James ‘Sawyer’ Ford

James Ford was born in 1969 in Knoxville, Tennessee. When he was eight, his father killed his mother and then shot himself. A man named Sawyer stole all of their life savings and slept with his mother. James wrote a letter to the man, hoping he would deliver it himself one day. He then lived with his grandparents
When he was 19 he became a con man, just like the man who ruined his life. He also started to go by the name Sawyer.
Later he was conning a woman named Cassidy. He pretended to teach her how to con, but later stole money from her. Cassidy gave him up to the authorities and Sawyer was sent to prison for seven years. A few months later Cassidy visited him and showed him a picture of a baby. She told him it was their daughter, her name was Clementine. Sawyer refused to believe her. He made a deal with the authorities, if he could make another prisoner tell him where he had hidden money, they would let him go. Sawyer succeded and was also given money. He asked them to place them in Clementine’s name, but in a way that she could never know who gave her the money.
Hibbs, who used to be Sawyer’s partner, showed up and claimed he knew the whereabouts of the real Sawyer. His real name was Frank Duckett and he lived in Australia. Sawyer travelled there to find him, and when he did, he shot him. It turned out that he wasn’t the real Sawyer, he owned Hibbs money. Sawyer realised that he has killed an innocent man. Before he dies, Frank Duckett says “It’ll come back around”. Sawyer, shocked over what he had done, leaves.
The night before 815 took off, Sawyer was arrested for headbutting the Australian Minister of Agriculture and was sent on a plane to the United States, he was also told he could never return to Australia again. Sawyer replied that he would never want to come back.

Moving through time/The Dharma Years
Because You Left
Though confused by the intense white light, Sawyer was quick to notice that the smoke from the freighter had completely disappeared in an instant. Juliet speculated that the helicopter may have been on the boat when it exploded. Sawyer attempted to calm Rose and Bernard as they panicked but they informed him that the camp had disappeared. Sawyer acted increasingly irritable as the group headed towards the hatch. He first asked Daniel to give him his shirt, and then slapped him and demanded some sort of explanation about the flashes of light. He seemed uncaring that they were travelling through time, distracted by the thoughts that Kate and the others might have died when the freighter exploded. When they arrived at the Swan station he suggested to Daniel that they could warn them about not getting on the helicopter, but Daniel replied it would be futile to attempt to change the past.

After jumping back in time again, Sawyer, against Daniel’s attempts to persuade him that it was impossible, headed to the Swan’s back door to get supplies: “Food, beer and clothing”. He attempted to get through the door, shouting “It’s the ghost of Christmas future!” and angrily slamming on the door. He eventually gave up, telling Daniel “Everybody I care about just blew up on your damn boat”. He then stormed off back to the beach.

The Lie
Sawyer took Frogurt’s red shirt, and questioned Daniel about how they were going to get off the island. Later that evening Sawyer became increasingly impatient with Frogurt’s pessimistic attitude and just as tensions peaked Frogurt was killed by a flaming arrow, fired by a group from within the jungle. As the group of survivors fled, Sawyer was himself almost hit one of the many arrows. He went back for Juliet who had stopped to help someone hit, and the two of them disappeared into the jungle to escape.

Moving towards the creek to meet up with the rest of the group, Sawyer stepped on a piece of bamboo, skewering his foot. Soon after he and Juliet saw a group walking through the jungle with guns. They tried to stay out of sight but were spotted and held at gunpoint. The group demanded to know who they were, and moved to cut off Juliet’s arm even when Sawyer agreed to tell them what they wanted to know. Just before it happened they were rescued by Locke and they overpowered their captors.

Jughead
The next morning, the three attempted to gain information out of the two surviving men. After Juliet was able to determine that they were Others, one of the men, known as Cunningham, was willing to lead them to their camp. Suddenly, “Jones” quickly snapped Cunningham’s neck and escaped. As he ran away, Locke had a clear shot at “Jones’”, but refused to shoot. This lead Sawyer to take his gun and aim for Jones, but his shot missed. Sawyer followed Juliet & Locke as they tracked Jones to the Others’ camp.

Locke and Sawyer argued about their next course of action, and Juliet stuck with Sawyer. They went to rescue Faraday from Ellie who was holding him at gunpoint. They managed to surround Ellie and force her to drop her gun, however soon after there was a time shift, and as the time changed, Ellie and the Others’ camp vanished. Sawyer and his group were left standing on an empty plain where the camp had been moments before.

