Theory:Sylar
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The following fan theories are about Sylar.
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Theories
Theory | Citations | Notes |
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Sylar is meant to be Peter's literary/thematic antithesis. | None | + He has a similar motivation (to be special), similar looks, similar powers, both have mothers that don't believe in them, and both men have even talked to a Suresh who ultimately gave up on him before he could prove that he was special. One major difference between them is that Sylar's main power depends upon logic and Peter's power depends upon emotion - a common theme in many literary conflicts. + In Five Years Gone, when Sylar and Peter fight, Sylar uses freezing while Peter uses the power of pyrokinesis. In other words, Sylar is cold and emotionless ice, while Peter is hot and passionate fire.
+ Peter and Sylar have the same initials as a well-known pair of comic book nemeses: Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and the Green Goblin.
- While initially compelling, the proposed antithetical relationship doesn't stand up to close scrutiny: Sylar's motivation stems from deep rooted compulsions (a persistent and insatiable hunger for others' gifts, which stems of its own accord, and excites him; jealousy towards Trevor evincing his desire for Elle, prompting actions that led to the acquisition of the former's power; a need to understand whether his putative father is being truthful) as opposed to a conscious decision to 'be special'; there is evidence to suggest that Peter's mother did believe in him, endorsing a way of life that would sensitize him; the main distinction, that Sylar represents logic and Peter is representative of emotion, seems to be sound on a superficial level but has, at best, been clumsily executed and may as well be accidental. The principal problem here is in the name - intuition has never been associated with logic, rather it sidesteps the rational process of inquiry. Essentially, for intuitive aptitude to work as a concept or an ability, the individual so gifted will need to take repeated leaps of faith, on the assumption that his/her ability will unfailingly prove to be correct; while this provides interesting parallels with religious faith and deity characters, it blurs the distinction (conceptually, if not in the mode of operation) between an empathic and an intuitive understanding, as neither involves rational inquiry.
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Sylar may also be a thematic foil to evolution itself. | None | + His profession of watchmaker is often used as an analogue to an intelligent designer. Rather than following an evolutionary imperative, he appears to be redesigning himself using existing powers as a template which he then improves upon. + Evolution requires reproduction of the fittest, not merely survival of the fittest. So, unless he starts trying to have babies, he can't affect evolution at all. In fact, by taking so many evolved people out of the gene pool, he is actually slowing down evolution. |
Sylar can be identified with some supernatural harbinger of the end of the world. | None | + Sylar builds and restores watches. The notion of supernatural "watchmaker", setting the laws of science in place then letting them tick away, is one frequent symbol for God (a rather apt one for a show centering around apparently God-directed evolution). + Sylar, like the biblical Lucifer/Satan, became dissatisfied with his status in life, wanting desperately to be more important, more special. By acquiring more and more superhuman powers, he appears to be making himself God-like, an act of supreme hubris. • Sylar has had several moments of compassion, in the exposed future with his son and his brief period of redemption with Elle. God and Satan are often depicted as absolutes, either absolutely good or absolutely evil. This does not seem to be the case with Sylar. |
Sylar is a different species of evolved human. | None | + There is much about him that is different from the others know evolved humans, and his original power was not detected by Chandra.
+ Only his telekinesis was detected by The Company. |
Sylar has Mosaic DNA and is a Chimera. | None | + This explains why the Company only found "telekinesis DNA" when tested they him. |
Sylar wasn't going to kill Molly Walker; he was going to kidnap her and use her to find other evolved humans. | None | • Sylar normally leaves no signs of physical contact when attacking his victims. Sylar causes a ruckus when he tries to drag Molly away when he could have easily killed her in the blink of an eye. (One Giant Leap). - Sylar can just kill Molly and take her ability.
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Sylar developed powers at a young age, as Micah and Sanjog did. | None | + Sylar has stated matter-of-factly on more than one occasion that he can understand how things work. The connotation of this may imply that he has had this particular power for a long time, that he, too, developed powers at a young age.
- His apparent cleverness may simply be a byproduct of intuitive aptitude.
