Tiger and Bunny/WMG

HERO TV is actually organizing some of the disasters to insure ratings.
The robbers in the first episode reeked of professionalism, and Agnes Joubert knew when there would be a gap long enough for a commercial during a high speed chase, with superheroes.
 * It certainly seemed a little fishy that the leader of the three, even beyond not wanting to get caught, seemed to ESPECIALLY not want to get caught by Wild Tiger.
 * Furthermore, in episode 3 we get a lingering shot of Agnes anxiously looking at her watch. Doesn't that action make more sense if she knows exactly when the time bomb is supposed to explode?
 * This is in fact a common trope for stories with corporate superheroes: their "owners" are always involved in something bad. Also, Agnes is getting way more airtime than her character should be getting...
 * Unless, of course, she's meant to be Tiger's Love Interest.
 * Something is definitely up with this company. They obviously have plenty of reason to do it, and based on what we've seen they've got the money to arrange it all too. Besides, other than the villains just being retarded what else could their motivations be? Everyone on the planet knows that the city is infested with supers who are literally getting paid to beat the crap out of thugs like that, so why do people every try to commit crimes there? Unless someone was giving them a very compelling reason to do so.
 * Also a lot of the crimes seem to involve the same exact woman (a girl with short brown hair wearing a purple dress and blue jacket). Hmmm...
 * Why there were no records of Jake's fight with Mr. Legend? Or no info about his powers? What if Hero TV helped in freeing Jake and erased all intel about him, to make ratings skyrocket?
 * Agnes may be partialy into the conspiration. She may be aware what is going on, but she seems geniquely suprised several times, so she probably knows that all crimes are staged, but don't know what is supposed to be happening.
 * That's to be seen; in episode 20,
 * That's to be seen; in episode 20,
 * That's to be seen; in episode 20,
 * That's to be seen; in episode 20,

Hero TV will make a super-villain for the heroes to fight.
Needless to say, it'll go horribly right.

Jake didn't
But for Me It Was Tuesday aside, why would Jake ? And why ?
 * Confirmed..
 * Confirmed..

Jake

 * As of Episode 13
 * As of Episode 13
 * As of Episode 13

Somebody will interrupt Barnaby's fight with Jake
It will be either Kotetsu, making Big Damn Heroes moment to make up for his previous screw-up  or Lunatic, making Big Damn Villains entrance and killing Jake. It depends on the direction writers want to take the story - if it will be Lunatic, they may go with him trying to persuade Barnaby into joining him, which may be important subplot in second part of the series.

Jake isn't the real leader of Ouroboros

 * The characters' names sound like the face cards:
 * Jake=Jack (or Joker)
 * Kriem=Queen
 * King=???
 * Ace=???
 * Well, we certainly know who is Holding All The Cards.

Ouroboros is being set up as a Red Herring for Barnaby using Fake Memories.
No two flashbacks of his parents' murders have ever been exactly the same. The memory changes noticeably every time it's shown, particularly after an "oxygen chamber" session. Even in the episode (the 6th) when it's first introduced, the memory is inconsistent. The second time the memory comes up that episode, the tattoo of Ouroboros on the gunman's hand disappears as he turns to face the only other living person in the vicinity.

Assuming that the missing tattoo isn't just some mistake on the artists' part, it can be argued that Barnaby's recollection of the event has not been reliable at all, and that the Ouroboros tattoo had never been there in the first place. Maybe it was projected or edited into his memories, or suggested to him as a possible suspect, at an earlier point in the series' timeline.

Why Ouroboros? Assuming, again, that it is indeed some kind of syndicate out to make trouble, it gives him something else to target instead of the parties actually responsible for the deaths, and removes Ouroboros as a threat to them.



Ben Jackson will help Kotetsu
Think about it. Who is the only person.
 * Kotetsu's mother, his brother, and Lunatic.
 * Okay, only person in Sternbild that knows it and is not Lunatic.
 * Confirmed,

Barnaby

 * Confirmed, but not for the reasons stated:

Kotetsu will team up with Lunatic
Unlike everyone else, Yuri —So when on the same day that, he's probably thinking the whole thing smells fishy. Yuri might be a little too keen on punishing criminals, but he's not going to.
 * I was thinking the exact same thing. I also thought that Ben Jackson would make an appearance to help him out as well.
 * The preview features  I'd wager the odds are pretty good on this one.
 * Not exactly confirmed but as of Episode 21, Lunatic

Kaede copied Maverick's power
If you notice, in episode 21 Maverick patted Kaede on the head. And how does her powers work?
 * And following from that, she'll be responsible for
 * Almost,.

