Fox Mulder
Encyclopedia
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character
and protagonist
in the American Fox
television shows The X-Files
and The Lone Gunmen
, two science fiction
shows about a government conspiracy
to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his (often correct) theories on extraterrestrial activity as spooky and far-fetched. With his FBI partner Dana Scully
, he works in the X-Files
office, which is concerned with cases with particularly mysterious or possibly paranormal circumstances that were left unsolved and shelved by the FBI. Portrayed by American
actor David Duchovny
, Mulder was a main character for the first seven seasons
but was limited to a recurring character
for the last two seasons because portraying actor Duchovny wanted to move on to the film industry.
Mulder made his first appearance in the first season
pilot episode, broadcast in 1993. Mulder believes in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and a government conspiracy
to hide or deny the truth of their existence. Mulder considers the X-File
s and the truth behind the supposed conspiracy so important that he has made them the main focus of his life.
and his ensuing search for her became the consuming drive of his life. In 1982, Mulder graduated summa cum laude from Oxford University with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in psychology
. He then graduated with honors from the Quantico FBI Training Academy
in 1984.. Mulder joined the FBI on October 24, 1986. On graduating from the Academy, Mulder began his work in the Behavioral Science Unit
(psychological profiling
) under Agent Bill Patterson, with whom he had a testing relationship.
In 1988, the FBI assigned Mulder to the Violent Crimes Unit. Around this time, Mulder first came across the X-Files
, an obscure FBI section dealing with cases relating to the paranormal; he pored over these cases in his spare time, becoming obsessed with them. In 1991, Mulder re-opened the X-Files with Special Agent
Diana Fowley, but Fowley left shortly thereafter. Mulder investigated the X-Files by himself until March 1992, when Dana Scully
, an instructor at the FBI Academy, was partnered with him for the purpose of applying scientific reasoning to Mulder's work and theories.
Mulder's ultimate goal was to uncover what he believed to be a government conspiracy
to hide the truth about alien life, and to find out what had happened to his sister. His quest and belief in the existence of aliens was, for most of the series, the driving force of the plot, or mytharc
. However, during a period of time after Scully's cancer went into remission (season 5), Mulder was convinced by Michael Kritschgau that aliens did not in fact exist, and that the government conspirators had merely concocted that threat as a smokescreen, to justify military activities and toy with him.
During the seventh season
, Mulder eventually discovers the truth about his sister. Samantha was abducted (either by the alien colonists or the government conspirators), and various tests were performed on her. She was then returned to The Smoking Man to live out her life under his supervision, all the while undergoing additional tests. She was unable to bear the testing any longer so she ran away from her home and was eventually admitted to a nearby hospital, where she disappeared from her locked room. It is revealed that Samantha was taken by "spiritual intervention," with the help of beings called "Walk-ins". Mulder is briefly reunited with Samantha's spirit.
Mulder was also abducted by the aliens himself in 2000, and returned to Earth, almost dead, a few months later. He had been infected by an alien virus
(for the second time), but Scully found a way to rescue him. After Mulder returned home to his apartment, an application was submitted to the FBI for his reinstatement to the X-files but this was declined by Deputy Director Alvin Kersh
, who had been promoted in charge of the X-files shortly after Mulder had been abducted. He returned to work for a brief period of time, but was eventually fired when not following orders to not investigate any X-Files. After Scully gave birth to William, Mulder went into hiding in New Mexico
after Kersh said his life was in danger.
After about a year in hiding, Mulder obtains crucial information from a secret facility
about the date of the planned alien colonization effort, but is caught and put on trial for the murder of Knowle Rohrer. Despite a defense organized by Walter Skinner
with numerous witnesses, the judges sentence Mulder to death. With help from several people, including a reformed Kersh and the ghost of Alex Krycek
, Mulder breaks out of prison and escapes with Scully. As of the series finale
, Mulder and Scully were on the run. Six years after the events of the ninth season, Fox Mulder's fugitive status is clear. Scully mentions that he is wanted by the FBI and dialogue also shows that the FBI does not really want to find him and is simply happy to have him "out of their hair". He is called to assist with the investigation of a missing FBI agent. In exchange for his help, all charges against him are dropped.
Despite his aloofness and cynical sense of humor, Mulder displays unbridled enthusiasm and interest when it comes to the paranormal, especially because of his personal involvement after his sister's abduction
. Walter Skinner
and other FBI officials have become concerned by his unprofessional behavior. This only proves true as Mulder makes a habit of letting his personal feelings cloud his judgment; his emotional attachment to UFO cases becomes more severe throughout the series, because of Dana Scully
's eventual abduction and resultant cancer
as well as his sister's abduction. Mulder can lose his temper when Scully is involved; on multiple occasions, he has become violent in his grief and unreserved in threatening physical force. Mulder's overprotectiveness of Scully stems not only from his obvious devotion and love for her, but also a long-harbored guilt; Mulder has admitted feeling indirectly responsible for the ordeals and tragedies Scully had gone through because of their investigations.
