A Snapshot of "Heroes"

Heroes is a science fiction television series that was created by Tim Kring and imitates the style of a comic book or graphic novel. The plot of the show tells the stories of ordinary and seemingly random people from everywhere in the world who unexplainably develop superpowers. The universe that the show takes place in is the same universe that we live in today except for the fact that many people have superpowers.

A central theme throughout the series is "save the world" and the characters all play roles in upcoming disasters that might destroy all of mankind. Some of the characters use their powers to cause these disasters while others use their powers to prevent them. These imminent threats to the survival of humankind are predicted by painters who can see the future and people who can time travel. The good people who develop superpowers have to save New York City from a nuclear bomb, they have to save the world from a virus that would kill everyone on Earth, and they have to save the world from the evil people who develop superpowers.

The show has many main characters. This is a list of the main characters and the superpowers that they have developed: Claire Bennet (rapid cellular regeneration), Elle Bishop (electric manipulation), Monica Dawson (adoptive muscle memory), Maya Herrara (poison emission), Isaac Mendez (premonition-expressed through paintings), Adam Monroe (rapid cellular regeneration), Hiro Nakamura (time travel, teleportation, can also stop time), Matt Parkman (telepathy), Nathan Petrelli (flight), Peter Petrelli (absorbs abilities from anyone he comes in contact with), Micah Sanders (can manipulate computers/technology), Niki Sanders (super strength), and Sylar (gains abilities by cutting open people's heads and studying their brains).

Another aspect of the show is a company whose sole purpose is to identify, monitor, capture, and study the people who have developed superpowers. This company is only referred to as The Company. The Company was founded sometime in 1977 by twelve people. These twelve people are all parents, relatives, and/or friends of the main characters of the show. The Company was founded in order to save the world from people with superpowers who were dangerous, even if that meant killing them.

Heroes is full of mythology and symbolism. One of the main symbols throughout the show is the helix. The helix resembles a portion of a DNA helix and is the symbol of ancient Japanese warrior (who had the superpower of rapid cellular regeneration). The symbol also shows up on many items throughout the show that are very important to the plot. Another prevalent symbol in the show is a solar eclipse. This symbol is actually the series' logo and (as stated by Tim Kring) symbolizes "a global even which parallels the concept of connectivity which runs through the series."