Charles Widmore

Charles Widmore
Actor	Alan Dale
First	"Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1" (flashback)
Place	United Kingdom
Profession	Executive of Widmore Industries
Family	Penelope Widmore - Daughter

"Widmore" redirects here. For other uses of "Widmore", see Widmore (disambiguation)..

Charles Widmore is a wealthy industrialist and the father of Penelope. He has a long-running and mysterious rivalry with Ben Linus over control of the Island. The expedition of the freighter Kahana failed to return the Island to his control. For reasons unknown, Ben cannot kill Widmore even given the opportunity.

Relationship with Desmond

Widmore tells Desmond the story about Anderson MacCutcheon. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")

Charles, an executive at Widmore Industries, was visited by Desmond Hume, who intended to ask Charles for his daughter's hand in marriage. Charles, under the impression that Desmond wanted a job, looked over his resume, noting Desmond's job as an actor, as well as Desmond's failure to graduate from a university. After Desmond took note of Widmore's beautiful model of a boat, Widmore informed him of a solo race around the world that his company was sponsoring. He offered Desmond a job in his administrative department, after which Desmond told him that he had not come looking for a job, but instead wanted Charles' permission for himself and Penny to wed. Though noting that Desmond was making a noble gesture, Widmore stated that Desmond was unworthy to marry his daughter, because he would never be a "great man," using Anderson MacCutcheon, the namesake of a brand of whiskey, as an example of a great man. Desmond then left, saddened and ashamed. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")

Widmore offers Desmond two paths for his life. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")

In 1996, Widmore purchased the journal of the first mate of the Black Rock, a 19th century British slave ship, at a Southfield's auction. Desmond found him at the auction, demanding to know Penny's new contact information. Widmore asserted that it was Desmond's cowardice that separated Desmond from Penny. Desmond asked why Widmore hated him; Widmore retorted that it wasn't he who hated Desmond. He then gave Desmond Penny's address. ("The Constant")

Widmore's disapproval of his daughter's relationship with Hume led to his interception of letters that Desmond wrote to Penelope while serving time in a military prison. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")

Widmore attempted to bribe Desmond to cease the relationship and never see Penelope again. He sponsored the sailing race around the world that Desmond, in an attempt to regain his honor, was participating in when he crashed onto the Island. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")

Search for the Island

Widmore on Ben's tape ("The Other Woman")

As seen in a video tape, Widmore brutally beat a blindfolded, unnamed Other, purportedly in his efforts to extract information about the location of the Island. ("The Other Woman")

According to documentary evidence Tom presented Michael, Widmore had purchased a Boeing 777 fuselage and disinterred 324 graves in Thailand to create staged wreckage of Oceanic Flight 815 in the Sunda Trench. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

Widmore sent the Kahana to find the Island, hiring Captain Gault to head up the expedition. He hired Martin Keamy to lead a mercenary team and they too were on the Kahana. Keamy's orders were to breach the Island, locate and retrieve Benjamin Linus, and after retrieving Ben, to kill every other living person on the Island, including the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, if Keamy's team found that they existed.

After the rescue of the Oceanic Six

Widmore receives a nighttime visit from Ben in his penthouse suite in London. ("The Shape of Things to Come")

Widmore was unsuccessful with the Kahana expedition. Sometime after the Oceanic Six were rescued, Widmore was confronted by Ben in his London penthouse. Widmore looked tired and unshaven, and when asked by Ben when he started "sleeping with a bottle of scotch by the bed", he replied "When the nightmares started." The two argued about who was responsible for the death of Alex. Widmore claimed the Island was stolen from him. Ben threatened to kill Widmore's daughter, Penelope, whom Widmore had somehow hidden from Ben, and asserted that Widmore would never find the Island. Widmore mused that the hunt was on... for both of them. ("The Shape of Things to Come")

Some time later, Sun approached Widmore in London. At first he pretended to merely know her through his connection with her father and as one of the Oceanic Six. However, when she confronts him, he admitted he knew they were lying. Her remarks suggested that Widmore had been to the Island but left it somehow. Sun then offered to collaborate with Widmore. He asked her why she would want to help him, but she didn't answer. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")

Trivia

• Out of all the main characters, Widmore has only met Desmond, Ben and Sun.
• In Homer's Odyssey, Poseidon was the God of the Sea. He hated Odysseus and used his powers over the ocean to hinder Odysseus' attempts at returning to Penelope, his wife. Charles Widmore does not want Desmond to be with Penelope, and "controls the sea" with his freighter, Kahana, which resides off the coast of the island. It's possible that Charles Widmore is a Poseidon figure in that he controls the sea around the island and is hindering Desmond's attempts to be with Penelope. It also seems that Ben is an Odysseus figure, someone who uses exceptional cunning to attain his goals, and, post Island moving, Ben is indeed in search of Penelope, who is under Widmore's protection. The Poseidon/Odysseus analogy brings to mind themes of force versus reason.
• Widmore owns a chauffeured Bentley Arnage limousine.
• He owns the Widmore Corporation, manufacturer of the pregnancy tests used by Sun, Kate and Rachel. "Widmore Corporation" is also written on Henry Gale's hot air balloon basket and on a billboard when Charlie is walking out of a scene in "Fire + Water".
• May have some connection to a Widmore character in Bad Twin.
• Charles is of Old Norse origin, and its meaning is "free man". From "karl", similar to Old English "churl", meaning "man, serf". Today the word has simliar meaning in Swedish and Icelandic.
  • Infact, Karl was a name reserved for kings in Sweden. Sweden's current king is Carl XVI Gustaf.
• When Desmond is interviewed in the office of Charles Widmore, there is a picture of a polar bear and an image of a Buddha on the wall. On the top of the picture, the word "Namaste" appears.
• Ironically, as of yet Charles has not appeared in a scene with his daughter, Penny.
• In the commentary of "The Constant", Damon Lindelof describes him as "the big bad" of the show.

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: Charles Widmore/Theories

• What does Widmore want with the Island? ("The Other Woman")
  • How does he know about it?
  • Why does he say it's his island?
• What started the rivalry between him and Ben?
• How did he know that Flight 815 crashed on the Island?
  • Why did he want the world to think the survivors were dead?
• Why did he buy the Black Rock ledger? ("The Constant")
  • Was it supposed to help him regain the Island?
• What are the "rules" in his conflict with Ben?
  • How did killing Alex change them?
• Why can't Ben kill him?
• When did he start having nightmares? ("The Shape of Things to Come")
  • What kind of nightmares is he having?
• Where did he hide Penny?
  • Does he know where Penny is, due to the fact that Penny is trying to hide Desmond from him?
• What is the relationship between Widmore and Mr. Paik?
• What "common interests" does he have with Sun?
  • Why would she want to help him?
• If it's not Widmore who hates Desmond, who is it?
• Why did Widmore pay Martin Keamy to take his team to the Island to capture Ben and bring him back alive?

See also

• Paintings (Widmore)