Noah Bennet

For the Passions character, see Noah Bennett.

Noah Bennet
Heroes, Heroes Reborn character
File:Noah Bennet.jpg Jack Coleman as Noah Bennet
First appearance	"Genesis" (Heroes)
Last appearance	"Project Reborn" (Heroes Reborn)
Portrayed by	Jack Coleman
In-universe information
Occupation	Ex-company agent
Spouse	Sandra Bennet (div. 2009) Kate Bennet (wife from 1985)
Children	Claire Bennet (adopted daughter/protegee) Lyle Bennet (biological son)

Noah Bennet, also known as the man in horn-rimmed glasses (a.k.a. HRG) or simply Mr. Bennet, is a character from the NBC drama Heroes played by Jack Coleman. The role was initially recurring, but became regular as of the 11th episode. His first name was not revealed until "How to Stop an Exploding Man", the first-season finale. Along with his adoptive daughter Claire, Noah is the most frequently seen character in the series, and returned for the 2015-16 miniseries Heroes Reborn.

Character overview

At first glance, Noah Bennet appears to be an ordinary businessman who works at the Primatech Paper Company and lives in Odessa, Texas, with his wife and two children. However, he and his associates have actually traveled the world for a number of years investigating superhuman phenomena and tracking down people with these "gifts." Bennet claims that he assists them in learning to use their powers, although a flashback conversation between him and Thompson reveals that he knows his job is morally questionable and that it will often produce unintended consequences; in one episode, he plainly states that he is comfortable with being morally gray. Though he is a "Company Man," he deeply cares for his family and will do anything to protect them, particularly his adopted daughter Claire, and puts their safety above all else. He is also known as "Glasses Man".

Bennet has had a number of associates, most notably a mysterious man most commonly known as "The Haitian," who has the power to prevent other heroes from exercising their powers in his presence, as well as to remove select memories from people's minds. Bennet's other known associates have been Eden McCain, a woman with the power of mind control who kills herself to keep Sylar from gaining her ability; Claude Rains, Bennet's first partner who has the power to turn invisible; and a romantic couple composed of Hank, a doctor with unknown abilities and his significant other, Lisa, who also has unknown abilities. Rains is the first person to question Bennet's actions and those of The Company. Bennet is charged with executing Rains for his insubordination on moral grounds, but Rains escapes by literally disappearing into thin air.

Bennet's true agenda and overall affiliation are mysterious. In response to Matt Parkman's inquiries as to whether he works for the FBI or the CIA, Bennet said he doesn't work for "any organization that has initials." Furthermore, he has worked for and against The Company and for and against Mr. Linderman. These factors cloud his true allegiances. His one allegiance that is clear, however, is that to his daughter, Claire; his son, Lyle; and his wife, Sandra. Bennet loves his daughter profusely, but is also overprotective of her. This sometimes leads him to use his authority and associates in unsavory ways. Past, present and future events all indicate that Bennet has lied about Claire's biological origins multiple times.

According to his driving license, his previous address is 9 Juniper Lane, Odessa, Texas. Noah Bennet speaks Japanese and also appears to speak at least some Ukrainian. Although he does not seem to possess any powers, his extensive experience in dealing with beings with superpowers allows him to be able to handle them effectively. Also, he displays considerable prowess in hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship.

Beginnings

In the episode "The Wall", Samuel uses the ability of Damien to reveal Noah's life before joining The Company to Claire. In 1985, Noah lived in Los Angeles with his first wife Kate as a used car salesman. Soon after learning Kate is pregnant, the two are attacked by a telekinetic named Richard in their home resulting in Kate's death. Before wanting to find the killer, Noah develops signs of psychotic depression and paranoia before he spends the next year mapping and tracking people with abilities. After encountering one of the people he is tracking, Noah demands that he tell him where he can find Richard, but is attacked and is forced to kill him in self-defence. Soon after, Noah is approached by Eric Thompson Sr. with an offer to join Primatech and assistance in finding Richard. After two years and several deaths on his cases Noah is encouraged by Thompson to get married to calm him so there are fewer incidents, suggesting to Noah to look at the waitress working at the restaurant, who turns out to be Sandra. Soon after, the two meet and then get married; they spend their honeymoon in West Berlin, Germany where Noah acts as informant for Thompson's assignment (From the Files of Primatech, Part 5: 1988).

In "Company Man", a flashback episode, it is revealed that Noah Bennet's former partner years ago was Claude, with whom he rescued Claire from the fire her biological mother caused by pyrokinesis. However, because Claude was hiding "one of them", Bennet was forced to kill him. However, Claude later turned out to be alive—he had used his powers to become invisible when Bennet shot him, disappearing from view. In "Company Man", an episode that takes place over 16 years before "Genesis", Kaito Nakamura arranges for Noah to adopt Claire as an assignment and Bennet later allows them to plant the catalyst of the genetic modification formula— a formula that can grant superpowers to any and all who are injected with it— into Claire's body. In Six Months Ago, he turns the wanted criminal and mind controller Eden McCain into one of his operatives. At about the same time, he is contacted by Chandra Suresh, who has found Claire's picture on her high school's web site after identifying her as having potential powers. After Chandra leaves, Bennet orders Eden McCain to become a neighbor of Chandra Suresh and remove Claire's name from Chandra's list of superpowered humans.

Character history

Genesis

Noah Bennet first appears in "Genesis", the first episode. He is found in the apartment of Chandra Suresh in Madras, India. Chandra's son Mohinder enters the apartment, but leaves quickly after realizing Bennet is there as well. Bennet seems to notice Mohinder, and later follows him to New York. There, Bennet is one of Mohinder's afternoon passengers during his job as a taxicab driver. Bennet begins pleasantly referencing his travels, and stating that he'll be happy to see his family again. The conversation turns as he mentions personal facts about Mohinder, ultimately resulting in Mohinder fleeing his own cab. Finally, Bennet comes home to Odessa and greets his family. The next morning in "Don't Look Back", Claire states her desire to meet her biological parents. Bennet is reluctant, but doesn't outright say "no." After Claire gets home from school, Bennet says he'll start contacting the adoption agency and look for her biological parents. After a happy Claire leaves the room, Bennet is seen watching a video tape of Claire demonstrating her healing abilities.

