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Angela petrelli

Cristine Rose as Angela Petrelli

Angela Petrelli (nee Shaw), portrayed by Cristine Rose, is a fictional character featured in the television show Heroes. She is the mother of Nathan and Peter Petrelli. The character is based upon the Angela Lansbury character Mrs. Iselin in the film The Manchurian Candidate. In both cases the leading female role has a hidden agenda and wishes to make her son President or a leader at any cost.[1] She has the ability to see into the future and the past through dreams, and can also enter and manipulate other people's dreams. This wasn't revealed until the show's third season premiere.

Storylines[]

Before Genesis[]

Angela is one of the twelve members of the group established by Adam Monroe thirty years prior to the events of Kirby Plaza. The other eleven members include her husband Arthur Petrelli, Daniel Linderman, Robert Bishop, Maury Parkman, Kaito Nakamura, Charles Deveaux, and Victoria Pratt. It is implied in "Lizards" that Angela had a sexual relationship with Kaito Nakamura.

Before the start of the series, not much is known except that she had two children with her husband of forty-one years, Arthur Petrelli: Nathan (whom she raised on her own while her husband was at war) and Peter. She and her recently deceased husband had been protecting Claire with the Haitian's aid.

During the events of "Six Months Ago", Angela arrives at Peter's graduation party with Nathan and Heidi, Nathan's wife. She informs Peter that his father could not attend because of a meeting with Mr. Linderman in Atlantic City and congratulates Peter for graduating from nursing school. There were enough lawyers in the family, she explained; she always wanted him to be a nurse. Since learning of her husband's death, she has become increasingly blunt and free to speak her mind.

During the events of "Villains", Heidi is left paraplegic by an attempt on her and Nathan's life. After this, Angela confronted Arthur about his suspected involvement, which he flatly denied. Later, she overheard Arthur and Linderman lament their failed murder attempt. As she panicked and threatened Arthur, he placed the thought in her head that Nathan had to die. Linderman, however, was more remorseful, and offered to heal Angela's scars from the many times Arthur had forced thoughts into her head. Remembering Arthur's plans to murder Nathan, she used the Haitian to dampen Arthur's abilities, and poisoned his food at dinner. Before they can dispose of the body, Nathan arrived and called for an ambulance. At the hospital, a doctor revealed to Angela and Nathan that Arthur was dead, and Angela immediately ordered a cremation. It is soon revealed, however, that the doctor was working for Arthur, who is still alive, but permanently paralyzed due to the damage to his nervous system.

Genesis[]

In "Genesis", Angela is picked up by New York Police Department for shoplifting a pair of socks. While Nathan worries about how it will affect his campaign for the United States Congress, Peter sees it as a cry for attention. Angela tells Peter that Nathan "only cares about himself," and that Nathan and the deceased Mr. Petrelli were "alpha dogs".

After Peter is hospitalized, due to his fall in "Don't Look Back", she confesses that his father did not die of a heart attack as she had claimed. Instead, he committed suicide after two previous failed suicide attempts. She worries that Peter may be developing the same depressive tendencies and confesses that he was always her favorite child.

A few episodes later Angela and Heidi plan a family brunch at Nathan's Hyde Park estate as an opportunity to have Nathan and his family interviewed by Oliver Dennison of the New York Journal. In "Godsend", Angela and Nathan sit in a comatose Peter's hospital room. Angela is worried sick that Peter is going to die of a heart attack. Later, when Nathan finds Peter gone, she tells him that Peter woke up in a rage and left. She is angry that Peter could keep her worried for two weeks and then just leave, saying she will kill him when she finds him. In "Run!", Nathan worries that Meredith Gordon will tell the press about Claire, their long-lost, illegitimate daughter; he wants to meet Claire, but Angela persuades Nathan not to meet her, instead paying Meredith to keep quiet.

In "Parasite", the Haitian calls Angela saying in French, "Yeah, I've got the girl. What do you want me to do? I see... Marseille." Claire Bennet escapes the Haitian and arrives at Peter's apartment in New York, seeking Peter's aid. She is greeted by his mother instead. Angela, calling Claire by name despite the two having seemingly never met before, informs Claire that she came at a bad time, but invites her in anyway. Once inside, Angela chastises the Haitian in French. Surprised, Claire asks Angela who she is—Angela reveals that she is Claire's grandmother. Angela amusingly notes how Claire was so determined to get to Peter, going so far as to run away from the Haitian. She says that Claire's stubborn streak is just like her father's.

