An alphabetical guide to "Lost"

Here's our handy "Lost" glossary:

AARON: The infant son of castaway Claire; he was born on the island.

BLACK ROCK: A marooned slave ship where the castaways found shackled skeletons and the dynamite used to blow open the hatch.

CHARLIE: Castaway and former bassist for the rock band DriveShaft. A recovering drug addict, he discovered, among the wreckage of a small drug-smuggling plane, a stash of ceramic Virgin Mary statues containing heroin.

DHARMA INITIATIVE: A research initiative founded by the Hanso Foundation dedicated to the study of human behavior. Built several research facilities on the island, including the infamous hatch where occupants were instructed to input a string of numbers into a computer every 108 minutes or else.

GALE, HENRY: Name used by creepy leader of the Others. Was held prisoner by the castaways, but the tables have turned and he now has Jack, Kate and Sawyer in his custody.

HATCH: Elaborate underground lair once occupied by Desmond, who handled the number-punching duties until Locke took over. When those duties were purposely shirked, it triggered an electromagnetic blast in which the hatch was destroyed.

ISLAND: Spooky piece of tropical turf inhabited by the castaways is somewhere in the South Pacific, but exact whereabouts are unknown. Oceanic Flight 815 was traveling from Sydney to Los Angeles when it encountered turbulence, went off course and crashed.

JACK: Spinal surgeon and unofficial leader of the castaways. Was bringing his father's body back home from Australia when the plane crashed. Now in custody of the Others.

KELVIN: Apparently one of the original occupants of the hatch. Gave cryptic instructions to Desmond to type in the numbers every 108 minutes to "save the world." Died prior to Flight 815 crash.

LOCKE: Was a wheelchair-using office drone before the crash, but became miraculously ambulatory on the island. Fate was unknown after the hatch explosion.

MONSTER: Enigmatic island force seen by only a few survivors. Takes form in a swift-moving black cloud amid flashes of light.

NUMBERS: The digits 4-8-15-16-23-42. Played by Hurley to win millions in the lottery, after which a streak of horrible luck convinced him they are cursed. Eerily, they show up in several places, including the exterior of the hatch. The full sequence is the code that was being inputted into the Dharma hatch computer every 108 minutes — 108 being the sum of the Numbers.

OTHERS, THE: Scruffy group of islanders who have wreaked havoc upon the plane-crash survivors. They kidnapped Walt, young son of Michael, but then exchanged him in a shady deal for Jack, Kate and Sawyer.

QUARANTINE: Word etched into hatch lid, seemingly indicating that the outside world poses a hazard.

ROUSSEAU: Unstable Frenchwoman and sole survivor of a scientific expedition marooned on the island. Claims her daughter, Alex, was abducted by the Others.

SAYID: Castaway and former member of the Iraqi Republican Guard. Was last seen scouting a deserted Others camp after sailing to the north side of the island with fellow castaways Sun and Jin.

TAILIES: Fan lingo for the passengers in the plane's tail section, which broke off in the crash and landed on another part of the island. Only a handful of tailies survived the crash.

VINCENT: Dog belonging to Walt. Lone animal survivor of the crash.

W — WALT: Michael's young son. May possess reality-bending mental powers. Was held captive for weeks by the Others. Last seen sailing to freedom with Michael.

Sources: Compiled with source assistance from the guidebooks "Getting Lost" and "Unlocking the Meaning of Lost."

Chuck Barney, Contra Costa Times