Every Lost Character Still On The Island When The Show Ended

Lost's ending saw the fate of many characters wrapped up one way or another, with a specific bunch being left alive on the island. Lost's divisive ending featured the death of Jack Shephard in the same spot where he awoke in the jungle years earlier, as he witnessed the repaired Ajira Airways Flight 316 flying away from the island. The plane was flown by pilot Frank Lapidus, and its passengers included Kate Austen, James "Sawyer" Ford, Claire Littleton, and many of Lost's other cast members, as they managed to survive the conflict on the mysterious island.

Of course, Lost's ending makes it somewhat tricky to determine who was alive and who was dead in the show's final moments. One of Lost's biggest genre-defining sci-fi TV twists was the "flash-sideways" timeline, which, in the final minutes of the last episode, was revealed as a form of limbo in which the show's many characters waited for one another after death, so that they could all journey to the afterlife together. This means that, technically, all of Lost's characters were dead in those final moments of season 6, episode 18.

However, a common misconception about Lost's ending was that the characters were dead the whole time, or that they all perished on the island. On the contrary, it is explained in Lost's final episode that every surviving character went on to live their life, with those that died earlier than others waiting in the "flash-sideways" for the others that died later. Concerning their actual fates, then, as explored, some characters got off the island, others died there, and a select handful remained in various capacities.

Hugo "Hurley" Reyes

The most important Lost character to remain on the island was Hurley. Hurley is one of Lost's true good guys: an unabashedly good person with a kind heart who wants only to protect people. As such, Hurley remained on the island because he was chosen to be its new protector. In the final season of Lost, Jack volunteered to inherit this role from the island's longtime protector, Jacob. After Jack was mortally wounded while saving the island and his friends, Jack made Hurley its new protector, echoing his aforementioned traits as proof of why the latter deserves to look after the island.

In "The New Man in Charge" epilogue, Hurley is seen outside the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute in Los Angeles, waiting for Walt Lloyd to come back to the island with him. Even though Hurley physically left the island, he was still its protector, and only left briefly to recruit Walt. Hurley's scene with Benjamin Linus in the flash-sideways also suggested Hurley stayed in this role and on the island for many years, with Ben fondly telling him, "You were a great number one, Hugo," as they bid farewell to each other.

Benjamin Linus

Ben Linus is one of Lost's most complex characters, going from a mysterious villain to an anti-hero and eventual ally of Jack and his friends. Despite having the chance to leave the island via Ajira Flight 316, he refused this opportunity, insisting that if the island was going to go down, he would go down with it. After the island was saved, Hurley asked Ben if he could help him in his new role, as Ben possessed many years of leadership experience and extensive knowledge about the island.

Ben humbly accepted the position as Hurley's right-hand man, with the two aligning in their desire to keep the island safe. As per Hurley's instructions, Ben later traveled to Guam to shut down a warehouse still sending Dharma Initiative food drops to the island, and went to Los Angeles to recruit Walt. He then returned to the island with Hurley and Walt and presumably continued to thrive in his position, as Hurley replied to Ben in the flash-sideways, "You were a real good number two."

Desmond Hume

Desmond was instrumental in the fight against the Man in Black in Lost's final season, especially in the Heart of the Island, which made the villain mortal for Jack to kill. After this, Desmond became unconscious, and he remained in this state as Ajira Flight 316 flew away. Hurley was later shown being overwhelmed and unsure of how to begin his job as protector of the island; Ben suggested that Hurley start by making sure Desmond, the key to some of Lost's best episodes, returned home. Hurley was initially reluctant, as people previously hadn't been allowed to leave the island.

However, Ben encouraged Hurley to run things in a different and, thus, better way. This means that Desmond was technically still on the island in Lost's final moments, though he probably didn't stay there for long. Hurley and Ben likely ensured that Desmond left the island and returned home to his wife, Penny, and their son, Charlie. Given that Desmond refused to willingly go back to the island with the Oceanic Six on Ajira Flight 316 and only returned after Charles Widmore kidnapped him, it is only more likely that he left shortly after the series' conclusion.

Rose & Bernard Nadler

In season 2, episode 19, "S.O.S.," Rose and Bernard agreed that they would never leave the island. The reason for this was Rose's miraculous recovery from cancer, with the couple agreeing that they didn't want to risk leaving in case her illness returned. As of Lost's final moments, Rose and Bernard stood by their word by building a cabin for themselves, making an effort to stay out of the drama happening elsewhere on the island, and living a happy, peaceful life.

Vincent

Walt's dog, Vincent, was last seen next to Jack in his final moments on the island, bringing the series full circle. After Jack's death, Vincent probably returned to Rose and Bernard, as he was shown living with them on the beach in earlier Lost episodes. With Walt choosing to return to the island in the series epilogue, Vincent likely reunited with his former owner and lived out his days among friends.

Cindy, Zack, Emma, & The Others

Cindy was a flight attendant on Oceanic Flight 815 and was among the tail section survivors, as were the young Zack and Emma, who were traveling on the plane without their parents. Zack and Emma were taken by the Others early in Lost's broader story, with Cindy soon following. In season 3, it was revealed that Cindy, Zack, and Emma had acclimated well to being among the Others and were now part of their group.

Cindy, Zack, and Emma reemerged in season 6 at the Others' Temple, where they'd been living for the last several years. They left the Temple when the Man in Black threatened to kill all who stayed behind, and later survived Charles Widmore's team attacking their camp. As a result, Cindy, Zack, Emma, and the rest of the Others remained on the island after the Man in Black was defeated and Hurley took over as their new protector.

Michael Dawson

Although Michael met his fate in Lost season 4's finale when the Kahana freighter exploded, his spirit remained trapped on the island afterward. Hurley saw and communicated with Michael's ghost in the season 6 episode "Everybody Loves Hugo," with the latter telling the former that, if he saw Libby Smith's ghost, he wanted Hurley to apologize to her, a reference to the unresolved guilt he felt for killing her in Lost season 2.

When Ben went to see Walt in Los Angeles in Lost, he told Walt that Michael needed his help. Walt didn't understand how he could help his deceased father, and Ben didn't explain, but when Walt returned to the island, he likely helped his father's spirit move on. This would also give Walt and Michael a chance to have the reconciliation they never received in the series. Nonetheless, neither Walt nor Michael is shown in Lost's flash-sideways story, likely meaning the latter's soul remained on the island forever after Lost's final moments.

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  Matthew Fox

  Jack Shephard

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  Evangeline Lilly

  Kate Austen

A mystery sci-fi television series about a group of plane crash survivors trapped on a mysterious island. As they strive to endure extraordinary challenges, the island's enigmatic nature steadily unravels.