In "Collision", Bennet is first seen standing over Matt Parkman, who is strapped to a gurney. Bennet calmly converses with Matt, advising him to relax. Bennet also checks the readout of a machine used to gauge when Parkman is trying to read Bennet's mind. Bennet explains that the Haitian is blocking Matt's powers. Nevertheless, Matt is able to pull the name "Claire" from Bennet's mind. Bennet is impressed by Matt's growing ability, and then tells the Haitian to "go deep" with Matt, who is last heard screaming. That morning, back at the Bennet house, Bennet finds that a distraught Claire has just come home. Bennet assumes from Claire's bare, mud-covered feet that she was out all night. Bennet has to get to work, but states that they'll talk later. He is then seen monitoring Nathan Petrelli, who has just had a one-night stand with Niki/Jessica Sanders. Bennet tells the Haitian to kidnap "just the one" (Nathan).

In the next episode, "Hiros", Bennet and the Haitian attempt to force Nathan into a car, but he escapes by flying away. Bennet is then seen at Texas hospital visiting Claire. Claire explains that Brody is a rapist and attempted to force himself on her. After speaking to one of his victims, Claire was motivated to do something. She only wanted to "scare" Brody, but as he sat in the passenger seat and said he wouldn't stop raping girls, she ultimately crashed his car intentionally. Claire begs her father not to tell anyone, and Bennet merely says he'll take care of it. Bennet then appears in Brody's room, followed by the Haitian. He says that she is going through 'a confusing time', telling that he knows of her powers. He tells the boy that he is being given a chance to start over in life and Bennet then tells the Haitian to "hollow him out" and "take everything" (erase all of Brody's memories, including that of his own name).

Finally, in "Better Halves", Bennet has set up a meeting between Claire and his two associates, Hank and Lisa. Bennet presents the two as Claire's biological parents. While carefully watching the two with his wife Sandra, Bennet receives a call from Eden McCain, his spy in New York. Eden relays information about Mohinder, Isaac Mendez ("the precog") and the message "save the cheerleader, save the world." Bennet is disturbed by the last part, but regains his composure. Bennet tells Eden to prevent Mohinder from leaving New York and to "bring in the precog." After Hank and Lisa exit the Bennet home, Noah Bennet follows the two outside and thanks them for their service. At this point his wife, Sandra, lets slip to Claire that they'd had problems finding her parents in the past and that she was surprised that Noah Bennet managed to do it now.

Bennet asks Isaac, whom Eden "persuaded" to come with her, to help him to prevent Claire from being murdered by Sylar at her homecoming game the next night. Bennet has collected three previous paintings Isaac created depicting a terrified Claire close-up, running up the bleachers in a football stadium, and lying dead on the ground with the top of her skull removed. When Isaac is unable to paint without the use of heroin and resists taking the drug, Bennet orders Eden to use her powers to make Isaac believe he wants to use the drug.

Bennet becomes frustrated after Isaac is unable to paint something that makes sense to him. When Eden protests his actions, Bennet shows her a series of photographs depicting Sylar's dead victims—all with their brains removed from their heads—and says he is determined to save his daughter from such a fate. He orders Eden to go to the homecoming game and look for Sylar and grounds Claire to prevent her from being killed. Bennet discovers later, however, that Claire snuck out and worriedly runs to the school to find her. When he arrives, he is too late to stop Sylar from attacking the cheerleader in the pictures. Bennet soon discovers that the victim was not Claire; rather, it was Jackie Wilcox, one of Claire's fellow cheerleaders. A relatively relieved Bennet soon reunites with his daughter and insists they go home while the police handle things. Claire says that she has something to tell her father regarding her uncanny survival.

In the episode "Fallout", Claire's father reveals that he knew about her powers long before she was aware of them. He acknowledges doing things he was not proud of to keep her safe, and tells Claire that Sylar had been taken care of, but that she must keep silent about her powers because she is in danger from others like him. Bennet later meets with Sylar, confined in a prison cell, and tells him that the cell is keeping his powers suppressed. Sylar taunts Bennet telling him that Bennet is just like him. In their next confrontation Bennet turns the taunt back at Sylar telling him how they plan to study him to determine what makes him "tick." Sylar boasts that he would escape and kill Claire, taking her healing abilities. Eden suggests using her powers to persuade Sylar to kill himself, but Bennet declines (though briefly tempted), as he takes orders from someone higher up. Bennet later takes Claire to the police station, where she is interviewed about Jackie's murder. Officer Parkman is unable to read the thoughts of Claire or her father, since the Haitian is hiding behind a nearby corner. Afterwards, Bennet orders the Haitian to wipe the memories of his son and Claire's friend, Zach. When Claire finds out that the two of them have lost all memory of her powers she rings her father in a panic. It is left open whether it is only then that he orders the Haitian to wipe Claire's memories or whether he has already done so.

In "Godsend", Bennet believes Claire's memory has been erased. Claire acts as if it has, as well. However, Bennet and Claire are slowly drifting apart. At Primatech Paper, the FBI investigates the building as well as Bennet and his associates. Though they find nothing, Officer Parkman knows Bennet's up to something and has realized that Bennet kidnapped him. Bennet is unfazed, however, and simply tells Matt "good luck" in regards to his vendetta.

Next, Bennet shows up at the apartment of Mohinder Suresh in New York. Mohinder is defensive, recalling Bennet's past actions. However, Bennet means him no harm, and even mentions Eden. Soon, he makes a proposition. Bennet tells Mohinder that together they could make a difference, and asks Mohinder to join him. Mohinder says he isn't interested, but Bennet leaves his card anyway.

Bennet returns to Sylar's holding area in "The Fix". There, he finds Hank telling him that Sylar's vital signs are highly irregular and he may be dying. Bennet tells Hank to keep him alive, referencing orders from his superiors to that effect. Furthermore, he states that Sylar will "die on [Bennet's] terms," not his own. At home, Bennet finds Claire and Zach are "working on a school project" together, according to Claire. Claire also acts as if she'd rather not spend time with Zach. Bennet, however, tells her that she had been friends and encourages her to see if they might not find something in common. After Zach and she go upstairs, Bennet gets a call from Hank. Hank states that Sylar has died, which Bennet replies is "less than ideal." Bennet then tells Hank to prepare Sylar "for shipping." Back at Sylar's cell, Bennet finds the body of a dead Hank where Sylar should be. Bennet then turns around to find Sylar calmly standing in front of him. Sylar asks about Claire, then states his intentions to kill her. After telekinetically throwing Bennet against a wall and playing with the lights, Sylar leaves Bennet trapped in the cell. Later, at the Bennet home, he and the Haitian narrowly save Sandra from Sylar. Although Sylar escapes, Bennet is confident he will catch the killer. After the Haitian wipes Sandra's memories yet again, Bennet is called by Isaac Mendez. Mendez is revealed to be working with Bennet, as he relays information about Peter Petrelli.