The "Black Suit Wild Tiger" in episode 21 is a combat android.

 * Confirmed in episode 23.

When Tiger was shot when he wasn't paying attention in Episode 1 it was Foreshadowing
Only next he will not have his suit or Hundred power active.
 * Alternatively: Tiger Taking the Bullet for Barnaby is foreshadowing, and next time either he won't have his Hundred Power active, or their roles will be reversed and Barnaby will take a shot for Kotetsu.
 * Episode 24 in a way without the not paying attention part.

Ouroborous will not be defeated this season and will be saved for season 2 and/or be used as a Sequel Hook

 * Confirmed: The last image of episode 25 is the Sternbild dollar

Kotetsu really is
Have you seen all the crap he had to deal with that day? Anyone would pretty much fall into a coma-like state of sleep after all of that,. Too bad everyone's too panicked to check for a heartbeat.
 * Confirmed.

Lunatic will
Do you really expect that he's going to let him live after all the shit he's been pulling in the last few episodes?
 * I'd bet money on this. Only problem is that it kinda takes away from Barnaby's revenge. One more person who's definitely on the chopping block as well would be
 * Confirmed.

Conversely, Kotetsu will lose his powers...
... But still continue his work as a hero. This is a guy who'd spend his free time in high school delivering street justice—often without using his powers—and trying to come up with his future superhero name. Now combine this with Kotetsu himself motivating Ivan into heroism despite the perceived uselessness of his powers, and you've got someone who's very unlikely to accept retirement, willing or forced. Besides, it's not like we've never heard of unpowered heroes before...

Kotetsu isn't

 * All the buildup with his powers fluctuating? His taking the bullet for Bunny earlier in the series? The title of the next episode? It's all foreshadowing the fact that
 * Confirmed, though not nearly as dramatically as described above.

The medal shown in the first Ending Sequence
It has to be of some importance, given its prominence. Assuming the series takes place in 2011, the "1978" in the inscription is a time during Kotetsu's childhood. It could be a memento from Mr. Legend, or a medal awarded to him. Both Kotetsu and Barnaby are shown reaching for it, the former frantically, the other with a sense of wonder. It could have a symbolic meaning, representing the old, true heroic spirit Mr. Legend stood for, to which Kotetsu clings despite the current commercialisation and to which Barnaby will eventually aspire.
 * In the first episode, when Sky High is announced King of Heroes, the video wall shows his image with a "NC 1977" in a crown...
 * Freeze-Frame Bonus in The Stinger of episode 8 confirms that the first episode of the series (at the end of a Hero TV season) took place in the year NC 1977 by naming that as the year that Barnaby made his debut as a hero. This means that the medal in the end sequence is most likely the King of Heroes medal for the current season, although presumably it's being used to symbolize a good bit more than that.
 * In episode 19, the medal is actually a matching pair of pins that Kotetsu bought

After being betrayed by their sponsors, the heroes will be saved by- Mr. Legend!
He will return from apparent death (or wherever he's been) in time to pull a Big Damn Heroes moment; alternatively, he'll die to reinforce Wild Tiger's idealism and/or Barnaby's. Either way, by the end all the heroes will drop the whole corporate mascot thing and become true heroes.
 * Almost certainly jossed, as.

Karina Lyle/Blue Rose's character arc
She'd rather make it as a singer, but she's only marketable when in her Blue Rose persona.

Lunatic wants to avenge death of his wife and kids, killed by criminals
That would make a nice twist, putting him on Not So Different level with Barnaby. And he already seems to be strongly inspired by The Punisher anyway.

== In episode 11  This may or may not end well. ==

Despite having creepy vibes (YMMV of course), Maverick is actually an old comrade or rival of Mr. Legend's.
Alternatively, those YMMV creepy vibes might serve their purpose in foreshadowing that their relationship was not a good one, or turned sour. But come on—Mr. Maverick? Mr. Legend? There's gotta be some sort of connection.

Maverick is actually Mr Legend.
He retired and wanted to encourage NEXT to protect ordinary citizens.

