Heroes (TV series)/Tropes F-I: Difference between revisions

* [[Fake Brit]]: Adam is played by Oregon native David Anders.

* [[Fake Guest Star]]: James Kyson Lee gets this treatment throughout Season 1, even though Ando appears in ''twenty-two'' out of twenty-three episodes. That's more than Peter, Nathan, or Mohinder, and ''way'' more than [[Advertised Extra|Simone]].

* [[Fake Nationality]]: See [[Fake Brit]] and [[Fake Irish]] above. James Kyson Lee (Korean) plays Ando (Japanese). Additionally, while Mohinder is from India, Sendhil Ramamurthy was born in Chicago and grew up in Texas. Lampshaded by Ando who says (of white people, though): "They all look alike."

* [[Faking the Dead]]: Arthur Petrelli

* [[Fallen Princess]]: Claire

* [[Family Versus Career]] As a part of Samuel's plan to manipulate Hiro, he hides Charlie in 1944 Wisconsin. Since Charlie's power is perfect memory, and she had spent the 6 months prior to her appearance learning everything there is to know about everything, she's basically a walking [[Timeline-Altering MacGuffin]]. Despite being in a unique position to manipulate world events (or at very least make herself fantastically rich), she chooses instead to be Rosie the Riveter and raise kids. The fact that the character had incredible [[Mundane Utility]] but never thought to use it in any way but being a better manual laborer stretches into [[Unfortunate Implications]] territory.

* [[Fandom Nod]]: Sylar explains that he, in fact, does NOT eat brains.

** Also in one GN when meeting a trio of evolved humans who think of him as an inspiration, Sylar notes with some surprise "I have... fans!?" most likely a nod to the Sylar fandom.

* [[Fantastic Aesop]]: There are entire episodes devoted to explaining that [[You Can't Fight Fate]] and/or change the past. This, however does not apply to the ''future''. [[Screw Destiny|You can change that as much as you like.]] In fact the resolution for both the first and second Volumes is the characters preventing a future event, one witnessed firsthand by one or more characters, from happening. This seems to imply that the "present" timeline that most of the show takes place in is somehow more valid or real than any other timelines.

* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: Adam Monroe is stuck in a coffin underground, thanks to Hiro's teleportation ability. Did we mention that he is immortal? And that he essentially ''[[And I Must Scream|can't die]]''? {{spoiler|He suffocates, then regenerates, then suffocates again, etc...}}

** He is released by Hiro in the next season in exchange for helping Hiro and Ando. {{spoiler|Before he can do much of anything, he is kidnapped by an agent of Arthur Petrelli, who steals Adam's immortality/healing power with a [[Touch of Death|touch, causing him to die]] [[Killed Off for Real|for good.]]}}

* [[Finger-Snap Lighter]]: Meredith, and anyone with fire based powers.

* [[Fingore]]: There's a scene in which Claire cuts off one of her toes. Sure, it regenerates soon after, but the whole thing's just so damn graphic.

** Peter goes from being a naive dreamer to having almost permanent possession of the [[Idiot Ball]]

** Mohinder turns from a researcher into a [[Mad Scientist]] whose ethics have taken a wrong turn somewhere

** Noah is turned from a morally gray [[Anti-Hero]] who is [[Overprotective Dad|"somewhat" overprotective of his daughter]] into a [[Heel Face Revolving Door]] idiot with [[Stalking Is Love]] for his daughter.

* [[First Girl Wins]]: Charlie over Yaeko. Well, in the order that Hiro meets them. Hiro met Charlie in present-time in Season One and went back in time and met Yaeko in fuedal Japan in Season Two.

** Niki/Jessica stripping before tearing those mobsters to pieces.

* [[Forbidden Fruit]]: Volume Three opens with Hiro getting his father's video will with [[Schmuck Bait|specific instructions]] not to open the safe. Guess what Hiro does as soon as he hears this? (Face-palm!)

** Although his father expected that.

* [[Forgot About His Powers]]: At the end of Season 3, {{spoiler|Sylar kills Nathan. Angela and Noah decide to cover up the death by having Matt brainwash Sylar into thinking he's Nathan, despite the fact that Claire was elsewhere in the same building and they could have easily brought Nathan back with an infusion of Claire's blood, just as they did for Noah in Season 2.}}

* [[Forgot I Could Fly]]: {{spoiler|Nathan had to fly Peter out of Kirby Plaza. [[Hand Wave|Hand waved]] that he was too busy trying not to explode.}}

* [[Formally-Named Pet]]: Mrs. Bennett's dog, Mr. Muggles.

