Niki Sanders

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (March 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (March 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "Niki Sanders" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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
In-universe information
Alias	Jessica Gina
Family	Hal Sanders (adoptive father) Jessica Sanders (adoptive sister) Tracy Strauss (sister) Barbara Zimmerman (sister)
Spouse	D. L. Hawkins (husband)
Children	Micah Sanders (son)
Ability	Superhuman Strength[1]
Real name	Nicole Sanders
Status	(Deceased)

Nicole 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. 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 created Niki with the power to be in two places at once, which stems from her life as a single mother.^[2] Niki was also written to be a showgirl. However, Ali Larter did not fit their original vision of a showgirl, so the character's profession was changed to internet stripper.^[3] 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 realised 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.^[4]