Candidates

"Candidate" redirects here. For the episode, see "The Candidate".

According to the Man in Black and Ilana, a number of select individuals were chosen as candidates to replace Jacob in the job of protecting the Island. The Man in Black further alleges that Jacob is responsible for bringing the candidates to the Island. Those chosen as candidates appear to enjoy a special protected status among the Others. As of 2007, according to Ilana, there are only six candidates remaining. ("The Substitute")  ("Lighthouse")  ("Dr. Linus") Two candidates, Sayid and either/both Jin or Sun, were subsequently killed due to a trap set up by the Man in Black. Jacob revealed that the candidates are chosen because they are flawed and the names are crossed out because they fulfill a meaning, e.g. Kate becoming a mother. However, if a candidate wanted the position then the job would be theirs and their name being crossed off is "just a line of chalk". Due to this any one of the Candidates could have become the protector of the island. ("The Candidate") In late 2007, Jack Shephard accepted the job to replace Jacob, becoming the new protector of the Island. ("What They Died For") Shortly after, Jack realized that he was not supposed to protect the Island, but to die while saving it from the Man in Black. Before he died, he named Hurley as his successor. ("The End")

Locke's name as a candidate crossed out by the Man in Black on the cave wall.

The candidates

The Man in Black's account

Following Jacob's death, the Man in Black, in the form of John Locke, brought Sawyer to the cliffside cave. Inside he revealed numerous names of individuals scrawled haphazardly across the walls and ceiling; each name linked with a corresponding number. The Man in Black explained that these individuals are or were candidates chosen to potentially replace Jacob in the role of protecting the Island. He also claimed that Jacob intentionally brought each candidate to the Island by intervening and manipulating choices made at critical points in their lives.

The Man in Black explained that each candidate (or, at least in Sawyer's case) has three options:

1. To do nothing and see how things play out (and possibly their name will be crossed off the list);
2. To take over Jacob's position as protector of the Island; or...
3. To leave the Island and move on with their lives.

As he explained this to Sawyer, he slowly crossed out Locke's name in on the cave wall. When asked about the numbers associated with each name, the Man in Black comments "Jacob had a thing for numbers."

Given the Man in Black's obvious bias against Jacob, it may be worth taking his account of who and what the candidates are with a grain of salt.

It was later revealed that the Man in Black is trying to kill all of the remaining candidates in order to leave the Island. ("The Candidate")

Jacob

In 1867, shortly after the wreck of the Black Rock, the Man in Black and Jacob held a short conversation. The Man in Black implored Jacob to let him leave the Island, but Jacob responded that as long as he was alive, that would not happen. The Man in Black stated that is why he will kill Jacob. Jacob calmly responds that if that occurs, that he will merely be replaced by another, to which the Man in Black responds that he will kill that person too. ("Ab Aeterno")

In What They Died For, Jacob explains why he selected each candidate. He was looking for people who were like him - alone and flawed. His candidates where people who were looking for something they couldn't find and who needed the Island as much as the Island needed them. Jacob also explains that the names that are crossed out can be reinstated, specifically Kate. Kate was crossed off when she became a mother, but Jacob added that the crossing out was only chalk on a wall and that the job could be Kate's if she wanted it.

The Others

The candidates have a special protected status among the Others, although the Others seem somewhat loathe to reveal this fact to them.

Throughout the beginning of Season 6, Dogen seems very motivated to try to keep the survivors inside the Temple where they will be safe. Much later, Dogen, confronts Hurley in a restricted area of the Temple. At the prompting from a manifestation of Jacob, Hurley responds that he is a candidate and can do what he likes. Dogen demands to know who told Hurley he was a candidate and on not getting an answer, backs off begrudgingly. ("Lighthouse")

Candidate lists

A full list of candidates appears to have been written down in at least two locations:

• On the walls of the cliffside cave ("The Substitute")
• On the compass rose in the the lighthouse ("Lighthouse")

The names on the cave walls and at the lighthouse all appear to be given surnames, although exactly who each surname represents is not always entirely clear. For example, Alex could potentially be identified as either "Linus" or "Rousseau." However, "Linus" and "Rousseau" could also refer to Ben and Danielle, respectively. Neither list has been seen in its entirety. Aside from some discrepancies (some minor and some major), the name and number pairings of both lists largely agree. In the lighthouse, the numbers correspond to specific bearings that the signal mirror can be set to.

