Mythology of The X-Files

The story arc of The X-Files television series was know as its "mythology" or "mytharc" to the show's producers and fans. The plot was a broad and intricate one, involving the main characters, FBI agents Fox Mulder, Dana Scully and later John Doggett, Monica Reyes and Walter Skinner, and their attempts to uncover a vast government conspiracy to conceal the existence of extraterrestrials.

The agents' involvement in the conspiracy began during Mulder's childhood, when his younger sister Samantha was abducted from her home. Mulder has recurring flashbacks to the incident, where he remembers disjointed images of flashing lights outside the house and his sister floating out the door. Mulder is convinced that she was abducted by extraterrestrials, which became an obsession and led to his career in the FBI, as well as his interest in unsolved cases involving what he believed to be paranormal phenomena.

In the pilot episode, Agent Scully, an FBI medical doctor and scientist, is assigned as Mulder's partner in his investigation of the so-called X-files, a collection of the FBI's strangest unsolved cases. Her official role is to lend scientific credence to his work, but it quickly seems apparent that their superiors at the FBI actually sought to use her to debunk Mulder's work.

Mulder and Scully become aware of the conspiracy largely through informants of the shadow government responsible.

The Syndicate

The Syndicate is a shadow government made up of representatives from around the globe whose interests lie both in collaborating with extraterrestrials and concealing their existence. Over the course of the series, Mulder and Scully come into contact with many of its members, some of whom are interested in informing on the Syndicate's activities, and some who loyally serve the Syndicate and seek to hinder the agents' efforts. The Syndicate held regular secret meetings at an apartment on 46th street in New York City.

Although it is never said explicitly, the Syndicate seems to be led by The First Elder, who gives orders to the other members and whose decisions appear to be final. Other members included the Cigarette Smoking Man, the Well Manicured Man, Deep Throat, and Mulder's father, Bill Mulder, among many others. Their agents included Mulder's informant X, Alex Krycek, and Marita Covarrubias. Covarrubias helps advance the Syndicate's efforts through her position at the United Nations, and has acted as an informant to Mulder on multiple occasions, though her loyalties generally remained unclear. X was also Mulder's informant following the death of Deep Throat at the end of the first season.

While its specific origins are not entirely known, the group was formed for the purpose of dealing with the extraterrestrial threat to Earth. Deep Throat, the first Syndicate informant to contact Mulder, tells him that after the Roswell incident in 1947, a secret conference was held by global leaders, where it was agreed that any living extraterrestrial recovered from a UFO crash was to be immediately terminated. It was apparently the Syndicate's job to see that this agreement was upheld. They were also responsible for overseeing the recovery of crashed alien spacecraft, which they did several times throughout the series.

Colonization effort

To begin colonization, the aliens planned to introduce a virus into Earth's population, using bees as a carrier, that would impregnate humans with gestating aliens, eventually killing the host humans upon reaching maturity. The Syndicate's primary collaboration with the aliens was an exchange of genetic material, in an effort to develop a process that would enable humans to become alien-human hybrids that could survive the virus. The Syndicate sought to become alien-human hybrids themselves, along with their families, thereby securing their survival during colonization.

Some Syndicate members, including Mulder's father, were in favor of deceiving the aliens rather than collaborating with them. They tried to convince the other Syndicate members to use the alien genetic material to develop a vaccine that could make all humans immune to the alien virus, thereby preventing colonization altogether. It was decided that the hybrid project would go forward while the vaccine development would be attempted simultaneously in secret. The vaccine development failed, however a working vaccine was obtained from Russia, which had been working on its own vaccine. This had taken too long though, and the hybrid process was already handed over to the aliens by the time the Syndicate obtained the working vaccine.

The alien virus takes the form of a black oil, also known as "purity" or the "black cancer". It appears as a living liquid that moves by slithering. When coming into contact with humans, it is able to absorb itself into them through their facial orifices, and either controls the host body or develops a gestating grey alien within it. In the X-Files movie, Scully was infected with the virus via a bee sting, but was saved by Mulder, who used a vial of the vaccine provided to him by the Well Manicured Man. The Well Manicured Man's motivation for helping Mulder was that he had changed his mind about colonization and decided to help prevent it.

Cigarette Smoking Man

The Cigarette Smoking Man was the Syndicate member to have the most contact with the agents over the course of the series, and is the most prominently portrayed villain. He is seen as early as the pilot episode, in which he doesn't speak, but appears as a mysterious character present at FBI meetings, always smoking a cigarette. The Smoking Man is portrayed as sinister, and is usually responsible for successfully keeping Mulder and Scully from collecting evidence of the conspiracy, even when he pretends to be acting in their best interests.