In "Unexpected", Bennet and the Haitian manage to track down Peter and Claude. They fire Tasers at Claude, but Peter unexpectedly utilizes his powers to stop the electrodes and fly away from them. Bennet is then called by Claire, who tells him that Sandra has collapsed for unknown reasons. Bennet heads back home, and is confronted by Claire in the hospital, where she reveals that she remembers everything that the Haitian was supposed to erase. Afterwards, the Bennet family returns home, where they are confronted by Ted Sprague and Matt Parkman.

The episode "Company Man" begins with the hostage-taking of the Bennet family by Sprague and Parkman, who are in search of answers. Noah Bennet has revelations about his company during this situation, showing that he initially came to work for "The Company" under the supervision of a man named Thompson, and partnered with Claude. He is eventually ordered to kill Claude, because Claude apparently was hiding "one of them" from The Company. During the confrontation with Sprague, Thompson comes through the back door and shoots Ted, who goes into an uncontrolled radioactive state. Noah Bennet and Matt escape the house, while Claire tranquilizes Sprague. After this, Matt and Ted are taken to the paper factory. Thompson asks Bennet when Claire should be showing up at the factory. It is at that moment that Bennet realizes he's too attached to Claire. The graphic novel "Family Man" reveals that, at this point, Noah Bennet decides that he must do what he can to save Claire and "bring down the people [he] work[s] for." Having noticed that he is being followed by someone from The Company, Noah Bennet drives to a cybercafé and sends a message to Hana asking for help, which she agrees to do. The episode ends with Noah Bennet taking Claire to the same bridge on which he shot Claude so many years ago. The Haitian shows up, and Bennet instructs the Haitian to shoot him in the stomach, then "Go deep" and wipe anything out of his memory that could lead "them" to Claire. The Haitian follows the order, then takes Claire away to protect her, as instructed.

In "Parasite", Bennet is questioned by Thompson; he claims that the last thing he remembers is driving home Sandra from the hospital. Later, before Noah Bennet is about to leave on business, Sandra tells him that she is only pretending to have had her mind wiped, as he told her to do; and that he had told her everything about what he really did, who he works for, and what happened to Claire. She gives him a note that he left for himself, warning him not to look for Claire because she is with friends. Then, Bennet and Candice travel to New York to "clean up" Isaac's mess. Upon his return home, Bennet tells Sandra that they both have to pretend that they have no idea what has happened, and that Primatech has to be stopped for good to ensure Claire's safety. "Sandra" then transforms back into Candice, and other members of the Company, including Thompson, enter the room behind her.

In ".07%", Bennet is now in the custody of Primatech, in a solitary cell. His will to protect Claire is challenged by Candice, who shapeshifts into Claire's form; Bennet recognizes the ruse right away and tells her and Thompson that he does not know where Claire is and will never give her up to them. Thompson threatens to kill Bennet, but Bennet notes that if they really wanted him dead, they'd have killed him by now. Thompson tells Bennet that he is merely waiting on orders to do so.

Realizing that the only hope of stopping Thompson and his superiors will be to escape from Primatech, Bennet telepathically gives instructions to Matt Parkman, who is also being held prisoner, on how to break out of his cell. Matt is then told to fetch Sprague from his cell so that Sprague can generate an EMP to shut down the power at Primatech, which will then allow them to break Bennet out of his cell. Matt is reluctant to go along with the plan, and Sprague doesn't trust Bennet, but eventually the three of them work together to escape.

Over breakfast at the Burnt Toast Diner, Bennet reveals that the only way to stop Thompson is to get to New York City to destroy the tracking device that tracks heroes tagged with the neck tattoo, and he produces bus tickets to take them there. When Matt asks if Mr. Linderman is in New York, Bennet seems surprised by Matt's knowledge of the name. Matt guesses correctly that Bennet was "middle management" and is somewhat incredulous that Bennet seems not to know who was signing his paychecks all those years. Bennet tells Matt to forget about Linderman and that it is more important that they get to New York and destroy the tracker. Sprague casts the deciding vote to go to New York City, and Matt reluctantly agrees to join them on their destination.

After escaping from Primatech Paper with Sprague and Parkman, the three of them head for New York to destroy the tracking system and the company. In "The Hard Part", Bennet, Parkman and Sprague steal a car and head for New York. Bennet reveals that the Company has a new tracking system called the Walker system. He reveals that this system doesn't need radio isotopes or tracers to find you; it just knows where you are. Unbeknownst to Bennet, the Walker tracker system is later revealed to be Molly Walker, who has the ability to mentally find anyone in the world, just by thinking about them.

The three arrive at Kirby Plaza, where Micah Sanders and Molly Walker are located. Claire sees the trio coming, and father and daughter reunite. Peter then notices his hands beginning to glow. Bennet realizes that Peter is absorbing Ted's power, and Peter and Claire look at each other worriedly.

After Peter controls himself, the group splits in two, with Peter, Claire, and Sprague going to a remote town in Nebraska, and Parkman and Bennet continuing with their mission to destroy the tracking system. Bennet knows where they need to go, but he needs Parkman's powers to allow them access. Matt confronts a security guard and convinces him that they know each other and had spoken outside of work the previous night. Upon revealing an embarrassing secret of the guard's, the man lets them in without hesitation.

While waiting for the elevator, they bump into Jessica and D.L., with Jessica surprised to see Matt still alive. The four go up in the elevator together, with Bennet telling them where to find Linderman. Bennet and Parkman then get off at the floor where the tracking system is, only to find Thompson waiting for them. Parkman saves Bennet from getting shot, only to have Bennet leave him defenseless against Thompson. Thompson then comes up behind Parkman, puts a gun to his head, and asks him, "What am I thinking now, Parkman?" Bennet comes from the side and says, "Your last thought." killing Thompson with two point blank gunshots to the head.