+ Intuitive aptitude has been confirmed as a power by Sylar himself, when talking to Maya in the car on the way to the border. |
Sylar understands Spanish. | None | + Sylar often showed some form of understanding of conversations between Alejandro and Maya, such as the fact that Alejandro needed Maya to translate English to Spanish, or his desire to abandon Sylar and cross with a coyote.
+ Sylar's intuitive aptitude, if it still works, may have helped him to learn the language by now.
+ Sylar could have used Charlie's power to learn Spanish earlier, or could simply have learned in school.
+ In How to Stop an Exploding Man, Sylar appears to understand Japanese, as he responds very specifically to what Hiro says to Ando.
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The Company spent considerable resources saving Sylar's life because they need him to extract the power stored in the brain inside the Vault. | One of the items inside the Primatech Vault is a preserved brain. | + The brain is stored alongside assorted mysterious items, including a virus with the power to wipe out the human race, suggesting it holds high value or significant power. + Despite the incredible danger Sylar poses to all evolved humans, the Company has gone to great lengths to preserve his life; forbidding Mr. Bennet from killing him in Season 1, and treating him with several major surgeries to save him from the stab wound from Hiro's katana.
+ It could also be the reason why the company kept Peter in a cell. Peter should have Sylar's intuitive aptitude ability and would also be able to extract the power from the brain.
- The Company has had plenty of chances for Sylar to do this, but they do not seem to have asked him to do it.
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The Serpent in the story of the Serpent and the Crane is a symbolic representation of Sylar. | None | + The Serpent kills the Crane and takes its ability to fly. This sounds a lot like power theft.
+ Guillame asks, "What good is it to fly, if you have nowhere to go?" Sylar is in a similar situation because he takes powers but does not use them for anything except to gain more powers.
- Although the resemblances are interesting, it's unlikely that the Haitian's tribe would have ever met someone like Sylar before, nor is it likely Sylar would have heard the legend.
- Around the time that the It Takes a Village series would have taken place, Sylar would have been very young and still call himself Gabriel. |
Sylar's rescue by Maya, Alejandro, and Derek was engineered by Drucker. | None | + One evolved human being saved by two other evolved humans riding in a car stolen from a third evolved human is a very big coincidence.
+ Derek's fraternity, the reason he stole the Rogue and went to Mexico, has a portrait of Drucker, strongly suggesting that the two are connected. |
Sylar is going to be a father. | It is implied that he slept with Maya. (Truth & Consequences) | + She may be pregnant.
+ It is highly doubtful Sylar was carrying condoms.
- Maya would be "showing" by Libertad.
+ The baby may have inherited Alejandro's ability or something to that effect that allows it to survive.
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Sylar's Achilles' heel, his kryptonite, is calling him Gabriel. | He has been visibly upset when he is called Gabriel, almost as if he is in pain. | - Both his adoptive and fake mothers have called him Gabriel repeatedly.
- Elle called him Gabriel numerous times after he regained her trust. He didn't seem to care in the slightest.
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Future Gabriel named his son after HRG because he accidentally killed him before this part of the future and wants to try and redeem himself. This means that Claire is after him for that and for taking her ability. | None | + We didn't see HRG in the future. + In Resistance, Claire talks about getting over the loss of her parents. Maybe Sylar accidentally killed them. |
Future Gabriel named his son Noah because HRG became a father figure toward him. | None | + A person naming his/her son after his/her own "father" is very common. + Sylar and HRG were partners at Primatech. |
Peter and Sylar share some kind of supernatural connection. | None | + In Landslide, without trying to, Peter suddenly picks up Sylar's thoughts in a crowded New York City street.
+ They have very similar powers, in that they can absorb others abilities. Only three other people, Linda Tavara, Peter's and Sylar's fathers are the only other evolved humans to show the ability to do this. |
Sylar can move powers from one person to another, not just himself. | This ability was implied by Noah in Hiro's dream during the Villains episode. | + While observing Sylar, Noah says that Sylar has the ability to transfer powers from one vessel to another.
