Mr. Eko

Mr. Eko is a fictional character played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the ABC television series Lost. He is introduced in the second season episode "Adrift" as one of the plane-crash survivors from the tail section. Flashbacks reveal that he became the leader of a gang of guerrillas to save his brother when he lived in Nigeria. He assumed his brother's identity and became a priest after his brother was killed in a failed drug smuggling operation; Eko was ostracized, and left Nigeria to become a priest in Australia. After investigating the alleged miracle of a girl who came back to life after drowning in Australia in 2004, Eko boarded Oceanic Airlines Flight 815. The plane crashed and left Eko, along with a few other survivors, on a deserted island. Lost creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were fans of Akinnuoye-Agbaje's work on HBO's Oz, and asked him to portray the character. Although Akinnuoye-Agbaje was not interested in joining the cast, he was persuaded by Cuse and Lindelof, but for a shorter period than they had in mind. Akinnuoye-Agbaje had a lot of influence on his character, changing the character's name and making adjustments to Eko's personality. After appearing on the show for one season, Akinnuoye-Agbaje asked Cuse and Lindelof to write his character out of the show because he did not feel at home in Hawaii. They decided a "shocking and emotional death" would be the best way for the character to depart: after seeing his brother on the island, Eko chases him until he stumbles upon the smoke monster, which brutally murders him. Mr. Eko received many positive responses from critics and fans, who were disappointed that the character was killed after one season. A toy figure of Mr. Eko was included in a second series of Lost toy...