Genetics professor, Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), is motivated by his father’s mysterious disappearance to delve into his missing father’s secret theory – there are people with unique and special abilities among us.

They thought they were like everyone else, until one day they woke up with unbelievable powers. In New York, Isaac Mendez, a struggling artist with a bad drug habit, is able to paint the future, while Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia), a young dreamer, works to convince his brother, politician Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar), that he can fly. Across the states in Texas, a cheerleader, Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) learns that she’s indestructible, but is unaware that her father, Mr. Bennet (Jack Coleman) lives a double life that’s twisted deep into the world of these heroes. A Las Vegas single mother, Niki Sanders (Ali Larter), is doing her best to raise her son Micah (Noah Gray-Cabey), but is haunted by her mirror image, all while dealing with her fugitive husband, D.L. Hawkins (Leonard Roberts), who has eluded authorities a handful of times. In Los Angeles, a beat cop, Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) is able to hear the thoughts of others, which helps him to track an elusive serial killer. Across the globe in Japan, a young office worker, Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) perfects his gift of stopping time through his strong will power.

As the lives of these heroes are chronicled, as well as the lives of others like them, they each must follow their own path in realizing the extent of their abilities. But as their lives intertwine, they begin to grasp that their ultimate destiny is to save the world.