- Sylar's ability isn't power theft; it's seeing how things work. Power theft is how he uses his power, not his power's "intended" purpose.
• This could also have something to do with the development of the serum that Pinehearst is creating to give powers, but that's extra speculation.
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Claire Bennet would have been the mother of Noah Gray. | None | + It would explain Noah Gray's first name. - Elle is more likely to be the mother of Noah Gray in the timeline we saw him.
- Claire hates Sylar.
- Even though Claire is darker in the future, she still showed a little sadness when she killed Peter. She threatened Noah's life; it is doubtful she would threaten her own child.
- In the exposed future, Gabriel still thinks Peter is his brother. Odds are he thinks Claire is his niece. |
Sylar will re-obtain induced radioactivity from Amid Halebi. | He has this power in the exposed future. | + Sylar's regeneration ability would protect him from the negative side-affects of Amid's power. |
Sylar will regain precognitive painting from Byron Bevington. | None | + His name is on Elle's cellphone. + According to Heroes Evolutions content, Byron has precognition.
+ In the exposed future, Gabriel regained that ability by the time he is met by Peter's past self.
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Sylar became evil again because baby Claire never got the catalyst. | None | + Seeing the catalyst in Claire's brain could have caused Sylar to realize the evil of his ways. Perhaps it helped him begin to "understand" the hunger part of his ability. + Just after Hiro took Claire to the past, to prevent her from getting the catalyst, Sylar turned evil again, killing Elle.
- Claire might never have gotten the catalyst in any timeline.
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Rapid cell regeneration is one of Sylar's empathic abilities (like telekinesis,electric manipulation and Empathy) because he was able to empathize with Claire. | In Angels and Monsters Sylar apologises to Claire and says that she must fear him. In Dual he says that she must be disgusted by him and think him a monster. | + Sylar apologized to Elle just before gaining her ability.
- Sylar apologized after he took Claire's power. |
Sylar regained precognition and induced radioactivity in the future from Peter, using the aspect of his own ability that is similar to Peter's own. The reason that he was able to copy those powers from Peter, whilst Peter himself was not able to copy the powers of his his future self, is that the two powers are not identical, and function differently. | None | + With Ted Sprague dead, Peter is (at least in the exposed future where he still had all his powers) the only known source of that power.
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Sylar has taken the power of metal mimicry from Danny Pine. | None | + Sylar clearly killed him, and having succumbed to the hunger, it seems unlikely that he would have passed over the opportunity of taking it. - Sylar was more concerned with his plan, with putting Angela, Claire, Meredith and Noah in tight situations.
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Sylar isn't Arthur's son, but they are still related. | None | + When Sylar asked Arthur if he [Arthur] was his family, Arthur replied: "Of course. I am your father". Then Sylar detected a lie. So this ability could have worked when Arthur said "I am your father", not directly after "Of course". This could mean that Arthur is Sylar's family, but not his father. - The workings of this ability are unclear, the ability might analyze the statement as a whole, not parts of it.
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Sylar and Luke Campbell are half brothers. | Sylar felt it wasn't mere coincidence that Luke is an evolved human and lived near his father. | + Luke also said that somebody said that his mother was a whore. Even if the guy didn't really say it, she could have slept with Samson.
+ Luke, like Sylar, could have been adopted. |
Sylar won't kill Luke for his ability because he will absorb it through empathy. | None | + Elle was the only evolved human who was able to partner with Sylar, because he absorbed her ability through empathy.
- Sylar and Luke have gone separate ways with no evidence of Sylar having Luke's ability. |
Sylar's drive to find his father has obliterated "the hunger". | Sylar states that his motivations were finding abilities and taking them, but now they're mostly about finding his real father. (Building 26) | + Sylar was able to control the hunger briefly under the guidance of a pseudo-mother figure. - Sylar killed Joe Macon and took his ability.
