History Lost / TropesAToE

* EatTheDog: Locke serves Ben one of the cute fluffy bunnies left over from the DHARMA Initiative upon running out of chickens.
--> '''Ben:''' ...This didn't have [[ArcNumber a number on it]]?

* CoolGuns: Other than with Keamy and his mercenaries (who have some pretty sophisticated firearms), this trope is averted; guns are mainly scarce and not at all fancy (especially in the early seasons on the Island). Keamy & crew have such flashy toys because they do this for a living and they brought them for a specific mission. [[spoiler:Although Ben's piano-bench shotgun is pretty sweet.]]

* ArchnemesisDad: Locke's father abandoned him until well into his adult life, at which point he stole his kidney, re-abandoned him, used him as a courier, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder abandoned him again]], and pushed him out of an 8-story window.

* ArmiesAreEvil: While many characters end up being rather vicious, the military institutions or quasi military institutions get the worst rep. Most notably Keamy and his goons, but also the American and Iraqi armies that trained Sayid, the terrorists that trained Eko and the Nineteenth Century British Navy. Although individual characters who were soldiers aren't depicted as inherently evil, the show does seem to suggest that organisations dedicated to killing are absolutely remorseless (the Others, while lacking the aesthetic of a military, adhere to this too, despite being in the employee of the Big Good).

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: The survivors for the most part have ''terrible'' trigger discipline, Kate in particular seems to put her finger on the trigger whenever she points a gun at anyone. This is understandable for characters who might have no gun familiarity, but people like Kate (who says her father taught her hunting) or Ana-Lucia (former police officer) it's really inexcusable. [[spoiler:It's also one factor leading to Shannon's death at Ana-Lucia's hands.]]

** And then he gets romantically entangled with [[Recap/LostS02E11TheHuntingParty a patient's daughter]] ( while still married to the first patient, yet!). Really, it's a wonder he keeps his job.

** Everyone who does CPR goes so slowly that, in real life, there would be next to no chance of it working. Red Cross guidelines call for 30 chest compressions (at the rate of 100 per minute!), check for signs of circulation, then back to chest compressions. The poor technique is excusable for untrained people, but we see the doctor perform just as badly.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: (crossing over with ArtisticLicenseMedicine) In "[[{{Recap/LostS01E20DoNoHarm}} Do No Harm]]", Jack marries a woman who would be crippled if not for his saving her after her auto accident. Doctors entering romances even with ''former'' patients is greatly frowned upon; many doctors have been sanctioned and their careers ended for such behavior, according to the AMA website. Further episodes reveal that this was much more than a single emergency operation, making it even more likely that Jack would face ethics charges for getting involved with a long-time patient.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Bernard is never seen providing even the simplest medical care, despite being a practicing dentist. While they obviously have a really narrow specialty in oral health, dentists receive the same kind of general medical training that doctors do and would be more useful in a mass casualty situation than, say, a med school drop out.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: The Others go barefoot, in keeping with their "simple" lifestyle. Of course, this is merely a ruse to trick the survivors (Tom even goes as far as wearing a fake beard!). Played straight with the Others who reside at the island's Temple, like Dogen and Lennon. This tradition seems to stem from Jacob himself, who lives an extremely simple and humble existence. He's only seen wearing shoes when off the island.

* CuffsOffRubWrists: People get handcuffed or tied up a lot. Of special note is Jin, who went for ''over a season'' wearing one shackle of a pair of broken handcuffs.

* CavemenVsAstronautsDebate: In Season 3's "Catch-22", Charlie and Hurley are in the middle of one when the episode begins, debating who would win a race between Superman and The Flash.

* CannotSpitItOut
** Kate and Sawyer both try to hide the fact that they care about one another. Most of the their confessions come while they're bloodied, delirious, or under the threat of death.
** Libby's [[AlmostDeadGuy last]] [[HisNameIs words]] claiming Michael betrayed the group. Reason being is that she's been shot in the stomach and pumped full of heroin.
* CastHerd: Largely lampshaded by the phrase(s) "my/your/their people." Certain characters have [[HeelFaceTurn switched]] [[FaceHeelTurn allegiances]] through the course of the series. There's the 815 fuselage survivors, the tail survivors, the Others, the people from the freighter; then [[spoiler: [[TimeTravel when everyone is in the 70]]'s]] there's the Dharma Initiative and the Hostiles [[spoiler: (the name Dharma had for the Others)]].

** Before that, [[spoiler:Charles Widmore is set up to be the big bad, as Ben's rival for control of the Island. He's just as ruthless as Ben, if not more so, and just as controlling in the matter of his own daughter as well. Through his hireling Keamy, he kills Ben's daughter as well.]]

** It happens in SEASON 5 episode: "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham". Locke teleports to that same place, but his leg is broken and the pain immobilizes him. He's left there all day and the only at night do the AK-47-wielding Bedouins come and save the day, albeit [[spoiler:they seem to have been working for Mr. Widmore, who knew Locke had arrived by setting up surveillance at the "exit", as he called it]].

* DownerEnding: Although the show doesn't usually have "happy" episodes (and when it does they're usually [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]] or subverted at the last moment), but the "The Candidate" is just ''miserable''. [[spoiler: Three of the major characters (and candidates) explode or drown and the rest of the remaining cast cries on the beach. End episode]].

* AnAxeToGrind: That's how [[AxCrazy Claire]] deals with Justin, after his inability to tell her where her son is sends her over the edge.

* BackForTheDead
** [[EnforcedTrope Enforced]] by the island for Michael. When he's asked what he's doing back:
--> ''"To die."''

* DeathBySex: [[spoiler:Shannon after sleeping with Sayid, and Ana Lucia after sleeping with Sawyer]].
** More like death by ''romance'' [[spoiler: Charlie, Libby, & Charlotte died when their relationships were finally starting to work out]].

* AfterlifeAngst: Has a parallel "flash sideways" storyline, in which the plane crash never happened, and the characters are living their normal everyday lives. At the end, it is revealed that [[spoiler:the "flash sideways" world is actually the afterlife, and the characters all went there after their deaths. Most of them accept this quite easily, but Jack has a real psychological breakdown upon realization and has to be comforted by his father.]]

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The on-island events of the first four seasons takes place over the span of roughly 100 days, which most episodes covering about one or two days. Following the TimeSkip, the efforts to return to the Island and the following on-island events of the final two seasons take place over a course of three weeks.

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The on-island event of the first four seasons takes place over the span of roughly 100 days, which most episodes covering about one or two days. Following the TimeSkip, the efforts to return to the Island and the following on-island events of the final two seasons take place over a course of three weeks.