I know the DSHI is hunting everyone with abilities but really, What real threat can a guy who breathes underwater pose?

He could potentially start an underwater city with other people who can breathe underwater and pose a threat to national security.

He could be an awesome tool for terrorists.


Also, he could beat Michael Phelps at swimming. Someone beating Michael Phelps at swimming is like, the biggest threat posed against our country right now. He is the Doctor Manhattan of the water...

Well first off it doesnt matter what ability anyone has, you got one they will take you.

And they will find a reason, like he can make a bomb, dive underwater, swim to a bridge, plant it, then blow the bridge from a safe distance.

Or he could sneak a bomb onto the bottom of a naval vessel, submarine, what have you with minimal detection.

Drown people I guess, and for them it's not what power they have. It's just that they have a power. Which is annoying to me becasue how is Nathan hiding his so well? Tracy yelled that he had powers, all the main characters know it, all his family members have them. How do they not ask him the obvious question "How do you know all this and do you have a power?"

Before Claire unceremoniously announced, "They're taking anyone with abilities," I was wondering why they were tracking Aquaman too. He might be able to stay underwater for lengthy periods of time, but what about developing hyperthermia or "the bends (nitrogen bubbles in the bloodstream)" in deep, cold waters? He would still need an insulated wetsuit or something to stay warm...

And so what if he could stay underwater to elude capture? He'd have to come up some time. Send a few heat-seeking torpedos after him and be done with it.

The Michael Phelps comment is about the only threat I could come up with also (though he'd have to have strength and speed, not just breathing technique). Bah!

On an even more scroogey note, I like how they realized someone just might be after them a split-second before the Nissan baddie squad arrived! Whew!

Also, do they care why they are taking people?

I mean Claire can heal. That isn't that threatening. Lot's of these people have powers that can't cause much harm. They just want to "take control" of the abilities situration.

You member when Claire said that they're taking even the "non-dangerous ones" well yeah

Enough said.

He's a major threat to the fishing industry since he can set the lobsters free from the traps and cut the nets of the fishermen..

If he's not stopped chicken of the sea, bumble-beee, and starkist can kiss the tuna trade goodbye...[/sarcasm]


Water-breathing = worst power EVER... even worse then melting toasters...

It doesn't matter if he or anyone else with abilities is "dangerous" or not. Nathan hasn't left no room for any gray area in this ordeal. It's all very reminiscent of the U.S. government rounding up citizens with Japanese descent during World War 2 because someone "may" be a spy




Did I miss the memo where every ability has to be the most devastating one yet?

FYI our navy actually trains seals (or otters or something) to be able to plant bombs on enemy ships. no, not Navy SEALS.. it was mentioned on the military channel or something, sorry i can't find any article online because you will only find "SEALS".

I thought it was going to turn out he didn't have an ability and 'rebel' was really HRG giving claire something to do that was harmless and keeping her out of the way. Frankly if they can track everything else, why don't they know that claire got these text messages?

If his ability is the same as Bianca (http://heroeswiki.com/Bianca_Karina#Evolved_Human_Abilities) from the company arc graphic novels then his ability could be more dangerous than you think. Bianca could adapt her lungs to breathe in any situation. He could just walked into a room and released a poisionous gas, killing everyone except him. Thats pretty dangerous.

Yeah. As Claire said, they're taking everyone with abilities, not just the dangerous ones. Nathan's not taking any risks in that regard by drawing a line with what power is dangerous or not. Really, having a power at all puts you a step above a normal person. People can get creative with their "lame" powers. Alex could probably really overpower someone in a water environment if it came to it. And if his power is like Bianca Karina's lung adaptation, it's more than just breathing underwater. He's also immune to gases.

Did I miss the part where I said it had to be? I must have since I don't remember writing anything like that, but thank you for letting me know what I meant. I get confused when I type... [/sarcasm]

Water breathing is the worst power EVER imho, if you like it, then fine, but don't tell me why I hate it... You could always ask...


