Heroes (TV series)/Tropes R-U: Difference between revisions

** Sylar gaining {{spoiler|shapeshifting}} powers was a pretty obvious attempt to keep the character around despite [[Zachary Quinto]] being absent for long periods of time due to being the new [[Star Trek|Spock]].

* [[Really Dead Montage]]: {{spoiler|Sylar}} gets one in the graphic novel following the Volume 4 finale. Not to mention the final scene of Volume 4 itself, with all of the heroes coming together for the first time ever in the show specifically just to watch him burn.

* [[Really Gets Around]]: Sylar.

* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]: Seems to have become Sylar's signature move in Season 3 (Volume 3 & 4), as he often delivers one to each of his victims before killing them. Apparently, this is a function of his original power (understanding how things and people work) combined with one of his acquired powers (learning the history of people and objects through touch).

* [[Rebellious Princess]]: Claire Bennet.

* [[Recap Episode]]: At least one a Volume.

* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]

** Peter and Nathan

** Ted and Matt

** Flint and Meredith

* [[Reed Richards Is Useless]] / [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]]: Name a character. Literally any character.

** Sylar deserves special mention , because it seems like his first "superpower" ( his ability to intuitively understand how things fit together)would allow him to, among other things, make a killing in business and on the stock market.

* [[Replacement Goldfish]]: {{spoiler|mind wiped Sylar becomes one for Nathan.}}

** Thus far, it seems Volume 5's main plot involves Samuel Sullivan screwing with the Heroes in order to find which one is a suitable [[Replacement Goldfish]] for his dead brother Joseph. He seems to have finally settled on ''Sylar''. [[Evil Is Not a Toy|Yeah, that's going to end well...]]

* [[Retcon]]: In Volume One, Chandra Suresh's theory about the existence of "specials" is just that: a theory. He has no firsthand experience with metahumans and he is as giddy as a schoolboy to discover Sylar. Fast-forward to Volume Four, in which we are informed that {{spoiler|he was the chief medical officer at Coyote Sands, a concentration camp for metahumans built in the American Southwest in the early 1960s}}.

** Sylar's reason for being a a serial killer: Complexes thanks to his (adoptive) mother, being a victim to his own power, being manipulated by the Company, having it [[In the Blood]], having lost himself because of his many powers (Clair's theory)...

* [[The Reveal]]: Warning, SPOILERS ahead. Swipe at your own risk.

** Volume 1:

* [[Screwed by the Network]]: The show has been canceled by NBC, and the network has gotten a lot of flak for it.

* [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]: Volume Two's [[Big Bad]], {{spoiler|Takezo Kensei aka Adam Monroe}}. {{spoiler|Volume Three went this way too with Level 5. And Adam. Again. For two episodes.}}

* [[Sealed Inside a Person Shaped Can]]: {{spoiler|Sylar again. Although the twist is that the "can" seems to be ''Matt'', rather than "Nathan".}}

* [[Second Episode Introduction]]: Matt doesn't appear until the second episode.

** On the other hand, an invincible Sylar would have been better able to capitalise on the tragedy, creating the kind of [[Bad Future]] seen in "Five Years Gone". And it's implied that Claire's presence in New York contributs to {{spoiler|Nathan's last-minute [[Heel Face Turn]]}}. So it's perfectly possible that saving the cheerleader ''did'' save the world - just [[Right for the Wrong Reasons|not for the reasons Future Hiro thought]].

** Volume Three seemed like a Shaggy Dog Kennel, specifically where Peter and Sylar are concerned (and ESPECIALLY the latter's ludicrous redemption arc) Tell me, Peter absorbing Sylar's power was supposed to save the world HOW? Not that it matters since Peter was completely depowered shortly afterwards.

* [[Shapeshifting Seducer]]

* [[Shapeshifting Squick]]: Why are we so surprised that {{spoiler|Sylar}} would immediately use his newly acquired [[Master of Disguise|"Turn Into Anyone You've Met"]] powers to ''deeply'' [[Mind Screw|freak people out]]?

* [[Shared Universe]]: With ''[[Las Vegas]]'' (because of the Montecito) and therefore with ''[[Crossing Jordan]]'' as well (due to those two shows having a [[Crossover]]). Although see [[Shout-Out]] below...

* [[Shipper on Deck]]: You wouldn't believe me even if I told you: In "Pass/Fail", {{spoiler|'''Sylar'''. For '''Claire''' and '''Gretchen'''. "Subtext" indeed.}}

* [[Shirtless Scene]]: The entire main cast and often (although [[Hayden Panettiere|not often enough]] [[Kristen Bell|in some cases]]). In fact, Peter and Sylar have at least one per season.

* [[Should Have Thought of That Before X]]: In episode "Chapter Eighteen 'Parasite'"

* [[Stepford Smiler]]: Angela.

* [[Steven Ulysses Perhero]]: Hiro, again.

* [[Stockholm Shnozzing]]: {{spoiler|[[Evil Overlord|Arthur]] [[Shipper on Deck|ships]] Sylar and Elle by [[Locked in a Freezer|locking them together in a cell]].}}

* [[Stop Trick]]: Some of Hiro's teleports are achieved this way.

* [[Storming the Castle]]: Matt and Bennet storming Primatech in the Season One finale.

** In Volume Four, Matt and Peter storm Building 26, armed only with the power to control minds.

* [[Story-Breaker Power]]: Peter, Sylar and Hiro have these. {{spoiler|Fortunately the writers realised this and [[Nerf|Nerfed]] Peter and Hiro in Volume 3. And those that are overpowered tend to [[Forgot I Could Fly|forget how insanely powerful they are at critical moments.]]}}.

