Jack Shephard
Encyclopedia
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character
and protagonist
of the ABC
television series Lost
played by Matthew Fox
. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines
flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader island history they are a part of. The character was originally conceived by creator J. J. Abrams
, though the direction of storylines owes more to co-creator Damon Lindelof
and fellow showrunner Carlton Cuse
. Actor Matthew Fox would have some influence on the character along the way; for example, Fox's own tattoos were incorporated into the character's backstory. Although at an early stage in the show's development, the character was originally intended to die in the pilot, the writers soon changed track and Jack became the show's main character from its pilot episode
onwards.
The de facto
leader of the crash survivors, in the show's first four seasons Jack is very much a man of science; he serves as the antithesis of man of faith John Locke
(Terry O'Quinn
). However, his experiences in season five
mould Jack into a believer, to the point of becoming John Locke's spiritual successor in the final season. His leadership role culminates in him taking briefly over as protector of the island from its immortal guardian, Jacob (Mark Pellegrino
) and being the one to engage one of the series' villains, the Man in Black
(O'Quinn) in a climactic battle to the death. Jack's storylines have incorporated love interests: fellow survivor Kate Austen
(Evangeline Lilly
) and Juliet Burke
(Elizabeth Mitchell
), one of the mysterious Others who are the series' visible antagonists for the majority of its run. Other key relationships in the show involve Claire Littleton
(Emilie de Ravin
), whom he discovers is his half-sister; Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
) as his right-hand man; and Sawyer (Josh Holloway
), his rival for leadership of the survivors and for the affections of Kate, even when at some points, Sawyer calls him the nearest thing he has as a friend.
and graduated medical school a year earlier than his classmates.
Despite Jack's gifts as a physician, he is haunted by his relationship with his father, a neurosurgeon at St. Sebastian Hospital. Jack exposes his father's alcoholicism, ending his career. In September 2004, Jack's mother, Margo, (Veronica Hamel
) orders him to find Christian, who has exiled himself to Australia
, and bring him back. Jack finds his father has died and goes to Sydney
to identify his body and make arrangements to bring him home. Jack boards Oceanic 815 bound for Los Angeles on September 22, 2004, with his father's casket in the cargo hold.
On the island, Jack plays a key role in the survival of his fellow survivors in the immediate aftermath of the crash, instructing others to help those with injuries and using his medical background to assist the wounded. The survivors look to Jack as their leader; however, he is reluctant to embrace the position and repeats his father's rationale that he does not "have what it takes." Exhausted from tending the wounded, attempts to rescue drowning survivors and sleep-deprived, Jack begins chasing hallucinations of his father in the jungle. He drops his skepticism when he finds his father's coffin but it is empty. Struggling to cope with demands made by the castaways, he meets John Locke in the jungle, who provides some guidance for Jack's leadership. Jack returns to the beach camp and gives a speech on how they are going to live on the island and tells them about the caves; one part of his speech—"live together, die alone"—becomes a mantra of him and the survivors. Through his medical tending and visibility within the camp, Jack quickly develops many personal relationships with the castaways, most notably finding a potential romantic interest in Kate Austen, a right hand man in Hurley Reyes (Jorge Garcia
) and a mutual respect for former military torturer Sayid Jarrah
(Naveen Andrews
).
Throughout the series, it has been stated numerous times that Jack is a natural leader. These things have been demonstrated many times by his ability to think quickly and analyze crisis situations. Jack intentionally represses fear and anxiety, usually in order to remain strong for other people, as he is the one they turn to during crises. Initially, he rejects claims of fellow survivors, such as Rose Nadler (L. Scott Caldwell
) and John Locke
, who believe they are on the Island for a reason
and that the Island has mystic properties. He does this to not give his fellow survivors false hope. On the Island, Jack also seems to repress his feelings for Kate Austen
, which he has only twice ever fully admitted to, and even then only once in a very emotional tone of voice. However, after escaping from The Island, Jack and Kate admit their love, move in together, and raise Aaron, Claire's son.
