Theory:Ability replication

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The following fan theories are about Ability replication.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
Peter's ability replication is only temporary; were Ando to supercharge him enough, his empathic mimicry would be restored.	None	+ Peter's ability has been an enduring part of his character; to replace it with a lesser ability that is more unlike his personality seems to be an unwise plotting choice by the writers. As such, they are going to restore his original abilities. - It's possible Ando's ability supercharges only for as long as Ando is in physical contact with an evolved human. + Maybe Peter can replicate Ando's ability and then constantly supercharge himself. • Assuming it's not an example of ability immunity. • In the future, Ando super charges Hiro with an energy bolt, perhaps this makes the charge last longer. (The Second Coming) • Such use of ability supercharging is hazardous. Future Ando was killing Hiro, not helping him. - Daphne could only travel through time as long as Ando was touching her. (Dual) • The writers stated themselves that they are trying to limit Peter's powers. + It is possible that Peter is supressing his ability and supercharging will simply make him realize that he doesn't want to reawaken all aspects of empathic mimicry since the consequences become too great.
Peter's original powers could return if he copies Sylar's ability.	None	+ Sylar was able to acquire abilities empathically. ("It's Coming") - Peter doesn't know of Sylar's ability to copy powers empathically, and Sylar has many abilities. Peter would more likely absorb flight. + Peter can choose which ability to take.
Peter will emulate his old abilities the same way that Matt Parkman emulated precognition.	None	+ Matt Parkman's emulation of an ability that's not his own, and wasn't explicitly granted to him, suggests this may be possible. - According to a Behind the Eclipse, Matt's precognition is a result of him being able to access the state of consciousness that precog's can enter due to Usutu's spirit walk opening his mind to that state combined with him being a telepath.
Ability replication is actually Peter's old ability, and will eventually evolve into empathic mimicry after enough time, similar to how Matt gained the ability to insert thoughts in other people's head.	None.	+ Peter developed. He is now unable to feel empathy like in previous seasons. Instead he is leery of other people and eventually hates them (Nathan). Someone can't feel hate as well as empathy. • Why can't someone feel hate as well as empathy? - Peter has hated Sylar through most of the series, yet a significant portion of his original abilities came from him. • If ability replication is indeed part of empathic mimicry Peter should be able to gain some abilities permanently (e.g. Claire's). Claire has never betrayed him so that it may be that Peter can feel empathy for her. • Future Claire did. • But Future Claire is not present day Claire. • Could have had an effect on him the same way. • It has not shown Peter absorbing a passive ability. We don't know what happens when he absorbs Claire's powers; he might keep them without empathy. + Sylar can absorb powers through empathy, but with an emotional effort. Maybe Peter's problem is that his empathy is gone or weakened. + It may be the case that Peter in Season 1 required touch in his very early stages. He never picked up an ability without touch until at least Matt Parkman's (he touched Angela, Nathan, and Claire). Although he learns to access them remotely and he learns to access several at once, this is after much training, effort, and adrenaline. • Although Peter did have several occasions of physical contact with his family prior to gaining their abilities, it was not implied to be necessary for copying powers. • Much emphasis is placed on Peter's hand-to-hand contact with Nathan in the first episode, just before he flies. • Peter had little to no physical contact with Isaac - especially skin-on-skin contact - and yet was able to draw the future only hours after being exposed to the power. (Don't Look Back) • They may have shaken hands to greet each other, or Peter's power was trained enough to absorb it without touch. - They never shook hands, Peter might had touch him when Isaac was OD over the floor. + Tracy's freezing was shown to move from a touch-based ability to a radial ability. Similarly, ability replication may acquire the ability to work at a distance, like empathic mimicry. + Hiro seems to have the same ability that he had before, only weakened. Since Peter lost his powers in the same way, his case may be similar. + His original power wasn't power duplication and the power granting serum can only give powers based on someone's DNA configuration. + His new power works about the same way that his old powers worked, except it uses touch to gain powers instead of empathy, though this could be temporary. + He lost his sense empathy after being betrayed by Nathan and finding out his father was evil, so if he regains his empathy, he will be able to use them without physical contact. - Even if he regains his empathy, he would still only copy one power at a time. + His old powers could originally only copy one power until he developed them, so he could theoretically develop them again. • His old power at first could only copy powers that were near him, not just one that was near him.