+ Sylar refrained from killing Luke Campbell, despite the fact that Luke killed Daniel Simmons, a man with vital information on his father, and the fact that Luke had a powerful ability. |
Sylar sent Luke away in order to save his life. | None | + He didn't kill Luke himself. + He obviously didn't want Luke to be killed by Samson. |
Sylar loves road trips. | None | + He is the only character to have been on a roadtrip in every season. In season one with Mohinder, in season two with Maya and Alejandro, and in season three with Luke Cambell.
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The metallic arm on the floor in Dual is actually Sylar's arm after he killed Danny Pine and stole his ability. | Danny was confirmed to be deceased. Most likely, Sylar killed him. | + Sylar has rapid cell regeneration, so he could cut his arm off and it would grow back. + Sylar's hunger might make him take Danny's ability.
• Sylar could have stolen metal mimicry and discovered it's a weak ability against fire, and that he couldn't control the ability so his arm stayed metal. He may have cut his arm off so Meredith can't attack his metallic arm.
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Sylar has "absorbed" precognitive dreaming from Angela Petrelli, including the ability to enter the dreams of others. | None | + Numerous clues indicate that he appeared in Danko's dream in the beginning of Into Asylum. Danko closed his eyes, then saw Sylar, then awoke to his cigarette lighter click and Sylar was impossibly far away instantaneously. Only Angela has been shown to do this. + He was in contact with Angela Petrelli on multiple occasions, and cared for her at one point.
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Since regaining two of his abilities after being infected with the Shanti virus, Sylar has stolen more abilities than shown on screen. | After Danko tells Noah what team Sylar is leading with his shape shifting ability, Noah states that they've been pulling a lot of wins lately. This may mean Sylar has been acquiring even more abilities. (Turn and Face the Strange) | + In a scene from Into Asylum, it seemed as if Sylar had used a power similar to teleportation to enter and leave Danko's car and appear on the roof of a nearby building.
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Sylar intentionally got Sandra Bennet's signature wrong in the episode Turn and Face the Strange to make Noah Bennet attack his wife. | Sylar told Danko that he didn't want to kill Noah, he wanted to "destroy" him. | + Sylar now has easy access to all of Danko's files. Assuming Danko keeps files on his employees, Sylar could have easily copied Sandra's signature with imprinting (acquired in Out of Town... On Business).
+ Sylar manipulated Alejandro and Maya Herrera emotionally. He also set up the traps in Dual and has shown excitement in playing mind games with his prey (terrorizing Claire twice, making Noah sweat, taunting Audrey Hanson, flaunting daddy's powers for Elle, etc...). It is not beyond his abilities to orchestrate such an event. |
Sylar's genetic makeup is deteriorating due to the stress of his shape shifting and is causing him to lose his sanity. It may even kill him. | Sylar is shown to be unable to control his shape shifting at times and is seen talking to himself as his deceased mother. (I Am Sylar) | + Noah Bennet theorized that the changes Sylar was making to his DNA with intuitive aptitude had driven him insane (Fallout). If Noah is correct, shape shifting may be speeding up the process and cause a complete mental break down.
- Sylar was shape-shifting uncontrollably because his ability allowed him to express the insanity roiling through his brain. His DNA had nothing to do with it.
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Sylar's shape shifting ability can modify the essence of any power he gets, or at least change or remove some attributes of them. | Sylar woke up after Danko "killed" him with the knife. | + Probably his weak point is now in another part of his body, or maybe removed.
+ Claire lost her pain feelings; maybe Sylar knows how to change the human DNA.
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If Peter touches Sylar and kills him, Sylar will slowly possess him until Peter transforms into and becomes the new Sylar. | Sylar behaved as though he had been possessed by his mother. (I Am Sylar). | - That happened because of Sylar's identity issues associated with his recently acquired shape shifting, Peter doesn't have identity issues that would trigger a crisis the way Sylar triggered. - Sylar possessed Matt because he somehow absorbed his consciousness into his own. |
Now that Sylar's brain weak spot has been moved elsewhere, the only way to kill him is to smash his entire head with something really heavy (like a hammer). | None | + This would destroy his brain completely, making it unable to regenerate. - He may have a telekinetic field around him to block blunt objects. A knife could pierce the telekinetic layer. Either way, he should be on his guard permanently because of Danko.
