Mr. Eko
| Mr. Eko Tunde | |
|---|---|
| Lost character | |
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Mr. Eko
|
|
| First appearance | "Adrift" |
| Last appearance | "I Do" |
| Created by | |
| Centric episode(s) |
"The 23rd Psalm" "?" "The Cost of Living" |
| Information | |
| Full name | Mr. Eko Tunde |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation |
|
| Relatives | Yemi Tunde (brother) |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Former residence |
Nigeria |
Mr. Eko Tunde 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 plane's tail section. Flashbacks reveal that he became the leader of a gang of guerrillas to save his brother when he still lived in Nigeria. He assumed his brother's identity and became a priest after his brother was killed in a botched drug smuggle; Eko killed two guerrillas in defense, 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. This 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 initially 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 figures distributed by McFarlane Toys.
Originally from Nigeria, Mr. Eko was born on January 31, 1968. He grew up always looking after his younger brother, Yemi (Adetokumboh M'Cormack), with whom he lived in a small village. As revealed in "The 23rd Psalm", one day, when Eko is playing with the local children, a gang of guerrillas raids the village in search of young recruits. When Yemi refuses to shoot an elderly man, Eko steps in and shoots him himself, sparing Yemi from the same fate. Impressed by his actions, the guerrillas take Eko away with them and draw him away from his religious lifestyle and into the criminal life, where Eko adopted the title "Mr." He grows up to be a fearless drug lord and a vicious leader of a guerrilla group, while his brother becomes an honoured priest. Years after his abduction, Eko returns to his home village to ask Yemi to help him smuggle heroin, which Eko has hidden in a large number of Virgin Mary statues and intends to fly out of the country. Yemi refuses until Eko threatens his associates will burn the church down if he does not sign documents that allow him and his henchmen to appear as priests.
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Wikipedia