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Characters of Lost

This article contains character biographies of the American drama/adventure television series Lost.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Table of contents

Main Characters

Jack Shephard

Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard

Jack Shephard is a spinal surgeon who lived in the United States of America and is married to a former patient by the name of Sarah. Some time prior to the events of the flight, Jack discovered his father, Dr. Christian Shephard, operating on a woman while under the influence of alcohol; he had created an untenable situation in the operating room. In response, Jack relieved his father from the surgery, but was unable to repair the damage, and the woman died.

Initially, Jack's father played on his son's sense of respect and family, and successfully convinced Jack to sign off on a report stating that the woman simply was beyond medical assistance. However, during the medical inquiry into the patient's death, Jack discovered that the woman was pregnant, a detail his father had neglected to mention previously. Unable to remain quiet, Jack revealed what really happened to the inquiry board. This led to the end of his father's medical career, with Christian falling into a depression, and eventually fleeing to Sydney.

Jack was essentially ordered by his mother to go to Sydney and find Christian. While in Sydney, Jack learned that his father had died while on an alcoholic binge. Forced to bring his father home for burial, Jack boards Flight 815 with his father's casket in tow.

Since arriving on the island, Jack has taken on a critical leadership role, and is looked to by most of the remaining survivors for guidance. His leadership circle includes John Locke and Sayid, and he is close friends with Hurley, Charlie, and Rose. He has also struck up something of a relationship with Kate, which is among the several points of contention between him and Sawyer.

Kate Austin

Evangeline Lilly as Kate Austin

The cryptic Kate Austin is not quite the innocent figure she inititally seems to be. Although the details of her original crime are unclear, Kate has now admitted to the other survivors that she is a fugitive from justice. Prior to the flight, Kate was involved in an elaborate bank robbery in New Mexico, in which she presented herself to the bank manager as an innocent bystander, while she was actually romantically linked with the bank robbers' supposed leader. Posing as a "Maggie Ryan" applying for a loan, Kate was rounded up by the robbers as one of the hostages.

When another hostage overpowered a robber, Kate grabbed one of their guns, but she immediately claimed not to be able to use it. The lead robber then took Kate into a back room, and after a quick kiss, hit her to continue the ruse. The robber brought in the bank manager and claimed he would kill the seemingly innocent Kate, unless the vault were opened. Thinking he was saving her life, the bank manager complied. In the vault, the robber revealed that Kate had actually planned and organized the whole operation. Appearing intent on shooting the manager, the robber was stopped by Kate, who instead shot the leader in the leg, then forced the manager to open a safety-deposit box. Inside was a single item: a small toy airplane.

Sometime later, Kate turned up in Australia as a fugitive. Using the name Annie and claiming to be Canadian, she arrived at the house of an Outback farmer, who, in exchange for help around his farm, offered her a wage and a home. Months later, in the middle of the night Kate attempted to sneak out of the house. The farmer caught her and insisted he drive her to the train station the next morning.

On the road, their truck was followed by a US Marshal. The farmer had seen Kate's picture on a wanted poster at the post office and turned her in for the cash reward. Kate grabbed the wheel and drove off the road, rolling the truck. Despite being free to escape, Kate pulled the injured farmer away from the wreck, giving the Marshal time to capture her.

On board Flight 815, she was in handcuffs, sitting next to the Marshal. Just prior to the crash, she asked the Marshal a favor, which she later claimed was to make sure the farmer receives the reward for turning her in. As the plane began to break apart, the Marshal was injured. Kate stole the keys to her handcuffs, but made sure to apply the Marshal's oxygen mask before putting on her own.

Although initially claiming that she was from Canada, in Born to Run it is revealed that she actually grew up in Iowa. When she recived a letter that her mother, Diane Jansen, was dying from cancer, Kate took a chance and went home. There she met and reignited the romance with her childhood boyfriend Tom Brennan, now married and a doctor at the hospital. The two dug up a time capsule they had buried 15 years earlier, which revealed a tape recording and a selection of Tom's toys, including the little airplane. Kate also convinced Tom to arrange a visit with her mother, who was being guarded, apparently in case of her daughter's appearance. However, once Kate revealed herself to her mother, Diane began screaming for help, and Kate was forced to flee. She asked Tom for his car keys, but he demanded to go with her, saying that the police would be easy on her if she co-operated. Kate sped through the parking garage, direcly at a police car blockading the entrance, but an officer fired off a few shots as she passed, and then crashed into another car. Kate turned to Tom and saw that he was either dead or unconscious. She runs away, leaving behind Tom's toy plane-- which she later retrieves from the safety deposit box during the bank robbery.

Kate has seemingly led a life of deception: In Born to Run, Kate travelled around the country with a car trunk full of license plates from various states, and she used hair dye to disguise her appearance. When Sawyer dumped out the contents of her backpack, she was carrying the passport of the dead Joanna, presumably to use for future false identification.

Since arriving on the island, Kate has been involved with most of the major developments that have occurred to the survivors, from the recovery of the transceiver, to the discovery of the repeating transmission, the polar bear, the cave-in, the decision to move to the caves, the hunt for Ethan, and the final confrontation with him. This is due in no small part to her friendship with Sayid, Charlie, and Hurley, as well as her seeming infatuation with both Jack and Sawyer, although her relationship to Jack has suffered because of her continued manipulation and equivocation.

Kate delivered Claire's baby boy in the middle of the jungle, while Jack was trying to save Boone's life.

