Four-toed statue/Theories

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Four-toed statue 		Main Discussion
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Points to keep in mind:

  • Damon Lindelof stated in an interview, that originally in the script there was a 6 toed statue, and BBC said it would be too weird and demanded 4 toes and it was totally okay for the writers [1]. That means, that they didn't plan the whole show (dharma logos, keypad..) with 4 toes.
  • Sayid, who would have had a 180c view of the Statue due to the trajectory of the yacht, confirms that the foot has four toes. If it was merely an optical illusion, the writers would not have had Sayid make this pointed observation. Moreover, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindlof have since confirmed that the statue has four toes, and this was a precise and deliberate intention.

Contents

Meaning of the 4 Toes

Theory 1: 4 Toes - The makers of the statue had and depicted a congenital physical malformation, the result of a small population and the lack of genetic variety

Abnormalities in digits, toes, fertility and infant mortality can be the result of a restricted gene pool [2] [3]. The small gene pool can lead to the emergence of genetic mutations - recessive traits that would normally be either dormant or replaced by a "healthy" version of the gene from the other parent. But with a small gene pool where parents have many genes in common, there are no healthy genes to replace the mutation. Higher incidence of polydactylism (i.e. too many fingers or toes) have been observed in genetically restricted communities, such as the Amish [4].

Evidence:

  • The makers of the statue may have come from a very small gene pool. Highly restricted gene pools are common on islands, and have lead to the evolution of animals that differ radically from their off island relatives (see pygmy elephants [5] and island giantism, such as the moa [6].
  • It doesn't look like there is a toe missing, it looks as though the person depicted by the foot was born with 4 toes.
  • The island appears to be in a highly isolated location (given that the extreme difficulty of leaving unless one knows specific coordinates and it's separation from the rest of the world in time). For an ancient civilization, this may have been nearly impossible, leading to a highly restricted gene pool of whoever was on the island first, and then whoever managed to land on the island there after by chance.

Counter-evidence:

It seems as though it would have taken a large population to build a statue to that scale, but then again, it is only a foot ...

Theory 2: Artistic License

  • It is fairly common when recreating human features artistically to reduce the number of digits on hands and feet. Drawing five fingers or toes can make a drawing or sculpture look like it has six fingers or toes. The thumb on a human hand usually rests inside the fingers, and the smallest toe on a human foot is usually overshadowed by the other larger toes.
  • It seems that the whole point of a statue like that on the coast of the island would be to frighten passersby so that they don't land on your island (i.e. stay away or you will face the wrath of 4 toed giants). Sayid finds the 4 toes disturbing because that is how it is supposed to make passersby feel: afraid!


Theory 3: The statue is from the future

  • Four toes represent the evolutionary path of man. The statue must therefore represent the future.
    • This is not how evolution works. Evolution is a mutation that somehow confers a benefit (i.e., reproductive success). Your statement would only be true if having four toes meant you are more likely to keep your "gene pool" going in the future.

Miscellaneous

  • Note the painting Hurley sees in Jacob's window in The Beginning of the End; it shows what seems to be a dog with some type of humanoid upper body, sitting with its hands folded in front of it. Maybe four-toed dog-men don't exist, but maybe they do. Maybe if the Others have been on the island long enough, four-toed dog-men might be a part of the narrative that goes along with their religion, or whatever passes for it.


Age of the foot

The statue is very old

  • The Island was populated by people far in the past. These people built the statue.
    • The new appearance of the ancient statue is the result of a time anomaly. This is related to whatever time displacement that is causing Desmond to have the apparent ability to know what happens in the future.
  • Only a portion of the statue was pulled from another time or place, as there seems to be no evidence of any other construction near the foot, since only this portion was "transported" to the island.


The statue is recent

  • The statue looks relatively new.
  • People from the past somehow came to the Island at some relatively recent point in time and built the statue.
  • The age of the statue is still under discussion, but judging from the material of the foot, it is rather new (probably less than 100 years old) or made of a very resilient material. Common rocks for building monuments show severe signs of weathering & discoloration in a nearshore tropical climate after only a few years or decades due to high humidity, plants and saltwater.

