The smoke on the island is a living, almost breathing entity and swirls around in the jungle tearing up trees, and generally striking fear into the hearts of the Islanders who encounter it. The smoke has made periodic appearances, with its first appearance (unseen) when a loud noise and the crashing of palm trees is heard from the jungle. It also has the ability to project images of someones past. Both Ben and Juliet claim to know nothing about the Monster, but Ben was able to "summon" it to attack the mercenaries attacking the Barracks.

On the fifth day on the Island Locke ventures in the jungle to hunt boar, and finds himself face to face with the monster. Later, during Season One, in Exodus II, while Locke, Jack, Hurley, and Kate are carrying the dynamite they found at the Black Rock, the monster appears. As they carefully make their way back through the jungle, the smoke Monster descends upon Locke and he falls to the ground. The Monster pulls him through the jungle and into a hole, and after a nasty tug of war, Kate releases the Monster's hold on Locke by throwing dynamite down the hole. Before this whole chapter, Danielle Rousseau said that it was the Island's security system.

In Season Two, we get an even better look at the smoke Monster in The 23rd Psalm, when it actually develops a recognizable face. Charlie and Mr. Eko are in the jungle and Mr. Eko has an encounter with the smoke and through it we see multiple images of his past.

After seventy-one days on the Island, Eko is called to be judged by his brother, and while he's on the jungle the smoke appears near him multiple times, and almost engulfs him in the moment when Locke arrives. After Eko refuses to confess to his brother Yemi, the smoke grabs him and violently murders him.

After John saw the monster, he told Jack "I've seen in the eye of the island, and what I saw... was beautiful". He then changes his attitude, and states that everyone was brought to the Island for a reason - destiny took them there. When he asks Eko, on The Cost of Living, what he saw, he tells him that he saw a beautiful, white light. Later, prior to Eko's burial, he tells Sayid that what killed Eko is the same thing that took them to the Island, and that he was killed for a reason.


In "Left Behind", Kate and Juliet encounter the Monster in the night. They hide in a tree, and then there are flashes of light (as if it is taking pictures of them). Later on, They see the Monster again. they go behind the sonic fence, and then Juliet turns it on. The Monster comes, but is repelled by it. Juliet says that it doesn't like the fence and that is all she knows about it.

After the barracks are attacked, Ben enters his secret room, sealing himself. He entered another room, with a door covered in hieroglyphics. Later, he comes out, covered in dust. A rumbling is heard, and the Monster appears, much larger than ever seen before. It also has lightning-like flashes emitting from inside the smoke. It enters the tree line, attacking the mercenaries. They fire at the Monster, but it does no damage to it. The Monster seems to cover the entire area, coiling like a snake.




So far the Smoke Monster has claimed several victims including:

• The Pilot of the Plane
• Mr. Eko
• Several mercenaries who attacked the Barracks.

Trivia

• Some people believe that the Monster is seen in the first episode when Gary Troup is sucked into a plane engine. Right after being sucked in, a black shape can be seen swooping from the sky and hitting the engine just as it explodes. It was later revealed by the producers that the black shape was used for special effects timing, and wasn't removed properly afterward.

• The producers have also stated that The "monster" doesn't appear in the first episode at all.

• A popular belief is that the Monster is made up of nanobots. However, the producers have repeatedly debunked this theory. In the Official Lost Podcast, Damon Lindelof said: "Ohh, nanobots. I don't know how many times you can go on record and say that the Smoke Monster is NOT made up of nanobots before you stop getting asked that question".

Questions:

• What is the Monster?
• What are the noises it makes?
• How does it make flashes of people's past?
• How (assuming it is true) does the Monster create a manifestation of other people?
• What other abilities can it do?
• How did Ben "summon" the Monster?
• How was the Monster created?

What does the Smoke Monster mean? Share your theories!