* [[The Straight Man]]: Nathan in any scene he shares with Peter or Hiro.

* [[Strapped to An Operating Table]] - Bennet does this to Matt and later to Sylar at Primatech in Volume 1. {{spoiler|Mohinder does this to Nathan and Tracy and Arthur does this to Peter at Pinehearst in Volume 3.}}

* [[Super Family Team]]: The Petrelli's... sometimes.

* [[Super Human Trafficking]]: The Company.

* [[Superpowerful Genetics]]: Superpowered parents have superpowered kids, though this is at least partly the result of a breeding program by The Company.

** Subverted With Niki, Tracy, and Barbara who are [[Cloning Blues|identical triplets]] (just go with it) with powers but got them artificially.

* [[Superpower Meltdown]]: Ted, Peter, {{spoiler|Gabriel/Sylar (in an alternative future)}}.

** This is what kills Meredith at the end of Volume Three.

*** Meredith's death isn't confirmed. Until stated otherwise, she's [[Put on a Bus|MIA]].

* [[Super Senses]]: Dale Smither from Volume One had super hearing.

* [[Super Serum]]: the Volume Three [[MacGuffin]]

* [[Super Soldier]]: The Pinehearst Marines in Volume Three, most notably Scott and Rachel Mills.

* [[Super Weight]]:

** Type -1: [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|Alejandro]], most people without abilities

* [[Taking You with Me]]: The first battle between Peter and Sylar ends with them grappling and throwing each other off a 30 ft drop off the bleachers. Peter died, but came back to life, Sylar slowed his fall with [[Mind Over Matter|TK]] and limped away.

* [[Tangled Family Tree]]: The Petrelli's immediate family thus far includes Angela and Arthur, {{spoiler|Angela's sister Alice,}} sons Peter and Nathan, Nathan's wife and legitimate kids, and Claire. Claire, in turn, has the Bennets as her foster family as well as biological mother Meredith, making Meredith's brother Flint her uncle. Sylar {{spoiler|was teased for a bit as a [[Long Lost Sibling|third Petrelli brother]]; [[From a Certain Point of View|this was a lie]] but he's now Nathan's [[Replacement Goldfish]].}}

* [[Taxidermy Is Creepy]]: Sylar's biological father, Samson, turned to taxidermy to keep his hands busy after he stopped killing people.

* [[Taxidermy Terror]]: Sylar steals a rabbit from his father's trailer and leaves it in plain sight at Danko's apartment. Danko is understandably weirded out.

* [[Team Spirit]]: A recurring theme in Season 1 is that the characters get a lot more accomplished when they work together. Played fairly subtly most of the time, but made very obvious in the finale, where only by the combined efforts of Peter, Matt, Niki, Hiro, Claire, and {{spoiler|Nathan}} is Sylar defeated and New York saved.

** Made explicit in Peter's conversations with Claude. Claude maintains that relationships are distractions, but Peter eventually concludes that it is only by letting other people in that he can fully realise his heroic potential.

* [[Tyke Bomb]]: Elle Bishop.

* [[Umbrella of Togetherness]]: Peter and Simone. Aww. Redone in the online comic to include [[Ho Yay|Peter and Mohinder]] instead!

* [[Uncomfortable Elevator Moment]]: Sylar in Volume Three after {{spoiler|acquiring the ability to sense truth.}} Sylar is utterly casual in the elevator, as is his fellow passenger... albeit for different reasons given Sylar is drenched in blood.

** Another memorable one happened all the way back near the finale of Volume One, where Matt, Niki, HRG, and D.L all find themselves sharing an elevator (the last time Matt saw Niki, she was throwing him out a 10 story window... which she outright reminds him of just prior to getting into the elevator). Complete with cheesy muzak in the background.

* [[Underwater Kiss]]: Claire and Alex in a pool.

* [[Unexplained Recovery]]: {{spoiler|Now that we know Linderman was a hallucination, [[Fridge Logic]] means that, for the time being, we must assume this is how Nathan recovered from being shot, twice. Then again, it worked for Matt and he got shot ''four times''. Sucks for D.L., I guess. Although, given sudden religious streak Nathan embarks on shortly after his death, there are certain implications that he was either miraculously saved or just got really, really lucky.}}

** {{spoiler|It seems Nathan's luck has run out, as his character is [[Killed Off for Real]] (with his pseudo-personality residing for a while in a mind-blanked Sylar).}}

** Tracy Strauss had this after being frozen-shot by Danko in Volume 4: come Volume 5, she's a water-toting ice queen with a score to settle with Building 26's remaining occupants.

* [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight]]: As one editor joked during one episode (and this is but the most spectacular example of many), "Wouldn't you know it? That's the second time in as many years the corpse of a cute blonde girl suddenly vanished off one of our operating tables!"

** A truck driver who picks up a hitchhiking Hiro and Ando learns that the baby the two of them are carrying has the power to shut down machinery (i.e. the trucker's truck) when upset (which is pretty much all the time). His only reaction is to politely ask them to remove their "magic baby" from his truck so he can continue on his journey. It's especially notable that this polite nonreaction occurs in the middle of a plot arc about how normals would be so threatened by the existence of supers that they would commit mass genocide against them if they ever learned about them. There's either something very profound there, or it's just a funny piece of dissonance in a comic relief scene.