LOST‘s ‘Man In Black’ is one of the most enigmatic serialized TV entities of recent times. The cynical Island resident used an array of stunning abilities in a bid to obtain his goals, but many of them went relatively unexplained. Here are 8 Unexplained Abilities Of The Man In Black, along with possible answers.
Note: This article contains spoilers from LOST Seasons 1-6.
1. Transform Into Smoke
The Man In Black’s most mercurial and iconic feature is the ability to transform into a cloud of smoke. We know that this was inflicted on him when his brother Jacob threw him down the log flume to the ‘Source’, but it’s a mystery as to how he is able to toggle between his original human form and smoke cloud — or why he emerged as a smoke monster in the first place!
Possible Explanation: If there is an answer to be had (albeit it retroactive one) it could be that MIB’s changeable smoke-form represents his ‘complex, cloudy nature’ as fused with the ‘Source of life, death and rebirth’. The fact that he was unconscious as he went into the Source probably had something to do with his specific transformation.
2. Morph Into Dead People
MIB has scant regard for the dead. Throughout his time on the island he’s taken on the form of many dead individuals, mimicking their appearance in order to manipulate Jacob’s test subjects recruits. Perhaps the most memorable examples of this ability came when impersonating Jack’s father Christian Shephard, Walt Lloyd (particularly when telling Locke he had “work to do”), and the Island Believer himself, John Locke. As mentioned above, MIB also seemed attached to his pre-smoke monster form, and mimicked himself!
Possible Explanation: I doubt there’s a scientific explanation (although ask me again in 10 years) but once MIB has a lock on how someone looks and acts, based on the data scanned from the minds of their loved ones, it can’t be all that hard for him to rearrange his molecules into their image.
3. Dream Manipulation
MIB is like Big Brother on steroids, not only does he know what goes on inside the minds of individuals, he’s able to shape their dreams and appear within them. He uses this unexplained skill to guide Locke and Mr. Eko to the Pearl Station where faith would be tested and much button-pushing would ensue. It’s also possible that Locke’s wacky-paste-fueled Boone dream, where he was told to “clean up his mess” and save Eko from the polar bear of contrivance, was also of MIB’s making. And let’s not forget the Horace dream which set Locke on the feverish path to Jacob’s (or rather, MIB’s) cabin.
Possible Explanation: The root answer is pretty intangible, but given the Smoke Monster’s ability to scan people’s minds, it’s not a far leap to think he could somehow trespass their dreams. I mean, if Locke’s Island cultivated ‘wacky-paste’ could make Boone hallucinate an entire narrative of Shannon dying..at the fangs of MIB himself..
4. Off-Island Visitations
Despite being ‘trapped’ on the Island, MIB somehow managed to manifest as Jack’s dad on the freighter near to the island, to tell Michael “you can go now” (i.e. die). He also appeared to Jack as Christian after the Oceanic Six had left ‘Craphole’.
Possible Explanation: The freighter was most likely within MIB’s sphere of influence since it was near to or within the island ‘barrier’. Jack was working a late shift at the hospital and going through some ‘issues’, so he may have been ‘hallucinating’.
5. Telekinesis
Perhaps the most nonchalant illustration of Man In Black’s abilities came when he released Benjamin Linus from his shackles without so much as touching him. A very handy ability that he also used to scare the bejesus out of Ben and Locke when Locke and Ben came to visit him at the cabin.
Possible Explanation: Aside from the stock answer “he’s a supernatural entity, for Jacob’s sake!” this ability is probably be the result of being thrown into the Source and his soul bonding with the unique electromagnetic properties of the Island.
6. Mr. Impervious
Probably the most curious MIB quality is his ability to make himself impervious to bullets and other penetrable objects. Bram and his Widmore-employed team reigned bullets at MIB only to see them bounce right off, while Sayid stabbed him in the chest — but MIB didn’t so much as suffer anything more than mild surprise at the cheek of it all.
Possible Explanations: It’s important to remember that he is, essentially, made of smoke; reborn from the Source of life and death. That said, he has been hurt/repelled before, as illustrated when Freckles threw dynamite in the hole he was trying to drag Locke down. While the sonic fence and magic ash seemed to, at the very least, repel the misunderstood smoke monster.
