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Get to know the characters of the X-Files
Brian Hale / Entertainment Editor
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny)...the history of the X-files started with him about 20-something years ago when his sister, Samantha, was abducted. (You’ll hear her mentioned a lot in the show, trust me.)
Her abduction caused his obsession with aliens and UFOs, and he’s been on a quest for the truth — and his sister — ever since.
He’s more on the sensitive side and is kind of the “tall, dark, and handsome” type. His nickname is “Spooky” (given to him by his classmates at the FBI Academy because of his interest in the paranormal) and he hates his first name, which is why he wants people to call him by his last name (“I even made my parents call me
Mulder...”).
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is Mulder’s partner. She is a medical doctor-turned-FBI-agent who’s assigned to the X-files to keep an eye on Mulder and to keep him from finding out the truth.
The only problem is, she’s a skeptic who thinks all of Mulder’s ideas are just plain crazy. The two of them work together great despite their differences.
Mulder claims she’s “Rigid. . . but in a wonderful way.” Her nickname is Starbuck (given to her by her father — a Navy captain — after a character in Moby Dick). She wears a cross which her mother gave her for Christmas when she was 13.
The Cigarette-Smoking Man (William B. Davis) is the character everyone loves to hate. He is also known as CSM, Cancer Man, Smoking Man, and so on.
Everyone’s favorite bad guy, and the one you never see without a cigarette in his hand. The evil villain of X/F is like Darth Vader in a way. Especially once the rumor started that he might be Mulder and/or Samantha’s father. However, now he claims he’s agent Spender’s father (I’m kind of disappointed by this news).
Cancer Man seems to be part of this conspiracy (see below) that’s plotting... something. It’s hard to say what. It’s possibly a plan to create a race of human/alien hybrids, as mentioned in the X-files movie.
We finally find out the truth about Cancer Man’s family. His wife is alien abductee, Cassandra Spender, and this would make his son, Jeffery Spender.
The Lone Gunmen, Mulder’s sort of friends; Langly (Dean Haglund), Frohike (Tom Braidwood), and Byers (Bruce Harwood) — the three of them are so paranoid they make even Mulder look normal.
They seem to know everything about everything, mainly conspiracies. There was also a fourth Gunman in “Anasazi,” known as The Thinker. One more thing you should know: Frohike has a crush on Scully (it’s pretty obvious).
Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) is the Assistant Director, and he is also Mulder and Scully’s boss.
Mulder is informed that Skinner is his “friend in the FBI.” Even though he seems like their friend, Skinner gets impatient with Mulder a lot.
Another odd thing is that Skinner seems to have a connection with Cancer Man. Skinner shut down the X-files, than changed his mind, and then re-opened them. He will be a key player in the final few episodes.
Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin) and X (also known as Mr. X, who is played by Steven Williams) was Mulder’s informant for the first season. Even though Deep Throat doesn’t have a real name, like all the other informants or conspiracy members on the show, in the book Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man, Cancer Man calls him “Ronald.”
Later on, after Deep Throat was killed, he was replaced with Mr. X until season four.
Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) is a younger agent assigned as Mulder’s new partner. Krycek ended up being a spy for Cancer Man and tried to keep Mulder from finding out certain information. He works for a lot of people, mainly whoever is not angry with him. He’s a real shadowy character and you never know what he’s going to do which makes him really cool. Krycek is one of those characters you love to hate — or hate to love.
Everything about him may or may not be a lie, including his name. In “Two Fathers/One Son” we still don’t know much more about him, but it’s hard to say who’s side he’s on. There are hints, like in past episodes, that he knows more than anyone about The Truth.
Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden) was sort of an informant for Mulder but she started working for Cancer Man. It is possible she was Krycek’s girlfriend before she double-crossed him. There are rumors that she dated Mulder too.
She’s one of those characters that you don’t know what they’re up to. She is not a well liked character, although I don’t know why.
She comes back in “TF/OS,” and what happens to her after that we don’t know.
Agents Jeffery Spender (Chris Owens) is supposedly Cancer Man’s son, but claims he doesn’t know who the Smoking Man is.
Although, I don’t see how Spender doesn’t recognize Cancer Man if he is his father. Spender claims his father left when he was eleven, so shouldn’t he remember something?
Or, hello, there’s always photo albums (remember in the movie?). Of course, it is a clever plot device... either that or he just doesn’t have a good memory.
The Cancer Man isn’t exactly someone you forget. As for what I think of Spender, I can’t say.
I don’t like him, but I don’t hate hate him either. Just as he was turning into a good guy in “TF/OS” and I was starting to like him (kind of), Cancer Man kills him. His own son. Is he dead?
Cassandra Spender (Veronica Cartwright) is an alien abductee that we first meet in “Patient X.” She’s a good friend of Scully’s and they have both gone through the same experiences.
Being appropriately named, Cassandra comes from Greek mythology. The story goes that Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of foresight, but her prophecies were never believed.
She tried to warn the Trojans about accepting the Trojan horse, which was filled with Greek soldiers who captured the city. Does this story bring anything to mind?
In the X-files, Cassandra’s son is Agent Spender, and of course her husband is Cancer Man. She’s the first successful human/alien hybrid, but is killed (along with the Elders) by the rebel aliens.
Again I ask...is she really dead? Will we ever find out?
A.D. Kersh (James Pickens Jr.) is a new Assistant Director and another character I hate. He’s a jerk who’s always pulling Mulder and Scully into his office and telling them not to go near anything that even resembles an X-file.
Mrs. Mulder (Rebecca Toolan) is Mulder’s mother, and she was very close to Cancer Man. Just how close we’ll never know, or at least we’ll know soon!
She suffered a stroke in the third season, went into a coma, and was healed by alien means under Cancer Man’s direction. Interesting! Now she may or may not remember incidents from Mulder’s childhood regarding her relationship with Cancer Man, but she doesn’t want to talk about it. She claims she doesn’t remember anything.
The Conspiracy, also known as the Syndicate or the Elders (which is led by the Cancer Man) is a group that is planning a secret plot known as the Project.
The Project’s objective is to create a race of human-alien hybrids. They may be dead. They may not. We will have to wait and see.
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