| |
| Jim Powell | |
|---|---|
| Family | Mike Powell (Brother) Stephanie Powell (Wife) |
| Occupation | Police Sketch Artist |
| Powers and Abilities |
Superhuman Strength Invulnerability Super Leaping Superhuman Reflexes Healing Factor |
| Played By | Michael Chiklis |
| Status | Alive |
Season 1[]
No Ordinary Father[]
In the beginning, Jim was unsatisfied with his life. He felt that his family was breaking apart, and he felt unrealized in his job. His only friends were George, a District Attorney, and Yvonne Cho, a detective with Pacific Bay. However, Jim's life changed forever during his family's trip to Brazil. On their way to Stephanie's research site, the private plane was caught in a storm and crashed into the Amazon River. Luckily, the Powells survived and returned home, virtually unscathed.
Returning to work, Jim saved Yvonne's life from a bullet. He realized that he caught the bullet, with his hand. In the next day, he broke a doorknob with his hand. Renting a batting practice cage, Jim launched balls to himself, catching the balls with his hands. He then sped up the pitching machine and let the next ball hit him in the chest. Jim discovered that he had superhuman strength and invulnerability.
Jim then let his friend George know about his abilities. George had accidentally shot him with a gun, and Jim caught the bullet with his hand. However, before Jim could explain, George fainted. Later, when George recovered, they met on a rooftop to see if Jim could fly. Jim fell from the building and crashed to the ground below. However, he jumped back up atop the building next to George. They realized that Jim could jump extraordinary heights.
After confirming the extent of Jim's abilities, George wondered if Jim was going to tell Stephanie. However, Jim was listening to the police scanner trying to locate a duo of masked robbers.
Later, Jim returned home and went to bed with Stephanie. They talked about how much their lives had changed. Stephanie said that Jim looked happy for the first time in a while. Jim admitted that he was unhappy with his current life and that he couldn't keep up with her. Stephanie said that he stopped trying, but Jim said that they both did. Then, George called Jim, saying that there was a robbery in progress.
Jim jumped across the city, directed by George by the radio, and found the robbers. He jumped atop of their car, ripped the door open and pulled one out. The other shot Jim in the back of the head. The robbers escaped while Jim collapsed, calling George for help.
George got Jim home, telling him that the bullet penetrated the skin, but not the bone. Jim realized that George told Stephanie about his powers. Then, Stepahnie told them both that she also had a power, superhuman speed. They realized that something in the Brazilian river had given them their powers.
The next day, Jim did a sketch of the robber and identified him from the police files as Reed Koblenz. Cho and her partner Hixon went to arrest Koblenz, and Jim suggested to tag along. Cho ignored him, but Jim followed them. But when he arrived, Jim discovered that Koblenz had killed Hixon and taken Cho hostage. As Koblenz put Cho on the trunk of his car, Jim appeared and began fighting Koblenz, who started teleporting around. Koblenz then got a gun to the back of Jim's head, saying that he could kill him by shooting him at point-blank range. But before he can shoot Jim, Cho shoots Koblenz dead.
Later, Jim got home and talked to Stephanie. She said that she didn't want to lose Jim now that he had found himself, asking him not to do any more crime-fighting. Jim agreed.
The next day, Jim discovered that George had set up his garage with TV screens and police scanners, turning it into Jim's lair.
Jim and Stephanie attended a marriage counselor, and they agreed to attend twice a week to solve their family problems.[1]
When Push Comes to Shove[]
Jim tried to stop a robbery, but the robbers ran him over with their van and escaped. However, Jim managed to see the robbers' face. He later made a sketch of the robber and shows it to Cho, which he claimed from an anonymous witness. Jim admitted that he was the anonymous witness and said he was at a local ATM. This made Cho wonder why Jim had been at so many crime scenes lately.
Jim returned home, where he got into a discussion with Stephanie, who had discovered his ruined clothes and reminded him of his promise not to fight crime. Jim replied that he had to fight crime and help people. Although Stephanie tried to remind him of the risks, Jim asked if she believed that they all obtained their powers for a reason.
Later, Jim secretly met with George, who had bought an old car to help him train with his powers. Jim practiced on how to brace and catch a car, by having George running him over several times.
Returning home, Jim tended to some minor injuries Stephanie had received and saw as how the injuries healed at an accelerated rate. Jim admitted to Stephanie that she might have been right about the dangers of their powers. They both agreed not to use their powers.
Jim went to the lair, where George told him that he had isolated the areas where the robbers were striking. He told George about his promise, but George told him that he had to fight crime. When Jim insisted on abiding his promise and said that George didn't understand because he didn't have a family, George gave him the cold shoulder.