Bunny's old maid, Samantha, is actually Maverick in disguise
This (possible Brain Bleach required).
 * Probably jossed in episode 19, as although they weren't in the same room, Barnaby was on a video phone with Samantha while in the same room as Mr Mavrick.
 * Definitely jossed in episode 20. Samantha and Maverick are shown in the same room,

Lunatic will try to persuade Barnaby to join him in killing Jake / Ouroboros.
The show is already setting up a contrast between Wild Tiger's old-fashioned idealism and deep committment to the value of human life versus Lunatic's Knight Templar vigilantism. Barnaby, with his personal vendetta against Ouroboros and emotional baggage regarding his parents' murder, is somewhere in the middle, and it'll be up to Kotetsu to talk him down from making the wrong decision.
 * Jossed, sort of.

Mr. Legend was Jake's father.

 * This is why the files related to Jake's arrest were unavailable to the heroes when they wanted to do research on him. Jake, the non-powered son of Sternbild's first superhero, develops a complex regarding heroes and ends up severely deranged. Eventually ending up working as a mercenary and killer-for-hire, Jake is approached by Ouroboros who offer to artificially empower him (resulting in his differently colored NEXT aura and multiple powers). Jake, now convinced he's superior to everyone else, becomes a full-blown serial killer and NEXT supremacist, and Mr. Legend is the only one who can take him on. To avoid the scandal that would come about if this was revealed, the authorities lock Jake away in the most secure cell they can, and quietly sweep it under the rug.
 * Additionally, considering he used a gun to kill Barnaby's parents, he didn't have powers at that time. His murder of the Brooks couple was his initiation into Ouroboros.

It isn't Jake who killed Barnaby's parents, but

 * Since Barnaby's visage of the killer keeps changing from episode to episode, and since Jake didn't really seem to give a crap or recollection towards Barnaby or his parents' deaths, and also since,, it's possible that, as it was Kotetsu standing in the midst of the warehouse fire in episode 8 that triggered something in Barnaby's memory concerning the killer, is the one who killed Barnaby's parents instead.

Mr. Maverick was the one who ordered the killer to kill Bunny's parents.
C'mon, it'd be an interesting plot twist wouldn't it? Get the secrets of how Bunny really is an artificial human who had Kotetsu's powers transplanted onto him.

He could  to conceal his real identity, but couldn't  for some reason. He might even be related to (possibly his father or mother). It also explains why Jake had a shotgun in Barnaby's memories.

After episode 20, Kotetsu will hide out at his family's place and tell Kaede everything.
Kaede will then

Kaede knows that Kotetsu is Wild Tiger
After episode 17 it's likely to assume  Right now she might be faking being mad to persuade him into telling her the truth.

Kaede, Karina, and Antonio are going to be the ones to unravel Mavericks plan.
Besides the fact that this was a terrible planned, plan, Maverick has no idea's about Kaede's copy powers, making it a nice set up for her to be a spanner. Karina still has the towel, which might jog her memory (and crush) about Kotetsu, prompting her to help out. And Antonio has a lot of backstory with him, to the point of knowing about Kaede and not being surprised about Tomoe being dead.
 * I had a feeling that Antonio would be one of the first because of his childhood with Kotetsu. He'd at least give him a chance to explain himself. As for Karina and Kaede, good ideas. I figured that Kotetsu would also try to talk to his friends by using his memories of them. IE: Referring to them by their real names might give them a clue that something's up.

Kotetsu knew that the coffee
He was just Trolling him. He figured it out somehow the first time he was about to drink it- him asking for cream was something he thought of at the last moment as an excuse.

Saito is
does not talk or at least is inaudible.
 * It would mean

Kaede and Kotetsu are going to do a father-daughter team-up.
...In the form of Tiger beating the hell out of the, and Kaede. might help, too.

Barnaby's memories will be restored by being shown the video of Kaede's outburst on the roof.
Saito's memories came back from watching it on television, so it makes sense.
 * Jossed.

The pins Kotetsu got are a Chekhov's Gun that will end up
Judging by the fact that they appeared in the ending before they even appeared in the series they're going to at least play a pretty important role- more so than the one in episode 20- so it's very likely that this is where it will go. The ending itself implies something like this, too. It's possible that they're a Red Herring instead of course but not likely.
 * Jossed. See above.

Jake is Black Suit Wild Tiger
Because that would be a wonderfull irony.
 * Jossed.

Lunatic will

 * Jossed.

