6 Lost Characters Whose Stories We Still Don't Understand

Summary Lost introduced many characters with unclear and unnecessary storylines, detracting from the central conflicts of the show.

Nikki and Paulo were unpopular characters in Lost, added to shake things up but felt unnecessary and poorly executed.

The ambitious nature of Lost led to unresolved mysteries, confusing character arcs, and a decline in quality over the seasons.

Lost was an ensemble TV show with many intricate character backstories and dynamics, but there were certain characters whose stories remained unclear for the entirety of the show. The supernatural drama series follows the story of a group of plane crash survivors who find themselves on an island that holds more secrets than they could possibly imagine. Lost season 1 is one of the tightest seasons of TV in history, and the pilot had viewers hooked from the very beginning. However, with each passing season, the show became less grounded in reality and more unbelievable for audiences.

Often, these characters served a specific purpose, being used as plot devices rather than existing as fully developed individuals.

The main characters in Lost are the best and worst of the series, and even if their storylines become confusing and contradictory, the series tried to keep some consistency in their traits and origin stories. Most characters with unfinished arcs were introduced later in the series. Often, these characters served a specific purpose, being used as plot devices rather than existing as fully developed individuals. Lost had many timelines and realities to contend with over the years. This made it difficult to remember the importance of each character, and equally easy to forget the ones that didn't make sense.

The wildest twists in Lost involved disruptions of the show's internal logic and canon, so the characters were forgotten about are hardly the biggest faults of the show. However, it's indicative of a larger issue with the series. Lost attempted to tackle too many arcs and incorporate a multitude of characters, which ended up decreasing the quality of the central conflicts and protagonists on the show. Lost revolutionized television in many ways with its famous flash sideways and forward incidents. Due to this, it's impossible to discuss Lost without bringing up the shortcomings of the extremely ambitious series.

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6 Nikki & Paulo

Played by Kiele Sanchez & Rodrigo Santoro

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Few if any audience members were sorry to see Nikki and Paulo's characters killed off on Lost. The pair were always together due to their romantic relationship, so it's only right to discuss their arcs and unnecessary stories in conjunction. After spending several seasons with the cast of Lost, the creators attempted to continue pushing the boundaries of the show by introducing new characters to shake things up and initiate conflict. However, when Nikki and Paulo were created in season 3, they felt more unnecessary than interesting. The island had more pressing issues than their domestic disputes and bland backstories.

However, why they keep the existence of the Pearl Station a secret, as well as the nefarious plans of the Others, from the rest of the survivors, is mysterious.

Though their relationship is largely straightforward, their purpose and any intrigue they might have created make no sense. The pair end up dying because Nikki paralyzes Paulo with a spider bite, and then is accidentally bitten herself. Thinking they're already dead, a few of the other characters bury them alive. It's a gruesome death they didn’t fully deserve. However, why they keep the existence of the Pearl Station a secret, as well as the nefarious plans of the Others, from the rest of the survivors, is mysterious. Nothing in their motivation indicates they have something to gain from these actions.

5 Claire’s Psychic AKA Richard Malkin

Played by Nick Jameson

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Claire (Emilie de Ravin) is one of the most disappointing characters on the show because of how much promise she had, only for her to get pushed to the sidelines. When the audience first meets Claire, she's nearly nine months pregnant and has been traveling from Australia to the U.S. to bring the child to their adoptive parents. In the flashbacks to Claire's past that the show employs for all its characters, she had gone back and forth many times about whether she wanted to keep the baby. During a difficult time, she seeks out a psychic, Richard Malkin.

He gives her a distressing reading and insists that she should keep the baby. However, he then changes his mind and tells her she should go to America, essentially ensuring that she will be in the plane crash and end up on the island. A Lost season 2 deleted scene shows Malkin admitting he didn't have psychic powers, but the fact that it was cut from the show proves the creators didn't want that to be a canonical part of the story. While this omission does make Claire's backstory more mysterious, it leaves Malkin's story open-ended and erodes his importance.

