Theory:Adam Monroe

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The following fan theories are about Adam Monroe.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
Sylar will eventually hear about Adam and his power and give up trying to kill Claire and kill Adam while he is in his grave and take his power.	Sylar has been trying since Volume One to receive rapid cell regeneration	+ Sylar could use Ted's power to get Adam out of his grave and kill him. - Only Hiro knows where Adam Monroe is buried (unless he told Ando as well). + Sylar could use Molly to locate Adam. - Sylar has never met Adam before, and the rest of the world presumes that he is gone forever.
Adam Monroe is the ancestor of Claire.	None	+ They both have the power of rapid cell regeneration. + Matt and Maury both have the same power. Maya and Alejandro have powers that are connected, so family relations are likely to have an effect on the power. • Micah and Claire both have totally different powers to both their parents. + They both have blonde hair - possibly a result of genes being passed down. - There's a lot of blond characters in Heroes. They aren't all related with Adam. + In an interview it was hinted that Kensei was the ancestor of Hiro. If that is true, then there is a large chance that so is Kaito. Angela admitted to sleeping with Kaito, meaning that Nathan might be Kaito's son. Since Claire is Nathan's biological daughter, if all this is true, then she is related to Kensei. - If Nathan was Kaito's son, he would have Japanese features. + Kaito isn't Japanese! + Adam's second wife was an Italian woman who bore him two sons. These sons might be ancestors of the Petrelli's and, through Nathan, an ancestor of Claire.
Adam Monroe took the photograph of the group of twelve.	None	+ While he is a "founder" of the company, he is not in the photograph. - Adam was already locked up when the photo was taken. Victoria Pratt and Kaito Nakamura looked significantly younger when Adam was locked up 30 years ago ("Truth and Consequences") than in the photo.
Adam Monroe has more than one power.	None	+ Adam/Kensei already has rapid cell regeneration. (Out of Time). + It can explain why Adam thought he was some kind of god after he met many evolved humans. - He could think of himself as a god, due to his possible immortality/invincibility. - The show's creators have stated that no character has more than one power.
Adam Monroe's primary motivation is still his anger toward Hiro Nakamura for stealing Yaeko's love from him.	He swore to Hiro Nakamura that he would, for as long as he drew breath, lay waste to everything he cared about. (Out of Time)	+ Heroes is a simple series; it uses and expands on popular and common comic book concepts and gimmicks to create entertaining and impactful storylines. The notion of a villain who, for all his power and vision, is mostly motivated by a petty need for vengeance over a failed romance is exactly the type of familiar simplicity it would bring into such an otherwise dark and complicated story. - Monroe's intentions extend far beyond Hiro. Bob has already explained that he envisions a world in which humanity has been "punished" with holocausts and plagues, and evolved humans have come into power over the rest of mankind. + Monroe may simply be intent on living up to his promise to stand against everything Hiro cherishes, interpreting that far more broadly than just killing his close friends and loved ones. When Monroe knew Hiro in 1671, Hiro made it very clear how important the ideal of heroism, the standard of compassion, and the use of power for causes of goodness were to him. Monroe may have become a true personification of evil, hoping to arbitrarily impose the opposites of those things onto the world as a grandiose means of achieving his revenge, even attempting to bring fellow evolved humans together and manipulate them into abusing their power. + Hiro also constantly made it clear how important the legend of Takezo Kensei was, both to the world as a part of its history and to himself personally. Because he believed Monroe was Takezo Kensei, it became very important to Hiro for Monroe himself to become a hero. Therefore, Monroe may consider it a part of his revenge against Hiro to deliberately live the life of a villain instead, betraying his own supposed destiny. + Adam Monroe has said to Peter Petrelli that the two of them "are going to change history." (Out of Time) This may very well entail going back in time with the intent to win back Yaeko's love, and therefore be his main intention. + Adam lets the Nakamura family in The Company and then chooses to be the one who kills Kaito.
Adam Monroe is the original hero and is the ancestor of all the heroes in the show.	None.	+ He is likely more than 400 years old. In that time he may have been with hundreds of women, many of whom would have had babies. We know that the powers are hereditary (in many cases), so it would be quite possible that he fathered many children throughout his lifetime. As those children grew up and reproduced, they would pass along his genes to their kids as well. + We know that he had traveled a lot even before meeting Hiro, he could easily had sexual relations with many women from around the world. + This fits his "pre-Hiro" personality perfectly. + His facial features (blond hair, blue eyes and even white skin) are recessive, meaning that wouldn't show up in a child from a mother with dark hair, eyes and skin. + His name "Adam" is perfectly fitting for a character who is the original of a species. + Claire and Niki have blonde hair like him. Claire has his power too. • All characters have connections. + The symbol for Kensei is embedded into the DNA of all known Heroes.
