The X-Files/Characters: Difference between revisions

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This is a summary page for the characters from ''[[The X-Files]]''.

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Formerly a renowned profiler, he became something of a joke at the Bureau when he started to pursue an obscure side project known only as the "X files", but he soon drew attention from more sinister quarters...

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* [[Dead Little Sister|Abducted Little Sister]]

* [[Agent Mulder]]: [[Trope Namer]]

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* [[Troubled but Cute]]

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: He got this several times in the first four seasons ("Paper Hearts" is perhaps the best example), mostly from Scully and sometimes Skinner. After that he managed to get a better grip on his issues.

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=== Agent Dana Scully ===

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A forensic pathologist with a background in physics, she was assigned to work with Mulder ostensibly in order to use her scientific knowledge debunk his work; however, she was less predictable than the conspiracy had hoped.

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* [[Action Girl]]

* [[Adrenaline Makeover]]: At the beginning of the show she's [[The Comically Serious|painfully serious]] and [[By-The-Book Cop|strait-laced]], and seems to have ''terrible'' fashion sense. By the end she's still reserved, but has loosened up quite a bit and is dressing a lot better as well.

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* [[Violently Protective Girlfriend]]

* [["Well Done, Son" Guy|"Well Done, Daughter" Girl]]

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=== Assistant Director Walter Skinner ===

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* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]

* [[Shell-Shocked Veteran]]: It's implied that his experiences in [[The Vietnam War|Vietnam]] seriously damaged him.

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=== Agent Alex Krycek ===

Assigned to work with Mulder when the X-Files were closed in Season 2. He was eventually revealed as a double agent and reappeared throughout the series in various shades of villainy.

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* {{spoiler|[[An Arm and a Leg]]: Gets his left arm sawed off.}}

* [[Chew Toy]]: For a triple-crossing assassin, he sure does get beat up a lot. Mostly by [[Foe Yay|Mulder]].

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* [[Turncoat]]

* [[Wild Card]]

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=== Agent Diana Fowley ===

Mulder's ex-lover and former partner. With Agent Jeffery Spender, replaces Mulder and Scully on the X-Files when they get reassigned in season 6.

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* [[Birds of a Feather]]: She suggests to Mulder that maybe instead of Scully he'd prefer a partner who was more open-minded toward the paranormal...like herself. {{spoiler|He wouldn't.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Death of the Hypotenuse]]: Her ultimate fate.}}

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* {{spoiler|[[The Mole]]}}: Scully suspects she's working for the conspiracy pretty early on; Mulder still considers her a friend and believes in her. {{spoiler|They're both right.}}

* [[New Old Flame]]: for Mulder.

* [[Psycho Ex-Girlfriend]]: The psycho part is not obvious until "The Sixth Extinction," where she visits Mulder, who's confined in a psychiatric hospital and being [[Mind Rape~~|Mind Raped~~]] by psychic influence from an alien artifact, and makes a speech that can be summed up as "I've always loved you, Fox, and now that you're in five-point restraints we can finally be together."

* [[Psycho Ex-Girlfriend]]: The psycho part is not obvious until "The Sixth Extinction," where she visits Mulder, who's confined in a psychiatric hospital and being [[Mind Rape]]d by psychic influence from an alien artifact, and makes a speech that can be summed up as "I've always loved you, Fox, and now that you're in five-point restraints we can finally be together."

* {{spoiler|[[Redemption Equals Death]]}}

* [[Romantic False Lead]]: Seemed to exist mainly for the purpose of teasing the fans and making Scully jealous. (Mulder gave little sign of still having anything but platonic feelings toward her, however, although she was clearly carrying a torch for him.)

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=== Agent Jeffrey Spender ===

Assigned to the X-Files as Agent Fowley's partner when they replace Mulder and Scully on the X-Files at the beginning of season 6. {{spoiler|Mulder's half-brother, fathered by the Cigarette Smoking Man}}.

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* [[Always Second Best]]: {{spoiler|Their own father}} informed him he's just not as cool as Mulder.

* {{spoiler|[[Covered with Scars]]}}

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* {{spoiler|[[Redemption Equals Death|Redemption Equals (Apparent) Death]]: Seemingly killed by CSM after he handed the X-Files back to Mulder and Scully.}}

* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]

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=== Agent John Doggett ===

Assigned to the X-Files as Scully's new partner following Mulder's [[Put on a Bus|disappearance]] at the beginning of season 8.

