Theory:Activation and deactivation

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The following fan theories are about Activation and deactivation.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
Matt Jr.'s power will allow Peter to correct his power.	Matt partially restored Hiro's powers. (Cold Snap)	+ He was able to turn on part of Hiro's time powers, thus he will be able to turn on Peter empath powers and allow more than one power. + Bryan Fuller was brought in to restore the show to original feeling and is already undoing Jeph Loeb's changes by getting rid of Tracy and Daphne and restoring Hiro's powers. - Peter isn't missing his ability or has it deactivated, he has a new ability, not a weakened version. + Hiro's power was taken away but must still be present for it to be reactivated, it would be reasonable that Peter's original power still be present also. • This would mean Peter having two "main" abilities. The plotlines that could be formed from this would be quite interesting.
Matt Jr. can revive dead, or at least create zombies.	None.	+ If he can make non-living objects move, and manipulate evolved humans' DNA, why not corpses? • Matt Jr. doesn't manipulate DNA as such, he only turns them on and off. - Turning on an ability or a toy is not the same as completely restoring someone who died. This power would more likely create zombies, as stated, but it is highly doubtful the show would take this direction. + If somebody with ability to heal uses it on a zombie, it may be enough to revive it literally. + What if baby Matt could turn on people's hearts? That would surely revive them. • He'd need to activate all the organs, not just the heart. + Arthur stated that when he takes someone's ability, he "leaves nothing behind". Matt Jr. was able to turn Hiro's ability back on after Arthur took it. - Arthur could be lying. - Arthur most likely never heard of someone whose abilities he took getting them back. He would think that he leaves nothing behind. • He was a Company founder, and considering his age, there's a chance he met someone with his ability. - Still doesn't mean that he, or anyone else with power absorption ever heard of someone who was rendered powerless by that ability having their own abilities restored by someone else. - Arthur isn't known to be a Company chairperson, like Linderman, Bob and Angela are. In fact, he's only known to run a law firm and Pinehearst. • Actually, he could be - the way he treated Linderman in Villains hints he was in charge. • Yet it doesn't confirm it. - An entire organism is much more complex than an ability.
Matt Parkman Jr. can disable the abilities of evolved humans indefinitely.	He used his ability to turn off the television.	+ His ability was able to "turn on" Hiro's.
If Ando supercharges Matt Jr., he will be able to restore abilities of depowered evolved humans fully or even give them to non-powered people.	Normally-powered, Matt Jr. was able to restore half of Hiro's powers. (Cold Snap)	+ Since he partially restored Hiro's ability, baby Matt can manipulate human DNA - the part of it which contains (latent) abilities. - Activation & Deactivation turns things on and off. It is not the power to manipulate DNA because if it was then how could he manipulate the DNA of something (e.g. a tv) that HAS no DNA? Also, there are genes in our body that are dormant for a lot of the time, but become active when certain conditions are met. Arthur may have simply turned off Hiro's powers by making the genes dormant, meaning that Matt Jr. would be able to restore Hiro's power by switching them on again, making them active. Linking to another theory on this page, the one about multi faceted abilities, it may simply be that Hiro's power was only partially restored because only one of the "toggles" was switched back on. + Supercharging vastly enhances the effects of abilities. - Supercharging enhances abilities, it doesn't change them.
An uncatalyzed formula in conjunction with Matt Jr.'s ability can grant stable abilities to humans.	None.	+ Matt Parkman Jr. was able to give Hiro his abilities back, presumably because he already had the appropriate DNA to use an ability. The genetic modification formula should be sufficient to grant the appropriate DNA, since the catalyst had something to do with "bonding enzymes". - Matt Jr. is more akin to the formula itself; the catalyst does not grant abilities by itself. + The catalyst likely would grant abilities to those who had the DNA already. It seems less likely that Matt Jr. can alter DNA (which is what the formula does). + The catalyst appeared to be more akin to an ability than a scientific thing, so its possible that the right ability could provide the same sort of 'magic spark'. Matt Parkman Jr.'s ability may be just such an ability. - Mohinder told Tracy that he would be able to replicate the catalyst if he had a sample of the catalyzed formula. • He also said in It's Coming that the catalyst isn't a substance.
Matt Jr., if supercharged by Ando, could restore Hiro and Peter's power to their original form and strength.	None.	+ He was able to partially restore Hiro's ability. + It's a logical effect. - Peter's current ability has been confirmed to be a different ability, not a weaker version of his original ability. + Matt Jr. could enhance the effects of Peter's ability to match his original ability. • Matt's ability doesn't enhance abilities of others - Ando's does. + Bryan Fuller was brought back to bring back the "original flavor" of the series; by this logic, it's likely he will us Matt Jr. to reactivate Peter's original ability.
Multifaceted abilities actually have multiple separate "switches" that Matt Jr. can toggle.	None.	+ After Matt Jr. touched Hiro, one aspect of his ability is restored perfectly, while another facet is absent entirely. + Some abilities, especially in cases such as The Haitian, could "really" be multiple, but related abilities. • This would allow Matt Jr. to eventually restore more or all of Hiro's capabilities, and the missing aspects of Peter's abilities.
All things Matt Jr. activates from a disabled state eventually break.	Hiro suffers side effects.	+ Baby Matt activated the unplugged TV (Cold Snap). How long can it possibly work without actual electrical supply? - Making a TV function without electricity in no way suggests that the TV is being damaged. • Maybe that TV and everything he activated is somehow broken or simply worst. The TV might be less economical or have other problems. • Then the things he has deactivated may be better than they were before. - Hiro's problems are due to a brain tumor, not any defect in his ability. - Matt Jr. seemed very enthusiastic about using his ability. If each 'activation' damaged or weakened the object affected, it's likely that one or more of the appliances in the house would have catastrophically malfunctioned by now.
Matt Jr.'s ability is autokinesis.	Autokinesis is the ability to manipulate energy.	+ This is essentially what Matt Jr. does. • Auto is a prefix denoting "self". - Manipulating energy doesn't explain how he could restore Hiro's ability. • Most likely, Matt Jr's power is to establish connections between a thing and it's power source. For electrical devices he creates a connection between the device and whatever electricity it needs. If Arthur's power didn't steal, but instead "broke" the connection between a person's power and their brain, then it would appear to be completely gone, but Matt Jr. could "reconnect" it.
Matt Jr.'s ability will allow any power to be activated on any person including himself.	Hiro's activation in Cold Snap.	+ Matt activated and deactivated electronic supply which could mean he activated technopathy. - This would be illogical, as it would mean that Matt Jr. would be a "one-man army". The writers would not allow such a power to exist as it would ruin the plot; even Peter's old ability had bounds e.g. he had to have been near someone with the ability to be able to use it. • Peter learned to use empathic mimicry without the need for the ability's holder to be nearby. - Peter still needed to have been near the original ability holder at least once to be able to mimic the ability. + Matt had developed several abilities over the course of the show such as Precognition and illusion. This shows that other characters could develop or improve their abilities. Matt Jr.'s ability could be enhanced into activation and deactivation of any power like any other characters ability.