Number of candidates

Jorge Garcia's podcast "Geronimo Jack's Beard" says the script for "The Substitute" calls for "over a hundred names" to be written on the cave wall. If the numbers are contiguous, then there should be at least 346 names. If every bearing on the compass rose at the lighthouse has a corresponding name, there may be as many as 360 candidates. So far, the names of 120 candidates have been revealed. If there are a total of 360 candidates, then this constitutes only a third of the candidates.

• It is possible that every bearing at the lighthouse does not correspond with a name.
• Given that the names were handwritten around the periphery of the compass rose, there may be more than 360 candidates.

Discrepancies between the cave and the lighthouse

The lists in the cave and lighthouse reflect many of the same pairings of names and numbers. However, there are a few discrepancies between the two:

• "Rutherford" is #31 in the cave and #32 in the lighthouse. The name "Toms" is listed instead at #31 in the lighthouse.
• "Lewis" is #140 in the cave and #104 in the lighthouse.
• "Brennan" is #29 in the cave and #35 in the lighthouse. The number 35 was not shown in the cave, and the name for number 29 was not shown clearly in the lighthouse.
  • This could also be because there are two different Brennans on the list, and therefore not a discrepancy.
• "Austen" is crossed out in the cave but not in the lighthouse.

The discrepancies may be mere production errors, but it is also possible that the differences were intentional.

Crossed-out names

The vast majority of names on both the cave walls and on the compass rose at the lighthouse have been crossed out. It is not entirely clear what it means when a name has been crossed out, but it is likely an indication that the individual, for whatever reason, is no longer considered a candidate. In some cases, the crossed-out candidate has died (examples: Locke, Rousseau, Rutherford, Goodspeed, Troup). In other cases, the candidate is still alive (examples: Linus, Straume, Littleton), and it is not clear why the person's name was removed from consideration. Crossing out a name does not necessarily eliminate a candidate, however.

In "What They Died For", Jacob explained to Kate that her name was crossed out when she became a mother -- and alluded that he was looking for people who were alone in the world to replace him. He also stated that Kate was still eligible and that the names in the cave were just marks drawn with chalk.

Remaining candidates

As seen in "The Substitute" and "Lighthouse", at least five names remained not crossed out at both the cave and the lighthouse: Ford, Reyes, Shephard, Jarrah, and Kwon. Each of the their names correspond with one of the Numbers. Locke's name was not seen on the compass rose at the lighthouse, and his name was crossed off the cave wall by the Man in Black in "The Substitute".

In "Ab Aeterno," Ilana revealed that she was given a list by Jacob with the names of the six remaining candidates. In "The Candidate" Charles Widmore revealed that he too has a list.

• Ilana and the Man in Black both believed that either Sun or Jin was one of the candidates - or perhaps that both were. ("The Substitute")  ("Dr. Linus")
• In "The Package", the Man in Black told Claire that her name was not on the cave wall and also that Kate's name as not on the cave wall. In "The Substitute", however, Claire's surname, Littleton, was seen crossed out at the cave. Although Kate's name was not seen in the cave, Carlton Cuse in an interview that Kate's name was on the cave wall and crossed out, but regrettably the shot did not make the final edit. This was later confirmed in the series by Sawyer in "The Candidate".

Other lists

There have been a number other instances throughout the series where lists associated with Jacob have been referenced. It is not entirely clear if these lists have to do with candidates or if these lists were made for other reasons.

