Hiro Nakamura

Hiro Nakamura
Heroes character
First appearance	"Genesis"
Portrayed by	Masi Oka Garrett Masuda (child, season 1) Sekai Murashige (child, seasons 2–3) Mikey Kawata (teenage)
In-universe information
Occupation	Hired hero
Ability	Space-time manipulation, resulting in: Time manipulation Time travel Teleportation

Hiro Nakamura (中村 広, Nakamura Hiro) is a character on the NBC drama Heroes who possesses the ability of space-time manipulation. This means that Hiro is able to alter the flow of time. Previously, his ability allowed him to teleport, stop time, or travel through time, but recent events in the series have prevented him from regaining his full abilities. He is played by Japanese-American actor Masi Oka.

According to the online comic on NBC.com, Hiro is named after Hiroshima, so that his family will always remember the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tim Kring has been quoted as saying, "It's no coincidence we named him Hiro... he truly is on a hero's quest." To this end, his name is often used as a pun. His co-worker Ando once called him "Super-Hiro" in jest.

Character development

Hiro was one of the last main characters to be created by Tim Kring; he was added to the pilot episode after Kring's wife noticed none of the existing main characters were happy about their powers. During a panel session, Kring explained that he developed Hiro as a comic book geek "trapped in a life that was kind of not of his making". Thus, viewers were introduced to Hiro as an office worker in a sea of cubicles. In an interview, Tim Kring noted, "I didn't start off by saying I want a guy who can teleport. I started off by saying I wanted a guy who felt trapped in a life that was not his dream and what could be a power that would be most wish-fulfilling for that character? And that was the ability to teleport out of that life."

Fictional character synopsis

Hiro Nakamura is an office worker, specifically a level-3 programmer at Yamagato Industries, living in Tokyo, Japan who one day discovers he has the power to manipulate time and space (The Crane). An otaku (at least in the American sense of the word), Hiro is an avid fan of superheroes and science fiction. Naïve and over-eager, Hiro is the one character that aspires to the pure heroism of comic book crime fighters, shouldering the responsibility to use his powers for good. His best friend is the skeptical Ando Masahashi. At the start, Hiro is only able to speak Japanese, relying on Ando as his translator, but as the series progresses, his English slowly develops. Hiro's Blog, maintained by NBC and written from Hiro's point of view, is updated after each new episode is aired, usually about the events of the episode.

Genesis

At the start of the series, Hiro's power is developed enough for him to turn the second-hand of his clock back one second. It is later discovered that this same power made a train fourteen seconds late. Ecstatic at these accomplishments, Hiro confides in his friend, Ando, who is extremely skeptical of Hiro's new abilities. At Ando's suggestion, Hiro teleports himself into the women's bathroom of a local club, though Ando is not looking at the time. Seeing Hiro dragged out of the bathroom, Ando states that this only proves that he is a pervert, and a crestfallen Hiro walks away as Ando yells sarcastically that he is a "Super Hiro!" As Hiro returns home on the train, he sees a vacation ad for New York City. At this point, Hiro's power inadvertently activates, teleporting him to Times Square.

New York

Hiro appears extremely happy to have successfully used his ability. He soon discovers a comic book called 9th Wonders! in a nearby newsstand that shows himself standing in Times Square with his hands up and yelling, "Yatta!" (meaning "I did it!"), an incredibly accurate depiction of Hiro's arrival in New York. He attempts to pay in Japanese yen, and runs off with the comic book. Hiro then discovers that the story includes what has already happened between himself and Ando, and his discovery of his abilities. Hiro decides to find the artist and writer, Isaac Mendez, by visiting his loft.

Hiro visits Isaac's loft, discovering the artist's dead body, partially decapitated with the brain removed. Hiro is arrested by the police and during the interrogation discovers he has traveled not only through space, but through time as well. It was October 2 when he left Tokyo, and he arrived in New York November 8. Just as Hiro discovers this, he witnesses a cataclysmic explosion. Before the blast reaches him, Hiro turns back time to the exact moment he left Tokyo and teleports himself back to the train he was standing on, still holding the comic he picked up in the future.

Mission

After going to the future, Hiro decides that he must save the world by preventing the explosion. Hiro then persuades Ando that his powers are genuine by saving a young girl from an oncoming car (as predicted by the comic book from the future).

They take a plane to Los Angeles, but go the rest of the way by car, because that is what the comic book says they do. Hiro and Ando then have several misadventures in Las Vegas, starting when Ando decides to hit the casinos. Ando convinces Hiro to use his powers to cheat, stopping time to give Ando winning hands in poker games. The two make a lot of money, but are later thrown out of the casino and then beaten up by a player they had cheated.

After an argument, Hiro and Ando go their own separate ways. Hiro ends up in a diner near Las Vegas where he sees Nathan Petrelli literally fall from the sky like a meteorite. After Nathan enters the diner, Hiro briefly talks with the man, and Nathan decides to give Hiro a ride back to the casino, where he and Ando are reunited.

Their attempts to call Isaac Mendez are finally successful, as Peter Petrelli answers the phone, relaying a message from Hiro's future self, and tells them to come to New York City. However, the pair are detained further when the same player they cheated earlier forces them to play a poker game to make money to repay what they gained before. Ando and Hiro manage to escape shortly before the other players are slaughtered by Jessica Sanders. Hiro is crestfallen that he is unable to prevent their deaths but is comforted by Ando, who claims Hiro is still beginning his journey to become a true hero.

Hiro exercises his power as a hero again when he and Ando run across D.L. Hawkins and his son, Micah, at the scene of a burning car wreck with a passenger trapped inside. As D.L. frees the passenger, the vehicle explodes and Hiro freezes time to save them. Hiro complains about not having super strength when he is forced to drag the pair away from the explosion. After he unfreezes time, he shows the future edition of 9th Wonders! to Micah and speaks to him in English about his space-time manipulation powers.

Charlie

Continuing their journey to New York, Hiro and Ando stop at a diner in Texas and meet a waitress named Charlie, who recently developed powers of her own. As Hiro talks to Charlie, who finds him to be "sweet," Sylar watches them talk. Charlie is later found murdered in the diner's storeroom with her brain removed, just as Hiro had found Isaac's body in New York. Not wanting to fail to save someone like he did in Las Vegas, Hiro goes back in time in an attempt to prevent her murder, promising Ando that he'll return in five seconds.

Hiro's attempt to teleport to the day before Charlie's death goes awry, landing him six months in the past, on the day of Charlie's birthday. Though he considers another time-travel attempt, the possibility of being eaten by a dinosaur dissuades him. Hiro tries to warn Charlie and protect her from the "very bad man", but ends up forming a close relationship with her after his attempts to convince her fail. Eventually, he asks her to come with him to Japan. As the date of their departure gets closer, Charlie reveals that she has a blood clot in her brain and will die no matter what. She says she was going to give up before Hiro came and that she has fallen in love with him. Just as they are about to kiss, Hiro inadvertently teleports to Japan some time after he and Ando had left for the United States. Unable to return via his own powers, he is forced to make his way back to the diner through normal means. Ando, happy to see Hiro again, assumes Hiro used his powers (not least because Hiro now appears in a photograph on the Diner's wall taken with Charlie six months previously) and was successful, but Hiro explains that he failed and made his way back through public transportation. After this incident, Hiro's powers appear to weaken.

