I think Sylar has nearly ruined watching scifi for me

[ZeNd]

Has anybody in the history of Scifi been as overpowered at Sylar? And been such a cool character as Sylar? I can't think of any superheroes or any being in all of scifi, short of Q, that is a powerful as him.

Right now I'm the middle of watching terminator S2 (no spoilers please), and everytime I see them fight another T80, I can't help of thinking "meh, Sylar could kick their ass". Then I was watching a episode of voyager yesterday and thought to my self "if Sylar was there he would be running this ship within a hour"

I'm almost scared to see the new X-men movie because I'll be thinking how much more powerful Sylar is than any of them the whole movie.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Has anybody in the history of Scifi been as overpowered at Sylar?

Sure. Galactus, Chuck Norris, Bill Adama weilding a flashlight and/or "The Look," and Batman if he has enough time to prepare. (May as well get that out of the way.) And, apparently, Captain Robau.

And been such a cool character as Sylar?

You'll get an argument there from many people who think the only sci fi Sylar has ruined is called Heroes.

Then I was watching a episode of voyager yesterday and thought to my self "if Sylar was there he would be running this ship within a hour"

Well, given that anything would have improved VOY, I wouldn't have minded seeing that.

But what I'd really like to see is Sylar frakkin well try to take over a certain vessel named Battlestar Galactica.

 

[Hyperspace05]

And been such a cool character as Sylar?

You'll get an argument there from many people who think the only sci fi Sylar has ruined is called Heroes.

I would be one of them... Sylar has ruined Heroes.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I really need to go start that "fix Heroes" thread I've been thinking about.

 

[Norrin Radd]

I stopped watching Heroes in season 2, but from the beginning I thought the concept of two or more characters having everyone elses powers was really a suspense killer.

Take for instance, X-Men. There's a reason why you don't have someone hanging around who can do what everybody else can (don't count Rogue, she has too many restrictions and Mimic doesn't show up enough). Soon it'd be like "well what's the point of the other X-Men? This guy's a one-man group!"

Even in a group like the Avengers, where you have guys like Thor who outmatch everybody else, at least his powers are different and have a unique identity from those of the other Avengers.

 

[Kelso]

I would be one of them... Sylar has ruined Heroes.

Sylar is the only character on that show.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

That TK is just so formidable, even with the healing factor he'd be relatively easier to manage without it. That and Hiro's time thing are tough because once they're in the grip of either the characters are basically helpless. I think that's why the writers introduced the nosebleeds for Hiro to try to tame him a bit.

I don't know how many things Sylar could TK at once though, he really needs to be treated with overwhelming force. One guy with one gun isn't going to do the trick. Maybe if a bunch of the heroes went after him with all their powers blazing on sight they might be able to get him.

 

[ZeNd]

I would be one of them... Sylar has ruined Heroes.

Sylar is the only character on that show.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I would be one of them... Sylar has ruined Heroes.

Sylar is the only character on that show.

The question is, what happens if you delete Sylar? Right now, he's providing the sole focus for the show. Remove him and it falls apart.

Maybe people figure that if he hadn't survived S1, another focus would have emerged that would have worked better. But there's no way to prove it and what would that focus be?

I don't know how many things Sylar could TK at once though, he really needs to be treated with overwhelming force. One guy with one gun isn't going to do the trick. Maybe if a bunch of the heroes went after him with all their powers blazing on sight they might be able to get him.

Spoiler: S3 finale

Nathan and Peter did get him, through a clever scheme. They used a frontal attack as a ruse to make Sylar think Peter would choose, as the one power he steals, something offensive like TK. So later, Sylar was caught off guard because he didn't think Peter would chose a power like shapeshifting that cannot be used in an attack. Nathan ended up sacrificing his life to make the ruse credible and to give Peter time to get into position as Worfbama. Otherwise, the attack was foolish, two guys with flight and nothing else vs a Swiss army knife of powers. It was courageous, dangerous, clever and it worked.

That's what I've been wanting from this show - it's ok if Sylar is amazingly powerful. That will force the other characters to use their brains to defeat him. Just having it be through brute force means that it's not the characters who defeat him so much as the SFX department. And budgetary concerns are going to limit how fancy the fights can be, anyway.

 

[Hyperspace05]

I would be one of them... Sylar has ruined Heroes.

Sylar is the only character on that show.

The question is, what happens if you delete Sylar? Right now, he's providing the sole focus for the show. Remove him and it falls apart.

Maybe people figure that if he hadn't survived S1, another focus would have emerged that would have worked better. But there's no way to prove it and what would that focus be?

Gee I dunno... Another villain perhaps? There *are* more kinds of villains than Sylar, you know!

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Sylar is the only character on that show.

The question is, what happens if you delete Sylar? Right now, he's providing the sole focus for the show. Remove him and it falls apart.

Maybe people figure that if he hadn't survived S1, another focus would have emerged that would have worked better. But there's no way to prove it and what would that focus be?

Gee I dunno... Another villain perhaps? There *are* more kinds of villains than Sylar, you know!

There are many types of villains that can be imagined, but the trick is to come up with one. Describe a villain who would work as the antagonist better than Sylar, that we wouldn't all end up bitching about after a couple months when we get bored of him, too.

 

[Trekker4747]

Has anybody in the history of Scifi been as overpowered at Sylar? And been such a cool character as Sylar? I can't think of any superheroes or any being in all of scifi, short of Q, that is a powerful as him.

