2009 Oscar Pool

Rank ‘em: Characters from “Heroes”

February 19th, 2008
Written By: Andrew James

Heroes cast

While I don’t want to turn this into a television blog, I had a fun idea for a “Rank ‘Em” post this morning. So here’s the deal, I was thinking about making a ranked list of my favorite characters from “LOST.” Then I realized that I still haven’t posted my “LOST” Discussion thread yet (because I haven’t figured out a way to keep it spoiler free in the recent comments section on the right hand side of this page). Eventually it’ll get done though and I don’t want two “LOST” posts. So then I got to thinking that a way better list would be for me to revel in my recent love of “Heroes.” This is the perfect show to talk about who your favorite characters are and why. With all of their most triumphant super powers, it’s easy for everyone to have a favorite or two.

Here’s the movie tie-in just so I feel justified to my co-writers in posting this. You know all the comic book movies you pay $10 to see at the theater and they all suck ass (Spider-Man, Hulk, Superman, Batman & Robin, etc)? This show more than makes up for all those with its fun characters and interesting storyline. It’s the comic book movie that never was. For Free. On TV.

Anyway, I’m only through season 2 of the show, so here is a ranked (NON spoilerific) list of almost all of the main characters throughout the first two seasons. Criteria: They must have been on at least 5 episodes and, with the exception of two choices (#1 and #15), they must have super-powers…

1) Noah Bennet - Ironic that my favorite character is non-superpowerific. This guy is bad ass as he seems to be able to hold his own against any of the others. He’s mysterious and a family man at the same time. And he has style to boot. I seriously dig those glasses.

2) Hiro Nakamura - Though his role got a bit predictable, I like his fun (bordering on annoying) attitude towards life and his “mission.” Plus in the very beginning of the series, we get to see what Hiro ultimately becomes: a wicked warrior.

3) Peter Petrelli - He’s got an aura of coolness about him, despite the weird facial “tweak” to his right side. Plus, of all the super powers you could be gifted with, it’s pretty obvious why his is easily the best.

4) Maya Herrera - She’s super hot. The black tears of death are pretty rad too though.

5) Nathan Petrelli - Peter’s older brother. Though he’s a dick politician, at least we know where we stand with him… not on the ground.

6) Sylar - Your show is only as good as your villain. Sylar rips balls. Though he’s a coward at heart, with all that power backing him up he’s damn near unstoppable.

7) Matt Parkman - The guy on the show I would want to sit and have a beer with. Well… as long as he turned off his mind reading ability for a little while.

8 ) Monica Dawson - Though I haven’t spent a lot of time with this character yet, I think her power is AWESOME. I’d spend a load of time watching TV and internet stuff if I had her power. You go girl!

9) Elle Bishop - Always happy to have more Kristin Bell (Veronica Mars, Deadwood) in my TV viewing. Remember Raiden from the Mortal Combat game? He ain’t got nothin’ on Elle.

11) Claud - Invisible. Nice. Plus he gets bonus points for being in “Dr. Who” and 28 Days Later.

12) Claire Bennet - Again, hotness factor is always a plus. I would also say her power is one of the better ones to have. Though not very offenseive, it is a mighty fine defenseive power.

13) Micah Sanders
14) The Haitian
15) Mohinder Suresh
16) West Rosen
17) Niki Sanders (aka Jessica)
18) Adam Monroe
19) D.L. Hawkins
20) Molly Walker - an annoying character. Despite how important her power is in the shows story arc, it’s not the power I would choose.
21) Alejandro Herrera - not exactly sure what his deal is yet, but he’s obviously important.
22) Isaac Mendez - Yay. You can paint.

I believe that’s all of them. Honorable mention goes to Mr. Linderman (who breaks the rules of my criteria, but I do like him for obvious reasons).
Anyone else watch this show? Who’s your favorite character(s)?

NO SPOILERS IN THE COMMENT SECTION (for this post) PLEASE!