The novel Heroes: Saving Charlie expands and changes the events of the history. Hiro's love story with Charlie is expanded, as is her own role in foretelling her demise. They dated and fell in love during the months Hiro teleported back to, and eventually he told her that her memory was a power like his own. He did convince her to go to Japan with him, and they ended up in the same bar where Hiro has first told Ando his mission was to save the cheerleader, and save the world. Charlie realized Hiro lied to her (he had told her his mission was to save her life) and went back to the U.S. because she believed saving the world was a more important destiny for Hiro than saving just her.

The Quest for the Blade of Takezo Kensei

In "Fallout", Hiro and Ando find their way to Claire's high school, but arrive after Sylar's attack and believe her to have already been killed. Ando tries to be optimistic about the situation, claiming that "save the cheerleader, save the world," is just a progression of events — save the cheerleader and then save the world — and not a conditional statement. Hiro doesn't accept the claim, believing that he would have meant it as a conditional statement. While thinking about their next move, Hiro is called by Isaac Mendez, who arranges a meeting with them in Texas. Once they meet, Hiro shows Isaac the future 9th Wonders! comic, much to the artist's surprise, then asks him to paint the future. At first, Isaac isn't convinced he can do so without drugs, but once he realizes that some of his rough sketches depict Hiro traveling back to save Charlie, he tries again. Hiro recommends that Isaac concentrate, using the same face he makes when activating his own powers, and Isaac manages to activate his power successfully. Isaac's painting depicts Hiro brandishing a sword while encountering a carnivorous theropod dinosaur, seemingly confirming Hiro's earlier fears. Hiro remarks, "I really need to find that sword."

Two weeks later, at the beginning of "Godsend", Hiro and Ando go to the Museum of Natural History, looking for the sword that Hiro saw in Isaac's painting. They find it in a glass case on the back of an ancient warrior, Takezo Kensei. On the hilt of the sword is the symbol that appears in various points throughout the series. Hiro recalls a story his father told him of Kensei and how the sword was believed to have benefited him. He decides to steal the sword, believing it will help him control his powers. While doing so, he brandishes it against a model dinosaur in the museum, mimicking the picture Isaac had drawn earlier. However, the museum's version of the sword is only a wooden replica made by the Linderman Group. He returns to Isaac's loft, where he meets Simone Deveaux. Hiro also happily re-encounters Nathan (whom he addresses as "flying man"). After introductions and brief discussions, Simone recommends Hiro go back to Las Vegas with the dinosaur painting and see Mr. Linderman, an avid collector of Isaac's paintings.

Return to Vegas

In "The Fix", Hiro and Ando are chased by unknown men. Eventually, they are captured by the men, and Hiro is told that the men work for someone "truly powerful." Hiro and Ando are then told to stop their quest. Hiro declines, even after being offered first class plane tickets back to Japan. The men state their boss won't be happy and bring the two to him. Hiro then realizes the men work for his father, Kaito.

In "Distractions", Hiro's father tries to convince him to go back to Tokyo, admitting that it was a bad idea to start him off at the bottom and offering him a job as Executive Vice President of the company. After Hiro's initial refusal, his father rips up Isaac's painting. Kimiko, Hiro's sister, admits to him that, though his father is too proud to admit it, the company has gone through hard times. Ando reminds him that his powers are declining and it might not be a bad idea. Hiro eventually convinces his father that his sister is a better candidate to take over the company. Mr. Nakamura then lets Hiro continue with the mission.

In "Run!", Hiro and Ando are again sidetracked by a weeping Las Vegas showgirl named Hope. Hiro and Ando get separated while trying to retrieve a bag for Hope. Hiro is locked in a closet by Hope, then later freed by a Gaming Commission agent, who is looking for her. After watching Ando get shot during a firefight between the agent and Hope in "Unexpected", Hiro feels his mission is too dangerous to bring Ando any further. Hiro defeats Hope by unexpectedly using his powers to reverse the bullet in time one second, sending it back into the gun, disarming Hope. She and the agent are arrested, but since Hiro had his eyes closed, he doesn't realize he used his powers (which haven't been working well lately). He leaves the Versa with Ando and boards a bus alone (greeted by comic icon Stan Lee playing the bus driver).

In "Parasite", Hiro tries to enter Linderman's casino, but becomes aware that he has been red flagged and is not to enter the casino. As Nathan Petrelli enters the casino to meet with Linderman, he uses his influence to help Hiro get inside. Hiro delivers the painting to Mr. Linderman's vault, where the vault curator accepts it. While the curator is in another room, Hiro locates the sword and steals it, with the help of Ando, disguised as a security guard. Hiro teleports them both out of the building to escape the other security guards, but they find themselves on top of the Deveaux building, in a post-apocalyptic New York five years after the explosion.

Dark future

In ".07%", Hiro decides to learn as much as he can about the future to know what went wrong with his attempts to stop the bomb. He and Ando enter Isaac's apartment, but find it netted with newspaper articles suspended on strings, each article relating to the explosion and even the heroes themselves. Just then, Hiro and Ando hear a sound, and Hiro takes out his sword to confront whoever it is, but is shocked when he comes face to face with his future self.

In "Five Years Gone", Hiro learns from his future self that the bomb still went off. The younger Hiro in turn reveals to his future self that the present day Claire was rescued and Sylar got caught, but Sylar himself wasn't killed yet. This gives Future Hiro hope, but before they can do anything about it, Matt Parkman and his Homeland Security team break into Isaac's loft and begin a raid. Ando and Future Hiro manage to escape, but present day Hiro is apprehended by Matt and the Haitian. Hiro is brutally interrogated by Matt, who doesn't believe he is telling the truth about time traveling. Mohinder Suresh is called in to investigate Isaac's loft, where he is convinced about Hiro's story, but fails to convince the President, Nathan Petrelli (who is in fact Sylar in disguise). The President orders Mohinder to kill present day Hiro, but Mohinder finds he can't bring himself to do it. In the meantime, Ando and Future Hiro enlist the aid of future Peter Petrelli and they break into the building Present Hiro is captured in. They defeat all the guards and with the aid of Mohinder, manage to rescue Hiro. Unfortunately, before Hiro and Ando manage to travel back to their time, Future Hiro is shot by Matt Parkman, who is in turn stopped by Peter, who uses telekinesis to close the door on Parkman. Hiro is shocked to see his future self die, but when Ando confides he believes in Hiro now and shows him a copy of the 9th Wonders! comic book in which Hiro stabs Sylar with his sword, Hiro gets his confidence back and travels back to the time from which they came.

Stopping Sylar

In "The Hard Part", upon their return to the present time line, Hiro proudly vows to New York City that he'll do his best to save it. However, he does realize it will be the hard part of his destiny. Hiro and Ando return to Isaac's loft, hoping to fill in the gaps of the futuristic comic book. However, they arrive to find that Isaac has been killed by Sylar. When Hiro and Ando hear Sylar in the bathroom, they hide behind a painting. Sylar hears their heartbeats and uncovers their hiding spot. However, Hiro teleports Ando and himself to safety before they are found.

