Who Was Charles Widmore — The Lost Villain & Why He Was Banished From The Island Explained

Charles Widmore is one of the biggest antagonists to ever arrive on Lost, and he's got a fascinating story all his own. The villains on Lost go a long way to making the show so special, even if the final seasons of the hit science fiction adventure drama did peter out. While the mysteries of the island and the time-jumping shenanigans may have been enough for another series, Lost elevated its story by introducing a series of antagonists who were just as fascinating as the heroes we first meet when we get to the island.

The first of these antagonists all come from the Others, the group of people brought to the island long before the people of Oceanic Flight 815 arrived. Brought to the island by Jacob (Mark Pellegrino) and his hand-picked agent, Richard (Néstor Carbonell), the Others are responsible for keeping The Man in Black (Titus Welliver), or MIB, at bay. Though, that history and mission get a little cloudy as the seasons go on, and Lost loses the plot a bit. Charles Widmore was heavily involved with the Others, with a major mystery centering around his character.

Charles Widmore Was A Leader Of The Others In Lost

Widmore Frequently Left The Island

Charles Widmore is a wealthy industrialist who grew up on the island. When he was 17, he was a fervent disciple of Richard's and a loyal member of the Others. He disagreed with bringing Benjamin Linus (Michael Emerson) and other outsiders into the group, igniting a decades-long rivalry between the two men. Years later, Charles rises to the rank of leader among the Others, and it's during this period that he repeatedly leaves the island, eventually conceiving a daughter he names Penny (Sonya Walger). Later, he conceives Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies).

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He's banished for his liaisons with an outsider and loses track of where the island is. The head of a massive industrial firm, Widmore has access to an incredible amount of wealth and uses this money in a desperate attempt to search for the island. Callous and haughty in the first few seasons of Lost, Widmore refuses to let Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) have a relationship with Penny. He eventually becomes something of an anti-hero, and he's responsible for reuniting the Oceanic 6 in 2007 to make sure something terrible doesn't occur.

Charles' Banishment & Death Explained

Widmore Was Killed By His Old Rival, Ben Linus

Banished for his conception of Penny, Widmore constantly desires to return to the island, and once he reunites the Oceanic 6, he finally has his chance. Widmore has a plan to release an electromagnetic pulse across the island, which begins a series of events that will make the MIB mortal. However, the MIB stops him and offers him the chance to tell the MIB why he returned to the island; otherwise, the MIB will kill Penny.

Widmore agrees to tell the MIB everything, but he's shot dead by Benjamin, who says, "He doesn't get to save his daughter." This begins the countdown to the end of the series, and Widmore's exit removes one of the most powerful people in the fight against the MIB, making his end all the more uncertain.

What The Charles Widmore Actors Are Up To Now

Three Actors Played Widmore At Different Ages

Charles Widmore was played by Alan Dale in his old age, who has since played Joseph Anders in the soap opera Dynasty and had a recurring role in the series Wreck as Owen Deveraux. David Lee, who played Widmore in middle age, recently played Don Ramsey in Chicago Fire and voiced Mobo in Mufasa: The Lion King. Tom Connolly, who played Widmore as a teenager in Lost, appeared in The Chosen as Leander and Smallwood as Tom.