29 response about Rank ‘em: Characters from “Heroes” »

  1. I don’t even watch the show and I give it to Hiro - his power is COOL.

    And Peter Petrelli gets my vote, if only because he’s amazingly handsome.

    Comment by Marina Antunes — February 20, 2008 @ 2:54 am

  2. This show is shallow as hell. To say that this show makes up for Spider-Man and Hulk is ridiculous.

    Comment by Henrik — February 20, 2008 @ 4:08 am

  3. TV ain’t free! And HULK rules.

    I thought this series (it’s pretty far down on my to-watch pile) totally ate its own tail in Season 2, to the point where it’s now considered more of a flash in the pan fad - and many has moved on? Correct me if I’m wrong.

    So, are you finished the second season of the show?

    Comment by Kurt Halfyard — February 20, 2008 @ 7:26 am

  4. The way I watch TV it is free.

    I have 3 more episodes to go in season 2. It’s still pretty good, but nothing compared to LOST or The Wire. Unless something big happens at the end of 2, I’ll probably stop watching (as the DVDs for 3 aren’t out anyway).

    Yeah it’s shallow; but not any more shallow than Spidey, Hulk, X-Men, etc. I would consider it popcorn television. Super powers are awesome when used in a fun, compelling story.

    Sorry, Spiderman and X-Men et al. do not have fun and compelling stories. They’re excuses to see how much money a studio can spend and see how many saps they can drag into a theater. Very reminiscent of Transformers actually. God, I hate the Spider-Man franchise. It’s SO bad.

    And anyway, these characters are fun. Just saying who I like; not supposed to be a defense piece for the show as a whole.

    Comment by Andrew James — February 20, 2008 @ 9:20 am

  5. The action in Spider-Man 2 & 3 blows any recent big-budget blockbuster out of the water as far as I am concerned. And Hulk isn’t as shallow as it seemingly wants you to believe.

    “Just saying who I like; not supposed to be a defense piece for the show as a whole.”

    I’m sorry, but when you say things like “You know all the comic book movies you pay $10 to see at the theater and they all suck ass (Spider-Man, Hulk, Superman, Batman & Robin, etc)?” be prepared to defend your own pathetically adolescent opinions.

    Comment by Henrik — February 20, 2008 @ 10:03 am

  6. “The action in Spider-Man 2 & 3 blows any recent big-budget blockbuster out of the water…”

    “…be prepared to defend your own pathetically adolescent opinions.”

    These are in the same comment? Grow up.

    Comment by Andrew James — February 20, 2008 @ 10:54 am

  7. I haven’t hated all of the comic book movies but I think part of my indifference is the fact that I don’t read a lot of comics and the characters are pretty much new to me.

    Over the years I’ve dabbled here and there in the comic book world including with stuff like Top Cow’s “The Magdalena“, “Witchblade” and among the more main stream stuff - “Superman: Red Son“, “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” and probably most out of left field, I really enjoyed Joss Whedon’s crack at X-Men in “Astonishing X-Men“. Most of these from my own personal interest but I’ve also found some other stuff thanks to some recommendations and I’ve discovered guys like Moore and Miller. What I’m finding though is that the film adaptations of these works are watered down and as much dislike as there is for 300, I’d argue it’s one of the better adaptations and though I had serious problems with a few of the minor changes with V for Vendetta, it wasn’t bad either.

    There’s a market out there for this type of stuff and I’m definitely interested in adaptations of the good material that I know but it often turns out that the adaptation is crappy.

    And for the record, I had fun with “Spiderman 3″. It wasn’t as good as 2, but I loved the quirk in that film (particularly the dance/song number).

    Comment by Marina Antunes — February 20, 2008 @ 11:19 am

  8. Chill fellas. Chill.

    Comment by Kurt Halfyard — February 20, 2008 @ 11:46 am

  9. I really enjoyed Season 1 of Heroes. Season 2 was pretty forgettable. I think they really got hurt by the impending writer’s strike. They cut way back in the number of episodes and the story arc for the characters just wasn’t there.