Ability replication is just another use of power absorption. Peter will find out he can steal powers from others, and this is the only way to cumulate them, like Arthur did.	None	+ Arthur killed Adam, while this one could be a pretty useful ally, as Angela dreamed it. Moreover, he was using Maury; he probably would have used Adam too if he could. ("Dying of the Light") + Peter wouldn't steal the good guys, and would be forced to find some villains for that. In that way, he would be limited, as writers wants, but without leaving him as weak as he is right now. + His ability is already similar to that of power absorption. This being said, Peter had empathic mimicry and now has an ability (thanks to the formula) more similar to that of Arthur's. So Peter's ability replication could simply be a different version of his original (an under-developed form of power absorption which is a different version of empathic mimicry). - The only similarity between Peter and Arthur's abilities is the need of physical contact (the glow of Peter's ability is gone). + That is incorrect as there was a slight glow when Peter copied Hiro's power in Tabula Rasa. The glow was even blueish in color (much like that of Arthur's ability) instead of yellowish like before. - Arthur's glow was white. The blue glow rather resembles aura absorption.
Peter was granted this ability instead of his original one due to damage done to his genes when Arthur stole his ability.	None	+ The two abilities are similar. It would not be unfeasible for the ability to have been the product of some slight genetic change that may have occurred when Arthur took away Peter's empathic mimicry. • Synthetic abilities might just not work as well as natural abilities. • Nathan's flight is more powerful than West's, Tracy's freezing is just as powerful as Sylar's was, Niki's super strength also seemed just as powerful as natural abilities. • Nathan was confirmed to be just a more experienced flier. • Synthetic abilities are so far indistinguishable from natural ones; they can be blocked by the Haitian, removed by an eclipse, and absorbed just as well as normal ones. - The powers are reflective of their personalities, according to Tim Kring. Peter has become jaded after all he's been through, and now has a hard time connecting to people. Thus he did not manifest empathic mimicry.
Peter gained his new ability because his DNA changed from when his old power manifested.	Mohinder said that when Peter copied abilities it caused a change is his DNA; the formula gives abilities based on the DNA of the person at the time of the injection.	+ This completely explains why his old ability vanished. + Peter gained the new ability by injecting himself with a genetic modification formula.
Peter immediately has extreme control and power over his replicated abilities.	Peter was able to freeze a very large part of the plane.	+ Peter was able to carry Matt whilst flying, something that Nathan had found difficult. - Peter was able to carry Claude whilst flying with empathic mimicry. + Peter was able to use telepathic commands on the two guards during "Exposed" when it took Matt a long time to learn. - Peter had already learned how to do this. (Powerless) - Peter froze the plane's side accidentally, which indicates a low-level of control of that ability. + He is now able to use shape shifting effectively. • When Peter absorbed Tracy's freezing he should have been under the impression that she was Niki, and that he would receive enhanced strength again. • He already had enhanced strength from Mohinder. + Peter didn't know Tracy had freezing; maybe his control relies on him knowing which ability he replicates. He had no trouble with telepathy and flight. - Peter was already familiar with telepathy and flight. + In Jump, Push, Fall, Peter began to use Edgar's Power within seconds of touching him, and was able to out maneuver him in battle - Peter has used that ability before as well.
Peter absorbed someone else's ability after absorbing Nathan's ability in Dual and before absorbing Mohinder's ability in A Clear and Present Danger.	None	+ Peter knew to touch Mohinder on the plane. + Peter asked Nathan what was the last ability he saw him perform, which hints at him knowing he can only hold one at a time. - It also hints that Nathan had seen Peter use his current ability.
Peter will gain mastery over his ability and be able to replicate more than one ability at once, through empathy.	None	+ Being able to have more than one ability is Peter's niche. It's his "thing". It's been his whole character since Season 1. + Assuming that natural and synthetic abilities share a common source; unique genetic markers, it is unlikely that the nature of the ability would change within the same person. Mohinder stated that the manifestation of abilities can trigger with the release of adrenaline during times of emotional stress. It is therefore possible that Peter and Hiro's current abilities are limited due to mental blocks brought on by mental and emotional trauma. It would be reasonable to assume that given the right stressful circumstances, both Hiro and Peter could display some uncontrolled aspects of their previous powers. This would allow the writers to allow characters to use their original powers in limited times during specific plot points, without making them too powerful in most cases and retain their original powers.
Peter will be able to take more than one ability at a time if he comes into contact with baby Matt.	None	+ Matt Jr restored part of Hiro's ability and he didn't even need the formula, it makes sense he could advance an already manifested ability to the next level. - Baby Matt can activate dormant ability cells as proven with Hiro in Cold Snap. Peter's powers are no longer dormant. As baby Matt has yet to use his powers to enhance something already active, we do not know if he can aid Peter in this way. • Baby Matt's ability appears to be activating or deactivate energy based phenomena, (like cars, trucks, TVs or toys whether batteries are in or not), Arthur said he takes everything but i doubt he could completely drain all traces of an ability. Baby Matt might be activating or charging trace amounts of the energy that is involved in the use of an ability. Since being activated Hiro doesn't need to touch the baby any more to freeze time. In a person with active abilities the baby might be able to activate or deactivate them but i doubt he could deactivate Peter's current one then reactivate the original unless Ando supercharged the baby and the baby developed some sort of intelligent awareness of what he was doing.