Origins

The Statue is From Somewhere Else

  • The material seems to be either marble or granite. Marble or sandstone would most likely be weathered stronger. However granite is rather resilient to weathering. There is some evidence of weathering (rounding, discoloration) - but no major weathering. It is almost certain that the material did not come from the Island, since it evidently is a purely volcanic island - like all the remote islands in the Pacific. They usually are the tops of underwater volcanoes (like Hawaii). This may support the theory that the foot did not originate from the Island, but was built elsewhere and somehow transported to the Island later.


"Transplant" theory

  • Considering the lack of any visible wreckage, the foot may have been transplanted away from the statue's original site by DHARMA or someone else for reasons unknown.
    • The foot appears to be a left foot, but there is no trace of either the right foot or the pedestal it would have stood upon. Closer examination shows that not only does the foot appear to be broken off above the ankle, but a portion of the pedestal it stands on appears to have been broken off from a bigger section.
    • The foot also appears to merely be resting on a pile of rocks, rather than having been built there. The base is not level and is leaning slightly forward. This could be further evidence for it having been transplanted from elsewhere (or of some kind of seismic upheaval).
  • The rest of the statue may be missing because only the foot & calf were transported to the island. Many clues about the island/Dharma indicate the possibility of opening wormholes to the island. This could explain why the statue appears to be on an unstable foundation and constructed of a foreign mineral. Also, if we subscribe to the "many worlds" theory of quantum mechanics, it's possible that the statue originated in an alternate universe/timeline where humans have only four toes.
  • The statue may well have been transplanted the same way the polar bear, Benjamin Linus and the infamous Bunny #15 have been transported, especially given that both Ben and the polar bear ended up in the Tunisian Sahara.
  • It's possible that the entire statue was transported to the island through a wormhole or Vile Vortex, but, landing where it did, it immediately broke and most of it fell into the water.


Ancient Origins

  • The statue might have belonged to an ancient civilization of whom the Others are a part or from whom they are descended.
  • The statue may draw from a known mythology:
    • Greco-Roman origin:
      • The statue dates to Greco-Roman times. The sandal appears Greco-Roman and the statue is in that style.
      • The giant Greek statue of the Greek god Helios, known as Colossus of Rhodes was destroyed due to an earthquake in 224 BCE. All that remained standing was its legs from the knees down. According to scholars, it was of a similar size to the statue of Liberty. (Charlie uses the phrase "colossal joke.")


Egyptian or Asian origin:

      • Several Asian and Egyptian deities have four toes, such as Bast, the Cat-Goddess
        • This actually would mix well with the apparent Romanesque features, as there was a period when Egypt began to integrate some Roman architecture in to their own designs, while at the same time many Greeks and Romans began to worship Egyptian deities.
      • The statue could be part of one depicting Anubis which is one of the Hieroglyphs displayed prior to a system failure in the Swan.

Atlantis or Mu as the origin:

      • The probable South Pacific location of the Island would also allow for some link to the legendary lost continent of Mu.


    • The location in the south pacific suggests a Polynesian origin of the statue.
  • Now that an anthropologist with some archaeological experience, Charlotte, is on the island, we may revisit the statue and gain new insights regarding its ancient origins.
  • The fact that the island can be moved may explain the Atlantis theory. Atlantis didn't sink - it was moved somewhere else. The four-toed statue is a remnant of the civilization of Atlantis.

The Statue's Destruction

"System failure" theory

  • The rest of the statue was destroyed due to a prior system failure.
  • The statue may have been created with metallic elements, or constructed over a metal frame. The missing pieces may have been sucked inland or propelled out to sea by a previous system failure or discharge from the magnetic anomaly in the Swan. Or, the statue may have originally stood somewhere else, and the pieces of it may have been scattered around the Island by a prior incident.