Charlie Pace

Dominic Monaghan as Charlie Pace

The former bass player for the UK band Drive Shaft from Manchester, England, Charlie Pace was originally very hesitant to capitalize on the band's growing success. The tribulations and temptations of the rock-star lifestyle weighed heavily on him, even as his band gained notoriety. In the end, however, he was convinced by his brother, Liam, to participate in the band's future, explaining that the band needed Charlie because "he was the band." Nonetheless, Charlie only agreed after eliciting a promise from Liam that, if they ever felt it was too much, they would just walk away.

As Drive Shaft became a world-famous band, Charlie noticed that his brother Liam was becoming both more self-destructive in his addictions and more controlling of the band. Just before a live performance, the situation boiled over when Charlie told Liam that the time had come to walk away. When Liam stormed off shouting that "he was the band now," Charlie realized that he had probably let it all go too far. Alone in the dressing room and blinded by the pain of the current situation, Charlie turned to Liam's heroin stash.

Eventually, Drive Shaft's fame faded, and with it, Charlie's relationship with Liam. The band broke up, and Charlie had to resort to theft to feed his heroin addiction. After a failed relationship with a wealthy woman named Lucy, Charlie turned to his brother to try to re-unite the band for a new tour. He flew to Australia to get his brother, who was now married and settled down, on board. Unlike Charlie, however, Liam could not be swayed by the promise of a return to the rock-star lifestyle. Moreover, when Liam noticed that Charlie was still addicted to heroin, he tried to get Charlie to remain in Sydney and enter a treatment program. Angry with Liam and blaming him for getting him hooked on heroin, Charlie storms off, saying he has a plane to catch.

Since coming to the island, Charlie has been involved in several major trials. First, he has been dealing with withdrawal from his addiction after burning his remaining stash in The Moth. Second, Charlie, along with Claire, was kidnapped by Ethan Rom, and nearly died when Ethan hung him from a tree. Third, after Claire's escape, Ethan came to him with a threat of killing all the survivors until Claire was brought to him. When Ethan made good on his promise by killing Scott Jackson, the core survivors planned to capture him. In the ensuing fight with Ethan, Charlie took matters into his own hands and shot Ethan in "Homecoming", claiming that it had to be done because he would never stop hunting Claire or them.

Charlie has developed several strong friendships on the island, but is closest to Hurley, and has a relationship bordering on romance with Claire.

Boone Carlisle

Ian Somerhalder as Boone Carlisle
  • Played by: Ian Somerhalder
  • Flashback episode: Hearts and Minds
  • Reason for trip: Returning after Shannon's "rescue" from abusive boyfriend
  • Meaning of the name: Shannon referred to him as "God's gift to humanity". A boon is a gift.
  • Profession: Works in his mother's international bridal business, headquartered in Malibu, CA

Boone Carlisle was the step-brother of Shannon and chief operating officer of his mother's wedding businesses. He had mixed feelings about his step-sister, being repulsed at his discovery that she has tricked him to get money by pretending to need it to get away from abusive men. However, Shannon later admitted that she was aware that Boone had actually been in love with her.

Boone became the protégé of John Locke, having initially followed him to hunt wild boar, then discovering and digging up the metal hatch to a mysterious pod-- the existence of which Locke swore him to secrecy, claiming that the others were not ready to know about it . Locke was also instrumental in changing Boone's perception of his relationship with his step-sister. In Deus Ex Machina Locke has a vision-dream about Boone, in which he repeats the phrase, "Theresa falls up the stairs; Theresa falls down the stairs." Boone reveals that Theresa had been his nanny as a child, upon whom he took out his frustration at the absence of his mother. She fell to her death down the stairs in his house while responding to his summons. The same dream led to the "sign" from the island of an small airplane crashed in the forest, which the two followed to discover a heroin runner's aircraft stuck in the trees.

Boone died in Do No Harm of wounds sustained while falling out of a tree in a crashed airplane in the previous episode.

Boone frequently wore a t-shirt with the Chinese characters 八十四, meaning 84. The three characters individually mean 8-10-4, two of which are the unlucky Numbers that frequently appear throughout the show. This is also the shirt that Boone wore in Locke's vision of him, and the shirt he wore when he died.

Shannon Rutherford

Maggie Grace as Shannon Rutherford
  • Played by: Maggie Grace
  • Features prominently in flashbacks in: Hearts and Minds
  • Reason for trip: Returning with Boone from Sydney.
  • Profession: Unknown, presumably unemployed

The manipulative Shannon Rutherford is Boone's step-sister by marriage. Shannon has grown up in various places around the world, having lived in France, Australia, and the United States. Because of her step-mother's exclusion of her from the family money, Shannon has a long history of conning Boone into giving her large sums of money, frequently through his "buying out" of her abusive boyfriends. In fact, it was one such con which brought both of them to Australia. However, this was to be her last con, as her then boyfriend explained the situation to Boone, and later defrauded Shannon of the check Boone had written to "save" her. That night, after arriving at his hotel room while intoxicated, she seduced Boone, sleeping with him just before their flight from Australia.

Since coming to the island, she has done her best to keep everyone at arms length, frequently behaving selfishly. Nonetheless, Sayid had broken through to her while attempting to decode French words on Rousseau's maps, and they had been developing a romantic relationship. However, with the death of Boone, Shannon became enraged with John Locke, and when Sayid refused to kill him before also interfering with her attempt, their relationship took a turn for the worse.

