4

Nathan is the son of Angela and "Dallas" Petrelli, a Vietnam veteran whose life was once saved by a medic codenamed "Austin" Linderman.[1] Nathan joined the U.S. Navy as a pilot and served in Serbia, Bosnia, and Rwanda.[2]

Nathan was a lawyer working with the District Attorney's office. The District Attorney wanted to expose the Mafia connections of his father's client, Mister Linderman. As he was driving his wife home from a party in a convertible, another vehicle repeatedly struck his car. Nathan inadvertently flew from his car after one of the strikes, causing the car to lose control and veer off the freeway. The resulting crash caused his wife, Heidi, to suffer a significant spinal injury. Since then, Nathan has blamed himself for the incident.

Six months later, Nathan is running for Congress in New York's 14th congressional district[3] . In the pilot episode, he was approached by his brother Peter, who told him that he'd been having strange dreams and believed he could fly. Nathan claimed to be unconvinced. Their conversation was interrupted by the news that their recently widowed mother has been arrested for shoplifting. Nathan, still primarily concerned with his candidacy, cut his mother no slack and left her at the police station with Peter. The following morning, Nathan watched from an alley as Peter jumped off a building in an attempt to fly. As Peter fell, Nathan flew into the air and grabbed his hand. They descended for a few seconds, but then the brothers lost their grip on one another.

The next day, Nathan was the first person Peter saw at his bedside in the hospital. Nathan denied that he flew and tried to explain away what happened as if it were simply a failed suicide attempt by Peter. Much later that night, Nathan was called to another rooftop, where Peter threatened to jump unless Nathan admitted that he flew. Nathan eventually admitted that he did fly. Both brothers soon learned that Peter could fly as well, when he began to walk on thin air. Soon after that, Nathan was again approached by Peter with information about the power of flight and other superhuman abilities. Nathan was still more focused on his campaign and his family. That evening, Nathan held a press conference where he broached the subject of depression. He revealed that his father suffered from it, and that it was the cause of his death. Nathan then claimed that Peter's attempt to fly was actually a suicide attempt, to satisfy the press. Peter stormed out of the press conference, later cursing Nathan out and assaulting him, but went along with the story in public.