Role reversal

As a form of cosmic irony, characters' roles reverse as the series progresses. Sometimes, characters fulfill a role that is opposite from an earlier one. Other times, they reverse roles with a specific other character.

Reversal of characters' own roles

Character	Old role	New role	Details
Ben Linus	The chessmaster	The pawn	Ben spent much of the series as a master manipulator. He divided Locke and Jack while imprisoned in the Swan, drove Kate and Sawyer to a romantic encounter that convinced Jack to operate on him and got Locke to blow up the Galaga, among other things. Alex said Ben's defining characteristic was tricking others into doing his bidding. Ben eventually learned though that the Man in Black manipulated him over the entire course of his life, leading him towards killing Jacob.
	Mass murderer	Kind teacher	Ben killed several people over the course of the series - scores, counting the Purge. In his afterlife though, he taught at a high school. This change may reflect his years as Hurley's second-in-command in "helping people" on the island post-series.
	Roger's killer	Roger's caregiver	Ben killed his father as his initiation into the Others' leadership. In his afterlife though, he cared for his father in a manner similar to how he'd killed: he killed his father with poison gas and cared for his father with oxygen gas.
Bernard Nadler	Dentist	Sugar lover	Though Bernard was a dentist, he developed a "sweet tooth," and Rose pocketed a candy bar for him while they were apart.
Boone Carlyle	Lifeguard	Drowning victim	Boone was a trained lifeguard, besides his position at his mother's wedding business. He even tried administering CPR on Rose, but Jack told him he was performing it improperly. A few days later, he tried saving a drowning woman, but he almost drowned himself, and Jack had to again intervene.
Daniel Faraday	Time travel skeptic	Time traveler	In 1996, a mysterious Scot visited Daniel, claiming to have traveled from the future. Daniel dismissed this a colleague's prank. Years, later, Daniel traveled back in time himself. Pierre dismissed his story as one of his colleague's pranks.
Desmond Hume	Coward	Fearless	Several people - Ruth, Penny, Widmore - called Desmond a coward before he came to the island. In the Hatch though, he turned the fail-safe, an act no one had previously had the bravery to do. Later still, after briefly flashing into the afterlife, Desmond appeared almost supernaturally fearless, confusing and angering the Man in Black.
Eko	Warlord	Priest	Warlord Eko disguised himself as a priest to smuggle drugs out of the country. When the plan failed, he became an actual priest.
Ethan Rom	Crash survivor shooter	Crash survivor shooting victim	Ethan saw Locke time traveling and shot him. Years later, Charlie shot Ethan. As Richard said about the reversal, "What goes around comes around."
Hugo Reyes	Working stiff	Millionaire CEO	Hurley was poor, working for minimal wages at a fast-food restaurant, when he won the lottery and then further increased his financial worth through investments. ("Numbers")
Jack Shephard	Doctor	Patient	Jack, though a doctor, often submitted to others' medical treatment: Kate stitched his shoulder. ("Pilot, Part 1") Kate made him a sling. ("The Moth") Juliet removed his appendix. ("Something Nice Back Home")
	Respected surgeon	Lowly workman	Sawyer purposely assigned Jack a menial position in the DHARMA Initiative, reigniting their old rivalry.
	Island escapee	Island searcher	Jack was the survivor most keen on leaving the island. Afterward, he became a depressed addict who wanted to return.
	Awed son	Imposing father	Jack's father scared him during his childhood, and Jack felt he could never please him. In his afterlife, Jack created a son just like young Jack. Imposing Jack scared David, who feared failing in front of his father.
	Man of science	Man of faith	Jack and Locke were often at odds with one another over the debate between science and faith, free will and destiny. Jack changed positions, first after seeing visions of his dead father, then by managing to return mystically to the island and finally by learning that Jacob watched him his whole life.
Kate Austen	Fugitive	Tracker	Kate was a fugitive from the law in all her flashbacks, flash sideways and current off-island action. On the island though, she tracked people with skill: Charlie and Claire, after their kidnapping. ("All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues") Naomi, after her post-stab wound flight. ("The Beginning of the End") Sawyer, when he left the Temple. ("What Kate Does")
	Cop hater	Cop lover	Kate spent years running from police for her crimes. Despite this, she married an officer, Kevin Callis.
Libby Smith	Mental patient	Psychologist	Libby the mental patient pretended to be a psychologist on the island. Or perhaps Libby the psychologist ended up in a mental institution.
John Locke	Paralytic	Health-Ed teacher	As a teacher in his afterlife, Locke took on two roles at odds with his paralysis - gym teacher and health-ed teacher.
	Button pusher	Button rebel	Locke began the season as the person most determined to push the button. He ended it as the one least likely to.
	Drug grower	Drug fighter	Locke worked for a farm growing drugs. He later helped Charlie overcome his drug addiction on the Island. ("Further Instructions")  ("The Moth")
James "Sawyer" Ford	Con man	Con victim	Long after becoming an adept con-man, Sawyer has fallen for several cons. - Hibbs's, Ben's, the Man in Black's and even Hurley's. ("Outlaws")  ("Every Man for Himself")  ("The Candidate") ("Left Behind") Hibbs conned him into killing Frank Duckett. ("Outlaws") Ben conned him into stressing over his heart rate. He said conning is the only way to win a con-man's respect. ("Every Man for Himself") Hurley conned him into being nice to the camp. Sawyer called this "the lamest con in the history of cons." ("Left Behind") The Man in Black conned him into activating his bomb. ("The Candidate")
	Outlaw	Law man	Despite his years breaking the law, including time in prison, Sawyer became DHARMA's head of security. He continued as a law man in the afterlife.
Sayid Jarrah	Torturer	Torture victim	Sayid the torturer has repeatedly suffered torture and interrogation. Sami imprisoned him and interrogated him about his own activities as a torturer. ("Enter 77") Danielle tortured and interrogated him during his self-imposed exile for torturing Sawyer. ("Solitary") Oldham interrogated him, but using LSD, not physical coercion. ("He's Our You") Dogen's electrocuted Sayid and burned him with a poker. This baffled Sayid. "They didn't even ask me any questions," he said. ("Sundown")
	Terrorist negotiator	Suicide bomber	After once seeking redemption by dissuading Essam from martyring himself with C-4, Sayid achieved it by doing so himself. ("The Candidate")