Sayid Jarrah

Naveen Andrews as Sayid Jarrah
  • Played by: Naveen Andrews
  • Flashback episodes: Solitary, The Greater Good
  • Reason for trip: Travelling to the United States to find his childhood friend, Nadia
  • Origin of Name: Honorific title for "lord" or "prince." See also Sayyid.
  • Profession: Communications officer, promoted to intelligence division in the Iraqi Republican Guard

A veteran of the Iraqi Republican Guard, from Tikrit, Iraq, Sayid Jarrah is trained in communications technology. He is haunted by memories of his time as an interrogator in which he would use extreme measures such as torture to gain information. During this time Sayid allowed a childhood friend, Nadia, who he was supposed to be interrogating, to escape after being ordered to kill her. Instead of doing so, he shot himself in the leg so she could get away with his gun.

Sometime later, he was picked up in England by members of ASIS and the CIA who had been following his movements. He had apparently been trying to track down Nadia, whom the inteligence services said they had located. In exchange for her information, Sayid was recruited to infiltrate a terrorist cell in Sydney to uncover a stolen 300 pounds of C4.

Sayid was tasked with convincing Essam, his college roommate from Cairo University, to go through with being a suicide bomber so the intelligence officers could take possession of the missing explosives. Sayid warned Essam at the last moment to give him time to escape, but Essam became distraught that his supposed friend had deceived him over a woman, and killed himself. Sayid was released with a plane ticket to Los Angeles to look for Nadia, but asked for a flight for the next day, so that he might arrange a proper Muslim burial for Essam's body.

After the crash, he was instrumental in repairing a transponder recovered from the cockpit and receiving the looped distress signal. He had attempted to locate the transmission origin of the signal, using triangulation, but was knocked out and his equipment smashed. John Locke has since claimed to be the one who did so.

When he mistakenly tortured Sawyer for information on Shannon's asthma medicine, Said felt guilty and left the others to explore the island. Shortly afterwards, he was captured by Danielle Rousseau deep in the jungle, who revealed that she had been the one who recorded the taped transmission.

Sayid has also grown closer to Shannon, even sharing a torch-lit dinner while unknowingly Boone was dying. But when Shannon asked him to do something about Locke, blaming Locke for Boone's death, he refused, and stopped Shannon from using one of Jack's guns to kill Locke. This has led to an apparent cooling of their relationship.

Michael Dawson

Harold Perrineau Jr. as Michael Dawson
  • Played by: Harold Perrineau Jr.
  • Flashback episode: Special
  • Reason for trip: Returning to the US after Michael received custody of Walt
  • Profession: Construction worker

Michael Dawson was a construction worker in New York who once had artistic aspirations and had dreamed of being an architect. He had been estranged from his son, Walt-- named for Michael's father-- for nearly all of Walt's life. Years earlier, Michael was very excited at the prospect of becoming a father and husband, but Walt's mother Susan Lloyd, had other plans. Michael put off his intentions to be an artist, in order to find steady construction work to support his family, while Susan went to law school. When Susan was offered a plum job in international law, she took their son with her to Amsterdam, leaving Michael alone. While there, she eventually married Brian Porter, the man who had hired her. When Susan called to tell Michael about her marriage intentions, he became enraged, announced he was coming to Amsterdam to get his son back, and promptly ran off. As he crossed the street, he was hit by a car, which left him hospitalized for months, and required a year of rehabilitation. Two months after the accident, Susan tracked him down at the hospital and convinced him to give up his parental rights to Walt, so that her new husband could adopt him.

Several years later, Michael learned about Susan's death from an abrupt visit by Brian. Distraught at the loss his wife, and seemingly afraid of Walt, Brian requested that Michael fly to Sydney to take custody of Walt.

Because of his inexperience as a father, Michael has sometimes been overly strict and protective of Walt, which has led to some difficulties in their developing relationship. For a time, Walt was looking to John Locke as a father figure, but Michael has forbidden Locke from involvement with his son.

Primarily to save his son, Michael started the project to build a rescue raft, in Special.

Michael was the first person to know that Sun could speak English. His association with Sun has caused numerous conflicts between him and her husband, Jin. This conflict reached a head when the first raft Michael was building was burned. Michael at first blamed Jin, but after their confrontation, in which Sun revealed to the other survivors she could speak English, Michael and Jin began working together to build a new raft.

In Born to Run, the day before the second raft was to be launched, Michael became ill, from an apparent poison, and blame fell upon numerous people. Eventually, Jack figured out that it was Sun who had spiked Jin's water, which Michael had accidentally drank.

Sawyer calls Michael "Mickey."

Walt Lloyd

Malcolm David Kelley as Walt Lloyd
  • Played by: Malcolm David Kelley
  • Features prominently in flashbacks in: Special
  • Reason for trip: Returning to the US with his biological father Michael Dawson.
  • Meaning of the name: Walt is an artist. The name is a reference to Walt Disney.
  • Profession: Student

Walt Lloyd is Michael Dawson's 10 year old son, named after Michael's father. Walt's mother was Susan Lloyd, an attorney, who rejected marriage with his father, a construction worker and part-time artist. His mother split up with Michael while Walt was still a baby, and moved with him to Amsterdam for a plum international law job. Just before Walt's second birthday, Susan married her boss, Brian Porter. Later, while he was recovering in a hospital from a car accident, she visited Michael and insisted he give up parental rights to his son, so that Brian could adopt him.

Nine years later, Brian tracked down Michael, and told him that Susan had passed away in Australia due to a "blood disorder." He pleaded with Michael to take custody of the boy and gave him tickets for the flight to Sydney. Brian revealed that he had not wanted to be Walt's adoptive father, and that he was scared of the boy: "There's something about him... Sometimes when he's around things happen. He's different somehow."

