Sylar and Peter
Ok, this is a little musing I’ve had tumbling about in my head for a
while. Sylar and Peter both have the ability to absorb other
individuals’ powers. Peter seems to be able to affect this through
proximity and recall, while Sylar feels the need to lop off skull caps
to complete the task.
Claude made a comment while training Peter about, what seemed to me,
there being others with powers like his and how they couldn’t handle
it. He also talks about how they had to find a way for him to be able
to recall his abilities at will. This got me thinking that maybe Peter
and Sylar have the exact same power, only Sylar, in his quest to be
’special’ feels the need to kill them to be able to incorporate the
powers and that also acts as his trigger to be able to recall the
powers.
The only thing that causes me any lingering doubt is that Sylar seems
to be able to sense differences in people, although that ability may
not have been his initially as well, if he is like Peter. It may have
been something he absorbed without knowing.
So my peoples, what do you think. Are we dealing with two heroes with
a similiar power or something else? I’d love to hear some other
theories on this one.
March 2nd, 2007 at 10:58 am
I don’t think Sylar can detect what other people’s powers are, how they work or that they even have them. I thought so at first, but after thinking about it seems more like he understand what makes the powers “tick”, but not any special ability to sense them. He’s never been able to find heroes on his own, he’s had to use Papa Suresh’s list and now is using Mohinder to find them. When he went to find Claire he wasn’t sure which one she was. Though he does seem to know what makes their powers tick, he doesn’t seem to sense what they can do either. Around the real Zane he didn’t seem to know what he could do until he saw it. I thought he bricked his pants when he saw it. Also, when he met super hearing girl he didn’t know until she explained it. When he got his telekentic abilities, he also had to see them first.
Perhaps he’s more like Peter than we think in that he has to see the powers used before he can use them himself? Though both seem to be able to get powers just from being around another person with powers.
They may be have the same power or maybe they are different. They’ve both been described as unique during the show and Sylar wants to be unique so bad he can’t stand it. It’s at the core of his motivations. I agree that his power likely doesn’t require the killing of the other heroes. He may think it does and thus he has a crutch, just like Hiro thinks he needs the sword.
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:02 am
Great point. It just made me think that this could be setting up for an epic Peter v Sylar battle, since both are undisputed heavyweights in the powers department and Sylars desire to be unique will definitely for a confrontation with Peter. Nice analysis.
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:06 am
Yeah, I think that’s where at least part of this story is heading. I think it’ll be a very tough fight and Peter might not be the same after words. I’m predicting some power trouble after words because he’s become pretty tough. They need to knock him down a little to keep him in line or he’ll become to powerful. Also, maybe he’ll get his scar fighting Sylar!
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:09 am
Yeah, the infamous scar mentioned by future Hiro! Yeah, he’ll definitely need a power check or they’ll need better villians!
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:53 am
The scar could also just be one “possible” future, it may never happen. Though we might to a chance to see some cool stuff as an upcoming EP has Hiro and Ando 5 years in the future!
March 5th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
I believe in the episode where we got a background bits about Syler and how he started, it mentioned that he can see *how* someone does their gift by watching it and watching how their brain ‘ticks’ - it’s how his being a watch repair guy tied into everything. He learned to super impose his figuring out why a watch wouldn’t work, to seeing how it all goes together. Not sure why he has to steal their brain to make it work, or if that’s a ‘just because’ freak thing with him. But he definitely has to see the gift in action before being able to use it himself after he steals it.
March 6th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
I think Sylar is a wannabe…somehow he has figured out how to get the others’ powers, but on his own, he was nothin’ special. Peter, on the other hand, has only suspected he has special abilities a few weeks in the show’s timeline. He’s still learning how to absorb and keep them.
I do see a big big HUGE battle between them.
And can we say, THANK YOU to Sylar for trimming the annoying Peter bangs?
March 14th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
I agree with Pattie. And just to add - he steals their powers because he wants to be special like the heroes are - and because the doctor could not find anything in him - he kills them and sees how the power works and then absorbs it. I would say that he is really smart (that hurt to say!), but he is not a true hero.
September 6th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Peter and Sylar are not even close to being the same. Peter absorbs power from just being in close contact with another power. He took Ted’s nuclear power without seeing it first. Sylar has to take the brains to get power. He cannot turn invisible even though he has seen Peter turn invisible. He even says “I can’t wait to try that one”. Also when he is captured at Primatech Paper the scientists cannot find any powers other than the telekenisis. I think he is a totally normal person that can change himself by analyzing other brains. He has the watch-making backround and he had the brain books in his apartement. When he tries to kill Peter he says “You can do what I do, I’d like to see how that works”. I just don’t know how he alters his own genomes after seeing what he has to copy.
September 9th, 2007 at 10:11 am
He has a power, it is just a passive power.I don’t care how smart you are, you don’t go from being a watch repairman to world class geneticist as quickly as he did.