Lydia

Lydia, the "painted lady", is a character from Heroes. She was a member of the carnival and was one of Samuel's closest confidants. When she was very young, Lydia fell pregnant and left home. She went to the carnival and made a new life for herself, but she never fully let the memory of her daughter leave. She tried desperately to make sure that Amanda did not follow in her footsteps or make the wrong decisions. Eventually realizing that Samuel's vision was not the right path, Lydia attempted to rebel against him alongside Claire Bennet but was eventually shot by Eli. Just before her death, Lydia's fears were realized as Samuel revealed his true intentions to her.

Relatives

 * Carol Strazzulla (sister)
 * Amanda Strazzulla (daughter)

Powers
Empathy: Lydia had the ability to feel the thoughts, hopes, dreams, emotions, and/or desires of others. Her most common manifestation of this ability is through various tattoos on her body depicting different people. These tattoos allowed Lydia to sense different things about the people they depicted.

On at least one occasion, Lydia was able to utilize her ability through a crystal ball. During this time, Lydia saw a baby and had Edgar see what he desired. Whether this means Lydia can exstent what she sees to others is unknown.

In order to get a more accurate reading of people, she must physically touch them. While touching Hiro, it's indicated that she activated his ability and caused them to travel through time. Later, she was able to help him reactivate his ability when he was having trouble transporting them back to the present.

On one occasion, Lydia was able to reach out an unknown distance to Peter Petrelli and cause the compass tattoo Samuel had once put on his arm to reappear. It is unknown how she did this as her power seems to work through touch.