Sylar (Gabriel Gray) is a fictional character and a primary antagonist of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes. Portrayed by Zachary Quinto, he is a super-powered serial killer who targets other superhumans in order to steal their powers. He served as the primary villain of the first season and then as a recurring antagonist. Over the course of the series, the writers depicted Sylar attempting at various times and under different circumstances to become a hero or curb his desire to kill, undergoing relapses at various stages. In the series' penultimate episode, he experienced over three years of penitence in a mental prison, and later identifies himself as a hero in the series finale.
TV Guide included him in their 2013 list of "The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time".Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; (March 25, 2013). "Baddies to the Bone: The 60 nastiest villains of all time". TV Guide. pp. 14 - 15.
Concept and creation
Sylar was created as a cannibal who ate his victims' brains and "digested their power"; in order to avoid the potential silliness and zombie associations, the producers deliberately made this fact vague in the series. In an interview with series creator Tim Kring, it is asked if Sylar eats brains, and he merely states "That's the popular speculation. There's a connection between the powers and the brain, and Sylar has found it." The question is addressed in the season three premiere, when he is depicted in the act of acquiring Claire Bennet's regenerative powers through examination of her brain with his hands. When Claire asks him the same question, he sounds surprised and replies "Eat your brain? Claire, that's disgusting." The writers never bridged the gap between the early insinuations regarding what Sylar does with the brains and the final incarnation they reveal in his encounter with Claire.
Prior to Quinto's first appearance in the episode "Seven Minutes to Midnight", the role of Sylar was played by stunt doubles, and usually, as in "One Giant Leap", the character's face being obscured by shadows. Quinto himself played the role with his face hidden in the same way until "Six Months Ago". In the second episode of the first season, "Don't Look Back", his voice is heard in a recorded phone conversation on Chandra Suresh's answering machine, spoken by voice actor Maurice LaMarche. Part of this conversation is heard again in "Six Months Ago", this time spoken by Quinto.
Personality Sylar was raised as the son of a watchmaker, but was indoctrinated by his mother's repeated assertions to believe that he was special and deserved more in life. This and the "evolutionary imperative" to acquire new abilities are what drive him to kill the victims with powers. Taking the name "Sylar" from a watch brand, he has shed all connections to his former life as Gabriel Gray to the point where he angrily lashes out at anyone who calls him Gabriel.
In addition to the above, Sylar shows a marked lack of empathy. As seen in the episode ".07%", when shortly before killing Isaac Mendez, he casually comments on Mendez's lack of fear, with the sort of mild surprise that someone might express if he noticed that a train was running late.
Although he at times tries to impersonate other people in order to obtain a longer-term goal, Sylar is also unable to completely control his "hunger," or obsessive tendencies, to the extent that he still intimidates people when he is trying to gain their trust or co-operation. This was seen with Mohinder Suresh, when Sylar tried to impersonate Zane Taylor, and also with Claire Bennet's mother when Sylar was looking for Claire, as well.
Sylar's dominant trait was his innate desire to be recognized as special and admired. This was fueled by his mother's vocal disappointment in him for perceived failure and his own feelings that he did not get a chance to choose his destiny, being forced into the role of a watchmaker. He spent his life hoping to learn something extraordinary about himself.
Sylar is repeatedly shown as desperately looking for a family and parental figures due to his own unhappy home life, desperately wanting to be loved. The flip side of this is that he can react with extreme violence when his emotional needs are exploited by others.
Sylar is also known for his voracious appetite, and he can constantly be seen snacking or looking for food. He has even taken time during his murders to eat, such as when he reacted with joy at a birthday cake of the woman he just killed.
Quinto has said of his character,
The sad part is, he's initially well-intentioned. He wants to improve his life. He wants to make a difference. He wants to matter. Through the process of realizing how to do that, he gets blinded and loses himself in the pursuit of it and goes a little crazy—'a little' being an understatement.
Quinto also observed,
He's definitely somebody that has been overcome by a hunger and overcome by a pursuit for power and for importance that did start a little more innocuously than it evolved into.
When asked if he thought Sylar was irredeemable or not, Quinto responded,
I think there's a certain point at which you cross a line and it's sort of irrevocable.... I don't know what the writers have in mind, but it would probably be kind of a challenge at this point, you know?
Quinto has also responded to the question of whether Sylar could ever be good, commenting that
I don't really look at him as, you know, absolutely good or bad. I think that he is constantly walking a line of ambiguity within himself and uncertainty within himself that defines the way he acts.
Sylar, however, is also shown as very caring and thoughtful, like when he takes care of Angela Petrelli, when Arthur and Angela Petrelli claimed that they are Sylar's parents, which Peter wants to go to Pinehearst, Sylar didn't allow him to go alone because it is dangerous, and right after he murdered Brian Davis, he tries to commit suicide, feeling his guilt for murdering a person.
