The Monster
From LOST
The monster is an inhabitant of the island that uproots trees and appears to kill Seth Norris in Pilot - Part 1. In The 23rd Psalm its appearance, a cloud of moving black smoke, is revealed.
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[edit] Pilot - Part 1
On day one, the survivors witnessed trees being trampled and heard disturbing noises emanating from the jungle.
The next day, the survivors gather around with each other to discuss what they had seen and heard the previous night, and Rose states that the sounds that it made were very familiar to her. When Jack, Kate, and Charlie make their way to the cockpit of the plane which is found deep in the jungle, they uncover Seth Norris, the pilot, alive. When the noises heard the previous night occur once more, the curious Pilot takes a look out the window to see what is happening and is ripped from the cockpit, leaving a smear of blood on the window; his body is later discovered lodged in the canopy by Kate, Charlie, and Jack.
[edit] Walkabout
Locke comes face to face with the monster in Walkabout, while hunting boar in the jungle with Kate and Michael. The monster is not shown; we see only Locke's expression, which runs from horror through to a curious delight and possibly recognition.
Locke denies having caught a glimpse of the monster when asked by Michael later that night. However, in a conversation which may be a reference to the monster, Locke later tells Jack that he had looked into the eye of the island, and that what he saw was "beautiful".
We also hear the "sound" of the monster in the scene transition between Locke typing at the desk, and the island, coming from Locke's typewriter.
[edit] Boone’s vision of Shannon’s Death
After Boone was tied up by Locke in the jungle, Locke applied a salve to the back of Boone’s head where he had previously struck him with the blunt end of his knife to render him unconscious. While attempting to free himself, Boone hears Shannon screaming for help, and then the sounds of the Monster. Boone manages to free himself after reaching the knife and rushes to free Shannon. The two of them hide in a grouping of trees until the “Monster” had retreated.
The Monster would however, return once again and grab Shannon up into the air and administer a series of slices and stabs similar to those found on Seth's body. Boone later finds Shannon’s body and returns to the camp where he attempts to murder Locke, but learns that what he saw was just a vision that the island provided him with.
[edit] It’s a “Security System”
In Exodus - Part 1, while traveling to the Black Rock to obtain dynamite, the group is met once more by the “Monster”. The group is warned of its presence by Arzt who is frantically screaming and running for his life. Rousseau, Jack and Kate hide in a gathering of bamboo, while Locke and Hurley remain perfectly still, and wait for it to proceed away. When Kate asks Rousseau what it was, Rousseau explains that it’s a security system designed to protect the island. It appears that Benjamin can control the black smoke from somewhere within the island (as evidenced by the secret passage in his house) (seen in episode s04e09).
[edit] Living Smoke
What appears to be “living smoke” - or at least, smoke that moves in a most unnatural way - is first seen briefly in Exodus - Part 2 when the survivors are heading through the Dark Territory back to the hatch with the dynamite they had retrieved. Kate and Jack witness the smoke quickly pass by, and then the group sees trees being uprooted and begin to run away. Locke stays behind, curious to see what he will see.
When a tree near him is uprooted, we see a close-up of Locke’s face which definitely informs us that he is frightened. Locke is then pulled by the black smoke for several feet and is almost dragged underground but is saved by Jack who grabs him. Kate throws a stick of dynamite down the hole, and the “Monster” emerges behind them, and quickly heads back into the jungle.
We finally see the smoke properly, and learn that the smoke is also the monster, in The 23rd Psalm, in which Mr. Eko faces down the smoke while Charlie looks on. Eko stares deep into the smoke and sees flashes of his past revealed to him.
[edit] Images in the smoke
Inside the smoke, Eko is flashed with several visions of his past, these included:
- The Church from Yemi and Eko's village
- A Nigerian Woman with a headdress
- The old man from Nigeria which Eko shot as a child.
- Yemi as a child
- Eko emerging from the water after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 from The Other 48 Days
- The Thug Captain who wanted Yemi to shoot the old man.
- A Nigerian Woman
- Eko holding Yemi's body in Nigeria after Yemi was shot.
- A Crucifix
These images seem to symbolize things that he had great difficulty dealing with from his past, or instances which lead him to the island. They are also images which show the chain of events which caused Eko to follow his path down the dark road to becoming a war lord in Nigeria, to the airport where Yemi was shot, and eventually on Flight 815 and onto the island.
[edit] The Cost of Living
The black smoke makes another appearance in the episode The Cost of Living as a delirious Eko makes his way through the jungle. Immediately following the creature's appearance, Eko begins to hallucinate about people from his past. Later, as Eko is drinking from a stream, the smoke gathers over his head, but it quickly retreats when Eko turns to face it. Locke later questions Eko about what he saw, informing Eko that he has seen it too. Locke describes it as a very bright light. Eko tells Locke that this is not what he saw. Eko would then follow a vision of his brother Yemi to a clearing where he would refuse to confess to any sin. The Yemi specter grew angry, saying, "You speak to me as if I were your brother," before storming back into the jungle. Eko followed, only to be confronted by the black smoke, once again. The monster then picked Eko up off the ground and beat him repeatedly against several trees before slamming back into the ground. Eko lived long enough to warn Locke and his companions that they were next.
[edit] Flashes and Fences
In "Left Behind", when Kate and Juliet woke up handcuffed together in the jungle, they had two encounters with the monster. The first occured that night. Shortly after a fight, in which Kate dislocated Juliet's arm, they heard the noises of the monster approaching. Kate sprang into action, dragging Juliet along through the jungle, eventually finding a clump of trees to hide in. The monster followed them to their hiding place. A series of four bright flashes washed over the two women, and then the monster abruptly left. Juliet claimed never to have seen the monster before. The next day, while the two were walking back to the barracks, they heard the monster approaching a second time. This time, Juliet lead the way, bringing them to the sonar fence. Juliet urged Kate to go through, but Kate refused, remembering what the fence did to Mikhail. Juliet then unlocked their handcuffs and rushed over to the other side of the fence, entering in a code on a control panel that lifted away to reveal the power switch. Juliet warned Kate that she would want to be on her side of the fence. Kate crossed over just before Juliet turned it on. The monster arrived at just that moment and slammed in to the now active fence. Unable to get through, it retreated back into the jungle. Afterward, Juliet admitted to Kate that The Others had no idea what the monster was, but they did know that it disliked their fence.
