It has long been said that Sylar is the most powerful. However, that statement only takes into account that he HAS the most POWERS as in he has accumulated multiple powers. Technically, the most powerful characters are: Hiro/the Haitian/and Matt and second Sylar/superfast carnival dude...

Hiro, the Haitian, and Matt share the top spots because Hiro can can control time and space and he is a Samurai. He could stop time or even just appear behind someone and then chop their head off if he wanted to. The Haitian is right with Hiro because it is obvious that he constantly negates powers even if he is unaware of another super in the vicinity. On top of that he has shown some level of physical prowess when he went after Sylar without hesitation and when he quickly disarmed Peter and locked him in the trailer. I would assume that if Hiro were to battle the Haitian and freeze time, time would start again before Hiro gets close enough to inflict any damage. Hiro would have to use his Samurai skills which should give him the edge. However his overall goofiness and marshmallowness vs the Haitians no-nonsense attitude would probably even things out.

Matt is up there because he has a gun so even if the Haitian negates Matts powers, the Haitian still can't dodge a bullet.

Hiro vs Matt would be great because Matt could make himself invisible to Hiro and Hiro would not be able to see him even if he did stop time. That battle would come down to wits and Matt is kind of a drama queen so it's up in the air...

Superfast carnie is up there depending on how fast he actually is. He is obviously not as fast as Daphne because her power allowed her to move at normal speed even when Hiro stopped time. This means that her speed was comparable to making time slow enough that other people would be almost motionless. The carnie is not that fast because if he were then he should have been able to beat Sylar to a pulp when they faced off...Matt could make SFC stop running and then shoot him. The Haitian would have to battle it out but he might lose because SFC is a master at knife-play. Hiro could win or lose depending on whether the writers retcon SFC into being as fast as Daphne. If that happens then it would come down to Samurai sword/goofiness/marshmallowness vs. knives/bad-ass/murderer.

I left out Tracy because I don't know where to put her. I assume her power has changed her physiological make-up to an aqueous state because of the fact that she took a knife to the face and it had no effect on her. Judging by the look on her face when that happened it can be assumed that she did not purposely activate her powers. It was either a subconscious fight or flight reaction or she is now composed of water. If the latter is true then no other character should be able to destroy her under no circumstance without a retcon (except Sylar of course). If it was a reaction then the Haitian, Matt, or Hiro should be able to dispose of her pretty easily.

I am putting Sylar at the top of the list because somehow, someway, he will kill the other characters without any explanation as to how. For example, SFC was soo fast that Tracy had no time to react, Danko (an experienced ex-military person) took multiple slices with no time to react, the black cop was sliced several times before he could so much as scream, and even HRG (who is supposed to be very experienced) verbalized he had no time to react. However, Sylar (of course) was able to EFFORTLESSLY stop SFC WHILE still unsure of his power AND with no power in his possession to counteract super speed...how did he do it? Oh yea, because he is Sylar of course...So I guess Sylar would beat everyone after all...

Why except Sylar?

Because Sylar can do anything of course...it was a half-joke/half-serious statement...read my last paragraph and think about all the other characters that should have been able to beat Sylar but didn't and you'll understand my sarcasm...

You have to still add Peter to that list, he did kick SFC's ass with his own power with little to no training.

Although it does really depend which power Peter has at any 1 point as to whether he kicks ass.

Well, technically Peter should have lost that fight. It's obvious that SFC is particularly skilled at high speed knife play, hand to hand combat and moving at high speeds in close quarters. Peter absorbed SFC's power, not his skill and expertise (unless the skill and expertise are part of the power). If not, then Peter should have accidentally ran into the wall when he first used that power. On top of that, Peter should not have been able to grab SFC in the first place considering that SFC moves soo fast that other characters couldn't even see him. I didn't include him tho because his power depends on the power of the person he touches and he probably wouldn't get a chance to grab someone.

Peter is a trained EMT. Used to making split second decisions, and responding to hundreds of clues that other people would overlook.

Although he didn't have the specific skill set, he had a set that made him more than able to hold his own.

Micah is the most powerful character.

He can find anyone anywhere with all the cameras and satellites like Molly.
He can also call in a nuclear missile strike like Ted.
And to top it all off he can do it while playing Call of Duty like me.
Then he can go into the banking system to set himself up.

Seriously, Micah is the shiznitobamsnipsnapsamm

And in my opinion Micah's ability is similar to Sylar, in that Micah was given a computer, he took it apart to see "how it works" and now he can communicate with machines. I'm totally convinced that Micah could see how other things work, like Sylar and his watches, and spontaneously manifest abilities. It'd be effing awesome and until someone from the show tells me that it isn't that way that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Didn't he have daphne's power for a while? so he would be used to being quick.

I also thought maybe when peter takes on a power he masters it straight away, although his rubbish teleporting skills kind of ended that theory hehe

But i think the strongest will never be just 1 person.

For me every showdown would depend on the situation, who attacks who 1st is it a actual fair fight ect

Just before peter lost his powers peter basicly wiped the floor with syler but then you could argue if that was the badass syler and not the good syler would peter of got that upper hand, pretty sure peter and syler and 50-50 in a fight.

Although atm neither can be considered the strongest because they are both for different reasons weaker then they once were

That is an extremely interesting interpretation of Micah, and in a way it makes sense.

He didn't just have the ability to talk to machines.

He was smart in general. Genius level. Nikki was trying to put him into special schools. He breezed through everything. Picks things up quick. Doesn't sound too far off from a tinge of intuitive aptitude.

Hiro is sorry. He lives in a fantasy world. Matt is a big oaf. He knows other people can't see or hear what he can but yet he blurts stuff out. I would have said he was one of the most powerful heroes once upon a time. He is selfish. And too many times he did not want to get involved. Common sense: If the alcohol was subduing Sylar, then he would have to stay drunk. Matt is a big, dumb goof. And it obvious that he will be killed after this.

Oh I love this topic!

I'm going to go with HRG. Simply because he is highly trained and skilled and does not have an ability. Why this is a positive is because he doesn't live in a dreamland like Hiro, he doesn't have to juggle an ability and his real life like Matt and Claire do.

He doesn't need people around him to work effectively as Peter, Nathan and a few others seem to do.

This makes him able to see clearly and objectively as we have seen in all situations. Not to mention he understands people with abilities, how those abilities work and also how to counter those abilities.

He seems fearless unlike some characters which seem constantly plagued by fear such as Ando (slightly, due to the fact he doesn't really use his ability), Matt and Claire (her flashbacks of the guy with the stun gun in the uni!).

Out of the whole series thought, I really feel Elle was the most powerful.

My reasoning behind this is that she possessed an ability which could be used to kill or subdue as necessary. Her background as a damaged child growing up made her see the world for exactly what it is and therefore she could adapt to whatever was thrown at her as you can see several times in the series.

Not to mention her personal strength which seemed to stem from her troubled childhood as well, and especially growing up a company girl and having the same training as HRG pretty much.

Not to mention she was also not afraid or inhibited in anyway by her ability, if anything she was a show off. At several stages she showed us she was capable of both great empathy and compassion, yet could revert to her cold, hard persona when necessary.

In conclusion HRG now as he is alive, in the past Elle...I miss Elle!

HRG>Chuck Norris

Bennet FTW