Theory:Daniel Linderman

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The following fan theories are about Daniel Linderman.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
Linderman was plotting world domination.	None	+ Linderman wanted Nathan to take on the presidency. The president would be a perfect instrument for world domination. - Linderman stated that his aims are to heal the world. + The phrase "heal the world" is open to interpretation. • Some of Linderman's ideas (such as sacrificing half the population of New York) are morally gray.
Linderman was Claude's father.	None	+ Both characters have British accents. - This is probably just because of the actors who play them. - Their accents are completely different, Linderman's is from the South, Claude has a Lancashire accent. - If an accent indicates relation then the majority of the Heroes cast must be related. + Fathers having and protecting children with abilities is a recurring theme. + Both characters have abilities. - Lots of people have abilities, and it doesn't mean they are related; The Haitian and Maury Parkman, for instance. + Maury and Matt both have powers and are related, however. Power inheritance seems to be a recurring theme. - Linderman is the head of the organization and that same organization tried to kill Claude. + However, they also tried to kill Nathan, who was the key to Linderman's plans. • They attempted to "bag and tag" Nathan prior to the explosion's failure to destroy New York. Had they been trying to kill him, they easily could have before he took flight.
Linderman was Peter Petrelli's birth father.	None	+ Linderman hints at involvement in past evolved human events as does Angela Petrelli. - Arthur Petrelli also has an involvement. As does Maury, but at no point is it even suggested that they fostered a son together. + Both characters have abilities. - Lots of characters have powers, The Haitian and Hiro, for instance. Doesn't make them related. - Mr. Petrelli was at his house with Angela and Nathan when Linderman arrived to apologize. + This does not mean Angela Petrelli didn't have an affair with Linderman. + Linderman and Angela were both in the Group of 12, and she did have a relationship with Kaito Nakamura. • At this point it is not known for sure that Angela ever shared a relationship with Kaito.
Linderman wanted Nathan to become the President of the United States so that when people having evolutionary enhancements becomes mainstream knowledge, the major power will not be inclined to capture, kill, or otherwise control them.	None	+ Linderman had a lot of interest in people with abilities. + On several occasions, Nathan has spoken on how his natural reaction to people with abilities (were he not one of them) would be to lock them up and study them. He is against going public about the evolution of powers for fear of this very reaction. - If this was Linderman's plan, then it seems Nathan did the exact opposite (Five Years Gone). + It was Sylar using illusion to appear to be Nathan (as the President), something Linderman could not foresee. • Sylar does tell Peter that, by the time he took Nathan's power, he had already turned "bad". + This would mean that Nathan did in fact "turn;" he didn't start out bad. In the Dark Future, Linderman is dead (probably by DL), so he wouldn't be there to keep Nathan in check.
In the explosion future, Linderman died in the explosion.	Micah died in the explosion in this dark future. (Five Years Gone) A year after the explosion, the Linderman Act is passed. (Five Years Gone)	+ Linderman was presumably in New York with Micah to oversee his tampering with the election. + The Linderman Act may have been passed as a memorial. + There is no sign of Linderman in 2011. - It is possible Linderman died in the dark future the same way he has died currently. The Linderman Act may have been passed because he was brutally murdered by an evolved human. - Although Linderman was murdered by an evolved human, he also was one. + It is possible that he kept his ability a secret. - And anybody in a position of power being murdered would invoke a response; Linderman's power couldn't heal himself, only others.
Linderman's power is energy transfer, and can use this power like an energy vampire (like Sauron from X-Men) or in reverse (as in healing).	He healed (gave life energy) to a plant in .07%. The episode title when we first see Linderman (McDowell) is Parasite, which may be foreshadowing for Linderman's character instead of merely a Sylar reference.	+ Simply healing is far too noble of a power for a mob boss, especially given his past dealings. - His occupation should not matter, as evolved humans are born with their abilities, rather than choose them. + Perhaps Linderman (possibly in conjunction with Angela Petrelli's power, whatever that may be) intended on using the bomb as a source of energy to absorb (either the direct bomb energy or the resulting released life energy). • A motive for the bomb may be that Linderman has discovered a way to restore his own life by absorbing external energy. Via this method he (along with possibly Angela Petrelli) may have been attempting to live forever (like Dante and Hohenheim from Fullmetal Alchemist). • Along these lines it'd be funny if Angela Petrelli was the brains behind the whole plan, which she seemed to hint. (The Hard Part). • In The 4400, the other contemporary superpower-based TV show, the character with healing abilities (Shawn Farrell) also has the ability to drain life energy. • Heroes is in no way affiliated with that show and there is no evidence that the two shows would contain the same powers or ideas. - Healing is a matter of multiplying cells. There is no such thing as "life energy."
