MIB is a manifestation of Set and Satan by Sobekra

MIB is representative of evil. (evidenced by his dark garb and antagonistic relationship to Jacob) The show draws heavily on religious (mostly biblical) themes, and those of Egyptian Mythology. I beleive personally, that Jacob is remniscent of the God, OSIRIS, for mutliple reasons, ranging from the fact that in mythology Osiris is a God who dies and is later ressurrected. Much like Jesus Christ died on the cross, of whom I also believe Jacob is representative of.

Osiris is also antagonistic to SET, who I beleive MIB is the physical manifestation of, as well as the Devil (temptation, jealousy, contempt, cunning, deviousness etc) Set is the God of Chaos, Storms and Darkness, further exemplefied by MIB's garb, hair and demeanor. Set was also noted to engage in multiple conflicts with Horus, Osiris and Isis. (Horus was conceived after Osiris' death, birthed by Isis. Symbolic of not only the afterlife/cyclical relevan! ce of destruction/creation but also of fertility and its role on the island) Horus and Set are also antagonistic towards eachother, though often in Egyptian imagery the two are seen side by side crowning pharoahs symbolic of their coexistance and reign over both upper and lower egypt (similar to the tense but civil nature in which Jacob and MIB coexist in the first scene in the finale).

On top of that Horus was favoured by the Gods during a war with Set over Egypt, breeding contempt within Set (which is perhaps why MIB harbors so much hate for Jacob, but cannot kill him due to divinity.) In these terms, I think MIB's parallels to Set and Satan are pretty irrefuteable. Set was also ruler of the desert, and infertility, while Osiris and Horus were known as those of fertility and the Nile, and that their existances were directly opposite to eachother, one representing life and the other death. Black and white. Yet another prominent LOST theme. In both the bible and Egpytian My! thology, these characters are seen as cunning and deceptive in! nature.

Both Satan and Set take on the forms of snakes to trick, Set is depicted in one instance as a snake when he spears APEP, and Satan taking the form of a serpent to tempt Eve in the garden of Eden and thus expel them from the fertile oasis into the harsh and infertile land. (Set was also said to have lost a testicle in a battle with Horus which is why the Deserts are infertile.) Set was also an evil force, and while he was intially regarded as less important of a diety, attacked the Gods above him with striking violence. Not unlike MIB's attack and murder of Jacob (Especially with the use of deception and temptation to use Ben as a vessel for his actions.) MIB's ability to shapeshift and take on Locke's form is directly linked to his existance as manifestation of black forces aka the purest form of evil/chaos.