In the episode "Drive", Mulder facetiously apologizes on behalf of the "international Jewish conspiracy" in response to the abusive and anti-Semitic
tirades of a suspect, to which Mulder appears to take offence; the suspect also guesses Mulder's ethnicity is Jewish based on his surname
. Despite this, in the episode "Kaddish," Mulder is unable to identify a Talmud
ic book, states that he does not know Hebrew
, and quips that Jesus
returned from the dead. Also, Mulder, as his father before him, had a Christian burial presided over by a Protestant
minister
following his apparent "death" in the episode "Deadalive
". This suggests he hails from a Protestant background, as Scully hails from a Catholic
background. Mulder also seeks comfort in a Christian church following the events of the episode "Conduit
". Of course Mulder could conceivably be of a Jewish ethnic descent but a Christian background, perhaps through ancestral marriage or conversion. David Duchovny
suggested Mulder is Jewish when interviewed during production of the second season. In the episode "The Field Where I Died", Mulder went into a hypnotic trance and recalls a past life, where he is in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.
Mulder is almost never seen sleeping in a bed. The bedroom in his apartment (which appeared as late as the sixth season
of the show's run) is apparently used for storage and is filled floor to ceiling with junk, including a couple of boxes of pornographic magazines
. Instead, Mulder sleeps on his couch, often falling asleep to a blaring television. Mulder can seem to go through manic periods when worried or working on a case, contributing to or exacerbating his insomniac tendencies
. Since "Dreamland II" where a 'man In Black' body-swaps with Mulder and takes over his life, Mulder gets his bedroom renovated and equipped with a waterbed. In "Monday" he finds himself soaked through when his waterbed (which he can't remember getting, it is implied he thinks it was a present from Scully) is leaking.
Mulder had a rather strained relationship with his parents Bill and Teena Mulder, not least thanks to the X-Files
. Initially, he had no idea his father was involved in the conspiracy and Samantha
's disappearance. Bill, who became disenchanted with the shadow government
and his own role in the conspiracy, eventually approached Fox about his past deeds, but was shot and killed by Alex Krycek
- working as an assassin for the Syndicate
- before he could reveal any great amount of information. Over the next few years, Mulder got into several conflicts with his mother while trying to discover the extent of her own knowledge of his father's precise involvement. Teena dies of an apparent suicide, when the stress of Samantha's abduction finally becomes too painful.
During the last years of his work on the X-Files, Mulder was even forced to doubt that Bill was his true father. He is led to consider the possibility that his mother had had an affair with the Smoking Man, a connection which may have resulted in the birth of either Samantha
or Mulder himself. The possibility was hinted at later in the series, and Jeffrey Spender
, who certainly was the Smoking Man's son, said that Mulder was his half-brother. In the ninth season
, "William" explains that Spender and Mulder have very similar DNA
, providing strong evidence that they do have the same father.
Mulder's closest friend was FBI
partner
Dana Scully
, who was assigned to "debunk [his] work" by the conspirators and the FBI brass. But against their intentions, her loyalties quickly became affixed to Mulder's quest and Mulder himself, a connection which seemed to pull Mulder's work out of obscurity, as Scully's scientific bent afforded them a certain amount of credibility. Their intense professional and personal relationship continued to strengthen through the years. While the relationship was platonic for the greater part of the series, there are clues that it developed into a romantic one by the last few seasons. Mulder and Scully almost always called each other by their surname
s - Mulder purportedly hated his first name, but Scully had no such aversion. At the end of season eight
, the romantic undertones were confirmed when the two shared a kiss. In the series finale
, the very last scene depicted Mulder and Scully in bed together, contemplating what the future held.
Mulder's greatest nemesis was The Smoking Man, who, despite his obvious ill-intent, seemed to hold Mulder in special regard. Though he mocked Mulder to his face for his foolishness and the futility of his quest, in "Two Fathers
" he told his son Jeffrey Spender
, "You pale to Fox Mulder." Mulder also developed an intense enmity for Alex Krycek
, a double agent who briefly worked with Mulder in the FBI as an infiltrator
, and who continued to serve as a recurring adversary, acting as an assassin for the Syndicate in the murders of Bill Mulder and Melissa Scully.
David Duchovny
had worked in Los Angeles
three years prior to The X-Files
, at first he wanted to base his acting career
around films. But in 1993 his manager
, Melanie Green gave him a script of the "pilot episode" of The X-Files. Green and Duchovny were both convinced it was a good script, so Duchovny auditioned for the lead. When Duchovny was audition
ing for the part of Fox Mulder, he made a "terrific" audition, but talked rather slow. Chris Carter
thought that he was a "good judge of character", and thought that Duchovny wasn't rather "bright". So he went and talked to Duchovny and asked him if he could "please" imagine himself as an FBI agent
for the "future" weeks. The casting director of the show, was very positive towards him. While according to Carter, Duchovny turned out to be one of the best-read people he knew. After getting the role, Duchovny thought the show wouldn't last for long or that it wouldn't make as much impact as it did.
Carter has said that he named Mulder after his mother's maiden name. His first name, Fox, was actually not a tribute to the Fox network which aired The X-Files, as often assumed. Carter said he had a childhood friend named Fox. When Duchovny got the script many of his characteristics were "fully formed". Executive producer
Frank Spotnitz
called portraying actor Duchovny "amazingly smart". He further stated that Duchovny was behind some of the main characteristic ideas behind Mulder.