In ".07%", Angela explains to Claire that she and her husband took steps to protect Claire. After the fire that destroyed Meredith's home fourteen years previously, she let Nathan believe Claire had died. She admitted to knowing about Claire's powers, and urges her to go to Paris until she is old enough to make her own choices. When Claire asks her if Angela has powers, Angela deflects the question. Later, Mohinder brings Peter's body to the house. Distraught, she sends Mohinder away. When Nathan arrives, she persuades him to hide Peter's death until after the election. After Claire revives Peter, Angela interrupts a conversation between Peter and Nathan. Peter begins to explain about his abilities, but Angela tells them both that she knew long before they did.

In "The Hard Part", Angela reveals to Nathan that she has been working with Linderman. Regarding the bomb, she explains that "a lot of people put time and care into making this a reality, myself included," and urges him to have faith in his destiny (to become President). She finally persuades him by asking rhetorically "Can you be the one we need?" (the same request that future Hiro made to Peter). Even though she is allied with Linderman, this has not stopped her from keeping Claire out of the hands of Linderman's Company.

In "How to Stop an Exploding Man", Peter sees Angela conversing with Charles Deveaux at some past instance during the early days as caretaker of Mr. Deveaux. The two appear to be old friends and discuss the plans for the future. Angela supports the plan for Nathan to rise to power after the explosion. Deveaux conversely believes Peter's kind heart will be the key to saving the future, to which Angela reveals that she does not think that Peter is capable of such greatness.

Generations[]

In "Four Months Ago..." she tries to scare off Nathan's wife, Heidi, by telling her Nathan's condition is related to the condition that drove Mr. Petrelli to suicide and urges Heidi to keep quiet about the whole thing for Nathan's sake.

In "Four Months Later...," Angela is confronting Nathan over Peter's 'death' (although it is later revealed to the audience that he is alive). After being ordered out of the apartment, she finds a torn photograph of herself with a red helix drawn over her face (indicating her future demise). The person on another piece of the photo, Kaito Nakamura, is brutally murdered that night. His photograph was marked in the same fashion as Angela's.

In "Lizards", Angela was taken in by New York Police Department to be questioned about the murder of Kaito Nakamura. It is revealed through the questioning that she was a major stockholder in the failing Yamagato Industries, leading Parkman to press on whether she killed him for money or sex. She responds by denying both and adding that she hadn't slept with Nakamura "for a long time". Later, an unknown person attacks her in the interview room but Parkman saves her. In Angela's hands is a piece of picture, ripped from the same picture as Kaito Nakamura's piece, with the helix symbol on it.

In "The Kindness of Strangers", she retracts her assertion that she is innocent and admits to killing Nakamura, though Parkman realizes she is lying to cover someone. The wounds she sustained are described as self-inflicted. After she is taken in, Nathan and Parkman team up to decipher the identity of the killer.

In "Cautionary Tales", Matt Parkman uses his newly-discovered mind control power to have Angela brought back in for questioning. He uses his power to get her to tell the truth, attempting to ascertain the identity of the one masterminding their murders and the nameless woman on the photo of the Company's founding members. Despite her resistance, as well as her claim that he'll be no better than his father for his efforts, he learns the name of the woman.

In "Powerless", Parkman and Nathan confront Angela about the truth of the virus. Though reluctant to divulge the information, Nathan's accusation of her generation's deeds punishing his future convinces her otherwise. She also gives Parkman specific instructions to kill Peter if he can't be reasoned with. After Nathan is shot at his press conference, Angela has a telephone conversation wherein she states that there was no choice but to shoot Nathan. She then comments that the action "opened Pandora's Box."

Alternate Future[]

In "Out of Time" when Peter accidentally teleports into a virus-stricken future he is taken to see Angela. After they embrace, Peter pushes Angela away and asks if he should know who she is. She tells him she's with him to help him remember who he is, or the virus will kill everyone it hasn't already killed. When Peter remembers Angela is his mother, she tearfully embraces him again. Later, as Angela escorts Peter out of the facility, she proclaims that they're going home. Peter sees Caitlin behind a chain link fence and tries to get a hold of her, but then inadvertently teleports back to the present and away from Angela.

Villains[]

In this Volume, Angela is upgraded to a main character from a recurring/supporting character.

