The Others

The Others
First	"Solitary"
Leader	John Locke
Purpose	Unknown
Connection	Antagonists of the Oceanic 815 survivors

The Others are a mysterious and secretive group living on the Island.

They appear to have considerable wealth and power in the outside world, with front companies such as Mittelos Bioscience, and resources like the Galaga submarine, allowing them to come and go from the Island as they please.

Their history, and current aims and goals, are still shrouded in mystery. They appear unwilling to explain themselves to the survivors, while still abducting, killing and terrorizing them for unknown purposes. This has resulted in a long-running conflict between the two groups.

They also seem to follow Jacob, and as a result were originally led by Ben, who was the only one who could actively communicate with him. However, with the conclusion of Season 4, it is suggested that Locke has taken his place.

Pre-crash History

Origin

Richard meets Ben for the first time

For all intents and purposes, the Others may be an evolved continuation of the Hostiles, a name that would be given by the DHARMA Initiative to describe "natives" on the Island. These natives may date back as far as the time of the four-toed statue and other ruins, though it is stated that women cannot conceive on the Island without dying during pregnancy. However, the specifics of this are unknown, as "natives" could potentially be immune, or the phenomenon could have occurred as a consequence of an event on the Island.

Jacob, the group's mysterious leader.

While some could be described as original Hostiles, such as Richard Alpert, other members of what is now called "the Others" consists of people recruited from other sources. For example, Ben was a person who joined the Hostiles, betraying DHARMA. Furthermore, former members such as Juliet were recruited from the outside world to live on the Island and aid the Others in their research. Finally, some survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 have been abducted or joined willingly, such as Cindy and Locke.

Only Ben, Richard, Juliet and Mikhail have revealed facts about their origin and whether or not they have always lived on the Island. Therefore, it is unknown whether the majority of the Others at the present time are actual natives or recruits from the outside world. Ben initially identified himself as being "born on the Island". Even though this was later proven inaccurate, he used this phrase in a way to suggest that he was different from his peers, stating "most" of them have been recruited.

The Hostiles appear to follow the command of Jacob, a mysterious individual or entity on the Island. It is partially due to his ability to communicate with Jacob that Ben has been able to lead the Others, as it is said that few have the ability to see him.

DHARMA

A DHARMA welcome sign on the Island.

During the 1970s, the DHARMA Initiative set up research facilities on the Island, presumably to study the Island's unique properties (as stated in the Barracks video) and also to utilize a locale which is for the most part hidden from the outside world. It is not known whether they were greeted by "the Hostiles", as they would be described by Initiative personnel, but what is clear is that conflict soon emerged. This could have been due to competition for resources, antagonism caused by damaging the Island through scientific research, or a variety of other reasons. The result, however, was definitive. After a period of feuding and skirmishes, the Hostiles ended the dispute by using toxic gas to kill almost all of the DHARMA employees (known as "the purge"). While some survived, such as those in the Swan station or Ben, most of the workers were piled into a mass grave.

Rousseau

Danielle Rousseau encountered the Others after shipwrecking onto the Island.

In 1988, a pregnant Danielle Rousseau and her science expedition team shipwrecked onto the Island. Danielle reported that her team contracted a sickness while there, and claimed that the Hostiles were "the carriers". It is at this point that the name "Others" was coined by Rousseau, and this description would also be used by the survivors of Flight 815 as a result of contact with the Frenchwoman. Rousseau's team would all die, leaving her alone on the Island to give birth to Alex. Only a week later, however, Rousseau saw a pillar of smoke inland, and that night Alex was taken from her by the Others. It is unclear why Alex was taken, perhaps because of the miraculous Island birth or perhaps a similar reason to the Flight 815 passenger abductions. What is certain is that Alex was raised by Ben as his own daughter, and not told of her true heritage until she was 16. There is some inconsistency over Rousseau's story, specifically as she arrived in 1988, four years before the supposed date of the purge. This means that she would have cohabited with the Initiative as well as the Others.

After the Purge

A brochure for Mittelos Bioscience, part of the Others' rouse to recruit new members.

After the Purge, the Hostiles took over facilities belonging to the DHARMA Initiative. Most notably, they commandeered the Barracks, and began living in the houses there, with hot water, electricity, and other mod-cons. It is possible that they also began to somewhat continue the work of the DHARMA Initiative, as indeed Ben described his group as "scientists".

