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* [[The Cameo]]: Several, but we especially loved [[Stan Lee]]'s awesome appearance as a bus driver in "Unexpected" and Seth Green in "The Eclipse".
* [[Cannot Spit It Out]]: The show would probably be 40% shorter if characters actually shared basic, critical information with each other.
* [[Canon Discontinuity]]: There was a ''lot'' of bad ideas introduced in Volume Two2 and Three3. Volume Four4 spent a lot of time [[Snap Back|undoing]] the ones that could be undone, and the remaining ones... well, they're just not mentioned anymore. Ever.
* [[Can't Hold His Liquor]]: Oh, Nathan. You think you're so tough but you're an embarrassment to drinkers everywhere. The fandom will laugh forever at the tequila scene in "Into Asylum".
** Averted in the same episode by {{spoiler|Claire, who has to ''pretend'' she can't hold her liquor since she can't get drunk}}.
* [[Cape Busters]]: Nathan and Danko's team of Black Ops soldiers in Volume 4, who are attempting to capture and detain every evolved human in the United States because their powers are too dangerous. Yes, even the [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|lame ones]]. [[Idiot Ball|Except Sylar]].
* [[Card-Carrying Villain]]: Knox in Volume 3, mainly because his [[Start of Darkness]] backstory got cut from the Volume 3 flashback episode. It is still available online and on the Season 3 DVD, however.
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** Half-way through Season 1, Nathan teaches Hiro the correct pronunciation of "villain". Ten episodes later, Hiro is using the word to great effect - on Nathan.
** The last ''9th Wonders'' comic book is needed for a [[Plot Coupon]] in Volume Three. Unfortunately, the author... well [[Author Existence Failure|you know]]. But wait! He gave his sketchbook to an anonymous bike messenger back in Volume One...
** At the beginning of the series, Angela gets busted by the police for shoplifting socks, which perplexes her sons and seems out of character for her, especially as the audience gets to know her better. In the Volume Four4 episode "1961", the reason is finally revealed: {{spoiler|whenever Angela feels lost, she steals socks to remind herself of her sister, her goals, and her purpose ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]).}}.
** In the third episode of Season 3, during Angela Petrelli's {{spoiler|reign of babymomma-ing Sylar, the superpoweredsuper-powered serial killer was given the ability of clairsentience by a [[Mooks|hapless mook]]. Didn't seem to do much until the middle of Volume 4, when Sylar learns the fate of his true parents in the dilapidated cafe, and even further still in Volume 5, when Angela gives him a box of Nathan's belongings (as Sylar has shapeshifted into Nathan) which triggers "Nathan's" memories of a young girl's murder back when he was a teen.}}.
* [[Circus of Fear]] -: Samuel runs one of these.
* [[City of Weirdos]] -: Hiro teleports himself to New York City, and nobody around notices the man who appeared out of thin air.
* [[Click Hello]]: Well, more of a "Click Goodbye".
* [[Cliffhanger Copout]]: A number of cliffhangers would pique viewers' interest that one thing would happen and then would give them something entirely different at the start of the next episode. The episode "Truth & Consequences" from Volume 2, for example, ends with Hiro charging at Peter, who refuses to believe Hiro's claims that Adam Monroe is dangerous and is even willing to protect him, suggesting that the two characters were going to fight each other. The beginning of the following episode, "Powerless," shows Hiro, after his charge, deciding to just teleport around Peter and try and talk to him some more to convince him that Adam is evil.
* [[Coconut Superpowers]]: The show that inspired the trope. Fortunately, the budget seems to finally allow for more "showboating" beginning in Volume Three3.
* [[Code Name]]: The Haitian was only finally referred to by his real name in Volume '''5'''. (Itit's René).
** Notable in that suddenly EVERYONE who's ever met him, even briefly, know who he is, despite always referring to him as the Haitian before that point.
* [[Coitus Ensues]]: Sylar and Elle randomly getting it on towards the end of volumeVolume 3.
* [[Colour Wash]]: Most notable in the Texas and New York sequences. The former have a warm golden glow, while the latter favourfavor [[Unnaturally Blue Lighting]].
* [[Comatose Canary]]
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: Noah Bennet and Takezo Kensei.
* [[Combined Energy Attack]]: An interesting inversion in Volume 5. It's been revealed that {{spoiler|[[Big Bad]] Samuel Sullivan's [[Avatar: The Last Airbender|Earth Bending]] ability is powered by the presence of evolved humans. It's strongly hinted that if he gathers enough followers at the Carnival, he'd gain [[Earthshattering Kaboom|the power to split the Earth in half]].}}.