Unusual occurrences have appeared around him. Just prior to his mother's death, Walt was studying from a book about native birds, and wanted Brian to look at the entry for the Australian Bronze cuckoo. When Brian ignored him, Walt became insistent, and a bird suddenly smashed into the window and died. On the Island, when Walt had been looking through a comic book with a picture of a polar bear, rather than listening to his father, Michael took it away from him. Later, in anger, Michael threw the comic into the fire, and Walt ran off, only to be attacked shortly afterwards by a polar bear in the jungle.

Walt and John Locke established a friendship shortly after arriving on the island. Locke had seen something special in the boy, and told his father as such: "Maybe you haven't spent enough time with him to see it, but he's different... As long as we're here, I think Walt should be allowed to realize his potential." This has led to Michael mistrusting Locke's intentions with the boy.

In Born to Run, without having any apparent knowledge of "the hatch," Walt appeared to exhibited some form of clairvoyance: after touching Locke's arm, he tells him ominously: "Don't open it. Don't open that thing."

During the episode In Translation Walt secretly set fire to the initial raft that Michael had been building. Locke had been the only person on the island who realized this. The day before the second raft was set to be launched, Walt confessed to his father that he was responsible for burning the first raft, because he didn't want to leave the island. With a sudden realization, Michael told him that they didn't have to go, but Walt replied solemnly, "Yes, we do."

Walt has a yellow labrador retriever named Vincent, which had been owned by Brian.

Hugo "Hurley" Reyes

Jorge Garcia as Hugo "Hurley" Reyes

A young man from the Los Angeles area, Hugo Reyes, better known by his nickname, Hurley, is not simply the laid-back everyman he at first appears. Before the crash, Hurley had become extremely wealthy, winning a multi-million dollar lottery using numbers revealed to him by a psychiatric patient in a mental hospital. Afterwards, people around seemed to be afflicted by misfortunes: his grandfather suddenly died during an interview with news crews; lightning struck at the funeral; Hurley's brother lost his wife to another woman; his mother broke her ankle; the new home Hurley bought for her caught on fire; and Hurley himself was mistakenly arrested. Yet, he continued to experience incredible luck, with his money and acquisitions continuing to accumulate, including ownership of a box company in Tustin, California, which is likely the same company at which John Locke was a collections supervisor. Hurley came to believe that the lottery numbers he used-- 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42-- were cursed.

When Hurley returned to the hospital to discover the origin of "the numbers," the patient, Leonard, revealed that he heard about them from Sam Toomey, a naval officer who heard the numbers while monitoring radio signals. Hurley tracked down the man to his home in the outback of Australia, only to find out from his wife that he had also thought the numbers were cursed, and killed himself to finally escape them. Hurley now believes that the airplane crash was also his fault.

Since coming to the island, Hurley has quickly bonded with Jack and Charlie, and has managed to sustain fairly strong relationships with everyone else, probably due to his apparent friendliness and straightforwardness. He has revealed his secret-- he is worth over $156 million dollars-- only to Charlie, but the revelation was treated as a joke. While he appears to be happy-go-lucky and often provides comic relief, Hurley may have had a troubled past, which has alluded to on occasion. He has been very active on the island, creating a golf course to ease people's tensions, taking the census that revealed that Ethan was not a survivor, and heading into the jungle to find Rousseau, ultimately recovering a battery for Sayid.

James "Frank Sawyer"

Josh Holloway as James "Frank Sawyer"

A native of Tennessee, Sawyer is a con-man who has taken on the alias of the con-man, Frank Sawyer, who was responsible for the destruction of his family. Sawyer, whose real first name is James, is known for collecting and hoarding items from the plane crash and for being the resident smart-talking rebel on the island. This makes him easily hated and despised by most of the islanders. He hits on Kate alot, but as time passes on it is her whom Sawyer seems to relate to the most as the two have shared a common bond and understanding of each other. He kills time on the island by reading books salvaged from the plane but this has caused him to become far-sighted and he had to get reading glasses made for him. His voice also seems to entertain and comfort Claire's baby.

Before the crash James was told that the man who ruined his childhood, the same man from whom he took his alias Frank Sawyer, was in Australia. James went there and killed him only to find out he had been set up and the man he killed was not Frank Sawyer.

In Boone's flashback, Boone is sitting in a police station when two police men drag in Sawyer, who is not cooperating. This has yet to be explained, but Damon, the show's producer, said that it will be explained by the end of the first season.

Also while in Australia, Sawyer meets a man in a bar whom after the crash he learns that it was Christian Sheperd, Jack's own father but Sawyer has never spilt the beans about this.

Jin-Soo Kwon

Daniel Dae Kim as Jin-Soo Kwon

A Korean man under the employ of Sun's father, Mr. Paik, Jin-Soo Kwon is the only non-English speaking survivor. His inability to communicate sets him apart from the other castaways and he usually stays away from the others, who think of him as violent and abusive to his wife. Jin and Michael shared an often violent adversarial relationship which culminated in Michael attacking Jin for the alleged destruction of the raft he was building. Having set aside their issues for now, Jin aids Michael on constructing a new raft. Jin has a gift for working harder than most people without tiring and can even catch fish from the ocean using his own hands. His skill at fishing is something that might have been obtained by his own father, a fisherman, who for reasons unknown, Jin claimed to be dead.

