Benjamin Linus

This page will remain named "Henry Gale" until the real name of "Henry" is revealed.
See Henry Gale (original) for the dead man whose identity was assumed by this impostor.

The man known currently as Henry Gale was caught in a trap by Danielle Rousseau, who also shot him with a crossbow to prevent his escape. He is taken back to the Swan and locked in the armory, where his wounds are treated by Jack. Sayid and Locke did not believe his claims — that he is a wealthy miner from Minnesota, that he and his wife were in a hot-air balloon that crashed on the island, and that she later died of a mysterious sickness — which he maintains even during a brutal interrogation. The three men decide not to disclose the captive's existence to the rest of the group, though Eko figures it out and Ana-Lucia is later brought in to help. Henry draws a map from the hatch to the purported location of his balloon and Jennifer's grave. Sayid, Ana-Lucia, and Charlie followed the map and find the site exactly as Henry described, but Sayid, unconvinced, exhumes the corpse and discovers not a woman, but a man identified by his driver's license as Henry Gale. During this time, the Lockdown Incident takes place back at the hatch, and Locke, whose legs were pinned under a blast door, is forced to enlist Henry's assistance to push the button. Shortly thereafter, the search party returns and reveals the truth: that 'Henry' is an impostor and an Other.

Facts

Captured by Danielle Rousseau, who shoots him with a crossbow and arrow to prevent him from escaping.
Claims to be called Henry Gale when tortured by Sayid, who suspects he's one of the others (in One of Them).
- This is an assumed name, as revealed in Lockdown. He in fact stole the identity of another person.
Claims to have crashed on the island in a smiley-face balloon in attempt to cross the Pacific or travel around the world.
- Claims his wife Jennifer is buried in a grave near the balloon.
- Claims to have met his wife (maiden name Murphy) at the University of Minnesota.
- Also claims to have had an emergency transmitter/ADF beacon.
Draws a map to the real Henry's balloon for Ana Lucia.
- Gale's ability to draw this map should have been questioned by the Losties, since he was unconscious when brought to the hatch. The fact that he's an Other explains why he knows the route to the balloon, but this fact was at that time not known by the Losties. However he could have drawn the map starting from the point he was captured and therefore not giving any clues to the losties about his identity.
Eko confesses to Gale that he killed two of The Others during his first night on the island. Eko seems to believe that fake Henry is one of the Others.
Can hear what goes on outside the gun vault where he is being held and is aware of anything that has occured in the room outside.
Attempted to start a feud between Locke and Jack by telling Locke he appears to be in Jack's shadow. Later, Locke got angry enough to throw hatch inventory around just outside the armory where Gale is being held.
Manipulates Locke and seems to enjoy it.
Tells Locke that during the lockdown he never entered the numbers or pushed the button; the timer went back to 108 all by itself after the hieroglyphs flashed and there were strange machine sounds.
- To quote: "This place is a joke, John!"
- Locke is skeptical, but the mere thought clearly bothers him.
- This was obviously a lie on his part, since the effects of not pushing the button are now known.
One of The Others.
- Knows of Mr. Friendly, but states: "Him? He's no one! Nothing!" assumedly in comparison to "Him", the true leader of "The Others."
- Seems to be a leader among the Others.
Refused to eat, drink or speak for 2 days.
- Knows who Walt is and says that 'they' would never trade Walt for him.
Claims he was sent by the Others to find and bring back Locke because Locke is "one of the good ones".
- Believes that he will be killed by the mysterious Him, for failing this mission.
Tried to strangle Ana Lucia, but was stopped by Locke.
- Told her that Goodwin thought there was hope for her which may have been what kept her from killing him.
Claims to be rich as a result of selling a non-metallic mining company (probably Minnesota Metallurgy).
His story is very similar to what may have happened to Adam and Eve previously.
Prefers Stephen King (a known follower of the show) over Dostoevsky.
Also knows about Hemingway and favours him over Dostoevsky.
Escaped from the Hatch, with the help of Michael.
In 'Other-style' he left no tracks after he escaped.
Appears to be in charge during the Walt exchange during the season two finale.
Got annoyed at Mr.Friendly for not having his beard on during the Walt exchange. (Kinda just asked where it was, didn't really seem like it was a huge deal as he didn't make him put it back on.)
Mentions that Michael's trade was "more than we bargained for", perhaps implying that it won't be too disappointing for them to lose Walt and the boat to Michael in the trade.
- The "More than we bargained for" statement may refer to Walt's behavior being too much to handle
When asked by Michael "Who are you?" He replies, "We're the good guys."
Claims Michael would never find the island again if he decides to come back. (While captured in the hatch, he claimed that even "God" wouldn't see the island.)

