| Description: | Removing abilities from other evolved humans and absorbing them into oneself |
| Classification: | Spatial/Temporal |
| Characters With: | Arthur Petrelli |
Ability Absorption is, quite simply, the power to acquire the abilities of other evolved humans permanently. It operates to an end very similar to both Empathic Mimicry and Intuitive Aptitude. However, Ability Absorption appears to establish the middle ground between the two latter powers. Unlike Empathic Mimicry, the powers of another evolved human are not simply "borrowed" so much as they are literally stolen from the victim. And unlike Intuitive Aptitude, while it is suggested that the process of absorbing abilities can be painful for victims, it is hardly ever fatal and does not exhibit side effects upon the user like Sylar's "hunger."
Ability Absorption is a spatial/temporal power, meaning it requires physical contact with a target in order to be executed. This physical contact must be deliberate and have a willful, conscious effort put behind it. When activated, Ability Absorption retrieves the genetic coding within an evolved human for his/her powers and alters the genetic code of the user as an exact duplicate. Then, the coding within the victim is transfigured to render the victim a normal human. As mentioned earlier, this usually results in no ill side effects to the victim. However, if a victim's power directly affected his/her biological make-up, there would likely be drastic changes. For example, if a man with Rapid Cellular Regeneration succumbs to another with Ability Absorption, the genes that suppress aging would be altered, and the victim would experience a rapid process in cellular aging and destruction, up to and including death.
It is currently unknown if Ability Absorption is of any threat to unevolved humans, as they do not have any specific gene markers that could necessarily undergo transformation.