Jack's habit of repression sometimes does flare out, usually in his propensity to become violent when he is enraged. He is also prone to become highly obsessive and willing to do anything to help the survivors, even if it's to his detriment. Jack is, deep down, a very caring person and has sacrificed himself for his crash-mates several times. After being rescued, he sinks into alcoholism and drug abuse out of severe depression. He blames himself for leaving almost all the fellow survivors behind while he was safely rescued. This leads to his delusions that his father is still alive and a suicide attempt, which indicate that Jack has not been completely able to cope with what happened on the island. Digital Spy
' s Ben Rawson-Jones marked a "difference in the characterization of Jack [who] has become known as the trustworthy, honest type since Oceanic Flight 815 crashed, so his blatant lies about the island under oath were definitely dramatic."
After being rescued, seeing visions of his father, and being visited by John Locke, Jack's outlook underwent a fundamental change. He began to believe in fate and destiny. When Juliet asked Jack why he had returned to the island, Jack told her "because I was supposed to." Jack's faith leads him to sacrifice himself to prevent the island's destruction. He believed that saving the island was what he was "meant to do." In many episodes, Jack is portrayed as having a Messiah Complex
.
was interested in Michael Keaton
for the role, as Abrams wanted to work with him. However, scripts were never even sent to him, as the character was made into a regular, and Keaton wasn't interested in a series. The producers felt that if the audience became attached to the character during the first episode, and then he was killed, they might resent the show. His death was meant to shock the audience so they would never know what would happen next. The role ended up going to Matthew Fox, who was "very excited" about it, as it was the genre and tone he was looking for..
already had the tattoos when he started on Lost. The producers considered putting make-up over them but, instead, decided to keep them and just fit them in with the plot.
According to Assistant Professor Xinping Zhu of Northeastern University, the tattoo is made up of four Chinese character
s from a poem written by Mao Zedong
in 1925, and the Lebanese Phalangist
symbol. Fox's tattoo translates to "Eagles high up, cleaving the space".
In an interview, Fox said that, for him, getting a tattoo is a "pretty intense experience" and something he would not do in the "spur of the moment". He thought it was a "really cool idea" for Jack to have tattoos. Since Fox used tattoos to represent memories or meaningful events in his life, the writers took a similar approach when dealing with Jack's tattoos.
praised Matthew Fox's lead role performance in "Through the Looking Glass
" as "Emmy worthy" The San Diego Union-Tribune
' s Karla Peterson praised Fox's work in "Something Nice Back Home
", The Palm Beach Post
' s Kevin Thompson "thought [that] Matthew [Fox] did a nice job conveying a wide range of emotions—scared, haunted, frustration, jealousy, just to name a few" in the same episode.
Matthew Fox won a Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Television Series for his role as Jack in 2004. He was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2006 for Best Actor in a television series - Drama and a Television Critics Association
award in 2005 for Individual Achievement in Drama. He has also won two Saturn awards, including Best Actor on Television in 2005 and Best Actor in a Television Program in 2007. In 2010, Fox had received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
and protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
played by Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines
Oceanic Airlines
Oceanic Airlines and less frequently Oceanic Airways are fictional airlines used in several films and television programs.The most famous use of this brand is in the TV show Lost, where Oceanic Airlines is featured branded with a highly-stylized logo depicting an Aboriginal dot painting that...
flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader island history they are a part of. The character was originally conceived by creator J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
, though the direction of storylines owes more to co-creator Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
and fellow showrunner Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
. Actor Matthew Fox would have some influence on the character along the way; for example, Fox's own tattoos were incorporated into the character's backstory. Although at an early stage in the show's development, the character was originally intended to die in the pilot, the writers soon changed track and Jack became the show's main character from its pilot episode
Pilot (Lost)
"Pilot" constitutes the first and second episodes of the first season of ABC television series Lost, with "Part 1" premiering on September 22, 2004 and Part 2 on September 29, 2004. The episodes were directed by J.J. Abrams, and written by him along with Damon Lindelof, based on a story by them and...
onwards.
The de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
leader of the crash survivors, in the show's first four seasons Jack is very much a man of science; he serves as the antithesis of man of faith John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
(Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
). However, his experiences in season five
Lost (season 5)
The fifth season of the American serial drama television series Lost commenced airing on the ABC network in the United States and on A in Canada in January 2009, and concluded with a two-hour season finale on May 13, 2009...
mould Jack into a believer, to the point of becoming John Locke's spiritual successor in the final season. His leadership role culminates in him taking briefly over as protector of the island from its immortal guardian, Jacob (Mark Pellegrino
Mark Pellegrino
Mark Ross Pellegrino is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work on Lost as Jacob and for playing Lucifer on Supernatural.-Career:...
