Noah Bennet

Template:Heroes character box Mr. Bennet, also known as Horn-Rimmed Glasses or HRG, is a character from the NBC drama Heroes played by Jack Coleman. The role was initially recurring, but became regular as of the 11th episode.

Character overview

At first glance, Mr. Bennet appears to be an ordinary businessman who works at the Primatech Paper Company and lives in Odessa, Texas with his wife and two children. However, he and his associates have actually traveled the world for a number of years investigating superhuman phenomena. Bennet claims that he assists them in learning to use their powers, although there are sometimes unintended consequences. One of Bennet's associates is a mysterious Haitian man with the power of wiping out memories. Others include Eden McCain, a doctor called "Hank" and a woman called "Lisa". His true agenda and overall affiliation are still mysterious. In response to Matt Parkman's inquiries as to whether he works for the FBI or the CIA, Bennet said he doesn't work for "any organization that has initials." Bennet is also very protective of his adopted daughter, Claire. This sometimes leads him to use his authority and associates in ways more unsavory than usual. Past, present and future events all indicate that Mr. Bennet has lied about Claire's origin multiple times.

Character history

Beginnings

In "Six Months Ago," an episode that takes place six months before "Genesis," Bennet turned wanted criminal and mind controller Eden McCain into one of his operatives. At about the same time, he is contacted by Chandra Suresh, who has found Claire's picture on her high school's web site and identified her as having potential powers. After Chandra leaves, Mr. Bennet then ordered Eden McCain to become a neighbor of Chandra Suresh and remove Claire's name from Chandra's list of superpowered humans.

Mr. Bennet first appears in a small but important role during "Genesis," the first episode. He is found in the apartment of Chandra Suresh in Madras, India. Chandra's son Mohinder enters the apartment, but leaves quickly after realizing Bennet is still there. Bennet seems to notice Mohinder, and later follows him to New York. There, Bennet is one of Mohinder's afternoon passengers during his job as a taxi driver. Bennet begins pleasantly referencing his travels, and stating that he'll be happy to see his family again. The conversation turns as he mentions personal facts about Mohinder, ultimately resulting in Mohinder fleeing his own cab. Finally, Bennet comes home to Odessa and greets his family. The next morning in "Don't Look Back," Claire states her desire to meet her biological parents. Bennet is reluctant, but doesn't outright say "no." After Claire gets home from school, Bennet says he'll start contacting the adoption agency and looking for her biological parents. After a happy Claire leaves the room, Bennet is seen watching a video tape of Claire demonstrating her healing abilities.

In Collision, Bennet is first seen standing over Matt Parkman, who is strapped to a gurney. Bennet calmly converses with Matt, advising him to relax. Bennet also checks the readout of a machine used to gauge when Parkman is trying to read Bennet's mind. Bennet explains that the Haitian is blocking Matt's powers. Nevertheless, Matt is able to pull the name "Claire" from Bennet's mind. Bennet is impressed by Matt's growing ability, and then tells the Haitian to "go deep" with Matt, who is last heard screaming. That morning, back at the Bennet house, Mr. Bennet finds that a distraught Claire has just come home. Bennet assumes from Claire's bare, mud covered feet that she was out all night with Brody Mitchum. Bennet has to get to work, but states that they'll talk later. He is then seen monitoring Nathan Petrelli, who has just had a one night stand with Niki/Jessica Sanders. Bennet tells the Haitian to kidnap "just the one" (Nathan).

In the next episode, "Hiros," Bennet and the Haitian attempt to force Nathan into a car, but he escapes by flying away. Bennet is then seen at Texas hospital visiting Claire. Claire explains that Brody is a rapist and attempted to force himself on her. After speaking to one of his victims, Claire was motivated to do something. She only wanted to "scare" Brody, but as he sat in the passenger seat and said he wouldn't stop raping girls, she ultimately crashed his car intentionally. Claire begs her father not to tell anyone, and Bennet merely says he'll take care of it. Then, Bennet appears in Brody's room, followed by the Haitian. Bennet tells the Haitian to "hollow him out" (erase a vast majority of Brody's memories).

Finally, in Better Halves, Bennet has set up a meeting between Claire and his two associates Hank and Lisa. Bennet presents the two as Claire's biological parents. While carefully watching the two with his wife Sandra, Bennet receives a call from Eden McCain, his spy in New York. Eden relays information about Mohinder, Isaac Mendez ("the precog") and the message "save the cheerleader, save the world." Bennet is disturbed by the last part, but regains his composure. Bennet tells Eden to prevent Mohinder from returning to New York and to "bring in the precog." After Hank and Lisa exit the Bennet home, Mr. Bennet follows the two outside and thanks them for their service.