** Which suggests {{spoiler|that the Volume 3 [[Bad Future]] has not been averted...}}
*** Or at least heavily implies that Samuel may have been the cause since {{spoiler|his power in amplified by the presence of other Specials and the Volume 3 future had powers readily available to the public via the induction serum.}}.
* [[Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are]]: Sylar in Claire's house.
* [[Comic Book Time]]: Bizarrely inverted. By the third Volume, a lot of time seems to have been ''added'' to the timeline!
* [[Comic Books Are Real]]: The clairvoyant comic series that characters are big fans of.
* [[Compelling Voice]]: Eden.
* [[Conspiracy Redemption]]: Several agents of the Company, most notably {{spoiler|Hana Gitelman and Donna Dunlap.}}.
* [[Contagious Powers]]: The only remaining Muggle main character is Noah Bennet.
* [[Contemplate Our Navels]]: Mohinder's long and pointless [[Book Ends|opening and closing]] narration. Rumors persist that these monologues have something to do with [[Hollywood Evolution|evolution]] or [[Because Destiny Says So|destiny]] or something ''deep'', but are currently unconfirmed as [[Long Speech Tea Time|nobody gives a crap about Mohinder's ramblings]].
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* [[Conveniently Coherent Thoughts]]: Generally the case with Matt Parkman's telepathy.
* [[Cooldown Hug]]: "Nathan? I need you to fight it..."
** Done literally when {{spoiler|Tracy, in full freakout mode over her ability going haywire, accidentally freezes Claire and breaks off her foot when Claire tried to calm her down.}}.
* [[The Corpse Stops Here]]: Twice.
* [[Cosmic Deadline]]: Most notable during volumeVolume one1 (seasonSeason one1) and volumeVolume two2 (seasonSeason two2). For the former volume, even with a twenty-three episode story arc, the last three episodes's pacing noticeably sped up to the point of distraction. Events fell together quicker than usual, [[Idiot Ball]] after [[Idiot Ball]] got tossed around to make the characters move around improbably fast, and even the long awaited final confrontation teased over the course of the season ended far too fast. [[Word of God|Tim Kring]] stated that the production end ran out of time and money to let the plot properly develop, but sought to avoid such scenarios for the next season. Alas, that didn't quite happen, thanks to the writer's strike affecting production, which forced the creators to avert their initial plans.
* [[Couldn't Find a Pen]]: Sylar painting the future in his mother's blood. Sylar cutting his name into his forearm {{spoiler|while he was having his shapeshifting identity crisis}}. Sylar also leaves a note on the wall: "Sylar was here" in his victim's blood {{spoiler|also during the identity crisis}}.
* [[Crucified Hero Shot]]: [http://heroeswiki.com/Image:Nine_inch_paintbrush.JPG Isaac gets one of these] when {{spoiler|Sylar kills him}} near the end of Season One1.
** Happens to {{spoiler|Nathan/Sylar}} twice in a single episode. Sorta.
* [[Cult]]: The Sullivan Bros. Carnival is run like one, complete with references to "the family,", religious trappings, isolation, physical labor for no pay, and, of course, a charismatic leader with self-proclaimed prophetic abilities (which, unlike in real life, happen to be real).
* [[Curse Cut Short]]:
** When Claire wakes up on the autopsy table... ("Holy sh-").
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* [[Cymbal-Banging Monkey]]: One of Baby Touch-n-Go's toys.
* [[Danger Takes a Backseat]]: Sylar pulls this on Danko in Volume 4.
* [[Daydream Surprise]]: A few in Volume 5 (seasonSeason 4).
* [[Dead Little Sister]]: Revealed to be Angela Petrelli's [[Start of Darkness]] motivation. Mohinder also had one in Season 1, although he didn't even know she existed until halfway through the season.
* [[Dead Man Writing]]: Hiro's father leaves him one at the beginning of Season 3.
* [[Dead Star Walking]]: Scott, the Pinehearst Marine played by Chad Faust.
* [[Death by Sex]]: Elle. Well she DID have sex with freaking Sylar of all people.