) and being the one to engage one of the series' villains, the Man in Black
Man in Black (Lost)
The entity referred to most frequently as the Man in Black is a fictional character on the American ABC television series Lost, and is the main antagonist of the...
(O'Quinn) in a climactic battle to the death. Jack's storylines have incorporated love interests: fellow survivor Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
(Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama, Lost.-Early life:...
) and Juliet Burke
Juliet Burke
Dr. Juliet Burke is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Elizabeth Mitchell. Her character was introduced in the third season premiere.- Prior to arrival on the island :...
(Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell , is an American actress/modelwho is known for her roles as Dr. Juliet Burke on ABC's TV series Lost and as FBI agent Erica Evans on V. She has starred in such films as The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and Gia.-Early life:Mitchell was born Elizabeth...
), one of the mysterious Others who are the series' visible antagonists for the majority of its run. Other key relationships in the show involve Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a pregnant crash survivor. She is a series regular until her...
(Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
), whom he discovers is his half-sister; Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
Jorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
) as his right-hand man; and Sawyer (Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
), his rival for leadership of the survivors and for the affections of Kate, even when at some points, Sawyer calls him the nearest thing he has as a friend.
Characterization
Prior to the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, Jack was born into a successful family, with aspirations of following in his father's footsteps. He attended Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and graduated medical school a year earlier than his classmates.
Despite Jack's gifts as a physician, he is haunted by his relationship with his father, a neurosurgeon at St. Sebastian Hospital. Jack exposes his father's alcoholicism, ending his career. In September 2004, Jack's mother, Margo, (Veronica Hamel
Veronica Hamel
Veronica Hamel is an American actress.- Biography :After Hamel graduated from Temple University, she worked as a secretary for a company that manufactured ironing board covers. She began a fashion modeling career after being discovered by Eileen Ford...
) orders him to find Christian, who has exiled himself to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and bring him back. Jack finds his father has died and goes to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
to identify his body and make arrangements to bring him home. Jack boards Oceanic 815 bound for Los Angeles on September 22, 2004, with his father's casket in the cargo hold.
On the island, Jack plays a key role in the survival of his fellow survivors in the immediate aftermath of the crash, instructing others to help those with injuries and using his medical background to assist the wounded. The survivors look to Jack as their leader; however, he is reluctant to embrace the position and repeats his father's rationale that he does not "have what it takes." Exhausted from tending the wounded, attempts to rescue drowning survivors and sleep-deprived, Jack begins chasing hallucinations of his father in the jungle. He drops his skepticism when he finds his father's coffin but it is empty. Struggling to cope with demands made by the castaways, he meets John Locke in the jungle, who provides some guidance for Jack's leadership. Jack returns to the beach camp and gives a speech on how they are going to live on the island and tells them about the caves; one part of his speech—"live together, die alone"—becomes a mantra of him and the survivors. Through his medical tending and visibility within the camp, Jack quickly develops many personal relationships with the castaways, most notably finding a potential romantic interest in Kate Austen, a right hand man in Hurley Reyes (Jorge Garcia
Jorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
) and a mutual respect for former military torturer Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Hassan Jarrah is a character from the ABC show Lost portrayed by Naveen Andrews.-Season 1:Sayid fixes the transceiver recovered from the cockpit, and leads a group into the jungle in order to send out a distress signal. Instead, he picks up a looping message . He tries to locate the...
(Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
).
Throughout the series, it has been stated numerous times that Jack is a natural leader. These things have been demonstrated many times by his ability to think quickly and analyze crisis situations. Jack intentionally represses fear and anxiety, usually in order to remain strong for other people, as he is the one they turn to during crises. Initially, he rejects claims of fellow survivors, such as Rose Nadler (L. Scott Caldwell
L. Scott Caldwell
Laverne Scott Caldwell is an American actress known for her role as Rose on Lost.This Chicago native started her career in 1978 as a member of the famed Negro Ensemble Company, making her Broadway debut two years later in the Tony Award nominated play Home...
) and John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
, who believe they are on the Island for a reason
Destiny
Destiny or fate refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual...
and that the Island has mystic properties. He does this to not give his fellow survivors false hope. On the Island, Jack also seems to repress his feelings for Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
, which he has only twice ever fully admitted to, and even then only once in a very emotional tone of voice. However, after escaping from The Island, Jack and Kate admit their love, move in together, and raise Aaron, Claire's son.
