Hi, it's me again! Rereading the question you're right, it was very unclear, sorry (I swear it made sense in my mind). I was referring to Arthur knowing about empathic mimicry during the Pinehearst Arc. Peter is literally a walking-piñata of abilities; 'stealing' this ability, Arthur could achieve his goals far easier. So, it was a choice not using it, or he didn't know about it, or empathic mimicry is a power to "unlock", like intuitive aptitude? Or even, Arthur had to collect powers from zero?
Hi, I'm so glad you came back to follow up on this! ^.^
Ah, so did Arthur know how Peter's empathic mimicry worked when he stole it from Peter? I've never thought of this before, but @heroes-trash just brought up some interesting insights into this (so it's my turn to summon you hehe) - if Arthur DID know then why did he waste his time running around and killing people for their powers?
I like to imagine that Arthur just wasn't empathetic enough to access Peter's harmless way of acquiring abilities. We know Peter has to focus on how the people make him feel, if even Peter Petrelli - the most empathetic person EVER - had to train and struggle to access his repertoire of powers, then it makes sense that Arthur, who clearly has no empathy, couldn't get them that way.
Even Sylar, we discover, can absorb abilities empathetically, but since he's shut down that part of himself he struggles to do so too.
TLDR: Peter is a beautifully empathetic angel who wouldn't hurt anyone for a power, and gathers them through love. Arthur, on the other hand, is a major a-hole who probably couldn't empathise with anyone if his life depended on it. Therefore, I like to think that the ability was just like "no, f**k you" and didn't work properly for Arthur hehe
(Also, I don't think Arthur or Angela knew about Peter's ability when he was growing up, as Angela even says in the S1 flashback with Charles "that poor boy can't get out of his own way". If she knew he had an ability before the events of season 1, surely they'd have acted on trying to manipulate it sooner - this is the Petrellis, after all!)
Thanks for the ask, this was fun! And this is only my opinion, of course, I'd love to hear other people's insights X)
Anyone ever think about the fact that Gabriel “Sylar” Gray technically has Empathy (Even if he’s not very good with it. Thanks, V3.) and all Peter Petrelli would have to do is dig deep enough under all the rest of the abilities to find it?
Hi! First of all, it's awesome that in the world there are still people who keep loving, thinking and talking about Heroes, so thank you. (Man, I loved that show first time, and still love it after every rewatch, regardless debateble choices). Now, may I take advantage of your knowledge and ask you a question? Do you think Arthur Petrelli knew about Peter's OP ability or how to make it work? (Because, if he knew, he could have solved everything in one episode or less)
Hi, thank you for your ask! I don't get many so it's always a great surprise ^.^
You're very welcome, I've not had as much time to post here lately but you can bet I have no intention of stopping loving, thinking and talking about Heroes hehe, I love that you still love it too!
I'm so happy that you'd ask me for my Heroes knowledge (of course you can take advantage of it! What good is years worth of Heroes goodies if I can't share them? XP), but I'm afraid I don't exactly understand your question here?
Do I think Arthur knew Peter had his empathic mimicry while Peter was growing up? And by "solve everything" do you mean the whole exploding-man scenario, or during S3 when Peter and Arthur reunite in Pinehearst, or something else?
I'd love to have this discussion btw, I've never thought of it before, but I don't want to answer the wrong question and go off in the wrong direction. So please do get back to me and I absolutely will dive into this topic with you ^.^
He definitely picked up some of Sylar's broken *before* he got the Intuitive Aptitude. That's the thing about Empathic Mimicry. Peter gets the abilities because he's able to connect on a deeper level, and even with amnesia, those bonds remain. What he connects to in Sylar comes out with the Telekinesis as well as the Intuition. So I don't think that Intuitive Aptitude has to be tied to a homicidal urge, but because that's the particular way Samson broke Gabriel, Peter ends up taking it on, too.
Her name is Kuende Akina, meaning “evolution” “relations” which can be roughly interpreted as “Evo Family”.
Speaks English, Luo, Swahili, Urdu, and Spanish
Although she doesn’t particularly like violence, Kuende isn’t afraid to defend herself or protect others with her abilities.
