Theory:Space-time manipulation

Main Article Theories about space-time manipulation Main Discussion

The following fan theories are about space-time manipulation.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
There is some kind of higher-power/cosmic authority that prevents Hiro from creating paradoxes.	When Hiro seems on the verge of saving Charlie and thus causing a causality paradox, he returns unexpectedly to the present. (Six Months Ago) In the novel Saving Charlie, Hiro makes several attempts over a six month period (though much longer for him) to try and put Charlie out of harm's way. These attempts, along with his first few attempts at intimacy with Charlie, result in Hiro teleporting someplace else relevant to his "destined" mission (i.e. saving Claire), such as the morgue where James Walker's body is being stored.	+ Hiro's forced return to Present-Day Japan and inability to use his powers to go back and make further attempts to save Charlie Andrews suggest that something is blocking his ability to go back to that specific point in space time. + Also, Future Hiro has to get someone else to go back to present-day Odessa to save Claire rather than taking matters into his own hands, perhaps due to his inability to return to that point in space and time due to a rift his past self created. - If this were true, then Hiro shouldn't have been able to change the events of the explosion, because Future Hiro wouldn't have come back and told Peter to save the cheerleader. • If this is true, then it could be the same cosmic authority that controls Hiro's "accidental" time travel, in Genesis, Five Years Gone, and How to Stop an Exploding Man. Perhaps the authority is not simply keeping Hiro from causing paradoxes, but actually making sure he goes where he needs to go. • This "cosmic authority" could be the writers.
Hiro's presence in the past manipulates objects, but not people's memories.	None.	- Charlie appears to know Hiro since she says she likes what he does when he blinks. (Seven Minutes to Midnight) + Charlie still had a Japanese phrasebook in the present after Hiro gave it to her in the past. Yet Charlie did not seem to remember Hiro when he first came to Odessa in the present nor did any of Hiro's co-workers at the diner recognize him despite his having worked there six months earlier. The change in the photograph of Charlie's birthday party also shows an object recording a historical event that nobody remembered. - However, when Ando shows the photo to Lynette, she does recognize Hiro, telling him "they were tight". This suggests the common comic book device of a second time dimension - the timeline is changed only "after" the time-traveler goes back in time to change them. • However, this would raise the question of who gave Charlie the Japanese phrase book "before" Hiro traveled back in time. This suggests that the timeline can be changed, but not in a way that would give the time-traveler no reason to travel back in time (which would create a paradox). • It is possible (though unlikely) that "before" Hiro went back in time, someone else had given Charlie a Japanese phrase book for her birthday.
There is no predestination in the world of Heroes.	Hiro's trip to the past appears to have actually changed past events from his perspective. (Six Months Ago)	+ If Hiro's trip to the past to try and save Charlie were meant to have happened, then all of his former co-workers at the diner (to say nothing of Charlie herself) should have recognized Hiro when he came into the diner for the first time, six months after he had been working there. + From a writing stand-point, it doesn't make sense for Hiro and Isaac to have the powers that they do if they cannot use those powers to change future events. • However, although some events can be changed, it seems that others (such as Charlie's death at the hands of Sylar) are immutable. + Future Hiro's trip to the past allowed Claire to live five years longer following Sylar's first attempt to kill her. This shows that the timestream can be altered. (Five Years Gone)
Hiro's ability is the cause of others' abilities, by transporting himself or someone else into the past. It would represent a closed loop.	None.
A person with the power of space-time manipulation cannot have their memories altered by a change in their own personal timeline. In short, they are immune to the effects of a paradox changing time and if a person changes the past, their own memories of what things were like before the change will remain unaltered. The one exception to this is if they die in another time.	Future Hiro traveled back to talk to Peter to tell him what to do to save Claire. (Hiros) Future Hiro must have figured that Peter, who could copy his power, would remain immune to the affects of any paradox Future Hiro caused by going back in time to deliver the warning. Future Hiro's memories of what the Dark Future was like before he went to talk to Peter remained unchanged, though some details about the past did change. (Five Years Gone)	+ This would explain why Future Hiro needed to find an exact point to talk to Peter, before they "met for the first time" in the Dark Future. + It would also explain why he chose Peter - who he knew would gain his power and become similarly immune to the effects of paradox. + It would also explain why Sylar, disguised as Nathan, would be so insistent on killing Hiro - especially after it was confirmed to him that Hiro COULD travel through time.
An evolved human with the power of time/space manipulation is theoretically invulnerable within his/her realm of awareness.	Hiro has demonstrated the ability to reverse time on a single object. Therefore by reversing time on projectiles hitting either himself or others, he could reverse harmful effects on himself or others.
Future Hiro could only change the time line by warning his past self.	Since a traveler from the future cannot change the past in a way that would prevent him going to the past to change it, Hiro found it necessary to imbue one in the present with the knowledge that could change that.	+ Hiro is at least somewhat free of normal space/time continuum rules. But not completely. By learning of the future and then going back to his original time, Hiro retained free will and can now actively work to change to future. + This helps with the "rift" problem that Hiro alluded to with Peter. By traveling to Peter and Hiro exclusively, beings who possessed his power and by extension his immunity to the "rules", he was able to change the future and quite possibly, eradicate his existence. Because the past Hiro knew of the future, the knowledge remained in place even without the Future Hiro having to necessarily exist.
An evolved human with the power of space-time manipulation could reverse the aging process on other (specific) human beings or inanimate objects.	Hiro reversed time on a bullet traveling out of a firearm. Looking at that phenomenon, the bullet in the eyes of everyone else never left the firearm it only seemed to "misfire" at that point in time. Therefore, by applying this ability to a human being, it can be possible to reverse an individuals lifespan.
Hiro doesn't freeze time, only slows it down considerably.	When Hiro attempted to freeze time in Godsend, he only slowed it down half-way.	+ There would apparently be physical problems with freezing time, yet still being able to see. Vision is based on the reflection of light particles; if time were truly frozen, Hiro would be blind. - Especially with a show such as Heroes, a certain suspension of disbelief is required to thoroughly enjoy the show. If all real-world physics were applied to Heroes, certainly none of the characters would have powers, and the show would not be interesting at all.
Theoretically, if Hiro can bend space and time, he could make himself look younger, physically become younger and make himself invisible.	None	- Bodily aging is caused by physical degradation of the body over time, not time itself.
Caitlin still exists and now lives in a future where the Shanti virus was not released.	None	+ When Hiro went back in time to change history, Ando remembered the original timeline. Apparently some people can be made immune to changes in history. + Caitlin, like Ando, knew that time travel was taking place. This may be the factor in deciding who is "immune" to changes in history.
Space\time manipulation, is actually the power to manipulate dimensions around himself.	None	+ Time and space are both dimensions, the first three being space, and the fourth being time. :+ Noah Bennet said that all the evolved humans with whom the Company has come in contact have only had one power each. :+ It would seem that Hiro's space\time manipulation, is different from ether time travel or teleportation, his power move these forces around himself, where as a time traveler would move through time, and a teleporter through space.