Mohinder Suresh

Template:Heroes character box Mohinder Suresh is a fictional character on the NBC drama Heroes, portrayed by Sendhil Ramamurthy. He is a genetics professor at the University of Madras who holds a Doctorate of Philosophy degree with original research in parapsychology. He is attempting to find the truth behind the sudden death of his father, Chandra Suresh.

Character history

Like Father, Like Son

After hearing news of his father's death in New York, Mohinder suspects that his father was murdered to silence the findings of his genetics research. He goes to his father's local apartment to look for clues and to finish his research. However, before Mohinder can thoroughly analyze his father's findings, he realizes Mr. Bennet is still in the apartment when the intruder's phone rings. As the mysterious stranger talks to the caller about Mohinder's father and the research, Mohinder narrowly escapes.

Mohinder travels to Brooklyn, where he rents his father's other apartment. Although it is in disarray, much of the material is still there and Mohinder begins to reorganize it. To makes ends meet during his lengthy stay, Mohinder takes a job as a taxi driver and picks up a passenger named Peter Petrelli, who asks him about "being special." Although Mohinder is slow to realize what Peter means, he eventually talks to him about genetics and evolution. Afterwards, Mohinder gets another fare, Mr. Bennet. Bennet acts ordinary enough at first, talking about himself, and heading home after business. However, he begins to ask Mohinder personal questions, referencing such personal details as his teaching position in India. Being spooked, Mohinder abandons the cab and runs away.

In the second episode, Mohinder discovers that his father had compiled a program to find the "special people".

Mohinder finds a man in his father's apartment. The man claims he is an exterminator, but Mohinder quickly realizes that the man was planting an eavesdropping device. The man pulls a gun, but after a struggle that leads out into the apartment hallway, a girl picks up the gun ("If you're the exterminator, why do you have a gun holster?"), prompting the man to quickly leave. The girl introduces herself as a friend of Mohinder's father and enthusiastic about his theories on genetics; her name is Eden McCain.

Mohinder and Eden discover a portable hard drive in his father's pet's cage. The hard drive appears to have all the genetic research that his father had done on tracking those with special abilities.

Mohinder also learns that his father seems to have had a falling out with a man named Sylar. Chandra thought Sylar was "Patient Zero," according to Eden, but on a recorded telephone message, Chandra seems to want nothing to do with the strange man.

Mohinder, jumping at every noise, fears for his life and keeps a pistol cocked and ready. Fortunately, no bad people are breaking in; it's only Eden. She brings him macaroni and cheese, and they discuss his father's work. Mohinder recalls that his father never answered a question directly, but answered with another question. Frustrated, he throws his father's laptop. However, by throwing it, he accidentally reveals a small book hidden in a compartment. As they thumb through the leather notebook, they discover a list of names, apparently of people all across the globe that possess "abilities." The name "Sylar" pops up and scrawled there is his New York address. They also find a key in the book.

They make their way to his apartment. They knock, but there's no answer. Mohinder produces the key that they found, but it doesn't fit. "It would have been too easy," Mohinder says. Therefore, he pulls out a screwdriver and picks the lock. They enter a very neat kitchen, with a teacup resting on the table. Mohinder takes pictures. As they go further into the apartment, they find that the walls are covered with bookshelves packed with books - all impeccably ordered. Eden notices an anatomy book laying open to a page were the face is dissected. "A little light reading before bed?" she comments. Mohinder bumps a closet door, and what he finds is astonishing: a room lit by a string of light bulbs and a map identical to his father's, but with more pins stuck in and yarn links. However, going further in, he finds a more astounding sight. Painted up in red letters are the words "Forgive Me." In smaller letters, all over the rough cement wall are written, "I have sinned," over and over. "My God, what was my father involved with?" comments Mohinder. When they return to the apartment with the police, however, the apartment has been cleaned out, with no evidence to support Mohinder's claims.

Mohinder tracks down Nathan Petrelli to question him about whether he might be one of the "special people" his father was researching. Nathan, who is busy running in a congressional election, does not listen to Mohinder, but tells Peter about him. Peter then makes the connection to Mohinder and his father's book and visits Mohinder's apartment. Because Peter can not demonstrate any powers without another "special person" being there for him to mimic, they set out to visit Isaac, who Peter says can paint the future. Unfortunately, Isaac is strung out on heroin and refuses to open the door.

