X, sometimes referred to as Mr. X, is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
on the American
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...
''. He serves as an informant, leaking information to
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
Special Agents
Fox Mulder
Fox William Mulder () is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterrest ...
and
Dana Scully
Dana Katherine Scully, MD, is a fictional character and one of the two Protagonist, protagonists in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science-fiction, supernatural fiction, supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by Gillian Anders ...
to aid their investigation of paranormal cases, dubbed
X-File
In the fictional universe of the television series ''The X-Files'', an "X-File" is a case that has been deemed unsolvable or given minimal-priority status by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; these files are transferred to the X-Files unit. The ...
s. The character serves as a replacement for
Deep Throat, who had been killed off in the
first season finale, "
The Erlenmeyer Flask
"The Erlenmeyer Flask" is the 24th episode and the first season finale of the science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. Written by executive producer Chris Carter and directed by R. W. Goodwin, the episode continues with the mythology ...
". X himself would be killed off after appearing in several seasons, eventually being replaced by
Marita Covarrubias
Marita Covarrubias is a fictional character on the American science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. She was initially introduced as an informant, leaking diplomatic information to FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder to aid his investigation ...
.
X is portrayed in the series by
Steven Williams
Steven Williams (born January 7, 1949) is an American actor in films and television. He is known for his roles as Captain Adam Fuller on ''21 Jump Street'', Lt. Jefferson Burnett on '' The Equalizer'', Det. August Brooks on '' L.A. Heat'', X on ...
, and made his debut in the
second season episode "
The Host", although the character would not appear on-screen until "
Sleepless", two episodes later. The role had originally been conceived as female, with
Natalija Nogulich
Natalia Nogulich is an American film- and television actress and author.
Nogulich was born Natalija Nogulich in Chicago, Illinois, of Serbian descent. Her best-known appearances have been on '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and '' Star Tr ...
cast in the role; however, her initial scenes were deemed unsatisfactory by the producers, leading to her replacement. Williams' portrayal of X was intended to introduce a personality completely different from the character's predecessor, Deep Throat, and was positively received by critics and fans.
Conceptual history
The character of X was originally intended to be a woman, and
Natalija Nogulich
Natalia Nogulich is an American film- and television actress and author.
Nogulich was born Natalija Nogulich in Chicago, Illinois, of Serbian descent. Her best-known appearances have been on '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and '' Star Tr ...
had been cast in the role. However, Nogulich was replaced by
Steven Williams
Steven Williams (born January 7, 1949) is an American actor in films and television. He is known for his roles as Captain Adam Fuller on ''21 Jump Street'', Lt. Jefferson Burnett on '' The Equalizer'', Det. August Brooks on '' L.A. Heat'', X on ...
after shooting her first scene, as the writing staff felt Nogulich was not able to create the "right chemistry" with her co-stars.
Williams had previous experience with writers
Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan (born July 12, 1961) is an American television producer, writer and director. He is best known for co-writing episodes of the Fox science fiction supernatural drama series ''The X-Files'' with his partner, James Wong. He served as ...
and
James Wong,
[Lowry, pp. 169–170][Lovece, p. 116] although it was series creator
Chris Carter who suggested him for the part.
Williams' portrayal of the role was intended to act as a counterpoint to
Jerry Hardin
Jerry Hardin (born November 20, 1929) is an American actor. Hardin has appeared in film and television roles, including the character nicknamed Deep Throat in ''The X-Files''.
Hardin was born in Texas and studied acting at London's Royal Academ ...
's portrayal of X's predecessor,
Deep Throat. Whereas Deep Throat had been a selfless character, X was written and performed as a scared, selfish character. Prior to the episode "
One Breath", Glen Morgan had felt that the character of X was not "going over too well" with fans of the series, as he seemed to simply be a copy of Deep Throat. Believing Williams to be an actor worth having as a series regular, he included in the episode a scene in which X murders witnesses who have seen him speaking to Fox Mulder. Morgan felt that such a scene reflected X's paranoia and the difference between him and his predecessor, noting that "Deep Throat was a guy willing to lose his life for letting out the secret, whereas X is a guy who's still scared". Williams has stated that he has never attempted to rationalize the character's motives or imagine a backstory for him, preferring to play the role with as little background as possible; he once stated "the less I know about him, the more interesting he becomes."