Adam Monroe can create copies of himself through his regenerative power.	None.	+ We see his charred body in Out of Time, yet he is seen in the future. - Given Adam/Kensei's penchant for using stand-ins, the corpse could easily be some unlucky disciple of White Beard - He could have also simply regenerated. + He was able to witness the kiss between Hiro and Yaeko, even through he should be still in Whitebeard's camp given the amount time that passed. - Hiro may have moved forward in time a couple minutes while he teleported. - Also, Hiro may not have teleported far away, considering he and Kensei would regroup after the attack. Not only that, Hiro kissed Yaeko a while after he used his power. • Low order organisms such as flat-worms can reproduction asexually through transverse fission.
Linderman and Adam Monroe had similar ideals originally, but they had a disagreement of some sort.	None	+ Adam Monroe was held prisoner for 30 years by the Company. It was heavily implied that Linderman was the dominant figure in the Company up until his death. + Linderman might have realized that Adam wasn't actually interested in healing the world, but was interested in punishing the world. Linderman considers himself a healer and would not have accepted Adam's petty motivation of revenge. - Linderman was all for blowing up New York City. • There's a big difference between being willing to kill .07% of the human population, and happily wiping out 93% of the human population.
Peter can kill Adam by using phasing.	None.	+ Linderman was killed when D.L. phased his hand into his head and removed his brain. + Peter can, theoretically, remove Adam's entire brain from his body, which could prevent regeneration. • Although this theory may prove to be true, Linderman's power is not the same as Adam's power. Healing requires conscious effort while rapid cell regeneration works automatically.
Adam will eventually escape his grave.	Adam noted that his final wife will certainly find him. (The Ten Brides of Takezo Kensei)	+ Adam's voice is audible from beyond his grave, and may prompt a Good Samaritan or curious teenager to investigate. - Hearing Adam's voice outside his grave was probably just a effect added for the viewer, although theoretically in years to come the ground may move naturally (or through Adam's constant beating on the coffin) and give Adam a chance to be heard. + Even if he were buried deep underground, Adam's healing factor would provide him the stamina and time necessary to physically dig himself out. + It is impossible to say that the producers would be able to forever resist the urge to bring back such a good character for a subsequent storyline, especially since he is still alive. - In an interview, Tim Kring says the writers have "given the audience no reason to believe that Adam can figure a way to get out of there." + The coffin will rot long before Adam does. + In an interview with David Anders, he suggested that his character will be returning in future episodes. - He might be reappearing in flashbacks. • In the episode commentary to Truth and Consequences, David Anders mentions recently filming a nightmare sequence with Ali Larter (Niki). - Or in the past--he is four hundred years old. - Even though his cells rapidly regenerate, it is possible that he is not actually immortal and will die from a lack of nourishment after an extended period of time. + Adam states that he has died countless times in his coffin already. (The Ten Brides of Takezo Kensei) + Adam states that his eleventh wife will be coming for him soon. (The Ten Brides of Takezo Kensei)
Adam knew about his powers before Hiro witnessed it.	According to the Kensei Legends, Kensei was born in 1584, and looked young in 1671 Japan, which would make him 87 years old, and being able to regenerate himself to a younger age.	- It seemed as if Adam genuinely didn't understand what was happening. There was no motive for deceiving Hiro. (Lizards) - The legend of Kensei was not very accurate to the actual events; there's no reason to assume it wasn't exaggerated over the years by Yaeko.
Adam is not able to age because of he used too much of his regeneration too quickly.	In Cautionary Tales, Angela mentions that Adam's cells have been healing too much, putting his cells in equilibrium from dying and regenerating constantly.	+ He 'died' in an explosion from gunpowder, but survived it because of his powers. • Healing a simple wound would be insignificant compared to having to heal his entire body; the bones, the flesh, the skin, even the organs. • If this theory is true, then perhaps the immense damage Claire suffered from Ted Sprague has given her similar immortality.
Adam is the ancestor of Hal, Niki and eventually Micah Sanders.	None	+ He once took the alias "Richard Sanders". + He has two children with Maria in 1747. + He married in 1958 with Theresa, a woman who never loved him and tried to killed him to live with her lover. They lived in L.A. near Las Vegas in the right period to be Hal Sanders's parents; she could have tricked Adam while he was using the alias Richard Sanders and have a child without his knowledge. + If it's true this would explain the genetic connection that grant Niki's abilities.
Adam's eleventh wife has an ability similar to Molly's.	Adam believes that his latest bride will come to free him from his coffin. (The Ten Brides of Takezo Kensei)	+ It is impossible for anyone else to know where Hiro took Adam unless they have Molly's ability to find people. - Adam could be carrying a GPS locator.