* [[Death Glare]]: deployed by Nathan in Season 1 whenever [[Idiot Hero|Peter]] proposes, says or does [http://i47.tinypic.com/2me5tav.png something especially dumb]. Subsequently, it's well demonstrated in "Trust Andand Blood" when Danko threatens Claire with a gun - [http://i47.tinypic.com/jfw781.gif Nathan skins him alive with a glare before ordering Claire off home]. Also used to good effect in "Shades Ofof Gray", when Danko defenestrates Senator Skyboy from the nth floor of their government office building. Nathan glares every insult in the BOOK at him before booming off. Essentially, this is Nathan's default look when he has to deal with his mother's or Danko's machinations or with [[Surrounded by Idiots|people like Peter, Hiro and Parkman]].
** It seems to be genetic, with Ma Petrelli also being more than able to cut someone down to about an inch tall with a poison look [http://i49.tinypic.com/2aethud.jpg when she deems it necessary].
* [[Destination Defenestration]]: Jessica throws Matt out a window in Volume 1. Sylar does this to Peter in Volume 3. And Danko to Nathan in VolVolume 4.
** Not to mention what happens to Claire's peppy new roommate in Volume 5 (seasonSeason 4).
* [[Deus Exit Machina]] -: The Haitian, whose power is to block other people's powers. Although he is the one person who could actually kick [[Villain Sue|Sylar]]'s ass rather easily, he is <s> never</s> seldom around when needed.
** Similarly, Matt Parkman is kept well away from the [[Battle Royale]] in Volumes Three3, Four4, and Five5, since his burgeoning [[Psychic Powers]] would allow him to just make the bad guys surrender (or [[Psychic-Assisted Suicide|worse]], if he were in a bad mood).
* [[Diabolus Ex Machina]]
* [[Did Mom Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?]]: A favorite of Sylar's.
* [[Did Not Do the Research]] -: Many throughout, but perhaps the most glaring is the whole Solar Eclipse causing heroes to lose their powers (Itit was a main plot point). There's a total solar eclipse once a month (they just usually occur over the ocean and in place that are not normally inhabited, so people don't see them). More importantly, the range of the eclipse is nowhere near what was portrayed in the show. (I'd hate to see what happened with the tides. Hell, if the moon and sun where that close I wonder if Earth would maintain orbit).)
** Also, with the story happening at various points of the globe, the eclipse was apparently visible ''everywhere around the world''.
* [[Die or Fly]]
* [[Differently-Powered Individual]]: The show generally avoids using a general term for its supers, and they are mainly referred to vaguely as "people like me" by those with powers or "individuals with abilities" by those without. The Company seems to officially refer to them as "[[Mutants|specials]]", although this was mostly in the online comics. Adam also used the term "specials" to describe powered humans. Danko started using the term too, so it seems to have become the show's "official" word for people with powers. The general fan consensus seems to refer to them as "[[Fan Nickname|evolved humans]]", so much so that even NBC's publicity department uses the term.
* [[Dinner and a Show]]: In the episode "Thanksgiving.".
* [[Discard and Draw]]: Peter lost his ability in Volume 3, and regained a weakened version -- the ability to copy the power of the last person he touched--at the end of the season. This does wonders for his intelligence, as the writers no longer need to glue the [[Idiot Ball]] to his hands to stop him being a gamebreaker.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: Samuel goes to New York City and decides to visit the mansion where he lived as a boy, and asks to have a look around. The new owner, with some condescension, turn him down since they're in the middle of a fancy dinner party, and then everyone in the house laughs when he returns. So he {{spoiler|destroys the whole place by creating a massive sinkhole underneath it, killing three of the party-goers in the process.}}.
** And then he {{spoiler|wipes out an entire town and kills hundreds because Vanessa refuses to be with him and a waitress asks him what's wrong.}}.
** There's also the fact that he had the Caimen Police Department demolished with the police still inside because the deputy and several of his men had a kid who determines life and death dragged to death as a lynch execution.
*** They [[Asshole Victim|probably had it coming]]
* [[The Ditz]]: Hiro, in a lovable fashion, though he [[Character Development|matures a bit]] in later episodes and especially in the second Volume.
* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: Volume Four4.
* [[Dork Age]]: Actually seen ''in-universe''. Several characters who were last seen attempting to kill each other in Volume 3 meet again in the first episode of Volume 4 and act quite civil towards each other, with the apparent unspoken agreement to pretend that [[Canon Discontinuity|Volume 3 never happened]].
* [[Double Vision]]: Peter interacts with himself from the exposed ability future. Hiro does this ''twice'' with both the past version and an alternate future terrorist version of himself.
* [[Dramatic Curtain Toss]]: Isaac's paintings.