At the end of the seventh season
Duchovny was fighting for a "better" contract with the Fox network, saying he wanted more money (while not saying how much) and a better scheduled work hour. After settling his contract dispute, portraying actor Duchovny quit full-time participation in the show after the seventh season
. This contributed to uncertainties over the likelihood of an eighth season
. Carter and most fans felt the show was at its natural endpoint with Duchovny's departure, but it was decided Mulder would be abducted at the end of the seventh season, leaving things open for the actor's return in 12 episodes the following year. Duchovny's character Mulder was replaced by John Jay Doggett
(portrayed by Robert Patrick
). In season nine
, Duchovny wasn't available for shooting, so he only appeared in three episodes with small cameo
s, the first being a archive footage only in "Trust No 1", a brief cameo
in "William", which he also directed and appeared full-time in the series finale
, "The Truth
".
After the shows cancellation, Carter and Frank Spotnitz
started to talk about a movie sequel. Duchovny stated in an interview that very same year that it always had been a "desire" to come back to the franchise
, saying it was a "natural" stage of development for the franchise to go to the cinema
. When talking about Mulder in The X-Files: I Want to Believe
, Duchovny said that he wanted to play him a "little different". He continued saying that Mulder had "lost every battle" saying he was "beaten down by life [...]. He’s the same guy, but he is older Mulder”.
Mulder had a brief cameo on The Lone Gunmen
, an X-Files spin-off
featuring the characters of the same name
. He appeared on the episode "All About Yves". In the Millennium
episode "Lamentation", The main character, Frank Black, visits the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and Mulder and Dana Scully
are briefly seen descending a stairway. In fact, they are Duchovny and Andersons' stand-in
s.
was nominated for two Emmy Awards in 1997 and 1998 in the category "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series", but lost. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
in 1995 in the category "Best Actor - Drama Series". Two years later he was again nominated for a Golden Globe in the same category and won, in 1997 and 1998 he was nominated in the same category but didn't win. Duchovny has been nominated five times in the category "Outstanding Actor - Drama Series" by the Screen Actors Guild awards
but didn't win once. Duchovny won a Satellite Award in the category "Best Actor - Drama Series" in 1997, and was nominated once again 1998.
Animated versions of Mulder appeared on The Simpsons
and Eek! the Cat
(both series which have been featured in episodes of The X-Files), in the episodes "The Springfield Files
" and "Eek Space-9", respectively. Both featured the voice acting of Duchovny. Duchovny appeared as Mulder on the sketch show Saturday Night Live
with Molly Shannon
as Scully, when he hosted an episode. Joining him was co-star Nicholas Lea
, who would appear as Alex Krycek
in a sketch that spoofed The X-Files.
New York Times writer Joyce Millman said that Twin Peaks
character Special agent
Dale Cooper
could have been Mulder's "quirky [...] spiritual twin" if David Duchovny
hadn't appeared in the show earlier. When reviewing The X-Files: I Want to Believe
, reviewer Moira Macdonald said it was a "kick" watching Duchovny and Gillian Anderson
(portrayed Dana Scully
). Jesse Hassenger from PopMatters
when reviewing season eight
, was throughout negative to the new season, claiming that Patrick was miss-cast and calling David Duchovny
's appearances as Mulder shallow. Critics and fans alike have praised Duchovny and Anderson's "on-screen chemistry" for years. Richard Corliss
from Time magazine
praised Duchovny for settling in his role so "quickly" and calling the character "an obsessive plodder". Robert Patrick
, the actor who replaced Duchovny as the male lead after the seventh season
, commented that the chemistry Duchovny and Gillian Anderson
had could only happen "once in a lifetime".
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
and protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
in the American Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
television shows The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
and The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen (TV series)
The Lone Gunmen is a television show created by Chris Carter and broadcast on FOX. It was a spin-off of Carter's popular long-running television series The X-Files and a part of The X-Files franchise, starring several of the show's characters. The Lone Gunmen was first broadcast in March 2001 and,...
, two science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
shows about a government conspiracy
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his (often correct) theories on extraterrestrial activity as spooky and far-fetched. With his FBI partner Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
, he works in the X-Files
X-file
On the television series The X-Files, an X-File is a fictional case that has been deemed unsolvable by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files constitute an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream that is more or less concerned with unexplained phenomena. -First X-Files:The very...
office, which is concerned with cases with particularly mysterious or possibly paranormal circumstances that were left unsolved and shelved by the FBI. Portrayed by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
, Mulder was a main character for the first seven seasons
The X-Files (season 7)
The seventh season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 7, 1999, concluded on May 21, 2000, and consists of twenty-two episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season seven took place after the destruction of the...
but was limited to a recurring character
Recurring character
A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in an episode, sometimes being the main focus...
for the last two seasons because portraying actor Duchovny wanted to move on to the film industry.
Mulder made his first appearance in the first season
The X-Files (season 1)
The first season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on September 10, 1993 and concluded on the same channel on May 13, 1994 after airing all 24 episodes....
pilot episode, broadcast in 1993. Mulder believes in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and a government conspiracy
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
to hide or deny the truth of their existence. Mulder considers the X-File
X-file
On the television series The X-Files, an X-File is a fictional case that has been deemed unsolvable by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files constitute an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream that is more or less concerned with unexplained phenomena. -First X-Files:The very...
s and the truth behind the supposed conspiracy so important that he has made them the main focus of his life.
