Ordinary to Extraordinary: Normal Characters with Amazing Powers

In 2006, NBC gave regular people superpowers on the hit series ‘Heroes,’ and on September 24 the show will return with a new revival miniseries called ‘Heroes Reborn.’ In honor of 'Heroes'' return, we take a look at 10 ordinary TV and film characters that, naturally or not, possess extraordinary abilities.

While on a field trip to a genetics laboratory, high school student Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is bitten by a radioactive spider and gifted with the amazing ability to create superstrong webs and use them to swing from skyscraper to skyscraper. After his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) dies and Peter becomes Spider-Man, he soon learns that “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) might seem like your average high school student, but she is actually a vampire slayer chosen by fate to battle vampires, demons and the forces of evil. With her enhanced physical strength, endurance, agility and accelerated healing, Buffy protected Sunnydale for seven seasons along with her friends in the “Scooby Gang.”

Ralph Hinkley (William Katt) was just an ordinary high school teacher until he found an alien super suit that gave him several powers including flight, speed, invisibility, X-ray vision and precognition. Unfortunately, Ralph lost the suit’s instruction manual, so he must rely on cranky FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp) for help fighting crime.

One of the breakout characters of the original ‘Heroes,’ Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) was just a normal high school cheerleader until she discovered her ability to heal at an accelerated rate. Claire embraced her powers immediately and in the original series finale, displayed her abilities to the world.

Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) was an ordinary crime-scene investigator before being hit by lightning and becoming the superfast crime fighter known as the Flash. With his new superpowers, and superpowered friends including the Arrow (Stephen Amell) and Firestorm (Robbie Amell and Victor Garber), Barry finally found the man responsible for killing his mother.

Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) began as a time-traveling former con man from the 51^st century on ‘Doctor Who,’ but eventually became immortal and stranded in the 19^th century. Stuck in the past, Jack joined Torchwood, a British organization dedicated to fighting alien threats, and became their leader while waiting over a century to be reunited with the good doctor.

When we were first introduced to Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) on ‘True Blood’ she was a small-town waitress who could read people’s minds, but in time we learned she was actually part fairy. Over the course of the show, Sookie used her abilities to protect her family and loved ones from a world full of vampires, witches and werewolves.

Security guard and former high school football star David Dunn (Bruce Willis) was unaware of his special abilities until he became the only survivor of a fatal train crash. Leaving the accident without a scratch on him, David soon realizes that he is virtually indestructible and also possesses other abilities like superstrength and extra-sensory perception. But he does have one weakness: water.

Before crash-landing on a mysterious island, where he was forced to live in a hatch and push a button every 108 minutes, Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) was a failed monk and a dishonorably discharged member of the Royal Scots Regiment. But after an electromagnetic accident on the island, Desmond gains the ability to time travel to different moments from his past, as well as predict future events like Charlie’s (Dominic Monaghan) untimely death. 

Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) was just your average 25-year-old American studying in Taiwan before she accidently got involved with a drug deal gone wrong. After being forced to ingest a large amount of synthetic drugs, she obtains psychokinetic abilities and goes after the gangsters that tried to kill her.