7. Persuasive
One of MIB’s most ‘human’ attributes is the ability to persuade people to join his cause, usually by simply talking to them and pouting. While it may not have worked on old Richardus Alpert (above), MIB has convinced many individuals to follow his cause. Getting Ben to murder Master Jacob and threatening the remaining “Others” to follow him after the temple attack, are just some of his most audacious manipulation exploits.
Possible Explanation: He’s studied human nature for centuries; living amongst his own people who shipwrecked on the Island and the countless souls that Jacob brought to the island, gave him ample chance to scan and predict what makes people tick.
8. Precognition Abilities..
Nostradamus doesn’t have a thing on MIB. The bad twin’s powers of precognition represent a curious part of his arsenal. While enacting his loophole, he was somehow able to predict the exact moment and place that a time-flashing John Locke would appear. In a similar(ish) move, he also seemed to sense that that not all of the Candidates had perished from his crafty submarine of death plot.
Possible Explanation: Locke showing up at the Beechcraft crash-site was something that had already happened from an Island perspective. Plus, MIB’s fusion with the Island Source presumably gives him an extra level of intuition regarding Island events and the people on (or near) it.
Image Source: A-Gie | Lost-Media
And now a classic *cough* *cough* MIB scene from LOST:
Do you have any favorite MIB abilities, explained or otherwise?
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Great article, Roco,
very consistent.
I believe your explanations are true within story constraints, but let me also add mine, so that we could discuss them.
1 – Transform into smoke
First of all, I want to bring up the subject that “the source” and the MIB are separate entities; and the separation barrier is not as clear as we think it is. I believe the source is basically a “Soul capturing” device; hence the electromagnetic nature.
If you remember Across the sea, before Jacob threw the MIB into the source, MIB’s head was hit “hard” against a rock, then he fell into a ‘deep’ cave leading to the source; now I believe if we assume him to have been human before that, then we could say that he was probably “dead” before reaching the Source (The cork), or he died upon reaching there. I mean, no one could have survived that free fall.
Then, we see a pillar of smoke emerging from the source, and later on, Jacob finds the lifeless body of the MIB by the river and he places it beside the Mother. So what happens in between? I think the source as a soul capturing device, is meant to suck the souls of “Alive” people when they reach the cork pool within (remember Mother’s warnings) – but what happens if a dead person is thrown into the pit? I think the system malfunctions!
It’s supposed to capture the soul of a living, and get rid of the body, which may as well be lifeless. But since the MIB was crushed upon reaching the bottom, therefore the source gave away an “Error message” of sorts, in the form of a black pillar, while also holding the MIB’s soul in place.
We never saw the MIB actually transform into the the monster in front of the camera, he always left, then the pillar came. Also, I believe for Mother to know about the source, she should have experienced the soul capturing effect herself (or witnessed it on someone else) – We never saw Mother in the monster form, because I believe she was alive upon “entering” the source, therefore making her one of the first souls the source had captured, while having rejected her “alive and well” body. MIB easily killed Mother’s real body, but Mother’s masterplan was to manipulate the two brothers resulting in “one of them” becoming the replacement for her soul inside the source. I think the source works with one soul at a time. After many years, Mother knew MIB would turn out to be the next victim, seeing how he distanced himself from her. She also sacrificed Jacob while making him in charge of the situation.
I think the source is able to “both” project the “victim” ‘s soul, (times when we see the MIB), and also emerge its “Dead” essence in form of the smoke monster. Both forms originate from the same place, yet don’t transform into eachother directly.
Talking about the source only working on living bodies; I think it’s also possible that Jack Shepherd’s soul is now held captive in the source. He was alive when he “restored” the source, then what happened? The source “disposed of” his body right where he disposed of MIB’s dead body. Yet, Jack was alive, but suffering from wounds. So he died after a short while, but his soul “should” remain captured down there, if we notice how the source worked on the MIB. Plotwise it’s also a clever move to make Jack both the savior and the victim; he saved them all, only to be soul-sucked into the source, as the island’s new monster/guardian.
2 – Morph into dead people
I believe, like I mentioned above, MIB’s transformation was the result of a system malfunction, therefore the smoke monster adapted to now “on site” soul sucking abilities through scanning people’s minds. Think of the smoke as a rouge glitch in the system; now also being open to morphing into dead bodies not having fallen into the pit.
