History YMMV / Heroes

** The theme by Lisa and Wendy.

** Dr. Mohinder Suresh and Sylar. The subtext becomes so glaringly obvious at times that during an interview with both actors, Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder) himself [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8kleE4NdYs jokingly suggested the idea]] of "Sylar and Mohinder: The Sitcom" as a fictional spin-off. (Mind you, he has also suggested a "Heroes: The Bollywood Musical" episode a couple of times.) In fact, the actors ''named their own slash pairing'' in that interview, as in "Sylinder: The Sitcom". They liked "Mylar", too, though.

** Sendhil Ramamurthy, who plays Mohinder, seems to find many of his ''own'' scenes Narmtastic. He has mocked the endless references to his father's death and research; and on episode commentary tracks, he frequently goes into ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' mode during Mohinder scenes.

* AlasPoorScrappy: Alejandro. Though general opinion was that he was a flat character whose main focus was his relationship to his sister, you still have to feel a pang of sympathy for him as he was unable to keep said sister from falling under Sylar's thrall and then got murdered by Sylar when he figured out the lies.

* VillainDecay:
** Adam Monroe, formerly BigBad of season 2. When he returned in Season 3, he was downgraded from a MagnificentBastard to comic relief. ''Then'' he was killed off by the new villain, Mr. Petrelli, in an EvilerThanThou moment. Oh, and all this took less than ''two episodes'', possibly setting a new record for "fastest villain decay ever".
** Maury Parkman was originally toted as "The Nightmare Man", someone ''worse'' than Sylar. As an experienced psychic, he managed to put a little girl into a coma and continually mess with the heroes' heads, until he was defeated in a close confrontation with Matt. Come Season 3, he is passively following Arthur Petrelli's orders, right til he objects to Petrelli ordering Matt's death, and has his neck unceremoniously snapped in ''another'' EvilerThanThou moment.

* FoeYay:
Sylar [[LauncherOfAThousandShips has sexual tension with everyone,]] [[MemeticMolester much to their discomfort]]:

* JerkassWoobie: Elle. Even though she's really rude to people, you feel a bit of pity for her when you learn that her own dad has been experimenting on her since she was seven.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Heroes is that show where a whole load of stuff about eclipses, helices, and conspiracies to take over the world keeps getting in the way of Creator/HaydenPanettiere being all bouncy, cheerleadery[[note]] even though by the final season her character was no longer a cheerleader[[/note]] and indestructible and Zachary Quinto and Milo Ventimiglia being all broody and [[ShirtlessScene forgetting their shirts]]. And indestructible.
* BetterOnDVD: Keeping up with the many [[CallBack Call Backs]] and [[ContinuityNod Continuity Nods]] is much easier when all episodes are readily available. It's also easier to keep up with the extensive backgrounds and how each character is related to one another.

%%** Maya by Volume Three.
%%* DamselScrappy: Maya.

** Ando, Hiro's best friend, is well-liked for his blase personality that balances out Hiro's excited one.

** Then there's Samuel Sullivan. BadassLongcoat + {{Guyliner}} + Creator/{{Robert Knepper}} = ''hot damn''.
* FanonDiscontinuity: The show runners ''did'' plan for Season 1 to stand on its own when they first made it, and have a new cast of characters for the second season, after all.

** Claire with Sylar ''and'' Elle [[spoiler: (though more the latter than the former -- she may have had a CatFight with Elle but it was Sylar who she stabbed in the stomach[[note]]which would have killed him for good if he hadn't managed to get her power[[/note]], jabbed in the skull with glass and plugged in the eye with a pencil)]].
%%** Sylar/Chandra belongs here too. "Hello, Chandra. Why won't you talk to me? You can't leave me like this."
** Sylar/Mohinder and Sylar/Peter, given how much he enjoys messing with them. After all, he and Mohinder did go a road trip together and Peter spent a lot of time inside Sylar's head yelling at him.
** Then there's [[LoveMartyr Sylar/Elle]] which counts as canon FoeYay, although it can be argued that this might be invalid, as they did have a prior romantic relationship before his StartOfDarkness drove him over the edge. Still, he didn't seem to recognize her at the end of "Powerless" and she got really pissed when he murdered her father.
** Sylar gets a lot of enjoyment out of making Angela uncomfortable as possible, even to the point of kissing her while voicing death threats at her.
** Sylar/Danko, [[spoiler:if only because Sylar seems to enjoy impersonating Danko a little ''too'' much]].
** Adam/Hiro and Adam/Peter goes here too.
--->'''Adam (to Hiro):''' You were more than a friend to me...