* [[Dressing as the Enemy]]: Peter is all set to try this after knocking out one of the Black Ops agents, until Tracy points out to him what a stupid idea it is (he still puts on the guy's uniform, though, because why say no to free Kevlar?). In a later episode, Sylar does the exact same thing, with much more success, although he has [[Paper-Thin Disguise|much more experience in performing that particular trick]]. Hiro also does this when he and Ando try to shut down building 26.
* [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]]: Simone, DL, Caitlin, {{spoiler|Adam Monroe, Bob, Usutu -- though he got better, maybe -- Scott, Knox, Nathan...}}
** {{spoiler|Danko}}. He survives the entirety of Volume 4, despite the fact that every single person wants him dead. He is back for Volume 5, and he is building up to retaining his recurring character status. He even narrowly avoided death at the hands of Tracy. Not even a minute later, Knife Guy comes in and slices him up, killing him before he even knows whats going on.
** DL was probably the worst example. Everyone else was killed onscreen. DL was shown dead with no explanation until the 8theighth episode of the season and the way he was killed by someone with no powers (Who is not Bennet) just seemed like an excuse to get rid of him.
* [[The Dulcinea Effect]]:
** Both Hiro (unsurprisingly) ''and'' Peter Petrelli (even more unsurprisingly given his carriage of the [[Idiot Ball]] throughout Volume Two2) fall under this effect.
** In Volume Three3, Matt is fawning over a thief with [[Super Speed]] he just met ''yesterday'', all because he had a psychic vision of them being married in the future.
** Hilariously subverted by Hiro during his introduction to Daphne. Rather than assume she's a complex human being with a complex motivations, he likens Ando and he to Batman and Robin and then refuses to refer to her as anything but "Nemesis" or "Catwoman" afterwards. He quite literally gets too caught up in assuming she's evil to make any sort of judgement call on her.
* [[Dye or Die]]: Claire in "Five Years Gone".
* [[Dying to Be Replaced]]: Arthur Petrelli becomes the new [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|by murdering the previous season's Big Bad, Adam Monroe. Of course, Sylar eventually reasserts himself}}.
* [[Dysfunction Junction]]
* [[Earth-Shattering Poster]]
* [[Easy Amnesia]]: Peter Petrelli at the start of Volume Two.2 (Actuallyactually more of a [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]], but that fits too.).
** Sylar, too. But that definatelydefinitely doesn't overlap with [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]].
* [[Enemy Mine]]:
** Part of Volume Three3 had Noah Bennet and Sylar teaming up. It didn't work out so well.
** The Volume Three3 finale, where Bennet frees all the Level 5 supervillains to help fight Sylar. They all last about 3 minutes, tops.
** Sylar is pretty damn good at getting mortal enemies to drop their differences in order to team up and stop him from Takingtaking Overover Thethe Worldworld (of course.). The Season 1 finale basically had all the desperate characters coming together to put the smack down on Sylar before he could nuke New York to become President of the United States. Though granted, that was shown to be a future result of the nuke and not his actual motivation. And, in the Volume 4 finale, Bennet and Danko team up to stop Sylar from (again) becoming President of the United States... which lasts for about 5 minutes, until Danko decides to backstab Bennet just for the hell of it.
** Used in the Volume 5 opener, when {{spoiler|Bennet and Tracy quasi-team up to get Danko off her case - resulting in Danko being swissSwiss-cheesed by Edgar five seconds later.}}.
** In a twist, as of Volume 5, {{spoiler|Sylar and Peter seem to have teamed up, though Sylar is trying to be good again. It seems like it might take.}}.
*** {{spoiler|Being trapped for five years in your own mind to wallow in your guilt will drastically change one's outlook on life, especially if you're only company is your more compassionate and moral archnemesis.arch-nemesis}}.
* [[Equal Opportunity Evil]]: The gang that forms out of the Level 5 escapees.
* [[Everybody Owns a Ford|Everyone Is Driving A Nissan]]
* [[Everybody Lives]]: In the "Redemption" season finale, the Heroes manage to stop Samuel's plot to destroy New York City without causing or allowing a single death; thanks to [[Big Bad]] Samuel's many [[Kick the Dog]] moments throughout the season, his [[The Dragon|right-hand men]] and other followers are [[Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal|all convinced to turn against him without a fight]], rendering the previously all-powerful [[Big Bad]] into a powerless sap to be dragged off by the cops. Meanwhile, Sylar stay true to his redemption and incapacitates Doyle without killing him. This is pretty noteworthy considering the show's tendency to purge all its secondary characters at the end of each Volume, typically with a massive Sylar-centric bloodbath.