On the subway ride back, time suddenly freezes for everyone but Peter, who meets a future version of Hiro. When time unfreezes in "Hiros", Peter tells Mohinder about the encounter, but Mohinder is now convinced that Peter is crazy. Mohinder makes a decision: he will return to Madras with his father's ashes. Peter tries to convince him otherwise but to no avail.

After returning to his apartment in "Better Halves", Mohinder picks up and prepares to leave. Eden would rather he stay, flirting with and even kissing him before goes. Though Mohinder feels certain of his choice, Eden says she's sure he'll be back.

Indecision

In "Seven Minutes to Midnight," Mohinder returns to India to scatter his father's ashes. He debates whether to return to his job as a college professor. His former girlfriend Mira invites him to interview for a job at a company doing genetics research where she has just been made a department head. However, she says he must not mention his father's research into the evolution of super powers or consider continuing it. Mohinder talks with his mother about her decision to let his father go to the United States to look for people with superhuman abilities. She tells him for the first time about his sister Shanti, who died when she was five and Mohinder was two. Shanti was "special", according to her mother, and their father loved her so much that he was afraid Mohinder would find his love for his son wanting in comparison. Mohinder also has a series of prophetic dreams, depicting a young Indian boy who guides him to various scenes showing his parents arguing and showing his father's murder. Mohinder later finds a file with a photo of the boy, named Sanjog Iyer, in his father's office.

In the episode "Homecoming", Mohinder locates Sanjog playing soccer, and questions him about his visions. The young boy tells Mohinder that troubled people seek him out in their dreams, not the other way around. Sanjog also tells Mohinder that he already has the answers he seeks. Mohinder then decides to continue his father's research and accesses his father's computer files, using the password "Shanti". The files contain the names of all of the people with super powers that Chandra Suresh had located. Mohinder tells his mother that he plans to return to New York, and that he wants to seek out people with special powers to tell them of their abilities.

Return to New York

Upon returning to New York, Mohinder began preparations to warn the people on Chandra Suresh's list of Sylar, as a number of those on the list had already been killed by the telekinetic serial killer. Shortly after, he received a phone call from Eden. Without going into details, she explained to him that she wasn't who he thought she was. She said that she was going to explain further after she "made things right" by killing Sylar, who she knew killed Chandra Suresh. Eden then hung up on Mohinder.

Two weeks later in "Godsend," Mohinder learns of Eden's suicide. An officer comes by to talk with Eden's former neighbors. The officier states that she was found in Lake Ramsey and had suffered a single gunshot wound to the head. The officer also states that her real name was "Sarah Ellis". Later, Mr. Bennet appears at the apartment. Bennet tells Mohinder that Eden was a good person. As the conversation goes south, Bennet gets to the point. Bennet wants Mohinder's help in finding people with abilities and "making a difference". Mohinder says he isn't interested in helping Bennet, but Bennet leaves his card anyway.

Nathan Petrelli approaches Mohinder in "The Fix". Mohinder quickly apologizes for coming off as "a raving lunatic" when they first met. Nathan has come to Mohinder in an attempt to help his brother, Peter Petrelli. They get to talking, Nathan explains that Peter is afraid he'll cause an explosion. Mohinder, in turn, explains Peter's unique, "sponge"-like superpowers to Nathan. Mohinder also states that he may be able to help Peter with his condition if he's able to test Peter. However, Nathan is reluctant to let Mohinder come into contact with Peter, fearing that Mohinder will "feed into [Peter's] paranoia." Still, Mohinder insists, and they leave to find Peter. When they find Peter at his apartment, he "has no time to be [Mohinder's] guinea pig." Instead, Peter briefly pretends to agree with to two before quickly running out the door.

Trivia

• Mohinder is from Chennai in the series and appears to be a Hindu, but his first name is Sikh. His last name is characteristically South Indian.
• The role of Mohinder was originally written to be a 55-year old geneticist looking for superpowered humans. However, Sendhil Ramamurthy's audition was so convincing that the main character part was rewritten to be a younger geneticist following in his father's footsteps. The concept of the father geneticist was spun off into the minor character of Chandra Suresh.