Related 10 Disappointing Lost Mysteries That Seemed Really Important At First Lost was known for continuously introducing new mysteries. By the show's end, mysteries of varying importance weren't resolved in a satisfying manner.

4 Eloise

Played by Fionnula Flanagan

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Time travel comes into play in the later seasons, and several survivors get sent back to when Eloise was a young woman, including her adult son.

Eloise Hawking has a tragic story in Lost, experiencing the consequences of an action she didn't understand for most of her life. Time travel comes into play in the later seasons, and several survivors get sent back to when Eloise was a young woman, including her adult son. Of course, Eloise doesn't know who he is, and shoots him, which leads her to have a strained relationship with him when she gives birth to him in the future. If this crossing of timelines wasn't enough, she appears to have omniscient abilities in season 3, but they rarely come up again.

During a standout episode of the series, season 3, episode 8, "Flashes Before Your Eyes," Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), experiences his life over again, and this time around he encounters Eloise. She knows all about when he reaches the island and insists that he continue down this path or the world will end. Though Eloise does have insight into the future because of her encounter with the survivors in the past, that doesn't explain how she had intimate details surrounding Desmond's life and future. It's also implied she doesn't move on from the flash sideways, which is potentially impossible.

3 Christian Shephard

Played by John Terry

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Jack (Matthew Fox) is one of the most important characters on the show, and though he isn't always the most likable, he has good reason based on his backstory. His father, Christian, is a doctor like Jack, but just before Christian dies, Jack reports him to the medical board for operating on a patient under the influence of alcohol. From there, they become estranged and Christian dies, leading Jack to carry the guilt of his death with him throughout his time on the island. Due to this, the island shows Jack visions of his father during times of crisis.

This comes into play for the worse when the Man In Black, the major antagonist of the series starts to appear to Jack as his father. The rules for whom the Man In Black can take the form of are fuzzy throughout the show, and Christian's story is made all the more confusing since his body is never found. The coffin was on the plane when it crashed, and later Jack discovers it in the jungle, but it's empty. This implies that the body was taken, or that Christian somehow came back to life when his body reached the island.

2 Libby

Played by Cynthia Watros

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Libby spent a lot of time with her fellow survivor, Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez). However, while Ana Lucia was one of the most hated characters on the show, Libby was the most underused. She and Ana Lucia suffered the same fate, dying suddenly at the hands of Michael (Harold Perrineau), because he was being blackmailed by the Others. It was especially shocking because she had been given small flashbacks that showed her providing Desmond with the boat that led him to the island. Their relationship had been progressing in the story, and her death hit Hurley (Jorge Garcia) hard.

One of the biggest unanswered questions was why she spent time in the same mental health facility that Hurley did before they met on the island.

Though Watros makes a few cameos after her character's death, practically nothing is known about her compared to the other main characters. One of the biggest unanswered questions was why she spent time in the same mental health facility that Hurley did before they met on the island. The fact that they were in the same facility comes back in the flash sideways when each character lives out a fantasy version of their life. Learning more about what led her to the island would have given her death an even greater impact, and furthered her connection with the other survivors.

Related 10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Lost, 19 Years Later Lost was hailed as one of the best new TV shows of the millennium when the series debuted, but 19 years later, its many flaws are glaringly obvious.

1 Mr. Eko

Played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

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Mr. Eko has a compelling backstory and could have had an even greater character arc if Lost had given more time to developing him and fleshing out the details of his role. He, like Libby, is one of the survivors from the tail section so he’s introduced in season 2. Despite this, the other characters and audience members quickly warm up to him and become intrigued about his past. Fortunately, Mr. Eko does get a full episode dedicated to a flashback of his life, but his tenure on the series was cut short by a violent death.

When he died in the series, there was still a lot of confusion about the smoke monster, and why the monster killed him wasn’t clear. There are many reasons why Akinnuoye-Agbaje might have been written off the show. However, having him be killed by the monster was a strange choice. The show set up lots of easter eggs and clues about Mr. Eko becoming a major part of the story, especially since he was so concerned with pressing the button in the hatch. Instead of following through, the series let his story fade into the background, forgetting about his legacy.