Nathan Petrelli

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Nathan Petrelli
A promotional photo of Nathan.
Portrayed by	Adrian Pasdar
First appearance	"Genesis"
Information
Ability	Flight
Gender	Male
Occupation	former U.S. naval officer, lawyer, U.S. Congressional candidate
Spouse	* Heidi Petrelli (wife) * Meredith Gordon (uncertain relationship)
Parents	* Angela Petrelli (mother) * Unnamed deceased father
Children	* Claire Bennet (biological daughter) * Simon Petrelli (son) * Monty Petrelli (son)
Siblings	Peter Petrelli (younger brother)

Nathan Petrelli is a fictional character portrayed by Adrian Pasdar in the television series Heroes.

Contents 1 Character history 1.1 Early flights 1.2 Vegas 1.3 Destinies 1.4 Linderman 2 Military service 3 Powers and abilities 4 Trivia 5 References

[edit] Character history

[edit] Early flights

Nathan was a lawyer working with the District Attorney's office. The District Attorney wanted to expose the Mafia connections of his father's client, Mister Linderman. As he was driving his wife home from a party in a convertible, another vehicle repeatedly struck his car. Nathan inadvertently flew from his car after one of the strikes, causing the car to lose control and veer off the freeway. The resulting crash caused his wife, Heidi, to suffer a significant spinal injury. Since then, Nathan has blamed himself for the incident.

Six months later, Nathan is running for Congress in a district of New York City. In the pilot episode, he was approached by his brother Peter, who told him that he'd been having strange dreams and believed he could fly. Nathan claimed to be unconvinced. Their conversation was interrupted by the news that their recently widowed mother has been arrested for shoplifting. Nathan, still primarily concerned with his candidacy, cut his mother no slack and left her at the police station with Peter. The following morning, Nathan watched from an alley as Peter jumped off a building in an attempt to fly. As Peter fell, Nathan flew into the air and grabbed his hand. They descended for a few seconds, but then the brothers lost their grip on one another.

The next day, Nathan was the first person Peter saw at his bedside in the hospital. Nathan denied that he flew and tried to explain away what happened as if it were simply a failed suicide attempt by Peter. Much later that night, Nathan was called to another rooftop, where Peter threatened to jump unless Nathan admitted that he flew. Nathan eventually admitted that he did fly. Both brothers soon learned that Peter could fly as well, when he began to walk on thin air. Soon after that, Nathan was again approached by Peter with information about the power of flight and other superhuman abilities. Nathan was still more focused on his campaign and his family. That evening, Nathan held a press conference where he broached the subject of depression. He revealed that his father suffered from it, and that it was the cause of his death. Nathan then claimed that Peter's attempt to fly was actually a suicide attempt, to satisfy the press. Peter stormed out of the press conference, later cursing Nathan out and assaulting him, but went along with the story in public.

[edit] Vegas

On his way to Las Vegas to meet with Mr. Linderman, Nathan was "harassed" by Mohinder Suresh, who attempted to warn him that his life may be in danger. Nathan mistook Mohinder for his father, Chandra, assumed that Peter sent him, and ignored the man. In Las Vegas, Nathan encountered Jessica Sanders, and the two shared an instant attraction, ultimately resulting in them sleeping together. The one-night stand turned out to be a badger game with Linderman as the benefactor. Afterwards, Mr. Bennet monitored them and had the Haitian kidnap Nathan.

A shirtless Nathan escaped when Bennet was distracted. Flying away, Nathan broke the sound barrier in the process. Nathan landed on his feet outside a diner in the desert outside Las Vegas, though it was not a smooth landing. After entering and getting a shirt from the lady at the counter, Nathan met Hiro Nakamura. Hiro said he saw Nathan fly and told the candidate that he has powers, too. Nathan was skeptical, but humored Hiro, who said he could teleport and manipulate time. Nathan asked about the upcoming election; Hiro said he won by a landslide. Hiro promised to keep Nathan's secret and, when Nathan's ride arrived at the diner, Nathan agreed to give Hiro a ride back to the city. After dropping Hiro off, Nathan went back to meet with Linderman, only to run into Niki on the way. Niki tells him she was supposed to sleep with him by the order of Mr. Linderman. She said they blackmailed her and will do the same to him, using a recording of the incident. When Nathan met with Linderman's associate again, he worked out a deal with her: Though their original deal was for two million dollars, Nathan became more certain than ever of his victory and negotiated for four million, saying, "for two million, you got a congressional candidate in your pocket; for four, you'll get a congressman."

[edit] Destinies

After Nathan returned to New York, he and his family had brunch with a newspaper reporter. During the brunch, the reporter questioned Nathan about his connections to the reputed mobster Linderman, and Nathan's meeting with a blonde woman in Vegas. Peter covered for Nathan, telling the reporter that Nathan was arranging a private clinic to treat him for his mental health issues. That night, Nathan lied to his wife, Heidi, by assuring her that he really was arranging for Peter's treatment, and that the woman he met with was a doctor. Nathan later told Peter that he cheated because of the guilt he feels about Heidi's confinement every day he looks at her. Before leaving, he also told Peter about the failed kidnapping attempt, and warned his brother to be careful, saying that people would want to lock them up if they realized the two brothers had powers.

