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| ==Appearance and motives== | ==Appearance and motives== | ||
| In their early dealings with the crash survivors, the Others took on the guise of primitive but cunning jungle-dwellers, at least while on the Island- Richard Alpert has been able to travel to the United States since the 1950s, and seems to have formed a Mittelos Laboratories by no later then the early 1970's, where he attempted to recruit John Locke while he was in High School as well as eventually recruiting Dr Juliet Burke. Since their victory over the DHARMA Initiative, the group became comparatively technologically advanced and for a time acquired means of regular contact with the outside world by submarine and live televisual link. | |||
| ITS NK'S FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | |||
| The Others are difficult to track; they leave hardly any footprints and their trail is almost impossible to follow. Their appearance is sometimes heralded by strange, barely audible whispering. It has been confirmed that the whispering is not necessarily something that is connected to the Others. | |||
| The exact motives of the Others remain unclear, though from the point of view of the Flight 815 survivors, their interactions have regularly appeared malevolent and manipulative. They have kidnapped children, including ]'s infant daughter ], whom Ben brought up as his own daughter. The reasons for this are connected to the fact that the Others have not been able to successfully give birth on the island, as the mother is always killed by her immune system reacting against the baby for an unknown reason. At least some members of the group visit other parts of the world and experienced outside lifestyles, cultures, and belief systems and still choose to remain on the island for a reason that is not yet been explained. At times, some others appear to be quite willing to sacrifice a lot for their cause, such as when Bea Klugh encouraged Mikhail to kill her rather than be held hostage. The group are seen to be interested in those who are regarded as being "special" on the island, for example ] who sometimes appeared places he couldn't have been, and ], who regained the use of his legs despite being previously paralyzed from the waist down. | |||
| A major part of the Others' modus operandi is a "list". When Flight 815 first occurred, Ben ordered both Goodwin and Ethan to infiltrate the survivors and have lists ready within 3 days. By the first night, the Others apparently were able to kidnap at least 3 people as well as the attempted kidnapping of Mr. Eko, who killed the two Others assigned that duty. During this time, Ben ordered Mikhail to conduct full background checks on everyone on Flight 815 using the Flame's stations computers (and presumably, whatever sources they have in the real world), claiming "he wanted to know everything about them". Over a week later, the Others returned, this time with a list of 9 specific people that they were to kidnap, that was written by Goodwin. It was later revealed that Jacob had something to do with this final list, and that Goodwin was lobbying "almost too hard" to have Ana Lucia Cortez included in this list. | |||
| Since that time, several of these Flight 815 survivors have been seen amongst the Others by John Locke, Jack Shephard, and Kate Austin during their times with the Others (although none of the main section survivors ever actually knew they were tail section survivors). These survivors do not appear to have been harmed, seem to have complete freedom to move around, and have not asked for any help from the other 815 survivors, nor have they attempted to escape in their contact with the main characters. It has never been revealed how far Ethan was into making his list, or whom he was planning on putting on his list prior to his being exposed as not being on the plane. When asked, people such as Goodwyn, Mikhail, and Benjamin Linus have claimed that most of the other Flight 815 survivors are "not meant to be with us" or are somehow "flawed", albeit said in different ways. | |||
| Both via mobisode and in his appearance in the Season 2 episode ], Walt claims to have been subjected to some manner of testing by the Others, and it was implied that it was not pleasant for Walt. Whether this was the result of whatever 'indoctrination process' that was apparently done to other Flight 815 survivors that are now with the Others is unknown. On several occasions, the Others have claimed that Walt was "Very special" by Tom, and Benjamin Linus claimed while captured and being held at the Hatch, that "They would never give back Walt", by the end of Season 2, Benjamin Linus claimed that they had "Gotten a lot more then they bargained for" in Walt, and was cited as a reason to let him go. | |||
| Those who are members of the Others have either been recruited, as in the case of ], or joined the group having been on the island already (by choice or by kidnapping). Some of the Others appear to be part of the mysterious forces on the island, where as those that have been recruited do not. A number of adult survivors from both the tail section and fuselage were kidnapped. During their encounters with the crash survivors, the Others have killed, or attempted to kill, several survivors. There have been frequent references in each group where a person from the other group is referred to as "one of them". The hostility between the two groups has continued, leading to a battle at the survivors' beach camp which saw many Others killed and injured by the survivors, breaking their control over the island. <ref name=through>"]." '']'', ]. ], ]. Episode 22, ].</ref> | |||
| The end of season 4 saw the return of the Others, led by the seemingly ageless Richard Alpert, who took Kate and Sayid hostage in There's No Place Like Home Part 1. In Part 2 & 3, after Ben was forced to leave the island by moving it, Locke became the new leader for the Others. | |||
| ==Residence== | ==Residence== | ||
Revision as of 00:01, 27 January 2009
The Others (also known as Them) are a group of fictional characters who inhabit the island in the American television series Lost; most of whom serve as the antagonists to the series' main characters. According to Sayid Jarrah, there are at least 50 living in the Barracks. Wizard magazine rated them the 98th greatest villains of all time.