Hiro and Ando continue to follow Sylar and watch him meet with his mother, attempting to reconcile with her. After Sylar's mother is accidentally killed , Hiro stops time and approaches Sylar, sword drawn. However, as he swings, time resumes and Sylar grabs Hiro's sword. Sylar begins to freeze the sword, and – as Hiro teleports to safety with Ando – it breaks in two.

In "Landslide", after Ando looks in the Yellow Pages for someone who can repair the sword, he finds an ad bearing the helix symbol seen throughout the series. Upon arriving, they encounter Hiro's father Kaito, who tells Hiro that he is worthy of the family destiny. He also trains Hiro to fight and kill with a sword. When Hiro is done training, he and Kaito discover that Ando, thinking that Kaito had convinced Hiro to return to Japan, bought a sword and has left to confront Sylar alone.

In "How to Stop an Exploding Man" Hiro teleports to Isaac's loft to find Ando about to be killed by Sylar, but manages to teleport them both out of danger and back to Japan. Hiro returns with Ando's sword, leaving the Kensei sword with Ando, telling Ando that it is "so you know I'll be back." Upon returning, he stabs Sylar. Sylar uses the last of his strength to send Hiro flying toward a building, forcing Hiro to teleport to save himself. In doing so, however, he sends himself three centuries into the past to Kyoto, Japan, circa 1671. Upon collecting himself, he finds himself caught in the middle of a battle between a small group of samurai about to attack a figure on the horizon, who appears to be Kensei, the original owner of Hiro's blade. Before the battle begins, however, an eclipse shadows the scene.

Generations

Japan – 1671

In "Four Months Later...", the premiere episode of Season 2, Hiro freezes time as the archers from the battle scene at the end of "How to Stop an Exploding Man" are about to kill him. He then teleports who he believes to be Takezo Kensei away from the battle and into a small forest. There, he learns that the man is a decoy, and that the real Kensei, an Englishman in samurai armor, had been hiding in a tree in order to snipe the enemy with a crossbow. After some conversation, Hiro realizes that, by interfering in the battle, he has changed the past, and Otsu is razed. The swordsmith's daughter, a woman named Yaeko, who Kensei was supposed to wed according to the legend, grows angry at Kensei and takes back her father's sword given as payment, saying that she will go fight the bandits herself. Kensei reacts to this with general apathy.

In "Lizards", Hiro impersonates Kensei by donning his armor in order to make sure the bandits don't kill Yaeko and to prove to her that Kensei is a hero. Scaring off the bandits using his powers, Hiro as Kensei wins the heart of Yaeko. Encountering the real Kensei afterwards, Hiro manages to convince him to help Yaeko rescue her father. However, as they are about to leave, the bandits return and fire arrows at Kensei, seemingly killing him. However, once the arrows are removed, Kensei regenerates in a fashion similar to Claire Bennet.

With Kensei's newly discovered power, Hiro realizes how he became the hero of legend. Since Kensei isn't quite ready to accept his destiny, Hiro forces him to play out another of his legends, this one the retrieval of the "fire scroll" from 90 angry ronin. The task convinces Kensei to take up his own mantle, and he likens Hiro to his conscience — except he pays attention to Hiro. Believing his task to be done, Hiro initially decides to return to his own time, but during the attempt, suddenly stops and returns to Kensei.

Hiro, determined to preserve the time line, decides to remain in feudal Japan until Kensei defeats White Beard and saves Japan. They locate White Beard's army camp and Hiro helps Kensei rescue Yaeko's father. However, in a moment of weakness, Hiro gives into his own desires and confesses his love to Yaeko and they kiss, unaware that Kensei is watching them. Hiro tries to apologize, but Kensei reverts back to his old ways and knocks Hiro unconscious and turns him, Yaeko, and her father over to White Beard's soldiers. According to Hiro's note to Ando, this causes a currently unknown alteration to the timeline.

Hiro is kept prisoner in White Beard's camp where they use opium to dull his senses, preventing him from using his powers. Yaeko manages to free herself from her shackles and removes the opium. Hiro is able to focus just enough to teleport them to safety. Later, Hiro returns to White Beard's camp to destroy the guns. Before he can set the gunpowder cache on fire, Kensei confronts him and the two engage in a sword fight. Hiro tries to persuade Kensei to join him to stop White Beard, but Kensei refuses, and vows to Hiro that as long as he lives, he will destroy everything he holds dear. Hiro teleports out right before the guns explode. He meets Yaeko under the cherry blossoms one last time, and tells her the final tale in the legend of Kensei, where he is forced to cut his heart out. Yaeko vows that as long as she has a breath in her body, she will tell his story as the story of Takezo Kensei. They share a final kiss, and Hiro teleports out, leaving Yaeko alone under the cherry blossoms.

Return to the present

Hiro then teleports back to the present day, effectively fulfilling the final task by leaving Yaeko behind, and he learns from Ando that his father has been killed. Hiro attempts to go back and prevent his death in "Cautionary Tales", but his father convinces him that they cannot play God with their gifts. Hiro accepts this advice, but uses the opportunity to learn that Kensei was the one responsible for murdering his father. In "Truth & Consequences", Hiro is able to learn more about Kensei and his new name, Adam Monroe. He travels back in time to 1977 and learns that Adam was imprisoned by his father after he almost releases a virus that could kill everything. He learns that the virus will be kept in the Primatech facility in Odessa, Texas. Determined to avenge his father's murder, he teleports to the facility with his sword and stops time. There, he sees Peter Petrelli for the first time since "How to Stop an Exploding Man". Hiro declares his intentions to Peter, but Peter refuses to let Hiro harm Adam. Peter's hand crackles with electricity as Hiro lets out a battle cry and charges with his sword drawn.

In "Powerless", Hiro confronts Peter, but is knocked unconscious. Later, he is reunited with Nathan Petrelli and Matt Parkman, who are there to stop Peter and Adam from getting the virus. Hiro teleports into the vault and confronts Adam for the first time since the tent in White Beard's camp. Hiro tells Adam he should not have let Adam live long ago, then grabs Adam and teleports him away. Hiro later reveals to Ando that Adam will not hurt anyone ever again. The scene cuts to Adam, locked in a casket, buried alive in a Japanese cemetery.

Villains

In the third volume, "Villains", Hiro has taken his father's place as head of Yamagato. His family's lawyer gives him a tape his father recorded, telling Hiro that in the office safe is one half of a formula that could destroy the world if it fell into the wrong hands. Out of curiosity, he opens the safe and the envelope containing the formula, which is then stolen by a speeding superhuman named Daphne. Her super speed negates his ability to freeze time, and she escapes by knocking him unconscious.