Character arc
The mysterious disappearance of Mulder's sisterSamantha Mulder
Samantha Ann Mulder is a fictional character in the television series The X-Files. She is the sister of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder and the daughter of Teena and Bill Mulder. As a child, Samantha was abducted, ostensibly by aliens, and was never recovered...
and his ensuing search for her became the consuming drive of his life. In 1982, Mulder graduated summa cum laude from Oxford University with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
. He then graduated with honors from the Quantico FBI Training Academy
FBI Academy
The FBI Academy, located in Quantico, Virginia, is the training site for new Special Agents of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was first opened for use in 1972 on 385 acres of woodland. It is a relatively small government academy, housing three dormitory buildings and...
in 1984.. Mulder joined the FBI on October 24, 1986. On graduating from the Academy, Mulder began his work in the Behavioral Science Unit
Behavioral Science Unit
The Behavioral Science Unit is one of the instructional components of the FBI's Training Division at Quantico, Virginia. Its mission is to develop and provide programs of training, research, and consultation in the behavioral and social sciences for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and law...
(psychological profiling
Offender profiling
Offender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is a behavioral and investigative tool that is intended to help investigators to profile unknown criminal subjects or offenders. Offender profiling is also known as criminal profiling, criminal personality profiling, criminological profiling,...
) under Agent Bill Patterson, with whom he had a testing relationship.
In 1988, the FBI assigned Mulder to the Violent Crimes Unit. Around this time, Mulder first came across the X-Files
X-file
On the television series The X-Files, an X-File is a fictional case that has been deemed unsolvable by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files constitute an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream that is more or less concerned with unexplained phenomena. -First X-Files:The very...
, an obscure FBI section dealing with cases relating to the paranormal; he pored over these cases in his spare time, becoming obsessed with them. In 1991, Mulder re-opened the X-Files with Special Agent
Special agent
Special agent is usually the title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government. An agent is a worker for any federal agency, and a secret agent is one who works for an intelligence agency....
Diana Fowley, but Fowley left shortly thereafter. Mulder investigated the X-Files by himself until March 1992, when Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
, an instructor at the FBI Academy, was partnered with him for the purpose of applying scientific reasoning to Mulder's work and theories.
Mulder's ultimate goal was to uncover what he believed to be a government conspiracy
Conspiracy (political)
In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of persons united in the goal of usurping or overthrowing an established political power. Typically, the final goal is to gain power through a revolutionary coup d'état or through assassination....
to hide the truth about alien life, and to find out what had happened to his sister. His quest and belief in the existence of aliens was, for most of the series, the driving force of the plot, or mytharc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
. However, during a period of time after Scully's cancer went into remission (season 5), Mulder was convinced by Michael Kritschgau that aliens did not in fact exist, and that the government conspirators had merely concocted that threat as a smokescreen, to justify military activities and toy with him.
During the seventh season
The X-Files (season 7)
The seventh season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 7, 1999, concluded on May 21, 2000, and consists of twenty-two episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season seven took place after the destruction of the...
, Mulder eventually discovers the truth about his sister. Samantha was abducted (either by the alien colonists or the government conspirators), and various tests were performed on her. She was then returned to The Smoking Man to live out her life under his supervision, all the while undergoing additional tests. She was unable to bear the testing any longer so she ran away from her home and was eventually admitted to a nearby hospital, where she disappeared from her locked room. It is revealed that Samantha was taken by "spiritual intervention," with the help of beings called "Walk-ins". Mulder is briefly reunited with Samantha's spirit.
Mulder was also abducted by the aliens himself in 2000, and returned to Earth, almost dead, a few months later. He had been infected by an alien virus
Black Oil
Black Oil may refer to:* Black Oil , an alien virus in the X-Files episode The Colonist* a sunflower variety...
(for the second time), but Scully found a way to rescue him. After Mulder returned home to his apartment, an application was submitted to the FBI for his reinstatement to the X-files but this was declined by Deputy Director Alvin Kersh
Alvin Kersh
Alvin D. Kersh is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction series about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of extraterrestrial existence...
, who had been promoted in charge of the X-files shortly after Mulder had been abducted. He returned to work for a brief period of time, but was eventually fired when not following orders to not investigate any X-Files. After Scully gave birth to William, Mulder went into hiding in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
after Kersh said his life was in danger.
After about a year in hiding, Mulder obtains crucial information from a secret facility
Mount Weather
The Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center is a civilian command facility in Virginia, U.S. used as the center of operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency...
about the date of the planned alien colonization effort, but is caught and put on trial for the murder of Knowle Rohrer. Despite a defense organized by Walter Skinner
Walter Skinner
FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character in the American FOX television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence...
with numerous witnesses, the judges sentence Mulder to death. With help from several people, including a reformed Kersh and the ghost of Alex Krycek
Alex Krycek
Alex Krycek is a fictional character in the long-running American science fiction show, The X-Files portrayed by Nicholas Lea. Initially introduced in the second season as a partner for main character Fox Mulder in the absence of his previous partner, Dana Scully, Krycek grew to become one of the...