In "The Second Coming", Angela reveals to Future Peter that her power is that of dreaming the future, explaining that Peter's first ability was absorbed from her. In "The Butterfly Effect", Angela becomes the head of the Company after the death of Bob Bishop; her first on-screen action is to fire Bob's daughter Elle, stating that she was only kept on the Company books at her father's insistence. After Sylar is recaptured, she claims to him that she is his real mother, and that she gave him up for adoption.[2]

In "One of Us, One of Them", Angela partners Noah with Sylar, much to the former's dismay. While they successfully capture some of the escapees, Sylar kills Jesse Murphy for his power and is placed back in his cell.

In "Angels and Monsters", she encounters Peter in Sylar's cell, the former having just snapped the latter's neck. Peter loses control and begins to open up Angela's skull, but Sylar wakes up and throws him against the window, knocking him unconscious. Soon afterwards, she puts Peter in an artificial coma, and reveals to Nathan and Tracy Strauss that Nathan's ability was artificially induced. Nathan is naturally disgusted with her, and she later has a vision of Tracy, Peter, and Nathan being brutally murdered by Arthur Petrelli. Angela insists that she will stop him, but he tells her that she won't even be able to move. She wakes up from her dream, paralyzed.

In "Eris Quod Sum, she appears to Sylar while he is in the coma in which Peter imprisoned him. She tells Sylar to save Peter from Pinehearst, and to show her why he is her favorite son. Sylar awakens from the coma and kisses Angela on the forehead as she sleeps, agreeing to rescue Peter.

In "It's Coming", Matt Parkman is able to journey inside her mind, where he finds her handcuffed to a chair. He tries in vain to free her, but she reveals that even if he can remove the handcuffs, Arthur has locked all exits from her prison. Arthur then appears to Matt in the guise of Daphne Millbrook, and proceeds to stab Matt. Matt is forced to bring the real Daphne into the prison, and she reveals that she is in love with him. Angela then reminds Arthur that they had once felt that way about each other, and he reluctantly frees her. She is allowed to leave with Daphne and Matt, waking up from her coma. She is soon reunited with Peter, Nathan, and Claire in her hospital room. With her forces gathered, Angela tells them about the formula, revealing that there is a third piece required: a catalyst which hosts in the blood of a human being. Kaito Nakamura was the only person to know the host's identity. When Angela finishes explaining, Claire informs them of her belief that she is the catalyst, as Sylar saw something different inside of her.

In "The Eclipse, Part 1", Angela sends her team out on recruitment missions: Nathan and Peter off to Haiti to find the Haitian, and Matt and Daphne to find Hiro. She also sends Claire into hiding with Noah to keep her from falling into Arthur's hands.

In "Our Father" she sends Peter and the Haitian to kill Arthur.

In "Dual", Angela is interrogated by Sylar. She confirms his suspicion that she is not his mother. However, she reveals that the Grays are not his parents either, and that she knows the identity of his real parents. Sylar tries to force her to tell him who his birth parents are, but is stabbed in the back of the head by Claire.

Webisode: "The Recruit"[]

After Primatech's destruction, Angela intercepts Pvt. Rachel Mills, survivor of Pinehearst's destruction, and abducts her in order to learn about a vial of formula she took from the lab, and tricks her into revealing its location: Rachel's bullet wound. She locks Rachel in a cell at a New Jersey facility and quietly waits and watches as the soldier uses her ability to escape ("Hanging By A Thread"). Then she calls her long time friend, Leona, Rachel's supposed late mother.

Fugitives[]

In "A Clear and Present Danger", Angela presses Claire into getting a college education in order to have any shot at a normal life. When Claire deems this impossible and expresses her belief that Sylar had survived the Primatech disaster, Angela counters that Sylar is dead. She later talks to Nathan on the phone about his plans to round up people with abilities, only to discover Claire eavesdropping.

In "Trust and Blood", Angela is none too happy that Nathan went to the U.S. Government instead of her. When Nathan calls her, she assumes he is seeking absolution, and refuses to give it to him; as she says this, she is reading a newspaper article about mass civilian deaths in Angola.

In "Cold Wars", when Matt delves into Noah's mind, one of the flashbacks depicts Noah meeting Angela at a park bench. She confirms the end of Primatech and gives him a watch as a token of his services to the Company. Angela and Noah meet again at the same park bench, and it can be assumed that the two are secretly working against Nathan's second-in-command, Danko "The Hunter", yet their true ambitions have yet to be revealed.

In "Exposed" Nathan saves Peter from falling off a building and brings him to her. Peter tricks Nathan, steals his power, and flies away. Just as Nathan is about to fly after him, Angela stops him and says that he has to be ready and that she's dreamt what's going to happen. She whispers something in Nathan's ear but it has yet to be revealed what.