Hiro travels to the future to validate his father's claim, where he sees Tokyo destroyed by some undefined cataclysm. He also witnesses his future self being killed by Ando, who now possesses some sort of electricity-based power (later found to be power amplification). This makes Hiro distrustful of Ando. To stop this future, Hiro and Ando follow Daphne to her home in France. However, Hiro is unable to capture her as she threatens to kill Ando. Using a tracking device, they follow Daphne to Berlin, Germany, where the other half of the formula is. The Haitian is holding it, so Hiro and Ando knock him unconscious to steal it, only to have Daphne speed in and steal it first. The Haitian awakens and captures them before they can pursue her.

Hiro and Ando are locked in Level 2 of the Company, where they resolve their differences over Ando killing Hiro in the future. They are released by Angela Petrelli, who scolds Hiro for losing both halves of the formula. Ando supports Hiro and declares they will get the formula back. To accomplish this, Hiro and Ando dig up Adam Monroe. Adam leads Hiro to a bar under the impression that they can find information there, but it is just a ruse for Adam to escape. He tricks the bartender into knocking Hiro out, then flees. Depressed, they decide to drink at a bar where they meet Daphne and Knox, who captured Adam. Knox says that he will let Hiro join them if he kills Ando, considering Ando, a normal human, useless to their causes. Hiro uses his powers to travel back in time, retrieving a packet of fake blood and a retractable sword to make it look as if he really killed Ando. This convinces Daphne and Knox.

Daphne sends Hiro to Africa to find a precognitive painter named Usutu. After two failed attempts to catch the painter using his powers, Hiro decides to use conventional methods, which Usutu had been waiting for him to do, as he had been overly reliant on his ability. He then shows Hiro a montage of those Hiro has to fight; namely Arthur Petrelli and his newly-assembled team of villains. Hiro and Ando are given food from Usutu to induce a spirit walk, which causes Hiro to witness Arthur Petrelli's past, among other things. Arthur discovers this and teleports to Africa, killing Usutu and wiping Hiro's mind, leaving him under the impression that he is only ten years old. Ando barely manages to get the mind-wiped Hiro to teleport them to safety.

With Hiro's memory gone, Ando is forced to reacquaint Hiro with his powers. After a series of tests (mixed with some of Hiro's childish pranks) in a Tokyo bowling alley, the duo teleport to Sam's Comics, which Hiro claims is the source of all knowledge. Ando finds yet another prophetic issue of 9th Wonders! which depicts the very situation that he and Hiro are in. The book also depicts a solar eclipse, with the caption, "It's Coming...," in the corner. The comic directs the duo to Matt Parkman, who can presumably restore Hiro's memory. Matt, however, cannot even understand Hiro, much less fix him, and instead enlists Hiro's help in finding Daphne, which the comic also depicts. When the eclipse causes both Hiro and Matt to lose their powers, Matt loses faith in his ability to help Daphne. In his own childish way, Hiro successfully convinces Matt to save Daphne. While Matt goes to Daphne, Hiro and Ando track down the nearest Sam's Comics to find the new issue of 9th Wonders!.

The proprietors are surprised when the issue depicts Hiro and Ando asking for it. Wanting to read up on his life, Hiro uses his credit card to purchase all the back issues of the 9th Wonders! comic; however, after seeing all the death that occurs when he tries to be a hero, he locks himself in the restroom. The shop owner talks him around and Hiro leaves the restroom. The other employee points out a panel in the first issue showing present-day Hiro and Claire Bennet looking through the glasshouse at Kaito Nakamura handing baby Claire over to Noah. Copying the comic, Hiro tracks down Claire, saving the Bennets in the process by teleporting Sylar and Elle to a beach, and takes Claire back to the moment the comic depicts. While watching their past selves, Hiro learns that his mother has the ability to heal, and possesses the "catalyst" that was intended for Claire. Hiro reveals himself to his mother, and she heals his memory. He convinces her to give him the catalyst, pledging to protect it. However, Arthur Petrelli appears, stealing his ability and the catalyst. He throws Hiro off the roof and returns to the present after sending Claire back to the future.

Hiro manages to climb up back to the balcony, he then seeks the help of his younger self to obtain the formula from his father. They're both caught in the act by his father who sends young Hiro to bed and then attacks present day Hiro believing he's just a thief. Hiro tears the formula in half just as his father strikes, accounting for it being torn in half in the present. He is rescued by Daphne and Ando, the latter having gained the power to supercharge the abilities of others; with Ando's help, Daphne can essentially run through time. Once in the present, Hiro and Daphne travel back to the Pinehearst Company to recover the formula. Tracy is about to leave with the formula, so Hiro apologizes to her in advance before punching her in the face and grabbing the formula. Daphne takes him back to their friends and he destroys the formula once and for all.

Fugitives

Hiro, powerless, is back in Japan with Ando. He bought an abandoned fire station from the city as their headquarters. After injecting him with a GPS device and revealing the Ando-cycle, Ando tells Hiro that he feels that he's trying to live through him since he is currently powerless. After Hiro denies this, Ando leaves frustrated. Later while talking to Ando on the phone, Hiro was captured by Nathan's agents. Then Hiro is awakened by Claire on a plane with other captured people with abilities. Due to a battle with Peter and the soldiers on it, the plane crashes with everyone inside. Hiro survives and runs for his life together with Mohinder Suresh and Matt Parkman. Meanwhile, Ando is getting worried and tries to get to Arkansas, where the plane crashed. He is visited by Daphne who worries about the kidnapped Matt and runs to Arkansas together with Ando. They are quickly reunited but Daphne gets shot by Hunter's agents. Hiro, Ando, Matt and Mohinder escape again from the soldiers and are also reunited with Peter Petrelli. Hiro gets handed some drawings of Matt which reveal that he and Ando are to go to India. On the dawning stand Hiro, an unknown blond girl and a man. Hiro believes he must find a sword there so he can regain his lost powers.

In "Building 26", he and Ando travel to India and realize that the blond girl is a future bride who doesn´t want to get married but accepts it because of her grandfather´s wishes. Ando convinces the bride to stop the wedding which upsets Hiro because he is no longer the hero on a quest. While on the bride´s coffee house, Ando gets kidnapped by the groom and will kill him if the wedding is not celebrated. During the wedding Hiro stops it and defends the bride with a knife thus fulfilling Matt´s painting as he realizes that he doesn´t need powers to be a hero. The wedding is off and while he and Ando are reunited in the coffee house they receive a message from Rebel, telling them that they must save Matt Parkman.

As seen in "Shades of Gray", Hiro and Ando are directed to Los Angeles where they find that the Matt Parkman, Rebel was referring to, was only a baby also named Matt Parkman.

In "Cold Snap", Hiro and Ando discover that this is actually the son of the Matt Parkman they know. They also discover the baby possesses the ability to touch things and make them "go". When armed men break into baby Matt's house, Hiro discovers that the baby also is able to restart his powers, at least in part. After the baby touched Hiro, he is able to once again manipulate time, though he is still unable to bend space and teleport. After freezing time, Hiro takes baby Matt and the frozen Ando, whom he puts in a wheelbarrow, and walks twelve miles to a bus station. After restarting time, Hiro remarks to Ando, "Time is once again on our side."