Later, Jim talked to Stephanie, who admitted that she had used her speed to go to the Flagstaff facility and to obtain a sample of the water of the river they fell in. Jim said that he stopped using his powers for her, but Stephanie said that it was different with her, saying that she used her powers to help their family while Jim used his to protect strangers. The next day, they apologized to each other, agreeing that things would change. Jim then talked to Daphne and JJ, saying that they would go to the school fair, whether they wanted to or not. As they were preparing to go, George came by and apologized with Jim, saying that he was right and he didn't have a family. But Jim told him that he was part of their family. Jim invited him to go with them, but George saw his sketches and left, saying that he would be along later.
In the fair, Jim used his powers to dunk Ron in the dunk tank, with Stephanie's approval. Then, George called him, saying that he was in a bank under a robbery. Stephanie told Jim to help George, and he left. When Jim arrived at the bank, the robbers had taken George hostage and were about to escape in their van. However, Jim managed to hang onto the underside and threw the van over on its side. He then got George out. As soon as the police arrived, George told Jim to leave. However, Cho spotted Jim running.
That night, Cho confronts Jim outside his house. Cho demands answers, and Jim shows his powers to her. Cho tells him that he was a vigilante, but Jim warns her that Koblenz was a teleporter, and that she would need him to deal with others with his powers. However, Cho told him that if she saw him in another crime scene, she would arrest him.
Jim told everything that happened to Stephanie, and she told him that she was okay with him fighting crime. But she warned him that she would not rest until she found the source of their powers, and a way to remove them.
Unknown to Jim, Cho was killed by the Watcher.[2]
Looking for the Ring[]
Jim and George talked about Cho's mysterious death. Then, Jim went to a wedding reception that Stephanie, Daphne and JJ had attended. The bride was a woman who used to babysit Daphne and JJ when they were young. Suddenly, a gang of robbers assaulted the wedding and began stealing the guests' money and valuables, including Stephanie's engagement ring. Jim tries to stop them, but they escape.
The next day, Jim tells Daphne and JJ that he called the police. JJ asks why didn't he use his powers, but Stephanie replies that it was the police's job to stop crime. Once the kids leave, Jim asks why he can't tell the kids that he has found something to be proud of. Stephanie reminds him that he isn't a cop, but a super strong man without training.
Jim talks with George about what happened. Jim says that perhaps he should tell the public about his powers, but George disagrees, saying that heroes need secret identities because he will be blamed if something goes wrong. George then decides that they will crash weddings to find the robbers.
After a wedding crash fails, George teaches him to dance. Also, Jim learns that Stephanie will break in Global Tech to switch and steal her blood sample. Jim tells her that she is using her powers to commit a felony, but she won't be deterred.
When George tells Jim about another wedding, Jim prepares to go, but Daphne asks him where is he going. Jim replies that it is work-related, but Daphne uses her telepathy to discover that he is lying.
When Jim gets to the wedding, the robbers attack. One of the robbers shoots him, but when he gets up, the robbers believes that he is wearing Kevlar. The robbers escape, but Jim captures one of them.
When Jim gets home, he finds Stephanie and Daphne waiting. Daphne accuses him of lying, but Jim says that he was trying to protect her. She is disappointed that he isn't honest with her anymore, and he won't let her tell any of her friends about their powers. She goes off to tell her friend Megan what she can do. Stephanie convinces him to let her go.
Later, Jim goes to the police station and sees that the robber had been released. George tells him that none of the guests could identify any of the robbers. He then gives Stephanie's ring to Jim, explaining that one of the cops found it at the crime scene.
When Jim returns home, he gets caught in the middle of a discussion between Daphne and JJ, who accuses her of lying to him. After JJ leaves, Daphne tells Jim that she didn't tell Megan about her powers. Jim and Daphne reconnect and Daphne says that she wishes that they could all be normal again. Jim tells her that his powers allow him to be the person he always wanted to be. He also says that nothing will happen to him, but he can't promise it.
Later, Jim takes Stephanie to an expensive restaurant and carries her up to the roof where he has set up a private dinner for the two. Jim then gives the ring back to Stephanie and the two kiss and he invites her to dance.[3]
Vigilantes[]
Jim investigates about a mysterious vigilante in the park. He then sees a mugger attacking a woman. When Jim prepares to save her, a mysterious man shoots a gun from the shadows and takes the mugger down. Jim then takes the mugger to the hospital.
In the next morning, Jim and Stephanie are told by JJ that he joined the football team. Jim isn't sure about it, and JJ says that he doesn't know what he is cut out for and leaves.
Jim shows a sketch of the shooter to Detective Cordero, but he isn't interested on a man that shoots criminals. Later, Jim and George investigate about Andrew Meyers, a man who is rumored to have killed the man who killed his son. They go to the bar he is known to frequently go to. There, Jim approaches Meyers and talks about JJ. However, Meyers ignores him and leaves. Jim figures out that he isn't the shooter.