Jin's strained relationship with his wife, Sun, stems from his employment to her unscrupulous father. When Jin came home one night with blood on his hands, Sun grew afraid of him and what kind of work he was doing for Mr. Paik. Jin feels it would be dishonorable to tell Sun about her father's shady dealings and his silence before the crash led to the dissolution of their relationship. The discovery that Sun speaks English only further widened the gap between them.

Jin was assigned a secret mission to deliver watches to Mr. Paik's associates in Sydney and then Los Angeles. Sun must've assumed that it was a vacation. Before leaving South Korea for Sydney, Jin visits his father. Jin tells his father about the turmoil that has plagued his life since being employed by Mr. Paik. Jin's father advises that he and Sun should stay in the United States once they get there and never return to Korea.

Sun-Soo Kwon, nee Paik

Yoon-jin Kim as Sun-soo Kwon

Jin's wife, Sun-Soo Kwon came to the island by accident, after nearly leaving her husband. Her marriage began with great promise, as Jin managed to convince her wealthy father, Mr. Paik, of his intentions. Unbeknownst to Sun, however, her father had placed a significant burden on Jin by demanding he come work for him. Over time, Jin became distant and abusive, and, seeking to escape her failing marriage, Sun began taking English lessons in secret. Finally, with the help of a friend, Sun was given a chance to escape her husband while at the Sydney airport. A single moment of tenderness from Jin while waiting in the check-in line reminded her of her love for him, and she decided not to leave him at the last minute.

On the island, she was initially suppressed by Jin, who felt it was his job to protect the two of them from the other survivors. However, over time, as Jin's attitudes brought the couple into conflict with the others, she began to assert herself, and has since become a very important contributor to the lives of the survivors. Her knowledge of herbal medicine made from plants and wildlife found throughout the island has proven invaluable in a number of instances. She and Kate are growing a vegetable garden with some of the herbs that she has found to be useful for curing common ailments. She has also proven an able medical assistant to Jack, including recommending the use of sea urchin quills to pierce Jack's skin in order to transfuse his blood into Boone, and has been a voice of calm and reason when some people begin to go too far. Unfortunately, her freedom has come at a price: when Jin found out that she had been keeping her English language knowledge a secret, he told her that their marriage was over, and has since refused to speak to her.

On Kate's advice, the day before the second raft was scheduled to leave the island, Sun poisoned Jin's water. But Michael drank the water instead, and fell ill. Only Jack, Sun and Kate know that Sun is responsible for the poisoning.

John Locke

Terry O'Quinn as John Locke

Prior to the flight, John Locke led a lonely existence as a middle manager at a box company in Tustin, California, where he was constantly belittled by a snide (and younger) higher-up for his interests in wargaming and survivalism. The company he worked for may actually be owned by Hurley. Most critically, Locke was a paraplegic-- apparently for the preceding four years-- the reasons for which have not yet been revealed. After the crash, however, he miraculously recovered the use of his legs.

Locke related to Sawyer that as a child, he and his sister were raised by a foster mother. When his sister died, his foster mother blamed herself, and sunk into depression. A few months later, a dog came into their house and his foster mother began to feel better. The dog even slept in his sister's bed, leading Locke's foster mother to believe that the dog was the sister reincarnated. When asked whether he felt the same, he replied, "That's just silly."

In Deux Ex Machina, it is revealed that his real mother was Emily Annabeth Locke (Swoosie Kurtz), who may have been a drug addict and have psychological problems. She made a sudden appearance when John was already an adult, claiming that his birth was part of a greater plan, that he had no father and was "immaculately conceived." This led to Locke hiring a private investigator to track down his actual biological father-- who turned out to be a wealthy hunter named Anthony Cooper ( Kevin Tighe.) Cooper seemed to take his newfound son under his wing, teaching him to be a sportsman. However, he was actually laying the groundwork to con Locke into donating his kidney, which Cooper desperately needed. Once the operation was completed, Cooper left the hospital and ordered his security guard not to admit Locke back into his house. Locke was crushed by the revelation that he had been emotionally manipulated.

On the island, Locke has demonstrated his skills as a hunter, as well as sort of spiritual leader. He appears to have a mysterious connection to the island itself, to which he ascribes mystical powers, claiming to have looked into the heart of it and seen its true nature as "beautiful." He has kept secret his findings and revelations from nearly all, except for his apparent acolyte Boone Carlisle, with whom he often explored the island's jungles. During one such exploration, the two came across a metal hatch with a glass window, which they unsuccessfully tried to force open or break into. Later, a seeming vision leads the two to a crashed Beechcraft airplane stuck in trees. When Boone climbed into the cockpit, the plane fell to the ground, crushing Boone and eventually leading to his death. Because Locke initially lied about how Boone's injuries were received, the death has driven a wedge between some of the survivors and Locke-- and both Jack Shephard and Boone's step-sister, Shannon hold him responsible for Boone's death.

In the The Greater Good, after showing Sayid the location of the Beechcraft, Locke confessed that he was the one who sabotaged the jury-rigged communication equipment that Sayid used to search for the radio transmitter. Shannon tried to shoot Locke, but due to the intervention of Sayid, the bullet only grazed his temple.

While he had mainly been connected to Boone, Locke developed a friendship with Walt Lloyd early on, teaching him backgammon and demonstrating knife throwing to him. He helped Charlie Pace work through his heroin addiction, and built a cradle with Claire for her baby. He also shares a mutual respect with Sayid. Other survivors are wary of Locke, due in part to his mysterious comings and goings and collection of hunting knives, which he had transported with him intending to use on a walkabout of the Australian Outback.

