Space-time manipulation

Space-time manipulation
Hiro travels six months into the past.
Originally held by:	Hiro Nakamura (restored), Arnold (deceased)
Absorbed by:	Peter Petrelli (lost), Arthur Petrelli (deceased)
Ability to:	Alter the space-time continuum
Examples of space-time manipulation

Space-time manipulation is the ability to alter the space-time continuum, enabling:

• Time manipulation (slowing down, reversing, or stopping time).
• Time travel (moving through time or "folding time").
• Teleportation (moving instantaneously through space or "folding space").

Characters

Confirmed

• Hiro Nakamura has demonstrated all three aspects of this ability (Genesis), but lost it when Arthur stole it from him (Our Father). He has since regained the ability to manipulate time due to Matt Parkman, Jr.'s ability (Cold Snap) and later the ability to travel through time (Orientation) and then to teleport (Acceptance, Hysterical Blindness).
• Peter Petrelli has reproduced all three aspects of this ability (Unexpected, The Line, I Am Become Death), but lost the ability completely when his father stole it from him (Dying of the Light). He has since replicated it from Hiro (displaying teleportation and time manipulation but not time-travel), but discarded it in favor of healing touch (Tabula Rasa).
• Arthur had stolen this ability from Peter (Dying of the Light) and Hiro (Our Father) and reproduced the "time travel" and "teleportation" aspects of this ability.
• Arnold had this ability. (Orientation)

Future

• A future Hiro Nakamura demonstrated all three aspects of this ability (Hiros, Five Years Gone). While his future no longer exists, he traveled to the past, altering the timeline.
• A future Peter Petrelli demonstrated all three aspects of this ability (The Second Coming). While his future no longer exists, he traveled to the past, altering the timeline.

Limits

Hiro Nakamura

All of Hiro's space-time manipulation abilities require intense concentration, as shown by the way he typically closes his eyes and furrows his brow when attempting to invoke his power. His control has substantially improved over time, however, and he has far greater command of his abilities now than when he first discovered them.

One of Hiro's most frequently used abilities is "stopping time" -- everything around him appears to freeze while he is able to move normally. This may be more a case of Hiro accelerating himself to the point that everything else seems frozen in comparison, since Daphne Millbrook, with her enhanced speed, was apparently able to "catch up" with him and move at normal speed during one of Hiro's "time stops" (The Second Coming). Hiro can interact normally with objects and people without them being "unfrozen" or aware of his activities. If Hiro is touching another person when he freezes time, however, they remain "unfrozen" with him (I Am Sylar). In addition, Hiro can slow time; other people and objects continue moving, but at a much slower pace (Godsend). On one occasion he actually reversed time (Unexpected); this event was particularly unusual, in that his manipulation caused a gun to actually misfire, as though time reversed for the bullet, but only slowed or stopped for the gun itself. This event suggests that Hiro can cause various objects to move through time selectively.

Hiro can teleport himself and other people through space instantaneously. Such teleports can cover at least intercontinental distances. Each time he has carried "passengers", he has been touching the other individual(s). Hiro has shown the ability to teleport himself, a horse, and the horse's rider simultaneously; Hiro placed his hand on the horse's neck.

Hiro can also move himself and another person through time into the future or the past. If moving into the past, he can alter history, but he apparently cannot alter history in such a way that he would eliminate his original cause for going into the past. Both Hiro and Future Hiro (see below) have experienced this limitation. Nonetheless, Hiro's trips into the past create a variety of alternate timelines. Both Hiro and Future Hiro have mentioned that careless use of time travel could cause a rift.

Hiro had relatively limited power upon returning from his attempt to save Charlie. He was unable to go back in time to try again to save her, and when attempting to stop time at the museum, he only succeeded in slowing it. Upon obtaining the sword of Takezo Kensei, he was immediately able to teleport himself and Ando through both time and space with relative ease. However, in the future he did not believe he could control his power enough to teleport back to the right time and place so his future self planned to bring him and Ando back until he got killed. With the encouragement of Ando and Future Mohinder, Hiro managed to teleport himself and Ando back to the time and place he wanted, the first time he was able to teleport to when and where he wanted to go. Afterwards, he was able to control his teleport ability easier without accidentally teleporting through time. He has since shown that he can use his power normally without a sword for a focus. Hiro's abilities rely heavily on his ability to concentrate and his belief in his own abilities, requiring a strong will.