, Mulder breaks out of prison and escapes with Scully. As of the series finale
The Truth (The X-Files)
"The Truth" is the collective name for the 201st and 202nd, and final, episodes of the science fiction television series The X-Files. They first aired in the United States on May 19, 2002 on Fox in the United States and Canada. "The Truth" subsequently aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It...
, Mulder and Scully were on the run. Six years after the events of the ninth season, Fox Mulder's fugitive status is clear. Scully mentions that he is wanted by the FBI and dialogue also shows that the FBI does not really want to find him and is simply happy to have him "out of their hair". He is called to assist with the investigation of a missing FBI agent. In exchange for his help, all charges against him are dropped.
Characterization
| "If there was a profiler like himself profiling him he would have to work from the fact that he has some oral fixation because he is constantly popping sunflower seeds. He doesn't have a bedroom, you've never seen him in his bed, you've seen him sleeping only in the couch." |
| — David Duchovny David Duchovny David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:... talking about his character. |
Despite his aloofness and cynical sense of humor, Mulder displays unbridled enthusiasm and interest when it comes to the paranormal, especially because of his personal involvement after his sister's abduction
Samantha Mulder
Samantha Ann Mulder is a fictional character in the television series The X-Files. She is the sister of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder and the daughter of Teena and Bill Mulder. As a child, Samantha was abducted, ostensibly by aliens, and was never recovered...
. Walter Skinner
Walter Skinner
FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character in the American FOX television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence...
and other FBI officials have become concerned by his unprofessional behavior. This only proves true as Mulder makes a habit of letting his personal feelings cloud his judgment; his emotional attachment to UFO cases becomes more severe throughout the series, because of Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
's eventual abduction and resultant cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
as well as his sister's abduction. Mulder can lose his temper when Scully is involved; on multiple occasions, he has become violent in his grief and unreserved in threatening physical force. Mulder's overprotectiveness of Scully stems not only from his obvious devotion and love for her, but also a long-harbored guilt; Mulder has admitted feeling indirectly responsible for the ordeals and tragedies Scully had gone through because of their investigations.
In the episode "Drive", Mulder facetiously apologizes on behalf of the "international Jewish conspiracy" in response to the abusive and anti-Semitic
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
tirades of a suspect, to which Mulder appears to take offence; the suspect also guesses Mulder's ethnicity is Jewish based on his surname
Mulder
Mulder is a Dutch surname deriving from a former Dutch word for "miller", mulder.- People named Mulder :*Allan Mulder, Australian politician*Bob Mulder, Dutch football player*Boyito Mulder, Dutch figure skater...
. Despite this, in the episode "Kaddish," Mulder is unable to identify a Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic book, states that he does not know Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, and quips that Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
returned from the dead. Also, Mulder, as his father before him, had a Christian burial presided over by a Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
minister
Minister of religion
In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community...
following his apparent "death" in the episode "Deadalive
Deadalive
"Deadalive" or "DeadAlive" ' is the 176th episode of the science fiction television series The X-Files, and the fifteenth episode of the eighth season. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on April 1, 2001, on Fox, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom...
". This suggests he hails from a Protestant background, as Scully hails from a Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
background. Mulder also seeks comfort in a Christian church following the events of the episode "Conduit
Conduit (The X-Files)
"Conduit" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on October 1, 1993. It was written by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, directed by Daniel Sackheim, and featured a guest appearance by Carrie Snodgress as...
". Of course Mulder could conceivably be of a Jewish ethnic descent but a Christian background, perhaps through ancestral marriage or conversion. David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
suggested Mulder is Jewish when interviewed during production of the second season. In the episode "The Field Where I Died", Mulder went into a hypnotic trance and recalls a past life, where he is in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.
Mulder is almost never seen sleeping in a bed. The bedroom in his apartment (which appeared as late as the sixth season
The X-Files (season 6)
The sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox Broadcasting Network in the United States on November 8, 1998, concluding on the same channel on May 16, 1999, and contained 22 episodes. The series was developed by Chris Carter, who also serves as...
of the show's run) is apparently used for storage and is filled floor to ceiling with junk, including a couple of boxes of pornographic magazines
PORN
Porn is a common short form for pornography. It may also refer to:* Progressive outer retinal necrosis, a disease of the retina* PORN, a French industrial rock band...
. Instead, Mulder sleeps on his couch, often falling asleep to a blaring television. Mulder can seem to go through manic periods when worried or working on a case, contributing to or exacerbating his insomniac tendencies
Insomnia
Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
. Since "Dreamland II" where a 'man In Black' body-swaps with Mulder and takes over his life, Mulder gets his bedroom renovated and equipped with a waterbed. In "Monday" he finds himself soaked through when his waterbed (which he can't remember getting, it is implied he thinks it was a present from Scully) is leaking.
