The Hostiles
From Lostpedia
The Hostiles was the name the DHARMA Initiative gave to a group of people who lived on the Island before they had arrived. The Hostiles fought a war with the Initiative over the course of several years. The war ended with an event known as the Purge in which the Hostiles, alongside Benjamin Linus and other staff of the DHARMA Initiative, destroyed them with a large-scale gas attack. The Hostiles were afterward joined by people from off the Island and an unknown number of former members of the Initiative. After the purge, this group is referred to, initially by Rousseau and later by the survivors, as the Others.
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DHARMA conflict
The Hostiles and the DHARMA Initiative entered into a conflict over unknown issues. Ben, while young and in school, was witness to an attack near or at the Barracks. The Initiative school had procedures already prepared to deal with the situation. The teacher at the school had a rifle within reach. The procedures indicate that the attack Ben witnessed was likely not the first. Explosions were heard and Roger Linus later reported a gun battle had occurred between the groups.
Ben later ran away from the barracks and encountered the Hostiles in the jungle. Richard Alpert was the spokesperson for the party of Hostiles. They did not attack him and encouraged him to return home. Ben then said that he wanted to be one of them.
The Purge
Many years later, the Hostiles initiated the Purge against the DHARMA Initiative to end the war between the groups. On December 19 at 4pm, the Hostiles launched a large gas attack on the Barracks, killing everyone at the location. It is assumed (but not shown) that similar attacks were carried out on all the DHARMA stations with the exception of the sealed Swan. Ben stayed away from the barracks during the gassing and personally killed his father with the gas. Ben met up with the Hostiles at the barracks afterward. The members of the Initiative were dumped into a mass grave.
History of the term
The term "the Hostiles" was originally used by members of the DHARMA Initiative to refer to the people on the Island before they were there. (Access: Granted) The term was first heard by viewers from Kelvin and Desmond (who were manning the last DHARMA station still serving its Initiative task) in a "Live Together, Die Alone" flashback. When Desmond asked to be allowed an excursion on his own, Kelvin responded: "Well, you want to go out there with the quarantine and the Hostiles?" Also, in the present time in "Live Together, Die Alone", Desmond asked if Sayid was taking his boat to see the Hostiles.
After accessing the manual override system of the computer in the Flame station, Locke used a video menu system featuring clips of Marvin Candle. In one of them, Marvin asks "Has there been an incursion on this station by the Hostiles? If so, enter 77".
Mikhail Bakunin told Sayid that there had been a purge in which DHARMA attempted to get rid of the Hostiles, but that they retaliated and attacked, killing the members of DHARMA instead. Although later on he admitted the he hadn't told the truth about being a member of the Initiative, he also stressed the fact that his story about the Hostiles and the Purge was true.
It was confirmed on the 3/20/2007 Podcast that there are Hostiles among the Others.
Members
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| Picture | Name | Role | Overview | |||||
 | Richard Alpert | Prominent | Richard Alpert was one of the Hostiles who fought the DHARMA Initiative on the Island and was native to the Island before the Initiative arrived. When a young Ben Linus encountered the Hostiles in the jungle, Richard seemed to speak for the group.
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At least seven other Hostiles are seen collecting up bodies after the purge. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
Trivia
- Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse stated in the Season 3 DVD blu-ray edition feature Access: Granted that the DHARMA Initiative referred to the people on the Island before they were there as the Hostiles.
- In the Season 4 recap episode "Lost: Past, Present and Future", in the scene in the jungle where the young Ben first meets Richard Alpert, the narration describes it as "Young Ben meets the island's original inhabitants, the Others." However, due to the WGA strike, producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse had no involvement in the production of the clip show, [1] and as such, the canonicity of the clip show is unlikely.
Unanswered questions
- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: The Hostiles/Theories
- How long have they been on the Island?
- Are they really native to the Island?
- In what manner do they age?
- Where and how did they live before the Purge?
- Was Alvar Hanso aware of their presence when he created the Sri Lanka video?
- How and when did Ben come to be leader of the Others?
- Where did they get the toxic gas and gas masks?
- What was their motive for the Purge?
- Did all the Hostiles, like Richard Alpert, speak with American accents? If so, why?
- How was it possible for Richard to leave and return to the Island before the DHARMA initiative exsisted?
