Heroes: Activation and Deactivation

Activation and deactivation is the ability to activate and deactivate various mechanisms, both electronic and biological.

Characters

 * Matt Parkman, Jr., is the only known character to have this ability.

Limits
Matt Parkman, Jr., can activate and deactivate electronic devices near him, switching them on or off. He can also activate evolved human abilities by touch.

Hiro Nakamura and Ando Masahashi first realize that Matt, Jr., has an abiity when he uses it to switch the television in his house on and off. Even when the television set is unplugged, Matt, Jr., is able to turn it on by touching it. Similarly, he activates several electronic toys by touching them.

When the house is attacked, Matt partially restores Hiro's ability by touching him. The touch only restored the time-stopping aspect of Hiro's ability; he was unable to teleport or time travel. He has since regained the ability to time travel and teleport, but it took awhile to regain control over that. Hiro also experienced negative side effects from the restored abilities and Hiro was diagnosed with a brain tumor that is killing him. This suggests that Matt's ability cannot give abiities to previously powerless people and also causes an evolved human to regain their powers with certain biological risks.

Matt's power affects an automobile and a truck at short range; the baby is able to switch them on or off without reaching out of his car seat to touch the vehicle itself. The truck driver finds that he is able to start his truck again when Hiro and Ando move the "magic baby" back to their own vehicle, showing that the range of young Matt's abiity is about ten meters.

Hiro and Ando also discover that Matt's mood affects his ability: when he is unhappy, he deactivates the vehicles; when happy, he activates them. Young Matt later activates some nearby toy cars when united with his father.