• In "I Do," Danny Pickett mentions that "Shephard wasn't even on Jacob's list."
• In "Par Avion," Mikhail states that Kate, Sayid and Locke are not on the list because they are "flawed," "weak and frightened" and angry.
• In "LA X, Part 2", Dogen discovered a note from Jacob in breaking the wooden ankh found inside Hurley's guitar case. On reading Jacob's message he immediately demanded to know the names of the survivors and canceled their execution thereafter, ordering a wounded Sayid to be taken to the healing spring.

Candidates pointed out at the cliffside cave

Name and Number	Character	Status	Information
4 - LOCKE	John Locke	Deceased	Locke met Jacob after being pushed out of a window by his father. Jacob touched his shoulder and said that he was sorry that had happened to him. Locke's name was crossed out in the cave by the Man in Black. ("The Substitute") It is unknown whether Locke's name was in the lighthouse, as the entire compass rose was not shown. ("Lighthouse")
8 - REYES	Hugo Reyes	Alive	Immediately after his release from prison, Hurley met Jacob, who talked him into booking passage on Ajira Flight 316. Jacob touched Hurley's chest when emphasizing the importance of the flight. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") Hurley was identified as a candidate in the cliffside cave by the Man in Black ("The Substitute"), and his name was not crossed out in the lighthouse. ("Lighthouse") While Jack initially accepted the role of protector, he soon relinquished it to Hurley. ("The End")
15 - FORD	James Ford	Alive	Sawyer met Jacob as a child at his parents' funeral. Jacob touched Sawyer's hand while handing him a pen, which Sawyer used to write his letter. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") Sawyer was identified as a candidate in the cliffside cave by the Man in Black ("The Substitute"), and his name was not crossed out in the lighthouse. ("Lighthouse")
16 - JARRAH	Sayid Jarrah	Deceased	Sayid met Jacob when his wife Nadia was murdered. Jacob touched Sayid's shoulder briefly. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") Sayid was identified as a candidate by the Man in Black in the cliffside cave ("The Substitute"), and his name was not crossed out in the lighthouse. ("Lighthouse") Sayid ended up sacrificing his life to save those of his friends by transporting a bomb away from them. ("The Candidate")
23 - SHEPHARD	Jack Shephard	Deceased	Jack met Jacob after completing his first successful surgery at St. Sebastian Hospital. Jacob offered Jack an Apollo bar that Jack had unsuccessfully tried to dislodge from the vending machine. Their fingers touched as Jacob passed the bar to Jack. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") Jack was identified as a candidate by the Man in Black in the cliffside cave ("The Substitute"), and the name Shephard was not crossed out in the lighthouse. ("Lighthouse") Jack was the only surviving candidate to accept Jacob's job and was given the role of the Island's protector by Jacob's ghost. ("What They Died For") The next day, Jack realized his true destiny was to sacrifice himself to save the Island. He offered the job of protector to Hurley, who reluctantly accepted. Jack later died from exposure to the electromagnetism at the Source after plugging it back in. ("The End")
42 - KWON	Jin and/or Sun Kwon	Deceased	Jin and Sun both met Jacob during their wedding when he congratulated them and advised them to keep their promises. Both were touched by Jacob simultaneously. The Man in Black indicated that one of them was a candidate but was unable to identify which one. ("The Substitute") Similarly, Aldo and Justin implied that Jin might be a candidate ("What Kate Does"), and Ilana indicated uncertainty about which one of the Kwons was the candidate. ("Dr. Linus") Jin and Sun ended up drowning together on Widmore's submarine. ("The Candidate") While Jacob confirmed to Kate that Jin and Sun were originally *both* candidates, his crossing off of Kate's name due to her status as a mother makes Sun's ultimate candidacy ambiguous. ("What They Died For")