My favorite power on the show is Angela's since it has a lot of interesting dynamics they have shown. (Like when Peter used it to go to the future in s2 and bring back a flyer, poster, can't remember exactly cause S2 sucked, and in S1 when he went to the past and talked to Charles on the rooftop...)

isn't part of the desire to capture even the most inane powered people a way to expose how mad the hunter is and maybe give reason for more distancing between nathan and his rabid hunter

I personally like this ability, but I see it as more defensive. If he ever needed to get away from people, he could just jump in a lake and hide there for awhile (assuming there's one nearby of course), or he could swim up rivers, across lakes/oceans, and get where he needed to be without being easily tracked. I think it has a lot of potential.

I thought of Bianca immediately too. I wonder if they're related. If his name was Alex Karina, I think it'd be a nice homage to the GNs.

Yeah i honestly believe that "breathing under water" isn't the furthest extent of his power. Give him some time to evolve people! LOL watch him grow a tail, that'd be pretty friggen awesome. But yeah in all seriousness, I agree with the whole Bianca Karina theory, seems more plausable than fins and a tail. Then again, in a heroes universe...

My 2 cents

They are taking everyone, even those with harmless abilities becuase they can breed more with very harmful abilities.

As for Aquamans power. In the GN he swims pretty dang fast. So I am sure he gets more then just breathing in the water. I think he gets the "when I am in my element I am stronger faster and dont need a thermal suit power to go with it."

I feel to capture him for the purpose of torture and killing him would make the last 70 years of orange shirted crap worth while (and yes I mean the Peter David years, too).

I might feel slightly vindicated.

That wasn't angela's power. She see's the future in dreams she does not travel there and bring stuff back. That was Charles' power. Astral projection.

I think a lot of us have that same feeling, though like someone else said it may be a related one like "water adaptability" or something.

I think someone made the point I was going to make. He is dangerous for 2 reasons.

1. He has the potential to breed another generation of special who might have a different power to himself that is harmful.

2. His power has the potential to grow.

Matt Parkman just had the ability to read minds. Now he can plant suggestions (even as far as going against the persons will), create illusions, put people into comas, and even draw the future! If he develops any further he could probably even develop the Haitian's power.

I don't know if they will expand Alex's power beyond underwater breathing, but let's imagine that it is actually an ability derived from his base ability. Remember the kid who drew all the air out of his classroom and killed his class in 5 Years Gone? What if Alex has a similar power, the ability to draw oxygen to himself, and he breathes underwater by drawing dissolved oxygen from the water. Pretty dangerous once he is on land.

Well it made sense to me to go after Alex. HRG tells his boss he is going home for a few days. His boss says, 'Oh btw, while you are there pick up some more specials'. Plus with the main crew aware of the Gov'ts plot it would be easier for the Gov't to go after those who are not informed.

On another note, I have abilities too! Now can I camp out in Claire's closest also?

While I agree with the potential of Alex's power, I think the point was to pick something pretty "lame" to illustrate that they were rounding up all specials, regardless of threat level.

Also, if they are basing any of this on Suresh's original work, then they might not have known his power specifically, just that he would have been likely to have the genetic markers.

Funny how the writers said that he used his mom's power in that scene and we have NEVER been told Charles' power on the show... You must know more then the writers about their own show!

Aside from me being a random sarcastic ****** in this post I must say that somebody earlier mentioned the fear of waterboy mating and having kids with powers that don't suck and or could be dangerous... That WOULD be a reason under Nathan's way of thinking to round everyone up...

He should slap on a wetsuit and jump in the ocean. I really doubt they have a sub waiting to pick this guy up.

What ever happened to West? It seems that if you meet Claire you meet an untimely demise.....

I don't get why he hid in claire's wardrobe when essentially he can hide better than anyone else in the show. Afterall most the planet is ocean.

Does it matter what threat he poses? He has an ability, and the DSHI believes in equal opportunity. I think it was used to illustrate that point - the Hunter doesn't care if all Nathan can do is fly. He'll slap him in an orange suit and shove bamboo under his fingernails regardless of the power of his powers.