The Little Prince
After the flash, Locke tells Sawyer that the only way to stop the flashes is to bring the Oceanic 6 back to the island. Sawyer questions the validity of Locke’s knowledge that the Oceanic 6 are still alive but after Locke mentions bringing Kate back he decides to head to the Orchid. On the way to the Orchid he hears screams and witness the birth of Aaron. He finds himself unable, however, to say anything to the past version of Kate; later he explains that it was because he believed “What’s done is done.” They head for their camp in order to use the Zodiac to get to the Orchid to save time, to find the Zodiac boat is gone and the camp has been ransacked and abandoned. They also find two Outrigger canoes and Sawyer discovers an Ajira Airways water bottle in one of them. They decide to take one of the outriggers before whoever owns them returns. Out in the water Juliet notices Sawyer is distracted and asks if he is okay, to which he tells her how he saw Kate in the jungle. They are interrupted though when whoever owns the outriggers give chase in the other one and begin shooting at them. There is another time shift and the other boat disappears, and the group is caught out in the rain during nightfall. They quickly paddle to shore when Juliet asks Sawyer why he didn’t approach Kate in the jungle. At this point that Sawyer pointed out that Juliet’s nose was starting to bleed; they both become distracted by Charlotte who had just found some scattered items and what seemed like the recent wreckage of a ship.

This Place Is Death
On their continued journey to reach the Orchid, Sawyer and his group stumbled upon Jin (who they thought was dead) just moments after another flash through time. They convinced him to come with them but now the time shifts were becoming much more frequent. Charlotte then collapsed and Sawyer went ahead with Locke, Miles, Juliet and Jin while Daniel stayed behind with Charlotte. They managed to reach the Orchid but it dissapeared in a time flash. Locke then found and began to descend down a well that Charlotte told them they should look for. There was another time shift and Sawyer tried to pull Locke up but it was too late. The well disappeared while Locke was down in it, cutting off Locke’s contact with the others. Sawyer desperately tried to dig to get to Locke but Juliet told him they couldn’t help him now.

LaFleur
Sawyer, Jin, Miles, and Juliet discovered that they were way in the past when Miles pointed out a huge statue in the distance. They viewed the statue briefly, before Locke fixed the frozen wheel and sent them to 1974.
When the well reappeared, Sawyer attempted to help Locke, but when he jumped in, he found it either hadn’t been dug yet or had been filled in. They headed back to find Daniel and Charlotte where they saw that Charlotte had disappeared after her death. Sawyer suggested going back to the beach, and Miles scoffed, but Juliet backed him up.
On the way, the group heard gunshots, and saw two Others taking a woman hostage. Sawyer confronted them and asked them to lower their weapons at the point of his own gun, but when one of them attempted to shoot him, Juliet shot him and Sawyer took out the remaining Other. They released Amy who cried out for her dead husband, Paul. She insisted that they bury the bodies of the Others, and take Paul back with her. Sawyer came up with a lie and told her that his group was shipwrecked, but they decided to help. When they got to the Sonic Fence, Juliet demanded that Amy render it safe. She appeared to do so, but actually just put in earplugs. When Sawyer and his crew crossed the fence, they were rendered unconscious.
When Sawyer woke up, he was confronted by Horace Goodspeed, who asked for his story. He said his name was James “Jim” LaFleur, and told him he was the captain of a salvage vessel looking for the Black Rock. Horace told him he’d be put on the next submarine out, but Sawyer asked for time to find the rest of his crew. When Richard Alpert invaded the DHARMA camp, Horace went to talk, and when he returned, he asked how well Sawyer buried the bodies. Sawyer then went for a private talk with Richard, and told him the truth about their situation telling him that they were a third party in the incident. Richard didn’t initially believe that Sawyer was not DHARMA, but Sawyer asked if they buried Jughead and recounted Locke’s trip in 1954. With the specific name of John Locke, Richard then believed Sawyer was not DHARMA, and they hadn’t violated the truce. However, Richard still needed justice and they agreed to send the body of Paul back to keep the peace. In return for dealing with Richard, Horace gave Sawyer two weeks to find the rest of his crew.
At the dock by the submarine, Juliet told Sawyer that Locke had already saved them, noting that the flashes had stopped and they were no longer sick, so there was no need to wait for him. She explained that she had been trying to get off the island for over three years, and that she intended to be on the submarine in the morning despite Sawyer convincing Horace otherwise. Sawyer, however, talked her into staying for just two more weeks until the next submarine trip. Two weeks unexplainably turned into three years, during which time Sawyer became head of security (under his “Jim LaFleur” alias) and entered a relationship with Juliet, Amy and Horace get married, Jin became fluent in English and he and Miles are part of DHARMA security. As head of security, Sawyer commanded considerable respect and fear, as his staff debated about waking him up to take care of Horace, who, drunk, started toss dynamite around near the Flame. Sawyer and Miles found him passed out, and Sawyer took him back to Amy, who admitted they had an argument before he started drinking, then went into labor. When the DHARMA doctor admitted he had never done performed a caesarian (which Amy required), Sawyer recruited Juliet, now a motor pool tech. She succeeds in saving both Amy and her child.
Later that day, as he walked outside, Sawyer stopped to pick a large yellow flower. Smelling it and smiling, he went home and gave it to Juliet, who was in the kitchen making dinner. He kissed her and told her that he loved her and congragulated her on her first succesful delivery on the island. Later that night, Sawyer talked to Horace, who was finally waking up, and informs him that he missed the birth of his son. Horace revealed the fight was about Paul, and Amy keeping his Ankh necklace in remembrance. When he asked if three years was enough time to forget somebody Sawyer told a story about a woman he once loved, and who he probably could have been with. Now, he said, he can hardly even remember her face. As it became clear that he was speaking about Kate, he asserted that three years was long enough.
The next morning, he and Juliet were asleep in bed when they were awakened by a telephone call from Jin, who had important news. He didn’t share it with Juliet, but went out in a jeep to meet Jin in the North Valley. The van arrived, and Hurley, Jack, and finally, Kate, emerged from the van. Sawyer’s expression mingled surprise and relief that his friends had returned, and perhaps an indication that three years may not have been long enough after all.