** Mohinder. The Volume Three opener is easily the most blatant example, but he's had elements of this all along.

* [[For the Evulz]]: The only reason Sylar ever does anything.

** Actually a plot point After Sylar meets bio-dad {{spoiler|who attempts to steal Sylars healing powers to heal his cancer, gives Sylar a speech about all the things he is going to do when he is healed (pretty much all of them Evulz), which motivates Sylar (who was just pretending the whole to be caught).}}

* [[For Want of a Nail]]: {{spoiler|Volume Five would not have happened had Mohinder not watched his father's film.}}

* [[Four Is Death]]: Twice in Volume Three. {{spoiler|In one of Angela's dreams, and then again in a painting done by the precognitive Botswanan Usutsu.}}

* [[Franchise Killer]]: Season 4/Volume 5 ended up being the final season of Heroes, despite leaving a [[Cliff Hangar]]. [[Your Mileage May Vary]] whether or not it was due to Volume 5 itself, or just karma from arguably inferior previous seasons catching up. Actually, not only was the show cancelled, but they also ended up abruptly ending the graphic novels, and original plans for an end-of-series movie was also scrapped as well.

* [[Friendly Enemy]]: Sylar to everyone, much to their disgust.

* [[Future Badass]]: Hiro and Peter and almost everyone in "Five Years Gone", Peter and Claire in "I Am Become Death". {{spoiler|Inverted with the "I Am Become Death" version of Sylar as a family man and father.}}

* [[Future Me Scares Me]]: The [[Trope Namer]], as seen immediately above. Hiro says this in "Five Years Gone".

* [[Gambit Pileup]]

* [[Gene Hunting]]: Claire in Volume 1, Sylar in Volume 4

* [[Genocide Backfire]]: The whole cockup at the Coyote Sands Concentration Camp. Although not a deliberate attempt at genocide, it ''was'' a major effort by the U.S. Government to round up and contain supers; before you know it <s> Dr. Suchong</s> Dr. Suresh slaps a little girl, little girl blasts him with lightning, soldiers freak out and open fire on everybody, and hey nonny nonny you've got blood all over the place and a whole bunch of dead supers. And from the ashes rises two groups of very pissed off supers: The Company (who have been responsible for, among other things, attempting to nuke New York City and creating a virus capable of wiping out 99% of the Earth's population), and Samuel Sullivan (the super [[Anti Christ]] who, if powered by enough followers, potentially has [[Earthshattering Kaboom|the ability to split the Earth in half]]).

* [[The Glasses Come Off]]: Mr. Bennet and Gabriel Gray/Sylar

* [[Glasses Pull|Glasses Push]]: Hiro

* [[Good Feels Good]] - {{spoiler|or so Sylar tells Peter...}}

* [[Good Powers, Bad People]]: Linderman.

* [[A God Am I]]: Adam Monroe, at least in the supplementary comic books. Also Baron Samedi, the Haitian's brother. He seems to give off major Xerxes and Colonel Kurt vibes, too. Let's not forget Arthur Petrelli, with his delusional [[Nietzsche Wannabe|Nietzche fixation]].

* [[Gone Horribly Right]]

* [[Grand Theft Me]]: Several episodes of [[Mind Screw|mindscrewing]] with the poor schlub, before Sylar officially took control of Matt's body.

* [[Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress]]: There's actually a scene in the second episode where Peter is standing on a ledge talking to Nathan. Peter gets angry and starts walking towards his brother - ''off'' the ledge and onto thin air. He doesn't even realise he's doing it until Nathan points out the three feet of empty space beneath him, at which point Gravitational Cognisance apparently kicks in and he falls back to the ground. Justified in that Peter is unwittingly using his new [[Flight|flying ability]], but the effect is still remarkably cartoony.

* [[Headphones Equal Isolation]]: Emma, a deaf character, wears iPod earbuds that aren't connected to anything to prevent people from trying to talk to her.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Mr. Bennet, whose various ruthless actions proved to be an elaborate stratagem to protect his daughter from the very company he's working for, and who is eventually outed and forced to join with two of the heroes in order to keep her safe. This seems more like a [[Reverse Mole]], although the problem with both of these is that he still seems more like a [[Heel]] than a [[Face]]. Continuing to think of him as a [[Heel]] is seeming more reasonable all the time, as Claire (very) briefly flirted with [[Face Heel Turn|going Heel]] in Volume Three.

