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Template:Infobox Lost character Benjamin "Ben" Linus is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Michael Emerson. He is the de facto antagonist and leader of the group known as "the Others." During the second season he was known by the alias "Henry Gale." In the second season, the character was a recurring guest although for the third season his status was elevated to main cast. Michael Emerson has stated that "I have full sympathy . I believe he has a mission and an agenda that he hasn’t shared with us yet. The survival of the earth may depend on Ben’s work, so it justifies his ruthless behavior. Maybe I’m just fantasizing or deluding myself."

Fictional character biography

Prior to his arrival on the island

Ben Linus, one of the Others, claims to have been born on and lived on the island his entire life; however, this is a lie — he was actually born in the U.S., 32 miles from Portland, Oregon. His parents were Roger and Emily Linus. Emily went into labor only 7 months into the pregnancy during a walk in the woods and died from the complications that arose. With her dying words, she asked Roger to name their baby Benjamin. Several years after Ben's birth it is mentioned his father had difficulty finding work and was offered a job on the island from a man named Horace Goodspeed, a passerby who found and helped Roger and Emily soon after Ben's birth.

On the island, prior to the crash

In his early years on the island, his father worked as a janitor, or a "Work Man" for the DHARMA Initiative. Ben was very introverted, and not only had to deal with his father's frustration in his lowly position, but also with his father's disdain towards him, blaming Ben for the death of Emily. Roger would continually forget Ben's birthday, as it was also the day Emily died. Ben befriended Annie, a girl his age whom he seemed to have feelings for. For his birthday, Annie showed Ben two woodcarving dolls she made of each other. Annie gave him the woodcarving doll of herself and kept the one of Ben, so they would always be together. Ben would keep his doll all the way to adulthood.

After hearing hurtful words from his father on his birthday, in which he was blamed for his mother's death, Ben ran off towards the jungle where he had a vision of his mother. As he was about to cross the sonic fence, she stopped him, saying it was not time. He escaped the confines of the settlement at a later date in pursuit of his mother, but met Richard Alpert instead, one of the presumed "hostiles" that fought with the DHARMA Initiative. Ben expressed his hatred for the DHARMA Initative and asked to join with the hostiles. Richard offered to take him into their group, but told Ben to be very, very patient.

Many years later, Ben became a Work Man himself. On Ben's birthday Roger forgets again but offers that he and Ben have a father-son talk up on a mesa before delivering a shipment of beer to the Pearl Station. At the mesa, Roger tells his son that he will try and remember his birthday next year, but Ben tells his father that his patience is up — he puts on a gas mask and drops a canister of poison gas into the van, killing his father. When Ben returns to the Barracks, he finds every DHARMA Initiative member dead from poison gas, including Horace. Horace's body is the only one that Ben seems to show respect for by closing Horace's dead eyes personally. The "hostiles" enter the Barracks and Ben joins them. They buried the bodies afterwards in a mass grave and presumably then took up residence in the Barracks. Ben decides to leave his father's corpse where it is (Roger's skeleton, along with the van and beer, is found many years later by Hurley in "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead").

Ben appears to have become the de facto leader of the Others, although Juliet claims that the Others make their decisions as a group. Ben obviously holds a position of authority among the Others, since he is the only of the few who can interact with the mysterious Jacob. He is a former member of the Others' book club.

Two days before the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, Ben discovers he has a spinal tumor. After he witnesses the crash, he commands Goodwin to investigate the tail portion, and Ethan to investigate the fuselage. The revelation that a spinal surgeon, Jack Shephard, crashed on the island two days after Ben learned that he is dying of a spinal tumor gives him hope that his life can be saved.

Following the crash

In a flashback from "Exposé," along the timeline of "What Kate Did," Ben and Juliet enter the Pearl station, where they watch Jack from one of the monitors. He tells Juliet that he plans to kidnap him, to which she asks how he will achieve this. He explains that he will get Jack to perform surgery on him by using his methods of persuasion. He explains to Juliet that he will find out about an emotional struggle in his life and exploit it; he also says that this is how he always persuades someone to do something for him. When asked by Juliet how they are going to capture him, Ben claims that he won't capture him and that they will get Jack to come to them through Michael. They leave shortly after, leaving behind a radio that is picked up by Paulo soon after.