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* [[Arbitrary Skepticism]]: Worse than Scully.

* [[By-The-Book Cop]]

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* [[Sensitive Guy and Manly Man]]: The Manly Man as compared to Mulder's Sensitive Guy. This was one of the ways the writers tried to make sure he didn't come across as a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]].

* [[UST]]: Hinted to be with Reyes in the later episodes of season 9.

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=== Agent Monica Reyes ===

Appears in a few episodes of season 8, then joins the X-Files as Doggett's new partner at the beginning of season 9.

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* [[Brainy Brunette]]

* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: Not mentioned at all in [[The X Files: I Want to Believe|the second movie]], even when Scully's looking for someone at the FBI who can help her.

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* [[Smoking Is Cool]]

* [[UST]]: Hinted to be with Doggett in the later episodes of season 9.

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Late in the show's run, the Gunmen received [[The Lone Gunmen|their own short-lived spinoff series]].

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* [[Chivalrous Pervert]]: Frohike.

* [[Conspiracy Theorist~~|Conspiracy Theorists~~]]

* [[Conspiracy Theorist]]s

* [[Dirty Old Man]]: Frohike again, though he's a very likeable and sympathetic example of the trope.

* [[Ditzy Genius]]: All of them, to some extent.

* [[Geek~~|Geeks~~]]

* [[Geek]]s

* [[Hacker Cave]]: Their headquarters/home.

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: All three of them.

* [[Hollywood Hacking]]

* [[Information Wants to Be Free]]: Their basic motivation for going into underground journalism.

* [[Nerd~~|Nerds~~]]: All three, but especially Langly.

* [[Nerd]]s: All three, but especially Langly.

* [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]]

* [[Sharp-Dressed Man]]: Byers never wears anything less than a suit and tie, although he has no real need to look respectable.

* [[The Smart Guy]]: All of them.

* [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]]: Byers, especially in their [[Whole-Episode Flashback]].

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=== Scully Family ===

Pop up once in a while to fret over and get caught up in her increasingly peculiar job.

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* [[Big Brother Instinct]]: Bill Jr. Not quite a [[Knight Templar Big Brother]], but he is kind of a dick to Mulder in the name of protecting his sister.

* [[The Captain]]: William Scully, Sr.

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* [[Team Mom]]: Maggie Scully seems to like Mulder too, though this is massively over-egged in fanfic.

* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: Dana and Melissa, respectively.

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=== Mulder Family ===

Troubled and fraught, with mysterious connections to the conspiracy.

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* [[Abusive Parents]]: Mulder's dad is implied to have become somewhat emotionally abusive after Samantha's abduction tore the family apart.

* [[Dead Little Sister|Abducted Little Sister]]

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* {{spoiler|[[Who's Your Daddy?]]}}

* {{spoiler|[[Your Cheating Heart]]: Teena was having an affair with the Cigarette Smoking Man.}}

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Despite the name, not actually an example of [[The Syndicate]]. The term is actually rarely used on the show, so you'll often see fans referring to them as "the Consortium" or just "the Conspiracy."

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* [[The Adjectival Man]]: Members are listed in the show's credits as "Black-Haired Man," "Crew Cut Man," and the like.

* [[Big Bad]]

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* {{spoiler|[[Death By Pragmatism]]}}

* [[Government Conspiracy]]

* [[Hidden Agenda Villain~~|Hidden Agenda Villains~~]]

* [[Hidden Agenda Villain]]s

* [[The Man]]: as well as...

* [[The Man Behind the Man]]

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* [[Powers That Be]]

* [[Surveillance as the Plot Demands]]: Just assume they're spying on everything all the time.

* {{spoiler|[[Well-Intentioned Extremist~~|Well-Intentioned Extremists~~]]: Sort of. Their goals aren't exactly ''good'', but most of them are genuinely convinced that [[Resistance Is Futile|actually resisting the aliens isn't possible]], and saving themselves and their families is all they can hope for.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]s: Sort of. Their goals aren't exactly ''good'', but most of them are genuinely convinced that [[Resistance Is Futile|actually resisting the aliens isn't possible]], and saving themselves and their families is all they can hope for.}}

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=== Cigarette-Smoking Man ===

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The closest thing the show has to a main villain, a constantly chain-smoking older man who likes to skulk around being ominous. He's clearly associated with the grand government conspiracy Mulder and Scully are trying to uncover, but little is known about what he's really up to for quite a while.