One or more of the Superheroes will die.
Origami Cyclone dies first, calling it.
 * Unless Black Dude Dies First that is...
 * Lately many people have been pointing at Sky High for having the cheapest advertising.
 * Considering Episode 15's title is "The Sky's the Limit"...
 * The preview for Episode 13 doesn't look good for Wild Tiger.
 * But then Episode 24 happens...

By the end of the series, Kotetsu will be killed.
Out of respect for his fallen comrade, Barnaby will take on the mantle of Wild Tiger in his stead.
 * Maybe for the main point if you take account the events in Episode 24.

Hero TV will publicly kill off one of its heroes.
In relation to the WMG of them setting up disasters to increase ratings, they might find that people see this as the same old, same old. What the viewers wouldn't expect is a hero getting killed. Someone at Hero TV will pick up on this, and during one of the disasters, a hero with low ratings will either be killed or fatally injured. Kotetsu and Barnaby, despite Kotetsu's lower ratings, won't be on the chopping block due to their new status as a big superhero team. However, each of the other heroes are up for grabs...
 * Going by episode 24,

Kotetsu will retire at the end of the series

 * He's already losing his powers. Assuming it keeps up, it would be fitting for him todecide to quit being a superhero so he can finally spend more time with Kaede. Him accepting that he's no longer fit for superheroing would make for a good conclusion to his character arc seeing as it means that he'd prevent making the same mistake Mr. Legend did.

Kotetsu will die powerless (but undoubtably a hero) at the end of the series.
The final show will have Kotetsu, powerless, leaping into battle to save Barnaby, despite being a normal human. He will succeed at the cost of his own life... But he will go with a smile on his face, as he trusts in Barnaby to continue watching the city (and his daughter).
 * Events of Episode 24 are close to this WMG, though the death part is still ambiguous.
 * This will be aired on Hero TV, permanently cementing Kotetsu as one of the greats in Hero TV history. (The next generation of Heroes may even reject corporate sponsorship as a result.)
 * Alternately, Barnaby will go vigilante after this, rejecting any work with Hero TV in lieu of helping the city directly.

Albert Maverick is not connected to Orobouros.
Because we've seen this setup before, Genre Savvy viewers are likely to assume right off the bat that Maverick is a Corrupt Corporate Executive Villain with Good Publicity. Therefore, a bigger twist would be that Maverick actually is a kindly paternal surrogate for Barnaby who uses his power and connections for the benefit of the city.

Kotetsu will be

 * Jossed

will set up  as a scapegoat. It bugged me why he even deals with this NEXT-hating psycho, before I realized that if their plan will fall, he can easily make  take all the blame and put out Karma Houdini on himself. Heroes doesn't have any hard evidence against him, which sets up things for next seson -.
 * Jossed

== == Theory inspired by (spoiler link) how many times  (read: more than once; high likely even more than four times).
 * Jossed -

will lose control over his powers
. Forty years later Jake will return  as a cybrg, to fight another Batman-like protagonist, under the nickname Alan Gabriel.
 * Jossed

"Barnaby Brooks Jr." is not his real name.
At the press conference Albert Maverick mentions that Barnaby took his father's name when he decided to become a superhero in order to honor his late parents' memory, which suggests that it was not originally his name to begin with. Also, he is never actually referred to as Barnaby in any of his flashbacks, and the newspaper article reporting his father's death simply refers to his father as "Mr. Barnaby Brooks" without a "Sr." following.
 * I'm pretty sure that's exactly what he was saying in the episode. You can't really "take your father's name" to fight crime under if it's already your real given name.
 * Jossed by the Brooks family photo in Episode 25.

"Barnaby" isn't actually Bunny's real name.
Episode 11 has Maverick announcing to the public that Barnaby took his father's name. Bunny is never called Barnaby in any of the flashbacks. Without the subtitles, Samantha calls him "young master", and never by name.

could have made him adopt the name to add more drama to his Hero persona.
 * Jossed by the Brooks family photo in Episode 25.

Barnaby's real name also starts with a B.
Because the whole Alliterative Name gag wouldn't be lost. Dibs on Brian, Bernard, Benjamin, Bradley... Or, you know, Bunny.
 * Jossed by the Brooks family photo

Kotetsu uses a stencil for his beard.
Not my theory, but after a fanfic suggested it, it's very plausible. It would also explain why Kaede hates it so much.

Kotetsu and Barnaby are related
Long-lost brothers, cousins, clones, whatever- having the exact same power seems too much of a coincidence to me. Plus, it fits well with the "strangers who can't stand each other but must" theme.