FC:
Lupita Nyong'o
———————————————————————————————— now the WAR is here
Full Background:
The Tanui family had many abilities in their bloodline, and after many years, Kuende was born. The youngest of three siblings, she grew up knowing she would someday be special like the rest of her family. But year after year passed, and Kuende hadn’t even shown the slightest possibility of an ability. Her brothers could do all of these extraordinary things - in secret or around family, of course - and Kuende became reclusive and jealous that she was 12 years old and was the only one without an ability. It felt like a disgrace to her name, her family.
One day, after her 13th birthday, Kuende was wrestling with her brothers and accidentally went right through him. It took her completely by surprise, especially since one of Kuende’s brothers had that ability already, though many people in their family had similar abilities.
By the time she was 14, Kuende no longer attended public school and had to juggle learning and managing the abilities of flight, telekinesis, healing, pyrokinesis, and phasing. She wasn’t sure where the healing came from, but she knew that over the years it had come in handy many times. Though different abilities came and went, that one has stayed, and as Kuende grew older, she decided to go into the medical field.
For many years, she was a registered nurse and loved her job. She was able to help out with small things now and again with her abilities, though she used it very sparingly, and only with dire cases. Her life continued this way for many years until Claire revealed Specials to the world. The Kenyan government did not react well, and it wasn’t long before Kuende had a vision of her family dying. It was then that Kuende contacted Rebel, who she’d heard about in passing.
With the aid of Rebel, she was able to get her mother, herself, and older brother out of the country. Unfortunately, her father and brother perished when their town was ravaged by hunters. Kuende was bitter, but instead of remaining bitter, she resolved to aid Rebel so that no other families would have to deal with the losses she and her family endured.
After the EHRA, Kuende started to feel almost as if there was no hope or safe haven for their kind. She’d hoped that coming to the states would be a good thing for her family, but clearly, everyone was afraid of them. Although she’s a little weary about the future, Kuende is still a resilient fighter and will do whatever it takes to make things right again.
Born to a rich family - always felt like he was destined for more.
Has worked as a nurse and paramedic.
Was there to watch Claire’s swan dive
Ran the Fortis company protecting Evos for a few years, before it was eventually disbanded after the EHRA.
Helped Sylar in killing Alan Shelby, the man who passed the act.
Currently, he stands as a more extremist member of the opposition.
Sometimes works with Micah but often feels the need to take more violent measures.
FC:
Milo Ventimiglia
———————————————————————————————— now the WAR is here
Full Background:
Peter’s Empathy is not limited to just his ability. Unlike the rest of his family, Peter opted to spend his life caring for others in the medical field. His early days as a Special were fraught with conflict. He began dreaming of the future when he acquired his mother’s, Angela’s, ability. These dreams became persistent and Peter went to track down Mohinder Suresh because of the book ‘Activating Evolution’. Around this time he was visited by a future Hiro Nakamura, who put him on the path of saving Claire Bennet from Sylar. During this time, Peter picked up many abilities and the pressure of having them without much control began to make his body sick. Claude Rains reluctantly taught him how to access his powers one at a time, but it was short-lived.
During an argument with a precognitive painter, Peter’s angry taunting led to the Isaac accidentally shooting a woman they both cared about. Peter was horrified by her death and went to visit Mohinder, only to find Sylar. Though the two heroes escaped, Peter was struck with a shard of glass in the back of his head and briefly died, learning about the rapid cellular regeneration’s “kill spot”.
After absorbing a radioactive ability, Peter squared off with Sylar. Although the heroes seem to beat Sylar, Peter could not control his radioactive ability, and Nathan rescued him by flying him into the sky to explode without harming anyone. For several months after, Peter lived in Ireland and had no idea of his true identity, only of some of his abilities. When accidentally using chronokinesis, Peter accidentally left his Irish girlfriend in an alternate Shanti Virus future. To stop it from happening, he briefly teamed up with immortal Adam Monroe, but once he realized the other man’s true intentions, he turned on Adam and destroys the virus.
While going with Nathan to a press conference, Peter was stopped by his future self and for a while after, Peter found himself inhabiting a criminal’s body while the future version of himself took over his life. In an attempt to once again stop a terrible future, Peter discovered that his father, Arthur Petrelli, was still alive. Arthur used Peter’s compassion to steal all of his abilities, including his base empathic mimicry.