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* [[The Adjectival Man]]

* [[Anti-Villain]]: Sometimes. Sort of.

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* {{spoiler|[[Luke, I Am Your Father]]}}

* [[Misanthrope Supreme]]

{{quote|'''CSM''': [[Hobbes Was Right|Men can never be free]], because they are weak, [[Humans Are ~~Bastards~~|corrupt]], [[Humans Are Morons|worthless]] and restless.}}

{{quote|'''CSM''': [[Hobbes Was Right|Men can never be free]], because they are weak, [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|corrupt]], [[Humans Are Morons|worthless]] and restless.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Not Quite Dead]]: On numerous occasions.}}

* [[Vader Breath]]

* [[Who Shot JFK?]]: He did, [[Unreliable Narrator|apparently]]. Martin Luther King, Jr. as well.

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=== Well-Manicured Man ===

A British gentleman who's one of the less overtly malevolent members of the conspiracy. His [[Code Name]] is never actually used in the show, but appears in the end credits (as with several other Syndicate members).

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* [[The Adjectival Man]]

* [[Aristocrats Are Evil]]: His accent and the glimpse of what seems to be his family home in the first movie vaguely suggest an aristocratic background.

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* {{spoiler|[[Heel Face Turn]]: In [[The X Files Fight the Future|the first movie]].}}

* {{spoiler|[[Redemption Equals Death]]}}

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=== Deep Throat ===

Mulder's first informant.

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* {{spoiler|[[Anyone Can Die]]}}: He's the first of many.

* [[The Atoner]]

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* [[Mysterious Informant]]

* [[The Watcher]]

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=== X ===

Mulder's second informant, [[Darker and Edgier|colder and less friendly]] than Deep Throat.

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* [[Badass]]

* [[Bat Signal]]: Mulder summons him by making an X out of masking tape on his window and shining a light through it (hence the [[Code Name]]).

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* [[Scary Black Man]]

* [[Took a Level in Jerkass]]: In [[Depending on the Writer|certain later episodes]], he's much meaner to Mulder and Scully than he was at first. He's still on their side, he just occasionally acts like a dick.

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=== Marita Covarrubias ===

Mulder's third informant. Her day job is Special Representative to the Secretary General of the [[United Nations]], but she also has ties to the Syndicate.

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* {{spoiler|[[Fate Worse Than Death]]: Used by the Syndicate for human experimentation as a punishment, after they figure out she was working against them.}}

* [[Femme Fatale]]

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A murderer on death row who claimed to be a psychic and claimed that he could help Mulder and Scully in catching a serial killer. Appeared in "Beyond the Sea".

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* [[Gunman with Three Names]]

* [[Large Ham]]

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* [[Serial Killer]]

* [[The Sociopath]]

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=== Donald Pfaster ===

A necrophiliac fetishist who devolved into serial killing. Appeared in "Irresistible" and "Orison".

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* [[Creepy Monotone]]

* [[Fetish]]

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* [[That One Case]]: For Scully.

* [[They Look Just Like Everyone Else]]

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=== Clyde Bruckman ===

An insurance salesman who possessed the ability to tell when a person would die. Appeared in "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose".

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* [[Blessed with Suck]]

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]

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{{quote|'''Scully''': All right. So how do I die?

'''Bruckman''': {{spoiler|You don't.}} }}

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=== Robert Patrick Modell ===

A serial killer who would drive his victims to suicide by manipulating their minds. Appeared in "Pusher" and "Kitsunegari".

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* [[Compelling Voice]]

* [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones]]: In "Kitsunegari" it is revealed that {{spoiler|he's protecting his twin sister, who has his same powers.}}

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* [[Manipulative Bastard]]

* [[Ronin]]: He considers himself as one, making various references to Japanese culture.

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=== Alfred Fellig ===

An immortal photographer who pursued people who were going to die so he could be finally taken by Death. Appeared in "Tithonus".

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* [[The Ageless]]: Unlike the legendary Tithonus, he stopped aging when he looked in his sixties.

* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: He believes that people who wish to live forever are fools.