Peter could mix two powers together and acquire a whole new power thanks to his ability.	None	+ If Peter were to touch two special people, and took their abilities at the same time, maybe his DNA would fuse, and give a mix of those two powers, for example, Micah's ability from D.L.'s and Niki'. • Walking through walls plus exerting greater physical force doesn't equal talking to machines just because users of the former two produced a user of the latter. The writers said that ability hereditary was a "crapshoot" of sorts. - When Peter apprehended Sylar he said something along the lines of "Bet you didn't think I took that one from you?", indicating that even though being exposed to multiple abilities when touching Sylar, he had to decide which ability to replicate. + He needed shape shifting; why would he have mixed anything? As he has control of his power, mixing could be controlled too. Sylar case is much more complicated than we might know because he has the same DNA with multiple powers (so there aren't two DNA to fuse). Taking empathic mimicry from Sylar was obviously a more interesting choice than shape shifting. Peter didn't even know that power before so it's hard to tell how he could have decided what to mimic. • Trying to take all of Sylar's abilities is something that was too predictable, which would make it poor writing, by doing something that isn't predictable, it's good writing, Heroes is a show that it's supposed to sell. - Nothing indicates Peter can mix abilities. - Nothing indicates abilities can even be mixed.
Peter can take only one power from Sylar or any other evolved human with multiple abilities, because Peter's ability cannot keep more than one power.	In An Invisible Thread Peter demonstrated only shapeshifting.	+ Peter loses a previously absorbed ability when he takes a new one. + Ability replication is very different from empathic mimicry. - How could a guy with shapeshifting and Nathan hope to last more than a few seconds against Sylar? + By doing what Peter did: outsmarting Sylar. + Exactly. Peter won not because he had a lot of powers, but because he was smart. + Who says Peter and Nathan lasted more than a few seconds after Peter switched to shapeshifting? - In An Invisible Thread, when Noah asks if Peter took Sylar's power, Peter says yes and that he can stop him. He would not be so confident if he just had shapeshifting since Noah had not told him about the tranquilizer yet. • He could know; it could have been Noah's intention to get a tranquilizer so Peter could use it. • Unlikely. Noah only had access to the tranquilizer because he was captured by Danko's agents. Peter could not have known he would be at Building 26 because Noah and Peter had parted ways long before Noah was captured. • Peter and Noah could have thought Noah could walk into Building 26, take a tranquilizer, leave, and find Peter within a couple of hours and manage to avoid being capture or killed. + When replicating Sylar's powers again in Brother's Keeper, Peter appeared to only absorb flight, because in Thanksgiving he seemed quite helpless when Sylar telekinetically held him to his chair. If he had all of Sylar's abilities, he would have been able to fight back.
Peter has taken all of Sylar's abilities.	None	+ Having multiple abilities has been Peter's role in the show. - And that's why he was depowered and given a lesser power, him having so many abilities made him too powerful for there to be problems he couldn't handle alone. + Sylar would have killed him and Nathan in seconds if Peter had only taken shapeshifting. - Who says Peter only took abilities from Sylar once during the fight? • Sylar had no need to kill them, at least at once. Nathan and Peter were no match for him - besides, Sylar and Nathan left the battle field, so we cannot tell if Peter could defeat Sylar if he hadn't an opportunity. - Peter obviously didn't have regeneration. + Regeneration does not get rid of blood spots on clothing, so it is difficult to tell. - When Sylar attempted to shape shift into the President, he briefly morphed into Peter and had bleeding wounds on his face. - At James Martin's cremation Peter still had wounds on his face. + Peter is limping when Claire first enters the room where he fought Sylar, but by the next scene his limp is gone. + There is no logical reason for Peter to choose shapeshifting instead of a different one of Sylar's powers. - Maybe Peter chose shape shifting intentionally. • Now that Peter has discarded Sylar's abilities, there's no way to tell, unless he replicates them again or it is shown in a flashback. + In Shadowboxing Peter seemed certain he would get flight by copying Sylar's abilities. If he could only take one ability, he would have no reason to believe he would get flight. + If he could choose which ability he takes from Sylar, it was illogical for him to choose shape shifting in An Invisible Thread, because Peter did not know Noah had the tranquilizers.