* [[Everyone Is Related]]: The number of major characters who have been revealed to be related to each other is getting a little silly at this point. For example, Claire is Noah's adopted daughter; she's also {{spoiler|Nathan's biological daughter}} and therefore, {{spoiler|Peter's niece and Ma Petrelli's granddaughter}}. Oh, and it was revealed that Sylar (maybe) and Flint (yes, cause why the hell not?) are {{spoiler|her [[Evil Uncle|uncles]]}}. [[Tangled Family Tree|We half expect the writers to say, "What the hell, Adam "Kensei" Monroe is '''everyone's''' great-great-great-great-ect.etc-grandfather."]] He ''does'' have a [[Meaningful Name]]. [[All There in the Manual|At one point, he took the last name Sanders. Also he had two sons in Italy in the 17th century]] and his heraldic crest ([[Arc Words|the symbol]]) is also the symbol of the Petrelli family law firm. And, of course, [[Justified Trope|superpowers are genetic.]]
* [[Eviler Than Thou]]: {{spoiler|Pa Petrelli has his first speaking line after draining Adam Monroe's power, [[No Ontological Inertia|causing him to age]] ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade|The Last Crusade]]''-style and crumble to dust. Those words?}}?
{{quote|{{spoiler|'''Pa Petrelli:'''}} Feels good to breathe again.}}
* [[Evil Eyebrows]]: Sylar.
* [[Evil Foreigner]]: "The German,", the psycho with <s>Magneto-type</s> totally original electromagnetic powers.
* [[Evil Is Not a Toy]]: Whenever some erstwhile [[Chessmaster]] keeps Sylar alive or even ''feeds him powers'' while plotting to use him to further their own evil schemes, you ''know'' the main man is going to eventually turn around and make things end badly for them. Bennet even Lampshades this when confronting Danko.
{{quote|'''Bennet:''' Just how dumb are you? Who did you think would be left standing the moment Sylar got bored? ''You?''}}
* [[Evil Makeover]]: According to Volume Three3, hair gel = evil.
** Except that in Sylar's case, once he started donning the hair gel, he kept trying to go good.
* [[Evil Matriarch]]: Mrs. Petrelli, especially in the first two Volumes.
* [[Evil Overlooker]]: Both covers to the first graphic novel collection show Sylar looming over the Heroes. As does the Season 2 DVD cover. And the second graphic novel collection.
* [[Evil Overlord]]: Arthur Petrelli fits pretty much every item in the checklist.
* [[Evil Versus Evil]]: Volume Three3 looked like it was working towards a battle between Primatech Paper/The Company (a morally ambiguous [[Ancient Conspiracy]] that tried to blow up New York City to unify the world) and Pinehearst Industries (a [[Legion of Doom]] of supervillains whose actions are apparently destined to make the world explode). Yeah...
* [[Evolutionary Levels]]: [[You Keep Using That Word|You keep using that word.]] [[You Fail Biology Forever|"Evolution" does not mean what you think it means.]]
* [[Exclusive Enemy Equipment]] -: Ooh, free Kevlar!
* [[Expansion Pack Past]]: For Sylar and Angela Petrelli.
* [[Expecting Someone Taller]]: After meeting him in Volume 5, Samuel and Lydia discuss their disappoint that the long feared, [[Shrouded in Myth]] figure of "Sylar, the most powerful one of all" turns out to be a confused amnesiac with a rather mild-mannered disposition.
** There's a reason for his nicer attitude - the memories he's retained are still Nathan's.
* [[Exposition of Immortality]]: We first encounter Adam Monroe through Hiro travellingtraveling back in time to 17th Century Japan. When we next meet him, it's the 21st Century and he looks exactly the same. It's explained directly to Peter that Adam's cellular regeneration power keeps him alive and stops him from aging.
* [[Extra-Strength Masquerade]]: Oh, so much. From nuclear explosions over New York City to people using their powers to [[Mundane Utility|cheat in Vegas casinos]], from a [[Serial Killer]] who freezes his victims and cuts their heads open without a blade to a concentration camp for metahumans constructed in [[The Sixties]], and from former employees of the [[Mutant Draft Board]] putting their experience on their résumés and being hired by the [[CIA]] to an effort to abduct American citizens with superpowers being discussed (albeit in vague terms) on a [[Captain Ersatz]] for the Larry King show, there should be no way that [[The Masquerade]] can endure... and yet it does.
* [[Eye Scream]]: Inflicted on Sylar by Claire in "Pass/Fail".
 
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