Black smoke

There are probably several things that are referred to as "black smoke", although they could have a connection.

According to Rousseau about a week after her child Alex was born there was a plume of black smoke on the far side of the island, and not long after the Others came and took her away
Another plume of black smoke was spotted on the far side of the island just before Rousseau kidnapped Claire's son Aaron

Mr. Eko facing the black smoke and some of the flashes

The monster is a moving plume of black smoke. However it is speculated that the monster is in fact made of smartdust. (This has later been dismissed by the producers.)
It was seen in Exodus: Part 2 when Locke was almost dragged into a hole.
It has since been seen in The 23rd Psalm where it confronted Mr. Eko
The black smoke that Mr. Eko (and probably earlier John Locke) faced, has a unique ability: It produces flashes of images, presumably from Mr. Eko's past. This may represent some sort of flashbacks or memories rather than physical images in the smoke. These memories seem to all be major events in Mr. Eko's life. An (incomplete) list of the images are:
- The church of Yemi, Mr. Eko's brother. It is located in the hometown of Mr. Eko
- Possibly a (black) woman?
- Mr. Eko walking out of the ocean onto the island
- The figure of Jesus on the cross that was behind the altar in the church of Yemi, Mr. Eko's brother
- The old, white-haired black man, Mr. Eko shot when he was young
- Mr. Eko's brother in the moment he was shot (and probably died)
- A black kid with something that looks like a gun, probably Mr. Eko's brother in the very moment, Mr. Eko decided to shoot the old man in his home village to take the burden away from his brother.

Most of the images seem to have made an appearance in the flashbacks of the Episode "The 23rd Psalm"

See Theories section under The Security System.

Reminiscent of Rover, the weather balloon enforcer from the Village on the BBC television series The Prisoner.

Contents