Hiro Nakamura

Name: Hiro Nakamura
Portrayed by: Masi Oka
Superpower: Bends the space-time continuum to: manipulate time, travel through time and teleport
Age: 24

Hiro Nakamura is an office worker living in Tokyo, Japan who one day discovers he has the power to manipulate time and space. Hiro is an otaku (a Japanese nerd) who is an avid fan of superheroes and science fiction. Naïve and over-eager, Hiro is both the series' comic relief and the one character that aspires to the pure heroism of comic book crime fighters. His best (and apparently only) friend is the less geeky but equally hapless Ando Masahashi.

In the pilot episode, Hiro's power is developed sufficiently enough for him to turn the second-hand of his clock back one second. Ando thought he was crazy. He later realizes this same power made a train in Tokyo fourteen seconds late. Ecstatic at these accomplishments, Hiro confides in Ando, who is still skeptical about Hiro's new abilities. Then, at Ando's suggestion, Hiro teleports himself into the womens' bathroom of a local club. Ando states that all it proves is that he is a "pervert", and a crestfallen Hiro walks away as Ando yells sarcastically that he is a "Super Hiro!" As Hiro is returning home, unconsoled, he happens to see a vacation ad for New York City in the train. Pushing the limits of his powers, Hiro concentrates and actually teleports himself into Times Square.

At first extremely happy, Hiro is later shocked to discover a comic book called 9th Wonders! in a nearby newsstand that shows himself standing in Times Square with his hands up and yelling, "I did it!", which happened just moments earlier. Perusing the comic book, Hiro discovers that his early conversations with Ando are there reproduced with eerie accuracy. The comic's back cover has the name and address of the artist and writer, precognitive Isaac Mendez.

Hiro visits Isaac's loft, discovering the artist's dead body, partly decapitated with the brain removed. Hiro is arrested by the police and during the interrogation discovers he has actually traveled not only through space, but through time as well. It was October 2 when he left Tokyo, and it's now November 8. Just as Hiro discovers this, he witnesses a cataclysmic explosion. Before the blast can hit him, Hiro teleports himself back to Tokyo two days after he had originally left, still holding the comic he had picked up in the future.

Hiro tries to call the present-day Isaac Mendez several times but is unable to communicate because of Hiro's poor English. Hiro then tries to convince his friend Ando about what happened. Using the future comic book, Hiro manages to stop time to save a little girl who was about to be run over by a truck, an event which the comic depicted. Now convinced, Ando agrees to accompany Hiro to New York City in his "heroic journey" to save the world.

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 beaten up by a player they cheated.

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 (actually a criminal in the employ of Mr. Linderman) 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 stop their deaths in time 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 by chance he and Ando run across D.L. Hawkins and his son, Micah, at the scene of 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.

Continuing their journey to New York, Hiro and Ando stop at a diner and meet a waitress named Charlie, who recently developed powers of her own. As Hiro talks to Charlie, who finds him to be "sweet", the man in the baseball cap is watching them talk. Charlie is later found murdered in the diner's storeroom with her brain removed in the same manner Hiro found Isaac in the future. 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 six months in the past on the day of Charlie's birthday. There, he tries to warn Charlie and protect her from the "very bad man", but ends up forming a close relationship with her once he realizes just how far back he's traveled. He doesn't attempt to teleport again for fear of being eaten by a dinosaur (an unlikely outcome of another teleportation attempt gone awry). 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 travels 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 and was successful, but Hiro corrects him. A sad, defeated Hiro says he failed and took public transportation back to the diner.

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 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 his 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 own 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."