Benjamin Linus

Alias - Henry Gale
(About the actor: Michael Emerson)

Flashback Episodes: "The Man Behind the Curtain"

Flasforward Episodes: "The Shape of Things to Come"

Appears in Juliet's flashback in "One of Us". Appears in Sayid's flashforward in "The Economist."

Who he is: Originally claimed to be a stranded hot air balloon enthusiast named Henry Gale, his real name is Benjamin Linus. He is a main leader of the Others, but someone named Jacob seems to have more power than him.

Hails from: Was born 23 miles outside of Portland, Oregon on December 22 in the early 1960s. Later moved to the island when his dad needed work.

Big secrets:

• He wasn't born on the Island

• His father was Roger the Workman, whose body was found in the van by Hurley, Jin and Sawyer.
• I believe that Jacob is Roger, a very strong spirit captured and stuck on the island. Some how Locke helped him, and has now developed a relationship. Now, Locke has the same spiritual gift, but can function outside the cabin. Just mystic thoughts.

• He and his father came to the Island when his father got a job working for the Dharma Initiative.

• Ben killed his father and decided to leave his remains out at the Mesa.

• Through his flashbacks and talks with John Locke we learn the Dharma Initiative was on the Island for research, but encountered a group that we know as the "Others" but whom Dharma Initiative referred to as the "Hostiles." Ben refers to the "Others" as the Islands original inhabitants." And he also referred to the lethal gas attack on the Dharma Initiative as a "purging."

• He sees dead people.
• Like some of the Losties-Jack, Eko, Shannon, Sayid, Kate, etc.- a young Ben sees something/someone in the jungle that seems impossible. In Ben's case, it was his mother who died shortly after giving birth to him.
• Also it could be a trait of the Island speaking to these people through familiar faces.
  

• Ben claims to be the only person who can communicate with Jacob because Jacob trusts him. Yet, apparently, an unseen Jacob pleaded for Locke to help him.

As we learned in "A Tale of Two Cities", Ben is the one who directed Ethan and Goodwin to penetrate the Lostie's and Tailie's groups.

Henry, as he was known then, was first captured by Danielle Rousseau in a net, and was then taken to The Swan station for questioning. Sayid tried to torture him into telling him the truth about his life. When that did not work to Sayid's satisfaction, Ana Lucia asked for a map to the balloon, which is where the real Henry Gale's grave was discovered.

Throughout the second season, Fenry (short for Fake Henry, as fans affectionately renamed him) got underneath Locke's skin, pointing out the leadership conflicts between Locke and Jack. Furthermore, in "Dave," Ben begins to make Locke question his faith about pushing the limits. This eventually causes Locke's decision not to push the button and the hatch implosion that happens there after.

We discovered that Fenry was someone very important to The Others in "Three Minutes" when we saw that the reason they had released Michael was to let Fenry escape and bring four Losties to them. After his escape, when we next saw Fenry, the tables had been switched and this former captive was now the captor of Jack, Kate and Sawyer.

As The Others began to systematically break the trio (for purposes still unknown), bits were revealed about Fenry. His real name is Benjamin Linus. He claims he has spent his entire life on the island. He appears to be the leader of The Others, but there is a definite power struggle. We finally find out his endgame when he reveals to Jack that two days before Flight 815 crashed on the island, Ben (or Fenry, in his new affectionate nickname) discovered that he had a spinal tumor and that, coincidentally, there was a highly skilled spinal surgeon on that plane that crashed--Jack. Kate convinced Jack to remove his tumor so Sawyer would not be killed. Jack held Ben hostage on the operating table to get the release of Kate and Sawyer. Jack eventually finished Ben's surgery at the request of Juliet. When she was later going to be executed, Jack talked to Ben about his infection, and Ben asked for leniency (she was marked instead) so Jack helped with Ben's infection.

Interesting Facts:

• Henry Gale was the name of Dorothy's uncle from The Wizard of Oz. And Henry Gale Minnesota is an anagram for See An Other Man Lying .
• The Wizard of OZ also involves someone stranded in a strange place because of a balloon accident - the Wizard.