The 10 Most Underrated Characters From ‘Lost,’ Ranked

The groundbreaking legacy of ABC’s supernatural drama Lost, with its huge ensemble solid and intricately plotted story, launched audiences to a big roster of memorable characters, every contributing to the present’s critically acclaimed six-season run. Whereas iconic figures like Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), John Locke (Terry O’Quinn), and Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) typically dominated fan discussions and swept up Primetime Emmy Awards, there stay many characters who performed pivotal roles, however have been incessantly missed. These underrated characters have been immensely compelling in their very own proper, boasting stirring performances, and sometimes furthering vital plot developments, however with out receiving the total recognition they deserved.

Regardless of Misplaced‘s emphasis on thriller components and its underlying dedication to supernatural fiction, Misplaced stays essentially a character-driven narrative; the present’s most compelling moments typically stemmed from the private journeys of its various ensemble, noteworthy on the time of premiere for boasting an immense multicultural solid. The collection masterfully intertwined its headier ideas with rather more emotionally relatable tales of its characters, mixing high-concept sci-fi with intimate character research, and making certain that the center of Misplaced lies within the advanced relationships between survivors, making the viewers’s connection to the characters the true driving power behind the present’s enduring affect.

10 Richard Alpert

Portrayed by Néstor Carbonell

Richard Alpert, the loyal advisor of the “Others” and Jacob (Mark Pellegrino)’s right-hand-man, is initially some of the enigmatic figures on the island. Launched as a mysterious, ageless determine who seems unchanged throughout huge expanses of the Island’s historical past, Richard’s background is steadily unveiled, revealing a compelling character with a transferring backstory and highly effective motivations properly value watching. Initially showing to be a secondary character, Richard’s true significance turns into clear in the direction of the top of Misplaced‘s ultimate season, revealing his centuries-old connection to the island and his pivotal function in its mythology.

Richard’s journey as a Spanish prisoner within the nineteenth century to the confidant of Jacob in Season 6’s “Ab Eterno,” stays one of many present’s most well-received episodes, with a wealthy, self-contained narrative arc that engages with the present’s central themes of destiny and redemption. Regardless of his integral function within the destiny of the castaways, Néstor Carbonell was frequently a guest star, and was solely promoted to the principle solid within the final season. Carbonell’s delicate and nuanced efficiency brings a quiet dignity to Richard, portraying him as each smart and deeply stricken by his immortality. Starting because the Island’s most devoted protector, Richard finds objective in survival, and as soon as once more learns to worth his life.

9 Charlie Tempo

Portrayed by Dominic Monaghan

Lovable, naive, obsessive and constant, Charlie Tempo is a former rock star with a coronary heart of gold. Scuffling with dependancy and a way of misplaced objective, Charlie’s character arc is certainly one of redemption and sacrifice, which leads to some of the tear-jerking deaths in your entire collection. As a member of the band Drive Shaft, Charlie’s flashbacks typically revolve round his rise to fame and subsequent wrestle with drug abuse, however as soon as on the Island, he turns into an surprising hero; forming deep bonds with fellow survivors like Claire and Hurley (Jorge Garcia), and in the end sacrificing his life in a bid to avoid wasting his mates.

Charlie’s self-destructive tendencies and journey to beat them are a few of the most potent and dramatic character moments of the collection, but he typically doesn’t obtain the identical recognition as characters like Jack or Sawyer, principally as a consequence of his standing as a comic-relief character. Monaghan’s efficiency, whereas endearingly humorous, someway additionally manages to seize Charlie’s latent darkness, making his character arc heartbreaking and, in the end, inspiring. His ultimate sacrifice within the Looking Glass at the end of Season 3 superbly synthesizes the present’s themes of redemption and located household, proving that Charlie’s obsessive, pushed nature is not the weak point he at all times assumed it to be, however as a substitute has the flexibility to make him each bit as robust because it has made him weak.

8 Martin Keamy

Portrayed by Kevin Durand

Performed with devilish aplomb by Kevin Durand, the remarkably hated Martin Keamy serves as some of the formidable antagonists in Misplaced. Launched as a mercenary employed by Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) onboard the freighter in Season 4, Keamy’s ruthless pursuit of Benjamin Linus (Michael Emerson) and his cold-blooded angle makes him a terrifying presence on the Island. Keamy’s army precision and his distinct lack of empathy set him other than different villains of the collection, as he carries out his mission with a chilling effectivity and appears to relish each second of violence. Keamy’s actions, together with his orchestration of the devastating freighter explosion and his cruel homicide of Alex Rousseau (Tania Raymonde), add a major layer of hazard and pressure to the collection’ fourth season.

