Ben Linus

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 [for Ben]. 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

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A young Ben arrives on the island.

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 Initiative 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.

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.

Ben watches Oceanic Flight 815 crash.

2 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

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 travels to the survivors' camp to retrieve Locke (at least thats what he tells Locke later), when he is caught in one of Rousseau's traps. He assumes the identity of Henry Gale, originally from Minnesota, and tries to convince Sayid of his innocence. As he is released, he attempts to flee, only to be shot in the shoulder with a crossbow by Rousseau. He is taken into the hatch, where he is treated by Jack. Ben is locked in the armory, where he is interrogated and tortured regularly by Sayid. Ben's presence remains a secret from the rest of the camp, with the exception of Sayid, Jack and Locke. However, Ben is seen to by Mr. Eko, who admits to killing two of Ben's men before leaving. Whenever questioned, Ben uses the alibi that he works for a mining company, and crashed on the island via hot air balloon with his late wife, whom he buried near the balloon crash site.

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Ben, as "Henry Gale", imprisoned in the Hatch.

Later, Ben is visited by Ana Lucia, to which he draws her a map to the balloon. Soon after she leaves, he is let out of the armory and fed by Locke and Jack. Ben tells them of Ana Lucia's leave, resulting in his brief freedom being cut short. Later, when Locke is left to guard the hatch, Ben is released during the lockdown phase, and assists Locke in ensuring the timer doesn't run out. Ben climbs through the ventilation shaft into the computer room, but upon returning claims never to have touched anything. Ben had earned Locke's trust, but is soon broken when Sayid, Ana Lucia and Charlie arrive to expose him as a fraud, having found the body of the real Henry Gale, an African-American whose identity Ben presumably stole, buried at the balloon's crash site. Ben is quickly returned to the armory, where he is severely interrogated by Sayid. He is spared from death when Ana Lucia stops Sayid from shooting him. Ben goes into a state of isolation, refusing to eat or speak to almost everyone. He does however talk to Locke, but it mostly consisted of him taunting Locke about the Swan being a joke to his people and constantly ridiculing him. It is only after Ana Lucia pays him a visit that he becomes vocal again, nearly throttling her to death in revenge for her killing some of his friends earlier until Locke intervenes. He is finally released when Michael, on orders from the Others so he can get his son back (who was previously kidnapped by them) shoots himself in the arm and kills Ana Lucia and Libby.

Ben leaves and arrives at the Others' fake camp, where he organizes the capture of Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley. Upon their success, Ben and the Others take them, as well as Michael, to the pier. Keeping the Others' earlier promise, Ben reunites Michael with his son Walt, and gives him a boat and some coordinates to freedom, telling him that the Others are the 'good guys'. He releases Hurley, and asks him to tell the rest of his camp never to come looking for them. After witnessing the island being enveloped in a violet glow, brought on by the hatch's implosion, he takes Jack, Kate and Sawyer on board their submarine.

Season 3

Ben gives Juliet the task of interrogating Jack, while he and Kate have breakfast that morning. He tells her that the next two weeks will be "very unpleasant," before sending her into the cages with Sawyer. He watches the three of them via surveillance. Ben orders Colleen to seize Desmond's boat from Sayid, Sun and Jin. He later shows Jack events that have taken place off-island since his arrival. However, at the funeral of Colleen, Ben scolds Juliet for allowing Jack to see his x-rays. He admits to Jack about having a tumor on his spine, and begs him to remove it for him, to which he refuses at first; Jack later agrees to operate on Ben. On the operating table, Ben is sedated, but wakes up moments after Jack severs his kidney sack and reveals Juliet's plans. He bargains with Juliet to help free Kate and Sawyer in exchange for her own freedom, and Ben's operation is finished.

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Jack with Ben on the operating table.