The two then proceed to find the tracking system, where both are surprised to find it's a young girl — though only Matt is completely surprised: Bennet claims he knew it was a person, just not a little girl — whom Matt had previously rescued from Sylar, and who thought of Matt as "my hero." Matt protests killing her, but Bennet says it must be done in order to save the others. The two continue to argue until Matt is suddenly knocked out by Mohinder from behind. The episode ends with Mohinder pointing a gun on Bennet while the latter points his gun on Molly, both men threatening to shoot.

Parkman wakes up, ending the standoff. Bennet asks Molly to locate Sylar, which she does - he's nearby.

He later finds Peter after he passed out from nearly exploding, thanks him for saving Claire and agrees to kill him if it comes to that. He also reveals his first name, telling Peter to "Call me Noah."

In the climax of "How to Stop an Exploding Man," Peter, Noah, and Matt confront Sylar in the plaza. Bennet is immediately thrown against a wall, rendering him incapable of stopping Peter if he explodes.

Generations

Four months after the incidents in New York, the Bennets have gone into hiding, having moved to Costa Verde, California, and assumed the last name of "Butler." Noah takes a subordinate job at a copy store called Copy Kingdom, and makes it very clear that he won't stand for his younger superior's bullying management style. Despite going into hiding, he is still working to take down "the Company" with the help of Mohinder Suresh.

In "Lizards", Noah tells his wife about a series of eight paintings done by the late Isaac Mendez, each depicting the death of a single person. He possesses the first, which predicts the death of Kaito Nakamura, and intends to locate the other seven. At the end of the episode, Noah is reunited with the Haitian; the accompanying graphic novel shows that Mohinder directed the Haitian to Bennet.

In "Kindred", Mohinder finds the last of the eight paintings, this one depicting Noah's death. He is lying on the ground with a bullet hole through the left lens of his glasses. A girl resembling Claire is in the background, apparently being held by someone.

In "Fight or Flight", Noah and the Haitian travel to Odessa, Ukraine, to find the remaining paintings. While there, he receives a call from Mohinder explaining that Molly Walker has fallen into a catatonic state and he wishes to take her to the Company for observation. Noah is unable to talk him out of it, though he warns that they'll have Mohinder as soon as he relinquishes that which he cares about.

In "The Line", Noah tracks down his old mentor, Ivan. He has the Haitian remove precious memories (marriage day, kids being born, etc.) from the old man one by one until Ivan succumbs and reveals where the paintings are. Knowing that his method of interrogation, as well as trying to use the Haitian to cover his tracks, will alert the Company, he instead opts to kill his mentor, making the affair appear to be a simple home invasion.

In "Out of Time", Noah and Suresh attempt to make sense of the paintings Noah and the Haitian have just found. The one in question is a painting of Suresh holding a Company-issue gun that has just been fired. Noah takes pictures of the paintings in an effort to send them to Suresh, but Suresh refuses stating his life may be in danger. Afterwards, Noah and the Haitian burn the entire collection and Noah returns home. West has dropped by without notice that same morning and made breakfast for Claire. As Noah walks into the house, West sees Noah and remembers who he is. West runs outside and abruptly flies away without being seen by Noah. Having left behind a newspaper detailing the incident with the drunk cheerleader, it ends up in hand of Noah, who sees it as a threat to the family. He confronts Claire and tells her she is putting the life of their family in danger. Furthermore, he tells her and the family to pack their things, and they are leaving immediately. Claire then calls her father out, stating that he was not being honest about his "trip" he took for "management training". Claire defiantly tells her father that she is not moving anywhere else and walks out of the room.

In "Cautionary Tales", Bob, Elle, and Mohinder arrive in Costa Verde to take Claire. Though they are eventually successful, Noah manages to capture Elle. Noah brokers a trade with Bob, getting his daughter back in exchange for Bob's. When Elle breaks free and tries to kill West and Claire, Noah shoots her in the arm. He then prepares to execute Bob, citing that Claire will never be free so long as the Company survives. But Mohinder shoots Noah, mimicking Isaac's painting exactly, and Noah is struck in the left eye and dies. While his family believes him to be dead, the episode ends with Noah in a Company facility, strapped to a gurney and being given a transfusion of Claire's blood; his destroyed eye subsequently regenerates and he returns to life.

In "Truth & Consequences", Mohinder tells him that he was revived with Claire's blood and that Claire is at home, thinking he is dead. During the episode, with Noah still in the hands of The Company, Bob visits the Bennets' home with an urn telling them that it contains Noah's ashes.

In "Powerless", Noah returns to his family, clearly shocking them all as he is allegedly dead. He tells them that he was brought back using Claire's blood, and that he made a deal with The Company which will allow his family to lead a normal life with one condition; he must stay with the Company. Noah then leaves his family.

Villains

In "The Butterfly Effect", Noah is imprisoned by the Company. Elle releases him from his cell so that he can help in the apprehension of Sylar during the attack on the Level 5 facility. After Elle inadvertently knocks out Sylar and causes a breakdown of the complex security system, Noah---fearing the worst after seeing Sylar demonstrate Claire's ability---places Sylar in a cell and makes his own escape. Later, when Noah visits the house and sees Claire alive but traumatized, he explains that he cannot stay as he has to recapture the superhumans who escaped during Sylar's attack, stating "They're villains, Claire, and I'm one of the only people on the planet who knows how to stop them," and even showing her some info on the escapees. Before leaving, Noah tells her that he's enlisted Claire's biological mom, the pyrokinetic Meredith Gordon, to help protect the family.

Going back to the Company to bring the escapees in, Noah, on orders from new CEO Angela Petrelli, is partnered with Sylar, much to his chagrin. When they arrive at the bank where a group of escapees are causing trouble, Noah orders Sylar to stay out of his way and let him handle the escapees, but Sylar uses his sharp tongue to convince the police that they are FBI agents so they can get through. Noah manages to free the hostages, but is then taken hostage himself. Just as Knox and Jesse Murphy (now free of Peter's influence) are about to start beating him up, Sylar enters and stops them both with his telekinesis, also neutralizing Jesse's power. Noah reminds him of the "plan", and Sylar replies "You just said that to make sure I didn't." Soon afterwards, Sylar loses control, locks Noah out of the bank, and kills Jesse for his power, allowing Knox to escape. Back at Level 5, Noah mentions to the Haitian that he only plans to be partnered with Sylar long enough to ascertain a weakness, to which then he'll kill him. When he chastises Sylar for the death of Jesse, he merely states that "rehabilitation doesn't happen overnight."