In the storyline, the term "The Others" was coined by Danielle Rousseau and adopted by the survivors of Flight 815 to describe the often antagonistic group of island dwellers seen as "the enemy," who had been already living on the island for many years, long before the existence of the Dharma Initiative on the island in the 1970s and the 2004 crash of Flight 815. The Others do not appear to have a name for their group themselves, though the man that they take orders from, Ben Linus, has described them as "the good guys." Linus appears to take orders from Jacob, although no other member of The Others has met or seen Jacob. While the Dharma Initiative referred to a group of island natives as "hostiles" or "natives", this term (as well as Rousseau's use of "the others") actually refers to a group of people distinct to 'The Others' as known in present day, having lived on the island far into the past. The present day Others have been mostly recruited from the outside world and it is not known what happened to the natives of the island (though at least one is now one of 'The Others').
The Others are mysterious and secretive, refusing to explain themselves to the crash survivors, while still killing, terrorizing and kidnapping them for unknown purposes. This has resulted in a long-running conflict between the two groups. Recently, however, they have been portrayed as less antagonistic, since both sides wanted to defend themselves from the freighter people. John Locke is the leader of the Others after Ben was banished from the Island by using the Orchid.
During the course of the show, over a dozen survivors of Crash 815 have been taken by the Others, and have not appeared to be abused or harmed. Most of these came from the Tail Section, where Goodwin was able to complete his 'list'. Their standing relative to the rest of the Others has not been revealed. It has never been revealed who Ethan was planning on putting on his list.
Appearance and motives
In their early dealings with the crash survivors, the Others took on the guise of primitive but cunning jungle-dwellers, at least while on the Island- Richard Alpert has been able to travel to the United States since the 1950s, and seems to have formed a Mittelos Laboratories by no later then the early 1970's, where he attempted to recruit John Locke while he was in High School as well as eventually recruiting Dr Juliet Burke. Since their victory over the DHARMA Initiative, the group became comparatively technologically advanced and for a time acquired means of regular contact with the outside world by submarine and live televisual link.
The Others are difficult to track; they leave hardly any footprints and their trail is almost impossible to follow. Their appearance is sometimes heralded by strange, barely audible whispering. It has been confirmed that the whispering is not necessarily something that is connected to the Others.
The exact motives of the Others remain unclear, though from the point of view of the Flight 815 survivors, their interactions have regularly appeared malevolent and manipulative. They have kidnapped children, including Danielle Rousseau's infant daughter Alex, whom Ben brought up as his own daughter. The reasons for this are connected to the fact that the Others have not been able to successfully give birth on the island, as the mother is always killed by her immune system reacting against the baby for an unknown reason. At least some members of the group visit other parts of the world and experienced outside lifestyles, cultures, and belief systems and still choose to remain on the island for a reason that is not yet been explained. At times, some others appear to be quite willing to sacrifice a lot for their cause, such as when Bea Klugh encouraged Mikhail to kill her rather than be held hostage. The group are seen to be interested in those who are regarded as being "special" on the island, for example Walt Lloyd who sometimes appeared places he couldn't have been, and John Locke, who regained the use of his legs despite being previously paralyzed from the waist down.
A major part of the Others' modus operandi is a "list". When Flight 815 first occurred, Ben ordered both Goodwin and Ethan to infiltrate the survivors and have lists ready within 3 days. By the first night, the Others apparently were able to kidnap at least 3 people as well as the attempted kidnapping of Mr. Eko, who killed the two Others assigned that duty. During this time, Ben ordered Mikhail to conduct full background checks on everyone on Flight 815 using the Flame's stations computers (and presumably, whatever sources they have in the real world), claiming "he wanted to know everything about them". Over a week later, the Others returned, this time with a list of 9 specific people that they were to kidnap, that was written by Goodwin. It was later revealed that Jacob had something to do with this final list, and that Goodwin was lobbying "almost too hard" to have Ana Lucia Cortez included in this list.