Claire Littleton

Emilie de Ravin as Claire Littleton
  • Played by: Emilie de Ravin
  • Flashback episode: Raised by Another
  • Reason for trip: Told by a psychic to go to Los Angeles on flight 815 to give her baby up for adoption
  • Profession: Unspecific job at "Fish N' Fry", presumably a fast food chain

Claire Littleton is the only native Australian main character. She was pregnant at the time of the crash, and has given birth since arriving on the island. She became pregnant out of wedlock and planned to give the child up for adoption when the baby's father walked out on her after her first trimester. Her attempts to give the baby up are foiled by her own guilt but also by a psychic who keeps houding Claire about her child. She eventually agrees to give the baby up for adoption in L.A. in a flight arranged by a psychic but now Claire believes that she may have been set up and that the psychic knew her flight would crash.

She was kidnapped by Ethan Rom, but wandered back to the castaways two weeks later, still pregnant but with no memory of anything after the crash.

She gave birth to a baby boy in the middle of the jungle. Kate had to deliver the baby, because Jack was in the middle of trying to save Boone's life. Claire has trouble trusting others with her baby because of the warnings that the psyhic had given her about the baby as being special.

Claire is always seen wearing a necklace with the Japanese kanji symbol 愛 (ai) which means "love".

Secondary Characters

These people have important roles to play on the island, but are not members of the core group leading the survivors. All of the individuals below may or may not be survivors of Flight 815, but they are on the island.

Ethan Rom

The dangerous Ethan Rom, claiming to be from Ontario, Canada, initially appeared to be a benign survivor of the crash, helping Locke with his task of hunting boar for the camps. However, in the aftermath of an attack on Claire at the caves, Hurley decides to take a census of the survivors, and upon comparing the names he had with those on the flight's manifest, discovered that Ethan was not officially on the flight with the rest of them.

About the time Hurley mentions this to Jack, Kate, Locke, and Sayid at the caves, Ethan kidnaps Claire and Charlie, setting off a frantic manhunt searching for the trio. Jack, Kate, Locke, and Boone remain on his trail for sometime, but split up to make sure that one of the possible tracks is not a diversion. Jack and Kate catch up to Ethan, who in a one-on-one fight, easily dominates Jack, threatening to kill either Charlie or Claire if they do not stop following him. Making good on his promise, Charlie is nearly killed by hanging.

When Claire somehow escapes Ethan, he returns to the beach and after attacking Jin, demands Charlie bring Claire to him or he will kill the survivors one by one. When the group fails to do so the first night, Ethan again follows through by killing Scott. Finally, with Claire as bait, Ethan is ambushed by an armed group of Jack, Sayid, Locke, Sawyer, and Kate, hoping to take him prisoner and find out why he wants Claire so badly. This time, Jack successfully subdues Ethan. Despite being defeated, and surrounded by the gun-wielding group, Ethan nonetheless was willing to try to attack the others anyway, until he is unceremoniously shot and killed by Charlie, using the gun Jack had dropped.

Danielle Rousseau

The Frenchwoman responsible for the distress call, Danielle Rousseau has been stranded on the island for 16 years. After Sayid discovers a cable extending from the ocean into the jungle, he stumbles into a snare trap, likely set up by Danielle, who subsequently cuts him down and captures him. While holding him prisoner, Danielle initially suspects that Sayid may know something about "Alex," asking him "Where is Alex?" in a variety of languages. When Sayid insists that he knows nothing about anyone named Alex, Danielle tortures Sayid with electric shock. She eventually softens, however, and begins asking Sayid about the picture he's been carrying around. After Sayid explains his story, Danielle shows him her broken music box. When Sayid offers to repair it, she sedates him and moves him to a chair, where he is bound but still able to work on the box.

While he repairs the box, Sayid asks her how she came to be on the island. Danielle and her science expedition, which included her husband Robert and possibly Alex, were shipwrecked on the island, which by her estimate is at least three days out from Tahiti. She also discusses strange voices in the jungle, which she attributes to a group she simply calls the Others. When she asks if Sayid thinks she is insane, he replies that she has simply been alone for far too long.

Eventually, Sayid and Danielle hear a roar outside of her camp, at which point she grabs a rifle and heads out to see what's going on. When Sayid asks if it is the monster, she explains that there is no such thing as monsters. After she leaves, Sayid frees himself with the screwdriver he'd hidden after repairing the box, steals her maps and other notes about the island, grabs her other rifle, and follows her. In the standoff that follows, Sayid threatens Danielle, and when she refuses to back down, he fires the gun. When it fails to go off, Danielle mentions that her husband Robert had not noticed it wouldn't fire either, when she shot him. She then explains that she had killed the other survivors of her shipwreck because they had become infected by something.

When Sayid says he's not infected, she agrees, but doesn't want to let him go, because she's alone. Sayid then insists that she should return with him to the other survivors of the crash, but she demurs. However, she leaves Sayid with a warning: he must be certain to watch the other survivors closely. As she turns to walk away, Sayid asks who Alex is. In response, Danielle simply says, "My child," and walks away.

Several weeks later, Hurley discovers that her notes contain the same numbers that he had used to win the lottery, repeated several times. This prompts Hurley, claiming that he wants to get a battery for Michael, to head into the jungle, with Charlie, Jack, and Sayid in tow. His real motive, however, is to find Danielle in the hopes that she can explain the meaning of the numbers to him, giving him insight as to why they may be "cursed".