In "Turn and Face the Strange", after escaping, Hiro and Ando, with baby Matt in tow, are in the way to find Matt Sr., but Matt Jr. keeps inactivating any vehicle they are on due to the noise they make, until Ando comes with a funny face to entertain the baby, and Hiro convinces him to keep it so the "cube" can go. They finally manage to track down Matt Sr. who has gone to confront Danko. Hiro freezes time just as Danko fires his gun at Matt and drags Matt out of the apartment. Hiro then unites Matt with the son he didn't know he had, giving Matt a reason to live again.

In "I Am Sylar", Hiro and Ando try to convince Matt to join them bringing down "Building 26", but he refuses because he has a son now to look for and he must retrieve Jr. to his mother in LA. Later, they arrive Reed Street Laboratory to set up a trap for HLS agents, using Ando as bait, although he refuses, as Hiro manages to not freeze him, telling him he is a hero too, but Hiro still keeps his plan going on, unfreezing the agents so they can take down Ando, and then freezing everybody again so he can take an agent's place as they carry Ando to the "Building 26". Once in motion, Hiro manages to awake Ando so he can be ready for action, but when he unfreezes time, an agent realizes Hiro is not one of them, and Ando shoots a big blast of red lightning, affecting everyone and saving Hiro. As plan B, they use the GPS signal of the agents to track the place, and once they are ready to fight, Hiro tries to freeze time, but instead he receives an strong headache and nosebleed as they realize he can't use his ability anymore.

In "An Invisible Thread", Hiro recovers from his headache and nosebleed and insists on continuing with the plan despite the danger. He stops time and he and Ando infiltrate Building 26 to free the trapped prisoners. They find and free Danko and Noah and find the drugged evolved humans, but Hiro's ear starts bleeding and he clearly hides the fact that he is in pain. The two free them and replace them with all of the members of the Building 26 unit and Hiro then unfreezes time and he and Ando showed the freed prisoners the way out. Mohinder checks Hiro out and determines that Hiro's body is rejecting his powers and he can't risk freezing time anymore. Hiro freezes time again to save Noah Bennet from being tranquilized by Danko and tranquilizes Danko, but faints afterwards and is apparently taken to a hospital. Later an apparently fully recovered (Though still suffering from headaches) Hiro and Ando witness the burning of Sylar's (really James Martin) body and Hiro tells Ando its time for them to return home to Tokyo.

Redemption

In "Orientation", Hiro still has headaches and effects of the illness he developed as a result of his restored powers and Ando insists he go see a doctor. Hiro reveals he has: he's dying of a terminal illness, news that shocks Ando. The two have started a Dial A Hero business as they want to be real heroes. Hiro's sister, Kimiko is unhappy and insists they pay rent if they're going to continue to use the Yamagato conference room to operate it out of. They get their first call from a little girl that wants them to save her cat Muffin Man, and as neither of their powers are useful in the situation (Hiro still only being able to stop time), Hiro has Ando climb up and save the cat. Ando falls but Hiro stops time and saves him, however when he restarts time, as a side-effect of his condition, Hiro is briefly frozen in time himself while the world continues on around him. Ando takes Hiro back to Yamagato and Hiro finally unfreezes and the two discuss a carnival they attended 14 years before: Hiro got his fortune told by a fortune teller, causing him to start on his path to being a hero and Ando accidentally spills a drink on Kimiko, causing her to hate him while he's in love with her. While in reflection about this, Hiro's time travel ability suddenly re-manifests and he teleports to the carnival 14 years in the past.

In "Jump, Push, Fall", Hiro is at the carnival when his past self asks him to take the picture he was reflecting over in the present. While debating with himself if he should or shouldn't stop his past self from getting his fortune told, he runs into the Samuel Sullivan of his own time. Samuel shows him that he has powers too and tries to convince Hiro to make small changes to the past to fix small mistakes. He pushes Hiro in the way of the falling Slushy (which was Past Hiro's fault) and it spills all over him instead of Kimiko. Hiro suddenly teleports back to the present and finds a slight change: as a result of him getting hit with the Slushy instead of Kimiko, Kimiko never grew to hate Ando and the two fell in love at the carnival. As a result of this, Hiro decides his new mission is to change past mistakes even though he doesn't have full control over his time travel power yet.

In "Acceptance", Kimiko reveals she and Ando have gotten engaged and as she and Hiro are the last remaining members of their family, she wants him to give her away at the wedding which he accepts. Ando, learning of this, reminds Hiro that Hiro is dying and may not be alive for the wedding which is over a year away and pushes him to tell Kimiko the truth about his illness. Hiro gets a call from a former Yamagato accountant named Tadashi on the Dial a Hero line and learns the man is about to jump off the roof and commit suicide. On the roof, Tadashi explains why he's about to kill himself and although Hiro offers to fix things, Tadashi commits suicide. Hiro time travels to the past and apparently fixes things, but Tadashi jumps again having made the same mistake at another time. After 47 tries, Hiro visits Tadashi on the roof one last time and simply talks to him this time. He realizes Tadashi hated his job and purposly got himself fired and tells him too use the opportunity to find a job he likes. Hiro tells Tadashi to cherish the life he has and admits to him his own terminal illness and says not to keep his unhappiness a secret from his family. Promising to always be Tadashi's friend, Hiro successfully talks him off the roof and prevents him from jumping. After leaving the roof, Hiro decides to take his own advice and tells Kimiko the truth about his illness. Kimiko starts crying and embraces him, when one of his headaches hits and he seemingly freezes in time for a moment. Hiro unfreezes and suddenly teleports away to Peter Petrelli's apartment, where he collapses (Hysterical Blindness).

In "Tabula Rasa", once in the hospital, he reveals he is suffering from a brain tumor. While Peter tracks down healer Jeremy Greer in order to save his life, Hiro helps Emma Coolidge to come to terms with her own ability. Following this he is reminded of Charlie, and resolves to try and save her again. He later accidentally three years back in time to the Burnt Toast Diner, seeing Charlie through the window.

