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Michael Dawson is a fictional character on Lost, an ABC adventure series written and produced by J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof. Played by Harold Perrineau Jr., Dawson was a New York City construction worker who once had artistic aspirations and had dreamed of being an architect. Template:Spoiler

Basic facts

• Played by: Harold Perrineau Jr.
• Flashback episode: Special, Exodus: Parts 2 & 3, Adrift,
• Reason for trip: Returning to the US after Michael received custody of Walt
• Profession: Construction worker

Biography

Dawson 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.

Before leaving on Flight 815 to the United States, Michael called his mother and asked if she could take Walt, since Michael would be unfit to take care of him right now. She refused, and when Michael hung up the phone he saw Walt standing right beside him, although it is unclear how much of the conversation he heard.

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. But that turned out to be a bad decision, as the Others assaulted it and blew it apart, abducting Walt. After sleeping on a piece of the wreckage for hours, he wakes up in the morning with the sudden realization that everything he's done, he's done so he can selfishly be with Walt. He didn't consider Walt's best interests at all, which would have been staying in (relative) safety on the island, and instead took him out on the open seas.

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.

Michael and Jin overcome their earlier animosity and achieve a kind of friendship while working together, even becoming comfortable enough with each other to learn to accurately interpret each other's speech despite the language barrier. Upon hearing their bilingual conversations, Sawyer dubs them "Han and Chewie".

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 drunk.

• Lost characters