Right now I'm the middle of watching terminator S2 (no spoilers please), and everytime I see them fight another T80, I can't help of thinking "meh, Sylar could kick their ass". Then I was watching a episode of voyager yesterday and thought to my self "if Sylar was there he would be running this ship within a hour"

I'm almost scared to see the new X-men movie because I'll be thinking how much more powerful Sylar is than any of them the whole movie.

I don't see why watching a show should be ruined because a character from another show could solve the problem easier.

I don't sit there watching 24 thinking that this show sucks because Superman could sovle the problem in 24 seconds rather than 24 hours.

Sylar's being overpowered could affect how you watch Heroes. But not how you watch other shows because Sylar could end the problem quicker than the characters in the show.

(Man watching MASH sucks, if House was there he'd teach ALL those doctors how to practice medicine!)

 

[Thrall]

Actually Temis, I don't think it would be hard. Just look in an issue of X-Men and make a ripoff character of Magento, Apocolypse, or Mr. Sinister. Make them more human and mundane and there you go.

The problem was that the writers started to worship Sylar so much, that everything started to revolve around The Villain in a show called HEROES. Switching a story of herocism to one that is Villain-centric never works and always fails. Like Spike on Buffy.

There's also a reason Magento and The Joker are popular. Because they're used in small doses. When they show up it's an event that makes you wanting more. If they were there all the time people would get bored of them really fast.

 

[ZeNd]

^^ I don't really think that's the case with Sylar. Most fans can't get enough of him no matter how much hes on the screen and the show would of tanked a long time ago without him. He is basically the show now.

Come on, one of the episodes was called "I am Sylar", I think that's a pretty clear indication on how important he is to the show

 

[the Dagman]

Sylar is too powerful for people?

Phoenix, even the watered down version from X-Men 3, could take him in a second. Her TK was much more powerful. It was TK at the molecular level. She could even add or subtract electrons or protons to alter molecules at a sub-atomic level. She could turn Sylar into a fine mist spread over miles, something even he could not regenerate from. "But... but... he's a shape shifter now..." Fine, she could send his fine mist remains into space.

 

[Thrall]

^^ I don't really think that's the case with Sylar. Most fans can't get enough of him no matter how much hes on the screen and the show would of tanked a long time ago without him. He is basically the show now.

Come on, one of the episodes was called "I am Sylar", I think that's a pretty clear indication on how important he is to the show

I disagree. Considering how many people stopped watching this season, I think they don't love him THAT much. The hardcore Heroes fans maybe do though.

A show is what you make of it. You could make a show about ordinary people forced into a crisis and become great people because of it. Which is what the highly successful Season One was. Or you could make a show about some creepy serial killer and his mommy issues cutting up bitches. Which is what this season as been. And it's no secret that it's been a disaster.

 

[melancholymecha]

is there a term for a villain version of a "Gary Sue"?
b/c that's basically what Sylar is now.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

So who's this amazing villain who would be so much better than Sylar? Think of the villains that this show has tried, and how badly most of them have sucked. What makes us think these writers could come up with anyone better than Sylar, with this track record?

Arthur Petrelli - potentially interesting character ruined by casting a terrible wooden actor

Samson Grey - great actor, stupid writing - why do we care that Sylar's dad is a broken down old nutcase?

Elle - the only really interesting villain they've come up with besides Sylar but they couldn't hang on to Kristin Bell, which doesn't bode well for their ability to hang onto other worthwhile actors

Bob Bishop - fun, but not dynamic enough to serve as a central villain

Linderman - more of the shadowy type of villain who would wilt in a continual spotlight (tho young Linderman in a flashback series has possibilities)

Eric Doyle - too pathetic to serve as a main villain

Candice - just a sidekick

Knox, Flint, The German - uninteresting dumb thug types, no thanks

Adam Monroe - good actor undercut by idiotic motivations and unfocused characterization - why should an immortal guy get hung up on one woman? and that stuff with the virus never made any damn bit of sense

Actually Temis, I don't think it would be hard. Just look in an issue of X-Men and make a ripoff character of Magento, Apocolypse, or Mr. Sinister. Make them more human and mundane and there you go.

A mundane Magneto doesn't sound very interesting to me. Do you mean that he's bitter about being kicked around by normals and is assembling a supervillain team to teach humans a lesson? Not very original and not a very smart idea, considering that there are well over six billion normal humans on the planet, and if you get them all riled up against you, you could be Sylar on steroids and you're still screwed. The only hope these people have is if nobody knows they exist.

Gotta admit, I'm not familiar with Apocalypse or Mr. Sinister. What's cool about them that would avoid the laundry list of problems that I've described in the villains that this show has already tried and failed with?

 

[Tulin]

I was a "Heroes" bitch first season.

LOVED it!!!!

Second season, I felt the same as everyone else.

Now here is an indication of what I think of the show. I haven't watched one single episode of season three(just couldn't muster the interest)and just last week, due to woeful reviews from friends and my growing apathy for it, I deleted every ep off my drive to make space.

"Heroes" and me are done.

 

[Checkmate]

As has been mentioned, Sylar isn't any more powerful than other villians like Q, Galactus, Magneto, and a host of others including both Mr. Petrelli and his own father from his own show.

The problem is that they're keeping him on the show well past his usefulness. It's gotten absurd how much free rein he has, even after being caught (and he has been caught several times). Characters like Q work better because they come and go. Sylar's always there and is the driving focus of the show... which is pretty damn dull.

The writers flip-flopping him from good to evil on a whim doesn't help matters at all.