ALinoge's name is an anagram of the word "Legion". As Mike Anderson relates during the show, there is a story in the bible where Jesus casts demons out of a possessed man. The name of those demons was "Legion, for we are many".
AHe appears to be some form of demonic sorcerer akin to other Stephen King villains (such as Randall Flagg in The Stand), capable of coercing people and objects to his will through supernatural means. Little information is given about his background, other than that he is ancient (thousands of years old) but not immortal, and a brief reference to "before Atlantis sank into the African Ocean". The name "Linoge" itself is an anagram for "Legion", the collective name of a group of demons cast out from a man by Jesus in the bible - and perhaps a hint at the nature and source of Linoge's powers.His true form, free of all magical disguise, is that of an impossibly ancient man, dressed in wizard's robes and carrying a wolfshead staff. The original screenplay (ultimately not included in the televised show) described him explicitly as a wizard, with robes of royal-silver blue covered in arcane imagery, a tall pointed wizard's hat, and a wolfshead staff "worthy of Merlin".