Noah Bennet

For the Passions character, see Noah Bennett.

Template:Heroes character box Noah Bennet, also known as Horn-Rimmed Glasses, HRG, or simply Mr. Bennet, is a fictional character from the NBC drama Heroes played by Jack Coleman. The role was initially recurring, but became regular as of the 11th episode. His first name was not revealed until "How to Stop an Exploding Man", the first season finale.

Character overview

At first glance, Noah 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 man known only as "The Haitian" with the power of wiping out memories. Others include Eden McCain, a doctor called "Hank," and a woman called "Lisa". In the past, he has also worked with Claude, the "Invisible Man". 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 clearly loves his daughter, Claire, but is also overprotective of her. This sometimes leads him to use his authority and associates in ways more unsavory than usual. Past, present and future events all indicate that Bennet has lied about Claire's origin multiple times. This leads him to lose the trust of his daughter temporarily in the first season.

According to his driving license, his previous address is 9 Juniper Lane, Odessa, Texas. Noah Bennet speaks fluent Japanese, and also appears to speak at least a limited amount of Russian. Bennet is also proficient with firearms.

Character history

Beginnings

In "Company Man", a flashback episode, it is revealed that Noah Bennet's former partner years ago was Claude, with whom he rescued Claire from the fire her biological mother caused. However, because Claude was hiding "one of them", Bennet was forced to kill him but Claude later turned out to be alive as he went invisible when Bennet shot him. In "Six Months Ago", an episode that takes place six months before "Genesis", Bennet turns the 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 after identifying her as having potential powers. After Chandra leaves, Bennet orders Eden McCain to become a neighbor of Chandra Suresh and remove Claire's name from Chandra's list of superpowered humans.

Noah Bennet first appears in "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 there as well. 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 look 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, 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. 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. Bennet then appears in Brody's room, followed by the Haitian. He says that she is going through 'a confusing time', telling that he knows of her powers. Bennet tells the Haitian to "hollow him out" and "take everything" (erase all of Brody's memories, including that of his own name); afterward, he tells the boy that he is being given a chance to start over in life.

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 leaving New York and to "bring in the precog." After Hank and Lisa exit the Bennet home, Noah Bennet follows the two outside and thanks them for their service. At this point his wife, Sandra, lets slip to Claire that they'd had problems finding her parents in the past and that she was surprised that Noah Bennet managed to do it now.

Saving Claire

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, 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, 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 the cheerleader in the pictures. 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 reveals that he knew about her powers long before she was aware of them. He acknowledges doing things he was not proud of to keep her safe, and tells 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. Bennet later meets with Sylar, confined in a prison cell, and tells him that the cell is keeping his powers suppressed. Sylar taunts Bennet telling him that Bennet is just like him. In their next confrontation Bennet turns the taunt back at Sylar telling him how they plan to study him to determine what makes him "tick." Sylar boasts that he would escape and kill Claire, taking her healing abilities. Eden suggests using her powers to persuade Sylar to kill himself, but Bennet declines (though briefly tempted), as he takes orders from someone higher up. Bennet later takes Claire to the police station, where she is interviewed about Jackie's murder. Officer Parkman is unable to read the thoughts of Claire or her father, since the Haitian is hiding behind a nearby corner. Afterwards, Bennet orders the Haitian to wipe the memories of his son and Claire's friend, Zach. When Claire finds out that the two of them have lost all memory of her powers she rings her father in a panic. It is left open whether it is only then that he orders the Hatian to wipe Claire's memories or whether he has already done so.

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 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 regards 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 effect. Furthermore, he states that Sylar will "die on [Bennet's] terms," not his own. 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. Bennet, however, tells her that she had been friends and encourages her to see if they might not find something in common. After Zach and she go upstairs, 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 asks about Claire, then states his intentions to kill her. After telekinetically throwing Bennet against a wall and playing with the lights, Sylar leaves Bennet trapped in the cell. Later, at the Bennet home, he and the Haitian narrowly save Sandra from Sylar. Although Sylar escapes, Bennet is confident he will catch the killer. After the Haitian wipes Sandra's memories yet again, Bennet is called by Isaac Mendez. Mendez is revealed to be working with Bennet, as he relays information about Peter Petrelli.