* MemeticMolester: Sylar. Whether they want to or not, Sylar has sexual tension with everyone. ''Everyone''.
%%** Eric Doyle; only... it's canon.

* RootingForTheEmpire: The villains / morally grey characters in this show tend to be the most popular because the [[DesignatedHero heroes]] [[TooDumbToLive are complete morons]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Elle. [[spoiler:An interesting backstory, a past romantic interest in Gabriel Grey and holds regret that he became Sylar thanks to her involvement, ultimately forgives him for murdering her father and the two rekindle their interest and become a couple, not to mention it's implied she would give birth to his son. Thanks for blabbing Noah, now Sylar kills her despite how they felt about each other.]]
** Many of the graphic novel characters working for the company would have transitioned well into the TV series, but few ever did.
** It's possible to feel this way about Daphne, given the teaser she'd be more prominent due to her [[spoiler: marriage to Matt in the Exposed future]].

* VillainDecay: Adam. In the space of one and a half episodes, he's bumped down from Ancient Evil BigBad back to comic relief to KilledOffForReal by the EvilerThanThou new BigBad.

* TheWoobie:
** Attempted with Nathan Petrelli at the beginning of Season 2 (mostly by making him grow a truly ''horrific'' BeardOfSorrow) - a decision which pretty much led to a fandom revolt and was never referenced again.
%%**Multiple characters get this treatment notably Hiro, Peter, Adam, Elle, Noah and Sylar.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Noah. Really, most of his problems are his own fault, but he barely does anything to fix them. [[spoiler:His backstory is that his first wife was murdered by a man with powers.]] Fair enough, but it doesn't justify that he treats his [[spoiler:second]] wife and adopted kids poorly, ignoring them whenever possible. Not to mention he's responsible for why Gabriel Gray became to superpowered killer Sylar, but unlike Elle who saw good in him and wanted to help him be a better person, he pressured her into edging him closer into insanity and showed no regret for it. Every kill Sylar makes and every time he calls him a monster, he's conveniently forgetting he ''made'' him like that. When Claire is shot during a time she has no powers, he instead focuses on hunting down Sylar and Elle for it, ignoring her dying due to having no immune system due to a loss of her powers. He even joins Nathan's crusade to lock away all super-powered humans, despite having one of them as an adopted daughter he treats as his MoralityPet (she also happens to be Nathan's [[spoiler:own daughter as well, but she's granted immunity from this crusade and is thus not a target]]) and promising his wife that he'd stop hunting these super-powered people. This broken promise ended their marriage. Not to mention some of the captured people were his friends. It gets bad to the point where Claire should really stop defending him, especially when he's done things even she finds unforgivable.

* ToyShip: Micah and Molly despite them interacting only in Season 1 finale. [[spoiler:Sunk in ''Reborn'' - she [[HeroicSuicide kills herself]] to stop BigBad Erica.]]

* ToyShip: Micah and Molly despite they interact only in Season 1 finale. [[spoiler:Sunk in ''Reborn'' - she [[HeroicSuicide kills herself]] to stop BigBad Erica.]]

** Hiro often has incredibly moving Japanese, that is utterly butchered by the show's own subtitles. "We are taking this sword!" -- his friend, eyes askance "We?" See? utter gibberish. Hiro's "we" is a sort of "the group of superheroes I belong to!" sort of we. It kinda indicates that he's headed off the deep end. The English kills the whole scene, because it seems like Hiro's "we" includes his friend (whom the Japanese was not including).

** DL's [[spoiler: death]] is this in light of the revelations in [[https://variety.com/2020/tv/features/heroes-leonard-roberts-ali-larter-1234854439/ Leonard Roberts' essay for Variety]] where he revealed that Creator/AliLarter acted downright hostile towards him on set and that racism was a big factor in DL [[spoiler: getting KilledOffForReal]] at the start of season 2.

** Also Zach was supposed to be gay but this was not made known to Thomas Dekker. He would later go onto play a gay character in ''Kaboom!'' and come out himself.