Partial list of candidates

Number	Name	Source	Information
1	SULLIVAN Sullivan	Cave/Lighthouse	Probably Sullivan, a survivor who most likely died when the remaining survivors got separated while the Island traveled through time.
2	LACOMBE	Cave	Probably Lacombe from the science expedition.
4	LOCKE	Cave	John Locke. Locke met Jacob after being pushed out of a window by his father. Jacob touched his shoulder and said that he was sorry that had happened to him. Locke's name was crossed out in the cave by the Man in Black. ("The Substitute") It is unknown whether Locke's name was in the lighthouse, as the entire compass rose was not shown. ("Lighthouse")
8	REYES	Cave	Hugo Reyes. Jacob met Hurley upon Hurley's release from prison and talked him into booking passage on Ajira Flight 316. Jacob touched Hurley's chest when emphasizing the importance of the flight. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") Hurley was identified as a candidate in the cliffside cave by the Man in Black ("The Substitute"), and his name was not crossed out in the lighthouse. ("Lighthouse")
10	MATTINGLEY	Cave	Probably the US army soldier whose uniform was stolen and used by an Other in 1954.
12	Foster	Lighthouse	Unknown.
13	Beckett	Lighthouse	Unknown.
14	PRYCE	Cave/Lighthouse	Probably Ryan Pryce, one of the Others whom Hurley ran over with a DHARMA van.
15	FORD	Cave/Lighthouse	James Ford. He met Jacob as a child at his parents' funeral. Jacob touched Sawyer when he handed him a pen, which Sawyer used to write his letter. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2"). Sawyer was identified as a candidate in the cliffside cave by the Man in Black ("The Substitute"), and his name was not crossed out in the lighthouse. ("Lighthouse")
16	JARRAH	Cave/Lighthouse	Sayid Jarrah. He met Jacob when his wife Nadia was murdered. Jacob touched Sayid's shoulder briefly. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") Sayid was identified as a candidate by the Man in Black in the cliffside cave ("The Substitute"), and his name was not crossed out in the lighthouse. ("Lighthouse")
17	Barnes	Lighthouse	Unknown.
18	Kueffner	Lighthouse	Unknown.
19	Nguyen	Lighthouse	Unknown.
20	ROUSSEAU	Cave/Lighthouse	Probably Alex Rousseau or Danielle Rousseau.
21	McHenry	Lighthouse	Unknown.
22	Moorhead	Lighthouse	Unknown.
23	SHEPHARD	Cave/Lighthouse	Jack met Jacob after completing his first successful surgery at St. Sebastian Hospital. Jacob offered Jack an Apollo bar that Jack had unsuccessfully tried to dislodge from the vending machine. Their fingers touched as Jacob passed the bar to Jack. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") Jack was identified as a candidate by the Man in Black in the cliffside cave ("The Substitute"), and the name Shephard was not crossed out in the lighthouse. ("Lighthouse")
24	Kluxen	Lighthouse	Unknown.
25	Asher	Lighthouse	Unknown.
26	Bozarth	Lighthouse	Unknown.
27	Dorrie	Lighthouse	Unknown.
28	Howard	Lighthouse	Unknown.
29	BRENNAN	Cave	Probably Brennan from the science expedition. Might also be Kate's friend Tom Brennan, who was with her when she was touched by Jacob. In the lighthouse, the name "Brennan" appears under a different number, 35; these might refer to the two characters separately.
30	Wade	Lighthouse	Unknown.
31	Toms	Lighthouse	Unknown.
31 32	RUTHERFORD	Cave/Lighthouse	Probably Shannon Rutherford. The name appears with the number 31 in the cave and with the number 32 in the lighthouse.
33	Novak	Lighthouse	Unknown.
34	Grimaldi	Lighthouse	Unknown.