    If I had a choice I would watch season 1 of Heroes over any of the Battlestar Galactical seasons. But I’d pretty much watch any HBO series over either HEroes or BSG.

    As for Ranking them though… I’m going to focus on the first season just because it was so much better.

    1) Hiro
    2) Noah
    3) Claud - I’m a huge fan of Eccleston. The character should be lower rated but he brings him up for me.
    4) Sylar
    5) Peter Petrelli
    6) The Haitian
    7) Nathan Petrelli
    8) Claire Bennet

    After that the rest pretty just mesh together as supporting characters.

    Comment by John Allison — February 20, 2008 @ 12:18 pm

  10. Oh and I’d also much rather watch Doctor Who which is way more campy at times but also much more compelling every so often also. If you ever get a chance check out The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances starring Eccleston… those episodes are pure magic.

    Comment by John Allison — February 20, 2008 @ 12:20 pm

  11. I tried watching Doctor Who (free on Netflix). I got through the first couple episodes and just couldn’t get into it. Instead, I went back and watched classic Dr. Who. A little Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker goes a long way in my heart.

    Comment by Andrew James — February 20, 2008 @ 1:11 pm

  12. I’ll fess up to sitting thru far too many PBS beg-a-thons to watch a lot of ’70s & ‘80 era Dr. Who. Have to say that i’m a Tom Baker man myself.

    Comment by Kurt Halfyard — February 20, 2008 @ 1:24 pm

  13. Its such a strange show in my mind. Sometimes they have these amazing deep episodes that draw you in and other times its just complete fluff. You also have to be willing to overlook the special effects. I really suggest checking out the two episodes I mentioned if you can for free.

    Ah and like every Dr. Who fan I love me some Tom Baker.

    I’d love to have a hundred extra bucks lying around for this scarf.

    Comment by John Allison — February 20, 2008 @ 1:24 pm

  14. It is decided then. I will be Tom Baker for Halloween this year.

    Comment by Andrew James — February 20, 2008 @ 1:33 pm

  15. I like Colin Baker a lot too. His costume would be hard to put together. Actually, I like all the doctors. Not a huge fan of William Hartnel, but the rest of them I really like.

    Comment by Andrew James — February 20, 2008 @ 1:34 pm

  16. i love the list, even though i’ve only seen season 1.

    something about matt parkman makes him a standout favorite. and maybe that’s why molly walker wouldn’t be nearly as low on my list.

    Comment by RC of strangeculture — February 20, 2008 @ 2:09 pm

  17. Sylvester McCoy all the way. Tom Baker comes a very close second though. Have the scarf somewhere.

    I never got into Heroes. I think it is the absolute lack of a cool female character that first season. No interest now.

    I use to be a HUGE Lost fan, but the insane flip flop scheduling / recap episodes, ended my need to try and follow it. I may watch it on dvd as soon as someone I know buys them.

    Comment by Colleeny — February 20, 2008 @ 2:24 pm

  18. “I may watch it on dvd as soon as someone I know buys them.”

    That simple sentence has described my TV watching habits since 1999. Typically I wait until the show is canceled so i know I can plow thru the entire show at my leisure, usually in some sort of marathon…especially if I get addicted (The Wire, Deadwood, Big Love, Battlestar Galactica, Veronica Mars, The Office (BBC), Spaced, etc. etc.)

    Comment by Kurt Halfyard — February 20, 2008 @ 2:46 pm

  19. I have the sudden need to own all seasons of “dexter”. I have seen one episode, and all ready I am hooked!

    Comment by Colleeny — February 20, 2008 @ 3:14 pm

  20. If I knew how to highlight stuff, I would have highlighted ‘your own’ in my last comment. I guess subtlety is lost in a forum like this.