Relationships
| "He's a guy who should be working, and he's not working because he's tried to make this relationship with Scully work." |
| — David Duchovny David Duchovny David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:... in an interview talking about The X-Files: I Want to Believe The X-Files: I Want to Believe The X-Files: I Want to Believe is a 2008 science fiction-thriller directed by Chris Carter and written by both Carter and Frank Spotnitz. It is the second feature film based on The X-Files franchise created by Carter, following the 1998 film... . |
Mulder had a rather strained relationship with his parents Bill and Teena Mulder, not least thanks to the X-Files
X-file
On the television series The X-Files, an X-File is a fictional case that has been deemed unsolvable by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files constitute an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream that is more or less concerned with unexplained phenomena. -First X-Files:The very...
. Initially, he had no idea his father was involved in the conspiracy and Samantha
Samantha Mulder
Samantha Ann Mulder is a fictional character in the television series The X-Files. She is the sister of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder and the daughter of Teena and Bill Mulder. As a child, Samantha was abducted, ostensibly by aliens, and was never recovered...
's disappearance. Bill, who became disenchanted with the shadow government
Shadow government (conspiracy)
The term shadow government besides its party political meaning can also refer to what is sometimes called "the secret government" or "the invisible government" , an idea based on the notion that real and actual political power does not reside with publicly elected representatives but with private...
and his own role in the conspiracy, eventually approached Fox about his past deeds, but was shot and killed by Alex Krycek
Alex Krycek
Alex Krycek is a fictional character in the long-running American science fiction show, The X-Files portrayed by Nicholas Lea. Initially introduced in the second season as a partner for main character Fox Mulder in the absence of his previous partner, Dana Scully, Krycek grew to become one of the...
- working as an assassin for the Syndicate
Syndicate (The X-Files)
The Syndicate is a fictional "shadow government" group featured in The X-Files television show and feature film created by Chris Carter. They were also known as The Elders, The Consortium, and The Group...
- before he could reveal any great amount of information. Over the next few years, Mulder got into several conflicts with his mother while trying to discover the extent of her own knowledge of his father's precise involvement. Teena dies of an apparent suicide, when the stress of Samantha's abduction finally becomes too painful.
During the last years of his work on the X-Files, Mulder was even forced to doubt that Bill was his true father. He is led to consider the possibility that his mother had had an affair with the Smoking Man, a connection which may have resulted in the birth of either Samantha
Samantha Mulder
Samantha Ann Mulder is a fictional character in the television series The X-Files. She is the sister of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder and the daughter of Teena and Bill Mulder. As a child, Samantha was abducted, ostensibly by aliens, and was never recovered...
or Mulder himself. The possibility was hinted at later in the series, and Jeffrey Spender
Jeffrey Spender
FBI Special agent Jeffrey Frank Spender is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of alien existence. Spender was in control of the X-Files office after Fox Mulder's and Dana Scully's...
, who certainly was the Smoking Man's son, said that Mulder was his half-brother. In the ninth season
The X-Files (season 9)
The ninth season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 11, 2001, concluded on May 19, 2002, and consists of twenty episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season nine took place after Fox Mulder's leave after the...
, "William" explains that Spender and Mulder have very similar DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
, providing strong evidence that they do have the same father.
Mulder's closest friend was FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
partner
Special agent
Special agent is usually the title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government. An agent is a worker for any federal agency, and a secret agent is one who works for an intelligence agency....
Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
, who was assigned to "debunk [his] work" by the conspirators and the FBI brass. But against their intentions, her loyalties quickly became affixed to Mulder's quest and Mulder himself, a connection which seemed to pull Mulder's work out of obscurity, as Scully's scientific bent afforded them a certain amount of credibility. Their intense professional and personal relationship continued to strengthen through the years. While the relationship was platonic for the greater part of the series, there are clues that it developed into a romantic one by the last few seasons. Mulder and Scully almost always called each other by their surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
s - Mulder purportedly hated his first name, but Scully had no such aversion. At the end of season eight
The X-Files (season 8)
The eighth season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 5, 2000, concluded on May 20, 2001, and consisted of twenty-one episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season eight took place after Fox Mulder's alien...
, the romantic undertones were confirmed when the two shared a kiss. In the series finale
The Truth (The X-Files)
"The Truth" is the collective name for the 201st and 202nd, and final, episodes of the science fiction television series The X-Files. They first aired in the United States on May 19, 2002 on Fox in the United States and Canada. "The Truth" subsequently aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It...
, the very last scene depicted Mulder and Scully in bed together, contemplating what the future held.
Mulder's greatest nemesis was The Smoking Man, who, despite his obvious ill-intent, seemed to hold Mulder in special regard. Though he mocked Mulder to his face for his foolishness and the futility of his quest, in "Two Fathers
Two Fathers
"Two Fathers" is the 128th episode of the series, and the eleventh episode of the sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on February 7, 1999, on the Fox Network and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom on Sky1...
" he told his son Jeffrey Spender
Jeffrey Spender
FBI Special agent Jeffrey Frank Spender is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of alien existence. Spender was in control of the X-Files office after Fox Mulder's and Dana Scully's...
, "You pale to Fox Mulder." Mulder also developed an intense enmity for Alex Krycek
Alex Krycek
Alex Krycek is a fictional character in the long-running American science fiction show, The X-Files portrayed by Nicholas Lea. Initially introduced in the second season as a partner for main character Fox Mulder in the absence of his previous partner, Dana Scully, Krycek grew to become one of the...