We know it was Charles's power from when Peter went back in time in a dream and Charles could see him. Angela does not astrally project she is a precog. She can only see the future in her dreams not travel there. So yes you are a smart alec but your also wrong.

...you know, it'd be funny if he could talk to fish too.

His power's okay.
Semi-useful, especilly for escapes. =3






I was wondering that too. =.
He hasn't even been mentioned?

alex power is cool. train him to be a navy seal n' get the guy that turns into water as a seal. specialized agents for special situations. even with alexs ability he has an advantage over normal humans. it may seem like a lame ability but it comes in handy

Even Nathan said not all of them are dangerous. It's about rounding them all up - same as Nazi Germany and the US with Japanese American's during ww 2. It's all or nothin'

The guy that can turn into water could Hide inside alex.

Look it up on BTE if you like. The writers stated Peter used Angela's power. He didn't Astral Project, he was "dreaming.." They also stated that we would see other facets of her ability later as well... (They always say that though about everything we want to know about.. lol)

As for what Charles can do, you have no idea and neither do I. We can guess all day, but I assume that the writers know their characters better then you do, no offense.

If Charles can astral project, thats a cool gues but thats all it is, even if proven right.



On Topic:

It doesn't matter what lame or cool power you have, if you intend on having kids, then they have a chance of gaining a potentially dangerous or world ending ability. I think that is why every special must be rounded up in the Hunter's point of view. Aquaman's little "swimmers" might actually pass on the ability that ends the world, or he might have kids with webbed hands and feet... lol

I really hope Alex's power is actually lung adaption and not just breathing under water. Lung adaption actually has a lot of potential.

I simply assumed Alex was taking on the replacement role of the 'West' in Claire's storyline. (Though I like Alex better already) And they simply needed an event to introduce him into the plot line.

Like it's been said already, they're rounding up the non-harmful ones as well, and his power might be more along the lines of Lung Adaptation or something with Water's more his element than being on land - both pretty useful powers in a lot of aspects.

I think underwater breathing's a pretty awesome ability, but that's just me.

Considering the simple fact that every ability has come with an immunity to the obvious side effects of the environment in which it would be used, neither of those arguments work.
Meredith could still breathe in that crate, even though it was so hot that almost all the oxygen was gone. She also never gets burned.

Alex would never have those symptoms, because his body would have adapted to all the side effects of extended use of his power.

And...exactly what reason would he have for coming up? He doesn't need to breathe.


Fine. Why do you think it's the worst power EVER?
It's definitely not worse than Melty Powers. Not even worse than Air Bullet Finger.
Actually, it's one of the abilities I've been surprised not to see previously.

As for why they would view him as a potential threat? I think that's been completely covered.

He could do major underwater damage. Not least of which is as a threat to our submarines. (Subs swim essentially blind- and sonar would definitely not register a single swimmer as a threat- but he wouldn't be blind.)

Actually, all the writers said was that he used his mother's ability the first time we saw him and they showed us what the precise ability was.

They've never said he used his mother's ability in that particular scene.

I agree! I think this ability is kind of like flight. You know, it's something that other animals can do, just not normal humans. I mean, I think it might be less useful than flight (okay, fine, it is) and it's not nearly as powerful as mental manipulation, TK, etc., but that's FINE. besides, what I like about this power is that it relates to his character and you can understand why it developed. Versus melty powers. I mean what the hell??? Who really needs to melt a toaster?? As for air bullet finger...I've never really understood that one.

I've been expecting more water-related powers actually. After Meredith's fire one, I thought maybe there would be a character who could control water.

Anyway you want to go about it, whether I'm wrong or not about his mother's power, we still have no hard evidence of what Charles' power is. I can come up with any evidence I want to cover any theory of what power he has. The writer's will cover it and explain further these powers, I hope. I hope Angela's power is dream manifestation and also seeing the future...