Ouroboros (or whatever the bad guys are called) are behind the 'corporization' of superheroes.
If you can't beat them, join them- and then corrupt them! It would explain how the old-style heroes were replaced by a less-caring generation; the villains bought all the big companies and then lured the younger heroes with offers of fame and fortune. As their 'sponsors' they can keep track of them and keep them busy and off their true affairs (the robbers are mooks paid to take a dive.) Of course this will be discovered by the end of the series, a big battle ensues and then all will be well. Note that each company that owns a hero has a name out of Greek Mythology; the Uroboros symbol is *also* of classical origins. This leads to my next WMG:

Fire Emblem is evil!
Who'd expect the Camp Gay hero to be the Big Bad? Think: he owns his own company and sort of looks like the evil silhouette in the opening credits. Having a villain as part of the main cast all along would be a neat twist on their part!
 * He could be related to/have hired the bomber in episode three.
 * The silhouette was shown to be another NEXT with a similar power to FE.

Barnaby Jr.'s powers aren't natural -- they're the result of project to engineer superpowers
Let's take a look at the facts: Barnaby 1) has the exact superpowers as Wild Tiger, 2) wants justice/revenge for the murder of his parents, and 3) has some sort of deal with important folk that has something to do with fact #2. Plausible conclusion: Barnaby was talked into participating in some experiment to give him superpowers so that he can bring in his parents' killers himself.

Why did they give him Wild Tiger's powers? Who knows? His were the easiest to replicate; whoever was in charge of the superpower engineering project had motivations of replacing Wild Tiger with Barnaby; the project was actually headed by Kotetsu's no-longer-present wife; the company Tiger and Barnaby work for was planning this whole Superhero Duo thing for a long time; Barnaby is a closet Wild Tiger fanboy and specifically requested his powers...
 * That important folk Barnaby has a "deal" with is Albert Maverick, the CEO of Apollon Media. (It's shown in episode 3 that it was him who picked little Barnaby up after his parents' death.) AM is also the company that bought out Top Mag, Tiger's original sponsors.

The sponsors are intentionally giving their heroes sub-par equipment
The sponsors have the technology to make their heroes much more powerful, but instead of providing the heroes with these upgrades, they are intentionally holding them back with Awesome but Impractical additions to their suits. The reason is that Hero TV wouldn't be exciting anymore when the heroes would be invincible. Nobody would watch it anymore and nobody would see the sponsors logos.

Sternbild is a micronation within the borders of the United States
This would explain how Sternbild has its own Almost-But-Not-Quite-US currency, for starters.

Fire Emblem's secretary is actually a man.
It seems likely that Fire Emblem would employ only fabulous, fierce people, but it may be possible that his secretary is a very convincing cross-dresser rather than a woman.

Fire Emblem is Bisexual.
Why else would he has such a hot secretary?
 * Maybe she's just really competent. Sexy people can be good at their jobs, too, in theory.

Agnes has a thing for Barnaby.
When Barnaby saved her in episode 9, she was looking into his eyes for a pretty good while...

Agnes will become Barnaby's love interest
Episode 9 had a moment of romantic tension between the two.

Blue Rose's dad is a retired superhero.
That's why in episode 4 he subtly seemed even more anxious than other parents seen reacting to such situations, knowing of the inherent dangers of being a superhero, how it could affect his daughter, and what could come out of not taking it seriously. Of course Karina herself might not be aware of it even now, as even retired superheroes would have their reasons to keep their identities secret from their family and friends.
 * Taking in consideration superpowers are genetic mutations, this might be pretty spot-on.

Scarf-tan is a NEXT with Weirdness/Danger magnetism as her power.
How else she would always appear in danger or close of the Heroes of Sternbild?

Lunatic will try to test the limits of Wild Tiger's idealism.
After episode 8, Lunatic seems to have taken a personal interest in Wild Tiger, probably as a result of the dramatic contrast between their ideas about what constitutes "justice." At some point he's going to try to test Tiger and prove him wrong by trying to make him act against his ideals: Sadistic Choice, anyone?