** '''Sylar''' starting in Volume Three. So many in fact that you think he'd get whiplash.

** Also {{spoiler|Nathan Petrelli}} throughout the show. But then, he IS a {{spoiler|politician}}...

** Tracy Strauss: she's {{spoiler|started as a political ally to Nathan Petrelli with a penchant for turning journalists into popsicles, who then jumps ship after being told she's a synthetic superpowered triplet and becomes Arthur Petrelli's office bitch, who then tries to "help" Peter and the others at the start of Volume 4 after Arthur kicks the bucket, who then breaks out of Building 26 captivity and is shot, whilst frozen, by Danko, who then returns as some killer ice queen/water-controlling wench with a serious grudge against anyone from Building 26, including Noah Bennet, who then goes a bit soft and gooey around Bennet when he offers her clam chowder after watching Danko get sliced to ribbons.}} Yeah, we got a little confused with her too.

* [[Heroes Want Redheads]]: Hiro and Charlie, the waitress.

* [[Heroic Fatigue]]: Peter in season 4.

** Don't forget {{spoiler|Niki Sanders}}, who tries to rescue Monica from a burning building at the end of Volume 2, ''without'' her super-strength. Monica gets out, {{spoiler|Niki}} doesn't.

** {{spoiler|Daphne is shot trying to rescue Claire, Matt, and the others. She initially survived, but later dies from sepsis because Danko had her removed from the medical facility.}}

** {{spoiler|Hana Gitelman does it twice... [http://heroeswiki.com/Hana_Gitelman but on the] [[All There in the Manual|supplementary comic books.]]}}

** {{spoiler|And Traci apparently sacrifices herself in a spectacularly permanent-looking fashion to prevent Danko from killing Micah/Rebel. The Volume 4 finale shows that she got better.}}

** {{spoiler|Matt, after having his body possessed by Sylar, uses his ability to arouse everyone else's suspicions about him, leading the Texas police force to deploy a dozen men with guns to form a circle around him. In order to stop Sylar from going on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against the people who stole his body, Matt makes the cops think Sylar has a gun, leading them to open fire, and effectively taking out both Sylar and Matt.}}

*** Too bad that {{spoiler|Peter ruins everything}}

* [[Hijacked by Ganon|Hijacked By Sylar]] - Pretty much a constant.

* [[Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act]] - Mocked hilariously when Hiro repeatedly uses his power to sabotage a copier so that a goofball accountant won't photocopy his butt and get fired. Everytime Hiro stops him, he just does it again at the next party.

** Danny Pine, a murdering thug, is hardly a hero

* [[Horrible Judge of Character]]: Mohinder Suresh ''embodies'' this trope. Maya is even worse.

* [[Hot-Blooded]]: Peter Petrelli

* [[How Do I Shot Web?]]: Peter. Oh, the number of time he tries. It gets depressing.

* [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl]]: Matt and Daphne, Sylar and Elle, West and Claire. Actually, most couples on the show would qualify.

* [[If You're So Evil Eat This Kitten]]: Happens to Hiro at one point.

** Beforehand, Hiro was persuaded by the carnival guy that he can change the timeline without doing too much damage. A few episodes later, the carnival guy tells Hiro that saving Charlie would screw up history...and he believed him despite that other encounter where the carnival guy says the opposite thing.

** Another moment when Matt decides to drink himself into a stupor to shut out Sylar's voice, which does work, but results in {{spoiler|Sylar being able to take over Matt's body}}. A case of a plan backfiring. Sure, not even the audience saw it coming, but still.

*** And how does Modinder decide to fix his little problem? Well obviously by kidnapping people to experiment on.

** Think of what Peter, Nathan, and Claire could have learned if they'd actually sat down and ''talked to each other'' at the end of ".07%"! Bonus points if they'd thought to bring Mohinder into the conversation, or, you know, '''[[Manipulative Bastard|their mom]]'''!

* [[Idiot Hero]]: Peter, first and foremost, though he starts to grow out of it. Sometimes <s>Niki</s>. <s>Hiro</s>. <s>Mohinder</s>. <s>Nathan</s>. Aw, [[Sound Effects Bleep|f___]] it! '''EVERYONE.'''