Season 2

Ben makes his way to the survivors' camp when he is caught in one of Rousseau's traps. Under the alias of Henry Gale from Minnesota, he attempts to convince Sayid that he crashed on the island with his wife via hot air balloon. When he is freed from the trap, Ben attempts to flee, only to be shot in the shoulder by Rousseau's crossbow. Sayid takes him back to the hatch, where he is kept in the emptied armory ("One of Them"). Jack and Locke make a conscious decision to keep Ben a secret from the other survivors, but Mr. Eko visits him and gives his confession before leaving ("Maternity Leave"). Ben is interrogated on a regular basis, but sticks with the story that he works for a mining company, and that his wife died of an illness and is buried near the balloon crash site.

During his time in captivity, he notices tensions between Jack and Locke in particular, and uses this to his advantage, often making remarks and comparing the two. He remains secretive when questioned by Jack, Locke and Sayid, but when Ana Lucia is brought in, he exhibits a friendly nature, which is then given in return. He draws her a map to the crashed balloon, and informs Jack and Locke later that day ("The Whole Truth"). Jack leaves the hatch, placing Locke under guard. However, when the blast doors close, Locke frees Ben in exchange for his assistance, especially when his leg is pinned beneath one of the doors. Ben climbs through the ventilation shaft into the computer room, but when he climbs back through, he claims never to have touched the computer. He earns Locke's trust for a brief moment before he is exposed as an imposter by Sayid ("Lockdown").

Sayid threatens to kill Ben if he doesn't reveal the truth about the Others, to which Ben explains he can't reveal anything without being killed by 'Him', whom Ben describes as a "great and brilliant man". Ana Lucia stops Sayid from shooting him ("Dave"). Ben also intimidates Locke further by elaborating on not pushing the button, commenting that it is merely a joke and that the hatch is of no important to the Others. He goes into complete isolation, refusing to eat or speak to anyone, except for telling Jack that the Others will never surrender Walt ("S.O.S.").

The next day, Ana Lucia attempts to break through to him, but Ben almost throttles her to death, only to be knocked out by Locke. Seeking revenge, Ana Lucia attempts to shoot him, but is unable to bring herself to do it. When Michael shoots her and Libby, Michael frees Ben and shoots himself in the arm ("Two for the Road"). Ben escapes, leaving no trail behind, and returns to the Others ("?"). After the Others capture Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley, Ben has them taken to a pier, where he allows Michael to sail home with Walt, and also takes Jack, Kate and Sawyer away with them ("Live Together, Die Alone").

Season 3

Ben assigned Juliet to interrogate Jack, while he prepares breakfast for Kate, explaining that the next two weeks will be unbearable. He observes Jack, Kate and Sawyer via surveillance monitors in the Hydra station ("A Tale of Two Cities"). Later, Colleen informs Ben of Sayid's possession of a sailboat. Ben orders her to seize the boat. He also speaks with Jack, revealing his true identity, and also showing Jack a series of events that have occurred since the crash ("The Glass Ballerina"). After Colleen flatlines during surgery the next day, Ben takes Jack to the funeral that night. He then speaks with Juliet regarding his x-rays ("Every Man for Himself"). He pleads with Jack to operate on him, but at first is unsuccessful. However, he eventually agrees, and Ben is sedated on the operating table while Jack operates ("I Do").

Jack suddenly severs Ben's kidney sack, giving him an hour until he bleeds to death. Ben wakes up mid-operation, learns of Juliet's plans, and summons her. He tells her he will let her go if she helps Kate and Sawyer escape. Jack proceeds to finish the operation when Kate informs him of their safety ("Not in Portland"). Ben's health stabilizes, but the scar requires medical attention. Jack refuses to examine him unless he secures Juliet's safety from her inevitable fate after shooting Pickett. He writes a note to Tom, requesting Juliet be branded instead. The Others leave and return to their base that night ("Stranger in a Strange Land"). Since returning, Ben is confined to a wheelchair. When Locke, Sayid and Kate infiltrate their barracks, Locke purposely seeks out Ben ("The Man from Tallahassee").