-As crazy as this sounds, is it possible that this smoke monster may be here because of Walt? We already know that several things on the island have coincidentally happened as Walt thought are saw them (ex. The polar bear, dead birds on multiple occasions, sudden changes in weather). Maybe the smoke monster is a manifestation of the darker side of Walt's mind, or maybe it is the manifestation of one of the other survivor's minds. Suggestions anybody?
- The smoke "creature" has the ability to take different forms, since in episode 5 of Season 3, "The Cost of Living", the entity that appears to be Eko's brother denies its identity as Yemi, leading us to believe that it was in fact the black smoke creature that had taken Yemi's form and lured Eko in the jungle. Furthermore,if this is in fact true then it would explain the appearance of people like Christian, Walt, Yemi, Dave coming out of the jungle. Producers have hinted that this could indeed be true. All of these appeared characters had a purpose (Eko's confession, leading Jack to the caves, trying to get Hurley to kill himself, and warning Shannon). It could have also taken the form of Kate's horse and Sawyer's boar; if you listen carefully, during the first scene of whispers in "Outlaws", you can clearly hear the monster, and even more once it's heard "It'll come back around".

-Many people think that the monster took the form of Dave, but Dave was Hurley's "Imaginary friend".

-Juliet says in the episode that aired 4/4/07 that "BSM" it doesn't like the invisible security system the others has set up. The same one that John threw Patchy in and "killed" him.

- The smoke "monster" is their fears and the bad things they did before the crash. In "The 23rd Psalm", Eko just stares at the monster and it goes away. Maybe this is a sign of him facing his fears and his sad past. I think that it taking the form of the people they knew is a sign of them facing their past again.

- The BSM has a definite mechanical sound to it, so I'm in with the idea that it's some sort of machine. One of the 'maps' of the island refers to something called 'Cerberus', and I'm gonna guess that's the BSM. "Cerberus" is a 3-headed dog that guards the Underworld in Greek mythology. And we can actually see the 3 faces when the smoke monster faced Mr. Eko in Season 2.

- If you listen closely, when the monster is whipping Eko around, there is a distinct sound of machinery, almost like a roller-coaster that's starting up a hill. It's possible that the black smoke is some sort of machine.

- Here is something that I discovered. The smoke monster closely resembles Cynothoglys, the Mortician god. I do not know how factual this information is, but if you want to read more about it go to http://antediluvia.pbwiki.com/Cynothoglys. After you read this, you will find many similarities between the two.

- I'm not sure what the smoke really means, but at the top of this page, it says, "the hand the monster grabbed Eko with was long, and skinny (maybe like an orangutan?)" On the Hanso Foundation site, it showed a life-extension project, of an orangutan named Joop, who turned 105. Perhaps there is a connection.

-The producers of lost told us that we have been seeing the monster, after "the 23rd Psalm". Perhaps the monster has a manifestation of itself among the castaways. Only one new character appears after the 23rd psalm. Benjamin Linus. And as far as Ben goes there are many oddities about him.

-Seems to me the Cerebus parallel is good. But I don't stop there. " Smokie" is like a dark and troubled Conscious. You have them landing on a tropical island,,a paradise if you will,,and what ruins it all?..A dark and troubled conscious. Smokie appears to be the polar opposite of the island. Smokie appears to be that which stops these Losties from enjoying Paradise. The Others simply put up a fence to stop being bothered by Smokie. The Others simply ignore their conscious. They have no humanity because they ignore that which would bring them to it. Eko faced Smokie down. He would not let Smokie dissuade him from his ,," I did the best I could with what i was given" perspective on his life. The dark and troubled conscious ended his existence and sent Eko off the island dreaming of a ideal Brotherhood. Smokie as the Cerebus guardian not letting the inhabitants leave their personal Hell describes the entity well....and to think,, that alls it would take to be rid of Smokie..is a prescription for Prosaic.

If no one else noticed watch one of the episodes where the monster appears and slow it down, go frame by frame and you will see that that as the camera goes through the monster it shows pictures of the flashbacks in their lives, try it.

I think that the black smoke is simply "death." Something we all run from daily. Only Mr. Eko was willing to face it - and he died. If you recall, Eko tried to give his confession to his brother. Then what seemed to be his brother said, "Do you really believe I am your brother?" That is when Mr. Eko knew he was going to die and began saying the 23rd Psalm. The black smoke can not go into the fenced area - that is why they built the fence in the first place. That is also why Jacob (who I believe is Roger, Ben's father) is not allowed to leave and asked John for help. Has anyone noticed that John is stronger than the smoke - he respects it, but does not fear it.