Nathan Petrelli

Nathan Petrelli, portrayed by Adrian Pasdar, is a fictional character on the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. He is a New York lawyer-turned-congressman with the power of self-propelled flight, the older brother of Peter Petrelli, biological father of Claire Bennet, and son of Angela Petrelli. Nathan, ambitious and pragmatic, has a decidedly anti-hero streak, which exacerbates his complex relationships with his brother, Peter, and his biological daughter, Claire, and sometimes his mother, Angela.


Genesis

Nathan is the son of Angela and a lawyer working with the District Attorney's office. The District Attorney wanted to expose the Mafia connections of his late father's client, Daniel Linderman. As he was driving his wife home from a party in a convertible, another vehicle attempted to run them off the road. Nathan inadvertently flew from his car, causing the car to lose control and veer off the freeway. The resulting crash caused his wife, Heidi, to suffer a paralyzing spinal injury.

Six months later, Nathan is running for Congress. In the pilot episode, he was approached by his brother Peter, who told him that he'd been having strange dreams and believed he could fly. Nathan claimed to be unconvinced. The following morning, Nathan watched from an alley as Peter jumped off a building in an attempt to fly. As Peter fell, Nathan flew into the air and grabbed his hand. They descended for a few seconds, but then the brothers lost their grip on one another.

The next day, Nathan denied that he flew and tried to explain away what happened as if it were simply a failed suicide attempt by Peter. Much later that night, Nathan was called to another rooftop, where Peter threatened to jump unless Nathan admitted that he flew. Nathan eventually admitted that he did fly. Still more focused on his campaign and his family, Nathan held a press conference where he broached the subject of depression. He revealed that his father suffered from it, and that it was the cause of his death. Nathan then claimed that Peter's attempt to fly was actually a suicide attempt, to satisfy the press. Peter stormed out of the press conference, later cursing Nathan out and assaulting him, but went along with the story in public.


Vegas

On his way to Las Vegas to meet with Mr. Linderman, Nathan encountered Mohinder Suresh, who attempted to warn him that his life may be in danger. Nathan mistook Mohinder for his recently murdered father, Chandra, assumed that Peter sent him, and ignored the man. In Las Vegas, Nathan encountered Jessica Sanders and the two slept together. The one-night stand was recorded on a sex tape in a blackmail attempt by Linderman. Afterwards, Noah Bennet monitored them and had the Haitian kidnap Nathan.

Barefoot and in pajamas, Nathan escaped when Bennet was distracted. Flying away, Nathan broke the sound barrier in the process. Nathan landed outside a diner in the desert outside Las Vegas and called an aide for help. While waiting for his ride, Nathan met Hiro Nakamura, who enthusiastically announced that he too had powers. Nathan was skeptical, but humored Hiro, who said he could teleport and manipulate time. Nathan asked about the upcoming election; Hiro said he won by a "landslide". When Nathan's ride arrived at the diner, Nathan agreed to give Hiro a ride back to the city.

After dropping Hiro off, Nathan went back to meet with Linderman, only to run into Niki on the way. Niki confessed her alter-ego Jessica's role in the blackmail attempt, saying that she had been blackmailed herself. When Nathan met with Linderman's associate again, he worked out a deal with her: Though their original deal was for two million dollars, Nathan became more certain than ever of his victory and negotiated for four million, saying, "for two million, you got a congressional candidate in your pocket; for four, you'll get a congressman."



Destinies

After Nathan returned to New York, he and his family had brunch with a newspaper reporter. During the brunch, the reporter questioned Nathan about his connections to the reputed mobster Linderman, and Nathan's meeting with a blond woman (aka Jessica Sanders) in Vegas. Peter covered for Nathan, telling the reporter that Nathan was arranging a private clinic to treat him for his mental health issues. Before leaving, Nathan told Peter about the failed kidnapping attempt, and warned his brother to be careful, saying that people would want to lock them up if they realized the two brothers had powers.

