Isaac Mendez
| Isaac Mendez | |
|---|---|
| |
| Portrayed by | Santiago Cabrera |
| First appearance | Genesis |
| In-story stats | |
| Known ability | Heroin-induced precognition. |
| Gender | |
| Age | 28 |
| Residence | Isaac Mendez's apartment |
| Occupations | Artist, Author |
Character history
Urged on by his instructor, Dominick Cabalo, Isaac honed his art skills and took various summer classes to help develop his craft. It wasn't until high school when he began winning illustration contests. With even more classes in illustration and design courses under his belt, Isaac moved to New York and soon after high school took various courses in college for comic book illustration. It wasn't until the annual New York comic convention that he caught the eye of Camacho Comics and they hired him on the spot. He worked there for 3 years, all the while learning the ins and outs of the business. (9th Wonders comic issue #14)
Genesis
Isaac Mendez is a struggling, tortured artist who lives in New York City. He is also the boyfriend of Simone Deveaux. By his own admission, Mendez is addicted to heroin, although he has been through rehab twice. For about three week, the paintings that he has done while high are apparently depicting future events.
When he realizes this, he tells Simone of his intentions to quit heroin cold turkey, to which she objects. Simone returns later to find that he has instead overdosed. She calls in Peter Petrelli, a nurse who is taking care of her father, to help Mendez. Peter sees Isaac's painting of a man who looks strikingly similar to Peter jumping off of a building and seemingly flying, which later sways the nurse to attempt the same thing.
Don't Look Back
Hiro Nakamura, a time manipulator, discovers a divergent future timeline set a little over five weeks from October 2nd in which Mendez has been killed. The artist's corpse is shown with the top of his head having been sliced off, possibly by the unseen murderous figure known as "Sylar".
One Giant Leap
Isaac has recovered and has come to cope with the fact that he is "painting the future". Simone, however, does not believe Isaac's assertions about his paintings and is more concerned with Isaac meeting the deadline for his comic book, 9th Wonders. This becomes a dispute and ultimately leads to their break-up. Later, Isaac finds a drawing he'd made earlier of a couple kissing which matches the actual event of Peter Petrelli and Simone kissing in the rain.
Powers, abilities and equipment
When high on heroin, Isaac has "painted the future." A TV Guide article reveals that he will soon try to find out if his power works without using heroin.
When Isaac is in a trance, he seems to be actually perceiving the future. His eyes become milky white and he sees the future events visually as if he's present. He also seems to have little awareness for sounds around him.
Art work
Made for the show by comic book artist Tim Sale, Isaac's paintings are shown to be accurate predictions of future events. They are, in order of appearance:
Genesis
- The depiction of a full solar eclipse which happens later in the first episode. Simone stops Issac from destroying this painting.
- A hand holding a transparent container (possibly a glass) with a bubbling liquid inside. Isaac destroys this painting.
- An unfinished painting of a girl appearing to be in a yellow jacket.
- The depiction of a burning bus which is confirmed to be a suicide bombing in Israel.
- The depiction of a fiery train wreck. Claire Bennet saves a man from this incident and the story is seen by Isaac on the news.
- A portrait of a man jumping off a building and seemingly flying. This is the painting that encourages Peter Petrelli to do the same thing.
- A large explosion and the resulting mushroom cloud in Midtown Manhattan. This painting is shown as being done on the concrete floor of Isaac's apartment, and due to the scale and positioning, it is unknown if the other characters present in the same scene are aware of it...
Don't Look Back
- In the 2nd episode, it is shown that the explosion depicted is to happen on November 8 in the story's original timeline.
- In Hiro's "five weeks into the future time frame" Hiro discovers the comic book 9th Wonders, which details the events of him and various other Heroes characters. The book is revealed to be authored and illustrated by Issac.
One Giant Leap
- A picture of a girl walking away from a boy in a school hall. A previous scene indicates these are Claire Bennet and her classmate Zach, respectively.
- A couple kissing under a red umbrella. A previous scene implies that that the couple is Peter Petrelli and Simone.
Collision
- Himself in his art studio after waking up from a precognitive trance.
- Claire Bennet on a set of bleachers with a dark figure approaching her.
- Hiro and Ando in a casino.