, a double agent who briefly worked with Mulder in the FBI as an infiltrator
Infiltrator
Infiltrator is a 1986 video game published by U.S. Gold/Mindscape. It was developed for the Atari 8-bit family, Apple II, DOS, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System and ZX Spectrum by Chris Gray Enterprises....
, and who continued to serve as a recurring adversary, acting as an assassin for the Syndicate in the murders of Bill Mulder and Melissa Scully.
Appearance
Duchovny portrays Mulder as a series regular for the first seven seasons of the show. His involvement diminished in the seventh season, but he was still present in every episode. Due to filming the first feature film, Mulder's appearance in "Drive" (Season 6) was minimal. He leaves the show in "Requiem", where he is abducted. He appears in 11 episodes of season eight: "Within," "Without," "Per Manum," "This is Not Happening," "Deadalive," "Three Words," "Empidocles," "Vienen," "Alone," "Essence," and "Existence."Conceptual history
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
had worked in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
three years prior to The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
, at first he wanted to base his acting career
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
around films. But in 1993 his manager
Talent manager
A talent manager, also known as an artist manager or band manager, is an individual or company who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry...
, Melanie Green gave him a script of the "pilot episode" of The X-Files. Green and Duchovny were both convinced it was a good script, so Duchovny auditioned for the lead. When Duchovny was audition
Audition
An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performing artist.Audition may also refer to:* The sense of hearing* Adobe Audition, audio editing software...
ing for the part of Fox Mulder, he made a "terrific" audition, but talked rather slow. Chris Carter
Chris Carter (screenwriter)
Christopher Carl Carter is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is the creator of The X-Files and Millennium.- Ten Thirteen Productions :...
thought that he was a "good judge of character", and thought that Duchovny wasn't rather "bright". So he went and talked to Duchovny and asked him if he could "please" imagine himself as an FBI agent
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
for the "future" weeks. The casting director of the show, was very positive towards him. While according to Carter, Duchovny turned out to be one of the best-read people he knew. After getting the role, Duchovny thought the show wouldn't last for long or that it wouldn't make as much impact as it did.
Carter has said that he named Mulder after his mother's maiden name. His first name, Fox, was actually not a tribute to the Fox network which aired The X-Files, as often assumed. Carter said he had a childhood friend named Fox. When Duchovny got the script many of his characteristics were "fully formed". Executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz is an award-winning American television writer and producer, best known for his work on The X-Files television series.-Biography:...
called portraying actor Duchovny "amazingly smart". He further stated that Duchovny was behind some of the main characteristic ideas behind Mulder.
At the end of the seventh season
The X-Files (season 7)
The seventh season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 7, 1999, concluded on May 21, 2000, and consists of twenty-two episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season seven took place after the destruction of the...
Duchovny was fighting for a "better" contract with the Fox network, saying he wanted more money (while not saying how much) and a better scheduled work hour. After settling his contract dispute, portraying actor Duchovny quit full-time participation in the show after the seventh season
The X-Files (season 7)
The seventh season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 7, 1999, concluded on May 21, 2000, and consists of twenty-two episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season seven took place after the destruction of the...
. This contributed to uncertainties over the likelihood of an eighth season
The X-Files (season 8)
The eighth season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 5, 2000, concluded on May 20, 2001, and consisted of twenty-one episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season eight took place after Fox Mulder's alien...
. Carter and most fans felt the show was at its natural endpoint with Duchovny's departure, but it was decided Mulder would be abducted at the end of the seventh season, leaving things open for the actor's return in 12 episodes the following year. Duchovny's character Mulder was replaced by John Jay Doggett
John Doggett
FBI Special agent John Jay Doggett is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of alien existence...
(portrayed by Robert Patrick
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick, Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows....
). In season nine
The X-Files (season 9)
The ninth season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 11, 2001, concluded on May 19, 2002, and consists of twenty episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season nine took place after Fox Mulder's leave after the...
, Duchovny wasn't available for shooting, so he only appeared in three episodes with small cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s, the first being a archive footage only in "Trust No 1", a brief cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in "William", which he also directed and appeared full-time in the series finale
Series finale
A series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...
, "The Truth
The Truth (The X-Files)
"The Truth" is the collective name for the 201st and 202nd, and final, episodes of the science fiction television series The X-Files. They first aired in the United States on May 19, 2002 on Fox in the United States and Canada. "The Truth" subsequently aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It...
".
After the shows cancellation, Carter and Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz is an award-winning American television writer and producer, best known for his work on The X-Files television series.-Biography:...
started to talk about a movie sequel. Duchovny stated in an interview that very same year that it always had been a "desire" to come back to the franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
, saying it was a "natural" stage of development for the franchise to go to the cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. When talking about Mulder in The X-Files: I Want to Believe
The X-Files: I Want to Believe
The X-Files: I Want to Believe is a 2008 science fiction-thriller directed by Chris Carter and written by both Carter and Frank Spotnitz. It is the second feature film based on The X-Files franchise created by Carter, following the 1998 film...
, Duchovny said that he wanted to play him a "little different". He continued saying that Mulder had "lost every battle" saying he was "beaten down by life [...]. He’s the same guy, but he is older Mulder”.