The Smoking Man has a tenuous relationship with the Syndicate, as they often disapprove of his violent methods and his lack of obedience. They tried to have him killed at one point, but unbeknownst to them, he survived the attempt and went into hiding. He was later found and asked to rejoin their efforts. The Smoking Man dies in the series finale while in hiding a second time, when the Syndicate orders his dwelling destroyed after learning that he gave Mulder access to a top-secret military facility.

Demise

Most of the Syndicate, as well as their families, were killed late in season six by rebel aliens (see Aliens below). The alien-human hybrid project had been successful, and the Syndicate gathered to receive their alien DNA, and to their surprise were met by the Rebels instead.

Aliens

The alien Colonists seek to invade and colonize Earth, and in the interest of doing so maintain contact with the Syndicate. The aliens' first encounter with humans was the Roswell incident, in which one of their spacecraft crashed and a live alien was recovered by the U.S. military. Evidence is revealed throughout the series that the aliens actually inhabited planet Earth before humanity did, and that humans are distant genetic relatives of the aliens, having possibly evolved from them. In the X-Files movie, the black oil is shown to have been infecting humans on Earth during the ice age.

Types

Several types of aliens appear in the series, including Bounty Hunters, Greys, and Rebels. Bounty Hunters are the main entities shown to represent the alien civilization and collaborate with the Syndicate. They have the ability to shape-shift to spontaneously disguise themselves as any human they choose, their blood is toxic to humans, they are difficult to kill, and they can heal human injuries via touch.

The alien Rebels are working against the Colonists' efforts to conquer worlds. They are not able to shape-shift the way the Bounty Hunters can, but they often disguise themselves as particular humans using a kind of organic mask, the particulars of which are never explained. Through this method they are able to look and sound exactly like any human, however their masks can be torn off quite easily, revealing their true identities. The Rebels have used these disguises to infiltrate the Syndicate and attempt, unsuccessfully, to steer it towards their goals. In their naturally-appearing state, the rebels appear human, but they have their facial orifices stitched shut, including their eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth. This is because the black oil enters a being through those orifices, so the Rebels sought to immunize themselves by sealing those points of entry.

UFOs and abductions

The conquering aliens performed regular abductions of humans for various experimental purposes. It was revealed that many abductions were actually performed by the government, using craft that were developed using alien technology. These abductions were primarily performed to obtain test subjects for the alien-human hybrid project.

Scully's abduction

Agent Scully was abducted early in the series, and was eventually returned with no memory of the experience. By setting off a metal detector at the FBI building, she realized she had a metallic object implanted at the base of her neck, and upon having it removed, discovered it was a very advanced microchip. Scully later developed cancer. By chance, she came upon a group of other women who had also been diagnosed with cancer following a similar abduction experience, and also after having removed microchips from their necks.

Mulder, convinced that the cancer in these women was a direct result of the abductions, attempted unsuccessfully to obtain a cure from the Syndicate. His superior at the FBI, Walter Skinner, who had formed a close relationship with the agents, was able to obtain the cure by making a deal with the Cigarette Smoking Man behind Mulder's back. The cure that the Smoking Man turned over was a microchip similar to that which Scully had removed from her neck. She decided to try re-implanting the chip in its prior location, and the cancer subsequently went into remission.

Mulder later found out that Scully's ovaries had been removed during the abduction. They were used to create a child named Emily, whom Scully later discovered in San Diego, California. Emily was sick with a strain of the alien virus and died shortly thereafter, despite Scully's attempts to save her. The motivation behind Emily's creation was never revealed.

Samantha Mulder

It was revealed that Mulder's sister had indeed been abducted, not by aliens but by the Syndicate. The purpose of the abduction was twofold: She was to become a test subject for the hybrid project, but she was specifically chosen as a means to control her father, Bill Mulder, who was a Syndicate member whose loyalty was in doubt. Samantha's mother, Teena Mulder, confirmed Agent Mulder's suspicions that his father asked her to choose which child should be taken. Teena, being unable to make such a difficult decision, left it up to her husband, who chose Samantha.

During the course of the series, Mulder encounters several people who resemble his sister, both as adults and children, all of whom turn out to be clones.

The real Samantha was never found, though Mulder eventually pieced together what were apparently her final hours. He found a diary revealing that at about age 14 she had escaped the facility where was being held, but was was in very bad condition from the experiments. She had made her way to a hospital but vanished from within her room. In the episode where this is revealed, Mulder is told by a man that he believes that sometimes when a child is in danger of suffering a horrible end, they disappear as "starlight". In the end, Mulder appears to accept this explanation.

External links

Mythology of The X-Files on The X-Files Wiki, an external wiki