The Characters
Special Agent Fox Mulder
[ From the X-Files FAQ ]
Agent Fox Mulder, an Oxford-trained psychologist with aJphotographic memory, is
one of the FBI Violent Crimes division's best agents, although he is in disfavor
with not only his superiors but also his colleagues because of his interest in
the Bureau's X files. He stumbled upon these
files, dealing with unexplained phenomena, during his first three years with
the Bureau, as a crack analyst in the Bureau's behavioral sciences department.
[Chris Carter, _Starlog #201_, April 1994]
His fascination with the paranormal stems from a childhood incident -- his
sister Samantha disappeared from their home in Chilmark, Mass. (pop. 650) when
he was 12 and she was 8. Mulder claims she was abducted by aliens; during
regressions he recalled hearing his sister's cries for help, and a bright light
which kept him paralyzed and told him that his sister would be all right.
[Conduit] This memory differs from a dream Mulder experienced one night [Little
Green Men].
Mulder's early meteoric rise at the Bureau enabled him to make high-placed
friends in Congress -- one of them being SETI proponent and influential senator
Richard Matheson [Little Green Men]. These contacts had kept him from
retribution from higher-ups, although they assigned him a partner, with the
tacit idea of discrediting what he does
so that he can be dismissed. However, Mulder picked up a somewhat vacillating
ally in a mysterious covert individual known as Deep Throat. [Deep Throat,
Fallen Angel, Eve, Young at Heart, E.B.E., Erlenmeyer Flask].
Deep Throat was killed by an equally mysterious covert opponent during an
attempt to rescue Mulder. Mulder confirmed his burial at Arlington 'through
eight-power binoculars from a thousand yards away.' [Little Green Men]. But he
has acquired a second 'deep information' associate, someone who calls himself
Mr. X. [Sleepless] This mysterious man has been less than helpful to Mulder than
his dead colleagues. Mulder has also been told by an unknown individual (who may
or may not be Mr. X) that he has 'a friend in the FBI' [The Host].
At the end of Season 1, the X Files division was shut down and Mulder was
reassigned to wiretap surveillance [Little Green Men, The Host]. He also
reluctantly acquired a new partner, Special Agent Alex Krycek [Sleepless, Duane
Barry, Ascension], a younger agent who
purported to be a believer, not only in Mulder's ideas but in Mulder himself.
But Mulder's days in this mind-numbing duty were numbered. Assistant Director
Skinner obliquely acknowledged that the X Files bureau served a valuable purpose
in dealing successfully with the Bureau's oddball cases [The Host] and was
bringing to light information that other covert parties would prefer to keep
buried [Ascension]. Following thie disappearance of Mulder's former partner Dana
Scully, Skinner officially reopened the X Files [Ascension].
Mulder is known around the Bureau by the nickname of 'Spooky' [Pilot, Young
at Heart] because of his interest in paranormal phenomena. 'He is considered a
loose cannon, a person who is maybe wasting time and money, and also his
expertise, on an area the Bureau thinks has very little value.' [Carter,
Starlog] Due to an incident on one of his first Bureau assignments (a fellow
agent was killed) [Young at Heart], he eschews following investigations 'by the
book,' opting instead for his
own instincts and methods. He keeps notes for his field reports in a
handwritten journal [Born Again].
We believe Mulder doesn't 'have a life,' as we have seen nothing of his
off-duty activities. However, some of this may stem from a relationship he had
at Oxford ten years ago with a woman who is now with Scotland Yard (Phoebe Green
[Fire]). He apparently was in love with her but she not with him. With the
dissolution of the X Files division, however, Mulder may have been trying to
revive his social life; an answering machine message berated him for missing a
lunch date [Little Green Men].
Mulder has a fear of fire [Fire], which may have been conquered during his
rescue of the children of British MP Sir Malcolm Marsden (who also happened to
be Phoebe's latest fling). He is also a fan of the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA). [Space] He has a habit of unshelling shelled
sunflower seeds, and making droll comments which X-Philes have come to note as
'Mulderisms.'
Mulder enjoys wearing wild ties to work, and seems to be a New York Knicks
fan. He appears to
had a fondness for classic rock [minor references, Beyond the Sea, Gender
Bender] and classic science fiction movies [Tooms, Erlenmeyer Flask], and iced
tea seems to be his beverage of choice [Tooms]. There are 'hints' that Mulder
has an interest in pornography -- in one episode, we see Mulder looking at the
centerfold of some 'men's magazine' talking about how the woman claims she was
abducted by aliens; in another episode Scully remarks that she hadn't seen
Mulder that excited since she caught him going through the Adult Video News. As
a psychologist, he favors using hypnotic regression as a psychological healing
tool, and hates the unnecessary use of medication [Born Again].