Though it is possible that this was done before the arrival of DHARMA, it also seems likely that it was at this point that the Hostiles extended their network off the Island, utilizing the Initiative's submarine to travel to the mainland and recruit others to their community. One way in which they did this was through front-companies such as Mittelos Bioscience. This suggests that the Others have a large amount of wealth at their disposal, and indeed it would be commented on that Ben had the power to obtain vast amounts of money for Miles Straume. Members recruited off-Island include Juliet as part of the research on the Island pregnancy phenomenon, as well as potentially many other personnel such as Ethan (a surgeon) and Harper (a trained psychiatrist).

Post-crash Summary

Season 1: "Good people"

Ethan tells Claire that the Others are "good people". ("Maternity Leave")

On September 22nd, 2004, Oceanic Flight 815 crashed onto the Island. The Others' response was to send spies to infiltrate the two main groups of survivors. Lists were made of who amongst the 815 survivors were "good people". These people would then be kidnapped by the Others at night. The mid-section survivors were for the most part unscathed by this plan, with the exception of Claire who was taken quickly after Ethan panicked that his identity was about to be found out with the discovery of the flight manifest. At the tail-section camp, however, Goodwin was much more successful, and over a dozen survivors were taken in total. Some of those taken would later be seen at the Hydra station, including Cindy, Zack and Emma, suggesting that those kidnapped may have joined the Others.

This led to immediate conflict between the Others and the remaining survivors, and by the time the mid-section survivors had built a raft in order to escape the Island, the Others destroyed it and kidnapped Walt, whom they believed was "special".

Season 2: "Primitives"

The Others' decoy village.

With Walt's kidnapping and the merging of the mid-section and tail-section camps, the survivors were now united against the threat posed by the Others. In response, the Others met with the survivors in the jungle, and agreed upon a line separating the groups which neither side should cross. However, this "line" was quickly flouted, firstly by Ben who pretended to be an innocent survivor from a balloon crash, and secondly by Michael when he tried to find Walt.

At this point, the Others maintained a ruse that they were in fact very primitive, using huts and ragged clothing to augment this. However, after using Michael to get Jack, Kate and Sawyer, it was revealed that their society was far more sophisticated.

Season 3: "Leadership"

Juliet, Ben and the rest of the Others watch the crash at the Barracks. ("A Tale of Two Cities")

The survivors finally learned more about the Others, and about Ben's role as leader. With their home at the Barracks compromised, the Others moved out and were forced to camp out in the Island plains and then The Temple. In addition, the survivors discovered how the Others had obtained information on them through the use of the Flame station, and slowly the omnipotence surrounding the Others and Ben was shattered, particularly with the deaths of a number of Others at the survivors' hands, casting doubt on Ben's ability to lead in light of John Locke's ability to also communicate with Jacob.

The issue of Island pregnancy was also pushed forward by Ben, who used Juliet to infiltrate the beach camp to report back if any of the women besides Sun were also expecting. Ben's plan was to kidnap these women, but as the survivors faced possible rescue, he accelerated these plans. Juliet's betrayal, however, saved the women, leading to a culmination in the conflict that had been boiling for approximately three months. During the Beach camp battle, a large number of the Others were killed, and around the same time, the survivors were able to contact a freighter which was docked near the Island, much to Ben's horror.

Season 4: "The Island"

Alpert and the Others after killing the Freighter mercenaries. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")

The arrival of the freighter spelled disaster for both the survivors and the Others. Unbeknownst to Jack and those who had sought to contact the boat, the people on board worked for Charles Widmore, who was said by Ben to be a "bad man" who would destroy the Island and everyone on it. It emerged that the people on the freighter planned to kill everyone on the Island after extracting Ben, and the result was the death of all the freighter's soldiers at the hands of Richard Alpert and the Others. Ben was shown to also have some degree of control over the Monster, summoning it after Alex was murdered.

Much of Ben's actions were done in the name of the Island, and indeed he and Locke followed orders by Jacob, who seems connected to the Island itself. In doing this, Ben went to the Orchid station and turned a frozen wheel, which resulted in the Island physically disappearing. This event also ended Ben's leadership, as he stated whoever moved the Island could not return to it. As a consequence, John Locke appears to have emerged as the new leader of the Others.

Interestingly enough, when the Others returned from the Temple to eliminate the mercenaries and greet their new leader, they were once again wearing shabby clothes and camping in crude tents, suggesting that there is more to this way of life than a mere deception.

Members

New members

Locke is presumed to have Joined "The Others" ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2").