Linderman's power could only heal physical ailments, such as wounds, cancers or dehydration. He is incapable of using his powers to cure illnesses caused by bacteria or viruses, presumably because this would require the death of microscopic life.	Linderman heals Mr. Petrelli after being shot. (War Buddies, Part 2) Linderman used his power to cure his mother's cancer. (War Buddies, Part 3) Linderman used his powers to heal an under-watered plant. (.07%) Linderman used his powers to heal Heidi Petrelli's broken spine. (Landslide)	+ If Linderman were able to cure viruses with his power, The Company would not need Mohinder to cure Molly Walker. - The virus that affected Molly might have been too powerful for Linderman to cure. - If Linderman exposed himself to the virus, he might not be able to cure himself. - Linderman would not have to kill the bacteria or viruses, only stop them from affecting human cells. - Viruses are not living, bacteria are. • It could be that Linderman could not cure diseases caused by viruses or bacteria for some other reason than the fact that they are alive.
Mr. Linderman was involved in bringing evolved humans together in order to create offspring who have powers as well.	Mr. Linderman stated that he started Niki and D.L.'s relationship. He further stated that he was the reason Micah was born. (Landslide)	+ Linderman got Nathan and Niki together. (Collision) - Bringing Niki and Nathan together was to create a blackmail situation to exploit Nathan after he had won the election, not in an attempt to force an offspring of two mutated individuals (Hiros)
Daniel Linderman's intention was to heal the world by making evolved humans dominant over it. The explosion was not meant to unite mankind after all, but merely open the door to the establishment of this new power structure.	Bob explains that Adam Monroe's vision is of a world in which humanity has been "punished" with holocausts and plagues, and evolved humans have gained power. Linderman was Adam's disciple. (Out of Time)	+ The aforementioned scene from Out of Time directly associates Linderman's plan with Adam's goal. Nathan Petrelli explicitly notes the connection. + Linderman intended for the explosion to make Nathan a very popular political figure, "our strength in dark times". This was to lead to him ultimately becoming the President, and may have been Linderman's only real concern. With an evolved human in control of the world's most powerful nation, and himself as that evolved human's puppetmaster, Linderman would have laid down the foundations for just such a shift in power. - The explosion future showed what would result if the heroes failed to prevent the explosion, and the world therein was the exact opposite of what this theory suggests to have been Daniel Linderman's intention: Evolved humans were not in power, but instead were victims of witchhunts by a very pro-human government. + The explosion future was actually Sylar's creation more than Linderman's, as he had murdered and was impersonating Nathan, and he confessed to having a very personal motive for ordering the anti-superhuman witchhunts: His need to "be special" drove him to want to "eliminate the competition" by terminating other evolved humans, leaving himself as the only one in his league. In contrast, Adam Monroe has been said to support unity among evolved humans. • Sylar claimed Nathan Petrelli had already turned against evolved humans before he began impersonating him. (Five Years Gone) + Nathan hated Linderman and was never fully onboard with him, even working against him. He was even indirectly responsible for Linderman's death, as he told Jessica Sanders and D.L. Hawkins his location. (Landslide) He could have turned against Linderman himself anyway. - Several characters, including Daniel Linderman himself, Angela Petrelli, and Candice Willmer, all speak of the explosion as though its healing the world would happen in the form of bringing people together and putting an end to hostility and violence, totally contradicting this notion of "punishing humanity with holocausts and plagues." + Daniel Linderman was a very manipulative individual. He could have used pleasant and idealistic rhetoric to lure others into working with him, when, in actuality, he had hidden intentions. - Linderman and Monroe had a falling out. Monroe was imprisoned by the entire company because he wanted to "cleanse the world" to start over. Linderman could have been duped by Monroe just as Peter was and came to a realization that it was not his true plan to unite and heal, but rather to destroy. + The idea that what would appear to be a nuke going off in NYC (particularly after 9/11, with American forces continuing to fight extremists and fanatics in the same general region as the group which planned those attacks) would unite humanity is somewhat ludicrous. Most people would probably assume it was a terrorist attack, which would lead very quickly to more international violence.