* TheScrappy: ''Loads''.
** Niki, definitely. Let's be honest, everyone secretly was rooting for Jessica to [[SplitPersonalityTakeover permanently take control]].
** Virtually every new character introduced in Season 2, except for Adam and Elle. Maya gets special recognition though.
** Arthur Petrelli. He's the BigBad in Volume 3...[[NonActionBigBad yet he does nothing of importance]]. [[spoiler:Killing Adam Monroe]] just made things worse.
** Mohinder after Volume 1, mainly because he TookALevelInDumbass.
** West. Wait, the guy hovering outside Claire's window in the middle of the night ''isn't'' the deranged serial-killer who's been stalking her? He's supposed to be the ''love interest''?!
*** This became HilariousInHindsight when ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' was released and Edward Cullen received much criticism for similar behaviour.
** Maya and Alejandro were the least popular new characters in Season 2, largely because of their scattered plotline and Maya's overly emotional crying over her ability.
** Janice: whether it's for [[ReplacementScrappy replacing Daphne]] in Season 3/4 or being a huge bitch to Matt in Season 1.
** Samuel. Perhaps the least liked villain on the show. Has the highest ratio of episodes/lack of interest.

** Niki. Initially fairly warmly received by fans, she quickly wore out her welcome with her multiple personality subplot and [[spoiler: causing the death of fan-favourite DL. Fans rejoiced that she died, only for yet another identical twin to come back because the writers felt that the show apparently couldn't go on without Ali Larter]].
%%** Maya by Volume Three.

** Nathan's speech at the end of season two, because of the line "at first I was afraid". Some mentally add "then I was petrified".
*** You mean [[{{Pun}} Petrellified]]?

** Also Zach was supposed to be gay but this was not made known to Thomas Dekker. He would later go onto play a gay character in ''Kaboom!''.

* SeasonalRot: '''And how'''. This show is an often-cited example of this trope in time lapse. It's so bad and so blatant that it's borderline fascinating. The first season was widely regarded as one of the best, freshest pieces of television in years....then it went downhill faster than Daphne can run. It's become such a well known example that TV & Media College Professors could hold entire lectures about Heroes and how NOT to further a successful television show. While there are certainly other shows that go through SeasonalRot, looking back it's surreal how Heroes writers somehow managed to make every possible ill-advised story decision or the laundry list of detested tropes they played completely straight (amnesia, long lost triplets, sudden paternity revelations and that's only a few!). The 2007 Writers Strike played a large part in the rushed ending to season 2, but the writers tried everything they could to recapture the magic of Season 1 after it and all of it fell flat on its face.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Fans feel this way about [[spoiler: Adam and Elle]]. as part of why they cite season 3 under SeasonalRot.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Elle. [[spoiler:An interesting backstory, a past romantic interest in Gabriel Grey and holds regret that he became Sylar thanks to her involvement, ultimately forgives him for murdering her father and the two rekindle their interest and become a couple, not to mention it's implied she would give birth to his son. Thanks for blabbing Noah, now Sylar kills her despite how they felt about each other.]]

%%* OneSceneWonder: Creator/JohnGlover as [[spoiler:Samson Gray, Sylar's biological father]].

** In 2018, Christopher Eccleston revealed he came to America specifically because Creator/TheBBC were trying to kill his career over his departure from ''Series/DoctorWho''. His first American work has him playing a man who narrowly survived an assassination attempt and now spends his days as a literal invisible man.

* IdiotPlot

** In “Landslide,” Peter Petrelli telepathically eavesdrops on Sylar's plans to enlist the police's unwitting aid in attacking [[spoiler: Ted Sprague]]... and then does ''nothing'' when he's subsequently arrested.
** In “How To Stop An Exploding Man,” Mr. Bennet warns Parkman not to confront Sylar because “he'll kill you” – but one would think just telling him Sylar is telekinetic ''and'' has [[spoiler: Ted Sprague]]'s powers would be more viscerally persuasive.

%%* OneSceneWonder: John Glover as [[spoiler:Samson Gray, Sylar's biological father]].

