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The Others (also known as Them, The Natives, and The Hostiles) are a group of fictional characters who inhabit the island in the American television series Lost; most of whom serve as the antagonists to the series' main characters. According to Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, they are a group consisting of what seems to be 30-40 people when Flight 815 crashes down on the island. ^[1] Wizard Magazine rated them the 98th greatest villains of all time.^[2]

The term "The Others" was coined by Danielle Rousseau, and the survivors of Flight 815 adopted the term to describe the often antagonistic group of island dwellers seen as "the enemy," who had been already living on the island for many years, long before the existence of the DHARMA Initiative on the island in the 1970s and the crash of Flight 815. The Others do not appear to have a name for their group themselves, though their current leader Ben Linus has described them as "the good guys." The DHARMA Initiative, on the other hand, referred to the Others as "the Hostiles." Desmond referred to them as "the Hostiles" in Live Together, Die Alone, last episode of the 2nd season, to Sayid Jarrah on the beach.

The main Others in Season 2: Ben Linus (aka Henry Gale), Bea Klugh, Tom (aka Mr. Friendly), Alex Rousseau and Danny Pickett

In their early dealings with the crash survivors, the Others took on the guise of primitive but savage jungle-dwellers. Since their victory over the DHARMA Initiative, the group has become comparatively technologically advanced and for a time had acquired means of regular contact with the outside world by submarine and live televisual link.

The Others are difficult to track; they generally leave minimal footprints and avoid leaving a traceable trail. Their appearance is sometimes heralded by strange, barely audible whispering.

The exact motives of the Others remain unclear, though from the point of view of the Flight 815 survivors, their interactions have regularly appeared malevolent and manipulative. They have kidnapped children, including Danielle Rousseau's infant daughter Alex, whom Ben brought up as his own daughter. The reasons for this are connected to the fact that the Others have not been able to successfully give birth on the island, as the mother is always killed by her immune system reacting against the baby for an unknown reason. The group are seen to be interested in those who are regarded as being "special" on the island, for example Walt Lloyd who sometimes "appeared places he couldn't have been", and John Locke, who re-gained the use of his legs despite being previously paralyzed from the waist down.

Those who are members of the Others have either been recruited, as in the case of Juliet Burke, or joined the group having been on the island already (by choice or by kidnapping). A number of adult survivors from both the tail section and fuselage were kidnapped. During their encounters with the crash survivors, the Others have killed, or attempted to kill several survivors. There have been frequent references in each group where a person from the other group is referred to as "one of them". The hostility between the two groups has continued, leading to a battle at the survivors' beach camp which saw many Others killed and decimated by the survivors breaking their control over the island. ^[3]

Buildings in "The Barracks".

The Others were revealed to be living in a rather pleasant suburban-like village of houses, complete with furniture, indoor plumbing and even electricity. The Others have many conveniences of modern living, such as ovens, relatively new books, and CD players. The village even has a book club. ^[4] According to blueprints in DHARMA Initiative operations manuals at The Flame, the name of the village is "The Barracks", and was originally constructed by DHARMA to house its employees. The Others took over the Barracks after the so-called "Purge" resulting in the destruction of DHARMA. ^[5] The Barracks are surrounded by a sonic defense perimeter capable of generating a sonic pulse directed at any intruder, including the Monster, which cannot penetrate it.

Since the Purge, the Others have occupied or utilized many of the DHARMA Initiative's research stations. Most notable was the Staff, where the operating theatre was used to try and deliver babies of the Others' pregnant women. The Pearl was used to monitor the crash survivors in the Swan station, while the Hydra was used to house the captured Jack, Kate and Sawyer while Ben forced Jack to operate on his tumor. Mikhail Bakunin was based for a period of time in the Flame, which allowed contact with the outside world, while the Looking Glass housed another two Others who maintained the jamming of transmissions off of the island.

In addition, the Others had branched all over the world recruiting members; from Kiev where Mikhail was recruited, to Canada where Bonnie and Greta were supposed to have been re-located, to Miami where Juliet was recruited.