In "Unexpected", Bennet and the Haitian manage to track down Peter and Claude. They fire Tasers at Claude, but Peter unexpectedly utilizes his powers to stop the electrodes and fly away from them. Bennet is then called by Claire, who tells him that Sandra has collapsed for unknown reasons. Bennet heads back home, and is confronted by Claire in the hospital, where she reveals that she remembers everything that the Haitian was supposed to erase. Afterwards, the Bennet family returns home, where they are confronted by Ted Sprague and Matt Parkman.

The episode "Company Man" begins with the hostage-taking of the Bennet family by Sprague and Parkman, who are in search of answers. Noah Bennet has revelations about his company during this situation, showing that he initially came to work for "The Company" under the supervision of a man named Thompson, and partnered with Claude. He is eventually ordered to kill Claude, because Claude apparently was hiding "one of them" from The Company. During the confrontation with Sprague, Thompson comes through the back door and shoots Ted, who goes into an uncontrolled radioactive state. Noah Bennet and Matt escape the house, while Claire tranquilizes Sprague. After this, Matt and Ted are taken to the paper factory. Thompson asks Bennet when Claire should be showing up at the factory. It is at that moment that Bennet realizes he's too attached to Claire. The graphic novel "Family Man" reveals that, at this point, Noah Bennet decides that he must do what he can to save Claire and "bring down the people [he] work[s] for." Having noticed that he is being followed by someone from The Company, Noah Bennet drives to a cybercafé and sends a message to Hana asking for help, which she agrees to do. The episode ends with Noah Bennet taking Claire to the same bridge on which he shot Claude so many years ago. The Haitian shows up, and Bennet instructs the Haitian to shoot him in the stomach, then "Go deep" and wipe anything out of his memory that could lead "them" to Claire. The Haitian follows the order, then takes Claire away to protect her, as instructed.

In "Parasite", Bennet is questioned by Thompson; he claims that the last thing he remembers is driving home Sandra from the hospital. Later, before Noah Bennet is about to leave on business, Sandra tells him that she is only pretending to have had her mind wiped, as he told her to do; and that he had told her everything about what he really did, who he works for, and what happened to Claire. She gives him a note that he left for himself, warning him not to look for Claire because she is with friends. Then, Bennet and Candice travel to New York to "clean up" Isaac's mess. Upon his return home, Bennet tells Sandra that they both have to pretend that they have no idea what has happened, and that Primatech has to be stopped for good to ensure Claire's safety. "Sandra" then transforms back into Candice, and other members of the Company, including Thompson, enter the room behind her.

On the run

In ".07%", Bennet is now in the custody of Primatech, in a solitary cell. His will to protect Claire is challenged by Candice, who shapeshifts into Claire's form; Bennet recognizes the ruse right away and tells her and Thompson that he does not know where Claire is and will never give her up to them. Thompson threatens to kill Bennet, but Bennet notes that if they really wanted him dead, they'd have killed him by now. Thompson tells Bennet that he is merely waiting on orders to do so.

Realizing that the only hope of stopping Thompson and his superiors will be to escape from Primatech, Bennet telepathically gives instructions to Matt Parkman, who is also being held prisoner, on how to break out of his cell. Matt is then told to fetch Sprague from his cell so that Sprague can generate an EMP to shut down the power at Primatech, which will then allow them to break Bennet out of his cell. Matt is reluctant to go along with the plan, and Sprague doesn't trust Bennet, but eventually the three of them work together to escape.