Whereas many TV villains in serialized dramas stand round making empty threats, Martin Keamy does precisely what he says he’s going to do each single time. Regardless of being a pivotal adversary within the collection, Keamy doesn’t obtain the identical degree of consideration as different villains like Ben or the Man in Black (Titus Welliver), most certainly as a consequence of his comparatively small quantity of screentime. Nevertheless, Durand’s portrayal of Keamy is breathless and commanding, imbuing the character with a horrible charisma that’s tough to look away from. Keamy serves an essential objective as the human embodiment of escalation, elevating the stakes astronomically in a really tangible approach. In a present the place a black column of smoke rips individuals aside, it’s a testomony to Durand’s chilling efficiency that the character of Keamy stays some of the efficient tv antagonists of all time.

7 U.S. Marshal Edward Mars

Portrayed by Fredric Lehne

Edward Mars, the graceful speaking U.S. Marshal tasked with searching down Kate Austen, is an unsung gem of a personality who highlights all essentially the most attention-grabbing points of Kate’s character, whereas taking not one of the credit score. Appearing most often in flashbacks after his loss of life on the Island, Mars is relentless in his makes an attempt to carry Kate to justice, offering her with a dramatic foil for her troubled previous which showcases the complexities of her character. His presence on the island, although short-lived, leaves a long-lasting affect because it serves to deepen the plotlines of Kate, Sawyer (Josh Holloway) and Jack, in addition to revealing essential particulars about Kate’s life earlier than the crash.

Mars’s dogged pursuit and his interactions with Kate provide a few of the greatest writing within the collection, summating Kate’s thematic devotion to the chase and her incapacity to remain in a single place for too lengthy. Mars’s look on Misplaced is notably temporary, which makes the lasting affect of his character all of the extra spectacular, as his loss of life haunts the castaways lengthy after Sawyer’s poorly-aimed gunshot rings out. Fredric Lehne’s efficiency successfully conveys the marshal’s single-minded dedication and ethical rigidity, making him a formidable but considerably tragic determine, evocative of detective characters in noir thrillers: trapped in a endless sport of cat and mouse with their final adversary.

6 Danielle Rousseau

Portrayed by Mira Furlan

Few characters on Misplaced embody tragedy fairly like Danielle Rousseau, who, from her very first look, is a haunting and enigmatic presence on the Island. As a French scientist stranded alone for sixteen years, Rousseau’s story serves as a cautionary story towards the risks of isolating oneself from a group, and the highly effective notion that it’s by no means too late to open again as much as individuals. Rousseau’s determined seek for her daughter, Alex, and her terrifying early warnings concerning the mysterious “Others” added a few of the earliest layers of supernatural mystery to the collection, whereas her intensive information of the island and its risks typically serves as a vital useful resource for the principle characters, regardless of her reclusive and paranoid demeanor.

Rousseau is a potent character whose journey to seek out herself is heartbreaking and highly effective. Furlan, who performs Rousseau following her isolation, brings a good looking, elegant pathos to Rousseau which is brilliantly in battle together with her unkempt look. Her relationship with Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and her eventual reunion with Alex are poignant moments which instantly have interaction with the present’s thematic preoccupation with loneliness and the significance of group for survival, and her enduring standing as one of many present’s most properly drawn and complicated characters is proof of her underrated status.

5 Frank Lapidus

Portrayed by Jeff Fahey

The gruff, lovable Frank Lapidus, performed by Jeff Fahey, is launched because the hotshot pilot who was initially meant to fly Oceanic Flight 815. Frank’s easygoing and pragmatic disposition offers a refreshing distinction to the extreme and sometimes dramatic personalities of the opposite solid members, offering the viewers with a delightfully charismatic everyman. All through the later seasons, Frank proves himself to be dependable, brave, sort and resourceful, enjoying a key function in a number of rescue missions and in the end saving the remaining castaways in a determined bid to escape the Island once and for all.

Fahey’s efficiency imbues Frank with a rugged appeal that makes him relatable and endearing, whereas his one-liners and weathered beauty make him really feel at instances like an 80s motion star thrown right into a science-fiction drama. Frank’s bravery and quiet resignation is usually performed for laughs, however by way of his underlying dedication to doing what’s proper, and his dedication to searching for the individuals who place their belief in him, Lapidus in the end rises to each event that is thrown at him. By making certain his passenger’s security and buckling up irrespective of the problem, Frank Lapidus cements himself as a quintessential unsung hero.

4 Shannon Rutherford

Portrayed by Maggie Grace

Shannon Rutherford, the conflicted, bratty step-sister of Boone Carlyle (Ian Somerhalder), begins off as one of many extra polarizing characters on Misplaced. Initially portrayed as a spoiled and self-centered younger girl with no real interest in the lives of the opposite castaways, Shannon’s character undergoes important growth over the course of the primary two seasons, revealing a deeper vulnerability and a fear of inadequacy that she learns to overcome. The tumultuous relationship together with her stepbrother and the eventual romance with Sayid provided a strong perception into Shannon’s need for acceptance and unconditional love, in the end making her some of the relatable and tragic characters within the collection.

