Virginia Gray
| Virginia Gray | |
|---|---|
| |
| Portrayed by | Ellen Greene |
| First appearance | The Hard Part |
| In-story stats | |
| Known ability | None |
| Gender | |
| Date of death | November 6, 2006 |
| Home | New York, NY |
| Residences | Apartment in Queens, NY |
| Significant other | formerly Martin Gray |
| Child | Gabriel Gray (adopted) |
| Other relatives | Samson Gray (brother-in-law) |
Virginia Gray was the adoptive mother of Gabriel Gray, also known as Sylar.
Character History
The Hard Part
Sylar visits his mother after worrying that he might explode. He gives her a snow globe, and starts fixing a broken clock. She offers to make him a sandwich, but he declines, and he becomes angry when she starts making it anyway. He asks her to tell him that it would be okay for him to be just a watchmaker, but she asks why she would ever tell him that when she knows he can be so much more. He decides to show her what he can do, and freezes water from a spray nozzle into a snowfall and telekinetically makes some of her snow globes fly around the room. When one of the globes accidentally hits her, she runs into her bedroom and locks the door.
Through the door, Sylar asks if being special is worth the deaths of many people. His mother comes out of the room and tells him to leave, saying he is not her son. He tries to say he is, but she picks up a pair of scissors to hold him at bay. Still trying to reason with her, he tries grabbing the scissors, and in the ensuing struggle, she is stabbed through the heart. Sylar later uses her blood to finger paint the explosion on the floor of his mother's apartment.
Truth & Consequences
In Cook Lake, VA, Alejandro Herrera shows his sister Maya a newspaper printout about Virginia's death, and she confronts Sylar with it. Sylar explains that Virginia was afraid of him and his powers, and she was accidentally killed while defending himself from her.
One of Us, One of Them
Angela tells Gabriel Gray that he'd always understood on some level that he wasn't Virginia's son.
Dual
As Sylar is about to kill her, Angela says that she knows who his real parents are. She tells him that he isn't the son of a watchmaker and a woman who collected snow globes.
A Clear and Present Danger
Sylar finds Virginia's ex-husband Martin Gray working in a watch-repair shop in Baltimore. It transpires that Martin went out to buy cigarettes on a snowy day in February twenty-seven years ago, and never came back, leaving his wife and son behind. Martin calls Virginia a "sick and infantile woman" and says that he should never have had a child with her, but Sylar knows this is a lie, and they are not his real parents. Martin then explains that he was given Sylar as a child by his brother, and accepted him because Virginia wanted a baby but couldn't have one, and says that theirs was a loveless marriage.
Exposed
Sylar has flashbacks of his biological father, Samson Gray, taking him to a roadside diner in 1980. He brings the young Gabriel over to a table where Virginia sits with her husband, Martin. Gabriel glances at Virginia, who smiles back at him. Martin then hands a bundle of cash to Samson who subsequently gives Gabriel to them and leaves.
I Am Sylar
At Agent Taub's apartment, a police officer delivers a box containing evidence from the Virginia Gray unsolved murder. Disguised as Agent Taub, Sylar accepts it and closes the door as the officer tries to ask him about it. He takes from the package his mother's sweater. He then sees the France snow globe and remembers stabbing his mother. Angry, he throws it against the wall, but Virginia suddenly appears and comments it was her favorite. Sylar tells his mother about his feelings and emotions, but is interrupted by a knock on the door. A surprised Virginia changes back into Sylar, who is confused about what just happened.
Later, Sylar goes to Nathan Petrelli's office, where he again holds a conversation with his "mother" again.'Sylar brings up the murder, commenting to himself as Virginia that it was an accident. Sylar admits that she made him feel small and he wanted her dead. The fake Virginia then states that it was then he lost himself. Quoting Virginia from their last conversation, the fake Virginia states that Sylar can be anybody he wants; even President of the United States.
An Invisible Thread
Virginia appears in Sylar's memories as Matt Parkman reprograms Sylar's mind.
Hysterical Blindness
Captain Lubbock tells an amnesiac Sylar that he murdered his mother. Sylar insists that he wouldn't kill his mother, but Lubbock insists that he's going to have Sylar confess to the murder. Later, Madeline Gibson tells Sylar to turn himself in and let the police figure out what happened to his mother.
Tabula Rasa
In the House of Mirrors at the Sullivan Bros. Carnival, Sylar sees a vision of his mother talking to him. He also sees himself murdering her.
Graphic Novel:Yang & Yang
While advising Amanda Strazzulla, Sylar remembers Virginia on the ground, with a pair of scissors in her chest.
Pass/Fail
In Hiro's dream, Sylar counts off the people that he killed, mentioning Virginia as one of them.
In real life, Sylar tells Claire that they were both raised by parents who didn't understand them, meaning Virginia for Sylar.
Notes
- During his absence, Sylar apparently told his mother he was traveling.
Trivia
- When Sylar brings his mother a snow globe, she remarks that she's "just missing Oregon. I hear it's...green everywhere [there]". Ellen Greene, the actress who portrays Virginia, is most famous for her role as "Audrey" in the movie and stage productions of Little Shop of Horrors in which she sang the song "Somewhere That's Green."
- Greg Beeman said of Virginia's character that she "was very disturbed and very judgmental and very critical. But at the same time, over the years she had pushed everyone she loved away and she regretted that. So, now, with her son back at home she was trying - straining - to not be too harsh on him."[1]
- The idea of a deranged son taking on the persona of his dead mother recalls Norman Bates, the murderous antagonist of the infamous novel and movie, Psycho.
See Also
- For other uses of Virginia, see Virginia (disambig).
- For the woman who gave birth to Gabriel Gray, see Gabriel's mother.
Fan Theories
Please refer to Theory:Virginia Gray for fan-created theories and other speculation.