Special Agent Dana Scully
[ From The X-Files FAQ ]
Dana Scully is a medical doctor with an undergraduate degree in physics from the
University of Maryland [Jersey Devil]. She was recruited for the FBI right out
of medical school, and had been teaching at the FBI Academy in Q
uantico, Va. She was assigned by Section Chief Scott Blevins to be Mulder's
partner in order to keep an eye on him and determine whether he is perhaps too
obsessed with the X files.
Scully is skeptical of anything paranormal, believing that everything has a
logical, scientifically-quantified explanation. Though in most of the cases she
and Mulder have been on she has not witnessed any overt paranormal activities,
she has had four brushes with unexplainable phenomena that may have her start
questioning her beliefs [Beyond the Sea; Lazarus; Born Again; Erlenmeyer Flask].
At the end of Season 1, the X Files division was shut down and Scully was
reassigned, returning to the FBI academy at Quantico, Va. to isntruct new agents
on the bascis of forensic medicine [Little Green Men]. However, Mulder has
called upon her expertise in violent crime cases to which he has been assigned
[The Host, Blood]. Scully was abducted by escaped mental patient Duane Barry and
has disappeared [Ascension].
Scully is a middle child; she has one older and one younger brother. [Born Again] Her father died
early in 1994; they were apparently close at one time (she called him Ahab; he
called her Starbuck), but her family disapproved of her joining the Bureau.
[Beyond the Sea] She had a yearlong relationship with an instructor at the
Academy, Jack Willis, with whom she shared the same birthdate (Feb. 23).
[Lazarus] She is just as much a workaholic as Mulder, and is currently not
seeing anyone [Jersey Devil].
Scully drinks her coffee with cream, no sugar [E.B.E.]. She was raised as a
Catholic [Miracle Man]. She wears a necklace bearing a small cross, which was
left behind in the car in which she was abducted [Ascension].
The Romance Aspect
[ From The X-Files FAQ ]
There will be *no romance* between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
Everyone readily admits that there is some attraction, a 'sexual tension,'
between the characters. However, neither series creator Chris Carter, nor actors
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, nor most X-Philes, want a full-blown
romance to develop.
Carter "firmly believes that a series can be 'ruined' if the characters
cross the boundarie
s of sexual tension." [Starlog #201, April 1994]
Anderson [Starlog Platinum #2] says, "I don't want that to happen, David
doesn't want that to happen, [Chris Carter] I don't think wants that to happen.
The show's not about intimacy between us; it would be a huge mistake to make it
about that. Both of our characters are single-minded about our work and
respectful enough not to complicate it in any way. We [eventually] warm up to
each other, and there are times when there's more sexual tension than others,
but it's not going to be a romantic relationship."
Duchovny's viewpoint [Starlog #202, May 1994]: "Having a friendship and a
professional working relationship with a woman is much more interesting....It's
very easy to just jump into bed. That doesn't take much imagination."
So: don't even think about it!
FBI Superiors
[ From The X-Files FAQ ]
Section Chief Scott Blevins
(Charles Cioffi) is with the Violent Crimes Section
of the Bureau. [Pilot] Blevins assigned Scully to be Mulder's partner, and her
field reports are sent to his office. [early episodes]
Section Chief Joseph McGrath
(Frederick Coffin) is with the Office of Professional
Responsibility [Fallen Angel] and seemed determined to have Mulder fired and the
X Files shut down.
Assistant Director Walter S. Skinner
(Mitch Pileggi) is one of the Bureau
higher-ups reading Scully's reports. He warned both Scully and Mulder that their
unorthodox methods of investigation may have dire consequences [Tooms], and
followed through by shutting down the X Files division at an order from the
highest levels of government [Erlenmeyer Flask]. He has since had second
throughts and has reopened the X Files [Ascension].
Recurring Characters
[ From the X-Files FAQ ]
[Season 1] Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin) is a mysterious individual believed to
be some sort of higher-up government official. Mulder contacted him via a blue
light shining from his apartment window; DT called Mulder and signaled him with
a series of clicks [E.B.E.]. The method of choosing a meeting place was not
determined. He appears to have been exterminated in the episode "The Erlenmeyer
Flask."
