One of the best Lost characters was inspired by a Stephen King hero, and I can never see him the same way again. Airing from 2004-2010, Lost became a popular culture phenomenon and forever changed television with its high-concept and mystery-box storytelling approach. Across all six seasons, there was no shortage of mysteries to keep audiences hooked, and these storylines were further enriched by Lost's well-developed characters.

With the premise of Stephen King's The Stand, which inspired a key character and much of the overall series.

Charlie Was Inspired By Larry Underwood From Stephen King's The Stand

The Struggling Musicians Went On To Become Heroic Survivors

As per Entertainment Weekly, Lost's Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) was partly inspired by The Stand's Larry Underwood. Both Charlie and Larry were musicians who were primarily known for a single hit. For Charlie, it was the song "You All Everybody" performed by his band, Drive Shaft, and for Larry, it was the song "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?" Charlie and Larry lost sight of the music and became consumed by drugs and partying, which landed them in trouble. However, everything changed after the Oceanic Flight 815 crash and after the outbreak of the superflu.

Charlie and Larry went from being struggling, self-loathing, one-hit wonder musicians to becoming heroic leaders.

On the island, Charlie became one of the most important survivors. He demonstrated leadership qualities and helped the group survive and stay sane on more than one occasion. In post-apocalyptic America, Larry ended up in the Boulder Free Zone, where he proved to be invaluable in rebuilding civilization and opposing the evils of Randall Flagg. Charlie and Larry went from being struggling, self-loathing, one-hit wonder musicians to becoming heroic leaders.

Charlie's Tragic Ending Reflects Larry Underwood's Sacrifice In The Stand

They Sacrifice Themselves For The Greater Good

One of Lost's biggest twists was Charlie dying in the season 3 finale "Through the Looking Glass." He sacrificed himself to give his fellow survivors a better chance of escaping the island and used his final moments to warn them that the freighter did not belong to Penny Widmore (Sonya Walger). Larry also died by sacrificing himself for the greater good and to save his peers as he went on a mission to confront and destroy Flagg, and this ultimately cost Larry his life.

Charlie and Larry had some of the best character development in Lost and The Stand, which made their sacrifices all the more heartbreaking and impactful. Their sacrifices were even more emotional when thinking about how both characters undertook dangerous missions, knowing they probably would not survive. Because of what Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) told him, Charlie knew he likely would not come back from the Looking Glass station and Larry knew he likely would not come back from Las Vegas, but this did not stop either of them from taking heroic action.

The Stand & Lost's Survival Stories Have More Similarities

The Survivors Divide Into Factions

The strong parallels between Charlie and Larry were not the only meaningful similarities between Lost and The Stand. Whether it was being stranded on a mysterious island or the world being ravaged by a global epidemic, both stories revolved around a group of survivors who had to figure out how to survive and to rebuild society after their worlds were forever upended. Both stories featured the survivors splitting up into multiple factions, which in The Stand meant rallying around Mother Abagail in Boulder or Flagg in Las Vegas.

The superflu epidemic killed 99% of the world's population in The Stand.

In Lost, Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) and John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) developed their own factions, but the divide went far deeper and existed far longer with the conflict between Jacob (Mark Pellegrino) and the Man in Black (Titus Welliver). During some of Flagg's appearances in other Stephen King books, he was even referred to as the Man in Black. Flagg and Lost's The Man in Black had supernatural abilities and reveled in manipulating others, while Mother Abagail and Jacob opposed them, although Mother Abagail was a more righteous and less flawed individual than Jacob.

The character of Walt Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley) felt like he belonged in a King novel as well. From Carrie White to Danny Torrance, many of King's characters have been children or teenagers with "special" abilities ranging from telekinesis to the shining. The Others kidnapping Walt felt exactly like something that would happen in a King book, with there already being quite a few stories of characters being taken or hunted because of their special abilities.

Why Stephen King's Influence On Lost Is So Important To Its Story

Character-Driven Storytelling Is Prioritized

From the multiverse in The Dark Tower series to Pennywise in It, King's books include many supernatural and fantastical concepts. None of those concepts would have worked if not for the characters, though. What made The Dark Tower so compelling and easy to invest in were characters like Roland Deschain, Jake Chambers, Eddie Dean, and Susannah Dean. The same was true for It and the character work done with Bill Denbrough, Mike Hanlon, Beverly Marsh, and the rest of the Losers Club.

Lost took a similar approach to King by having supernatural and fantastical concepts while always putting its characters first. This character-driven approach was enhanced by having almost every episode primarily focused on a specific character, with flashbacks, flash forwards, and flash sideways scenes intertwined with their stories on the island. Moments like Charlie's sacrifice in the season 3 finale resonated just as strongly, and arguably even stronger than Larry's death in The Stand, because of all the time the show spent on getting to know and care about his character.

Lost and The Stand had survivors locked in a battle of biblical proportions between good and evil, but the stories stayed grounded through the relatable, flawed, and deeply human characters.

Lost and The Stand had survivors locked in a battle of biblical proportions between good and evil, but the stories stayed grounded through the relatable, flawed, and deeply human characters. This is a balance that many stories strive for, but that few other than Lost and King's books have been able to successfully achieve. Their respective concepts can be outlandish at times, but they still managed to have mass appeal, with the character-first approach being integral to making them beloved stories that continue to endure.

Source: EW