Back on topic:

As for why water-breathing imo is the "worst power ever", its limitted in scope and use. Unless they are going to have a lot of underwater shows, this power will only "cameo" unless they find convient ways for him to be by a lake or the ocean... Just saying, in a show about average everyday people with powers, this power isn't really usefull in everyday situations..

At least "tk-bullet-fingers" and "melty-powers" can be used during the coarse of a show without moving to contrived locals...

Maybe I should say that the power is the worst one for this show imo, since I like the Submariner. (Not so much Aquaman...) I like flight. Its useful and serves a good purpose. I even liked Bob's alchemy. The only powers I didn't care for were the obvious ones listed (melty, shooty, swimmy...) and how they portray electrical powers, but that is my own personal problem due to the aestethics of how it was applied/used/worked...

They live by the ocean. I don't think the setting of a scene near the ocean would be contrived. In s2 when Noah and Bob were trading Elle for Claire, they were by the ocean and it wasn't "contrived."

Anyway, I don't think they are going to use his powers a lot. Maybe once, just to prove its usefulness, maybe. Or maybe Alex is going to end up on one of their planes and it crashes over water this time. I don't think that'd be contrived either.

It would be cool if he can swim faster than a bullet or something. I mean like how Nathan flies in the air. No bird flies supersonic. Also if he can jump really high, like how some sea creatures do. If he's in a fight or flight situation, he can always jump in a dirty sewer.

I think Alex has an awesome power. Granted he won't be much use in the middle of the desert but it's still absolutely brilliant.

It's a stupid power. What can you achieve from breathing underwater indefinitely? He would still have to eat eventually, and I'm assuming he would have to drink non-salt water. Plus he wouldn't be able to go deep or the pressure would kill him or he would get the bends and go mad.

I would rather be able to melt stuff, like prison walls, you could become a firefighter and save people stuck under buildings in earthquakes by melting everything on top of them. It has potential! And air bullet things would be cool assuming they can make things other than bottles explode. Seagull trying to steal your lunch at the seaside? Not anymore! Someone tries to mug you? Rip em a new one!

Sure, breathing underwater would be fun, but unless you can swim super fast like Nathan can fly supersonic, its utterly poo.

Any power is awsome. Anyone that doesn't see this as a great power lacks imagination. And has a narrow vision of what it could be useful for.

Not necessarily, that would be like saying self propelled flight is a stupid power, because one would need to come down to eat. Unless Nathan wants to catch a bird, fly supersonic, till it heats up/cooks, and eat it. The same can be said about any power. One can say Nathan would burn up flying that fast. He would suffocate that high in the air. That his brain will splat to his skull, making G turns, and stopping, and accelerating on a dime. Or that Hiro should suffocate, because his power freezes time, and space, so there shouldn't be any oxygen, and he should die. Or that Meredith should burn, when using her power. But it is assumed that the abilities grant one immunity to such things, to the environment in which the abilities are suppose to function. Why can't you say the same about the aquaman guy? Well, I thought the show was suppose to be about people doing extraordinary things, rather than having abilities which grants one to escape from prison. You should try watching Prison Break than. It's suppose to be about people from around the world, not just in a city area. I think his power has potential. He could be saving people from pirates. Stopping drug smugglers. Helping sunken ships, etc.I guess we'll just have to wait, and see.

What can you achieve from exploding?
What can you achieve from healing?
What can you achieve from flying?

There are hundreds of potential uses of his power. Admittedly we won't see most of them, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.


Nathan & West still have to eat eventually. And I'm assuming they can't drink water out of clouds.
As far as not being able to go deep? Why not? What reason do you have to believe he can't?
After all, Nathan flies supersonic and high enough that he shouldn't have enough oxygen.

Breathing underwater may just be the first adaptation. Next might be night vision then enhanced strength for swimming and after that some level of invulnerability from adapting to depth (Aquaman and Sub-Mariner may get no respect but are actually tough hombres) and after that, well, there's always the electric eel and the pistol shrimp.