The Others in Lost have a history that greatly predates when Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and the rest of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 crash-landed on the island. Not long after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, Jack’s group came to discover that they weren’t alone. They shared the island with a group known as the Others. Led by Ben Linus, the Others provided the main source of conflict for the show’s first three seasons, while also factoring heavily into several other stories as well.

Over the course of the Dharma Initiative which ran various operations on the island, there were also the Others A.K.A. the Hostiles, who originally had a reputation as savages and killers. The Others vastly improved their station on the island when they wiped out the Dharma Initiative and took over their homes and resources in the 1970s. Lost season 5’s time travel story expanded on them a bit more by revealing that they were around as early as the 1950s, which was a time when Charles Widmore and Eloise Hawking were active as .

The Others Are Jacob's Followers Who Were Brought To The Island Before DHARMA & The Plane Crash

Most Of The Others Were Directed To The Island By Jacob

In the world of Lost, the Others act as the arm of Jacob, the Protector of the Island. Made immortal by his mysterious mother and the previous holder of the title, Jacob developed abilities that assisted him in his new role. One of his new powers allowed him to draw people to the island. Typically, these visitors were brought to the island against their will. That included the engers aboard Oceanic Flight 815, which he crashed. But Jack's group were hardly the first victims of Jacob's efforts to bolster the number of people on the island; in fact, Jacob had been recruiting followers for hundreds of years before the plane crash.

The history of the island is littered with incidents in which people were dragged to the island by Jacob, with Desmond being among the many examples. Rather than take them there forcefully, Jacob manipulated events behind-the-scenes in order to ensure that things played out as he wanted them to in Lost. For this reason, the Lost timeline is full of seemingly unrelated accidents, but nearly all share one common denominator - Jacob. Some, like those on Flight 815 were unwitting pawns in the battle between Jacob and the Man in Black, whereas the Others were committed to his cause.

Jacob Crashed Richard's Ship & Made Him Immortal To Recruit The Others

Part Of Richard's Job Was To Recruit Allies For Jacob

As for when Jacob began accumulating allies, that tactic can be traced back to 1867. Richard’s origin story in Lost season 6’s “Ab Aeterno” shed light on both his own past and that of the Others collectively. His flashbacks explained that his time on the island began when his ship, the Black Rock, crashed. Mark Pellegrino's Jacob itted that he caused it to crash so that he could bring people to the island. After agreeing to become immortal, Richard became the first official member of the Others.

Instead of relying solely on his abilities to bring shipwrecked victims to his domain, Jacob allowed Richard to leave the island and recruit people to come him. It’s unclear exactly when Richard was first able to depart the island, but it's at least possible that Richard has been engaged in these activities as far back as the late 19th century. This would explain why the Others were such a large force in the 1950s. Apparently, Richard (and Jacob) had been hard at work and building up their community.

Most were presumably found as a result of Richard and Jacob’s recruitment process that took them off-island on multiple occasions. That was how Richard brought in such as Mikhail, Juliet, and more. Those that he convinced to come to the island started families of their own, thus allowing the Others’ numbers to grow and prosper. That could be how Widmore and Eloise came into the picture, but their backstories (prior to 1954) were never explored on the show.

How The Others' Leaders Are Chosen In Lost

The Others Have Complicated Rules For Picking Their Leaders

Although serving Jacob's interests in Lost was their primary purpose, he didn't communicate with them personally nor did they answer to him directly. Instead, that role was deferred to a designated figure within their ranks. In the hopes that the Others would make good choices on their own, Jacob avoided direct interference, allowing them to be responsible for most of their decision-making. That s for why Richard didn't lead the Others; being the only member who saw and spoke to Jacob, his leadership would amount to interference on Jacob's part.

Rather than lead the Others himself, Richard took a hand in guiding them by helping pick their leaders. Due to the importance of these decisions, they involved great oversight that stretched across decades. This notion is demonstrated by Richard's presence throughout the lives of Ben and Locke. He observed them in their youth, deciding if they had the necessary qualities. This process is generally topped off by a final act in which the would-be leader proves themselves worthy. Locke, for instance, secured the loyalty of the Others by causing the death of Anthony Cooper (even though he didn't commit the deed himself.)

What The Purpose & Goals Of The Others Were On The Island

Jacob Wanted To Stop The Smoke Monster

Ultimately, the goal of the Others was to follow Jacob's will. Due to the mysterious nature of the character, what that was and why certain decisions were made wasn't always clear to the Others. A lack of direct communication with Jacob was a repeated cause of confusion. But whether they all knew it or not, what they were all working toward was the defeat of the Man in Black and the preservation of the energy found within the Heart of the Island.

Raised as brothers, Jacob and the Man in Black had competing interests when it came to the island. Because the Man in Black had entered the Heart of the Island, he had transformed into Lost's smoke monster and in turn, became a danger to anyone around him. Knowing this, Jacob understood he would need help to keep the Man in Black from ever leaving. Doing so called for the Others to limit who could come and go from the island and also control the various goings-on in Lost.

There Are Still Too Many Frustrating Questions About The Others

The Original Inhabitants Of The Island Left Many Lingering Plotholes

Lost was highly acclaimed when it first debuted in 2004. However, by the time it concluded many fans were frustrated by the narrative. There were two key reasons for this - the overcomplexity of the story, and the series still leaving many unanswered questions. The Others were central to many of these frustrations, as there were many aspects of their group that didn't seem to make sense by the time the show concluded. What's more, there were also unanswered questions surrounding The Others by the time the Lost arrived.

From the moment The Others were introduced in Lost there were things about the group that later wouldn't make sense. For example, in the season 3 premiere "A Tale of Two Cities", The Others were shown to be dressing in filthy clothes and living in makeshift shelters. They presented as another group of castaways similar to the Flight 815 survivors. However, as the show went on, it became clear their origins were entirely different. This created questions around why they decided to imitate the living conditions of Jack and his group. It didn't seem to bring them any benefit whatsoever, and would have taken a lot of effort (not to mention sacrifice of comforts) for basically zero gain.

Much of what made The Others so interesting becoming forgotten or sidelined by new developments in later seasons.

Then there are the many traditions and rituals that The Others follow shown in their earlier appearances on Lost that are simply abandoned by the end of the show. For example, they make Kate take a shower and put on a nice dress to dine with Ben in "A Tale of Two Cities", and the reason why her appearing clean is never explained. Then later, in season 3, episode 5, "The Cost of Living", they are all shown wearing special outfits at Colleen's funeral, and they put her body on a raft that's then set alight (similar to the famous Viking tradition). However, while in the episode this was given significant focus and made it seem like The Others had become a tribe with their own belief system, it was never elaborated on again.

These teases that led nowhere around The Others forming their own unique culture while on the Island continued throughout most of season 3. Another example came in episode 9, "Stranger in a Strange Land", when Juliet is captured by The Others and they mark her. Under orders from Ben, The Others brand Juliet with an incredibly distinctive symbol that resembles a star with the central point extending higher than all the others. It clearly meant something to The Others, and Lost made it seem like all would be revealed in due time. Of course this wasn't the case, and to this day the Lost creators still haven't explained what the symbol Juliet was branded with means.

All in all, The Others started out as one of the most intriguing aspects of Lost when they were first introduced. However, like many other parts of the show, they soon became bogged down in the overly complex narrative, with much of what made The Others so interesting becoming forgotten or sidelined by new developments in later seasons.