When touching Sylar, Peter can only absorb abilities that Sylar took using the empathic side of his ability.	None	+ Telekinesis was the only ability that the Company could detect in Sylar and the only ability he didn't lose to the Shanti Virus. The latter was because he used empathy and brain removal to get telekinesis, which shows that abilities taken through empathy are different than abilities taken through brain removal. - Different for Sylar, nothing indicates they are different for others. + The only ability of Sylar's that Peter has demonstrated is shapeshifting, which Sylar took through empathy rather than ability theft. - Peter didn't demonstrate telekinesis or electric manipulation. - Peter had blood, but no apparent wounds, on his cheeks. • At James Martin's cremation Peter's face was shown with no blood, and there were some wounds on it.
Peter replicates other people's abilities by rearranging his DNA to match theirs.	None.	+ Abilities can be detected in the DNA. + This also explains why he loses previous abilities. • This also suggests that Peter replicated all of Sylar's abilities after all. - But Peter didn't replicate regeneration. • That is still being debated. • Now that Peter has discarded Sylar's abilities, there's no way to tell. • He has since retrieved them.
If Peter were to replicate Sylar's intuitive aptitude he would then learn how to make ability replication retain more than one ability.	None	+ Replicating intuitive aptitude would mean that Peter would technically have two abilities at once, and would presumably allow him to understand how his current ability works, supplement and improve it, or even rediscover his original ability. • Doesn't he always possess two powers no matter whose he takes? If he copies super speed, he still has ability replication and has super speed. Because if he lost ability replication in process he would never be able to replicate another ability again? • This would bring back Peter's relative power back to its original state as seen in the first season but also keep him weaker than when he had empathic mimicry because he would need to touch an evolved human to gain their ability and would have to pick and choose select few abilities to keep. • Once he had intuitive aptitude, he could just use his empathy to get an ability the same way Sylar did when he connected with Elle. • The only living person who knows Sylar can acquire abilities without examining the brain is Sylar. He most likely will not tell Peter about it. • Noah figured it out that the Sylar Danko claimed to kill was actually James Martin, who didn't have his brain examined. At the very least, Noah knows that. • Noah knows that Sylar can take abilities without splitting the forehead open. However, he does not know what that method entails and may have assumed that Sylar took Martin's ability through the knife hole in the back of his head.
If the original owner of an ability dies, the replicated ability weakens.	None	+ After Jeremy Greer's death, the ability Peter copied from him began to have negative side-effects. There may be a causal link between these two events. - Peter had enhanced strength for quite a while, but Mohinder was severely injured, most likely dead, yet Peter showed no ill effects while he had Mohinder's ability. + We didn't see Peter use enhanced strength for long enough to discern whether any side-effects existed. If Mohinder's death occurred shortly after his power was borrowed, then Peter might not have even noticed a change in the ability. - Peter was never shown having side effects from Mohinder's strength, nor did he mention any ill side effect. Replicating an ability near someone's death doesn't mean it'll be weaker or different. Peter replicated Hiro's ability when he was dying of a brain tumor, but suffered no ill effects. + Mohinder was perfectly healthy (before he was murdered). Also Hiro was 'dying', not dead. In addition, Peter only used space-time manipulation a few times (and got a shotgun blast to the chest on the last occasion, perhaps implying that Hiro's illness was slowing down the power). - Peter was shot because he wasn't fast enough to freeze time, not because the ability is getting weaker. + Hiro has stopped bullets before. Peter was unable to, and he had some forewarning. This implies that his space-time manipulation was less powerful than the original. - In no way it does, it only shows that Peter wasn't fast enough to freeze time. There was no sound, visual or verbal hint that Peter had a weaker ability. + If an ability which has stopped bullets on many occasions is suddenly unable to do so after being replicated, then it is less effective, less potent. That is the definition of 'weaker'. - Peter had just teleported into the scene, and he was right in front of Jeremy. He had to take the scene in before he could react. - Peter was standing directly in front of Jeremy, much closer than other people are when time being stopped saves them from bullets. + Peter did react to the scene. He knew the gun was there, and had a second or two to stop time and thus save himself. Instead, he took a twelve-gauge shotgun blast to the chest. - Peter wasn't trying to save himself, he was trying to save Noah. - Every instance of time stopping to stop bullets has resulted in the bullet being stopped right AFTER it leaves the gun. The same thing happened here, only difference is that Peter happened to be standing point blank. So the bullet was stopped inside of himself. The fact that he was able to hold time stopped for that long with a critical wound through his torso actually indicates that he was quite strong with the ability.