Since that time, several of these Flight 815 survivors have been seen amongst the Others by John Locke, Jack Shephard, and Kate Austin during their times with the Others (although none of the main section survivors ever actually knew they were tail section survivors). These survivors do not appear to have been harmed, seem to have complete freedom to move around, and have not asked for any help from the other 815 survivors, nor have they attempted to escape in their contact with the main characters. It has never been revealed how far Ethan was into making his list, or whom he was planning on putting on his list prior to his being exposed as not being on the plane. When asked, people such as Goodwyn, Mikhail, and Benjamin Linus have claimed that most of the other Flight 815 survivors are "not meant to be with us" or are somehow "flawed", albeit said in different ways.
Both via mobisode and in his appearance in the Season 2 episode Three Minutes, Walt claims to have been subjected to some manner of testing by the Others, and it was implied that it was not pleasant for Walt. Whether this was the result of whatever 'indoctrination process' that was apparently done to other Flight 815 survivors that are now with the Others is unknown. On several occasions, the Others have claimed that Walt was "Very special" by Tom, and Benjamin Linus claimed while captured and being held at the Hatch, that "They would never give back Walt", by the end of Season 2, Benjamin Linus claimed that they had "Gotten a lot more then they bargained for" in Walt, and was cited as a reason to let him go.
Those who are members of the Others have either been recruited, as in the case of Juliet Burke, or joined the group having been on the island already (by choice or by kidnapping). Some of the Others appear to be part of the mysterious forces on the island, where as those that have been recruited do not. A number of adult survivors from both the tail section and fuselage were kidnapped. During their encounters with the crash survivors, the Others have killed, or attempted to kill, several survivors. There have been frequent references in each group where a person from the other group is referred to as "one of them". The hostility between the two groups has continued, leading to a battle at the survivors' beach camp which saw many Others killed and injured by the survivors, breaking their control over the island.
The end of season 4 saw the return of the Others, led by the seemingly ageless Richard Alpert, who took Kate and Sayid hostage in There's No Place Like Home Part 1. In Part 2 & 3, after Ben was forced to leave the island by moving it, Locke became the new leader for the Others.
Residence
In the beginning of season 3, the Others were revealed to be living in a rather pleasant suburban-like village of houses, complete with furniture, indoor plumbing and even electricity. The Others have many conveniences of modern living, such as ovens, relatively new books, and CD players. The village even has a book club. According to blueprints in DHARMA Initiative operations manuals at The Flame, the name of the village is "The Barracks", and was originally constructed by DHARMA to house its employees. The Others took over the Barracks after the so-called "Purge" resulting in the destruction of DHARMA. The Barracks are surrounded by a sonic defense perimeter capable of generating a sonic pulse directed at any intruder, including the Monster, which cannot penetrate it.
Since the Purge, the Others have occupied or utilized many of the DHARMA Initiative's research stations. Most notable was the Staff, where the operating theatre was used to try to deliver babies of the Others' pregnant women. The Pearl was used to monitor the crash survivors in the Swan station, while the Hydra was used to house the captured Jack, Kate and Sawyer while Ben forced Jack to operate on his tumor. Mikhail Bakunin was based for a period of time in the Flame, which allowed contact with the outside world, while the Looking Glass housed another two Others who maintained the jamming of transmissions off of the island.
In addition, the Others had branched all over the world recruiting members, from Kiev, where Mikhail was recruited, to Canada, where Bonnie and Greta were supposed to have been re-located, and to Miami where Juliet was recruited.
One residence that the Others apparently have that has not been shown as of season 4 is the "Temple". At the end of Season 3, Ben Linus orders Richard to take the Others there. The "Temple" is apparently about a day and a half journey from the Barracks, per Ben's instructions to Rousseau, his daughter Alexandra, and her boyfriend Karl. The Temple is apparently not something that they talk about regularly - despite being raised her entire life by the Others, Alex had no clue the Temple existed until the season 4 episode Meet Kevin Johnson, when Ben revealed its existence to her. The Others remain at the Temple throughout the events of Season 4 until its ending, when Richard leads a large party of Others back to help defeat the Freighter Mercenary Team. Whether the "Temple" is a former DHARMA Initiative Station or something else has yet to be revealed.
References
- One of Us
- Wizard #178
- "Through the Looking Glass." Lost, ABC. May 23, 2007. Episode 22, season 3.
- "A Tale of Two Cities." Lost, ABC. October 4, 2006. Episode 1, season 3.
- "Enter 77." Lost, ABC. March 7, 2007. Episode 11, season 3.