Saving Claire

Mr. Bennet asks Isaac, whom Eden persuaded to come with her, to help him to prevent Claire from being murdered by Sylar at her homecoming game the next night. Bennet has collected three previous paintings Isaac created depicting a terrified Claire close-up, running up the bleachers in a football stadium, and lying dead on the ground with the top of her skull removed. When Isaac is unable to paint without the use of heroin and resists taking the drug, Mr. Bennet orders Eden to use her powers to make Isaac believe he wants to use the drug.

Bennet becomes frustrated after Isaac is unable to paint something that makes sense to him. When Eden protests his actions, Mr. Bennet shows her a series of photographs depicting Sylar's dead victims—all with their brains removed from their heads—and says he is determined to save his daughter from such a fate. He orders Eden to go to the homecoming game and look for Sylar and grounds Claire to prevent her from being killed. Bennet discovers later, however, that Claire snuck out and worriedly runs to the school to find her. When he arrives, he is too late to stop Sylar from attacking. Bennet soon discovers that the victim was not Claire; rather it was Jackie Wilcox, one of Claire's fellow cheerleaders. A relatively relieved Bennet soon reunites with his daughter and insists they go home while the police handle things. Claire says that she has something to tell her father regarding her uncanny survival.

In the episode "Fallout," Claire's father told her that he knew about her powers long before she was aware of them. He acknowledged doing things he was not proud of to keep her safe, and told Claire that Sylar had been taken care of, but that she must keep silent about her powers because she is in danger from others like him. Mr. Bennet later met with Sylar, confined in a prison cell, and told him he could not use his multiple abilities, that they planned to study him to determine what makes him "tick." Sylar boasted that he would escape and kill Claire, taking her healing abilities. Eden McCain told Mr. Bennet she could persuade Sylar to kill himself. Mr. Bennet, who claimed to take orders from someone higher up, was briefly tempted but was called away before he could accept or decline the offer. Mr. Bennet took Claire to the police station, where she was interviewed about Jackie's murder. Officer Matt Parkman was unable to read the thoughts of Claire or her father, prevented by the Haitian who hid around a corner. Mr. Bennet ordered the Haitian to wipe the memories of his children, Lyle and Claire, and Claire's friend, Zach.

After two weeks

In "Godsend," Bennet believes Claire's memory has been erased. Claire acts as if it has, as well. However, Bennet and Claire are slowly drifting apart. At Primatech Paper, the FBI investigates the building as well as Bennet and his associates. Though they find nothing, officer Matt Parkman knows Bennet's up to something and has realized that Bennet kidnapped him. Bennet is unfazed, however, and simply tells Matt "good luck" in regard to his vendetta.

Next, Bennet shows up at the apartment of Mohinder Suresh in New York. Mohinder is defensive, recalling Bennet's past actions. However, Bennet means him no harm, and even mentions Eden. Soon, he makes a proposition. Bennet tells Mohinder that together they could make a difference, and asks Mohinder to join him. Mohinder says he isn't interested, but Bennet leaves his card anyway.

Bennet returns to Sylar's holding area in "The Fix". There, he finds Hank telling him that Sylar's vital signs are highly irregular and he may be dying. Bennet tells Hank to keep him alive, referencing orders from his superiors to that effort. Furthermore, he states that Sylar will "die on my terms" rather than Sylar's. At home, Bennet finds Claire and Zach are "working on a school project" together, according to Claire. Claire also acts as if she'd rather not spend time with Zach. After Zach and her go upstairs, Mr. Bennet gets a call from Hank. Hank states that Sylar has died, which Bennet replies is "less than ideal." Bennet then tells Hank to prepare Sylar "for shipping". Back at Sylar's cell, Bennet finds the body of a dead Hank where Sylar should be. Bennet then turns around to find Sylar calmly standing in front of him. Sylar then asks, "how's Claire?"

Name

Mr. Bennet is initially introduced as "Horn-Rimmed Glasses," based on his distinctive eyewear, and Jack Coleman is even credited as such. In the third episode, "One Giant Leap," his real name was confirmed as "Mr. Bennet" and he has been occasionally referred to as such since. Still, "Horn-Rimmed Glasses" (or some variant of it) is the more often used name, albeit indirectly. For example, characters who don't know him personally usually describe him as "the man with horn-rimmed/horned-rim glasses." With regard to Bennet's given name, Coleman has admitted that it's been intentionally avoided.

Appearance

In an interview with TV Guide, Jack Coleman was asked "were the horn-rimmed glasses your idea, or the writers?" Coleman responded thoroughly with:

That was always in the script. Tim's original description in the pilot was "an everyman but unknowable." The idea was based on Max von Sydow in Three Days of the Condor, that seemingly benign but anything-but-benign character. I tried on many, many pairs of glasses to find the right look. The thing that's great about them is that they're so anachronistic, they kind of make him into this '50s Cold War warrior, which is perfect because he is this mystery guy who doesn't quite fit in. Putting those glasses on does half the work. They make you instantly suspicious [Laughs], because nobody wears glasses like that anymore.