Mulder had a brief cameo on The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen (TV series)
The Lone Gunmen is a television show created by Chris Carter and broadcast on FOX. It was a spin-off of Carter's popular long-running television series The X-Files and a part of The X-Files franchise, starring several of the show's characters. The Lone Gunmen was first broadcast in March 2001 and,...
, an X-Files spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
featuring the characters of the same name
The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen are a trio of fictional characters, Richard "Ringo" Langly, Melvin Frohike and John Fitzgerald Byers, who have recurring roles on the American television series The X-Files. They also starred in a short-lived spin-off, also called The Lone Gunmen. The name was derived from the lone...
. He appeared on the episode "All About Yves". In the Millennium
Millennium (TV series)
Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...
episode "Lamentation", The main character, Frank Black, visits the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and Mulder and Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
are briefly seen descending a stairway. In fact, they are Duchovny and Andersons' stand-in
Stand-in
A stand-in for film and television is a person who substitutes for the actor before filming, for technical purposes such as lighting.Stand-ins are helpful in the initial processes of production. Lighting setup can be a slow and tedious process; during this time the actor will often be somewhere else...
s.
Reception
Portraying actor David DuchovnyDavid Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
was nominated for two Emmy Awards in 1997 and 1998 in the category "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series", but lost. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
in 1995 in the category "Best Actor - Drama Series". Two years later he was again nominated for a Golden Globe in the same category and won, in 1997 and 1998 he was nominated in the same category but didn't win. Duchovny has been nominated five times in the category "Outstanding Actor - Drama Series" by the Screen Actors Guild awards
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
but didn't win once. Duchovny won a Satellite Award in the category "Best Actor - Drama Series" in 1997, and was nominated once again 1998.
Animated versions of Mulder appeared on The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
and Eek! the Cat
Eek! The Cat
Eek! The Cat is an American and Canadian animated series, created by Savage Steve Holland and Bill Kopp and produced by Fox Kids and Savage Studios with animation by Nelvana, that ran from September 11, 1992, to August 1, 1997.-Premise:Eek! the Cat is about a purple cat named Eek whose motto is...
(both series which have been featured in episodes of The X-Files), in the episodes "The Springfield Files
The Springfield Files
"The Springfield Files" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons eighth season, which originally aired January 12, 1997. The episode sees Homer believe he has discovered an alien in Springfield. It was written by Reid Harrison and directed by Steven Dean Moore...
" and "Eek Space-9", respectively. Both featured the voice acting of Duchovny. Duchovny appeared as Mulder on the sketch show Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
with Molly Shannon
Molly Shannon
Molly Helen Shannon is an American comic actress best known for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995–2001 and for starring in the films Superstar and Year of the Dog. More recently, she starred in NBC's Kath & Kim from 2008–2009 and on the TBS animated series Neighbors from...
as Scully, when he hosted an episode. Joining him was co-star Nicholas Lea
Nicholas Lea
Nicholas Lea is a Canadian actor best known for his portrayal of Alex Krycek on The X-Files and on Kyle XY playing Tom Foss.-Biography:...
, who would appear as Alex Krycek
Alex Krycek
Alex Krycek is a fictional character in the long-running American science fiction show, The X-Files portrayed by Nicholas Lea. Initially introduced in the second season as a partner for main character Fox Mulder in the absence of his previous partner, Dana Scully, Krycek grew to become one of the...
in a sketch that spoofed The X-Files.
New York Times writer Joyce Millman said that Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
character Special agent
Special agent
Special agent is usually the title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government. An agent is a worker for any federal agency, and a secret agent is one who works for an intelligence agency....
Dale Cooper
Dale Cooper
FBI Special agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper is a fictional character from the television series Twin Peaks, portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan. He is the lead protagonist of the series, and briefly appears in the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me....
could have been Mulder's "quirky [...] spiritual twin" if David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
hadn't appeared in the show earlier. When reviewing The X-Files: I Want to Believe
The X-Files: I Want to Believe
The X-Files: I Want to Believe is a 2008 science fiction-thriller directed by Chris Carter and written by both Carter and Frank Spotnitz. It is the second feature film based on The X-Files franchise created by Carter, following the 1998 film...
, reviewer Moira Macdonald said it was a "kick" watching Duchovny and Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
(portrayed Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
). Jesse Hassenger from PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
when reviewing season eight
The X-Files (season 8)
The eighth season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 5, 2000, concluded on May 20, 2001, and consisted of twenty-one episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season eight took place after Fox Mulder's alien...
, was throughout negative to the new season, claiming that Patrick was miss-cast and calling David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
's appearances as Mulder shallow. Critics and fans alike have praised Duchovny and Anderson's "on-screen chemistry" for years. Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
from Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
praised Duchovny for settling in his role so "quickly" and calling the character "an obsessive plodder". Robert Patrick
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick, Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows....
, the actor who replaced Duchovny as the male lead after the seventh season
The X-Files (season 7)
The seventh season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 7, 1999, concluded on May 21, 2000, and consists of twenty-two episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season seven took place after the destruction of the...
, commented that the chemistry Duchovny and Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
had could only happen "once in a lifetime".