Niki Sanders

Niki Sanders
Heroes character
Ali Larter as Niki Sanders
First appearance	"Genesis"
Last appearance	"Powerless" (alive); "One of Us, One of Them" (corpse)
Portrayed by	Ali Larter
Information
Family	Hal Sanders (adoptive father) Jessica Sanders (adoptive sister) Tracy Strauss (sister) Barbara Zimmerman (sister)
Spouse(s)	D. L. Hawkins (husband)
Children	Micah Sanders (son)
Ability	Enhanced Strength
Real name	Nicole Sanders

Nicole "Niki" Sanders is a fictional character portrayed by Ali Larter in the television series Heroes. Niki is the wife of D. L. Hawkins (Leonard Roberts) and mother of Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey). Niki, a sufferer of Dissociative Identity Disorder, displays superhuman strength, being able to literally rip others in half. Initially, she is able to access this power only when her alter ego "Jessica" is in control.

Tim Kring, the creator of the show, stated that he originally created Niki with the power to be in two places at once, which stems from her life as a single mother. Niki was also originally written to be a showgirl. However, Ali Larter did not have the proper physique to portray a showgirl, so the character's profession was changed to internet stripper. According to writers Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite, Niki was written out of the series and replaced with Tracy Strauss so that Larter could play a different role, as they realized that they could not go further with the character. The change also allowed them to tell an origin story, where the character discovers that she has powers.

One of three identical triplets injected with Arthur Petrelli's formula as babies, Niki was adopted by a wealthy father named Hal Sanders. An abusive alcoholic, Hal would often beat Niki and her sister, Jessica, during his drunken rages. Eventually, Hal strangled Jessica to death and abandoned his remaining daughter. As an adult, Niki had no memory of her father's actions and simply believed he ran out on her. At some point in her life, Niki herself became an alcoholic and a problem gambler, but she managed to overcome her problems. On her first anniversary of sobriety, Niki attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. There, she was reunited with her father, Hal, who wanted to make amends. Niki introduced Hal to her husband, D. L., and her son, Micah. Hal gave the boy a computer, but when he became angry at his grandson for taking the expensive gift apart, Niki demanded that he leave. After her father's departure, Niki went to confront him as Jessica, claiming to remember everything he did to her, including his responsibility in her death (a memory Niki had apparently been suppressing). After assaulting him, she forced the check Hal gave Niki into his mouth and ordered him never to contact her again.