The $20 note

Main article: Twenty dollar bill

The note displayed was introduced into circulation on October 9, 2003. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing Website

The upper half of the real Henry Gale's $20 note.

The lower half of the real Henry Gale's $20 note.

The message in the note reads as follows:

Jennifer,
   Well you were 
   right. Crossing 
   the Pacific 
   isn't easy. 
   I owe you a 
   beer. I'm 
   hiking to one of 
   the beaches to start a 
   signal fire, but 
   if you're reading this, 
   I guess I didn't make it. 
   I'm sorry, 
   I love you Jenny, 
   always have, 
   always will.
   Yours,
       Henry

After the $20 dollar note

Claims he didn't kill the real Henry Gale.
Neither confirms nor denies that he interrogated Henry Gale.
Seems afraid to tell Sayid about "them" (assumedly the Others).
- Claims "You have no idea what He'll do!" -- The False Henry Gale, in Dave.
Exclaims "I am not a bad person!"
While talking to Locke: "God doesn't know how long we've been here. He can't see this island any better than the rest of the world can."

Other media

Someone on the island refers to him as "my brother" in the Diary on the ABC website.
- Later we find out in the Diary that it isn't Henry Gale who is refered to.
- This is probably someone talking about the real Henry Gale because if they heard the name, they wouldn't be thinking about someone making up the name; they'd think about the person who actually has that name. This leads some to believe that he may be the brother of Rose.
- The writers have stated that they have no control over what goes in the diary, stating that it does contain "some fun stuff" which is "an interesting read". Tone of voice suggests that the writers hate the diary but are unable to outright say this on an official podcast.
- The Diary in question has since shown that it had nothing at all to do with Henry Gale - real or fake - but instead was supposed to be a touching piece about someone who had lost his/her brother in the crash and, due to psychological trauma, thought that the man being held in the hatch was this brother.