Eventually, Hurley and Charlie are separated from the others, when Danielle begins shooting at them. Hurley and Charlie run in different directions, but Hurley falls down when running. At this point, Danielle catches him and, when he stands up, she holds him at gunpoint. He asks her about the numbers, but she admits that she does not know what they mean. Instead, she explains to Hurley that it was the numbers that brought her expedition to the island. Sixteen years earlier, it was the numbers being broadcast in a transmission from the radio tower on the island. At this point, Hurley breaks down, feeling he'll never understand these numbers, especially since everyone tells him they are not cursed. When Danielle concurs with his assessment that they may be cursed, however, he grabs her in a giant bear hug. When Hurley returns to the group, he has the battery and notes to Sayid, "She says, 'Hey.'"

Rose

Rose was a resident of the Bronx and was on the plane, seated next to Jack, who spoke with her during the flight. Since surviving the crash, she has maintained the belief that her husband (Bernard), who was in the rear of the plane that broke off in flight, is still alive. She also befriended Charlie after returning from his abduction by Ethan and near-death experience, urging him to return to his faith.

Vincent

  • Played by: Madison
  • Appears in: Special
  • Reason for trip: Brought with Michael and Walt on the plane.

Vincent is Walt's dog and appears in several episodes. Originally Vincent belonged to Brian, a man who was involved with Walt's mother. Brian gave Vincent to Walt and Michael after Walt's mother passed away. Vincent has proven to be a handful. During his most recent escape attempt, Locke and Boone were searching for him when they happened upon Claire, and he returned suddenly just before Ethan killed Scott.

Claire's Baby (a.k.a. "Turnip Head")

Born to Claire in the jungle of the island with the help of Kate, this baby boy has no name yet. Though just born, this baby already has a major role in this show because it is believed that he is the reason Claire was kidnapped by Ethan Rom.

The baby was originally going to be adopted after he was born but the psychic Claire talked to told her that she must raise the baby herself. He said that if the child was raised by any other, something bad would happen. When Claire refused to listen, the psychic told her there was a couple in L.A. that would raise the baby. But there was no couple; he got Claire on the plane knowing it would crash and leave her to raise the child. What danger could surround the baby is still not known.

The baby's father, Thomas (played by Keir O'Donnell), is presumably still in Australia.

Charlie refers to him as "Turnip Head". So far, the only thing that can calm him is Sawyer's voice.

Other Survivors

These characters have been introduced on the island, in one way or another, and may have a larger role to play in the future. These characters have at least one speaking role, or are important to the plot in some way.

Marshal

  • Played by: Fredric Lehne
  • Appears in: Pilot, Tabula Rasa
  • Reason for trip: Bringing the fugitive Kate Austin back to the United States
  • Profession: A US Marshal

Name unknown, heavily injured during the crash, only gaining momentary consciousness. Dies from wounds in Tabula Rasa. He was on the plane to escort Kate back to the USA for a trial.

Joanna

Though never actually seen on the show, Joanna's role has been important to the plot in two ways. She was the first survivor to die of causes unrelated to the plane crash. Also, it is shown later that Kate kept her passport, and hopes to assume her identity upon their rescue to escape her fugitive status.

Steve Jenkins

Frequently confused with Scott Jackson.

Scott Jackson

  • Played by: Dustin Watchman
  • Appears in: The Moth, Homecoming
  • Reason for trip: Won an all-expense paid trip to Australia.
  • Profession: Worked for an unidentified internet company in Santa Cruz, CA

Frequently confused with Steve Jenkins. Killed by Ethan Rom in Homecoming.

Sullivan

  • Played by: Scott Paulin
  • Appears in: Solitary

He was treated by Jack for a rash, though Jack believes him to be a hypochondriac. Upon discovering Jack, Hurley, Michael, and Charlie playing golf, however, he asked to join the game.

"Tourniquet Man"

  • Played by: Dale Radomski
  • Appears in: Pilot

Shortly after the crash, Jack puts a tourniquet on this person. Nothing else is known of him.

Mr. Artz

Mr. Artz has also been asked to be addressed as "Doctor", although his credentials are not explained. He was previously a high school science teacher. He helps Michael and Jin to plan the sailing of their raft, by calculating the approach of the coming monsoon season based on an estimation of their location and the direction of the winds.

Lance

Little red-haired guy with glasses. Not easily confused with Ethan

Non-televised characters

These characters have not appeared in the televised series, although they have been referenced on the official ABC TV Web site. Some fans treat these as canonical, although there has not as of yet been any indication whether they will actually become a part of the show.

"Mustang Sally"

Though she is the keeper of the diary on the official website, she has not yet been introduced on the show itself. We do know the following about this character: she is a surfer who dived with Joanna, the woman who drowned, in Australia and knows enough about tides to be alarmed by their unusual behaviour on the island. She began working out after Claire's kidnapping, of which she said, "it's like the nightmare is starting all over again," a reference to her own experience of being hospitalized after an incident in Louisiana that nearly took her life. She recovered from the incident before the trial, after which she took the trip to Australia. On the island, she began to get close to Sawyer, but then rejected him, a decision she regrets, especially now that another survivor named Larry is continually hitting on her. Also of note, she is hiding something in her dive bag (possibly a weapon or charm). Her diaries reveal that she found out about the hatch in the woods before Sayid or Jack, and saw Locke kneeling over it when the light came on.

The diaries are currently written by Matt Ragghianti and Dawn Kelly, two writers assistants. The character does not have a name yet, but has the code-name "Mustang Sally".