Locke demands Ben takes him to the submarine, to which he reluctantly obeys, but orders Tom and Richard to bring someone to him. After Locke destroys the submarine, Ben reveals that he expected it, and takes Locke to a room where, tied up and gagged inside, is Anthony Cooper, Locke's father. Ben warns him not to ungag him, but instead invites him to leave with them. The next day, he has Kate knocked out with nerve gas, and instructs Juliet to infiltrate the survivors' beach in order to gain information on the residing women ("Left Behind") ("One of Us"). The Others set up camp in the middle of the jungle, with Anthony tied to a pillar. That night, Ben instructs Locke to kill him, attracting a crowd of intruiged Others. However, Ben jeers Locke when he is unable to do it. Soon after, Ben leads the Others onwards, leaving Locke and Anthony behind ("The Brig").

Ben tells Locke that he will leave a trail, and will expect him after he kills his father. Ben is shocked when Locke arrives the next day, carrying Anthony's corpse. As promised, Ben decides to inform Locke about the island's mysteries, but Locke requests to go and see Jacob, much to everyone's shock. Left with no alternative, Ben begrudgingly takes Locke to an isolated cabin the jungle, where he introduces him to Jacob. However, only Ben is capable of physically seeing him, and is seeing bickering with, from Locke's perspective, a normal wooden chair. Locke is unimpressed and, despite earlier warnings, shines his flashlight at Ben, causing a violent eruption from Jacob. After Ben manages to calm him, he reveals to Locke about his true origins - how he was never born on the island, and that he is the last remaining member of the DHARMA initiative. He then shoots Locke and leaves him to die in a pit of corpses ("The Man Behind the Curtain").

Upon returning to camp, Ben tells Richard to lead the Others to their destination, while he and Alex head off to intercept the hike to the radio tower. He also instructs Tom and a group of Others to invade the beach that night and kidnap all the women. As Ben and Alex head off, they eventually encounter Jack leading the survivors to the radio tower. Ben takes Jack aside and tricks him to believing that the captive Sayid, Jin and Bernard have been killed, in an attempt to stop Jack from reaching the tower. This only results in him being beaten and taken hostage, where he introduces Alex to her biological mother - Rousseau. Ben is tied to a tree outside the tower, and is forced to witness Jack make contact with Naomi's boat ("Through the Looking Glass").

Literary parallels

• Henry Gale is Dorothy’s Uncle Henry in "The Wizard of Oz", but only named so in the 1939 film adaptation. “The Wizard" of Oz originally arrived in Oz by way of hot air balloon and was worshiped as a great wizard but in reality was a fraud. Before Oz, “The Wizard" was a traveling magician.
• In another Wizard of Oz reference, the first episode centric to Ben is called "The Man Behind the Curtain". In the episode, Locke accuses Ben of being like the Wizard, putting forth the mythical Jacob as his people's leader while, Locke believes, Ben truly runs things from 'behind the curtain'.
• In The Bible, Benjamin was the son of Jacob. In the Lost episode "The Man Behind the Curtain", Benjamin Linus said he was the deputy of the Lost character Jacob.
• In The Bible, Benjamin's mother Rachel died of complications from Benjamin's birth, and with her last breath she named him Ben-oni, which means "son of my pain" (although his father changed it to Benyamin, or Benjamin). This is similar to what happens with Benjamin Linus in the Lost episode "The Man Behind the Curtain".

Cast notes

• Michael Emerson was originally contracted to appear in just three episodes of Lost but the producers were so impressed by him that they contracted him for a further five episodes (making eight in total). In season 3, he is a regular cast member.

References

1. The Boston Globe (August 4, 2006), Back to the land of the 'Lost', boston.com

• Lost (TV series) characters
• Fictional con artists
• Fictional murderers
• Fictional mass murderers
• Fictional characters from Oregon