LogFAQs > #951216331

#14. Jin Soo-Kwon


His very bad, no good, atrocious, pitifully written ending in season 6 aside, Jin has one of the more complete arcs of any character on the show. He starts out as an aloof, controlling husband who seems to get into fights with everyone on the Island; and through some interesting flashbacks, we slowly begin to understand why he is that way. And then over the course of a few seasons, we watch as Jin grows into a more loving partner and a loyal ally to the other survivors. It's pretty much exactly what a character arc should be.

If we are to take the creators at face value when they claim that LOST is "really about the characters," then I think Jin is the quintessential model for that claim. His flashbacks exclusively serve the purpose of fleshing him out into a multidimensional character, and his growth as a person in real-time is directly due to the actions that happen in the story. There's no mystical bullshit or heavy-handed ideas about "fate" woven in--Jin is a simple A to B story, where you hate him at first and then wind up rooting for him by the end.

But, as I mentioned in Sun's write-up, the end of Jin's story is just unforgivable and unfortunately keeps him out of the top 10.