SUPERPOWER: Intuitive aptitude

LOCATION: Sullivan Bros Carnival, New York City

JOB: Former agent of Pinehearst and The Company. Currently living as Nathan Petrelli, U.S. Senator

FAMILY: Adoptive parents: Virginia Gray & Martin Gray

Season 1

Sylar's real name is Gabriel Gray and he started out as a watchmaker. Initially, he had a talent for knowing how things worked simply by looking at them. Clever, but not the kind of superpower he dreamed of. When Chandra Suresh approached him and told him about his theories, Gabriel felt his destiny was going to be fulfilled. But, after tests, Chandra told him he had no special abilities, so Sylar killed him. When Chandra's son, Mohinder, arrived, Sylar posed as Zane, one of the superheroes on Chandra's list. Mohinder soon realised this but not before leading him to some of the other heroes, including Isaac. Isaac told him his fate was to die at the hands of the heroes. Hiro, Matt and Peter were already after Isaac as they believed him to be the exploding man destined to destroy New York. They had also been trying to keep him away from Claire so he couldn't absorb her ability to heal, thus making him indestructible. Having killed Isaac, Sylar painted a picture of himself facing off against Peter at Kirby Plaza. Ando appeared in an attempt to stop him and revealed a comic book showing Hiro killing Sylar. Sylar dismissed it and headed off to face Peter. But it was Hiro who stabbed Sylar and seemingly killed him in the Season 1 finale, just as Isaac's comic had predicted.

Season 2

Sylar was discovered alive. It wasn't long before he crossed the path of Maya and Alejandro. Enticed by Maya's powers he started formulating a plan - except this one didn't include Alejandro or Maya. He just wanted his powers back - and by the end of Season 2 he had succeeded.

Season 3

Sylar finally cornered Claire and obtained immortality. Back from the dead, Arthur Petrelli soon recruited Sylar to Pinehearst by pretending to be his father. When H.R.G revealed the truth, Sylar began to suffer a crisis of identity and family, and killed Elle, destroying their fledgling relationship. Hell-bent on discovering the truth about his parentage, he killed Arthur, bringing down Pinehearst and the threat to his power. But he was soon stopped by Claire who stabbed him and left him for dead in Primatech. In Volume 4, Sylar finally found his real father, who was dying of cancer. After easily overpowering his father in an attack, he realised that he needed a bigger challenge. He started working with Danko to catch other Heroes, gaining himself a very handy shape-shifting ability. However, his aiding Danko was all a ploy to get to the President. He killed Nathan, but at his moment of triumph he was taken out by Peter, who had copied his powers. The unconscious Sylar had his mind manipulated by Matt, forcing him to believe that he was Nathan Petrelli. He began his new life as Nathan, but was his true identity really gone for good?

Season 4

Sylar's consciousness - Sylar emerged inside Matt's head, demanding to know where his body was. When Matt refused, he had great fun in taunting him - with the sole aim of making Matt give in and get him back to his body. Starting to gain more control over Matt, he saved his life when a drug dealer tried to shoot him. Sylar finally tricked Matt into getting drunk and while he was unconciousness he took over Matt's body. After an ultimate power struggle Matt's mind came out on top. Sylar's conciousness was finally suppressed when Matt's mind decided to kill his own body. However, Matt survived and awoke in a hospital with Nathan and Peter by his side. It was here that Sylar finally became reunited with his own body.

Sylar's body - Back in New York, Sylar's body emerged from the ground, but with his memories stuck in LA, he had no idea who he was. His powers quickly emerged when he was captured by the police and he escaped to Sullivan Bros Carnival. Sylar struggled to find his identity but soon began to understand his powers. He was baptised by Samuel into the family. Waking up one day he'd changed back to Nathan's form. Needing urgent answers he flew off to find Peter. Finally in Matt's hospital room Sylar's body and consciousness met once more.

Nathan's weakened mind was eventually overpowered by Sylar and he returned to his former evil self. Arriving back at the carnival, Sylar discovered he'd lost the power to kill. Offering help Samuel created a tattoo of Claire on Sylar's arm. Needing answers he turned up outside her college room. By tricking her into thinking he'd kidnapped her roommate, Sylar forced Claire into helping him battle his power problem. Believing his powers held the key to his unhappiness, Sylar made an unwelcome visit to Matt and asked him to remove his ability. Matt obliged by trapping Sylar alone in his mind with his immortality - his worst nightmare. Peter arrived just in the nick of time to save Sylar from being buried alive in the basement of Matt's house. Entering Sylar's mind, the pair became trapped for what they felt were years. During this time, Sylar repented and Peter learned to forgive him, enabling them to break out. The prophecy came true when Sylar rescued Emma - and this time he decided not to kill The Puppetmaster, revelling in his new-found hero status, proving he really had changed.