Character history Genesis
The episode "Six Months Ago" reveals that Sylar's real name is Gabriel Gray, a highly talented watchmaker who follows his adoptive father's footsteps. He encounters Chandra Suresh, who tells Gabriel that he may be an evolved human with superhuman powers. Gabriel eagerly submits to testing. After being rejected by Suresh because the test results are indeterminate, Gabriel contacts another person on Suresh's list, Brian Davis. Gabriel discovers that he himself has the power of intuitive aptitude, and murders Davis for his telekinetic powers. After returning to Suresh, he becomes "Patient Zero", and continues to work with Suresh until Suresh realizes that Sylar is murdering the people that they meet and ultimately, Suresh is killed by Gabriel in his own cab precisely at 11:53 p.m.
Sylar is first referenced in the first episode when Mohinder Suresh (Chandra Suresh's son) finds a cassette tape labeled "SYLAR" on both sides in his dead father's New York apartment. His character is next mentioned in the series as a mysterious serial killer sought out by the FBI, whose existence is completely speculative. Appearing as a shadowy figure, he attempts to obtain Molly Walker's power after failing the first time.
In "Once Upon a Time in Texas", Sylar bumps into a future Hiro in front of the Burnt Toast Diner, and sidesteps him before entering. Here, he converses with Charlie, and discovers her power of enhanced memory. Sylar prepares to kill Charlie, but Hiro stops time and locks Sylar in a bus storage container. Later, when seeking Sylar to fix Charlie's aneurysm, Sylar angrily attacks Hiro, demanding to know what Hiro did to him. He attempts to kill Hiro, but Hiro prevents this with his time control. Finally, Hiro makes a deal: to tell Sylar about his future if he saves Charlie. Sylar proceeds to do so, and is miffed that he is told that - although he will become the most powerful person - he will die alone and unloved. Sylar proceeds to attempt to obtain Claire Bennet's regenerative abilities, but is stopped by Peter Petrelli. He is greatly injured and is captured by Eden McCain and the Haitian to be experimented on. After various experiments, Sylar manages to escape, but he is again repelled from an attempt to obtain Claire's power.
Remembering Suresh's list, Sylar makes his way to Zane Taylor, and by posing as the person Zane was expecting, Mohinder Suresh, he kills him and obtains his power. After Mohinder arrives, Sylar poses as Zane, and convinces Mohinder to take him to help convince other people with special abilities that Mohinder's research is real. After Sylar acquires enhanced hearing from a woman named Dale, Mohinder discovers Sylar's identity and manages to incapacitate him with drugs. After experimenting on Sylar to create a new list of people with special powers and attempting to kill him, Mohinder is captured. After Peter shows up and is temporarily killed by Sylar, Mohinder knocks him out, but ends up leaving Isaac Mendez's address on the ground.
After meeting Isaac, and being told that his fate is to die at the hands of the other heroes, he takes Isaac's power to paint the future. He soon finishes a painting depicting himself about to kill and acquire the power of the radioactive Ted Sprague, and believes himself to be the "exploding man". Believing that only those who "don't deserve" their powers are the ones that need to die, he doesn't want to kill innocent people. After attempting to confide in Mohinder, he returns home to his alleged mother, Virginia Gray, in the hope that she will tell him that it is fine not to be special and live as a normal watchmaker. She tells him that he can be anything, including the president, causing him to demonstrate his powers and accidentally injure her. This causes her to panic, which eventually leads to her death, and Sylar deciding that his path is correct.
After acquiring the radioactive powers of Ted, Sylar paints a picture of himself facing off against Peter Petrelli at Kirby Plaza. Realizing Peter is part of his final destiny, Sylar prepares to hunt him down. Before he can leave, Ando Masahashi arrives to kill him, though Ando is easily thwarted. After Sylar discovers the comic depicting his death at the hands of Hiro Nakamura, Hiro appears and rescues Ando. Sylar sets off for Kirby Plaza to wait for Peter. After a struggle involving Sylar, Peter, Matt Parkman, and Niki Sanders, Peter begins the process of exploding, showing Sylar that he is not the exploding man. Soon after, Hiro arrives and impales Sylar through the stomach as the comic predicts, terribly wounding him. His last act is to telekinetically throw Hiro towards a building, forcing him to teleport and rendering him incapable of stopping Peter, as he collapses with a triumphant grin on his face while events that transpired throughout the season that end with his injury by Hiro play in his eyes. However, near the end of the episode, a trail of blood leading from where Sylar collapsed and ending at an open manhole is seen, indicating that Sylar is still alive.
Generations Sylar is rescued by Candice Wilmer, who uses her powers of illusion to make Sylar disappear. After undergoing eight surgeries, he eventually awakes and realizes that he cannot use his powers. Though Candice promises that they will come back eventually, he kills her and attempts to acquire her power in order to start over. After realizing that it also doesn't work, he attempts to leave, though he realizes that he is in the middle of a dense jungle in Mexico. After wandering for three days, he is rescued from the brink of death by the passing-by Maya and Alejandro Herrera. He introduces himself using his real name, and eventually finds out that they are in search of Chandra Suresh to help control Maya's power. He tells them that he knows Suresh, and that he will take them to him.