** Also, Peter Petrelli [[spoiler: meets his father, [[ParentalAbandonment Arthur Petrelli, who was presumed dead]] ''[[ParentalAbandonment despite]]'' [[ParentalAbandonment the fact he hasn't seen him in years]] and is [[spoiler:the head of a shady organization]], does not stop to ''read his mind'' to understand what the hell was going on, and why he had disappeared for so long. Instead, he runs to give him a hug, [[spoiler: and loses his powers (all of the ones he absorbed) to his father (who took in a lot of powers to begin with), launching the latter ever closer to AGodAmI status, and the former being telekinetically thrown out a window by Sylar, as Arthur's way of saying "thank you" to his son. In fact, Sylar spared him death [[TooDumbToLive even if his idiocy didn't suggest so]].]]

** Also, Peter Petrelli [[spoiler: meets his father, [[ParentalAbandonment Arthur Petrelli, who was presumed dead]] ''[[ParentalAbandonment despite]]'' [[ParentalAbandonment the fact he hasn't seen him in years]] and is the head [[spoiler: of a shady organization]], does not stop to ''read his mind'' to understand what the hell was going on, and why he had disappeared for so long. Instead, he runs to give him a hug, [[spoiler: and loses his powers (all of the ones he absorbed) to his father (who took in a lot of powers to begin with), launching the latter ever closer to AGodAmI status, and the former being telekinetically thrown out a window by Sylar, as Arthur's way of saying "thank you" to his son. In fact, Sylar spared him death [[TooDumbToLive even if his idiocy didn't suggest so]].]]

%%*** Also Hana Gitelman from the Graphic Novels.

** Hiro Nakamura, the self-proclaimed "[[AsianSpeekeeEngrish Masutah of Tahm ond Spehce]]"? The one character who takes GenreSavvy to new levels and wanted to be a hero from the start, who manages to break Suresh out of a psychiatric hospital ''while'' his brain is scrambled, among other things. The only reason Sylar hasn't been defeated by him is that Hiro believes he ''has'' to let Sylar exist. And the only reason [[DishingOutDirt Samuel]] is a threat is due to having a hostage. Not to mention he committed one of the most horrific [[BuriedAlive vengeance]] in [[FateWorseThanDeath TV history]].

** The Bennet family's son Lyle (who doesn't do much, but shows proper concern for his sister's wellbeing) and adorable dog Mr. Muggles also qualify, and the latter has become more of an in-fandom MemeticMutation.

** Claire with Sylar ''and'' Elle [[spoiler: (though more the latter than the former - she may have had a CatFight with Elle but it was Sylar who she stabbed in the stomach[[note]]which would have killed him for good if he hadn't managed to get her power[[/note]], jabbed in the skull with glass and plugged in the eye with a pencil)]].

* JerkassWoobie: Elle. Even though she's really rude to people, you kind of feel a bit of pity for her when you learn that her own dad has been experimenting on her since she was seven.

'''You'd Then Expect:''' Brody to realize that given the fact that to his knowledge Claire has survived being impaled in the neck and dragged into a river where she would've drowned for hours on end Claire probably isn't too concerned with how she will survive an accident in his car. Maybe attempt to placate her by apologizing for nearly raping her, blame it on the alcohol or at least ''some'' excuse that doesn't make him out to be a complete ass.\\

'''The Result:''' Claire accelerates the car way past the already dangerous speed she was going at and crashes Brodty's car into a brick wall resulting in Brody being badly injured.\\

* SnarkBait: There are entire LJ communities in which getting together every Monday night to watch Heroes - for the sole purpose of giving it the {{MST}}3K treatment - has become a ritual and a bonding experience. Wet Sylar, Carniawarts, Clairiett Tubman, Sylar Durden, Rainbow Brite Girl, Gretchward Cullen - we salute you.

* SeasonalRot: '''And how'''. This show is an often-cited example of this trope in time lapse. It's so bad and so blatant that it's borderline fascinating. The first season was widely regarded as one of the best, freshest pieces of television in years....then it went downhill faster than Daphne can run. It's become such a well known example that TV & Media College Professors could hold entire lectures about Heroes and how NOT to further a successful television show. While there are certainly other shows that go through SeasonalRot, looking back it's surreal how Heroes writers somehow managed to make every possible ill-advised story decision or the laundry list of detested tropes they played completely straight (amnesia, long lost triplets, sudden paternity revelations and that's only a few!)

* ToyShip: Micah and Molly despite they interact only in Season 1 finale.