Shannon’s sudden loss of life in Season 2 bookends her character arc by forcing Sayid right into a downward spiral, and elevating the stakes to beforehand unseen heights. Whereas she is usually dismissed as inconsequential as a consequence of her early exit and preliminary characterization, Maggie Grace’s nuanced efficiency deserves recognition for capturing Shannon’s transformation from a seemingly superficial character into one with depth and shattering humanity. Grace is in a position to take action a lot with a single look, conveying desperation, insecurity, incredulity, love, or abject terror, as effortlessly as her different, extra critically lauded castmates; and by humanizing the seemingly stereotypical, Shannon embodies one of many core tenets of the collection’ legacy: its dedication to portraying the interior complexities of even essentially the most simply missed characters.

3 Charles Widmore

Portrayed by Alan Dale

Chilly, pushed, and insincere to his final breath, Charles Widmore is one of the principal antagonists of the series, whose ambitions and underhanded machinations drive a lot of the battle within the later seasons of Misplaced. As a former chief of the Others and a rich industrialist, Widmore feels an intense degree of possession over the Island, which results in the intertwining of non-public vendettas and a climactic massacre within the present’s ultimate season. His rivalry with Benjamin Linus and his efforts to manage the Island’s destiny place him as a formidable power throughout the present’s intricate plot, whereas his single-minded obsession over possession and management might be seen in his strategy to all the things in his life: from who’s worthy of ingesting his whiskey, to who’s worthy of loving his daughter, to who’s worthy of dwelling and dying.

Widmore’s imposing demeanor and complicated conspiracies are admittedly understated subsequent to the extra overtly villainous intentions of the Man in Black, whose rivalry with the castaways coincides with Widmore’s ultimate bid for the Island in Season 6. However Dale’s portrayal of Widmore as a ruthless, calculating, but deeply passionate particular person provides layers of complexity to the character which are value a re-examination; his backstory, together with his banishment from the island and his strained relationship together with his daughter, Penny, offers a novel dynamic that casts him nearly in the identical vein as a deposed king, robbed of that which he sees as his property, and devoted, physique and soul, to pursuing the reclaimation of his rightful area.

2 Daniel Faraday

Portrayed by Jeremy Davies

The twitchy, lovable Daniel Faraday is launched as a physicist with an advanced understanding of the Island’s temporal electromagnetic properties. Faraday’s brilliance and eccentricity make him a distinctly intriguing character that stands out as one of many extra fully-fledged late additions to the show’s enormous cast. Faraday’s ill-fated efforts to know the complexities of time journey, and his circuitous future, intertwined with that of his mom, Eloise Hawking (Fionnula Flanagan), give him a tragic edge that ends in one of many present’s strongest deaths. The poetic idea of an genius who can not keep in mind his personal analysis is a strong concept successfully delivered to life by way of an emotionally-driven efficiency from Davies.

Faraday is most certainly overshadowed by the present’s core solid, and his disappearance halfway by way of Season 5 little question contributes to his underrated standing. Nevertheless, Davies’ efficiency captures Faraday’s vulnerability, intelligence, and his obsessive dedication to his analysis. Within the arms of one other actor, the character may have simply develop into an inaccessibly sensible genius, however Davies imbues Faraday with a humanizing pathos that makes him deeply relatable and devastatingly empathetic. Faraday’s mental curiosity and emotional wrestle to regain management over his personal psychological capability present a compelling and introspective counterpoint to the extra action-driven characters, imbuing the 4th and fifth Seasons with a beating coronary heart worn proudly on the sleeve of a tortured thoughts.

1 Ana Lucia Cortez

Portrayed by Michelle Rodriguez

When audiences first meet Ana Lucia Cortez, she is a fierce, decided former police officer who turns into a key chief of the tail part survivors. Her powerful exterior and abrasive character instantly put her into battle with the opposite characters, however are finally revealed to masks the deep-seated guilt she carries together with her from her previous. Ana Lucia’s journey, together with her tough relationship with the idea of redemption and her dedication to defending her group, reveal a fancy character with a powerful sense of responsibility to others, regardless of her outward assurances on the contrary. Launched early in Season 2, Ana Lucia’s introduction overlaps with the tragic unintentional killing of Shannon, leading to a tense relationship between her and the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, which is rife with dramatic alternatives.

Regardless of her robust presence, Ana Lucia is unapologetically polarizing, as a consequence of her tough character and her disregard for the authority of extra well-established characters. However Michelle Rodriguez’s intense and heartfelt performance brings depth to Cortez, highlighting her interior battle, and suggesting a story arc which is brilliantly subverted when her life is lower brief in the direction of the top of her debut season. Her tragic loss of life by the hands of Michael marks a major turning level within the collection, ripping the proverbial rug out from beneath the viewers, and proving that nobody is secure from an premature finish, a top quality in serialized tv typically accredited to Game of Thrones, however observable in Misplaced years earlier. Ana Lucia’s sudden finish, her dedication to management, her daring braveness, and her emotional complexity make her a standout character who deserves extra recognition, solidifying her as essentially the most underrated character within the collection.

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