Gabriel Gray

Personality

Sylar was raised as the son of a watchmaker, but he always felt that he deserved more in life and that he was special. These desires and the "evolutionary imperative" to acquire new abilities are what drives him to kill the victims with powers. Taking the name Sylar from the brand of watch that he wears, he has shed all connections to his previous life as Gabriel Gray. He takes this to the point of becoming angry when called Gabriel with the exceptions of when he visited his mother and when he temporarily loses his powers. 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 has also stated that "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?"



Powers, abilities and skills

When Sylar first meets Chandra Suresh six months prior to the series' starting point, he is described as having "intuitive aptitude", the ability to know how things work by looking at them. This ability to see and manipulate patterns within complex systems made him an expert at restoring time pieces. He is able to discern any problems, with any given watch, almost instantly. He later uses this ability to locate the source of the power in the brain of his victims, enabling him to steal their abilities. Mr. Bennet mentions that Sylar's powers are a product of using foreign DNA to alter his own. While the original concept was that Sylar ate the brains of his victims to absorb their powers, it was later changed, and it was left intentionally ambiguous as to how Sylar does so once he removes a victim's brain. When Tim Kring was asked if Sylar eats brains, he stated that "that's the popular speculation. There is a connection between the powers and the brain - and Sylar has found it."

Of all the powers Sylar has acquired, his most prominently displayed power is telekinesis, which was the first power he absorbed. Compared to the limited abilities Davis displayed, Sylar's skill with telekinesis is much more advanced. He can enhance his own strength with it, and he also has enough fine control to smoothly cut open the skulls of his victims. When tested by Bennet's associate, Hank, Sylar shows no overt signs of any power besides telekinesis. He has also shown the ability to reduce the temperature of matter, causing it to freeze; the eidetic memory of Charlene Andrews; Zane Taylor's liquification ability; Dale Smither's enhanced hearing, which makes his sense of hearing extremely sensitive until he adjusts to the new ability; Isaac Mendez's precognition in the form of painting; Ted Sprague's radiation manipulation.