Williams' background in
fight choreography
Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet p ...
, stemming from his role in ''
Missing in Action 2: The Beginning'' (1985), allowed him to prepare for, and to help create, the character's action scenes, including choreographing the character's brawl with
Mitch Pileggi
Mitch Pileggi (born April 5, 1952) is an American actor. He played Horace Pinker in '' Shocker'', Walter Skinner on ''The X-Files'', Colonel Steven Caldwell on ''Stargate Atlantis'', Ernest Darby in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and Harris Ryland in th ...
's character
Walter Skinner
FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character portrayed by American actor Mitch Pileggi on ''The X-Files'' and its short-lived spin-off ''The Lone Gunmen'', both broadcast on Fox.
In the science fiction-supernatural se ...
in the episode "
End Game". Williams has also stated that his portrayal of the role is based in part on
Avery Brooks
Avery Franklin Brooks (born October 2, 1948) is an American actor, director, singer, narrator and educator. He is best known for his television roles as Captain Benjamin Sisko on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', as Hawk on '' Spenser: For Hire'' ...
' character Hawk on the series ''
Spenser: For Hire''.
Character arc
X was introduced on the series via a phone call made to
Fox Mulder
Fox William Mulder () is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterrest ...
(
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for portraying FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002, 2016-2018) and as write ...
) in the
second season episode "
The Host", telling Mulder that he had "a friend in the FBI".
However, the character did not appear on-screen until "
Sleepless", two episodes later, aiding Mulder in an investigation by leaking information on a secret military project from the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
While X's loyalties and his own agenda were often unclear, he proved more than once that he at least does not want Mulder dead. In the episode "End Game", he is approached by
Dana Scully
Dana Katherine Scully, MD, is a fictional character and one of the two Protagonist, protagonists in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science-fiction, supernatural fiction, supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by Gillian Anders ...
(
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series ''The X-Files'', ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film ''The House of Mirth'' ...
), who pleads that she needs to know where Mulder is, believing his life to be in danger. Initially X refuses, and is subsequently confronted by Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), who seemed to recognize X. He relinquishes Mulder's location, though not until after a brief but intense scuffle with Skinner.
In the episode "
731
__NOTOC__
Year 731 ( DCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 731 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
", X's loyalty to Mulder is further confirmed. Trapped on a train car equipped with a
time bomb
A time bomb (or a timebomb, time-bomb) is a bomb whose detonation is triggered by a timer. The use (or attempted use) of time bombs has been for various purposes including insurance fraud, terrorism, assassination, sabotage and warfare. They ar ...
, Mulder, about to escape, is attacked brutally by the
Red Haired Man, a
Men in Black
In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi-government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses t ...
assassin. X fatally shoots the Red Haired Man as he is about to step off the car, then boards the car with only enough time left to save either Mulder or the
alien-human hybrid
Alien abduction (also called abduction phenomenon, alien abduction syndrome, or UFO abduction) refers to the phenomenon of people reporting their experience of being Kidnapping, kidnapped by Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial beings and subj ...
the car was transporting. He opts to save Mulder, and carries him off to safety just as the car explodes.
In the
season 4 Season 4 may refer to:
* "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock''
See also
*
* Season One (disambiguation) Season One may refer to:
Albums
* ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004
* ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughte ...
opener "
Herrenvolk
The master race (german: Herrenrasse) is a pseudoscientific concept in Nazi ideology in which the putative "Aryan race" is deemed the pinnacle of human racial hierarchy. Members were referred to as "''Herrenmenschen''" ("master humans").
Th ...
", X's position as an informant is discovered by the
Syndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest.
Etymology
The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French language, Frenc ...