** Claire, but other characters fall into this as well.

** Parkman says this to Daphne in Volume Four. Claire, on the other hand, seems to have given up on any hope of a normal life.

* [[I Lied]]: {{spoiler|Done by Matt. To Sylar.}}

* [[I Know Mortal Kombat]]: Monica gains the Kung fu skills by watching a Bruce Lee film.

* [[I Let Gwen Stacy Die]]: Charlie Andrews.

* [[I'm Standing Right Here]]: In Volume 1 when Nathan gives a campaign speech on his "mentally disturbed" little brother. Naturally, Peter punches him right in the face afterwards in the parking garage as Nathan was getting ready to leave.

* [[Important Haircut]]: The show lives off [[Hair Tropes]] like a king. Aside from the Evil Hair Gel mentioned above, the best example was Sylar (mercifully) cutting Peter's trademark [[Emo]] bangs.

* [[Improbable Weapon User]]: Mohinder has attacked people with things like tuning forks, syringes, microscopes, rolling chalkboards, elephant sculptures, tables, fire extinguishers, and taxi doors with an astonishing rate of success. We're nearing "In the average living room, there are 1,242 objects [[Chuck Norris]] can use to kill you, including the room itself" territory here.

* [[In-Series Nickname]]: [[Running Gag|FLYING-MAN!!!]] Ironically, the character with the least interest in becoming a superhero is one of the first to get a superhero alias.

* [[Infant Immortality]]: Subverted with {{spoiler|the onscreen death of future-Sylar's child, Noah}}.

** (Though in Sylar's case this could be because {{spoiler|he spent Volume 3 working to get it under control for the sake of his [[Parental Substitute|(fake) family]].}})

** This was an unforgivably poor explanation of Sylar's murderous impulses. If his power was responsible for him being evil, how do the writers explain his violent, power-lusting behavior during the second season, the entire duration of which he was powerless?

*** Addiction to power can be separate from addiction to knowledge.

*** What about in volume 5 with fake Nathan? Shouldn't he have felt urges? And also when Peter borrows fake Nathan's powers. Shouldn't Peter have been overcome by the urges again?

* [[In Spite of a Nail]]: "I Am Become Death" shows Nathan as President and Peter as a scarred renegade -- the same as in "Five Years Gone" despite other ''major'' differences. And as of Volume Four, "Five Years Gone" seems more likely than ever.

* [[In the Blood]]: According to Momma Patrelli, it's not Sylar's fault he's a mass murdering psycho; his powers ("The Hunger") just drive him to murder. Oh, [[Retcon|okay...]]

* [[Instant Sedation]]: In Volume Four, the Building 26 teams stick tubes up the noses of captured "specials" that release some sort of gas that instantly sedates them. The inverse is also the case: when the tubes are removed, the victims instantly wake up again.

* [[Invincible Hero]]: Peter. The writers realized this in Season 2; unfortunately this lead to him getting [[Easy Amnesia]] in the first half of the season and carrying a massive [[Idiot Ball]] in the second instead of having it fixed in any meaningful way. Fortunately, they learned from their mistake and reduced his power significantly in Volume 3(He can now only copy one ability at a time).

* [[Invisibility]]: Claude. It's [[The Invisible Man (film)|there in his name]].

* [[It's All About Me]]: Sylar. {{spoiler|In his mind, Angela pretending to be his mother is worse than her trying to destroy New York.}}

* [[It Runs in The Family]]: The Petrellis, patron saints of revenge and [[Superpower Lottery|cheap powers]]. Also [[Left for Dead|leaving behind loved ones for dead]] seems to be a Petrelli family trait. Then there's [[Generation Xerox|Sylar and his dad]], who are both cold-blooded killers who have no qualms about taking life whenever it suits them. And [[Generation Xerox|Mohinder and Chandra]]; it seems that [[Lamarck Was Right|Mohinder inherited those stupidity genes]]. Both are [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder|unstable scientists]] prone to obsession who [[Horrible Judge of Character|invariably end up working for evil people who they fail to recognize for what they are.]] It's shown in ''1961'' that Chandra is indirectly responsible for '''all''' the crap that has happened in the ''Heroes''-verse, namely setting off the tragic events that led to the formation of the ruthless Company and all the nastiness they've ever done. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Nice job breaking it, Papa Suresh.]] Mohinder is understandably chagrined when he finds out.