The name of the Man in Black ***Spoilers up to Across the Sea***

[DeadmeatDiggory]

I'm not one to complain about Lost; I've enjoyed the hell out of the last six years. And like fans, I've wondered at great length of the ID of the Man in Black.

Is he Lucifer? Anubus? Cerberus? Hulk Hogan? Who?

But now that we know that he is Jacob's Brother, that he was born a human being, and is *most likely* a ghost since his brother killed him and tossed him down the waterfall, I have to ask What's the Point in still keeping his name from us?

 

[RoJoHen]

I feel like revealing his name is going to be a big step in answering the question, "Guys, where are we?" At least that's what I hope, which is why they're saving it for the end.

Then again, it wouldn't surprise me if they never tell us what his name is.

 

[DeadmeatDiggory]

^I'm also getting that feeling (the never reveal). I had this same bad feeling as BSG came to a close.

BTW, what names do you think could be fitting of such a reveal?

 

[Mr Light]

They said in an interview they'll never reveal the name, which pisses me off. You mean to tell me in all the centuries this guy never gave himself a name? How does he refer to himself in his thoughts? It's the same thing with the Others never being named. It's just ridiculous. They have to call themselves SOMETHING.

 

[RoJoHen]

^I'm also getting that feeling (the never reveal). I had this same bad feeling as BSG came to a close.

What you call a bad feeling I just call a feeling. I loved the ambiguous way that BSG ended (granted, it was fairly controversial).

LOST has always been about theories. Every new episode debunks old theories and brings about new ones. I'd be disappointed if they flat-out answered a lot of these things.

As for what name could be fitting for him...well, I think a lot of that will depend on what the Island turns out to be.

 

[beneldon]

Smoklin J. Monsterson
Smokey McSmokerson
Monsty McSmokebrother
Jacobsib De Blacksmokeman
Bocaj Pickednoname
Fred

 

[Ryan8bit]

They said in an interview they'll never reveal the name

That's kind of disappointing.

It was pretty obvious it was going that way in their treatment of it as a running gag. His name is something like how Morn never talked on DS9, or how you never see Wilson's face on Home Improvement. Their other running gag on Lost was the whole Scott and Steve thing.

The big difference between those examples and the man in black are that those characters were always minor and unimportant. I would say Smokey is very important and it's annoying as hell to not really have a nice common name to call him.

So to sum up:
Morn not talking? Funny and unimportant.
MiB not having a name? Not that funny and annoying.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

He looks like a Fred to me.

EDIT: Whoah! I didn't read beneldon's post before I wrote that! Fred it is.

 

[Hunter X]

Characters not having names is a common trope in literature. It doesn't bother me much here, either. Personally, I don't think the Man in Black has a name. His mother didn't have one for him, his fake mother never came up with one cause she's just wacky that way. She was probably asked about this at some point by the twins and gave some vague reply, then suggested Jacob just call him "brother," since that's what he was.

 

[DevilEyes]

Characters not having names is a common trope in literature. It doesn't bother me much here, either. Personally, I don't think the Man in Black has a name. His mother didn't have one for him, his fake mother never came up with one cause she's just wacky that way. She was probably asked about this at some point by the twins and gave some vague reply, then suggested Jacob just call him "brother," since that's what he was.

Well then how did she call him?

"Hey, you!" - doesn't work when you have two boys.
"Son" - doesn't work for the same reason, unless she never called Jacob "son", which would be hurtful and insulting to Jacob.
"Jacob's brother" - would be hurtful and insulting to MIB.

It's pretty obvious that she would have had to give him a name, for the same reason that people have names in the first place.

 

[Hober Mallow]

I'm sure crazy mother named him something. It's clear she preferred him over Jacob. She would have given him a name.

 

[Trippy]

I still think it should be Esau, although in the biblical story, Esau was born first

But he did want to kill him!

 

[Hunter X]

I'm sure crazy mother named him something. It's clear she preferred him over Jacob. She would have given him a name.

But crazy mother is crazy. Wouldn't she do the opposite of what we expect?

I mean, one day she was knocking post-labour women over the head with rocks, the next she was probably rubbing soup in everyone's hair.

 

[DeafPoet]

He's probably got a name but unless it's relevant to the plot, I'd rather not know it. And at this point it looks highly unlikely that it matters at all.

I mean, right now we call the guy The Man in Black. What could possibly be cooler than that?

This is just one more in a long list of little mysteries that I don't really care about.

 

[MikeS]

I am with the people who are hoping the name is not revealed. I think it would take something away from the character. And I kind of got the impression from "Across The Sea" that having no name was part of his psyché. His mother never had a name for him because he was unexpected. I like that.

 

[doubleohfive]

Personally, I don't care one way or the other if they reveal his name. Hello, he's got a name. It's "Man in Black."

That's good enough for me.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Symbollically, it should be Esau, but I don't think people would accept it. So I'm content not having him have a name (afterall, I'm used to giving the smoke monster so many different names - Smokey, the Monster, the Smoke Monster, Cerberus, etc). In person form, he's The Man in Black, Jacob's Rival, Jacob's Brother, Locke, and Not Locke. Clearly he is a man that transcends names.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Symbollically, it should be Esau, but I don't think people would accept it. So I'm content not having him have a name (afterall, I'm used to giving the smoke monster so many different names - Smokey, the Monster, the Smoke Monster, Cerberus, etc). In person form, he's The Man in Black, Jacob's Rival, Jacob's Brother, Locke, and Not Locke. Clearly he is a man that transcends names.

A lot of us have been calling him Esau, and i think it's a fitting parallel to the real Jacob & Esau. Not perfect, but appropriate.

There's also "unLocke".

i like those better than MiB (which the cable guide uses for their summaries

 

[Aragorn]

Jack: "What's your name?"

notLocke: "Gilligan."

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Fear names. Names have power in identity. Others can use names as weapons. Names are a hook that can be used to track you ... Remain nameless, and you shall be safe.

I am the Nameless One.

This.