In "Shades of Gray", Noah leads Danko to her to get info on Nathan. Angela acts snobby towards him and doesn't give any thing and also reminds him of his horrid past in Angola (see "Trust and Blood" above).

In "Cold Snap", Danko commands his men to capture her. Noah warns her about the plan, and Angela expresses her fear that Peter won't forgive her for what she and Noah are doing. She dreams of the abduction and is able to escape at the last moment. She comes to her old friend, Millie (Swoosie Kurtz), wet and distraught. Millie says she was interrogated earlier about her relationship with Angela. Millie suggests that it's drugs and that she should turn herself in. Angela refuses, so Millie gives her money and Angela steals her umbrella. On the street, she is trapped by agents, so she walks into a building and into an elevator, but the agents bring the elevator back down. Just as the elevator opens, Peter is there, and they fly away through the trapdoor in the ceiling. The two are later shown inside the crown of the Statue of Liberty, with Peter asking, "So what now?"

In "Into Asylum", it is revealed that Angela has a previously unmentioned sister. After having a premonition of what is to come, Angela says that her whole family need to regroup. It is also revealed that like Peter, Angela wanted to be a hero when her power first manifested. But due to a lack of belief from others she used her position to use and manipulate others, something she deeply regrets. As a result there are many undisclosed happenings in her past which still continue to haunt her.

Angela Shaw

Young Angela arrives Coyote Sands Relocation Center in "1961".

In "Turn and Face the Strange" Angela is shown to have came together with Nathan, Peter, Claire and Noah at an area called "Coyote Sands" where they begin by digging in the ground, only to discover skeletal remains of people who Angela apparantly knew.

In "1961" Angela reunites with her estranged sister, Alice and it is revealed that she steals socks in honor of Alice's memory. It is also shown that Angela, Daniel Linderman, Bob Bishop, Charles Deveaux, and Alice were held in a facility in which people with abilities were studied. However, when Alice is scared by Dr. Suresh and loses control of her powers, creating a powerful storm, the government agents overreact and end up killing all the posthumans that are still on-site. Angela, and the other founders who had snuck out that night, escaped the slaughter and created Primatech in order to protect the secret of people with abilities. Angela uses this past experience as an example for her family urging them to create a 'new' company to protect other posthumans, and to keep their existence secret.

As is continued in "I Am Sylar", at the diner the group witness a live press conference from Sylar impersonating Nathan Petrelli, which leads the real Nathan to decide to stop him and make things right in his own in order to rectify his recent actions. Angela tries to persuade him by telling that they need to act as a group, but still he leaves, and then Peter agreed to follow him. Later that night, as Angela, Noah and Claire are on their way, they are stopped in the road and surrounded by Danko's agents.

In "An Invisible Thread", it is revealed that Noah anticipated the trap, and asked Claire and Angela to leave the car so they can get Washington D.C. to help Nathan. Once in the Capitol, she tells Claire to find Nathan as she goes for Matt Parkman, who according to her dream has a major role in the salvation of Nathan. At the bus stop, she convices Matt of Nathan's importance to solve all their problems with HLS, so he agrees to come with her to Nathan. Back in the Capitol, they both find Nathan corpse; Angela can't believe it due to her dream of Matt saving him. After Sylar is tranquilized and carried to them, she and Noah convice Matt to brainwash Sylar to fill the place of the real Nathan because they all need him to solve his issues, appealing to the fact that he now holds both the appearance and memories of Nathan. She is the only one, along with Matt and Noah that knows Nathan is dead and Sylar is alive impersonating him. During the "Sylar" funeral, she witness the cremation and talks with Noah and "Nathan" about the new Company to be created.

Redemption[]

Six weeks later, she invites Nathan/Sylar to lunch, and notices his ability of intuitive aptitude to remain still deep in his mind, making her doubt Sylar is entirely gone.

Powers[]

In "The Second Coming", Angela reveals that she has the power of precognitive dreaming. She says that this is also the first power Peter ever overtly demonstrated. Although she can use this ability through methods such as sedation, more powerful visions can only be achieved through natural sleep. Further demonstrations of her ability have shown that it goes beyond merely seeing the future, as Peter uses it at one point to visit the past, and Angela uses it to enter Sylar's dreams.[3]

  1. Commentary for "How to Stop an Exploding Man"
  2. "The Butterfly Effect". Heroes. episode 2. season 3. 
  3. http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18765
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