In "Once Upon a Time in Texas", Hiro accidentally to the day of Charlie's death and resolves to save her. He first steals some clothes as he teleported to Midland in just his hospital gown. He encounters a young boy and tells him about his love for Charlie and the Brain Man (Sylar). The two encounter Sylar outside the diner and inside, Hiro witnesses Sylar interact with Charlie, detecting her blood clot and claiming he can fix it. Hiro then encounters Samuel (teleported from the future by his dying friend Arnold who possessed the same powers as Hiro) who warns him that unlike him fixing Ando and Kimiko's relationship, medling with things at this point in time is dangerous due to how many people's fates converged here. Hiro, realizing Sylar is about to attack Charlie, freezes time and stops Sylar just in time. He removes Sylar on a dolly (as he still can't control his teleportation) and puts him in a bus compartment. Hiro then realizes that if he never goes back in time, he will never fall in love with Charlie so he sends his past self back in time telling him that his job is to "save the waitress" and that "the cheerleader" will be fine. His past self teleports away and is in the picture of Charlie's birthday party, keeping that part of history on track. Upon a reminder by Samuel, Hiro, introducing himself as Future Hiro, informs Past Ando of what Past Hiro has done and convinces him to stay as his past self never informed Ando of where he was disappearing of to this time. Hiro then visits Charlie who remembers him and he tries to get her to start on the world tour she always wanted to go on and she agrees, however her blood clot starts to rupture into a fatal anuyerism and Hiro becomes desperate to save her again. He remembers Sylar said he could fix the clot and rushes to the bus station in Odessa where he encounters a free and angry Sylar. He evades him by repeatedly stopping time and moving around, but due to his condition this tires him out and gives him a headache, however he succeeds in convincing Sylar by promising to reveal his personal future. At the diner, Sylar telekinetically removes Charie's blood clot through her eye and saves her. Hiro keeps up his end of the deal telling Sylar he will become a powerful villain who many people will gather to kill and he will die alone and unmissed. Hiro then freezes time and returns Sylar to the Odessa Bus Station via motor scooter. At the diner, Charlie is angry with Hiro for saving her and not everyone who Sylar kills and runs off. Hiro later chats with Noah Bennet about love and is relieved when Charlie returns, and apologizes for her actions and admits she loves him. He follows her outside and finds her gone and Samuel waiting for him. Samuel tells him that Charlie is at his carnival in the present and if Hiro wants to see her again, he has to take control of his powers and transport them there. Hiro realizes Samuel is evil and grabs him in anger before managing to teleport them to Samuel's carnival in the present. This causes Samuel to remark that Hiro is finally reganing control over his powers. Hiro searches for Charlie and finds her nametag outside a dead Arnold's trailer and Samuel reveals he had Arnold trap her somewhere in time and the only way he'll tell Hiro where to look is if he does what Samuel wants. Hiro reluctantly agrees and Samuel tells him he made a mistake eight weeks before.

In "Brother's Keeper", Samuel tells Hiro he needs to go back in time eight weeks and retrieve a film from Mohinder Suresh. Hiro offers to find him in the present as he's not sure about his ability to time travel, but Samuel tells him it has to be eight weeks before and that if he wants to see Charlie again he'll do it. Hiro, exercising control over his time travel and teleportation powers for the first time since got them back, teleports to Mohinder Suresh's hotel room eight weeks in the past, but his control is not perfect and he arrives ten minutes too late and finds Mohinder dead. He tries again and gets it right on the second try, arriving as Mohinder drops a lit match into a wastebasket with the film although doing so gives him a minor nosebleed. Hiro freezes time, exchanges the film for another one and puts a Kevlar vest on Mohinder to protect him from Samuel. After the fake film is burned and Samuel belives he killed Mohinder, Hiro reveals himself to Mohinder and tells him he's from the future and explains how he knew what was going to happen to Mohinder. Hiro tells Mohinder to disappear for eight weeks so Samuel will believe him dead and he can get Charlie back. Mohinder refuses so Hiro freezes time and teleports him away, displaying control of teleportation outside of time travel for the first time. He traps him in a mental institution in Florida so he'll be out of the way and then returns to the present where he gives Samuel the film and demands Charlie. Samuel says he will give her to him later before walking away.

In "Thanksgiving", Hiro still demands Charlie back, but Samuel refuses to give up the only leverage he has over Hiro. Lydia offers to help and after reading Hiro and seeing his desires, she has him take her back in time eight weeks to witness Joseph's death. Hiro is relucatant, but does so, although he indicates Lydia was responsible for the time travel. The two witness Samuel murder Joseph and desperatly try to teleport back before Samuel finds them. With Lydia's help, Hiro manages to return the two to the present, but a suspicous Samuel figures out the truth. He tries to claim Edgar killed Joseph, but Hiro refuses to back up Edgar's claim that Samuel did it due to Charlie. Samuel goes to kill Edgar, but Hiro freezes time and helps Edgar get away instead. Later, in retalitation and in order to keep Hiro in the Carnival, Samuel has Damien try to erase Hiro's mind, but instead it just addles his brains, causing him to start to think he is fictional charchters and teleport away to save "Watson".

In "Upon This Rock", Hiro teleports to Japan where he stops a purse snatcher, but uses various fictional references in regards to himself and everyone around him. Looking for his sidekick "Sancho Ponza", he is arrested and taken to Ando at Yamagato as the police found Ando's buisness card on him. Ando reveals Hiro has been missing for six weeks and has the cops let him go, although he is confused by Hiro's repeated calling him of "Sancho" and insisting that they must save "Watson" at "Arkham" in the land of the "swamp dragons." Ando thinks that Hiro's brain tumor is causing this, but uses Hiro's comics to decipher that Hiro is refering to him as his sidekick and when he mentions Curt Connors that the land of the "swamp dragons" (alligators) is Florida and that "Arkham" refers to an asylum although Ando is unable to figure out what he means by "Watson." Ando learns that in Flordia there is an aslyum on Arkham Road and realizes Hiro must want to go there. Hiro confirms this and claims Ando is the best sidekick he knows.

In "Close To You", Hiro has Ando check him into the asylum in order to infiltrate it. As he's led down a hallway, Hiro points out "Watson's" room to Ando who checks and realizes who he's talking about. Ando later visits Hiro and when Hiro reveals that the drugs that are being used on Mohinder are preventing his use of super-strength, Ando switches Mohinder's pills with asprin, but accidentaly swallows Mohinder's pills and falls into a drug-induced stupor. Hiro hides Ando in a closet and later that night wakes up Mohinder who, now no longer under the influence of the hospital's drugs, easily breaks free of his straight-jacket and cell. Hiro then leads the confused and angry Mohinder to Ando who they wheel to an outside door, but are confronted by orderlies who Hiro refers to as "stormtroopers." Ando snaps out of his daze and blasts the door open, allowing the three to escape into a swamp while the orderlies are distracted. Mohinder realizes that they can't outrun the orderlies and their dogs and wants Hiro to teleport them to saftey, but in Hiro's addled state he is unable to. Mohinder suggests a reluctant Ando use his power like electro-shock therapy and try to shock Hiro back to normal and Ando tries. Ando's attempt works and Hiro is restored to normal. Hiro immediatly teleports himself, Mohinder and Ando away to Noah Bennet's appartment, getting away seconds before the dogs and orderlies find the spot the three had been hiding in. Hiro teleporting into the apartment interrupts Noah and Lauren Gilmore kissing and Hiro asks for their help.