4 – Off island visitations:
I think there wasn’t exactly a physical barrier keeping the MIB at bay, but instead it was his soul that was trapped down there, and no matter where he went, the source could teleport him right back.
5 – Precognition abilities
I think there’s one more ability to add to the list:
5.5 – Controlling the island’s time shifts
I believe there’s enough clue about this one in seasons 5 and 6 that make it a possible assumption. First of all, the MIB created the Time/Space shift wheel down the well. But we all know that Mother (the first victim of the source) destroyed it using her unseen powers. But as we know, the MIB has worked hard on his plan for centuries, therefore it’s safe to assume to sometime later he might have persuaded someone to build him another wheel.
We witnessed him persuade people indirectly to turn the wheel. First, in an unspecified time, he , in form of Christian, persuaded Locke to turn the wheel, which caused Sawyer and the gang to land in 1977, and Locke to be teleported into the future. Also we know that the MIB had a grasp on Benjamin’s mind, making him his trusted right hand through gullibility. Ben turned the wheel by the end of season 4, to save the island from Widmore’s gang, or to fulfill his mission, which he though was issued by Jacob. But we know that Jacob never chose him to be leader. And this leader thing was all a well played trick by the M.I.B (Follow Locke/Alpert’s compass).
Therefore the control over time jumps would have enabled him to foresee events.
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Great thoughts Aria! I really like the computer analogy.
I kinda think MIB was unconscious on his way to the source, but you could be right and he might have already been dead. Either way, it’s likely, as you say, that he died once he hit the source (although it’s interesting to consider what ‘dead’ means in this context.)
Regarding not seeing MIB transfer in and out of smoke, perhaps I’m being cynical, but I think it might have been a production/SFX contrivance. That or the show’s desire to make the mythology as ambiguous as they could. Not that I minded that particular aspect. That said, I could be wrong, I’m just not convinced MIB and ‘smokey’ were two separate entities in the sense that MIB wasn’t in control of his transformations.
Regarding Mother, I kind of agree. I don’t quite believe she was a ‘smoke monster’, rather a woman who had some other mystical ability that, as you correctly point out, they withheld from us (on-screen). I do agree that Mother may have entered the source, although I’d edge towards the idea that she was told about and shown it, like she did with the young bothers from hell.
Anyway, thanks for the food for thought, it’s always useful to look at LOST from different perspectives.
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Thanks.
Yes I agree that technically speaking, they didn’t show us the transformations on screen; which is a good thing imo. It would make the show ‘timeless’ in terms of visual effects. Otherwise it would have looked lame in ten years time.
I didn’t mean that Smokey and the MIB were completely separate; think of them as entities sharing the same “aura” but being physically separated from eachother, “yet” dependent on the same Source.
Kind of like astral projections; talking about the Abrams team…
As much as there were contrivances in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th seasons of LOST, I think the show got back on track from season 5 – I’ve posted a couple of notes about the “nature” of Jacob’s game; but it’s in farsi. Perhaps I’ll translate them someday.
Thanks for bringing up the mysteries.
Everything MIB-related, means AWESOME to me!
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“It would make the show ‘timeless’ in terms of visual effects. Otherwise it would have looked lame in ten years time.”
Totally. In this sense I think less was more, and his transformations still worked pretty well within the storytelling.
“I didn’t mean that Smokey and the MIB were completely separate; think of them as entities sharing the same “aura” but being physically separated from eachother, “yet” dependent on the same Source.
Kind of like astral projections; talking about the Abrams team…”
Ah, I get you. That makes sense. I think we mostly differ on technicalities but I can definitely see where you’re coming from and I appreciate that perspective.
Re: S5. Yes, that was a fine season that bled nicely into the final chapter. Please do translate your notes, would love to read!
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Yeah, I agree.
The only problem I had with Lost, was some character arcs, (namely, Jon and Sun) that seemed unable to regenerate at times.
Will do.
Some of my notes actually made quite a “stir” in the Lost fan community among my friends. I was just trying to elaborate on Locke’s gullibility, and some people didn’t like my approach.
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