"Debuting in the fall of 2006, “Heroes” was something fans had never seen before: an original TV series centered around everyday people discovering fantastical abilities. We met characters like Claire Bennet (Hayden Panetierre), the regenerating cheerleader; Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia), the power-absorbing man; Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka), the time-traveling pencil-pusher; and Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), the telepathic cop. These seemingly disparate people were discovering their powers and fearing what they might do to the world around them. On top of this strong sense of character development, the pilot almost instantly introduced the stakes in the form of Sylar (Zachary Quinto), the power-hungry villain with a scalping streak; a foreboding premonition of a nuclear explosion, the source of which was left to be discovered; and a visit from future Hiro, who bestows a mission onto his past self: “Save the cheerleader, save the world.”"