Suggestion

Suggestion
Power Information
Effect	Compel others with vocal persuasion
Known users	Eden McCain (deceased) Kelly Damen Peak Man in Seattle

Suggestion is the ability to force others to obey one's spoken imperatives.

Characters

• Eden McCain naturally possessed this ability. (Seven Minutes to Midnight‎)
• Kelly possesses this ability. (The Civilian)
• Damen Peak possesses this ability. (Damen Peak)
• A man in Seattle has been robbing people by verbally persuading them to give him their money. (Save the Cheerleader, Destroy the World)

Limits

Eden McCain

Eden's power of persuasion requires speech (so, it would not work if she were gagged), and presumably requires the affected individual to understand the spoken commands and be able to act on them.

Often during her focused commands her voice would become distorted. (Six Months Ago, Fallout)

Eden's suggestions do not compel instant obedience. She sometimes has to repeat commands before her victims obey (Six Months Ago), and the exact wording of the command may affect its success (Sylar appeared to resist Eden's rather complex set of commands at the end of Fallout). However, when strongly focused, the true limits of the power may extend to outright killing of the victim through pure power of persuasion (Life Before Eden).

This power appears to require active concentration: not every suggestion Eden makes has an unnaturally persuasive effect; she has to intentionally use the power.

Kelly

Kelly is mentioned to possess the ability of persuasion. Kelly uses this ability to command and recruit other evolved humans to her cause within the town of Lyneboro. (The Civilian, Part 5).

Damen Peak

Damen Peak can influence people's actions with his voice. He used his ability on his wife to persuade her to leave the house with him. When actively using his ability, his eyes glow blue, as do the eyes of his victims.

Gallery

At Mr. Bennet's command, Eden convinces Isaac to shoot up on heroin.
(Seven Minutes to Midnight)

After Homecoming, Eden uses her power to prevent Sylar from attacking her, and then (tells him) to go to sleep.
(Homecoming)

Eden's first command was an angry but innocent outburst, that kills her step-mother.

Later, she commands a man to "just take me away from here."
(Life Before Eden)

After Eden is caught by Matt Parkman with a stolen car, Eden persuades Matt to go away...

...and eat some donuts. (Six Months Ago)

Eden attempts to use her power on Mr. Bennet but is unable to do so due to the presence of The Haitian.
(Six Months Ago)

Eden attempts to use her power to make Sylar kill himself, but is unsuccessful.
(Fallout)

Damen Peak persuades his wife to leave the house with him.
(Damen Peak)

Notes

• In an interview, Aron Coleite and Joe Pokaski explain that, although unusual vocal effects were used for both Sylar (Distractions) and Peter Petrelli (Unexpected), both were for "coolness factor", and were not an indication that either was using persuasion. They later reiterated the point in reference to Sylar's voice in .07%.
• This power is also known as "suggestion".
• Persuasion appears to be an aspect of telepathy. While Eden can compel others with verbal commands, Matt Parkman has shown that he has the ability to coerce others by implanting thoughts. Telepaths are also able to accomplish this verbally.

See Also

• For the ability that includes influence others by sending thoughts into their heads, see Telepathy.
• For the similar ability to induce beliefs in people, see Belief Inducement.