Larry

A survivor who has been hitting on "Mustang Sally" in her diary entries. Some think this is the same person as Sullivan.

Flashback Characters

  • Dr. Christian Shephard, Jack’s father, who killed himself while in Australia. Appeared in Outlaws, White Rabbit, All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues, Outlaws and Do No Harm. Played by: John Terry.
  • Margo Shephard, Jack's mother, who told Jack that she would never forgive him for exposing his father's alcoholism, unless Jack goes to Australia to bring his father back. Appeared in White Rabbit. Played by Veronica Hamel
  • Mr. Soo Kwon, Jin's father, a poor fisherman. Appeared in ...In Translation. Played by: John Shin.
  • Unnamed woman, a beautiful woman who is on a date with Sawyer who also later appears as the announcer of Hurley's winning lottery numbers. It has not yet been established if these are in fact the same character, but they are played by the same actress; given the creators' attention to details, many fans speculate that this constitutes some connection between the two characters. Appeared in Outlaws and Numbers. Played by: Brittany Perrineau
  • Frank Duckett, the man Hibbs tricks Sawyer into killing. Appeared in Outlaws. Played by: Jeff Perry.
  • Hibbs, grifter who tricks Sawyer into going to Australia and killing Frank Duckett. Appeared in Outlaws. Played by: Robert Patrick.
  • Liam Pace, Charlie's brother, former lead singer of the band Driveshaft. Appeared in The Moth. Played by: Neil Hopkins.
  • Leonard Simms, aka Lenny, Hurley's friend from the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute who got "the numbers” from Sam Toomey. Appeared in Numbers. Played by: Ron Bottitta.
  • Martha Toomey, Sam Toomey's widow. Appeared in Numbers. Played by: Jayne Taini.
  • Mr. Paik, Sun's father, a Korean industrialist with criminal connections. Appeared in ...In Translation. Played by: Bryon Chung.
  • Nadia, full name Noor Abed Jazeem, the woman Sayid was involved with in Iraq. Appeared in Solitary. Played by: Andrea Gabriel.
  • Omar, Sayid's Superior Officer. Appeared in Solitary. Played by: David Negahban.
  • Thomas, an Artist. Claire's ex-boyfriend and the father of her child, abandoned after her first trimester. Appeared in Raised by Another. Played by: Keir O'Donnell
  • Susan Lloyd, former lover of Michael; Walt's mother, kept father and son entirely separate until her death from a "blood disorder." Appeared in Special. Played by: Tamara Taylor.
  • Ray Mullen, the farmer who Kate lives with in Australia. Appeared in Tabula Rasa. Played by: Nick Tate.
  • Richard Malkin, a psychic Claire sees who insisted that Claire must keep and raise her baby herself. Purchased the ticket for her to fly on the airplane. Appeared in Raised by Another. Played by: Nick Jameson.
  • Anthony Cooper, Locke's natural father; a wealthy hunter. Manipulated Locke into donating his kidney. Appeared in Deus ex Machina. Played by Kevin Tighe. Note: The name and character is based on the historical Anthony Ashley Cooper, who became the first Earl of Shaftsbury, and was a friend, patron and patient of philosopher/doctor John Locke.
  • Emily Annabeth Locke, Locke's mother. Has a mental disorder; may be a drug addict. She contacts John and sets in motion the trap that Anthony Cooper set. Was hospitalized at Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute. Appeared in Deus ex Machina.Played by Swoosie Kurtz
  • Sarah, Jack's wife. She was one of his patients, and calls Jack her "hero" because he saved her life. Played by Julie Bowen.
  • Essam, Sayid's former roommate at the University of Cairo. Essam's wife was killed by United States bombs in Iraq, and he was bitter. He was living in Sydney, working as a tree trimmer, but was recruited by a terrorist cell to serve as a suicide bomber. The CIA and British SIS blackmailed Sayid to convince Essam to go ahead with the plot so that they might track down a shipment of stolen C4. When Sayid reveals to Essam at the last minute that he was working for the CIA, in desparation, Essam shoots himself in the head.
  • Tom Brennan, a doctor in Kate's home town in Iowa. He and Kate grew up together, and as children, they expected that they would be married when they grew up. He is married to Rachel, and they have a baby, Connor. Played by Mackenzie Astin.
  • Diane Jansen, Kate's mother. She was dying of cancer, and Kate went back to her home town to see her. As soon as Diane saw Kate, she began screaming for help, and Kate had to escape.

Deceased

Current number of survivors: 44

There were initially 48 survivors of the crash. According to Writers Assistant Matt Ragghianti the initial 48 do not include the following people who died on the island:

  • Turbine Man – Sucked into the still running jet engine in Pilot.
  • Co-Pilot – Killed by "monster" in the jungle in Pilot.
  • Ethan Rom – Shot to death by Charlie in Homecoming.

Those survivors who have died since the original count did so in this order:

  1. US Marshal (name unknown) – Killed in a "mercy killing" by Sawyer because of his wounds from the plane crash.
  2. Joanna – Drowned at the beginning of White Rabbit.
  3. Scott Jackson – Killed by Ethan Rom in Homecoming; Scott is specifically noted by Hurley as the one who was murdered, however, it is also mentioned that Scott is often confused with Steve Jenkins. Scott Jackson also appeared in The Moth.
  4. Boone Carlisle – Died in Do No Harm from injuries incurred in Deus Ex Machina.

This brings the official number of survivors remaining to 45 when Claire's baby is added to the list.

See also

External links







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