Kotetsu's wife died of pancreatic cancer.
In episode 9, he reveals that she died of illness five years previously. His purple bead bracelet looks strikingly like a pancreatic cancer awareness bracelet, potentially indicating the nature of her illness.
 * It's most likely a Buddhist bracelet for praying to/remembering the dead.
 * Perhaps, but their wedding picture indicates that Kotetsu is Christian.
 * Not necessarily.
 * Episode 17 shows it being worn while Tomoe was still alive

The T. in Kotetsu's middle name stands for...
...Tokusentai.
 * Or a Visual Pun on the Japanese emoticon for tiger: =・T・=

Jake

 * With his powers he could easily

This is really Top Ten-esque situation with Truman Show Plot
Sternbild is prison-city for NEXT and people who can have children with NEXT genes. Their memories are alerted so they won't remember real world and they were conditioned to never want to leave the city. Certain people may be actors, keeping The Masquerade for everybody else.
 * Some people like Maverick and Agnes may be working for those that imprisoned them. Reality show is really brodcasted on the world.
 * Barnaby is most recent prisoner and Saito's chamber is relly strenghtening memory-alerting process.

Lunatic will inspire bunch of NEXT's to join his crusade
They will either become his army or will act like bunch of Nineties Anti Heroes, leading to Lunatic having Even Evil Has Standards, when he will kill them.

Hundred power is Cast from Hit Points
Just imagine the strain any body have to go through in order to do what Tiger does. Might result in rapid aging as well.
 * Maybe that's why Hundred Power has a time limit—staying powered up for too long might be dangerous. That may also be why.

The "oxygen" chambers are responsible for Kotetsu's powers going on the fritz.
What, you think Apollon Media would pay for those just for the benefit of Kotetsu and Barnaby? They're using them to administer a drug that they hope will enhance their NEXT abilities over time. Barnaby's either the control (because they don't see him as expendable as they do Kotetsu), or the effects simply haven't manifested yet.
 * That actually seems very possible and gives a good explanation for why they have the same power.

The Moons orbit was somehow changed by the NEXT before the story begain
In episode 6 there are two well timed lunar eclipses two nights in a row this is completely impossible in our world so something or someone must have changed the orbit of the moon itself.
 * Eclipse is when you can't see the moon (simplified, of course). In episode 6 there's a full moon. And since the story happens on two consecutive nights that's perfectly all right: after a full moon it takes a day until it starts visibly waning.
 * That's wrong a Solar Eclipse is when the moon blocks the sun this occurs on a new moon, but the Lunar Eclipse is when the EARTH is perfectly between the Sun and the moon causing it to glow red for a few minuets, please fact check wiki if you have any doubts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse
 * To be fair, a red moon in fiction doesn't always signify an eclipse, especially in anime. It's just as if not more frequently used simply as an indicator of weird things afoot, which is probably the reason for its use in episode 6, heralding the debut of Lunatic. Even in real life, the moon can look orange or red while it's close to the horizon.

Kotetsu will lose his powers by the end of the show

 * This is the only way he'll have a normal life with his daughter, since he's not the kind of hero to quit while he can help people. Of course he'll save the day one last time before he retires.
 * Probably not; even without his powers Kotetsu is still a complete Badass Normal and suit upgrades could easily make him better than that. At the very least he may end up working for Hero Academy.

The Ouroboros attack on the city was just a way to regain the popularity the heroes had lost to Lunatic, the killer vigilante

 * They heroes are not aware of it, of course; it was a plan by the corporations who own them (and the city, for all practical purposes.) These were only pretending to be worried about Jake's attack on the city, they knew it would fail all along (possibly they already knew how to deactivate their robots, and they likely *provided* them in the first place.) Lunatic knew this about this all along, which is why he didn't interfere.
 * The fact Tiger & Bunny are being kept too busy with PR work to see much action probably means their masters are getting afraid they might be coming TOO close to the truth.
 * And to that end, [[spoiler: Maverick deliberately caused Barnaby to 'remember' Jake's face, knowing that when Jake 'escaped' that a) Jake would do something significant and b) Barnaby would be around to find the killer he has been after. The result was massive public support for the heroes' victory.

