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).

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.

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.

In the story, Niki was adopted by a wealthy father named Hal Sanders, an abusive alcoholic.

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.

[5] As of October 2006, Niki resides in Las Vegas and struggles to raise her ten-year-old son, Micah.

Her husband, D. L. Hawkins, is in prison, accused of stealing two million dollars from a sports booker and murdering his own gang.

When Niki recovers consciousness some time later, she is shocked to find the two thugs dead and horribly mutilated.

After a short but violent fight, in which D. L. reveals the phasing powers that he had used to escape from jail, Niki is defeated and lies unmoving on the floor while D. L. takes Micah away.

Concerned that Jessica will eventually take over and put her family in danger, Niki turns herself in to the police and confesses to murder.

The prison staff is very cautious, as Jessica has emerged previously and injured one of the guards during an attempted escape.

During a meeting with the public defender assigned to her case, Niki is informed that the prosecution seeks the death penalty.

Soon, Jessica recommends the lawyer bring in a "shrink" to analyse her apparent multiple personality disorder; Niki insists she's not crazy.

Jessica eventually comes out and attacks the psychologist repeatedly with the Taser that the other woman brought for protection.

Appearing to be his mother, Jessica replies that she would enjoy that, and Niki is shown to be hitting a mirror, begging for release.

On Linderman's orders, Jessica kills a man by tearing him in two, throwing Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) out of the window in the process.

Linderman asks if he can borrow Micah for a few hours, given that he let the debt slide and he saved her from the gas chamber.

When Sylar summons a parking meter with his telekinesis and strikes Peter down, Niki disarms him and slams his torso with the weapon.

The two begin to leave, exchanging declarations of love for each other, when the same man dancing with Gina shows up and suddenly shoots D. L., killing him.

Niki leaves Micah with Nana Dawson, a relative of D. L.'s, and travels to The Company to seek a cure for her condition.

In "Fight or Flight", she attacks a company worker and Bob, forcing Mohinder to shoot her with a Taser.

To stop herself, she injects herself with a modified form of the Shanti virus, which is soon discovered to be immune to the antibodies in Mohinder's blood.

In "I Am Become Death", it is revealed that Niki, Tracy Strauss, and Barbara are identical triplets that were separated at birth and had their genes modified to give them superhuman abilities.

Niki is involved in a relationship with Peter Petrelli and works as a barroom stripper under the stage name of "Jessica".

She is often emotional and in pain, which only grows when she discovers that Peter caused the explosion and not Sylar, as she originally thought.

She has the ability of enhanced strength, allowing her to pull out the door of a safe box with her bare hands,[11] throw her husband several feet across a small area with a single hit, break away from restraining cuffs that are "strong enough to hold down an elephant", and literally tear her opponents apart.

When Jessica surfaces, the transformation is instantaneous and almost unnoticeable, but is made apparent by Niki's sudden violent and strong-willed behavior.

The blackout effect on Niki also seems to lessen over time; the two personalities often directly fight each other for control and seem aware of what is said even when they are not active.