Talk:Sylar

SPOILERS IN INRO

Why are there spoilers in the intro? I was quite annoyed to read a snippet of it (spoiler alert in these parentheses: basically, what happens to Sylar by the end). Can someone edit that? Basic sentence or two for such an unimportant article, anyway.

Article is FAR too long

This article is dis-proportionally long for the 'importance' of the subject matter. A purging is in order... 72.218.136.173 (talk) 16:38, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

Sylar's power is not, and never has been, empathic mimicry.

Empathic mimicry is a power separate to intuitive aptitude; saying otherwise is merely speculation as it was never stated in the show. The empathy is just another part of his main power i.e. understanding the other person. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.147.107.201 (talk) 22:56, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

It was actually stated by Arthur in the show. ~Auzemandius {talk/contrib} 22:59, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

No, it was stated by Arthur that Sylar could use his empathy; once again, this is different to the specific power of empathic mimicry. Peter Petrelli is able to acquire powers without concious thought as demonstrated throughout the show so far. Sylar had to actively concentrate to do it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.147.107.201 (talk) 23:05, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Arthur stated "You can take all the ablities you want without killing." "By accessing your empathy, that part of your heart I know is there. You've had this power all along." We have to go off of that. You're speculating that empathic mimicry is only part of his powers. You're also speculating that he had to actively concentrate to use empathy. He could have absorbed it, but had trouble using it.

If you're one of the writers and know this for certain, then get an interview and we can source it off of that, but else, it's speculation unless said in the show. Arthur stated that Sylar had the same ability that Peter did. ~Auzemandius {talk/contrib} 00:06, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

I am speculating, sorry. However if I am, you certainly are as well; Arthur never states that Sylar has the same power as Peter, merely that he has had empathy in his heart all along. No one in the show has exhibited more than one natural power, so I really don't think it should be listed as such. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.147.107.201 (talk) 01:43, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

In this Q&A session with Joe Pokaski and Aron Coliete, it is stated that there is no difference between Sylar "using his ability to ‘understand how things work’ through empathy" and Peter's method of power acquisiton. IMO that should be good enough unless it's contradicted by a better source. Maybe their powers aren't identical, but they don't need to be. I haven't seen anyone arguing that we shouldn't call Flint's power pyrokinesis because we already use that term to describe Meredith's power and Flint's flames are blue rather than orange. -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 01:54, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Nobody exhibited more than one power? Not the Haitian? And also possibly Matt Parkman and Aurthur Patrelli? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.123.90.25 (talk) 06:32, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

In "I Am Sylar", when Danko asks Sylar who did he kill for his ability to understand how things work, Sylar says that this power is the only which was "always truly mine". Taking this in consideration, his empathic acquisition of abilities appears to be an aspect of his understanding power, not empathic mimicry, he doesn't get powers just by standing near people, he needs to put some effort in it, unlike Peter's original ability. 189.60.194.58 (talk) 01:01, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

The comic book resources article has confirmed that the method Sylar used to acquire Elle Bishop's power in The Eclipse, Part 1 is identical or nearly identical to the method of power acquisition used by Peter Petrelli in the first two seasons. "Always truly mine" has several plausible interpretations, it could refer to how Sylar didn't discover his empathic mimicry until long after he discovered his intuitive aptitude ability, to Sylar not being comfortable with his empathic mimicry, or it could indicate that Sylar considers mimicry a facet of his intuitive aptitude. -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 06:34, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

You almost made my point for me, Sylar did use an empathy to get Elle's ability, but it certainly not empathic mimicry. Empathic mimicry as shown before by Peter allows the user to absorb abilities by merely standing next to the person, Sylar had to go through a very emotional moment in order to understand Elle, understand being the key word. His ability is to understand how things work, he usually understands how the brain works to get an ability, with Elle, he just understood her from another perspective. If Sylar had empathic mimicry he'd have her ability since she stopped him from killing himself. His understand Elle is merely another facet of his ability to understand how things work, another application of it. His empathy is not and has never been the same as Peter's, the only similarity between them is that emotions allow them to acquire other's abilities, and that's it. I'd say it's almost an homologous process, but still distinct processes and distinct abilities. 189.4.242.42 (talk) 22:04, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

Just because I'm not a registered user it doesn't mean I don't like being ignored, I have yet to see someone put forward a good counterargument for what I said above, a couple months seems enough to come up with one. 189.4.233.126 (talk) 20:42, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

IMO we should either handle his powers in the infobox like we do for Matt Parkman (with separate entries for each major application of his base power or powers), or like we do for Hiro Nakamura (listing each major application of his base power as a bullet point under his base power). -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 23:50, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Sylar used empathetic mimicry to take James Martin's power of shape shifting. Thats why there was no mess. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.222.193.229 (talk) 01:14, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