When the heroes ambushed Arthur, Peter intended to shoot his father but found it difficult and Sylar took over, ensuring Arthur’s death himself. But before the Pinehearst building blew up, Peter injected himself with one of the synthetic formulas his father and Mohinder had been working on, giving him the power of ability replication.
Several months after, Nathan began working with the government to round up Specials. After a plane crash that he almost died in, he and the other heroes teamed up to stop Nathan and reveal the secret program. The government got backlash from this and Nathan was exposed after as a Special.
After some time, Peter tried to live normal again and rejoined the medical field, as a paramedic. He wanted to save as many as inhumanly possible and his relationship with his family became strained again because of this obsession. When ‘Nathan’ came to him for help, Peter put his obsessive behavior aside. Until discovering that ‘Nathan’ was really Sylar with Nathan’s memories. Soon after, Sylar regained control of his own body and Peter fell into a depression but distracted himself by investigating the carnival again with Noah. In a desperate attempt to keep his friend Emma from killing hundreds of people at the carnival, he sought out Sylar and used Matt’s ability to enter Sylar’s mental prison.They eventually bonded over how they’d changed and broke free to save everyone from Samuel Sullivan, later witnessing Claire’s jump off a Ferris wheel.
A year later, Angela had tried unsuccessfully to recreate the company but Peter took over and decided it was best not to let either Angela or Noah have the leading role, as they would only repeat their past mistakes. Instead, Peter decided to open up a school for people with abilities where they would provide general education while helping them with a greater sense of control and understanding over their powers. The school was called The Petrelli School for Gifted Individuals.
What should have been a monumental push forward, just left Peter’s life, and the world as a whole, in shambles.
Peter tried to keep his head above water for a while after his mother’s death, but after even more attacks on the school, Peter was at his wit’s end. He couldn’t save anyone whilst sat behind a desk.
The Registration Act was the final straw for Peter, leading him to seek out Sylar. With their powers combined, they easily took Shelby down, and although this was just a symbol that Evos would not take it lying down, Peter knows it only made the divide between Humans and Evos bigger. This was the path he’d set himself down, though, and if no one else was willing to do what was necessary to keep their species alive, the Peter would happily take that mantel.
Now Peter heads a searing revolution - prepared to go the extra mile to fight back against the oppression that faces them. He, and the people who follow his path have left the city in ruins, but Peter truly believes this is the only way. They tried being nice, but now all there’s left is to fight.
So now, after Arthur took his powers away, is Peter's power ONLY individual power mimicry or is it possible for him to channel all his powers back like Claude helped him do?
I've already written something about Peter's scar and a headcanon about his powers. To sum up, it states Peter's ability wasn't taken away but blacked out by Arthur, and the formula instead of giving him a similar ability it forces to work what's already in his genes: his empathic mimicry. It would happen to work differently due to several reasons I won't be pointing out in this post.
What I missed when I studied his abilities was the direct connection between his powers (and the loss of them) with the scar he has in the future. And I feel future!Peter told us more about Present!Peter since Season 1 than we might have noticed.
What's curious about the scar is he always has it in every alternative future, which immediately implies the scar isn't connected to the future itself but to a point in time much closer to the canon timeline/present. Not only he always has his scar but also has all the powers he has once mimicked, so he still owns his empathic mimicry.
He still owns it or...he gained it back.
Something that had intrigued everyone and the immediate question is how is possible for Peter to have a scar if he can heal? (Due to Claire's spontaneous rapid cell regeneration) NBC writers have stated that this was not a continuity error and that it would be explained later —needless to say, that was not going to happen at least not in the show.—
The only possibility then, is that he got the scar in a moment when he held no powers, this fits perfectly with the period of time from season 4. We also know there are hints Hiro has something to do with the scar, and judging by the end of Brave new world it's an easy guess things won't be easy for them since Claire's coming out to the world. Some sort of implicit war between special people —ones who want to control regular humans and the ones who don't, the usual— wouldn't be completely out of context but all the opposite.
This theory would enforce my previous headcanon that Peter is, in fact, able to get back his original ability if he learns to reconnect to people like he used to and unblock his emotional barriers. This would be somewhat plausible since it would give space for character development in the show and maybe it was part of the script for volume six. I guess we can't know for sure until the new comic comes out.