- We don't know if the sweet spot is even in his head. He may have re-arranged his organs or something.
- Nathan lives in Sylar's mind and can use his powers. He may shift the weak spot back into the back of his head. |
Sylar has regained some of the abilities he lost after his exposure to the Shanti virus through clairsentience. | None | + He could touch something he wore when he gained the ability and then possibly remember how he gained the power and how he could change his genetic make-up back to it.
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Sylar will still be the father of Noah Gray. In fact, he will be both the father and his mother because he is a hermaphrodite. | None | - Unless Sylar gets a cloning power, he can't be male and female at the same time, though he can shift between them.
+ The writers confirmed this is biologically possible.
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Sylar can now get the powers of people with abilities even after they have died. | None | + He could touch them to absorb their DNA and shape shift into what they were. He could then slice his head open and examine his brain with a mirror.
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Sylar can create his own unique abilities. | Intuitive aptitude works by altering DNA to accommodate newly analyzed powers. | + If Sylar can do this, than he presumably has mental access to his genetics. In this case, he could simply write his own 'code' from scratch. - He probably only knows that a coded ability will work after seeing it demonstrated. |
Sylar is mentally ill. | He often shows signs of unstable behavior. | + Noah stated his belief that Sylar was insane.
+ He seemed happy that Peter was going to explode, despite the fact that he might die in the explosion. + He began having conversations with his dead mother in I Am Sylar.
+ He killed many people without a reason.
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With Claire's ability, Sylar can now heal his victims by injecting his blood into them. | None | + Claire's blood has been proven to heal people from death. ("Cautionary Tales") - Adam told Peter his blood would heal Nathan from the burns, not Peter's, although Peter had regeneration too. This could mean those who absorbed regeneration cannot use their blood as a cure.
+ Peter had to recall how Claire made him feel, or be in her presence, to heal, Sylar has made it part of his DNA, so it could be a passive ability.
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Sylar opened Brian Davis's head with telekinesis, which he absorbed from him through empathy. | We never saw how Sylar acquired telekinesis. | + When Peter absorbed intuitive aptitude from Future Gabriel, he still sliced Nathan's and Angela's heads open, although he possessed their abilities. The Hunger is the only reason for that.
+ Sylar didn't seem to have any tools which could help to slice Brian's head open.
+ He sliced Trevor's head open with telekinesis, like he knew exactly what to do.
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Sylar killed other people from the list on Elle's phone. | None | + Each time Sylar had a list of evolved humans, he went on killing spree. + By the time he took Elle's phone, he had succumbed to his hunger once again.
- It's unlikely the phone remained intact after the Primatech fire.
+ Somehow Sylar disappeared from Danko's car and reappeared on the rooftop of a nearby building. (Into Asylum) The source of this power is unknown.
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Sylar has an ability similar to astral projection. | None | + Sylar has on at least two occasions appeared to be in one place and then moments later, appeared to be somewhere else. |
The more abilities Sylar absorbs through empathy, the more human he becomes. | None | + Sylar took Elle's ability and later was visibly upset when he killed her. After that he didn't kill Luke and Samson. + Sylar took shape shifting from James Martin and suffered the identity crysis, showing remorse. He later saved Micah and proposed to Claire.
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Sylar was a virgin until he slept with Maya in Season 2. | None | + He acts extremely awkward around Elle the first time they meet and, prior to becoming a serial killer, appeared to have very limited social skills. - Sylar's complete background is a mystery, viewers haven't seen a glimer into his high school days.
- Sylar was complemented for his sexual prowess by Janice. Even with intuitive aptitude, this would be unlikely if he had only been with two other women.
- It's unlikely Sylar slept with Maya because of his wound.
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Sylar gained the power of flight because he was able to understand Nathan through his memories. | None | + Sylar, understanding Nathan on an emotional level because of clairsentience, flew in An Invisible Thread, despite never examining his brain to learn his power. Sylar can take powers through empathy.