Incorrect, he used empathy, not empathic mimicry. The name "empathic mimicry" is extraordinarily misleading, as there is no empathy actually involved, you simply have to be around the person. Sylar has to actually understand the person he's taking the power from, he understood Elle's parent issues and James Martin's desire to be someone else. Also. it's more speculative to say that he has empathic mimicry then to say he uses a power similar to it, as this would imply that he and Peter use the same power, something that has not been explicitly confirmed.--PJDEP (talk) 21:05, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Empathy is involved. That is why Sylar and Peter's powers differed. Sylar has little empathy, so he had to struggle to use empathic mimicry, and could only use it with Elle and Martin (people he understood and thus empathized with). Peter was very empathic at the beginning of the series, which is why he just needed to be around people. I can't remember where, but in one of the Behind the Eclipses the writers said that Peter's new mimicking power is only through touch because Peter has become less empathic throughout the series. Ωphois 21:34, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Peter copied pyrokinesis from Flint, but I doubt he was feeling like a dumb rapist at the time. The same goes for Ted, Elle, and D.L., he had zero interactions with any of them. Although Peter has been described as empathic, he rarely seems to connect with those he takes powers from. --PJDEP (talk) 00:04, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Peter being a very empathetic person allowed his ability to do that, even if he didn't personally empathize with Flint. Sylar, however, is not very empathetic. Thus, he needs to personally empathize with someone to obtain their ability. Ωphois 00:25, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Puppeteering

In Season 3 final episode "An Invisible Thread" it is clearly shown how Sylar manipulates Clair Bennets movements. While this could be argued to be only another facet of his TK I find it hard to believe he'd have Eric Doyle in his grasp and not take his power (Cold snap). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.247.51.55 (talk) 18:35, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

The sound effects for the scene show that it is merely telekinesis. Ophois (talk) 18:38, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

Not only that, but there are several characters that have met Sylar and not had their powers stolen (Micah, Luke, and Sylar's dad being the most obvious examples). He doesn't kill absolutely everyone he comes across. EVula // talk // ☯ // 15:36, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

After the training with Elle, Sylar know how to acquire powers without killing. -- Magioladitis (talk) 16:51, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

But Wikipedia isn't supposed to host original speculation. Listing puppetry or flight after it's confirmed in a reliable source such as an interview, a commentary track or a statement by a character on the show would be okay. Mentioning speculation by established authorities in the field (such as television critics) may be okay as long as it is described as an interpretation rather than an established fact. Mentioning speculation by fans might also be acceptable if that speculation if it's adequately sourced and described as fan speculation, as is the case for the discredited fan thories mentioned in the Lost article. -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 23:20, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

What about Ali Larter appearing at the end? Every artical on here states that it is Tracy Strauss but it could just as easily be her sister Barbarra. Using your own arguement, that is speculation. I think it is Mr Doyles ability as it makes more sense conisdering the puppet power controlls every limb with ease and it would take a lot of skill in telekenesis to control each individual limb.Wild_ste (talk) 15:13, 12 May 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.81.189.20 (talk)

I think the episode credits should be presumed to be trustworthy. Is she listed as playing Tracy Strauss in the credits? -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 03:49, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

In season 1 Sylar uses TK to control the FBI agent's hand, causing her to draw her own gun and hold it to her temple while she is otherwise frozen. This does not seem overly different. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 159.53.78.141 (talk) 15:53, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

Mrs. Gray

I know she was disturbed and all, but why did Gabriel/Sylar keep on saying that his mother was a monster who tried to kill him. I thought it was an accident and all. (JoeLoeb (talk) 23:26, 28 April 2009 (UTC))

Him killing her was an accident (although he now claims he meant to do it). She intended to kill him, though. Ophois (talk) 23:56, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

I would be freaked out if my son was deranged and hurling snow globes around me. Gabriel probably says he meant to do it to make him seem more psychotic or to intimidate someone like Danko. (JoeLoeb (talk) 00:31, 29 April 2009 (UTC))

Played by stunt doubles?

I suspect that statement that "Prior to Quinto's first appearance in the episode "Seven Minutes to Midnight", the role of Sylar is played by stunt doubles" is inaccurate, as someone could only be Zachary Quinto's stunt double for heroes after Zachary Quinto had been cast for Heroes. If Sylar was consistently played by stunt men prior to Seven Minutes to Midnight, the article should state he was played by stunt men. If he was played by a combination of stunt men and extras, it should state he was played by stunt men and extras. If he was played solely by extras, it should state that he was played by extras. If Sylar was consistently played by a specific actor's stunt double, it should say whose stunt double played him. -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 03:27, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

The BuddyTV source says stunt doubles, so that's what we have to say. U-Mos (talk) 10:51, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

note at the bottom

Why is there a note at the bottom saying Hiro travelled back in time (Once Upon a Time in Texas) to stop Sylar getting Claire's ability. 1)He travelled to save Charlie 2)He did not attempt to stop nor did he stop Sylar getting Claire's ability in fact he made a deal with sylar and let sylar continue to do the event in Homecoming hence this note is completely useless and needs to be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.221.146.251 (talk) 20:20, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

The note says Charlie, not Claire. Ωphois 21:08, 19 January 2010 (UTC)