    Comment by Henrik — February 20, 2008 @ 4:38 pm

  21. Henrik - subtlety is always lost when communicating solely by text! (even with emphaSIS and smileys)

    For instance, to some around here you come across like a bit of an ass. We love you none the less though.

    Comment by Kurt — February 20, 2008 @ 6:35 pm

  22. Kurt, a lot of shows have a sophmore slump. I wouldn’t say the show is necessarily a flash in the pan. I think a lot of the people who were disappointed with series 2 really over-estimate series 1 which also started slow and which also had terribly written character moments. Still, many of it’s plot devices are ingenious.

    Andrew, when you say you want a spoiler free LOST section, do you mean free of spoilers for upcoming episodes or free of spoilers for past episodes? I think the latter would defeat the purpose of discussion.

    1. Noah (the best actor on the show. Also, he’s the Locke of Heroes)
    2. Nathan (also a great actor and an under rated character)
    3. Sylar (cool villian)
    4. Micah (he reads cereal boxes!)
    5. Sulu (I don’t remember this characters name. Hiro Sr.?)
    6. Hiro (He’s the titular character)
    7. Adam (best part of series 2)
    8. Pete’s mom (she’s evil)
    9. All the rest
    10. Peter Petrelli (fuck you emo asshole. your superpower is crying like a little bitch)

    Comment by Rusty James — February 20, 2008 @ 6:49 pm

  23. Fair enough. Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica got to be a bit grating after Season 2 was so good.

    I didn’t think Big Love Season 2 lived up to Season 1 (but don’t get me wrong, S2 was still compulsively watchable!)

    Comment by Kurt — February 20, 2008 @ 7:11 pm

  24. The Lost section would be free of spoilers if everyone could stick to the habit of giving nothing away in the first couple sentences (that which pops up on the recent comment widget). I would have no problem with that, I tend to ramble on long before my point is even considered.

    as for seeing the comment thread open, I would prefer not to have anything spoiled for future episodes… but we can all hypothesize to our heart’s content.

    Comment by rot — February 20, 2008 @ 8:06 pm

  25. and a random non-spoiler tidbit about Lost:

    did anyone realize that while the opening credits often give away who will be showing up in the episode (a contractual obligation that undermines some of the mystery) the creators have found an innovative way around it: intermix false credits among the real, so that in the end there is no guarantee the actor named will in fact show up. Yes I listen to the official Lost podcast. however I did notice a very prominent name appear in the credits for ep 2 of this season and she did not show up.

    Comment by rot — February 20, 2008 @ 8:12 pm

  26. @rot - I think she was the voice on the phone.

    Comment by Rusty James — February 20, 2008 @ 11:04 pm

  27. HRG and Hiro are pretty cool… but I’m not really into “Heroes”

    After all the hype I checked out the first season… it starts slow, gets a great stretch of momentum and interest… and in the end they failed to deliver what they promised.

    and the second seasaon is pure garbage. the people who were saying it was better than Lost don’t have much to go on now.

    no matter what the list was though, Ali Larter would be at the bottom of it.

    Comment by Goon — February 20, 2008 @ 11:57 pm

  28. Goon, totally agree with the climax of season 1. Season 2 has its moments though. I think “garbage” is a bit harsh. I like the new characters and the old ones are enough to keep me curious as to what happens next. Having said that, I have three episodes to go and haven’t watched one since Monday.

    Again though, I like the idea of the whole thing and discussing which super power you’d like to have is fun - which sort of was the catalyst to putting this list together. Invisibility would be cool.

    Comment by Andrew James — February 21, 2008 @ 12:40 am

  29. I agree with most of your choices but I think that Alejandro should be a little higher up he obviously has the ability to COUNTER the black tears of death from his sister. And also Syler wouldnt be up there in my book…gotta love the villain but I dont think he belongs in this ranking…he stole all his powers. And lastly, Hiro, hands down, does have one of the best powers there!

    Comment by JOEY — March 19, 2008 @ 4:51 am

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