Speculation on Deep Throat is contained in Internal Affairs
X-File Inquiry #875110-6249 [aka The Deep Throat FAQ, posted by Special Agent Jeff Gostin].
[Season 1 and 2] Cigarette Smoking Man, also known as
Cancer Man(William B. Davis) is another
mysterious individual who, like Deep Throat, appears to be a higher-up
government official with some power. Assistant Director Skinner seemed to be
deferring to his opinion early in our notice of him [Tooms] but Skinner ordered
him out of his office during a discussion with Mulder after the agent had
abandoned his assignment to investigate possible alien contact in Puerto Rico
[Little Green Men]. CSM also kept a silent watch on the proceedings in Blevins's
and Skinner's offices and buried vital evidence in a secret Pentagon storage
room [Pilot, Erlenmeyer Flask]. He is also using Special Agent Alex Krycek to
keep an eye on Mulder and any of Mulder's investigations [Sleepless, Duane
Barry, Ascension].
[Season 2] Special Agent Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) moved into the role of
Mulder's partner with the unexplained murders of former Vietnam veterans
[Sleepless]. We discovered, however, that Krycek had a hidden agenda, as a
lackey for Cigarette Smoking Man: keep an eye on Mulder and keep him from
finding out information that would bring certain covert activities to light
[Sleepless, Ascension]. With the disappearance of Dana Scully and the reopening
of the X Files, Krycek himself has disappeared [Ascension].
[Season 2] Mr. X (Steven Williams), an acquaintance of Deep Throat, is even
more mysterious than his predecessor. Mr. X's information is even more
reluctantly shared. Mulder contacts Mr X by taping an 'X' on his window and
shining a light through.
Miscellaneous information
[ From The X-Files FAQ ]
As a result of an informal poll conducted Spring 94, net.fans of the _The X
Files_ have chosen (with a 73% approval rating) to be called X-Philes. The name
seems to have caught on in the media, with its use in many articles on the show
and its online contacts.
There is a list of Mulderisms and Scullyisms being kept by Samuel Ziegler at
ziegler@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu. The list will be posted to alt.tv.x-files regularly
once the new season has started.
Weapons: Scully carries a Sig-Sauer P230. Mulder currently uses a Sig Sauer
P220.
So far Mulder has fired his gun four times (to scare away wolves [Conduit] to
kill John Barnett [Young at Heart], at the shapeshifter creature [Shapes] and at
a possible alien being [Little Green Men] though no shot actually left the gun),
and Scully, three times (thre
e shots to stop the air duct fan [Ghost in the Machine], once to wound Lucas
Henry [Beyond the Sea], three shots, to kill [so we thought] Warren Dupre
[Lazarus])
Both Mulder and Scully have been shot once (Mulder, critically, in the upper
femur in Beyond the Sea; Scully, in the chest though wearing her protective
vest, in Young at Heart).
For the morbid: X Files' death toll to date: 74 [through Blood/second season]
Scully's FBI ID number is 2317-616, her home phone number is (202) 555-6431.
[Ghost in the Machine.], and her cellular phone number is 555-3564.
Scully and Mulder met for the first time on March 6, 1992 X.T. (X Files Time)
[Pilot].
Mulder has a computer at home, and his password is TRUSTNO1. He was a fan of the
television show 'The Magician' as a child. [Little Green Men]
Ten Thirteen's production crew has had cameos (names and bodies) in various
episodes: First Assistant Director Tom Braidwood appeared as _Lone Gunman_
photographer Frolicke in 'E.B.E.' and 'Blood,' and his name was used as t
he person taking over Howard Graves's parking spot in 'Shadows' and as Mulder's
alias to get into the secured government compound in
Washington State in 'E.B.E.' Ken Kirzinger, stunt coordinator, appeared as
Richter in 'Ice.' Hair Stylist Malcolm Marsden's name was used for the British
PM in 'Fire.' Vladimir Stefoff, First Assistant Director, had his name (as Val
Stefoff) used as Scully's alias to get into the compound in 'E.B.E.'
Story ideas: _The X Files_, like almost all network TV shows, does not accept
unsolicited scripts or story ideas. If you have them, you will need to get
yourself an agent to submit them to the show. Story ideas or scripts sent to the
show unagented will be returned or tossed in the trash. Ideas, scripts, and
stories can be posted for other fans' enjoyment to the newsgroup
alt.tv.x-files.creative.