According to an interview (see notes below), Hiro ages normally while using his ability. Thus, if "he lived a year in the past and returned to the present, he'd be a year older."

Hiro's ability has been suppressed by dosing him with fumes of opium, which breaks his concentration and thus prevents him from stopping time and teleporting. (Out of Time)

A person with this ability is apparently immune to the time manipulations caused by others with the same ability. When Hiro froze time to attack Adam Monroe, Peter, an ally of Adam, was unaffected, as he had the ability as well (Powerless). Another instance is Peter's first acquisition of the ability when Future Hiro meets with Peter on a train. As unbeknownst to him at the time his empathic mimicry allowed him to copy the ability and remain unfrozen.

After having his mind forcibly regressed to the age of 10 by Arthur Petrelli, Hiro was still able to slow and stop time, and to teleport himself and another person to a desired location with ease even through time, though Ando had to teach him about his ability. (It's Coming)

Although Arthur Petrelli stole this ability from Hiro, Matt Parkman Jr. has restored Hiro's ability (Cold Snap). It also seems that, whether he intends to or not, whoever he is in physical contact with can also move normally whenever he freezes time (I Am Sylar). He is unable to control his ability to teleport or time travel; he accidentally travels through time and space, mostly while in reflection on something he wants to fix (Cold Snap, Orientation, Acceptance, Tabula Rasa, Once Upon a Time in Texas). The only part of his ability that he has good solid control over since regaining it is his ability to stop time.

Hiro has recently experienced negative health effects from using his ability, including headaches, nose bleeds, ear bleeds, and fainting. Mohinder Suresh believes that his body is rejecting his power for some reason and any more use of it could kill him. He has been diagnosed with a brain tumor that is killing him (Tabula Rasa). Side effects of his condition have also affected his ability, sometimes leaving Hiro frozen in time instead of freezing time to all but him (Orientation). He seemed to freeze in time for a moment after getting a terrible headache while telling Kimiko the truth of his illness, then disappeared, teleporting to Peter Petrelli's apartment, and passed out afterward. (Acceptance, Hysterical Blindness). Also, when stopping time to evade Sylar, Hiro kept getting headaches that seemed to worsen each time he did it (Once Upon a Time in Texas). However, stopping time for only short periods doesn't seem to affect him very much as he stopped time for a couple of minutes to help Emma with her ability and seemed to suffer no ill effects from it (Tabula Rasa).

Hiro later accidentally time-traveled to the day of Charlie's murder, but like when he teleported to the carnival 14 years in the past, he had no control over it (Tabula Rasa, Once Upon a Time in Texas). In the past, he used the opportunity to manipulate events to save Charlie while keeping the timeline preserved as much as possible, but the only part of his ability he appeared to use was time stopping as he still hadn't regained control over teleportation. He had to repeatedly stop time and it was clearly giving him headaches and tiring him out each time he did it. Ultimately, Samuel Sullivan kidnapped Charlie and taunted and goaded Hiro, trying to get him to take him to the carnival in the present, saying Hiro needed to reach deep down and retake control of his ability. In anger, Hiro grabbed Samuel and successfully teleports them to the carnival in the present on purpose, causing Samuel to say that Hiro is now regaining control over his powers (Once Upon a Time in Texas).

