Information courtesy of Lostpedia:

We first see Anthony Cooper in a Locke-centric episode in S1. When Anthony was on dialysis and needed a kidney. He conned a kidney from Locke by the reveal he is Locke's biological father, and creating a fatherly bond by taking him hunting occasionally, and eventually conned him out of a kidney in a ploy using John's mother, Emily Annabeth Locke. ("Deus Ex Machina")

Locke was unsettled by the con and Cooper was forced to move. While Locke was with Helen, it appears he was out of contact for some time with Cooper. Later, Cooper faked his own death after a con was found out for the sum of $700,000. The victim was Jimmy Bane. He asked John to retrieve the money from a safety deposit box and left him $200,000 as promised for his help. ("Lockdown")

Several years later, John stumbled into another of Anthony's cons. Going by the name "Adam Seward," he was attempting to marry Mrs. Talbot in order to steal her money. Peter Talbot, her son, suspected his plan and attempted to intervene, but died suddenly. John suspected him, but Cooper denied involvement.  When John turned his back, however, Cooper pushed him out an eight-story window, causing John's paralysis. His actions make it very likely that he did kill Peter Talbot. Soon after, Cooper fled to Mexico and disappeared. ("The Man from Tallahassee")

Present Day - On the island:
Ben told Locke about a "magic box" on the island, and later asked Locke if he wished to see what was inside. He opened the door to reveal Anthony, bound and gagged. Previously, Ben had referred to Cooper as "the man from Tallahassee." ("The Man from Tallahassee")

Of interest is that his name is an intriguing anagram sentence: It is suspected that Cooper has some connection to Sawyer (and the original Sawyer), since his two names that we know of, "Anthony Cooper, Adam Seward" is an anagram for "Sawyer, the con man, a poor dad." Also, there was mention that Sawyer had been to Tallahassee himself, and Cooper is referred to as "The Man From Tallahassee".


Unanswered Questions: Is he indeed the real Sawyer?
How did he arrive on the island, and when?
Does he have any connection to Dharma or the Others beyond the fact he is now on the island?
Did he know Locke would be on the island?  

--Last edited by Rainflower on 2007-05-04 12:40:14 --

One thing I found a bit weird, when we saw Locke`s flashback after Ben had just showed him Cooper, he kept telling Locke not to get too close - and when he removed the gag Cooper bit him - almost like a wild animal?
Shouldn`t Cooper`s first reaction be "WTF is going on?" and not "oh yay let`s bite the hand on my son when I`m in this strange place"?

But Coop thought he was in Hell, what worse could happen?

Yeah the biting confused me too.

Yeah, I can understand the rest of his behaviour, not caring if he pissed off Sawyer later on if he believed he was in hell. But his first reaction? I would have found it more believable if he asked some questions, before going for the biting. And Ben`s warning about not getting too close?