. When suspicion arises after the finding of photographs that were taken of
The Smoking Man
The Cigarette Smoking Man (abbreviated CSM or C-Man; sometimes referred to as Cancer Man or the Smoking Man) is a fictional character and one of the primary antagonists of the American science fiction drama television series ''The X-Files''. He s ...
(
William B. Davis
William Bruce Davis (born January 13, 1938) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as the Cigarette Smoking Man on ''The X-Files''. Besides appearing in many TV programs and movies, he founded his own acting school, the William Davis Ce ...
) by X, false information is planted at the
First Elder
The following is a list of characters on ''The X-Files'', an American science fiction television series first broadcast in September 1993 and followed by two feature films: ''The X-Files'' and '' The X-Files: I Want to Believe.'' These characters ...
's behest, in order to root out the leak. Attempting to relay the information to Mulder, X goes to his apartment and is surprised by fellow Men in Black operative, the Gray Haired Man, who fatally shoots him. With his last strength, X crawls to Mulder's doorstep and writes in his own blood "SRSG", meaning "Special Representative to the
Secretary General
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
" of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
, and thus, this clue leads Mulder to
Marita Covarrubias
Marita Covarrubias is a fictional character on the American science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. She was initially introduced as an informant, leaking diplomatic information to FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder to aid his investigation ...
(
Laurie Holden
Heather Laurie Holden (born December 17, 1969) is a Canadian-American actress, producer, and human rights activist, known for her roles as Marita Covarrubias in ''The X-Files'' (1996–2002), Adele Stanton in ''The Majestic (film), The Majestic' ...
).
After his death, X appears two more times—in
The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen are a trio of fictional characters, Richard "Ringo" Langly, Melvin Frohike and John Fitzgerald Byers, who appeared in recurring roles on the American television series ''The X-Files'', and who starred in the short-lived spin-of ...
origin story "
Unusual Suspects," set before his death, and as a ghost in the
season 9
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...
finale, "
The Truth
The Truth may refer to:
Film
* ''The Truth'' (1920 film) starring Madge Kennedy
* ''The Truth'' (1960 film) or ''La Vérité'', a French film by Henri-Georges Clouzot starring Brigitte Bardot
* ''The Truth'' (1988 film), a Hong Kong trial crim ...
".
Reception
The character of X has been well-received by critics. ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' included the character in the list of the top 20 Black Sci-Fi Icons in 2009, at number 17.
Emily VanDerWerff, writing for ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'', has praised the "gravitas" of Williams' acting, adding that she wished that the writers "had figured out a way to have him around more often than they did".
VanDerWerff's fellow writer Zack Handlen felt that the character's assassination in "Herrenvolk" was "appropriately shocking", calling the scene "one of the most memorable death's in the series"; although he felt that the immediate introduction of the character's successor, Marita Covarrubias, "deflates the importance of X's loss" in the episode.
Handlen has also called X "the best of Mulder's informants", explaining that this is "because he's always pissed off, he's always reluctant to provide information, and you can't ever be sure what play he's really running".
Series writer
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Charles Spotnitz is an American television screenwriter and executive producer, best known for his work on ''The X-Files'' and ''The Man in the High Castle''. Spotnitz is also the chief executive officer and founder of Big Light Production ...
has called X "the meanest, nastiest, most lethal killer on the planet".
Steven Williams has noted that he feels the episodes "
Nisei
is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...
" and "731" were chiefly responsible for the character's popularity with fans.
[
] In 1997, Williams was nominated for a
Screen Actors Guild Award
Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...
for
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for his work as X, alongside
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series ''The X-Files'', ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film ''The House of Mirth'' ...
,
William B. Davis
William Bruce Davis (born January 13, 1938) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as the Cigarette Smoking Man on ''The X-Files''. Besides appearing in many TV programs and movies, he founded his own acting school, the William Davis Ce ...
, David Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi.
Footnotes
References
*
*
*
*
*
{{X-Files
Fictional African-American people
Television characters introduced in 1994
Fictional murderers
Fictional murdered people
Fictional Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel
The X-Files characters