35	Brennan	Lighthouse	Probably Brennan from the science expedition. Might also be Kate's friend Tom Brennan, who was with her when she was touched by Jacob. In the cave, the name "BRENNAN" appears under a different number, 29; these might refer to the two characters separately.
36	Syzmanksi	Lighthouse	Unknown.
37	Torres	Lighthouse	Unknown.
38	Lindstrom	Lighthouse	Unknown.
39	Mortoka	Lighthouse	Unknown.
40	Dowsen	Lighthouse	Unknown.
41	Turner	Lighthouse	Unknown.
42	KWON	Cave/Lighthouse	Sun-Hwa Kwon and Jin-Soo Kwon both met Jacob during their wedding when he congratulated them and advised them to keep their promises. Both were touched by Jacob simultaneously. The Man in Black indicated that one of them was a candidate but was unable to identify which one. ("The Substitute") Similarly, Aldo and Justin implied that Jin may be a candidate ("What Kate Does"), and Ilana indicated uncertainty about which one of the Kwons was the candidate. ("Dr. Linus") While Jacob confirmed to Kate that Jin and Sun were originally both candidates, his crossing off of Kate's name due to her status as a mother makes Sun's ultimate candidacy ambiguous. ("What They Died For")
43	Barnes	Lighthouse	Unknown. Possibly related to #17
44	Martinez	Lighthouse	Unknown.
45	Latta	Lighthouse	Unknown.
46	Osalka	Lighthouse	Unknown.
47	Gupta	Lighthouse	Unknown.
48	Stanhope	Lighthouse	Probably Harper Stanhope or Goodwin Stanhope.
49	Meyers	Lighthouse	Unknown.
50	Gowner	Lighthouse	Unknown.
51	AUSTEN Austen	Cave/Lighthouse	Very likely Kate Austen, who met Jacob as a child when she was caught trying to shoplift a lunchbox. Jacob helped her by paying for the lunchbox and then touched her on the nose. Sawyer told Kate that he saw her surname in the cave, and that it was crossed out. ("The Candidate"), and out of show pictures confirmed this. However, the name "Austen" was seen in the lighthouse and was not crossed out. ("Lighthouse") Jacob later confirmed that he crossed out Kate's name only because she became a mother and that the job was still open to her if she wanted it. ("What They Died For")
52	Birn	Lighthouse	Unknown.
53	Driscall	Lighthouse	Unknown.
54	Olarti	Lighthouse	Unknown.
55	Kennedy	Lighthouse	Unknown.
56	Haasra	Lighthouse	Unknown. Possibly spelled "Haasea".
57	Grimwault	Lighthouse	Unknown.
58	BURKE	Cave/Lighthouse	Probably Juliet Burke.
59	Suzuki	Lighthouse	Unknown. Being one out of two Japanese surnames in the list (the other being #114), might be Dogen.
60	Kysea	Lighthouse	Unknown. Possibly spelled "Kyska".
61	Davies	Lighthouse	Unknown.
62	Inman	Lighthouse	Probably Kelvin Inman.
64	GOLDSTEIN	Cave	Unknown.
73	COSTA	Cave	Unknown.
77	FRANETZKI	Cave	Unknown.
90	TROUPE	Cave	Probably Gary Troup, a deceased Oceanic survivor and author of Bad Twin.
93	Luttwig	Lighthouse	Unknown.
94	Cohen	Lighthouse	Unknown.
95	Pollema	Lighthouse	Unknown.
96	Greeson	Lighthouse	Unknown.
97	Pallison	Lighthouse	Unknown.
98	Horton	Lighthouse	Unknown. Possibly related to #112.
99	Goodson	Lighthouse	Unknown.
100	Bardfield	Lighthouse	Unknown.
101	FARADAY	Cave/Lighthouse	Probably Daniel Faraday.
102	Montand	Lighthouse	Probably Montand from Rousseau's team.
103	Horsman	Lighthouse	Unknown.
104	Lewis	Lighthouse	Probably Charlotte Lewis, or her parents David and Jeanette. In the cave, "LEWIS" appears with the number 140.
105	Onaa	Lighthouse	Unknown.
106	Sregzyaski	Lighthouse	Unknown.
107	Thomson	Lighthouse	Unknown.
108	WALLACE	Cave/Lighthouse	Unknown.
109	Friendly	Lighthouse	Probably Tom Friendly.
110	Eipons	Lighthouse	Unknown.