At home, Nathan enquired about a painting by Isaac Mendez which Linderman had purchased and Peter wanted back. Linderman sent it "straight to [Simone's] gallery". When the painting arrived, Nathan viewed it with Simone. The image depicted a man resembling Peter, dead under a homecoming banner and a clock. After seeing it, Nathan destroyed it, telling Simone that he was protecting Peter from getting himself killed. Nathan later appears to bail Peter out in "Fallout". As they walk away from the jail, Peter has a shocking vision and collapses. Eventually, Nathan watches helplessly as Peter is comatose for two weeks.

Finally, Nathan becomes tired of waiting and will not "watch [his] brother die". After brotherly kissing Peter, he goes to the loft of Isaac Mendez. There, Nathan finds several of Isaac's finished "future paintings". Nathan is especially thoughtful about the "exploding man" image, which he and Issac both worry is Peter. Soon, Hiro appears, and happily greets Nathan ("flying man"). Nathan and Hiro talk about their role in stopping the "bad man" who may blow up New York. Later, Nathan returns after Peter has woken up. Their mother, Angela, is both happy and angry at Peter for suddenly leaving for "the desert". Nathan says he'll take care of it.

In "The Fix", Nathan goes to Mohinder to find out where Peter is, but neither has heard from Peter in days. Nathan is told about a list made by Mohinder's father by Mohinder. Mohinder explains to Nathan how Peter's DNA causes him to absorb and mimic other people's abilities. Nathan initially refuses to let Mohinder help find Peter, but Mohinder convinces him by stating that if he can study Peter, he may be able to find a cure.

They go to Peter's apartment, where Peter is preparing to leave town. Without fully hearing them out, Peter says he doesn't have time to be Mohinder's "guinea pig". Peter then tricks the two and gets away.

At the end of the episode "Distractions", Nathan receives a telephone call from Meredith Gordon, a woman in Texas whom he once had a relationship with. She informs him that their daughter Claire is still alive. In Run!, he shows up in Texas to visit Meredith and gave her $100,000 (Meredith lied and told Claire that Nathan was giving her $50,000, half of which would go to Claire) but did not want to get too involved with Claire. She was secretly listening and threw a rock at his car after he left Meredith's trailer. At the end of the episode, back in Vegas, Jessica (Niki's alter-ego) gets a call from Linderman saying that he wants Nathan assassinated.

[edit] Linderman

Nathan has arranged to meet with Mr. Linderman. Before Nathan goes to meet Linderman, he is visited by Peter who is devastated at the death of Simone. Nathan tells his brother that he will leave an anonymous tip with the police and urges him to see Mohinder. Before Nathan can offer further help, Peter leaves again.

The FBI give Nathan a wire to wear so that they can get whatever evidence they need to bring down Linderman. Nathan meets Hiro again and allows him access to the museum. Just before Nathan goes to meet Linderman, Niki Sanders confronts him and tells him that Linderman's people know of his plans, including that he wears a wire, and plan to kill him. She advises him to either accept a deal with Linderman or run with his whole family. When Nathan refuses, Niki urges Nathan to kill Linderman and gives him a gun.

A nervous Nathan goes down to the kitchen to meet Linderman, whose men clear the room. Just as Nathan is about to shoot Linderman, the old man reasons that if Nathan were to shoot him, his men would kill Nathan within moments. Linderman calmly tells Nathan that he can give him answers, stating that he knows about the powers of Nathan, Peter, and his daughter Claire. He offers him the seat in Congress, suggesting that it will lead eventually to the White House, "A heartbeat away from the Presidency". Nathan puts down the gun.

In ".07%", Nathan meets his daughter for the first time. In addition, Linderman shows Nathan a painting of Nathan standing in the Oval Office.^[1]

[edit] Military service

Nathan fought for the United States during the mid-1990s conflict in Bosnia.^[2] A picture of a naval officer can be seen on his desk in "Nothing to Hide".

[edit] Powers and abilities

Nathan possesses the power of self-propelled flight.

He first discovered his power when he apparently used it inadvertently to save himself from the same car crash which left his wife wheelchair-bound. Though he has not used the power much in the series, he did use it to save a woman from a burning building in an official webcomic. His powers are first seen in Genesis, after he saves Peter from falling to his death.

In "Hiros", he also broke the sound barrier using his power, with no ill effects. Despite a rough landing, this may be a sign that he is beginning to hone his ability, or that his power is increasing on its own.

Currently, Nathan is very reluctant to use his ability, saying that he is afraid of both being seen as a freak and taken in for scientific study. Nevertheless, he has been known to inevitably access his powers from time to time, usually during attempts on his life.

Judging from the way he saved Peter from falling in "Genesis", and from the way Peter helped Claude escape Mr. Bennet in "Unexpected", it is possible that he can lift and levitate objects several times his own weight.

[edit] Trivia

• Actor Adrian Pasdar said in an October 31, 2006 conference call with journalists, that he would like his character's political career in the series to eventually allow Nathan to become President of the United States.^[3]
• The fictional CorinthianLasVegas website owned by Linderman contains a secret area with pictures painted by Isaac Mendez. One picture of the President alone in the Oval office looks somewhat like Nathan Petrelli. (http://www.corinthianlasvegas.com/)
• The advertisement shown at the end of "Parasite" shows a peek of the real-life Nathan in the Oval office.

[edit] References

Heroes characters v • d • e
Main characters
Mr. Bennet • Claire Bennet • Simone Deveaux • D.L. Hawkins • Isaac Mendez • Hiro Nakamura • Matt Parkman • Nathan Petrelli • Peter Petrelli • Micah Sanders • Niki Sanders • Mohinder Suresh
Other characters
Claude • Hana Gitelman • The Haitian • Ando Masahashi  • Eden McCain • Ted Sprague • Sylar