Peter's form of ability replication can only replicate one ability at a time but allows switching between acquired abilities, Peter has only to discover a method for doing so.	None	+ All other known forms of ability mimicry allow retention of acquired abilities. - Peter's ability may be unique. - Draph can have more abilities than Peter, but his number is still limited. + That qualifies as retention, unless Draph loses all acquired abilities at the next acquisition (e.g. sacrifices current five to gain two others). + In S1 and S2 Peter tried and failed to consciously access previously mimicked abilities until stumbling onto an effective method. • It is conceivable that this will involve learning how to 'deactivate' the current replication to free himself up to 're-activate' a past replication (i.e. Peter has to deactivate Telepathy before he can re-activate Telekinesis or Regeneration). - No other known forms of ability mimicry require this. + Peter's ability may be unique. • It is conceivable that Peter's form of ability replication is simply a suppressed form of empathic mimicry and Peter will discover that he can switch between acquired abilities by empathising with people in some way yet to be seen. • As an example, while empathising with a blind person Peter may switch to enhanced synesthesia, enhanced hearing or danger sensing depending on circumstances. • It is conceivable that Peter will subconsciously tap into this ability due to stressful circumstances provoking sufficient adrenaline, i.e. re-replicating abilities in a manner similar to how they may initially manifest in Specials. + In S1 and S2 Peter subconsciously tapped into abilities acquired with empathic mimicry on several occasions. + Mohinder theorized that adrenaline played a part in the manifestation of abilities. (The Second Coming) - Many evolved humans appear to have manifested under different circumstances e.g. Peter himself in S1. + The exact circumstances of Peter's manifestation are unknown. All manifestations actually portrayed on the show up to date have involved stressful circumstances. + Peter only exhibits one replicated ability acquired from Sylar (shape shifting and flight) when you would think he would replicate Sylar's core ability and therefore all the acquired ones along with it. - Peter's ability may only allow choosing one ability to replicate. + This theory suggests that Peter's ability "reads" and "stores" other abilities whether it replicates them or not. That his ability can differentiate between shapeshifting and flight within the same person indicates that something more is going on than "copy this person's brain functions".
When Peter absorbs an ability, he also gains the level of control the user had over the ability.	None	+ When Peter absorbed telepathy from Matt, he was almost instantly able to use the mind control aspect of the ability, something he didn't do when he used to have it. He also used the dream manipulation aspect of telepathy to go into Sylar's head, something Matt couldn't do for a long time. - It is possible that Matt gave Peter a few pointers on mind control as they entered Building 26 off-screen. It is also possible that once a nightmare is in place it is not overly difficult for a telepath even with minor experience to enter it. + Mind control would be rather difficult to simply explain over the course of a minute or two. Also, Peter seemed very confident and relaxed when using that aspect of telepathy. If he had only been given a cursory explanation of how to control minds, he would have been much less certain. - When Peter replicated freezing from Tracy, he had no control and accidentally froze the side of the plane. + It is possible that this was Tracy's level of control at that time since in a later volume she began involuntarily freezing things due to her emotions even after having gained greater powers. + Peter was still getting used to his new ability. He also replicated Tracy's ability by accident; he may have been trying to access enhanced strength, and accidentally used freezing instead. + After tackling Samuel and replicating his ability, Peter managed to hold his own in a terrakinetic duel of wills. Considering Samuel Sullivan's obsession with developing his power, it seems likely that Peter not have been able to achieve such a high degree of control in seconds. - Peter had plenty of prior experience with Telekinesis and making it difficult for Samuel to strike may not have required a great deal of control.
Ability replication works by analyzing the DNA of other evolved humans.	None	+ Abilities are known to have a root in the DNA, in order to use another's ability, one would require said another's DNA. + Empathic mimicry worked in a similar way (changing his DNA to mimic the abilities of others). + Peter's new ability could be an "overreaction" of his old ability: instead of retaining a "database" of possible DNA alterations, his body now only keeps one (but "learns" it more thoroughly).
Since Peter dies in the year 2011, he will regain his powers within one year.	None	+ Future Peter had his powers and he was from the year 2011, so he will most likely either copy his old powers from the past or relearn how to use his powers to their full potential. - After destroying the Catalyst infused serum, he prevented that future from happening, so he may or may not regain his powers or die in the year 2011. - Peter won't necessarily die in 2011, as the future may change. For example, Ando was killed by Sylar in 2006 (explosion future timeline), but when the world was destroyed in 2011 or later, he was still alive. + Just because he might not die in one year doesn't mean he won't regain his powers in one year.
Peter will eventually copy every power in existence.	None	- He currently can only copy one power at a time. + He doesn't have to keep them, he just has to copy them. - There are abilities so far possessed by evolved humans who are already deceased.