Later, Ben puts Juliet on trial for killing Pickett. Ben's surgical scar becomes infected, and is forced to spare Juliet when Jack refuses to examine him. Instead of facing execution, Ben orders for Juliet to be branded for her crime instead. He returns to the barracks with the rest of the Others, with Jack in tow. Ben is confined to a wheelchair upon returning. He is confronted by Locke when he, Kate and Sayid arrive, and holds Alex at gunpoint. Ben takes Locke to the submarine, and is relieved when it is destroyed. He takes Locke to a room, where Anthony Cooper is held captive. Ben then offers Locke the opportunity to depart with the Others, to which he accepts. They leave the next morning, and set up camp in a large clearing in the jungle. Once there, he tells Locke that he can only join the Others once he has killed Cooper. Ben jeers and belittles Locke when he is unable to commit murder, and orders the Others to move on without him. Ben is mortified when Locke finds them again, presenting him with Cooper's corpse.

Ben is forced to take Locke to meet Jacob, much to the Others' shock. Upon arriving at an isolated cabin, Ben warns Locke not to use his flashlight inside. Ben introduces Locke to Jacob, but only Ben is capable of seeing him. Locke does however hear Jacob say "Help me", which Locke thinks that Ben said it. When Locke shines his flashlight at him, Ben tries to calm Jacob when he erupts with anger. The next morning, Ben takes Locke to a pit filled with long-deceased DHARMA members. Upon revealing that he is the only survivor of the DHARMA Initiative, Ben shoots Locke and leaves him for dead in the pit because he heard Jacob and had become far too much of a threat. He returns to the Others' camp, where he orders Pryce and Tom to invade the camp early, and also tells Richard to lead the remaining Others to the "Temple." Ben takes Alex with him as he attempts to intercept Jack at the radio tower, where he tells her that he is "delivering her to her new family." Upon meeting Jack and the rest of his group, he tricks him into thinking that Sayid, Jin and Bernard are dead in order to get the satellite phone that Jack is carrying. Ben claims that if Jack contacts the freighter that every single person on the Island would die, but Jack doesn't believe him. Ben is beaten and taken hostage, and forced to join them at the radio tower. Ben begs Jack not to contact Naomi's freighter, a desire that nearly comes to pass when Locke kills Naomi. Ben desperately pleads with Locke to shoot Jack, but Locke could not, it is later revealed his gun was empty; the freighter was contacted.

Season 4

Ben continues to be a prisoner of the castaways. As the group divides in two, Ben (with Jack's permission) joins Locke's group, which leaves the cockpit and sets out for the Barracks. In episode two he continues to taunt Sawyer and Locke. Ben then steals Karl's gun and shoots Charlotte twice in the chest. When she survives due to a bullet proof vest, Locke and Sawyer decide to kill Ben after Locke asks him what the monster is. He responds " I don't know." However before they can kill him he reveals that the people on the freighter are there to find him and reveals personal information about the crew including the names of Miles, Daniel, and Frank. Finally when asked how he knows all of this he responds "because I have a man on their boat."

More information is found out about Ben, when Sayid discovers a secret hideaway behind a bookshelf, in his house at The Barracks. The hideaway appears to be an office style room with a number of clothes hanging in the awnings. A bunch of metal cases are stacked on a shelf in one corner, and a desk occupies the centre of the room. Sayid searches the desk to discover one drawer full of foreign bank notes and another full of passports from several different countries, all of which undoubtedly belong to Ben, under different aliases, including "Dean Moriarty" (the camera pans to Ben's photo within the Swiss passport).

After the island

It is revealed that after the events of the island Ben recruits Sayid as his personal assassin and has him eliminate several people. During a botched mission in Berlin, Sayid is injured and meets Ben at an animal hospital to be treated and debriefed. Ben tells Sayid that he has to kill these people to keep his friends safe, who are presumably his fellow castaways.

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 (which is the manner in which Ben's alias, 'Henry Gale', also 'arrived' on the island) and was worshipped 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'.

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. In 2007, Michael Emerson was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Ben in the 2006-07 season, losing out in the end to fellow Lost cast member Terry O'Quinn.