Later on, he and Sylar arrive at the home of Stephen Canfield and discover Claire there, having already attempted to capture him, only to find out that he is not truly evil. After Canfield opens up a vortex, which Claire, Noah, and Sylar barely avoid getting sucked into, and escapes, Noah orders Sylar to shut up after he attempts to apologize for what he did, and Claire tells him of Canfield's true colors. He assures her that he would not put someone in Level 5 who didn't belong there, and Claire tells him about Canfield's whereabouts.

When they find Canfield, Noah attempts to force him to kill Sylar in exchange for his freedom, clearly convinced that Sylar cannot be redeemed, but Canfield instead opens up a vortex and sucks himself in, preferring death to becoming a monster. Noah and Sylar take Claire home, and the former assures her that he only does these things to protect her.

When Claire, Meredith, and Sandra take down the puppet man Eric Doyle, they call Noah to take him in. Noah is impressed that Claire was able to help take out a very dangerous man, but Claire brushes him off, still angry with him about the Canfield incident and his partnership with Sylar. Noah then asks Meredith to accompany him as a partner.

Following a phone call from Nathan Petrelli in "Eris Quod Sum", he and Meredith travel to Mohinder Suresh's laboratory in the loft of Isaac Mendez, where he advises Nathan and Tracy Strauss to get checked out by the Company.

In "The Eclipse", when Pinehearst begins looking for the catalyst needed to perfect Mohinder's genetic modification formula, which is assumed to be Claire, Noah goes into hiding with her at the now-abandoned Canfield house and begins to teach her how to fight, but the father-daughter duo are soon attacked by Sylar and Elle. As their (and everyone else's) powers are negated due to a solar eclipse, Noah is more than a match for them, even dislocating Sylar's arm, but is ultimately forced to retreat when Claire takes a bullet from Elle that was meant for him. Angered and worried, Noah takes her home where he and Sandra treat her wound, and he decides against going to a hospital, believing it to be minor and unwilling to take the risk of her powers returning while they are there. He then leaves to get revenge on Sylar and Elle for Claire's injury.

Noah tracks Sylar and Elle down at the Canfield household and watches them have sex through the scope of a sniper rifle. Afterwards, he opens fire, misses, and then breaks into the house and shoots at them with a Company handgun, hitting Elle in the left thigh and forcing them into a retreat. While looking for them, Noah receives a call from Sandra in which she informs him that Claire is hospitalized. Instead of immediately rushing to the hospital, Noah follows a trail of Elle's blood to a local grocery store. After luring him into a back room, Sylar jumps him from behind, but he is once again outmatched without his powers against Noah's fighting skills. Ultimately, after tossing the ultimate insult ("Poor Gabriel. You always wanted to be special. Now look at you; you're nobody."), he slits Sylar's throat with a box cutter. When he returns home, Claire is understandably angered with him for focusing on Sylar rather than rushing to the hospital. When Claire reveals that she had died in the hospital, Noah realizes something awful: if Claire's powers are back, then so are Sylar's. Indeed, Sylar and Elle, newly empowered, have made it to the Bennet household and are holding Sandra and Lyle hostage. Sylar telekinetically disarms Noah, pins him to the wall, and begins to strangle him with his powers. Claire desperately swears to go with Sylar in exchange for leaving her family alone, but Sylar is unsatisfied with that and begins to cut into Noah's neck, clearly intent on decapitating him. Fortunately, Hiro Nakamura arrives, teleports Sylar and Elle away, and then time-travels with Claire back to the day when his father first assigned Noah to protect her.

When Claire is returned to the present by Arthur Petrelli, she, Noah, Meredith, and Angela are trapped in Primatech when Sylar initiates the lockdown mode. Noah sends three escaped Level 5 inmates (Echo DeMille, Eric Doyle, and Danny Pine) after Sylar as bait, promising freedom to the first one to kill Sylar. However, Echo and Danny are killed by Sylar, and Doyle is incapacitated. Soon afterwards, Noah is led into a trap by Sylar, who locks him in a cell with Meredith, who has been injected with adrenaline, her ability becoming increasingly uncontrollable, and leaves him with a handgun with one bullet. Sylar tells him that he will have to choose between killing Meredith to save himself and explaining her death to Claire, or doing nothing and being burnt to death. However, Claire arrives at that moment, and Meredith, as per Noah's orders, superheats the bulletproof glass of the cell to weaken it, and then Noah shoots the glass to no avail. Claire then bodily throws herself through the window to help Noah escape, which he does. After Claire "kills" Sylar, she escapes with Noah and Angela just as Meredith finally loses control of her ability and unleashes a massive explosion. Afterwards, Noah comforts a tearful Claire as they watch Primatech burn to the ground.

Fugitives

In "A Clear and Present Danger", Noah is seen to be working with Nathan Petrelli. When Mohinder Suresh is running away from Homeland Security, Noah arrives in a SUV and rescues him. As they escape, Noah asks him who he's been in contact with. They get to the exit only to discover that the hunter and his men have cut them off. Noah apologizes and then tasers Mohinder. When Peter Petrelli arrives at his apartment, Nathan is waiting for him. After he and Peter talk, Nathan smiles and asks for a hug, and Noah tasers Peter from behind. At the end of the episode, Noah is revealed to be the co-pilot of the cargo plane.

In "Trust and Blood", Noah survives the crash of the plane like almost everyone else. He is retrieved by Danko and his soldiers. Bennet chases after the captured heroes and finds Claire and Peter running together. Bennet quickly grabs Claire but wants to shoot Peter, but Claire manages to convince Bennet to let Peter run. Bennet takes Claire back to Nathan. However, after a brief interrogation, Claire gets rescued by Daphne and she gets reunited with Hiro, Ando, Mohinder and Matt. Though Danko's soldiers quickly find Claire and her friends and shoot Daphne. Matt then uses his powers to take over the soldiers and have them kill themselves. Danko wants to shoot Matt, but Claire takes the bullets for him and gets arrested instead while the others flee. Nathan and Bennet finally convince Claire to return home to Costa Verde, where her mom is revealed to think Claire just spent 2 days looking to college brochures. Bennet in the meantime stays behind looking for the fugitives. When having another shot to take down both Tracy Strauss and Peter, Bennet again chooses not to shoot down Peter and allowing him to escape. After arresting Tracy, Nathan even thanks Bennet for it.