When Locke attempts to join the Others, Ben says that people who want to be part of them need to show their commitment. Ben tells Locke he needs to show his commitment by killing his father, Anthony Cooper. He is handed a knife by Ben while the rest of the Others gather to watch, but cannot bring himself to kill Cooper.

The next day, Richard Alpert suggests to Locke that he use Sawyer to kill Cooper. Ben gives Locke an ultimatum that he will only be able to continue following the Others if he presents them with his father's dead body.

Before Ben moves the island he tells John that Richard and the Others would be waiting for him 2 miles east of the orchid, the last time we see Locke, he is greeted by Richard who "welcomes him home".

Resources

Guns surrendered to the Others. ("The Hunting Party")

The Others have access to a variety of weapons, including firearms, tasers, explosives, a bolas, and U.S. army knives. They have various means of off-Island transportation, including a submarine, a yacht, a motor boat which they gave to Michael, and Desmond's sailboat (which they took from the Losties).

There seems to be extensive audio and video surveillance in certain areas of the Barracks where the Others live. Tom indicates the game room where Kate is held and speaks to Jack is under surveillance. The house where Jack is temporarily staying is equipped with video cameras which were carefully monitored.

Ben's house did not seem to be monitored. Locke was able to enter the house without being detected. He was also able to move hostages to different areas of the house including the kitchen. The full extent of the monitoring at the Barracks is not known. ("The Man from Tallahassee")

The submarine was just one of the items at the Others' disposal.

They had both communication with the outside world (via the Flame) and regular supply dispatches and transport to the outside world (via the Galaga); however, both of these were destroyed by John Locke in Season 3. They also had an implicit supply of fuel for their motor boat; when Michael and Walt departed in the motor boat, this became a moot point.

On December 12, 2004, all the Others along with John Locke left the Barracks for an unknown location that Ben called an old place. Juliet was left behind. She and a group of Losties were gassed by the Others but left within the perimeter of the Barracks. John Locke made a case for allowing Kate to accompany the Others, but the request was turned down because of her personal history, saying that "forgiveness isn't their strong suit." ("Left Behind")

The Others stopped on their journey and camped in a high area full of stone ruins. They camped at the location for a few days and then moved on.

Pregnancy issues

Ethan examines Claire's unborn child.

See also: Pregnancies

The women among the Others suffer from degeneration of their reproductive systems. The condition was described as causing the reproductive system of a woman in her 20s to look like those of a woman in her 70s.

Juliet, a fertility researcher, was brought to the Island because she had discovered an effective treatment that allows women with damaged reproductive systems to become pregnant. On the Island she began researching another condition where women's bodies had immune reaction against the fetus leading to the death of both early in pregnancy.

After the deaths of several volunteers among the Others, including Sabine, Juliet developed a theory that whatever went wrong in the pregnancy might be occurring at conception. She asked Ben if she could take a woman off the Island as a control case to test the theory, but he refused to allow anyone to leave the Island. Claire, who arrived on the Island pregnant, became their control case.

Juliet has gathered data on Sun's pregnancy. She was also attempting to gather information on other women among the crash survivors including specifically Kate.

The nature of the fertility and pregnancy problems on the Island has not been revealed. When these conditions emerged on the Island is also unknown.

Goals and purpose

Locke and the survivors argue about who the other people on the Island are. ("...In Translation")

“

I want to know what you people are doing on this island. Why you're terrorising us. Making lists. Kidnapping children. - Sayid

”

The ultimate aims, motives, goals and purpose of the Others have not yet been revealed, and are among the most integral mysteries of the show.

Throughout the third season, it was revealed that the pregnancy problems on the island were a major factor in several of the actions undertaken by the Others, such as:

• Their recruitment of fertility doctor Juliet, to study the problem
• Their kidnapping of Alex, Zack and Emma, to supplement their own population
• Their kidnapping of Claire, for use as a test subject
• Their raid on the beach camp in the finale of Season 3, to obtain pregnant women as test subjects

However, it is likely that this is merely a means to ensure their continued survival as a group on the island, for the completion of their greater objectives.

The Others have made extensive use of DHARMA facilities, and have an understanding of their operation and purpose, but it is unclear whether they are continuing any of the DHARMA Initiative's research.

Jacob appears to be a major force in determining the Others' purpose, and they treat him with an almost religious attitude. Locke has implied several times that he thinks all island residents, including the Others, should be treating the island itself with religious respect.

