Miles Straume

Lore & Background

Miles was born in March 1977 and raised in Encino, California, by his mother Lara Chang. He resented his father for never being around and harbored disdain for fathers who mistreat their children. As a child, Miles discovered he could hear the thoughts of the deceased and used this ability to become a professional spiritualist. In December 2004, Charles Widmore hired him to travel on the Kahana to retrieve Ben Linus, believing Miles could communicate with those Ben had killed.

After arriving on the island on December 21, Miles joined the survivors after initially being taken prisoner by John Locke. He later bargained with Ben for $3.2 million to tell Widmore that Ben was dead. In Season 5, the group flashed through time and settled in 1974, where Miles became a security officer for the Dharma Initiative. There, he discovered his father, Dr. Pierre Chang, lived on the island as part of Dharma but continued to stay distant until July 1977.

After witnessing a peaceful moment between his younger self and his father, and learning that adult Miles caused his parents' evacuation during the "incident," Miles saved his father's life before the hydrogen bomb detonated. In Season 6, he returned to the future, used his gift to reveal that Ben killed Jacob, and dug up Nikki and Paulo's diamonds to compensate for a lack of money.

Reader's Guide

Miles Straume is defined by his ability to hear the thoughts of the dead, a skill he developed as a child to become a professional spiritualist. His personality is characterized as hotheaded and sarcastic. He initially serves as an antagonist-aligned crew member on the Kahana before becoming an ally to the Oceanic 815 survivors. Key plot points include his time-travel experience in 1974 where he joins the Dharma Initiative, his complex relationship with his father Dr. Pierre Chang, and his role in Season 6 uncovering the truth about Jacob's death. He demonstrates loyalty by siding with Richard Alpert against the Man in Black and uses his specific gift to solve mysteries involving the deceased, such as Juliet's final message or Nikki and Paulo's hidden diamonds.

Did You Know?

• The writers created the role of Miles specifically for Ken Leung after seeing him guest star on The Sopranos, and he was the only actor to read for the part.
• Miles's name was chosen because it resembles "maelstrom," another word for a powerful whirlpool.
• In July 1977, both thirty-year-old Miles and his three-month-old infant self were living on the island simultaneously.
• Miles realized he himself caused his father to order his mother and baby self to leave the island in 1977 after confronting him about being from the future.