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Sylar has phasing. | None | + It explains how he got out of Danko's car and Tom Miller's apartment in the blink of an eye without teleporting. + When Matt brainwashed Sylar, sound effects for many powers could be heard, including telekinesis, intuitive aptitude, shape shifting and phasing.
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Sylar was able to use induced radioactivity and precognition in the exposed future through empathy. | None | + Although Sylar took Brian Davis's ability with his original method, he was able to retain telekinesis after being infected with the Shanti virus because he felt bad about killing Davis. In the exposed future, Sylar appeared to be much more human and sincerely regretted killing so many people and likely felt just as bad about killing Ted Sprague and Isaac Mendez as he did with Brian Davis. Therefore, he should have been able to emulate their abilities again the same way he emulated telekinesis after he was cured.
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Sylar will take Peter's ability and become limited to one ability at a time. | None | + If Sylar takes Peter's ability, it's reasonable to conclude that Peter's current limitation to keep only one ability at a time will carry over to Sylar.
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Sylar himself is a splinter personality from Gabriel, and is the embodiment of the hunger. | Jessica manifested in Niki as a result of gaining her ability. (Four Months Ago...) | + This could explain why he keeps telekinesis when contracting the Shanti virus, Gabriel feels guilty for Brian's death, and not being in control the rest of the time, he has no memory of Sylar's victims. + Gabriel could have regained control back in The Hard Part, causing him to go see his mother, and try to let her convince him that he could be just a watchmaker, it is also unlikely that Sylar, with his mastery of telekineses, would have hit an unintended target.
- Samson has the hunger too, he didn't exhibit any signs of DID.
- When Peter absorbed Gabriel's power, he got the hunger too without his personality splitting. Besides, Arthur couldn't have rid Peter of an alter-ego by stealing his powers.
+ The birth of his child could have been enough for future Gabriel to beat down Sylar. |
With empathy, Sylar can acquire abilities permanently by simply touching an evolved human. | None | + Sylar can absorb someone's ability by understanding an individual's emotions, and Lydia can understand an individual simply by making physical contact. So, if Sylar took empathy, he could make emotional connections by touch, thus allowing him to duplicate the individual's ability. |
Sylar will acquire Hiro's ability and possibly kill him. | None | + Along with Peter, Hiro is one of Sylar's greatest rivals. + Sylar needs this power to regain many of the abilities he lost.
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Sylar will get the power to bring the dead back to life and redeem himself after resurrecting his mother. | None | + He fears his power corrupts him into loneliness and Matt is accurate when he tells Sylar he has killed too much for redemption, but if he could undo his murders without harming the timeline, he would be closer to redemption. + He would probably use this power to bring back his mother if he could, both his adoptive mother and his true mother. His true mother would probably be sensible enough to persuade him into further redemption.
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Sylar will return to using his old name, Gabriel Gray. | When he abandoned killing in the exposed future, he renounced the name "Sylar". | + Sylar has become a hero, effectively renouncing his old identity as a killer. + He may start associating the name "Sylar" with the murderous villain he used to be. |
Eventually Gabriel's suppression of the hunger will make a separate Sylar personality. | None | + It would be a way to add a new story to his character, and have him act as both a hero and a villain. • They've already done this with Niki and Jessica. And Niki and Gina. And Sylar and Virginia. And Matt and Sylar. And Nathan and Sylar. And Sylar and Sylar.
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Sylar has lost some number of teeth in his life. | In I Am Sylar, when he reverted to himself from Agent Taub, he had to pull out a tooth from his mouth. | - That is one tooth.
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Sylar killed Bob for revenge against Elle. | None | + Sylar looks strangely at Elle in Powerless, probably remembering what she did to him in Villains. Shortly after, he killed her father and attempted to kill her.
- He was most likely only thinking about getting Bob's ability.
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Sylar can combine several acquired abilities to achieve telepathy. | None | + Sylar has intuitive aptitude, clairsentience, lie detection, and empathy. If he used them simultaneously, it could be like having telepathy. |
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See Also: 9 • Red • Time travel • Sylar |