i always see a lot of flaming directed toward the concept of future painting in heroes, and most recently in the unexplained evolution of the ability as something that almost any "special" can harness. i'm going to take a moment to try and defend this plot device and encourage discussion on the topic, as it is obviously about to take another step forward in explaining exactly what is going on with this show.

most faithful viewers realize the mythological and spiritual references found within heroes. this was mostly present in the first volume and has slowly been filtering out since, but it still stands and almost appears to be back in the forefront with matt parkman's recent meeting with usutu and his "calling". apart from the consistent arguments between faith and science and the mythological character references both in name and otherwise, another mythological theme that has stayed present throughout the series thus far is the presence of a prophet. with the obvious religious references found in heroes kept in mind, i understand how the writers see the presence of a prophet as less of a lazy storytelling device and more of an integral component in the sort of modern mythological story they are attempting to convey.

the first season's prophet was, in my opinion, the most compelling.. isaac served as the driving force of the show while still existing roughly outside of the "main plot", his character's concept and arc was also developed and closed very nicely. it is after isaac's death that the whole prophet situation becomes hazy, since heroes lacked a legitimate prophet painter until usutu in season 3, who suffered an undefined character and short story arc. i personally feel that the lack of development in any other prophet character is due to the fact that isaac's enormous collection lasted in providing prophecy for the series up until just recently. one could definitely argue that isaac's calling as a prophet lasted long after his death because of this massive collection. regardless, i feel the inclusion of usutu is meant to reintroduce this concept of the mystical prophet and set the series up (as this is, supposedly, a "reboot") to return to it's mythological roots.

usutu's parallels with isaac and his relations with matt set up an interesting arc in matt's character that i feel will be very important in the coming months. both isaac and usutu's mysticism and unavoidable deaths portray the role of the prophet as much less a blessing and more of a curse, providing dramatic irony in the fact that matt knows very little about either character. i feel the show is setting up matt parkman as the new prophet/martyr in the most recent of this series' "reboots".

/rant. questions: do you think matt parkman is destined to die? how do you feel about future painting in heroes? did parkman always have this ability, or is usutu's spirit guiding him and/or obi-wan kenobi post-death jedi training him to fill his shoes?

Personally, I don't like choosing a person that reads and controls minds as being the new prophet. Ability doesn't match. Mattt already has a good ability. I would have liked seeing a new super as having this ability instead of Matt. There is more to being a prophet than just seeing the future (even though that helps).

Usutu's demise was very shocking. I really liked his character. I'm glad he is "appearing". I realize that he painted mostly Parkman all of his life but he did pain a little of Hiro too.

Magical hyena dung makes you see outside of time (past and future). Maybe this will be Hiro's new ability. He partook of the dung too. I'd rather see Hiro than Matt be the seer.

oh well. If Matt is destined to die, I won't miss him.

actually i totally agree with it,

Matt has almost unlimited potential in regards to his power, as it was stated by bob and maury, his power is the complete control of the mind. While not a mosaic DNA type person like Sylar and Peter he does posess a power that allows him to use all mental based abilities.

Think of matt as a man who has a Mosaic Mind, capable of using any mental godsend. Like peter and sylar he needs to know what powers he can achieve to actually gain them for example.

S1 he developed Mind reading Based on his own personality
in S2 he learned to input thoughts gaining full telepathy after being told he could do so by his dad and bob (akin to Eden)
In s2 he learned to enter minds for astral combat (akin to his dad)
in vol 3 he developed the power of illusion when he desperately needed to fake his and daphne's death (akin to candice)
in vol 4 he was without direction and needed a way to figure out what to do next, insert Utsutsu and pre-cog (akin to issac)

its possible that if he was told he could use TK he could prob develop it.

I moved a number of posts over to Secondary Mutations, Will fugitives introduce more powers? as they fit better within that topic and to keep this thread on topic, which is discussing the Prophet ability and Matt Parkman.


from Episode 14 subforum.

Considering that Bob Bishop told him that he could control any function that the brain controls, it is possible that he could also control his own brain functions to induce the same precognative state he was in when he ate the Mix of Tamboti Tree and Hyena Dung (UGH!), although how does hallucinations of Usutu fit in? a subconscious mental construct that Matt created as a guide, next he'll be seeing his Maury eroding his morals (!).

You realize...that makes no sense at all?

Precognition is not, in any form, a psionic power. And Matt's ability is purely psionic.

Then how would we explain his precognative sketches?

“Matt's ability to see the future, was it really like the Prophet said, he has been chosen, or is it just Matt's telepathy growing to the point where he basically grafted part of Usutu's mind or psyche into his own?”

You really want to know? Long story is: Matt’s ability is to access the mind – or at least that’s how it started. But as he grew powerful and as Usutu opened it up more to the “dreamtime,” he began to access that same plane of consciousness that Isaac and Usutu drew from to paint (and arguably the same one Angela accesses from another door). Short story – You don’t choose your destiny. Your destiny chooses you.

From the BTE 13

end of debate, if its a mental power matt can achieve it.

Pre-cog = the ability to percieve through insight and perceptions images of future events. Perception and insight are directly mental based attributes.

Root and dung paste, processing the mind of usutu, spirit possession (!), whatever the case, he has took conrtrol over his own brain functions to reproduce this ability as a by-product of his own. Does he know that Usutu is dead and killed by Arthur?

Honestly, I now see Matt Parkman as easily the 2nd most powerful person on the show behind Sylar, and given a season's worth of actively doing what he instinctively did after Daphne got shot, he could become the strongest hero there is. In addition to being Maury, he's now Isaac as well. Arthur was able to kill Maury with ease, yes, but probably only because his Telepathy was at least as strong as his (Maury was afraid of him even whan that's all Arthur had). Sylar resisted Doyle's invasions, yes, but let's not forget, unlike him, Maury displayed the ability to invade the minds of people from nowhere even near them, much too far away for Sylar to retaliate with Telekinesis the way he did with Doyle. I can see an aggressive Parkman defeating him (especially if he pulls a "white eyes" and knows what's coming)! A rivalry between Sylar and Matt instead of Peter would add an exiting new dynamic to the show..!

Aspects of Telepathy:

* Mind Reading
* Mind Control
* Organic Only Illusions
* Voluntary Motor Control
* Dream Manipulation
* Precognition (possibly done after reporducing the effects on his brain caused by the tambori root and hyena dung paste, he can control the brain functions of others, why not his own?).

Athough how Gabriel Grey resisted Peter's use of telepathy is unknown, mental discipline, an aspect of IA unknown, absorbing it through one of two metho...Byron Bevington is one possible source of precognition replacement, Matt Parkman is ano...no, it might not work like that, even through empathic means, unless he picks that up as well...

One thing I learned so far watching the show. Don't compare alternative time lines, and future selves. Sylar could of picked up an ability to counter Present Peter's telepathy. Plus, Parkman has had it longer.

It shows potential, the only possibility that I can think of to explain how Gabriel Grey resisted Telepathy in the Exposed Timeline is he had telepathy and had learned to shield his thoughts with them, something that in Volume 1, he failed to do as Peter accidently triggered telepathy and heard his thoughts.

As for precognition, Matt Parkman accessed it once using the tambori root and hyena dung paste, that appears to have artificailly unlocked precognition for Matt, which appears to be because telepathy can allow him to do that (if he can control anything the brain controls, he can control his own brain functions, which may explain how Usutu appears to him, even though he is dead, which Matt wasn't told was caused by Arthur Petelli, who is dead as well).