Crimes of the Others

Ben after he attempts to murder Locke. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")

The Others have committed a number of crimes against other groups on the Island. This includes murder, kidnapping, assault and imprisonment. However, it should be stated that the crimes are relative in comparison with those also committed by other groups themselves, including the survivors of Flight 815. Indeed, in an US Weekly interview in the June 12, 2006 issue, Lost writer Damon Lindelof was asked what it means that the Others are good guys, and he replied with a question: "Who has killed more people since they went to the Island, our guys or the Others?"

Murders, Attempts and Intentions

The Others have committed a number of murders, including when Goodwin killed Nathan in "The Other 48 Days", when Mikhail murdered Bonnie, Greta (as well as causing Charlie to drown) in "Through the Looking Glass, Part 1", and the mass murder of the DHARMA Initiative personnel.

There have also been attempted murders, including when Ben attempted to kill Locke in "The Man Behind the Curtain", when Pickett almost shot Sawyer in "I Do", and Ethan's attempted murder of Charlie in "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues".

The list given to Michael by the Others.

Kidnappings

Perhaps the most obvious crime committed by the Others is their numerous kidnappings. For instance, Alex was kidnapped as a baby from Danielle, as was Claire whom they wanted for her baby. The Others also attempted to kidnap all the pregnant women among the survivors. Despite Ben's promise that the kidnapping would be non-violent, he later ordered his team to shoot any survivor who got in their way. ("The Brig")  ("Greatest Hits")

Numerous Tailies were also abducted by the Others. Karl commented that "we give them a better life". When Kate further asked "Better than what?" Karl answered "better than yours." In addition, Jack, Kate and Sawyer were all abducted as part of Ben's plan to convince Jack to operate on his tumor. Finally, Walt was forcibly abducted, though was returned to Michael as part of the deal to get Jack, Kate and Sawyer.

Assault

The Losties confront the Others for the first time, and manage to resolve it non-violently. ("The Hunting Party")

The Others have committed a large number of assaults during confrontations. For example, when attempting to abduct survivors, there were multiple skirmishes at the Tailies camp, as well as the final beach camp battle between members of the Others and Flight 815 survivors.

Imprisonment and Punishment

The Others held Claire at the Staff Station in what appeared to be a drugged state in "Maternity Leave". Walt was also held captive and made to take tests before Michael arranged for his release, during which time he himself was imprisoned. Furthermore, Jack, Kate and Sawyer were all held prisoner on Hydra Island, with Jack kept in a tank originally designed for sharks and dolphins, and Kate and Sawyer were kept in cages originally designed for polar bears. They were monitored using video surveillance, and Kate and Sawyer were forced to do manual labor at a location called the Quarry.

The Others also employ psychological methods of torture, such as telling Sawyer that he had been implanted with a pacemaker device that would lead to heart failure if his pulse was above a certain rate. Karl was also made to undergo a psychological method of punishment similar to brainwashing in Room 23 at the Hydra.

Finally, the Others also seem to follow rules of punishment similar to "an eye for an eye", according to what was said on Hydra Island. Juliet was punished for being a traitor by being marked.

Trivia

• Lost producer Damon Lindelof said of the Others, "...they eat chicken, they wear clothes out of the J. Crew catalog."
• In Lost: The Complete Second Season (DVD), the Others' method of leaving no tracks was revealed when a group of 12 Others (the ones seen by Eko and Jin in "...And Found") are seen passing the screen, with the last member brushing off their trail with leaves.
• In Access Granted TPTB state "And the Others... yes, there are other nefarious things the Others are doing in the real world, but, um... we can’t tell you about that yet."

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: The Others/Theories

• What is the ultimate purpose of the Others on the island?
• How do they refer to themselves as a group?
• Why do the Others appear wearing civil clothes sometimes, and barefooted with the dirty primitive cloths some other times?
• Where did they live before moving to the Barracks?
• Are they really "The Good Guys" as Ben claimed?
  • If so What is their motive of the evil attitudes towards the outsiders in the island such like snatching and killing?
• What is their link to Mittelos Bioscience?
• Why did Ben downplay the Swan Station and encourage Locke to let the timer run down?
• How many of them were on the Island when the Purge occurred, and how many have since been brought to the Island?
• On what basis are they recruited?
• How did the Others kidnap Alex?
• Why do they take blood from each of the people they capture?
• Why did the Others leave the Barracks?

See also

• The Hostiles
• O-Missions
• List of Others