia

• According to Bryan Fuller, "There was some talk about making Danko gay," but "it was decided it was best to not have our first gay character be a villain." [1]
• After shape shifting into Danko, Sylar notes that he has a mole. (Turn and Face the Strange)
• Danko speaks six languages. (I Am Sylar)
• Danko's pocket watch has Russian writing on it, suggesting that Danko, or at least his father, was born in Soviet Russia.

See Also

• For a list of his victims, see Danko's victims.

Fan Theories

Please refer to Theory:Emile Danko for fan-created theories and other speculation.