Theories

He is "Him," the leader of the Others, or at least a high-ranking member.
- In Live Together, Die Alone, he speaks and comports himself as a man of rank and importance.
- A look of fear comes across Alex's, Pickett's and Mr. Friendly's faces when he arrives in the boat.
- While a prisoner, he made the assertion "You don't know what He'll do to me," which could by a tactic to make the captors think that he is a lowly Other rather than the Other-in-chief.
He is not "Him."
- One of the few references to "him" is Gale's own assertion, "You don't know what He'll do to me."
- The writers have mentioned that his tenure on the show was only planned for two or three episodes, but Emerson's acting impressed them so much they increased his character.
- Seems unlikely that "He" would be walking around the island unescorted, subject to capture and injury
- The other Others may be pretending to be deferential to him to confuse the captured survivors about who is really in charge.
- Henry is not Him, though thanks to his experience with the Lostaways he has survived a Rite of Passage to ascend in the Others hierarchy.
He was a member of the group that found the real Henry, interrogated him, and killed him.
The elements of fake Henry's story regarding his wealth, mining company and the ADF beacon may have been obtained from the real Henry.
Henry may be a psychologist or psychiatrist.
- He notes that John and Jack aren't very curious about the Hatch's origin (he almost chastises them for not being curious enough)
- He claims that they have "trust issues"
- He realizes that Sayid has recently lost someone dear to him
- He explains how the Survivors are looking for someone/something to blame for their hardship, etc.
He may have been a doctor in the medical hatch; a picture montage shows that he very closely resembles one of the doctors seen in the episode "Maternity Leave". Click on http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Image:Lost_doctor_v_gale.jpg to see Henry Gale.
His claims that he was sent to retrieve Locke may be just another lie in his attempts to manipulate John.
- If he thought he'd be killed by Him just for failing, there would be nothing to stop him from talking during the interrogation in Dave.
- Also, could he really take Locke by himself? How was he planning to do this alone?
Henry is Thomas's brother / Aaron's uncle.
- The actors portraying Thomas and Henry have markedly similar features (albeit different accents).
- Locke gives him "The Brothers Karamazov" to read, a tale of patricide and fraternal conflict (see Appearance of Literary Works).
- "Thomas" comes from the Hebrew word for "twin."
- The mural in the bunker is similar to Thomas's artwork, suggesting a connection to the island.
The picture from http://hole3.thehansofoundation.org/ is him.
- If you tweak the colors a bit, you can see "SAVE ME" below left eye.
- The hairdo, the forehead, and all the anatomic proportions appear to be similar.
Henry Gale purposely showed Locke the map, by turning on the blacklight while in the room with the computer. It was his gift to Locke for trusting him. The blacklight never came on at other times the blast door was down.
Henry Gale knew of the Lockdown procedure. Evidence of this is from the fact that he shouted to Locke after he heard the loudspeaker to lure him from the computer room (so he would be shut out). In the last 10 seconds before the procedure, Henry even shouts "Maybe we should get Jack" knowing full well that this would anger John. Sure enough, John runs to where the locked room is shouting "Will you shut up!" as the lockdown occurs. It could thus even be said that Henry knew that the vents were the only way to breach the locked areas, and that he knew John would enlist his help in doing such. Perhaps then, Henry did do something when he was left alone in the computer room. Most likely, he contacted the Others somehow to tell them what had happened to him (Miss Klugh will later tell Michael that she knows "one of our people has been captured by yours").
- It has been Suggested that Henry Gale is infact, Radzinsky. If he is Radzinsky, this would back up this conclusion about the Lockdown procedure, as Radzinsky himself drew the Blast Door Map, and other times when the Blast Doors have came down, the light hadn't been activated to see the Map. Secondly, if the Others hadn't have been to the Swan, due to Kelvin, Desmond, previous hatch owners etc being armed against them, how did Henry Gale know to draw the map from the Swan to the Balloon? It would also further back up the previous point, as if HG is Radzinsky, about how he knew his way around the Swan, and to contact the Others. Also, How did HG know of how to exit the Swan station, if he was never familiar with the place? Perhaps HG/Radzinsky left to explore the Pearl, and began to go down the same route Locke did, in believing the button was not to be pushed - Leading Kelvin to assume control of the Swan and kick Radzinsky out, much the same way Eko did to Locke.
Henry Gale is infact Alvar Hanso. He bares a slight resemblance to Alvar's picture, and he could be the result of the life extension project or a similar project to make him appear younger. This would explain why he's the apparent leader of the Others.
- Henry bears a strong resemblance to Mr. Beardy if you add some facial hair. Beards have already been seen to be a favorite disguise of the Others.

AKA

Fans have some alternate names for the Other who calls himself Henry Gale:

Fenry or Fhenry, from F(alse H)enry.
Faux Henry (refering to the writer O. Henry)
Not Henry
Not!Gale
Faux!Gale
Alias Gale
HGI (Henry Gale Imposter)
Extra Crispy Gale - as opposed to Original Recipe Gale

Literary References

His pseudonym and supposed way of coming to the island refers to the children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum. "Henry Gale" is Dorothy's Uncle Henry, while the hot air balloon refers to the Wizard himself, who landed on Oz (and subsquently left it) on a hot air balloon.
- This analogy could be taken one step further by assuming that Henry, like the Wizard, was the "man behind the curtain", i.e. the real leader of the Others, while previously we were led to believe that Mr. Friendly, or to a greater degree Alvar Hanso, was in charge.
In Ozma of Oz, the third book in Baum's Oz series, Henry Gale is ordered by his doctor to take a vacation to Australia. He and his niece Dorothy depart on a steamship and, during a storm, Dorothy is blown overboard with one of her uncle's hens. She and the hen are washed ashore to a place that Dorothy guesses is some sort of "fairy country", as Oz has no seashores.