In "Building 26" Claire reveals to her mother Sandra that Noah has been hunting down individuals with powers, and Sandra forces him to move out. He tells Claire that he will be around, and expresses a desire to be more honest with the family. He is later shown at a bar, where he is drugged and kidnapped by Peter Petrelli, Matt Parkman, and Mohinder Suresh.

In "Cold Wars" Noah is being interrogated by Matt Parkman, Mohinder Suresh, and Peter Petrelli. Matt Parkman manages to pluck out memories at the expense of Noah being in pain, learning about the operation hunting people with abilities, this is also where we lurn Noah is colorblind. Noah is rescued by Danko's men, and tells Danko that he will henceforth cooperate with Danko's more heavy-handed approach to their job. However, he later meets with Angela Petrelli, where it is implied that he is working with her against Danko. Their precise goals are unclear.

In "Shades of Gray", Nathan fires Danko as his second-in-command and appoints Noah to the position. Noah takes a call from Claire, who is asking how he managed to live a two-faced life for all this time, but Noah simply tells her he is the worst person to ask, and because she doesn't know which path to take, he doesn't know either. He later warns Angela that Danko is coming for her, but Angela says she is prepared. When Danko witnesses Nathan's ability of flight, he demands to know if Noah knew about it.

In "Turn and Face the Strange", Noah is accosted by Sandra in his hotel room, where she forces divorce papers on him and tells him she doesn't love him anymore. Noah discovers that she isn't really "Sandra," but Sylar pretending to be her, as "Sandra's" signature on the papers is different from all of her other signatures. Discovering this, Noah confronts who he believes to be Sylar masquerading as Sandra in his hotel room, only to discover that it's the real Sandra, who is now scared to death of him and orders him out of the room. After being branded insane by Danko and his men, Noah is forced to run for his life and leave the operation. He is next seen driving up to Coyote Sands, meeting up with Claire and the Petrelli family.

In "1961", he is seen digging graves in "Coyote Sands" alongside with Claire, Peter and Nathan by orders of Angela, due to her dreams about finding her sister. When the sandstorm hits the place, he is out looking for Claire and then is taken down by Mohinder, who later explains his father's involving in the relocation project. After finding and losing Alice again, he is seen together with Claire and the Petrelli family eating at a diner, when Angela decide they should form a new company; minutes later, they witness another Nathan at a live press conference, and Noah recognize him as Sylar.

Followed in "I Am Sylar", as Nathan leaves the diner and Peter follows him, Noah, Claire and Angela decide to leave too, only to be intercepted in the road by Danko's agents.

In "An Invisible Thread", Noah is captured by the agents operating Building 26 shortly before Danko is framed for murdering several of his soldiers by Sylar. While captured, the two share a brief discussion about forming a partnership, which is ultimately short-lived. Once the two are freed from their cell by Hiro Nakamura, Danko waits for Noah to reveal what he knows about Sylar's plans and attempts to tranquilize him. Saved by Hiro, Noah intercepts Claire and Peter shortly after their encounter with Sylar and assists in convincing the Secret Service to help Peter save the President. Later, once Sylar is defeated, he works with Angela Petrelli and Matt Parkman to bring Nathan's personality to the forefront of Sylar's mind, thereby allowing Sylar to assume Nathan's life posthumously. After disbanding Building 26's personnel, the money is reallocated on "Nathan" and Noah's advice by the President into a new supervisory branch. When asked what to call this branch, Noah suggests, "The Company."

Redemption

In the wake of the events from "An Invisible Thread", "Orientation and Jump, Push, Fall" shows that Noah Bennet has begun to revive the Company under the auspices of the United States government, but with a slow start. Tracy Strauss is still unaccounted for and appears to be murdering anyone who had a hand in her incarceration.

Despite her attempt on his life, which Bennet survived with the help of Emile Danko, he refuses to start hunting down superhumans as a vigilante, preferring instead to try and start the new Company under better pretenses. While eating in the restaurant underneath his apartment, Tracy Strauss approaches him, apparently to taunt him of his impending death. However, Bennet offers her a unique opportunity to simply walk away; if she does, he pledges to get Danko off her trail—permanently. After recruiting The Haitian to erase Danko's memories, Tracy shows up to kill him, only to find that Danko no longer remembers her. As she leaves, she hears Danko being attacked by an unknown assailant, Edgar, from the carnival, only to be attacked herself. Afterwards, she calls Bennet who discovers a key the assailant was after on Danko's body.

Throughout these events, Bennet also tries to help Claire adjust to her new life in college while managing his own divorce from Sandra.

Bennet calls Peter Petrelli to help him check out the safe deposit box that it opens, which Peter agrees to for the opportunity to gain the attacker's power of super speed. They are attacked only once they find a single, antique compass in the safe deposit box, though Peter gains the upper hand and forces a retreat. Afterwards, Bennet holds onto the compass halfheartedly, feeling that it is a dead end.

After being attacked later for the compass and barely surviving it, Noah calls Tracy both to talk about her new adjustments and for her company. The two share a meal together that Peter left behind to console Noah.

In "Acceptance", after a visiting Claire imparts some sage advice, Noah begins to realize that he wants to return to doing what he's good at, namely investigating superhumans. Then, Tracy seeks Noah advice as well, and he gives her the same message Claire told him: return to the basics to understand where to go from there.

In "Tabula Rasa", Peter comes to Noah looking for a healer to save Hiro's life; Noah drops the name of Jeremy Greer, a past target of a bag & tag mission, so both teleport to Cainan, GA. After finding Jeremy's power change from heal to kill when he got angry at his parents, killing them, Noah helps him conquering his fear of killing anyone else, and then he is able to heal Peter; Noah states that his own power is to understand people with abilities. Peter leaves once he mimicked Jeremy's healing touch, but Noah stays to assure Jeremy will get the help he needs, mainly because Noah feels he let Jeremy down in the past.

In "Strange Attractors", despite Noah's effort to cover up Jeremy's parents death, the local sheriff holds him, so Noah enlists Tracy Strauss to help Jeremy start over. Once Jeremy is out, the townspeople believe Jeremy is guilty of charge, and frightened by them Jeremy accidentally kills a man, so he is taken by the police again, away from Noah and Tracy. They come across his dead body that night and lament their failure. Tracy tells Noah to never call her again, and both agree to go their separate ways.