That night, Jim patrols the park and wonders if he is any different from the shooter. He then sees another mugger lying on the grass. He tries to pursue the mugger, but he is spotted by a couple, the Costigans. They believe Jim killed the mugger, but Jim leaves before they can look at his face. Jim finds out later that the Costigans are not sure of what they saw.
Jim and Stephanie have a meeting with Mr. Litchfield, who believes that JJ is on drugs. Later, Jim and Stephanie talk with JJ and ask for the truth, and JJ admits that he believes in himself but they don't. Stephanie then sees a broadcast about the vigilante, and notices that the broadcast looks like Jim. He explains what happened and Stephanie says that he is becoming obsessed with his new life and that he will have to choose between being a parent and a vigilante.
Detective Cordero puts Meyers in a lineup, but the victim fails to identify him.
Later, Jim and Stephanie discover Daphne trying to buy beer for a party. They bring her home and decide to ground her for a week. JJ comes and lies about where she has been. He then admits he was at the party Daphne was trying to attend to.
Jim sees Meyers in the bar and advises him to turn himself in. Although Meyers insists that he isn't the vigilante, Jim tells him that people can get lost in another life. Meyers replies that he lost his son because he was too busy at work. He then wonders why is Jim there instead of at home with his kids, and walks away.
Jim and Stephanie talk with the kids and they all agree not to rely on their superpowers. They all go to the football game to support JJ.
Unknown to Jim, Meyers is killed by undercover cops.[4]
Personality[]
Jim is a man who feels like a failure to his family. He never became the artist he wanted to be, and usually feels inferior to his wife. He feels like his family is falling apart and breaking off into their own worlds. This is the reason for Jim taking his family on a vacation research trip. After gaining his powers, Jim believes that he can finally change his life for the better. Thus, he chooses to use his abilities to fight crime.
Powers and abilities[]
Superhuman Strength: Jim possesses considerable superhuman strength, and has been shown to be able to lift objects many times his own body weight. Jim is able to lift considerable weights, throw objects at great speed and distance, and exert immense force; it is noted in the pilot episode that he is able to lift approximately 11,000 pounds (5,5 tons). While the exact upper limits of his strength are unknown, it is shown that Jim can lift and throw objects as heavy as a van with ease, and can hold back the pulling force of an accelerating vehicle. Jim is also able to exert sufficient force to snap and bend various metals, accidentally smash glass jars, and sculpt marble with his bare hands as if it were modelling clay.
- Super Leaping: Jim’s superhuman strength also extends to his legs, and enables him to exert immense physical force, allowing Jim to jump at distances of a little over 1/4 of a mile. Jim is regularly seen leaping on top of and between buildings, and In the episode "No Ordinary Ring" Jim was able to leap on to the roof of a 10 story building.
Superhuman Reflexes: While not possessing his wife's enhanced speed, Jim's reaction times are drastically enhanced; on multiple occasions this has allowed him to easily intercept incoming bullets, catch baseballs moving at high speeds with his bare hands, and even keep up with a criminal armed with teleportation powers.
Invulnerability: Jim also possesses a high-level of physical invulnerability. Jim has survived falls from great heights, being run over by a speeding van, resisted the force of Rebecca's shockwaves, and has been able to catch a 100 mph fastball bare handed without sustaining injury. In the episode "No Ordinary Ring" Jim survived being shot by a robbery suspect multiple times by a fully automatic sub machine gun without sustaining injury, however, the force of the impact from the bullets did knock him off of his feet. Jim is also highly resistant to flames and extreme temperatures (No Ordinary Anniversary).
- Limitations: Jim's invulnerability does appear to have limitations. He received minor injuries after being shot in the back of the head by a .50 caliber bullet, causing him to pass out due to shock. However, it caused no permanent damage; he was able to remove the bullet by hand later, as it only penetrated a quarter of an inch into his skull. In No Ordinary Accident, it was revealed that certain substances, such as strains originating from an exotic plant, can temporarily neutralize Jim's powers.
Accelerated Healing Factor: Jim also possesses accelerated healing abilities; When Jim's powers were suppressed and he sustained an injury, the wound completely healed the same day when his powers were restored; no longer requiring the bandage he wrapped around his hand (No Ordinary Accident). Jim was also able to quickly recover from a .50 caliber bullet wound that penetrated a quarter of an inch into the back of his skull.
Memorable Quotations[]
- "As much as I'd like to believe that sex is one of my superpowers, honey, I think this belongs in a different argument." —Jim Powell; Season 1, Episode 6: "No Ordinary Visitors"
- "It's a locomotive. And I think you're confusing me with someone else." —Jim Powell; Season 1, Episode 5: "No Ordinary Quake"