Since Samuel provoked him, Hiro has displayed both time traveling and teleporting at will, but his control is not perfect. He is able to time travel on purpose eight weeks into the past to get a film from Mohinder and save him, but it took two tries to get to the right time with his first taking him ten minutes too late. Also, time traveling gave him a minor nosebleed, but didn't seem to cause him any ill effects besides that. He later teleported Mohinder to Florida and trapped him in a mental hospital to keep him out of sight for eight weeks. Also, it took him awhile of trying to even manage to time travel at all. (Brother's Keeper)

Wanting to know the truth about Joseph's death, Lydia has Hiro take her eight weeks into the past so they can witness it. Hiro indicates that Lydia somehow managed to trigger the teleport with her power, but is unclear if this is true or not. Later, after finally learning the truth and with Samuel closing in on them, Hiro tries to return them to the present, but with his less than perfect control he has a hard time. With Lydia's help, Hiro manages to teleport the two back to the present at the last second. In the present, Hiro extends his ability to save Edgar and Edgar is able to run off while time is frozen and escape (Thanksgiving).

When his brains were scrambled by Damien, Hiro displayed this ability a couple of times, but in his scrambled state, he couldn't use it to the fullest effect such as stopping time to rescue Mohinder Suresh. After Ando shocked him back to reality, Hiro was immediately able to teleport himself, Ando and Mohinder to Noah Bennett's apartment. This is also the first time he has teleported or time traveled with more than one other person since his power was restored. (Close to You)

Future Hiro Nakamura

Future Hiro has the same space-time manipulation abilities as his "present" self, but he appears to be able to use them with less effort. He is also much more proficient in differentiating the teleportation aspect of his ability from the time-traveling aspect. He is also able to selectively include others in his time freezing, without maintaining physical contact, albeit with much more concentration. (Hiros, Five Years Gone).

During the Moab Federal Penitentiary breakout, one of the evolved human guards was able to prevent him and Peter from stopping time. It is unknown which one of them was responsible for this, or how they did it. (Walls, Part 2)

Peter Petrelli

When Peter mimicked this ability, he seemed able to do so without the intense concentration shown by Hiro.

Peter's first demonstration of the ability was to slow time when Mr. Bennet and the Haitian tried to subdue him with tasers. He apparently used the ability instinctively to slow time. When time resumed its normal flow, the taser darts fell to the ground instead of continuing their flight. It isn't clear whether this was a side-effect of Peter manipulating time (like Hiro's manipulation of the handgun in Unexpected) or the result of some other ability Peter used (like telekinesis). In The Line, Peter teleported and time-traveled with Caitlin without intense concentration although it was completely by accident as he wanted to know what the future held and accidentally teleported there. When he returned to his time it was an accident as well.

In Truth & Consequences, Peter is able to speak with Hiro despite Hiro stopping time, indicating that he spontaneously used this ability to interact with Hiro.

In I Am Become Death, Peter demonstrates more advanced control of the ability, teleporting from New York to Costa Verde at will, without moving through time and without intense concentration either. After activating intuitive aptitude with Gabriel Gray's help, Peter is able to teleport and time travel to the correct destination and timeframe.

In Tabula Rasa, Peter replicated this ability from Hiro. When he teleported to Noah Bennet's apartment, he could not completely control the exact location he wanted to teleport to and he ended up in Noah's bathroom. He explained this with the fact that he had not teleported in a while. However, having teleported that time seemed to remind him of how to do it properly and he was able to teleport himself and Noah to Georgia from Washington, D.C. with ease, knowing only the address he wanted to go to. He also displayed very precise control over the teleportation aspect, as he was able to teleport in between Jeremy Greer and Noah without any trouble and from an unknown position. Also Peter was able to stop time, but didn't do it quick enough to avoid being shot as he was at point-blank range and was shot at as he startled Jeremy by teleporting between him and Noah. Being shot caused Peter's concentration to break and time to restart again.

Future Peter Petrelli or Future Peter Petrelli

In the explosion future, Peter used this ability to teleport himself and others as well as to stop time (Five Years Gone). A different Future Peter has demonstrated teleporting himself and others, stopping time and traveling back in time. He has enough control over his ability that he is able to teleport others without necessarily teleporting himself. (The Second Coming). Like the present day Peter and Hiro Nakamura, Future Peter has also displayed the ability to take people with him through his teleports even in time (I Am Become Death).