Alternate futures

• Another Hiro Nakamura, this one claiming to be from the future, first appears in "Collision". When he appears to Peter Petrelli in a subway, he freezes time in order to speak with Peter privately. He urges Peter to "save the cheerleader, save the world" and to "be the one we need," but doesn't elaborate for fear of causing a rift in the space-time continuum. He also mentions that Peter looks different "without the scar." The future Hiro appears to be much more fit, confident, and experienced than his present self. He sports a soul patch and ponytail, no longer wears glasses, wears a black overcoat, carries a katana on his back, and speaks fluent idiomatically-correct English. Future Hiro's fluent accent is in fact Masi Oka's real voice, deepened for dramatic effect. He is also much more serious, focused, and calm than the current-day Hiro, and his sense of humor appears to be diminished. The future Peter Petrelli speculates that it was Ando's death in the explosion that changed Hiro. He appears again in the episode ".07%" when he meets with present Hiro and "Five Years Gone" which tells a side story about himself. Future Hiro also appears in the graphic novel Heroes #30 – "String Theory" in which he acts as a nightwatcher, who watches over people with powers getting hunted down by normal, human police officers. In this issue, Hiro rescues a girl named Sparrow and the two seem to know each other. He also explains a bit what happened in the future after the bomb went off. The issue ends with the final scene of ".07%".
  • Before "Five Years Gone" takes place, in the graphic novel series "Walls" Parts 1 and 2, Hiro and Peter break other people with special abilities out of a prison, though Hiro and Peter aren't able to stop time, because one of the others block the ability, though Hiro does draw his sword.
  • In "Five Years Gone" the scene starts again with Hiro and Ando meeting Hiro's future self. He tells them how they aren't supposed to be there and asks why the future hasn't changed. Future Hiro learns that present day Hiro has not had the chance to kill Sylar yet. He decides that he must get present Hiro back to the past so that he can stop Sylar, but before Future Hiro can do so, Matt Parkman, his Homeland Security squad, and the Haitian raid the loft. Future Hiro and Ando are able to escape, but present day Hiro is captured. Future Hiro begins recruiting people so that he can free present day Hiro and goes off to Las Vegas to seek Peter's help. Ando and Future Hiro encounter Niki, who is currently in a relationship with Peter. Niki tells them nothing about Peter, but when prompted, tells them that she knows that Mr. Bennet is in Texas, helping those with abilities to establish new identities and hide from the government. Once there, Future Hiro asks Bennet for help, specifically requesting D.L. Hawkins, Candice Wilmer, and Molly Walker. While at first Bennet doesn't want to help, he agrees when he hears that they know Claire is alive. Future Hiro and Ando then begin talking about what happened to Ando in the future. Right when Hiro is about to tell Ando something important, he is shot with a Taser by Matt. Before they are about to be captured, Peter comes and by utilizing Hiro's power, is able to help them escape. With Peter's help, Future Hiro and Ando are able to enter the building where present day Hiro is being held and make it to him. Right after they free present day Hiro, future Hiro tells them he will take them back to their time since present day Hiro still doesn't have full control of his powers, but before he can do it he is shot and killed by Matt Parkman. Before Future Hiro dies he gives Ando Isaac's incomplete comic book.
• In an alternate future shown in "The Second Coming," a future version of Hiro, while dressed the same as the aforementioned future version, has the same hairstyle as his present-day self, and still wears glasses. The older Hiro argues with Ando, who attacks Hiro with an energy manipulation ability in Tokyo, just before an unknown force destroys the city.

Powers and abilities

Hiro possessed the power to control the space-time continuum, giving him the power to manipulate the flow of time, travel through time, and teleport to any location at will, until Arthur Petrelli took it away when he traveled back to 1991. Specific examples of temporal manipulation include slowing time relative to himself and rewinding time specific to certain objects (a clock, a train, and a gun in various episodes). As demonstrated by his encounters with Daphne, a woman with the power of enhanced speed, Hiro does not stop time completely. Hiro has shown the ability to teleport both himself and others in physical contact with himself, both through space and time.

Although stressful events and practice have helped Hiro to develop his abilities, Hiro initially has trouble with the more complicated teleportation and time travel abilities. For example, when he teleported to New York, he inadvertently traveled five weeks into the future as well. Although he was able to travel back to the same time and place from which he left, he was only able to do so when his life was in danger from a nuclear explosion. Later, when he attempted to save Charlie's life by traveling to the day before her death, Hiro accidentally traveled six months into the past. He also inadvertently teleported to present day Japan from Texas just as he and Charlie were about to kiss and then could not teleport back, no matter how hard he tried.

After the incident with Charlie, Hiro's powers began weakening, eventually becoming completely unusable. He seeks out Takezo Kensei's sword in the hope that it will focus his failing powers. After obtaining the sword, Hiro exhibits the ability to teleport other people along with himself, which he uses to rescue himself and Ando from an impending attack by casino guards in "Parasite", though this too resulted in an inadvertent trip five years into the future, after the explosion had occurred. The episode "Five Years Gone" marks his first successful use of teleportation and time travel. By "The Hard Part", Hiro has improved his skill in teleportation, as he uses it twice without traveling any discernible distance through time. His father attributes this to a matter of confidence rather than any effect caused by the sword. In addition to his power over time, Hiro is skilled with a katana, having been trained by his father.

In "It's Coming" and "The Eclipse", Hiro is mentally reverted into a ten year old, but still possesses his powers. After Ando teaches him how to use them again, Hiro shows great control over them even in his young mental state, being able to stop time with ease (and using it to play tricks), teleport himself and others and time-travel 16 years into the past with Claire Bennett.

In "Our Father", Hiro's abilities are stolen by Arthur Petrelli, rendering him a normal human.

In the episode, "Cold Snap", Hiro regains some of his ability when the son of Matt Parkman, whom he dubs "Baby Touch and Go," touches him and turns his ability on. At the moment Hiro has regained the ability to stop and restart time, but is still unable to teleport or travel through time. In "I Am Sylar", Hiro manages to regain more of his abilities from Parkman's son, allowing him to make Ando unaffected by his time-freezing. However problems have now arisen, when Hiro and Ando prepare to infiltrate Building 26, Hiro's powers falter and he instead receives a blistering headache and a nosebleed. After the two rescue all of the evolved humans, Mohinder states that for some reason Hiro's body is now rejecting his powers and he can't risk freezing time again. Hiro does it one more time to save Noah Bennet from Danko, but it proves to be too much of a strain on him and causes him to pass out.

Hiro appears to regain the full extent of his abilities in the fourth season episode "Orientation". After focusing on a photograph of himself, Ando, and his sister Kimiko taken at the Sullivan Bros. Carnival 14 years ago, he inadvertently travels there. By doing so, he used both his time-traveling and teleportation abilities. He seems to have little control over his power. He seems to travel through time when he's thinking of something from the past. As of Hysterical Blindness, Hiro has the ability to teleport back. However, like his ability to time travel, his first teleportation seemed accidental and instinctual. It took him from Yamagato to Peter Petrelli's apartment. He then collapsed from presumably the strain the teleport put on him in his condition.

His time-stopping ability, if he uses it too much, exhausts Hiro and causes him pain. As of "Tabula Rasa"", Hiro is beginning to have more control over his power. An unfortunate side-effect of this ability is the strain it puts on the body can cause inoperable tumors.

As of "Once Upon a Time in Texas" and "Brother's Keeper", Hiro is reganing control over the other aspects of his ability, but he lacks perfect control. When Samuel provoked him, Hiro managed to teleport them both to Samuel's carnival, but later he was unsure if he could time travel eight weeks. Hiro managed to perform this task, but it took him two tries to get it right as he said the first time took him ten minutes too late. The time travel caused him to have a minor nosebleed, but besides that he seemed to suffer no ill effects. He later displays just teleportation, teleporting Mohinder to Florida where he checks him into a mental hospital under a fake name in order to keep him out of sight for eight weeks in order to preserve the timeline.