Over breakfast at the Burnt Toast Diner, Bennet reveals that the only way to stop Thompson is to get to New York City to destroy the tracking device that tracks heroes tagged with the neck tattoo, and he produces bus tickets to take them there. When Matt asks if Mr. Linderman is in New York, Bennet seems surprised by Matt's knowledge of the name. Matt guesses correctly that Bennet was "middle management" and is somewhat incredulous that Bennet seems not to know who was signing his paychecks all those years. Bennet tells Matt to forget about Linderman and that it is more important that they get to New York and destroy the tracker. Sprague casts the deciding vote to go to New York City, and Matt reluctantly agrees to join them on their destination.

After escaping from Primatech Paper with Sprague and Parkman, the three of them head for New York to destroy the tracking system and the company. In "The Hard Part", Bennet, Parkman and Sprague steal a car and head for New York. Bennet reveals that the Company has a new tracking system called the Walker system. He reveals that this system doesn't need radio isotopes or tracers to find you; it just knows where you are. Unbeknownst to Bennet, the Walker tracker system is later revealed to be Molly Walker, who has the ability to mentally find anyone in the world, just by thinking about them.

New York Event

The three arrive at Kirby Plaza, which is the same plaza that holds Micah Sanders and Molly Walker. When they arrive, Bennet is reunited with Claire. Peter then notices his hands beginning to glow. Bennet realizes that Peter is absorbing Ted's power, and Peter and Claire look at each other.

After Peter controls himself, the group splits in two, with Peter, Claire, and Sprague going to a remote town in Nebraska, and Parkman and Bennet continuing with their mission to destroy the tracking system. Bennet knows where they need to go, but he needs Parkman's powers to allow them access. Matt confronts a security guard and convinces him that they know each other and had spoken outside of work the previous night. Upon revealing an embarrassing secret of the guard's, the man lets them in without hesitation.

While waiting for the elevator, they bump in Jessica and D.L., with Jessica surprised to see Matt still alive. The four go up in the elevator together, with Bennet telling them where to find Linderman. Bennet and Parkman then get off at the floor where the tracking system is, only to find Thompson waiting for them. Parkman saves Bennet from getting shot, only to have Bennet leave him defenseless against Thompson. Thompson then comes up behind Parkman, puts a gun to his head, and asks him, "What am I thinking now, Parkman?" Bennet comes from the side and says, "Your last thoughts," killing Thompson with two point blank gunshots to the head.

The two then proceed to find the tracking system, where both are surprised to find it's a young girl — though only Matt is completely surprised: Bennet claims he knew it was a person, just not a little girl — whom Matt had previously rescued from Sylar, and who thought of Matt as "my hero." Matt protests killing her, but Bennet says it must be done in order to save the others. The two continue to argue until Matt is suddenly knocked out by Mohinder from behind. The episode ends with Mohinder pointing a gun on Bennet while the latter points his gun on Molly, both men threatening to shoot.

Parkman wakes up, ending the standoff. Bennet asks Molly to locate Sylar, which she does - he's nearby.

In the climax of "How to Stop an Exploding Man," Peter, Bennet, and Parkman confront Sylar in the plaza. Bennet is immediately thrown against a wall, rendering him incapable of stopping Peter if he explodes.

Season two

Four months after the incidents in New York, the Bennets have gone into hiding, having moved to Costa Verde, California, and assumed the last name of "Butler." Noah takes a subordinate job at a copy store called Copy Kingdom, and makes it very clear that he won't stand for his younger superior's megalomaniacal management style. Despite going into hiding, he is still working to take down the "the Company" with the help of Mohinder Suresh.

In "Lizards", Noah tells his wife about a series of eight paintings done by the late Isaac Mendez, each depicting the death of a single person. He possesses the first, which predicts the death of Kaito Nakamura, and intends to locate the other seven. At the end of the episode, Noah is reunited with the Haitian; the accompanying graphic novel shows that Mohinder directed the Haitian to Bennet.

In "Kindred", Mohinder finds the last of the eight paintings, this one depicting Noah's death. He is laying on the ground with a bullet hole through the left lens of his glasses. A girl resembling Claire is in the background, apparently being held by someone.