111	Klein	Lighthouse	Unknown.
112	Horton	Lighthouse	Unknown. Possibly related to #98.
113	Worden	Lighthouse	Unknown.
114	Yamada	Lighthouse	Unknown. Being one out of two Japanese surnames in the list (the other being #59), might be Dogen.
115	BARGAS	Cave/Lighthouse	Unknown. Possibly spelled "Barqas" or "Vargas".
116	LAMBERT	Cave/Lighthouse	Unknown.
117	LINUS	Cave/Lighthouse	Probably Ben Linus, or his father Roger Linus.
118	Chavez	Lighthouse	Unknown.
119	ALMEIDA	Cave/Lighthouse	Unknown.
120	RODRIGUEZ	Cave/Lighthouse	Unknown.
121	Nielson	Lighthouse	Unknown.
122	Freed	Lighthouse	Unknown.
123	Clay	Lighthouse	Unknown.
124	DAWSON	Cave/Lighthouse	Probably Michael Dawson.
125	Owens	Lighthouse	Unknown.
126	Renti	Lighthouse	Unknown.
127	Mora	Lighthouse	Unknown.
128	Paddock	Lighthouse	Unknown.
129	Campbell	Lighthouse	Unknown. Possibly Brother Campbell?
130	Tillman	Lighthouse	Unknown.
131	Jack...	Lighthouse	Possibly Scott Jackson
140	LEWIS	Cave	Probably Charlotte Lewis, or her parents David and Jeanette. In the lighthouse, "Lewis" appears with the number 104.
171	STRAUME	Cave	Probably Miles Straume or Lara Chang (who likely took the Straume name after leaving the Island).
195	PACE	Cave	Probably Charlie Pace.
197	SHECKLER	Cave	Unknown.
202	HARGGUS	Cave	Unknown.
222	O'TOOLE	Cave	Unknown.
226	CARLYLE	Cave	Probably Boone Carlyle.
231	AMISTAD	Cave	Unknown.
233	JONES	Cave	Probably the US army soldier whose uniform was stolen and used by Charles Widmore in 1954.
251	YARIS	Cave	Unknown.
272	ORALINGO	Cave	Unknown.
282	AGUILA	Cave	Unknown.
285	JENKINS	Cave	Probably Steve Jenkins, an Oceanic Flight 815 survivor who died in the flaming arrow attack.
291	DOMINGO	Cave	Unknown.
301	MARS	Cave	Probably Edward Mars, a survivor who died shortly after the crash.
313	LITTLETON	Cave	Probably Claire or Aaron.
317	CUNNINGHAM	Cave	Probably the US army soldier whose uniform was stolen and used by an Other in 1954.
321	FERNANDEZ	Cave	Probably Nikki Fernandez who was on board Oceanic Flight 815 but later killed.
335	HENDERSON	Cave	Probably Rose (Henderson) Nadler
337	MARTIN	Cave	Probably Karl Martin, the "Other" who was dating Alex Rousseau.
346	GRANT	Cave	Unknown. Probably 346 in the lighthouse if the compass goes from 1 to 360.
	CHANG	Cave	Probably Pierre Chang, or Lara Chang or Miles Straume (likely born as Miles Chang).
	DAVISON	Cave	Unknown.
	GARNER	Cave	Unknown.
	GOODSPEED	Cave	Probably one of the many Goodspeeds: Horace, Amy, Olivia, or Ethan.
	PICKETT	Cave	Probably Danny Pickett or Colleen Pickett.
	REYNOLDS	Cave	Unknown.

Trivia

• Of the original survivors of Flight 815 who are candidates, only Jin (assuming he is a candidate) has never succeeded in leaving the Island since his arrival.
• So far no surnames of individuals from Oceanic's tail section have been identified.
• Assuming that "Linus" is a reference to Ben, "Brennan" is a member of the science expedition, and that all other surnames reference the most obvious answer, there are fifteen passengers from Oceanic Flight 815 on the cave walls, four Others, three freighter passengers, three members of the French team, three members of the U.S. Army, two DHARMA members and multiple unknown individuals.
• The word "Candidate" is derived from the Latin word "Candida", which means "white" or "pure".

Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions
Do not answer the questions here. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer. More details...

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Candidates/Theories