Theory:Freezing

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The following fan theories are about freezing.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
Freezing works by cooling the temperature of water to freezing point.	None	• You do need to freeze water to make ice or frost. - Hiro's sword was frozen. As far as we know, there is no water inside swords. (The Hard Part) + There is moisture in the air Sylar could have frozen around it. Metal is also extremely susceptible to extreme temperatures. + In The Hard Part, Sylar turns water into snow. + When Tracy Strauss uses her freezing power, there's a water source somewhere on or inside whatever it is she's freezing. The reporter in The Second Coming, Mohinder Suresh in Dying of the Light and Mark Leggett in Building 26; Nathan's cup (containing a drink) in Dying of the Light, her breath (saliva), the security tag (made with a strip of amorphous metal inside) and the entire parking garage full of Department of Homeland Security agents (with the sprinklers on) in Cold Snap. • Tracy may have realized that her power requires/is amplified by water, hence asking Micah to turn on the sprinklers (Cold Snap). + When Sylar uses his freezing power, there is a water source nearby. James Walker in Don't Look Back and his own hands and possibly a thin layer of surrounding air in Five Years Gone; the road (with moist Virginia Beach air) in Road Kill, the water from the sink and Hiro's sword (explained above) in The Hard Part. • This could be consistent with a broader "water manipulation" ability, perhaps explaining the development of Tracy's power into something that looks like water mimicry in An Invisible Thread.
Freezing isn't truly cooling, but the ability to absorb all heat in an object, dropping it to low kelvins.	Tracy froze an entire human being solid in a matter of seconds. The manner in which this happened suggested that heat was drained rather than ice being generated. (The Butterfly Effect)	+ Scientifically, this is what is logical. If most of the powers are based on logical science, then this is how it would work. Hard to explain. Big question is though, where does the energy go? Law of the Conservation of Energy says it has to go somewhere... • Law of Conservation of Mass-Energy obviously does not apply to the abilities as many of the abilities involve generating forms of energy from nothing (pyrokinesis, telekinesis, etc). If abilities can create energy from nothing then it stands to reason that they could also turn energy back in to nothing. Expanding on this, it seems likely that Tracy's ability works by slowing molecule vibrations (i.e. removing energy), rather than transferring energy. + It is possible that the energy is absorbed into the user and then displaced harmlessly into the surroundings in alternate forms, such as the blue glow we have seen when the ability is used. • Cooling is the absorption of an object's heat by nearby objects which have less heat. + Tracy's hands are still warm after using the ability, presumably because she acquired heat from the target, instead of cooling in a manner similar to refrigeration. + It is possible that the glow that is seen when freezing is used is the absorbed heat being converted into light and then expelled harmlessly.
Freezing is not the reduction of temperature in an object, but the actual conversion of the chemical composition of matter to H2O, in its solid form ice.	None	+ When Tracy froze the D.C. reporter, his entire body, including his clothes, were frozen, and shattered. This would not have happened as drastically at it did in The Butterfly Effect by merely reducing the temperature of the body, and it definitely would not have happened for the reporter's clothes, made of different cloths. - Decreasing the temperature of his body would have caused surrounding moisture to condense and freeze, the contraction and expansion that the surrounding moisture would undergo could have easily made his body and clothes fragile, furthermore, when the reporter shattered, his insides were displayed as black, presumably from blood and other bodily fluids that would not be there if he had been transmuted into solid ice. • The body is made of mostly water, and ice crystals can form on anything that is frozen. • Counter theory: the reporter had the ability of water mimicry, and it manifested when he was frozen. - The odds of the reporter just happening to possess the one ability that might save him are almost nil. - Knox was killed by freezing and he does not have the ability of water mimicry. - Scientifically speaking, the amount of energy that would be used in order to make this happen would be immense. • Scientifically speaking, the amount of energy that would used in order to make this happen would be immensely negative. + The amount of energy required to turn a body into sand or make someone travel at the speed of light would be immense as well (especially the latter), but that has been accomplished on the show.
Freezing is a byproduct of telekinesis.	None.	+ Scientifically speaking, freezing comes from stopping the molecules of an object from vibrating. - No one who naturally possesses freezing as an ability has ever moved anything with their mind. • This theory suggests that freezing can be achieved with telekinesis, not vice versa. - To freeze an object with telekinesis, you would have to be capable of perceiving on a molecular level. Then, you would have to immobilize trillions of objects at the same time. If something like that were attempted, the telekinetic's head would explode from the strain (or they'd at least have a massive brain hemorrhage). • Not necessarily all that gore, but at the very least massive headaches or migraines. - Matt Neuenberg died when the Company tried to "download" too much information into his brain at once. It seems likely that trying to use telekinesis on billions of objects simultaneously would have similar effects. • Matt Neuenberg survived the downloading process; he died when they attempted to extract the information from his brain, the "upload", so to speak. + You wouldn't have to perceive every molecule in order to manipulate them if you making the exact same effect on all of them. - If it weren't necessary, then any use of telekinesis to hold something still would result in its temperature plummeting to absolute zero in seconds. + Special focus may still be required, just not on a molecular scale.
Freezing, or at least Tracy's, works by inserting cold water (or ice) into the material to be frozen.	Elisa, as a water mimic, can leave water behind. Tracy demonstrated water mimicry.	+ This would explain how Tracy has both freezing and water mimicry. - Other things can explain it. - It could be because her ability is a synthetic one. • There's no difference between natural and synthetic abilities. • Tracy's ability could be water related all along, only having access to the ice portion of the ability. - When Tracy turns into water, she leaves her clothing behind. Elisa doesn't have that problem. • Perhaps Tracy still has to learn how to do that. • She has now been shown to reform with her clothes (Brave New World).
Freezing is actually a form of water manipulation.	None	+ Tracy can manipulate (and even become) water. - Sylar was never shown to become water. - It could be just an example of ability development.
Tracy has a different freezing ability then Sylar and James Walker.	Tracy can manipulate and mimic water, Sylar and James couldn't.	+ Tracy's ability could work by manipulating the water in or around objects into freezing, and the ability Sylar and James Walker used could be slowing down molecular movement, thus reducing heat to the point where the object freezes.
Tracy's ability allows her to have a similar effect to underwater breathing.	None	+ She seemed to be able to hold her breath for a long time when she was in the car trying to kill Noah. • There was still air inside the car. • Oxygen is a gas which is dissolved in water. Tracy might be able to use those when in water form.
Tracy can absorb water and make her ability have a similar effect to mass manipulation.	None	• It is a way the ability can become stronger.
Tracy's ability can have a similar effect to rapid cell regeneration.	None	+ If Tracy is hurt, it might be possible for her to change into a watery state and then return to human form unscathed. + She is able to survive Edgar's knife slashes without damage by turning herself into water. Should she gain full control over this aspect of her power, she would be nigh-unkillable, like Claire. • Mohinder calls it "fight or flight", the nervous system's ability to activate powers when an individual is in danger.
Tracy's ability can have a similar effect to shape shifting.	None	+ She could, logically, revert to a different appearance from her water state.
Anyone with this ability can create, generate, manipulate and control ice, snow, sleet and hail at will and also control clouds.	None	+ Emma Gilbert from [Just Add Water] could do this and she had the ability to freeze things.