Sky High

 * Alternatively,

NEXT powers can be artificially reduced.
Which explains why it's so rare that the only other case Ben found was  and that took some digging. Might even be used to remove "troublesome" (read: too noble and/or free thinking for their own good) heroes without arousing suspicion.
 * This makes even more sense after episode 19, when

NEXT powers are passed down from parent to child.
This would explain how both  gain their powers, and how   theirs.
 * both parents may be NEXT, explaining why.
 * ...Hello, Fridge Brilliance! Though on the other hand, it's clear that, from episode 18,
 * Or
 * According to a magazine article, "NEXT powers do not seem to run in families; anyone can become a NEXT". Still, it hasn't been completley Jossed yet- there's still the possibility that, while it's not necessary to have a NEXT in the family to become one, NEXT who have children pass on their powers to them- not to mention that this works very, very well as it's too much of a coincidence that both

Kotetsu isn't losing his powers. They're evolving.
The reason his powers are wigging out isn't because they're fading, it's because they're changing to something he doesn't have control over yet.
 * copies powers. She's shown flying in front of Kotetsu at the end of episode 17. The only way she could have done that is if Kotetsu can fly, and just doesn't realize it yet.
 * They could be evolving because he's catching up to his powers. Remember that time Kotetsu threw a downed tree after his powers gave out in order to save Kaede? Now, that could be written off as adrenaline, but that's a bit much. It could be that, for whatever reason, Kotetsu has suddenly become a lot stronger in his everyday life, so his hundred power is starting to not do anything. Because of this, whatever causes his powers is going to wig out for a bit and then jump ahead again.

Series will end with Where Are They Now
Featuring  becoming new hero, possibly under the nickname , because why not?
 * Probably jossed, Word of God said that Kaede won't become a hero because her powers are difficult to control and her father disapproves of it.

There is somebody or something controlling evolution of NEXT powers with every generation
As opposed to normal evolution, which works fine without any control from above, there is being or organization that grants people NEXT powers and is controlling what powers they get, trying to create most powerfull NEXT in existence. Barnaby and Lunatic are from first generation after that being/organization stopped experimenting and started granting people stronger varieties of NEXT powers already proved to be usefull. Kid from episode 2 and  are from generation in which he\they started granting even more powerfull or extreme abilities or upgraded varieties of powers that proved to be useless. When you think about it, those two might be the strongest NEXT in the entire show. Jake is result of an experiment.

Lunatic's fire causes NEXT powers to fade away
Who do we know who's lost and is losing their powers? And who do we know out of the named cast who have been hit with Lunatic's fire?

I got this from a theory on /a/-namely, that
 * Having re-watched the scene of, I really hope that some version of this is true. An alternate way it could go is that

Tiger's power loss is caused by
In episode 14 what do we see Tiger do several times before his power went berserk? And its a well known fact that they contain the chemical K.

Samantha
I'm sure what wasn't shown for this very reason.

The Scarf Girl has something to do with Ouroboros.
She is everywhere in the series, and her design is rather pretty and slightly unusual, considering the two moles (or dotted make-up?) underneath her eyes. She might be important in some way by the end of the series, even if she isn't a part of Ouroboros.

Mr. Legend
Legend has found out truth about  and ran away, before he could get. Because of that.

Scarf-tan is something like an Observer.
She's an alien who was responsible for seeding NEXT powers into the human genome, and is now watching to see how humans deal with gaining incredible power. This will determine whether or not they consider us responsible enough to handle the technological leaps that would come from making contact with them, and is why she's always nearby when the heroes are around.

Kaede will become a Hero in the future.
They're considering a second season, right? If they wrap up enough plot elements by the end of this one, moving on to the next generation (please pardon the awful pun) would make sense from a storytelling perspective. If Kotetsu does indeed, then he could serve as her mentor figure.
 * Probably jossed, Word of God said that Kaede won't become a hero because her powers are difficult to control and her father disapproves of it.

Barnaby will not be allowed or instructed to kill Kotetsu.
Regardless of how things are being set up for this kind of confrontation, it's all and always been about the ratings. Murder by one of the Heroes will hurt the ratings and possibly stir up more prejudice against the NEXT, so the most any Hero can do to Kotetsu is catch him. Of course, letting him stay alive will probably cause problems down the road.

will arrange for Kotetsu to be arrested by Barnaby for drama, but is expecting Lunatic, who's in the habit of killing criminals, to swoop down and do the actual dirty work. This way, good ratings AND a potential wrench in the plans are both taken care of.



The plan all along was to replace Heroes with cyborgs.
Heroes are a pain who don't always deliver good ratings, and there's always the danger they'll find out. So why not replace them all? Hence why  chose the option he did in episode 20 instead of something less...complicated. He was going to do this in the future anyway, Kotetsu just moved the schedule up.