In "Once Upon a Time in Texas", 3 years ago, during the time he worked for Primatech Paper as the events of Volume One "Genesis" unfold (Seven Minutes to Midnight), Noah is shown to share a special bond with fellow company agent Lauren Gilmore, who was his confidante when Noah cannot tell his family about what his job really entails, especially Isaac's paintings involving Claire. Noah and Lauren share a kiss at Lauren's motel room while wrapped in a romantic moment, however Noah stops the kiss, feeling that he is cheating on Sandra, and he and Lauren apologize for letting it get out of hand. Once back at the headquarters, Lauren gives him an envelope, in which he finds a note from her telling she got the Haitian mind-wiped any memory of her crush on Noah, so they could work together without any concern, and then writes a note to Noah to let him know this.

In "Shadowboxing", Noah appears at Becky's sorority house with the Haitian. Claire notices her friends have been mind-wiped and argues with Noah about what he is able to do with people around her, fearing they will erased Gretchen's memory as well. Once Claire and the Haitian go to check on Gretchen, Noah is out to find Becky at her room, and despite her being invisible, he states he knows how to deal with her because he once had an invisible partner (Claude). Becky confesses why she attacked Claire; Noah killed her father while she was a kid during a bag & tag mission. Noah misses her when two girls enter the room. Back to Claire, he found Samuel Sullivan with her. Getting protective, he handcuffs Samuel, but Becky comes in taking down Claire and Noah. Samuel takes Noah's taser and shocks Becky stating he knows she is messed up. Noah tries to attack him, pushing Claire away. After Samuel and Becky are gone, Noah apologizes to Claire, and then leaves. Once at his apartment, he looks at several files labeled to being Samuel's including the mysterious sinkhole that destroyed a manor (Ink).

In "Brother's Keeper", Noah gets home to find Claire and Tracy sharing a quality moment, and notices a frozen foot at the coffee table. Both girls state nothing happened.

In "Thanksgiving", Noah invites Claire to his first Thanksgiving dinner so he won't be alone with Sandra and her new boyfriend. At the grocery store, he runs into Lauren Gilmore, whom he jokingly admits to be "stalking"; she then helps Noah shopping. Once Claire arrives at Noah's apartment, Claire notices Lauren, referring to her as Noah's date, which he refutes; once Sandra and Doug arrive, Sandra mistakes Lauren for a maid; after correction, Sandra believes Lauren to be Noah's date too. During dinner, Claire confesses her decision to drop out college, which Noah is immediately opposed to. After Claire cuts herself and Doug faints, she and Noah discuss the clippings on Noah's wall; Noah insists Samuel and the carnival are dangerous and shows her the compass. Gretchen then appears, and tells Claire she was invited by Noah as Claire was feeling bad those days. Once everyone is leaving, Noah assures Claire she has many options, unknowing she later takes this advice to visit the carnival. Before leaving, Lauren asks Noah to go out and watch a movie some day.

In "The Fifth Stage", Lauren appears at Noah's apartment ready to go out in their date, but Noah noticed Claire took the compass and must be heading to the "Sullivan Bros. Carnival", so Lauren decides to help him using her CIA contacts. Later that night, Eli shows up at the place looking for the Primatech files, surrounding Lauren and Noah with clones; both attack the clones and hide in the bathroom to arm themselves. Once out again, they notice Eli and clones are gone, and they took the files with them.

In "Upon This Rock", Noah is seen at Nathan's funeral.

In "Let It Bleed", Noah offers to take Claire to Nathan's wake but she becomes upset with him and realizes that Sylar killed Nathan and Noah transformed Sylar into Nathan. Noah admits that he did the wrong thing and that he thought he did it to keep Sylar detained and Nathan alive at the same time but Claire is angry and tells him she needs some to time to grieve, without being reminded of the truth.

In "The Wall," in order to turn Claire against her father, Samuel has Damien use his powers to project Noah's memories in the House of Mirrors. It's shown that Noah started out as a too-honest used-car salesman who had a pregnant wife until she was killed by a man with telekinetic powers during a robbery which sent Noah after him looking for revenge. He also becomes a lot less honest. When he finds a man with powers, Noah demands the location of the killer's location which the man doesn't know and attacks him. Noah is forced to kill the man, the first time he ever killed anyone and this brings him to the attention of the Company who recruits him. In order to curb his more violent tendencies towards specials, they have him marry Sandra who is a waitress at a restaurant where he and Thompson eat together. Though Claire is horrified by the origin of her parents marriage, Noah assures her he really did love Sandra despite their arranged marriage and her opinion of Noah doesn't change for the worse, so Samuel locks them in a trailer together and buries them underground in order to force Claire to witness his death while she survives due to her powers.

In "Brave New World," after being rescued from near-death by Tracy Strauss, Noah, Claire and Lauren travel to the Carnival to stop Samuel's plan to kill thousands of people. While Claire tries to convince the carnies of the truth, Noah tries to find Samuel, but is caught by Edgar. Once he clarifies that he is there to stop Samuel and not to hurt anyone else, Edgar, who also wants to stop Samuel, teams up with him to do so. The two arrive in time to back up Claire's allegations that Samuel killed Joseph and was responsible for the death of Lydia and what he plans to do. When a brainwashed Eli backs them up, the carnies believe them and abandon Samuel who starts his earthquake while Noah and Claire try to get everyone to safety. Thanks to Peter battling Samuel, Noah and Claire have enough time to locate Hiro and Ando and have them teleport all of the carnies away. Noah stays behind to finish the job and arrives after Peter defeats the powerless Samuel who collapses in despair at everyone's abandonment of him. Noah has him arrested and covers up the incident with the help of Lauren until Claire climbs the Ferris Wheel to expose her powers to the world which he tells Lauren is breaking his heart. Noah watches as Claire jumps off the Ferris Wheel in front of all the news cameras.

Heroes Reborn

Bennet is a central character in the 2015-16 miniseries Heroes Reborn, first seen in the web series Dark Matters, living as a car salesman four years after Claire's public reveal. He is tracked down by Quentin Frady, who has been researching Primatech and Renautas following the Odessa disaster and his sister's abduction.

It is revealed that Bennet was present in Odessa on June 13 when the Evo Summit was bombed. Noah was there to meet Claire, whom he believes to have died in the attack. Since then, he has been living under the identity of Ted Barnes and has attempted to move on with his life. Once confronted by Quentin, he begins to question what really happened at the summit and resumes his old identity to investigate. He follows a clue to an ophthalmology clinic in Dallas run by the Haitian. The Haitian returns to Noah his trademark glasses just before attempting to kill him. The two struggle before Bennet shoots him, killing him.