Arthur Petrelli

Arthur has used this ability to teleport to Africa, and then to go back to Pinehearst. (It's Coming)

Arthur was also able to time travel sixteen years in the past, to the Charles Deveaux's rooftop, and was capable of sending Claire through time and space without teleporting himself.

Arnold

Arnold has used this ability to send Samuel back in time fourteen years to visit Hiro. It is as of yet unclear as to whether or not he traveled with Samuel; it's possible he sent him away in the same manner that Future Peter Petrelli teleported Matt to Africa without going with him. Samuel reveals to Hiro that the strain of using his ability caused his own condition: a brain tumor like Hiro's. Even when dying, Arnold is able to send himself and Samuel back in time once more when Hiro is trying to save Charlie and manages to trap Charlie somewhere in time at Samuel's order. Samuel is only able to return to the present by provoking Hiro to teleport them both back to the carnival. It is unclear how Arnold was able to trap Charlie in time, but he is shown to require physical contact (Smoke & Mirrors).

Selected Examples

• 
  Hiro teleports himself from Tokyo to New York City, arriving five weeks in the future.
  (Genesis)
• 
  Future Hiro travels back to the past to speak with Peter Petrelli.
  (Collision, Hiros)
• 
  Hiro stops time to save D.L. Hawkins and an unnamed passenger from a car explosion.
  (Nothing to Hide)
• 
  On the roof of the Deveaux Building, Peter stops time to avoid being shot with a taser.
  (Unexpected)
• 
  At a Primm parking lot, Hiro stops a gun shot--slowing time, then reversing Hope's bullet. (Unexpected)
• 
  Hiro stops Whitebeard's arrows mid-flight.
  (Four Months Later...)
• 
  Future Peter leaves Nathan.
  (The Butterfly Effect)
• 
  Arthur teleports back from Usutu's hut.
  (It's Coming)

Hiro's Weakened Ability

Hiro believes Takezo Kensei's sword and other factors--such as his own heroic intent -- are sources of his ability. Upon acquisition of the sword, Hiro was immediately able to use his abilities with both greater effect and less effort (Parasite). Prior to obtaining the sword, Hiro is sometimes frustrated by his lack of abilities. Instances of him being unable to control space-time include:

• when Ando and he are in the bathroom while Jessica wreaks havoc. (Better Halves)
• when he teleports "too far". (Six Months Ago)
• when he accidentally teleports while kissing Charlie. (Six Months Ago)
• when he is unable to use his ability to leave the roof of Yamagato Industries. (Six Months Ago)
• when he tries to stop time at the museum; He only slows it. (Godsend)
• at the parking garage, when he stares at the punch clock but is unable to manipulate time. (The Fix)
• when he tries to stop time to prevent being killed by Hope. He fails, but reverses time for the bullet, sending it back into the gun causing it to misfire, saving him and Ando. However, he had his eyes closed at the time and was unaware that he succeeded in doing something and so far has not replicated this aspect of his ability. (Unexpected)

Following an encounter with his father, Hiro has discovered that his control over his ability depends on his self-confidence, not the sword. (How to Stop an Exploding Man)

Hiro's Restored Ability

When Matt Parkman, Jr. used his ability on Hiro, he regained the time-stopping aspect of his ability. His ability to teleport and travel through time were compromised, though. (Cold Snap)

Hiro has also demonstrated that using his ability too much causes some kind of adverse effect. He had a terrible headache and his nose began to bleed after stopping time at least four times in less than five hours. (I Am Sylar)

After Hiro used his power to free the captured evolved humans and defeat Danko's team, Mohinder Suresh (one of the ones he freed) said that his body is rejecting his power for some reason and any more use of it could kill him. Hiro uses it to save Noah Bennet, stopping time for only a few seconds, but even that proves too much for him and he faints. (An Invisible Thread)