Jack's habit of repression sometimes does flare out, usually in his propensity to become violent when he is enraged. He is also prone to become highly obsessive and willing to do anything to help the survivors, even if it's to his detriment. Jack is, deep down, a very caring person and has sacrificed himself for his crash-mates several times. After being rescued, he sinks into alcoholism and drug abuse out of severe depression. He blames himself for leaving almost all the fellow survivors behind while he was safely rescued. This leads to his delusions that his father is still alive and a suicide attempt, which indicate that Jack has not been completely able to cope with what happened on the island. Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
After being rescued, seeing visions of his father, and being visited by John Locke, Jack's outlook underwent a fundamental change. He began to believe in fate and destiny. When Juliet asked Jack why he had returned to the island, Jack told her "because I was supposed to." Jack's faith leads him to sacrifice himself to prevent the island's destruction. He believed that saving the island was what he was "meant to do." In many episodes, Jack is portrayed as having a Messiah Complex
Messiah complex
A messiah complex is a state of mind in which an individual holds a belief they are, or are destined to become, a savior. The messiah complex does not appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ....
.
Development
In the original outline of Lost, Jack was going to be killed halfway through the first episode. Lost co-creator J. J. AbramsJ. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
was interested in Michael Keaton
Michael Keaton
Michael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's...
for the role, as Abrams wanted to work with him. However, scripts were never even sent to him, as the character was made into a regular, and Keaton wasn't interested in a series. The producers felt that if the audience became attached to the character during the first episode, and then he was killed, they might resent the show. His death was meant to shock the audience so they would never know what would happen next. The role ended up going to Matthew Fox, who was "very excited" about it, as it was the genre and tone he was looking for..
Tattoos
For story purposes, the tattoos on Jack's arm read: "He walks among us, but he is not one of us." However, Matthew FoxMatthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
already had the tattoos when he started on Lost. The producers considered putting make-up over them but, instead, decided to keep them and just fit them in with the plot.
According to Assistant Professor Xinping Zhu of Northeastern University, the tattoo is made up of four Chinese character
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
s from a poem written by Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
in 1925, and the Lebanese Phalangist
Kataeb Party
The Lebanese Phalanges , better known in English as the Phalange , is a traditional right-wing Lebanese political party. Although it is officially secular, it is mainly supported by Maronite Christians. The party played a major role in the Lebanese War...
symbol. Fox's tattoo translates to "Eagles high up, cleaving the space".
In an interview, Fox said that, for him, getting a tattoo is a "pretty intense experience" and something he would not do in the "spur of the moment". He thought it was a "really cool idea" for Jack to have tattoos. Since Fox used tattoos to represent memories or meaningful events in his life, the writers took a similar approach when dealing with Jack's tattoos.
Reception
Critical as well as viewer opinion has been positive for Matthew Fox's Jack Shephard. BuddyTVBuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
praised Matthew Fox's lead role performance in "Through the Looking Glass
Through the Looking Glass (Lost)
"Through the Looking Glass" is the third season finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 22nd and 23rd episodes of the third season. It is also the 71st and 72nd episodes overall. It was written by co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse,...
" as "Emmy worthy" The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
-Predecessors:The predecessor newspapers of the Union-Tribune were:* San Diego Sun, founded 1861 and merged with the Evening Tribune in 1939.* San Diego Union, founded October 10, 1868.* Evening Tribune, founded December 2, 1895.-Ownership:...
Something Nice Back Home
"Something Nice Back Home" is the tenth episode of the American Broadcasting Company's fourth season of the serial drama television series Lost and 82nd episode overall. It was aired on May 1, 2008, on ABC in the United States and on CTV in Canada...
", The Palm Beach Post
The Palm Beach Post
The Palm Beach Post is a major daily newspaper in Florida, serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and the Treasure Coast area. It is the 72nd largest daily newspaper in the United States and the sixth largest in Florida.-History:...
Matthew Fox won a Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Television Series for his role as Jack in 2004. He was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2006 for Best Actor in a television series - Drama and a Television Critics Association
Television Critics Association
The Television Critics Association is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian journalists and columnists who cover television programming...
award in 2005 for Individual Achievement in Drama. He has also won two Saturn awards, including Best Actor on Television in 2005 and Best Actor in a Television Program in 2007. In 2010, Fox had received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.