Simple discussion.

Is Hiro's sword some sort of conduit that increases Hiro's power, or does it work like Linus' security blanket does?


Thoughts?

For now I go with the Linus theory. We don't know enough about this yet but I think Hiro needs something to focus on to make his power work.

It is all placebo. I remember reading somewhere in an interview with one of the writers that Hiro's powers were only hindered due to himself. He was always able to use them. I think the sword gave him his confidence back that he lost when he was unable to save Charlie. That is why he was unable to use them in the first place.

i compleatly agree, its like peter, he has to focus to use them, Hiro is unshure of himself thus no focus..


CAN HE DO IT? YES HE CAN!

I agree that the sword is having a placebo effect at the moment - we know Hiro never actually lost his powers in the first place because he was able to reverse the bullet from Hope's gun. His powers are clearly tied to his emotional state. HOWEVER, I still believe the sword itself will have some kind of purpose - whether it has a power of its own, or increases his power, or focuses it, or he needs it to KILL somebody I don't know. It just doesn't seem like he would still be carrying it around 5 years into the future if he didn't really need it. I think he would have figured it out by then.

Just a lack of self esteem and self confidence

Im thinking that if your power is to stop time then yah you would need somthing a little extra to kill an attaker,bu just stopping time you cant defet your apponent but if he is frosezn in time and have your handydandy sowerd then as they are frozen in time you can stab them! me i would have my handydandy sharpi marker and draw stuff on their face.. then run away...hee hee hee...

I think that its all in hiros mind and that he still had his power but as soon as he hered that he had a sword (from the future Hiro) he thought that he needed the sword to use his powers therefore loosing them and when he got it he thought he was all powerful in his mind so he had the confidense that he needed to be all powerful so he was.

The sword, whilst a very cool weapon to have is Dumbos Magic Feather

it gave him a goal and a way to over come his fear of his power and his inability to make a difference. Now we just have to hope no one takes it from him cause I would hate to see that moment of crisis

In my opinion Hiro doesn't actually need the sword. But Psychologically he needed it to give himself confidence in the mission. He was able to teleport and everything without the sword, the whole thing with Charlie just knocked him off course abit.

I agree with all of this. This is what I was thinking since I heard "sword" come out of his mouth. lol

Yes I totally agree with all of this but wasn't the sword suppose to give his powers back just like it did with Kensei or whatever that guys name is. I don't mean give his power back but at least make it stronger?

As so many have said earlier in this thread, the sword DID make Hiro's gift stronger and more reliable . . . because Hiro believed it could and would make it stronger and more reliable. OTOH we're in a fantasy-world-close-to-our-own here, and we certainly don't know all the rules -- such as whether an object rather than a person can be imbued with some sort of Gift (become a power focus).

So I guess the answer to your question is a definite maybe, though I lean toward saying yes. Or no.

I'm guessing we'll learn more about the sword in Season Two, since the remainder of Season One is already pretty overcrowded.

i agree that it's a placebo but it is also more than that from a plot perspecive. The fact that he is japanese and the sword is supposedly from one of the most HEROic samari is probably a large part of the Hiro storyline.
my point is, like everything else in this show, the sword has a duel effect.

I believe that the sword will have both psychological and practical effects for Hiro.

Hiro lost his confidence. Having the sword returned it. But, it may have a power of focus that the 'symbol' suggest. In addition, as others have also suggested, it is a weapon and gives Hiro an elegant response to physical threats in conjunction to his powers.

The sword may prove to have other 'natural' connections to Hiro as our story unfolds. Plus, it's so cool! And, it is so 'Highlander'-ish..also very cool!

Just to be different here, I'm going to say that the sword has magic powers and whoever wields the sword, will have their own powers increased with the sword's magical powers.

Actually, I agree with all of you . . . I think it is just a security blanket :-)

If you listen to his story about Kansei you will know that's not just a placebo effect It will come in handy soon

YOU"LL SEE

It only a security blanket

I think we'll find out about that sword when Future Hiro uses it in episode 20.

I have a theory, what if Hiro is kensai and he went back in time to do all the heroic acts to enable the present time Hiro to look up to him and want the sword.

Obviously this way I would have to say that Hiro has a bit of martial arts to learn to and why not, just cause he can stop time and travel what use is that if he's not able to defend himself at the destination...

i think it's just a crutch








i hope there's more to it than that, otherwise they turned Hiro into a thief for nothing

what a great idea!
it might be a little too complicated to incorporate into the story line but it's not like any of this is simple so what the heck.
i hope you're right

I got it right about episode 19 .. hee hee

I smell a story arc for season 15!

I think it might not just be a placebo effect.

I mean, I'm not exactly sure what that symbol means for everyone, but the Haitian always wears that symbol around his neck.
And Jessica has it on her back.

I think there may be something more to the sign than we know.

It is absolutely a placebo - the writers did a great job of giving every one of the main characters personality flaws that prevent them from running rampant with their powers (except Sylar, whose personality flaws cause him to run rampant with his powers).

Niki has MPD, Isaac had heroin, DL is an ex-con, Nathan has his overbearing mother (steers everything in Nathan's life from what I can tell), Claire has parental issues as well as being the target of a serial killer, Eden thought she could control everyone around her, Ted killed his own wife, etc. etc. et al.

Hiro has his low self esteem.

I read somewhere (on this discussion board, but many moons ago) that the general concept to the show was that it was a program about ordinary lives who just happened to be superhuman, not superhumans who also have ordinary lives.

Bumping up an old thread I know but [coughs] I was right about one thing - he went back in time... Hiro being Kensai could be wrong, ok we saw "his father" on horseback I see no sign on the horse pointing to him saying "Kensai"

Gonna search the threads in the board now for the meaning of what Hiro's last statement was...

I think Hiro actually will helped make the sword with Kensai < "will helped" is that the correct conjugation of the verb past future perfect tence or somthing like that> so the attachment is more spiritual than anything else and he didnt steal it just got his own creation back which he definatly did not sell to Linderman ( taken by the Linderman family when they invaded Japan?) ok and I'll find another thread to get into whether Kensai is Hiro but I think its Hiros father..." I've waited a long time" He said when he accepted Hiro as worthy to learn the sword ...did he wait 400 years?

Well, while saving DL from a car explosion, Hiro says to himself: "why don't I have super-strenght too?"
A sword doesn't save anybody, but in some case of fight it may be helpful :-)

Plus, the sword can help Hiro to focus his powers in case of danger. It is a symbol of the traditional heroic japanese values: it metaphorically indicates a way of acting.

Too bad Hiro didn't have better control over his powers then, he could've just teleported DL insted of carrying him, no super strength needed.