In "Fight or Flight", Noah and the Haitian travel to Odessa, Ukraine, to find the remaining paintings. While there, he receives a call from Mohinder explaining that Molly Walker has fallen into a catatonic state and he wishes to take her to the Company for observation. Noah is unable to talk him out of it, though he warns that they'll have Mohinder as soon as he relinquishes that which he cares about.

In "The Line", Noah tracks down his old mentor, Ivan. He has the Haitian remove precious memories (marriage day, kids being born, etc.) from the old man one by one until Ivan succumbs and reveals where the paintings are. Knowing that his method of interrogation, as well as trying to use the Haitian to cover his tracks, will alert the Company, he instead opts to kill his mentor, making the affair appear to be a simple home invasion.

In "Out of Time", Noah and Suresh attempt to make sense of the paintings Noah and the Haitian have just found. The one in question is a painting of Suresh holding a Company-issue gun that has just been fired. Noah takes pictures of the paintings in an effort to send them to Suresh, but Suresh refuses stating his life may be in danger. Afterwards, Noah and the Haitian burn the entire collection and Noah returns home. West has dropped by without notice that same morning and made breakfast for Claire. As Noah walks into the house, West sees Noah and remembers who he is. West runs outside and abruptly flies away without being seen by Noah. Having left behind a newspaper detailing the incident with the drunk cheerleader, it ends up in hand of Noah, who sees it as a threat to the family. He confronts Claire and tells her she is putting the life of their family in danger. Furthermore, he tells her and the family to pack their things, and they are leaving immediately. Claire then calls her father out, stating that he was not being honest about his "trip" he took for "management training". Claire defiantly tells her father that she is not moving anywhere else and walks out of the room.

He is shot in the eye and killed in Cautionary Tales.

Alternate future

Note - The following information reveals an alternate reality in which Hiro is not present to assist in stopping the bomb.

In "Five Years Gone", Noah Bennet (who is not wearing his trademark horn-rimmed glasses) works together with Hana Gitelman to protect people with superpowers from being persecuted by a now fearful government. It is revealed that he is trying to keep Claire hidden from the registry. Though he is estranged from Claire, he visits her at the diner to warn her to get away. When he arrives back at work, he discovers Hana has been killed, and Matt Parkman, now head of the Department of Homeland Security, and his men are waiting for him. He does not realize Parkman has murdered Hana and broken their agreement, and hands Parkman a picture drawn by his son. Parkman holds a gun to him and demands to know where Claire is. Bennet refuses to answer, so Parkman reads Bennet's mind to extract Claire's location. Parkman then shoots Bennet in the head.

Name

Noah Bennet is initially introduced as "the man with Horn-Rimmed Glasses," based on his distinctive eyewear, and Jack Coleman is even credited as such. In the third episode, "One Giant Leap", his name was confirmed as "Mr. Bennet" and he has been occasionally referred to as such since. Still, "Horn-Rimmed Glasses" (or a variant of it) is the more often used name by the characters, albeit indirectly. For example, characters who don't know him personally usually describe him as "the man with horn-rimmed glasses." With regard to Bennet's given name, Coleman has admitted that it was intentionally avoided. This is evident in "Distractions", where Mrs. Bennet remarks that she is amused that everybody called him "Mister", and almost states his first name before being interrupted. His driver's license, displayed by Sylar in the same episode, did not show a first name. According to Coleman, the character's first name was written out of a draft script because "it stopped the scene cold." In the final episode of season one, "How to Stop an Exploding Man", Mr. Bennet tells Peter Petrelli to call him "Noah."

Appearance

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

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['s role] 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.

However, his glasses are not actually horn-rimmed, but browline style. During a flashback in "Company Man," he tries on a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, but Claire tells him they look like "grandpa glasses."

External links

• Interview with Christina Radish, "Jack Coleman Feels That Heroes is Something Special," MediaBlvd Magazine, February 27 2007.