Reversals with another character

Hurley and Libby

First roles	Reversed roles	Details
Jin and Sun Jin orders Sun	Sun orders Jin	Jin ordered Sun around during their marriage, hurting their relationship. After their on-island reconciliation, Sun ordered him around. Sun commented on the reversal.
Libby heals Hurley	Hurley heals Libby	Libby suffered from mental illness after her husband's death. On the Island, she discovered Hurley, a fellow inmate from the hospital, and she convinced him he was sane. After death, Libby imagined herself in the hospital again. This time, Hurley, now free from madness, convinced her of her sanity.
Ben and Jack Jack imprisons Ben	Ben imprisons Jack	Jack imprisoned Ben in the Swan for the latter part of season 2. For the first half of the following season, Ben imprisoned Jack on Hydra Island. Ben commented on the reversal.
Ben and Locke Locke imprisons Ben	Ben imprisons Locke	Locke imprisoned Ben in the Swan for the latter part of season 2. For a brief time of the following season, Ben had Locke locked up when he had destroyed the submarine. Locke imprisoned Ben again the following season.
Ben and Sayid Sayid interrogates Ben	Ben interrogates Sayid	Sayid questioned and tortured Ben when in the Swan station. Years later, Sayid traveled to 1977 and found himself imprisoned. A 12-year-old Ben came to question him.
Horace and Sawyer Horace wakes Sawyer	Sawyer wakes Horace	After the sonic fence knocked him out, Sawyer awoke on a couch to Horace asking, "How's your head?" Sawyer replied, "It hurts." Years later, Horace awoke on a couch to Sawyer asking the same question and gave the same reply.
Others and Survivors Clueless survivors	Clueless Others	After 815 crashed, the Others knew all about the survivors and the survivors knew nothing about the Others. After 316 crashed, the survivors knew a lot about the Others, but the Others knew nothing about the survivors.