In "Thanksgiving", Lydia has him take her back eight weeks into the past to see Joseph Sullivan's death. He teleports them easily, but he indicates Lydia was responsible for it not him, but this is unclear. In the past he has trouble teleporting them back due to his lack of full control and probably the stress of the situation. However, with Lydia's help, he manages to bring them both back to the present.

In "Close to You", Hiro lacks the ability to properly use his powers due to his mind being messed up, but once Ando restores his mind, Hiro is instantly able to teleport at will with Mohinder Suresh and Ando, taking them both to Noah Bennet's appartment. Hiro shows no trouble teleporting at will this time and takes more than one person with him, something he hasn't done since before he lost his powers.

Time alterations

Hiro's trips have given Hiro his own unique time line, which is reflected in some of Isaac Mendez's paintings of Hiro. Along with the existence of an alternate future version of himself, Hiro has come across or induced a few time paradoxes or alterations in the series.

• In "One Giant Leap", Hiro travels with Ando to the United States even though Ando was still in Japan when he had previously traveled to the future New York City. When directly questioned about this by Ando, Hiro says they are changing the future.
• Between the episodes "Seven Minutes to Midnight" and "Six Months Ago", Hiro traveled six months into the past in Texas.
  • There, he changed history again by forming a close relationship with Charlie in the past. This change was most noted by a picture which had originally shown only Charlie at her birthday party now showing both her and Hiro.
  • At one point, Hiro accidentally gave himself a phone call from Texas to Japan, while trying to contact Ando, though he immediately hangs up after he realizes it was the Hiro in Japan who had answered, afraid of coming into contact with his past self.
  • In "Seven Minutes to Midnight", Charlie said that someone had given her a Japanese phrase book on her birthday. In "Six Months Ago", it is Hiro who gives her the phrase book.

Ironically, in general, the future shown in "Don't Look Back" seems to be even more certain, as changes that have been or intended to have been made futile:

• In "Six Months Ago", Hiro accidentally in time six months to prevent Charlie from dying, only to find out that she has a blood clot in her brain and will die anyway.
• In "Unexpected", Isaac received a gun from Mr. Bennet – the same gun Hiro found in Isaac's apartment when he traveled forward five weeks.
• As of ".07%" Sylar has killed Isaac in a similar manner to his original death.
• In "String Theory", it is revealed that Future Hiro tells Peter to "Save the Cheerleader" so that the failed attempt to stop Sylar from exploding might prove successful.

However, the future has proven itself to not be entirely certain, as the characters were able to stop the explosion from destroying New York City in "How to Stop an Exploding Man".

Starting at the end of Season 1 and through much of Season 2, Hiro was in 1671 Feudal Japan. There he becomes personally entwined in the history and events surrounding the warrior, Takezo Kensei. Recognizing the man is not as history portrays him, Hiro works to help Takezo fulfill his 'destiny'. This results in Hiro personally influencing many major events.

• In "Lizards", Hiro impersonates Takezo and uses his powers to disarm 11 bandits ("The Battle of Twelve Swords") and gains the gratitude and admiration of Yaeko, the swordsmith's daughter.
• In "Kindred", Hiro forces Takezo to face 90 angry ronin in order to retrieve the 'Fire Scroll', fulfilling another part of Takezo's 'legend'.
• In "The Line", Hiro helps Takezo rescue Yaeko's father and discovers how Takezo will 'save' Japan, destroying the illegal firearms that White Beard's army are planning to use to overthrow the Emperor. However, Hiro gives into his own desire for Yaeko, causing Takezo to side with White Beard. Hiro destroys the guns by himself. Yaeko later asserts that Hiro is the person the "Takezo Kensei" legends are about and vows to spread the legends under that name. To fulfill the final part of the legend, cutting out his own heart, he leaves Yaeko behind and returns to the present.

• In Our Father and Dual, Hiro travels back in time with Claire Bennet sixteen years in an attempt to change the past. There the two succesfully change some things: Claire prevents her father from answering a call that would have led to her becoming the catalyst and Hiro, after his mother heals his mind, has her transfer the catalyst to him to protect it. Unfortunatly Arthur Petrelli still ends up with the catalyst as he travels back in time too and steals it and Hiro's powers from Hiro before sending Claire back to the present, trapping Hiro in the past. Hiro tries to destroy the formula in the past, but only manages to rip it in half (like it originally was in the present) before Daphne and Ando rescue him before he does so and before Kaito kills him.

In Redemption, Hiro has regained the ability to time travel and has decided to use it to right mistakes. This results in apparently minor changes to the timeline:

• In "Jump, Push, Fall", Hiro, after regaining his ability to time travel and accidentally 14 years, stops Ando from spilling a Slushy on his sister Kimiko. Returning to the present, Hiro discovers that instead of Kimiko hating Ando since that night, they've been madly in love and start to have wedding plans in Acceptance.
• In "Acceptance", after a co-worker commits suicide, Hiro goes back mulitple times to change him getting fired, but it just happens a different way each time. Hiro finally changes things by sitting down and talking to the man before he kills himself and convincing him that it's not worth it.
• In "Once Upon a Time in Texas", Hiro travels back three years in order to save Charlie from death at Sylar's hands. He makes a deal with Sylar to tell him about his future in exchange for Sylar's help in healing Charlie's aneurysm. Hiro was ready to begin a new life with Charlie before Samuel uses one of his family member's powers to trap Charlie somewhere in time, which he uses in order to manipulate Hiro into fixing a few of Samuel's 'indiscretions'. The information that Hiro provides to Sylar may alter the timeline further in future episodes, although there was no sign of an alteration upon Hiro's return to the present at the end of the episode. In order to keep history in line as much as possible as well, Hiro sends his own self back in time six months in order for him to fall in love with Charlie and tell Past Ando to stay, explaining what Past Hiro is doing. The only change that seems to be displayed is that when Sylar and Matt talk at the diner, he says he only tried to kill a waitress there. Sylar is also now worried about dying alone due to what Hiro has told him and didn't kill Samuel for his power and took Lydia's without killing later.
• In "Brother's Keeper", Hiro manages to time travel back eight weeks to retrieve a film from Mohinder Suresh for Samuel in order to get Charlie back. His attempt works on the second try (he replaces the film with a fake so Mohinder believes he burned the real one), with the first try (ten minutes too late) showing him Mohinder's fate. Hiro uses the opportunity to change that as well, putting a Kevlar vest on Mohinder, protecting him from Samuel's attack and making it appear that he died when he really didn't. He then requests Mohinder disappear for eight weeks to keep the timeline on track as much as possible and allow Hiro to get Charlie back, but Mohinder refuses wanting to stop Samuel so Hiro teleports him to Florida where he checks him into a mental hospital under a fake name so he's out of the way. In the present, Samuel displays no knowledge of Mohinder's survival. In the present, Hiro and Ando rescue Mohinder from the hospital after Hiro, even in a severly addled state, remembers Mohinder is there.