<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Heroes Character
Matt Parkman
Status	Alive
Gender	Male
Species	Human
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Portrayed by	Greg Grunberg
First Appearance	"Don't Look Back'"
Profession	Police Officer
Relatives	Maury Parkman (father) Janice Parkman (wife)
Special Features	Telepathy, mind control

Matt Parkman is a fictional character on the TV Series Heroes played by Greg Grunberg . He is police officer working with the Los Angeles Police Department who discovers he may be hearing people's private thoughts.

Season 1

In the series' first season, Matt was a Los Angeles police officer unable to rise through the ranks because of dyslexia which he found embarrassing. Things began to change when, while tending to a horrifing murder scene, hears the voice of a child and finds a younnh girl, Molly Walker hiding in a closet in the home of the victims. He was initally treated as a suspect, particularly after saying the name of the suspect, unreleased by The FBI. Matt managed to make it clear to FBI agent Audrey Hanson that he had simply developed a unique talent. He was able to read minds.

Hanson recruited him to help her find the serial killer Sylar. The two came close when Sylar attempted to kidnap Molly Walker from FBI custody. Thanks to Matt, he failed.

Though it appeared Matt's carreer prospects were improving, life at home was not. He and his wife, Janice had been attending counseling. Their marital problems stemmed, in part, from Matt's anger at himself for his career failures. His ability only made matters worse when he discovered Janice had an affair with one of his coworkers.

Things got worse when Matt was drugged by a man in a bar whose mind he was unable to read. He was taken by The Haitian and a man in horn rimmed glasses. He awakened in his own home two days later determined to fix his marital problems. For a time it seemed everything would work out. Matt and agent Hanson tracked down a man they believed to be the serial killer Sylar responsible for the deaths of Molly's parents. Instead, they discovered Theodore Sprague a man who gives off radiation that led to his wife's death. Ted's explanation of experiences similar to his own lead Matt to believe that someone caused them to develop their abilities.

Matt and Audrey later visited a murder scene in Texas in which a cheerleader was killed, presumedly by Sylar. During their investigations he came across Peter Petrelli but his attempts to read his mind cause feedback. Matt also confronts the father of cheerleader Bennet and discovers he cannot read his thoughts either, the sensation is the same as the one he experienced before losing consciousness in the bar. Matt becomes obsessed with finding Bennet's secret but his obsession causes problems for Audrey and the two go their separate ways.

Matt returned home and learned his wife was pregnant. He also confided in her about his ability. That proved to be the high point however, as he is suspended from his job for making up ludicrous stories to make himself out to be a hero.

Matt took a job as private security and was hired to protect Aaron Malsky. He learned from Malsky's mind that he stole money from Linderman. He also overhears Niki Sanders, sent to kill Maksky. Matt attempted to protect him but Malsky was killed and the detectives on the case did not believe his story. Matt took the diamonds hidden by Malsky for himself.

Out of a job, Matt was visited by Ted Sprague and Hana Gitelman who claimed to have discovered how Bennet keeps track of them. Ted and Matt decide to find Bennet and force him to explain what he did to them. It is not until they have held Bennet and his family hostage that he realizes that Ted intends to kill them in revenge for the loss of his wife. Matt decides instead to help Bennet save his family, particularly after learning his abilities were not given to him. Matt is forced to cooperate with the Company until he, Bennet and Sprague can escape.

when they do, they head for New York City where Bennet claims the Walker tracking system must be destroyed to prevent them from being tracked. In New York he and Bennet visit a building in Kirby Plaza where the system is located but it is not technology, but a little girl. Matt prevents her from being harmed but she proves to be ill and being treated by Mohinder Suresh.

Matt, Bennet, and Peter Petrelli confronted Sylar in Kirby Plaza. Matt's own bullets were turned against him and he was shot multiple times in the chest.

Season 2

Matt and Nathan join forces

In season 2, Matt recovered from his wounds and, along with Mohinder Suresh, took custody of Molly. Matt used his abilities to pass the detective's exam in New York. It later became clear that he and his wife divorced after he learned that the baby she carried was not his.

Matt's investigations into the murder of Kaito Nakamura lead him to Angela Petrelli who confessed to the crime, though he knew she was innocent. She advised him not to look any further into it as it would expose others like himself. Matt teamed up with Nathan Petrelli and an image in Nathan's collection revealed that Matt's father, Maury Parkman was somehow connected to Nathan's parents' Daniel Linderman, Nakamura and the mysterious company which Bennet and Mohinder were determined to bring down.

Matt asked Molly's help in locating his father but discovered he was the man of her nightmares. Molly agreed to face her fears and find Molly only to become trapped in a nightmare of Maury's making. With Molly in a coma, Matt and Nathan to the apartment Molly identified as Maury's. There Maury feigned innocence initially but trapped both into a nightmare scenario in which Matt had to face his fear that Janice's baby may really be his and he is as guilty of abandonment as Maury who abandoned him at 13.

The nightmare intensified and Maury set Matt and Nathan's nightmares into collision forcing them to fight. Matt discovered a new talent, he projected an image of the truth into Nathan's mind, saving them both. His abilities are the same as his fathers though it appears his father has transformed simple telepathy into something much darker.

They discovered that Maury may be after a man known to Nathan as Bob, head of the mysterious company. They traveled to the company facility in Hartsdale to warn Bob. Molly was being treated at the same facility and at her bedside, he realize he wasn't just able to hear thoughts. He concentrated and managed to enter the nightmare in which she was trapped and found Maury. He quickly realized the nightmare was his fathers and he was able to stop Maury from harming anyone else by trapping him in his own mind as he did Molly.

With Molly well again, Matt continued his investigations into the company. He used his new found ability to control others' thoughts to force Angela Petrelli to identify Victoria Pratt in a photo. Angela warned him that in forcing others to his will, he is in danger of becoming just like his father.

Powers

Matt's abilities in season one appeared limited to hearing thoughts. In season two, after finding his father he learned the true extent of his abilities. In addition to being able to enter dreams and trap others in their own minds, he is able to place powerful suggestions in others minds, forcing them to conform to his will.

External Links

• "Control" – graphic novel at NBC