is a fictional superhero on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

superhero

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

'' Heroes'' who possesses the ability of space-time manipulation. This means that Hiro is able to alter the flow of time, teleport and time travel. In the show, he is played by Japanese actor Masi Oka. According to the online comic on NBC.com, Hiro is named after Hiroshima, so his family will always remember the

atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...

Tim Kring Richard Timothy Kring (born July 9, 1957) is an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his creation of the drama series '' Strange World'', ''Crossing Jordan'', ''Heroes'', and ''Touch''. Early life Kring was born in El Do ...

has been quoted as saying, "It's no coincidence we named him Hiro... he truly is on a hero's quest." To this end, his name is often used as a pun. His co-worker and best friend Ando once called him "Super-Hiro" in jest.

Character development

Hiro was one of the last main characters to be created by Tim Kring; he was added to the pilot episode after Kring's wife noticed none of the existing main characters were happy about their powers. During a panel session, Kring explained that he developed Hiro as a comic book geek "trapped in a life that was kind of not of his making". Thus, viewers were introduced to Hiro as an office worker in a

sea of cubicles A cubicle is a partially enclosed office workspace that is separated from neighboring workspaces by partitions that are usually tall. Its purpose is to isolate office workers and managers from the sights and noises of an open workspace so that ...

. In an interview, Tim Kring noted, "I didn't start off by saying I want a guy who can teleport. I started off by saying I wanted a guy who felt trapped in a life that was not his dream and what could be a power that would be most wish-fulfilling for that character? And that was the ability to teleport out of that life."

Character synopsis

Hiro Nakamura is an

office worker A white-collar worker is a person who performs professional, desk, managerial, or administrative work. White-collar work may be performed in an office or other administrative setting. White-collar workers include job paths related to government, ...

living in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan, working as a level-3

programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

at Yamagato Industries when one day he discovers he has the power to bend time and space. An

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejora ...

, Hiro is an avid fan of superheroes and science fiction. Naïve and over-eager, Hiro is the one character that aspires to the pure heroism of comic book crime fighters, shouldering the responsibility to use his powers for good. His best friend is the skeptical Ando Masahashi. At the start, Hiro is only able to speak Japanese and a little English, relying on Ando as his translator; but as the series progresses, his English slowly develops. Hiro's Blog, maintained by

and written from Hiro's point of view, was updated after each new episode aired, usually about the events of the episode.

Reception

UGO Networks UGO Entertainment, Inc. was a website that provided coverage of online media in entertainment, targeting males aged 18–34. The company was based in New York, New York, United States. History The company started in 1997 as Unified Gamers Online ...

listed Hiro as one of their best heroes of all time. The character has had a mixed reception. Malian-French pop singer Aya Nakamura adapted her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

from the character.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Hiro Fictional swordfighters Fictional businesspeople Television characters introduced in 2006 Fictional characters who can teleport Fictional Japanese people Fictional orphans Fictional vigilantes Heroes (American TV series) characters Male characters in television Television superheroes Fictional characters who can manipulate time Time travelers