Hiro has recently started accidentally time traveling and teleporting after the other aspects of his ability suddenly remanifested and has decided to begin fixing the past. However, he seems to lack control over this as he accidentally time traveled to the past and back and couldn't return at will (Jump, Push, Fall). Hiro's ability suddenly manifested itself when he is telling Kimiko about his illness (Acceptance), and causes him to inadvertently teleport to Peter Petrelli's apartment, although the strain apparently causes him to faint moments later (Hysterical Blindness). He doesn't yet possess control over his restored ability except for being able to stop time, and teleports through time and space mostly by accident when he's thinking of a place. After Hiro teleports himself and Samuel back to Samuel's carnival in the present from three years in the past, Samuel states that Hiro is starting to regain control of his ability (Once Upon a Time in Texas). Hiro has since managed to time travel on purpose to save Mohinder Suresh and get a film from him, displaying control over his ability once again, but it's not perfect as his first try took him ten minutes too late. Also, it took a lot of effort for him to initialize time travel in the first place. He also seems to have regained the ability to teleport at will as he was able to trap Mohinder in a mental institution to make him disappear for eight weeks to protect him and keep the timeline on track (Brother's Keeper). Later, Lydia has Hiro take her eight weeks into the past to learn the truth of Joseph's death. Hiro does it with little to no effort, but indicates that Lydia was responsible for it, not him. When it comes time to return to the present, Hiro has a hard time with it, requiring intense concentration and apparently Lydia's help to succeed, but this could be due to the fact that his control is not perfect and he was under a lot of pressure at the time (Thanksgiving). Later, Hiro displayed complete control over teleportation apart from time traveling again: after Ando shocked Hiro back to reality, Hiro was immediately able to teleport himself, Mohinder Suresh and Ando to Noah Bennet's apartment, allowing them to escape the people chasing them and also with no apparent problems. This is also the first time Hiro has teleported or time traveled with more than one person since he regained the ability to do both. (Close to You)

Memorable Quotes

"The Yogis in India and the Aborigines in Australia, both can bend time and space."

- Hiro (to Ando) (Genesis)

"No one ever got laid by stopping the second hand of a clock."

- Ando (Genesis)

"Oh, it's okay. I keep secret. I bend time and space. Teleport into future. We are both special."

- Hiro (to Nathan) (Hiros)

"Hiro Nakamura can stop time, teleport by folding space. Theoretically, he can fold time as well."

- Future Mohinder (to Future Matt) (Five Years Gone)

Notes

• When talking about merely slowing down time at the Museum of Natural History rather than actually stopping it, Hiro blogs, "Instead of Stop, I casted Haste."
• In an interview, Aron Coleite and Joe Pokaski explain that Hiro did reverse time with respect to Hope's gun in Unexpected.
• According to an entry in Hiro's blog, Hiro's cell phone's memory isn't affected by time traveling. In another entry, Hiro says he can freeze time for one minute pretty comfortably.
• In an interview, Tim Kring noted, "I didn't start off by saying I want a guy who can teleport. I started off by saying I wanted a guy who felt trapped in a life that was not his dream and what could be a power that would be most wish-fulfilling for that character? And that was the ability to teleport out of that life."
• It is unknown if the unconfirmed ability called "transportation" is related to space-time manipulation.
• Writers Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite explained that Hiro doesn't actually stop time, he just slows it down very much: "Whatever a nano of a nano second is, that's where they live." This is why he is able to have a "normal time" conversation with Daphne, who moves at super speeds.
• In a Super Bowl XLIII commercial where several characters suit up in football uniforms to battle against NFL stars, Hiro uses his ability to stop time, and run for a touchdown.
• Masi Oka explained in an interview that having a time travel companion brought the terminal illness: "That was started the adverse effect in Hiro's brain. The power is meant to have a capacity of one. When you start adding Ando, Suresh, and other people into that world, it just a strain that's put on Hiro's brain."

See Also

• For other uses of manipulation, see manipulation (disambig).
• For other uses of time travel, see time travel (disambig).
• For the similar power of moving instantly from one location to another, see teleportation.

Fan Theories

Please refer to Theory:Space-time manipulation for fan-created theories and other speculation.

Evolved Human Abilities edit
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