Maverick is responsible for Kotetsu's power loss.
Let's go back to the first 13 episodes for a bit and pretend that you're Maverick: hiring Kotetsu to be Barnaby's partner/sidekick isn't too bad of an idea. Thanks to his Big Brother Mentor tendencies and messianic urge to help everyone, he's pretty quick to give your star employee the emotional support he needs to overcome his past emotional trauma—you know, that pesky thing that keeps mulling over when he should be going to all those events and photoshoots you have him signed up for. Basically, he's doing two jobs (hero and therapist) for the price of one for you.

And you know what? It worked. Barnaby's not so preoccupied with revenge anymore. He's not at risk of brutalizing suspects who have links to Ouroboros. Now he wants to be the hero you've prepared him to be. Kotetsu basically took the kinks out of your tykebomb free of charge.

There's only one problem now: You don't need Kotetsu anymore. In fact, he's a bit of a liability now, since not only is he prone to wracking up damage costs and intolerant to the more commercialized and glitzy aspects of superherodom, but your top hero's getting a little too attached to him for your liking. You were thinking that maybe you could fire him at the end of the season on the basis of low rankings, but now he's also inconveniently jumped up to fourth place. Firing him now would be a bad business move, not to mention suspicious.

So, what do you do? The answer: get him to retire on his own. And you're going to do that by slipping something into the oxygen of those relaxation chambers to trigger the decline of his powers.

For bonus points, you did the same thing to Mr. Legend when he started catching on to what was going on behind the scenes.

Kaede will take up her father's mantle and become Wild Tiger eventually.
If Kotetsu were to lose his powers permanently or die, it will be Kaede who steps up as Barnaby's new partner. She would still be able to have the Hundred Power by copying him.

Cis
Also, Rotwang
 * Partly jossed as the official word says

Barnaby will become more aware of his
So long as Barnaby did what Maverick wanted, and the man

Ouroboros was responsible for the NEXT existing.
Why did the NEXT suddenly appear forty five years ago? Because they were originally crafted by Ouroboros to create a superior human race, but many escaped forty five years ago and had children, and the mutation spread by passing down powers that way. Possibly, Kotetsu's father might have had something to do with Ouroboros.

Barnaby will have a fried rice cooking scene in the anime.

 * And it will be the first non-Hero TV scene of a second season.

Yuri is a woman

 * Yuri. YURI.
 * His costume is very celestial, he takes his name from a word meaning "moon-mad", and he often appears in moonlight; the moon motif is often associated with womanhood.

Kaede will work for Hero tv...
But because her power is kind of unstable she won't work in the field; instead she will test the suits.

Tiger&Bunny is set in the same universe as Mystery Men.
The only difference been that the shows are set in different cities (Stern Bild and Champion City respectively) and while the cast of T&B found a marketable way of doing heroics jobs via Reality Show advertising, the only one cool enough to catch the sponsors eyes in Champion City was Captain Amazing.
 * Copyrights aside, this would work.

Barnaby is a subject of Project Batman Beyond
C'mon, small child of wealthy important people watches his parents get murdered in front of his eyes and spends the rest of his life becoming a superhero and hunting them down? Amanda Waller wishes she could get results that good.
 * Further WMG: Barnaby's true genetic father is Mr. Legend. Maverick obtained a sample of his DNA and implanted Barnaby Brooks Sr. with nanites that rewrote his DNA to those of Mr. Legend's.

Tiger and Bunny is Sunrise's response to Studio BONES' Darker than Black.
Both involve super powered people that glow blue. Both are arguably deconstructions of the Superhero genre, or at least the reactions to people with super powers, whether its corporatism or just cold blooded espionage. However, Tiger and Bunny might be poking fun at how the latter is Darker and Edgier, and how it has mind boggling conclusions, by simply being fun. In other words, "You can still have a show that's comedic, idealistic, and still deconstructs/reconstructs a genre without needing a gut-wrenchingly huge body count and an increasingly incomprehensible plot."

Godot is Kotetsu's father/brother/etc.
C'mon, two guys that look that much alike can't just be Identical Strangers. They even wear the same goddamn clothes.
 * Episode 12 DOES have Kotetsu drinking some coffee, so he may have picked the habit up from somewhere...

Antonio has second secret idientity - he is the Slender Man
He stalks Alex to get 20 dollars he owes Kotetsu. Wiffin in da club is just an excuse.
 * totheark is rest of heroes, who are trying to scare Jay, because they're afraid he will bust Antonio and get him into trouble. Masky and  works for.

Tiger&Bunny is in the same universe as Empowered.
Possibly in the future, maybe the past.... or just on the other side of the country.