Linderman was the son or grandson of Adam Monroe.	Linderman is mentioned to be Monroe's "disciple." (Out of Time)	+ Both have British accents. - Accents are not inherited. + Monroe's near-immortality makes it easily plausible. + Linderman's power of healing is slightly similar to Monroe's rapid cell regeneration (coincidentally referred to as "healing"). - Similar powers does not mean relatives: Peter Petrelli, Nathan Petrelli and Claire Bennet all have very different powers, despite being related. Similarly, West and Nathan have the same power, but are not related. + Well, Maury and Matt have similar powers, as do the Petrelli family (Arthur can steal powers, Peter can absorb powers). - Linderman's father has been seen in the graphic novels. • Linderman could be adopted or the grandson of Monroe. + They both have blond hair. - Blond hair is no proof of kinship.
Linderman and Adam Monroe had similar ideals originally, but they had a disagreement of some sort.	Adam Monroe is held prisoner for 30 years by the Company. It is heavily implied that Linderman is the dominant figure in the Company up until his death.	+ Linderman might have realized Adam wasn't actually interested in healing the world, so much as punishing the world. Linderman considers himself a healer and would not have accepted Adam's petty motivation of revenge.
Linderman's real name is William.	None	+ In Landslide, after seeing Niki and D.L. enter the room, he greets her, and she returns with "Bill." + The clip shown in the Heroes Premiere clip show was obviously reshot.
Linderman lived in Britain for some part of his life.		+ Linderman was a born American so he must have acquired his accent during the later part of his life. • His British accent may just be because he is portrayed by a British actor - the show is allowed some extent of artistic license, isn't it?
Linderman is still alive.	None	+ It is not out of the realm of speculation that Linderman has procured a sample of either Claire or Adam's blood, and had it in case anything were to happen to him. - D.L. made a hole in his brain, destroying it. There's no coming back from that. Arthur possessed regeneration, but he still died, with a hole in brain too. • Arthur didn't have Claire or Adam's blood.
Linderman was impotent.	None	+ He wasn't married and he had no children. Almost each one from the group of twelve had a family. - For whatever reason, neither did Victoria. And there is no evidence to suggest that she is barren. + He had a great influence, it's strange for such a powerful man to have no heirs. - He showed at the very least some interest for Angela, even when young, maybe he never liked anyone other than Angela. - Linderman was implied to have had sex with Linda Tavara, after returning from war, the night before she tried take his aura and ability. - Linderman might never have trusted any woman again, since Linda Tavara hurt him so much since he returned from the pain of the Vietnam war.
Linderman's middle name is William.	None	+ In Landslide, after seeing Niki and D.L. enter the room, he greets her, and she returns with "Bill". - Just because she called him Bill it doesn't mean that has to be part of his name. + The clip shown in the Heroes Premiere clip show was obviously reshot. + Many shows rename characters and state their old first name is now their second like Herbert Gregory Melnick in Two and a Half Men.
Niki's addressing of Linderman as Bill in Landslide is a reference to character Bill in Kill Bill: Volume 2.	In Landslide, after seeing Niki and D.L. enter the room, Linderman greets Niki, and she returns with "Bill".	+ In Kill Bill: Volume 2, young, blonde, female antagonist (traits shared with Niki) seeks revenge against a significantly older, wealthy male (traits shared with Linderman). + There is also the involvement of a child. In Kill Bill, Bill supposedly killed Beatrix' unborn child. In Heroes, Micah is used by Linderman to ensure Senator Nathan Petrelli wins the bid for congress, against Niki's will.