Why Christian's body disappeared ON island and what this helps answer about Isabella and MiB by Terramatrix119

Well this appears to still be an unanswered mystery but I think it could be easily figured out. In White Rabbit Jack sees his father on island wearing exactly the same suit that he is wearing in The End, tie and all. This to me is proof that this is the suit that he was buried in. So when Jack finds his father's coffin empty in White Rabbit we all think "Where the hell is his body? Who did Jack see then?". We know now that it was in fact the Man In Black masquerading as Christian. As for the whereabouts of the body? I don't think it matters, it could be anywhere. I think the important thing is simply that MiB TOOK the clothes off the body and put them on. And I think he has done that for EVERY manifestation he has taken. Lets look.

Yemi - Before MiB appeared to Eko as Yemi, Eko looks in the Beechcraft for Yemi's body and it isn't there. When Yemi appears to Eko he is wearing very dirty clothes, this is because MiB is wearing the actual clothes from Yemi's corpse.

Alex - Well when MiB appears to Ben under the Temple as Alex she is wearing different clothes to when she died. This is because when MiB was at the Barracks as Locke he popped into Alex's room and took some of her clothes from a wardrobe or something. Simple. Also, on the way to the Temple, MiB is now carrying a rucksack. We know he doesn't need to eat or drink so why would he take a bag? To carry clothes in. The only thing is that when he changes from Smokey to Alex not much time passes, but then he IS Smokey. He possesses fast speed and some kind of telekinesis. Maybe getting changed is quick for him!

Locke - Again, MiB is carrying a rucksack for ages, even until his last fight with Jack. WHY?!? To carry his clothes in when he changes into and out of smoke. This is a good reason (apart from CGI budgets) why we dont see him change from Smokey to Locke. Because when he changes he is naked until he puts on the clothes! Remember he WAS human and most likely feels the shame and embarrasment most humans feel with being naked in public.

Original form - The Titus Welliver form that he appears as in Ab Aeterno and The Incident are wearing different clothes to when he dies in Across the Sea. Clearly he fancied a change. Probably gets boring wearing the same clothes for eternity.

Christian - OK this is where it gets interesting. Well if he stole the suit in White Rabbit from Christian's coffin then that explains his appearances in a suit. But what about the stripy shirt he wears on numerous occasions (TNPLH Part 3, Cabin Fever, Namaste, This Place is Death)? I reckon that he only wore the suit to Jack because this is how Jack knew his father and it would help greatly in his disguise. But to everyone else he appeared to? Why bother putting a suit on? Ties are hard :( haha. Probably just easier to chuck on a shirt and trousers and there we go. If you are in the middle of your longest con in history and probably quite stressed about finding the loophole and leaving the island forever, the last thing you want is to fiddle with a suit all the time. Look at what MiB wore when he was alive! A sleeveless shirt! Clearly he was not one for looking really smart.

To my reckoning the only other manifestation was possibly Isabella on the Black Rock in Ab Aeterno. But I'm not sure. The Isabella that appears to Richard on the Black Rock is wearing exactly the same clothes as the Isabella who appears to him at the end with Hurley present. Now if the Isabella on the Black Rock WAS MiB, then where did he get the clothes from? Because they are different to when she died.

I believe that the Isabella on the Black Rock was the same one that appeared to Richard at the end of the episode. We know the Isabella at the end of the episode wasn't MiB due to the fact MiB was standing watching from a distance at the same time. I think that when Isabella appeared on the Black Rock she was real, but dead. Just like the Michael who appeared to Hurley in Everybody Loves Hugo.

Why did Richard see her? Because he was very near death. He was able to see her and interact with her.
Why did Isabella run and scream at Smokey? Just because she's dead doesn't mean she wouldn't be scared to sh** at the sight of a Smoke Monster!
How did Isabella get there? I think she has always been with Richard because he couldn't let go of his guilt about her death. She followed him all the way on the Black Rock to the island, but he could only see her when he was very close to death.
Why did he never see her again? Because he never got near death again! Jacob made him immortal.
Why did she disappear at the end of the episode? Because through Hurley he was finally able to let go of the the guilt of her death and she could move on.

So there you go. Thanks for reading! :)