Bennet then decides to team up with Quentin to discover the truth behind the summit. The two travel to Primatech to recover Noah's old files in hopes of reuniting with Molly Walker.

After rescuing Hiro Nakamura in "Game Over", Noah has Hiro take him back to the Evo Summit to save Claire and stop the bombing. After watching his past self be taken away by Erica Kravid, Noah is found by Angela Petrelli who informs him that Claire has been rushed to the hospital and is in surgery. While Hiro attempts to stop the bomb, Noah rushes to the hospital with Angela only to learn that Claire has died giving birth to twins. Noah says a tearful goodbye to Claire who doesn't revive for some reason. Hiro appears to him afterwards and informs him that he can't stop the bomb, there are too many variables and any attempt to stop it results in a worse future. As Hiro and Noah prepare to return to their own time, Phoebe Frady unleashes a massive wave of darkness that drains Hiro's powers shortly before Harris bombs the summit. Returning to Claire's children, Angela informs Noah that the Earth's magnetic poles will soon reverse and solar flares will wipe out all life on Earth. Erica Kravid only intends to save those she wants and Angela has foreseen that one or both of Claire's children hold the key to saving the world. Noah realizes he had his memory wiped to protect Claire's children from Erica Kravid and decides that the safest place for them is in the past where they can grow up and prepare for their destiny. When they reach the correct time, Erica will be looking for toddlers, not teenagers. Hiro reluctantly agrees to take Angela back to 1999 to fulfill Noah's request while Noah intends to erase all security footage of the babies. Before Hiro and Angela leave, Noah and Angela name the babies as Claire never got to: Angela names Claire's son Nathan after Nathan Petrelli while Noah names Claire's daughter Malina after his own mother. After Angela, Hiro and the children are gone, Noah realizes that Erica is in the hospital and goes after her to kill her. His past self, having escaped with the help of Caspar Abraham, spots Noah and chases him down.

In "11:53 to Odessa", Noah tries to get Malina to Odessa to stop the H.E.L.E. but during a massive storm, a car is flung right at him. Noah suddenly disappears leaving behind only his broken glasses.

In "Project Reborn", Tommy learns that in order for him and Malina to stop the H.E.L.E., they need a third person to act as a conduit for their power, someone willing to sacrifice themselves to save the world. Tommy goes back in time two days and saves Noah's life, transporting him seven years into the past to when Angela tested the twins powers. Noah watches as Angela states that there was a third faceless person in her vision and seems to look right at Noah. Tommy explains to Noah that after failing to stop the H.E.L.E. "a thousand times", he realized Noah was the key: if Noah acts as their conduit, they can stop it, but it will be fatal to him. Noah tells Tommy to take him to the present where he takes Malina's hand. Though Tommy protests, Noah tells him that this is his destiny and Tommy takes his hand. With the power boost from Tommy, Malina fires a blast of energy into the sky through Noah, causing him great pain but successfully shielding the planet from the H.E.L.E. and saving the world. After the future is changed, Tommy and Malina find Noah sitting on the ground, near death. Noah looks at his grandchildren one last time and tells them that he's proud of them before dying.

Alternate futures

• In the alternate future of "Five Years Gone", Noah Bennet (who is not wearing his trademark horn-rimmed glasses) works together with Hana Gitelman to protect people with superpowers from being persecuted by a now fearful government. It is revealed that he is trying to keep Claire hidden from the registry. Though he is estranged from Claire, he visits her at the diner to warn her to get away. When he arrives back at work, he discovers Hana has been killed, and Matt Parkman, now head of the Department of Homeland Security, and his men are waiting for him. He does not realize Parkman has murdered Hana and broken their agreement, and hands Parkman a picture drawn by his son. Parkman holds a gun to him and demands to know where Claire is. Bennet refuses to answer, so Parkman reads Bennet's mind to extract Claire's location. Parkman then shoots Bennet in the head.
• In the alternate future of "I Am Become Death", as depicted in the graphic novel "Resistance", Claire notes that she has lost both of her parents.

Name

Mr. Bennet actually wears browline glasses (left), as opposed to horn-rimmed glasses (right).

Noah Bennet is initially introduced as "the man in the horn-rimmed glasses," based on his distinctive eyewear. The glasses Coleman wears in most scenes are actually browline, not horn-rimmed, but none of the characters seem aware of the distinction. In the third episode, "One Giant Leap", his name was confirmed as "Mr. Bennet" and he has been occasionally referred to as such since. Still, "Horn-Rimmed Glasses" (or a variant of it) is the more often used name by the characters, albeit indirectly. For example, characters who don't know him personally usually describe him as "the man with horn-rimmed glasses." With regard to Bennet's given name, Coleman has admitted that it was intentionally avoided. This is evident in "Distractions", where Mrs. Bennet remarks that she is amused that everybody called him "Mister", and almost states his first name before being interrupted. His driver's license, displayed by Sylar in the same episode, did not show a first name. According to Coleman, the character's first name was written out of a draft script because "it stopped the scene cold." In the final episode of season one, "How to Stop an Exploding Man", Mr. Bennet tells Peter Petrelli to call him "Noah."

Ironically, likely in a nod to the character's inaccurate name, Bennet tries on an actual pair of horn-rimmed glasses in a flashback sequence at the end of "Company Man". He decides not to wear them when Claire describes them as "grandpa glasses." Claire subsequently selects the browline glasses (declaring that he now looks "like my dad"), which he then wears from that point forward.

In an interview with TV Guide, Jack Coleman was asked "were the horn-rimmed glasses your idea, or the writers?" Coleman responded:

That was always in the script. Tim's original description in the pilot was "an everyman but unknowable." The idea was based on Max von Sydow['s role] in Three Days of the Condor, that seemingly benign but anything-but-benign character. I tried on many, many pairs of glasses to find the right look. The thing that's great about them is that they're so anachronistic, they kind of make him into this '50s Cold War warrior, which is perfect because he is this mystery guy who doesn't quite fit in. Putting those glasses on does half the work. They make you instantly suspicious [Laughs], because nobody wears glasses like that anymore.

External links

• Interview: "Jack Coleman Feels That Heroes is Something Special", MediaBlvd Magazine, February 27, 2007.