Namaste
Sawyer had to conceal the fact that his friends had arrived on the island. He filled Juliet in and she informed him that the submarine was bringing new people to the island that day so he decided to have them pose as new Dharma Initiative recruits. Sawyer gave them instructions, provided new clothing, and assured the three that they would not be detected. Then Jin called him on the radio with a code 14-J, signaling a hostile intrusion. Jin then quietly told him that the “hostile” was actually Sayid. Sawyer arrived at the Flame, to see that Radzinsky had already locked Sayid in a room and suggested that they shoot him. Instead, Sawyer questioned Sayid, carefully prompting him to identify himself as a Hostile. Sayid played along, and Sawyer pointed out that the terms of “the truce” prevented them from simply executing the “hostile.” Sawyer then moved Sayid to another holding cell and ordered that food be brought to him, stating “We’re not savages.”

Later that night, Jack went to Sawyer’s house, where Juliet answered the door. Jack quickly realized that Sawyer and Juliet were in a relationship when he was invited in. Sawyer, sitting on the couch and reading a book, asked Jack if he’d like to take a load off and drink a beer. Jack declined, then asked Sawyer why he is not working on how to deal with Sayid and how to get them off the island but Sawyer insisted that he was. When Jack criticized him for just sitting there reading a book, Sawyer quoted Winston Churchill, who said that reading a book every night helped him to think. He stated that it was better to think clearly than act rashly as Jack had done in the past, noting that several people had died under his leadership. Jack defended himself, stating that he had successfully gotten everyone off the island to which Sawyer replied, “But here you are. Right back where you started.” Sawyer sternly informed Jack that he was in charge, and he would continue to do things his way, then ushered Jack out of the house. As he watched Jack walk away, he saw an unhappy Kate at the next house over. Clearly torn between wanting to talk to her and his loyalty to Juliet, he gave her a small wave and a half-hearted smile.

Flashback Episodes
1×8.Confidence Man
1×16.Outlaws
1x.23.Exodus, Part 1
2×13.The Long Con
3×4.Every Man For Himself
5×8.LaFleur

Trivia
Lived in a trailer-home and watched Little House on the Prairie as a child.

Sawyer is left-handed: he writes, smokes and shoots with his left hand.

Sawyer was the sixth character to ever have a flashback.

Both Kate and Sawyer has a thing from their past that’s important to them, Kate has the toy airplane and Sawyer has his letter.

Sawyer appears to be a fan of the Star Wars films. On the raft he calls Jin Chewie, and Michael Han, in reference to Chewbacca and Han Solo. In “Not in Portland” he mentions The old Wookiee prisoner gag. He also calls Hurley Jabba and Ben Yoda at one point. Also, His second name, Ford, may be a reference to the actor Harrison Ford who portrayed Han Solo in the original trilogy.