"Clever Ruse" theory

  • The statue consists of only a foot, and is not part of a larger structure which was previously destroyed.
  • Despite the podcast evidence (or in addition to it), the statue may be a ruse constructed by DHARMA or the Hanso Foundation, part of a larger misinformation campaign (like the "false" village of the Others) designed to establish the fiction of a long-lost primitive civilization.
  • The statue may contain one of the unexplored hatches.

"Submersion" Theory

  • There is no wreckage from the rest of the statue visible nearby. The foot may be slightly tilted because the rest of the statue fell forward into the sea, and is currently submerged. If it's been there a while, it probably just looks like coral now.
    • If a meteorite created the crater in which the Barracks seems to reside, the impact tremor may have been sufficient enough to tilt a 250-foot statue to the point of collapsing into the ocean, leaving only the Foot.
  • There may have been some missing pieces on the beach that were recovered by the ancient inhabitants who built it, or removed later by DHARMA for study.
  • A volcano is mentioned in the episode "The Man Behind The Curtain" which is a Ben flashback. The teacher who confirms this mentions it was a very long time ago. The volcano might have been responsible or partly involved for the destruction of the statue.

"Tsunami" Theory

  • The evidence of the wreck of the old sailing ship the Black Rock being beached far inland at considerable altitude is indicative that a rather large tsunami hit the Island in the 19th Century, likely reaching at least 100-200 feet or more in height.
  • Around the year 1700 a size nine earthquake struck about one hundred miles off the coast of Washington state; a huge pacific-wide tsunami was generated as a result. The wave caused fatalities as far away as Japan.
    • This would be consistent with the Others' "camp" being on the north side of the Island.
  • A Tsunami this size could have destroyed the rest of the statue, either throwing them far inland, or dragging them out to sea.
  • It also would have wiped out any indigenous people living on the Island. If they were a unique race, like the skeletons of the "Little People" found on another South Pacific island in recent years, they were likely wiped out then.
  • If whatever phenomenon was being controlled in the Swan is tectonic in nature, it likely would have caused tsunamis occasionally in years before it was being controlled by active measures.
  • Geographically speaking, if the Island is indeed located somewhere in the vicinity of Fiji, a tsunami from the fault zone off the coast of New Zealand (or even as far off as California's fault zones) could have created a tsunami large enough to wipe out a statue of this size.
    • Consider the terrain behind the statue. For the most part, the land is devoid of trees or heavy vegitation, up to the mountain foothills. A "smaller" tsunami may have indeed struck, washing away jungle and weakening the right side of the pediment. Its subsequent settling collapsed the statue, pieces of which were pulled out to sea by the retreating wave. The left side of the statue's pediment was relatively undamaged, the statue itself having broken off at the right knee from torque strain.


Under Construction Theory

  • Its being built currently by the Others and that's why Sawyer and Kate are breaking up rocks.
  • Another construction possibility is that the statue is being torn down by the Others. Perhaps the Others had Kate and Sawyer breaking up rocks because there is/was something inside of the statue that would be very beneficial to the Others.
    • There is a considerable amount of missing debris (the fracture zone on the remains of the statue would indicate the statue fell backwards, and, thus debris should be present on the ground visible in the photo). The possibility that the Others have dragged this debris away for their own means explains both the lack of statue rubble and the damage to the grassland visible in the photo.


Narrating Reference Theory

  • One person has 4 toes at least on one foot. The existence of the old statue will create a wow-moment at some point in the show. Because at that moment we will learn who the person with 4 toes is, and that this person had to be present for a pretty long time. That person was important, that is why people built a statue.



Theories about Locations
 v • t • e
DHARMA & Others The Swan • The Arrow • The Staff • The Flame • The ? • The Pearl • The Looking Glass • The Hydra • The Tempest
Barracks • Cages • Capsule Dump • Hydra Island • Pala Ferry • Quarry • Radio Tower • The Door
Misc. Island Locations Balloon • Black Rock • Church • Cove • Dark Territory • Drug Smugglers' Plane • Line • Polar Bear Cave • Rousseau's Camp • Statue • Waterfall
Off The Island Commune • Listening Station • Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack • Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute
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