At home, Nathan enquired about a painting by Isaac Mendez which Linderman had purchased and Peter wanted. Linderman sent it "straight to Simone's gallery". When the painting arrived, Nathan viewed it with Simone. The image depicted a man resembling Peter, dead under a homecoming banner and a clock. After seeing it, Nathan destroyed it, telling Simone that he was protecting Peter from getting himself killed. Nathan later appears to bail Peter out in "Fallout". As they walk away from the jail, Peter collapses. Eventually, Nathan watches helplessly as Peter is comatose for two weeks.

Finally, Nathan becomes tired of waiting and goes to the loft of Isaac Mendez. There, Nathan finds several of Isaac's finished "future paintings". Nathan is especially thoughtful about the "exploding man" image, which he and Isaac both worry is Peter. Soon, Hiro appears, and happily greets Nathan. Nathan and Hiro talk about their role in stopping the "bad man" who may blow up New York. Later, Nathan returns to Peter's bedside only to discover that Peter has revived and checked out.

In "The Fix", Nathan goes to Mohinder to find out where Peter is, but neither has heard from Peter in days. Mohinder tells Nathan about a list made by Mohinder's father and explains to Nathan how Peter's DNA causes him to absorb and mimic other people's abilities. Nathan initially refuses to let Mohinder help find Peter, but Mohinder convinces him by stating that if he can study Peter, he may be able to find a cure.

They go to Peter's apartment, where Peter is preparing to leave town. Without fully hearing them out, Peter says he doesn't have time to be Mohinder's "guinea pig". Peter then tricks the two and gets away.

At the end of the episode "Distractions", Nathan receives a telephone call from Meredith Gordon, a woman in Texas with whom he once had a relationship. She informs him that their daughter Claire is still alive. Nathan assumes that her timing the call right before his election means that she wants money, and offers $100,000 to stay quiet, which she accepts;she later lies to Claire saying the amount is only $50,000 and Claire is entitled to half. In "Run!", Nathan shows up to visit Meredith and deliver the money but states he does not want to get too involved with Claire. Claire was secretly listening to the conversation which, due to lies Meredith told her, did not portray Nathan in a very positive light. At the end of the episode, back in Vegas, Jessica gets a call from Linderman saying that he wants Nathan assassinated.



Election and disappearance

Nathan then encounters Hiro again and Hiro told him what happened to him in the future. Nathan, however, tells Hiro that the explosion cannot be stopped. Hiro then calls him a villain as Nathan waves to the cameras and drives away. Much later, in "Landslide", Linderman delivers on his promise and, with Micah Sanders' help, assures Nathan's win as Congressman by a majority of votes. At the same time, Linderman uses his healing powers to restore Heidi's legs as a gift to even further keep Nathan on his side.

In "How to Stop an Exploding Man", the finale to Season 1, Nathan appears committed to the fact that Peter will explode, destroy the city, and kill millions; paving his way to power and the destiny designed by Linderman and others. However, Claire, who has been strong-armed into traveling into Paris with Angela, shames him into changing his mind, stating that the "future isn't set in stone." Nathan appears after Peter and Hiro kill Sylar. After saying, "You saved the cheerleader so we could save the world," Nathan grabs Peter and flies far into the stratosphere. With the other heroes looking to the sky, Peter detonates miles above the ground, instead of destroying New York City.



Powers and abilities

Nathan possesses the power of self-propelled flight. He is one of the characters who has least demonstrated his power in the series, saying that he is afraid both of being seen as a freak and taken in for scientific study. In contrast, however, he also demonstrates a great deal of control over his power. As demonstrated in "Hiros", Nathan can reach speeds exceeding the sound barrier with no apparent physical effects.

Nathan first discovers his power when he inadvertently uses it to save himself from a car crash which leaves his wife wheelchair-bound. The first on-screen flight is in "Genesis", when he attempts to save Peter from falling to his death. He also uses flight to save a woman from a burning building in an issue of the Heroes webcomic.