"YATAA!"

First Appearance: #1.1 "Genesis"

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Profession: Programmer

Known Relatives/Associates: Mr. Kaito (father); Ando Masahashi (best friend); Charlie Andrews (waitress and love interest)

Powers: Space-time manipulation - The ability to alter the space-time continuum, including chronokinesis (slowing down, speeding up, or stopping time), time travel (moving through time), and teleportation (moving instantaneously through space)

Character Biography: Hiro works at Yamagato Industries as a programmer though he is bored with the monotony of his job and has the ability to manipulate space and time. He is also a huge science-fiction nerd, sometimes referring to Star Trek among other known sci-fi shows. In episode 1.1, Hiro discovers his ability while at his desk when he makes the second-hand on his clock go back one second. Later on, after being frustrated with Ando for not believing in his powers, Hiro focuses on a vacation ad to New York City while on the subway and is then instantly teleported to Times Square, where he yells “Yatta!” (I did it!)

What Hiro doesn’t realize is that he’s traveled 5 months into the future. He picks up an issue of 9th Wonders, finds the artist Isaac Mendez dead and then witnesses the destruction of New York City via nuclear explosion but jumps back before it hits him. Using the comic book as a guide, he convinces his friend Ando that his powers are real and begins his journey to New York to stop the explosion. Making a stop in Las Vegas, Ando convinces Hiro to use his powers to win money gambling. After an argument with Ando, Hiro ends up at the Fly by Night diner and sees Nathan Petrelli land. Meanwhile, a future version of Hiro with a sword comes to Peter Petrelli while he is on the NYC subway with a message to give to present day Hiro. When Hiro calls Isaac, Peter picks up and gives him the now infamous message – “Save the Cheerleader. Save the World.”

From this point, Hiro continues his journey to meet Peter in NYC and stops at the Burnt Toast Diner in Midland, TX, where he meets Charlie Andrews and is immediately smitten by her. Her power is having an eidetic memory – which is why she can speak almost perfect Japanese after only learning from a phrasebook for a week. While Hiro is in the bathroom, Charlie is murdered by Sylar which leads Hiro to go back in time to save her. He ends up traveling 6 months into the past by accident.

Finding Charlie again in the past, Hiro tells her that she has a special power, despite Charlie's doubts. Hiro attempts to prove his power to Charlie doing a variety of tasks including telling her that tomorrow "the swallow will slay the dragon." The next day, Hiro shows Charlie a Japanese newspaper proclaiming that the baseball team, the Swallows, slew the Dragons. The two grow closer, and eventually attempt to kiss. Hiro is then suddently teleported back to the present on a rooftop in Japan; unable to teleport back. He physically travels back to Texas to meet up with Ando where he realizes he wasn't able to save Charlie.

Hiro and Ando arrive at Union Wells High School the day after Homecoming. Hiro is depressed thinking that they failed to save Claire therefore they have no chance to save the world, but Ando argues that maybe the message was a list, and not an "if-then" statement. They agree to keep going regardless and receive a call from Isaac, who has just escaped from the secret facility where he was being kept.

After meeting Isaac at the bus terminal, Hiro later encourages Isaac to try painting without drugs in a motel room. Isaac succeeds, and paints a picture of Hiro, wielding a sword, facing off against what looks to be a T-Rex. Hiro worries that if he travels back in time to prehistoric times, he'll step on a bug and change the present. Then he decides that he really needs to find the sword.

In New York, with his powers severely depleted, Hiro manages to find a sword in a museum. He steals it, though it turns out the stolen sword is actually a replica and the genuine article is owned by Linderman.

Featured Episodes: #1.1 "Genesis"; #1.2 "Don't Look Back"; #1.3 "One Giant Leap"; #1.4 "Collision"; #1.5 "Hiros"; #1.6 "Better Halves"; #1.7 "Nothing To Hide"; #1.8 "Seven Minutes To Midnight"; #1.9 "Homecoming"; #1.10 "Six Months Ago"; #1.11 "Fallout"; #1.12 "Godsend"

Actor Biography: Masayori “Masi” Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan on Dec 27, 1974 but his family moved to Los Angeles when he was 6 years old. He has an I.Q of over 180, and is gifted with many artistic talents.

Along with standard elemetary school, he attended Saturday school in L.A. where he learned English, U.S. history, and other subjects. He graduated in 1997 from Brown University with a major in Computer Science and Mathematics and a minor in Theatre Arts.

Masi worked for George Lucas's "Industrial Light & Magic” for several years. During this time he worked on such popular films as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, War of the Worlds and Star Wars (episodes I - III). He has indicated that he worked in programming the tools that the artists use in CGI special effects and currently consults one to two days a week in addition to his role on “Heroes”.

Masi has acted in a number of popular television series and films such as Without a Trace, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Austin Powers in Goldmember and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde. He is also filming his new movie Balls of Fury, which is scheduled to be released in 2007 and was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for best Supporting Actor in a TV series for his work on Heroes.

Profile Contributors: Lightstar Angel

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Heroes stars Hayden Panettiere, Jack Coleman, Santiago Cabrera, Masi Oka, Greg Grunberg, Adrian Pasdar, Milo Ventimiglia, Ali Larter, Noah Grey-Cabey, David Anders, Kristen Bell, Dana Davis, Dania Ramirez, Zachary Quinto, James Kyson Lee, and Sendhil Ramamurthy.

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