Fox Mulder

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Fox Mulder
David Duchovny as Fox Mulder
First appearance "Pilot"
Last appearance I Want to Believe
Portrayed by David Duchovny
Occupation FBI Special Agent
Family Bill Mulder (legal father, deceased)
Teena Mulder (mother, deceased)
C.G.B. Spender (biological father, deceased)
Samantha Mulder (half-sister, deceased)
Jeffrey Spender (half-brother)
William Scully (son)[1]
Significant other(s) Dana Scully (partner/lover)
Birth name Fox William Mulder
Date of birth October 13, 1961
Chilmark, Massachusetts, U.S.
Affiliated with The Lone Gunmen
The X-Files
Dana Scully

FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character in the Fox science fiction television series The X-Files, played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers consider his (often correct) theories on extraterrestrial activity as spooky and far-fetched. He also has a photographic memory and is red/green colorblind.[2] 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. Mulder was a main character for the first seven seasons, but was limited to a recurring character for the last two seasons.


Character arc[edit]

The mysterious disappearance of Mulder's sister and his ensuing search for her became the consuming drive of his life.[3] In 1982, Mulder graduated with first class honours from University of Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. He then graduated with honors from the Quantico FBI Training Academy in 1984.[4] Mulder joined the FBI on October 24, 1984.[5] 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 testy relationship.[6]

In 1988, the FBI assigned Mulder to the Violent Crimes Unit.[4] 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.[7] In 1991, Mulder re-opened the X-Files with Special Agent Diana Fowley, but Fowley left shortly thereafter.[8] Mulder investigated the X-Files by himself until March 1992, when Dana Scully, an instructor at the FBI Academy's Forensic Science Research and Training Center, was partnered with him for the purpose of applying scientific reasoning to Mulder's work and theories.[7]



Mulder was also abducted by the aliens himself in 2000, and returned to Earth, almost dead, a few months later.[12] He had been infected by an alien virus (for the second time), but Scully found a way to rescue him.[13] 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,[14] but was eventually fired for failure to follow orders not to investigate any X-Files.[15] After Scully gave birth to William, Mulder went into hiding in New Mexico after Kersh said his life was in danger.[16]



David Duchovny talking about his character.[19]

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.[7] 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.[11] 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.[20] 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 offense; the suspect also guesses Mulder's ethnicity is Jewish based on his last name.[21] Despite this, in the episode "Kaddish", Mulder is unable to identify a Talmudic book, states that he does not know Hebrew, and quips that Jesus returned from the dead.[22] Also, Mulder, as his father before him,[23] had a Christian burial presided over by a Protestant minister following his apparent "death" in the episode "Deadalive".[13] This suggests he hails from a Protestant background, as Scully hails from a Catholic background.[24] Mulder also seeks comfort in a Christian church following the events of the episode "Conduit".[25] 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.[26] 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.[3] 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.[27] 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.[3] 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.[28]


David Duchovny in an interview talking about The X-Files: I Want to Believe.[29]

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.[30] 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.[31]


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.[7] 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.[16] Mulder and Scully almost always called each other by their surnames — Mulder purportedly hated his first name, but Scully had no such aversion.[27] At the end of season seven, the romantic undertones were confirmed when the two shared a kiss.[16] In the series finale, the very last scene depicted Mulder and Scully in bed together, contemplating what the future held.[17]




Conceptual history[edit]

Duchovny portrayed Mulder, the main character in the first seven seasons of the series, and a recurring character in the last two.







Duchovny was nominated for two Emmy Awards in 1997 and 1998 in the category "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series", but lost.[47] 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.[48] Duchovny has been nominated five times in the category "Outstanding Actor - Drama Series" by the Screen Actors Guild awards but didn't win once.[49][50][51][52][53] Duchovny won a Satellite Award in the category "Best Actor - Drama Series" in 1997,[54] and was nominated once again 1998.[55]





  1. ^ "Inside The X: 9x19 Transcript". Inside The X. May 19, 2002. Retrieved July 14, 2009. 
  2. ^
  3. ^ a b c Kim Manners & Michael Watkins. "Dreamland". The X-Files. Season 6. Episode 4 & 5. Fox.
  4. ^ a b "Kill Switch". The X-Files. Season 5. Episode 11. Fox.
  5. ^ Kim Manners. "Unusual Suspects". The X-Files. Season 5. Episode 3. Fox.
  6. ^ Kim Manners. "Grotesque". The X-Files. Season 3. Episode 14. Fox.
  7. ^ a b c d e Robert Mandel. "Pilot". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 1. Fox.
  8. ^ R. W. Goodwin. "The End". The X-Files. Season 5. Episode 20. Fox.
  9. ^ R. W. Goodwin. "Gethsemane". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 24. Fox.
  10. ^ R. W. Goodwin & Kim Manners. "Redux". The X-Files. Season 5. Episode 1 & 2. Fox.
  11. ^ a b Kim Manners. "Closure". The X-Files. Season 7. Episode 11. Fox.
  13. ^ a b Tony Wharmby. "Deadalive". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 15. Fox.
  14. ^ Tony Wharmby. "Three Words". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 16. Fox.
  15. ^ Rod Hardy. "Vienen". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 17. Fox.
  16. ^ a b c Kim Manners. "Existence". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 21. Fox.
  17. ^ a b Kim Manners. "The Truth". The X-Files. Season 9. Episode 19 & 20. Fox.
  18. ^ Chris Carter. "I Want to Believe". The X-Files. Episode 2. Fox.
  20. ^ Kim Manners. "Emily". The X-Files. Season 5. Episode 7. Fox.
  21. ^ Rob Bowman. "Drive". The X-Files. Season 6. Episode 2. Fox.
  22. ^ Kim Manners. "Kaddish". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 15. Fox.
  23. ^ a b R.W. Goodwin. "The Blessing Way". The X-Files. Season 3. Episode 1. Fox.
  24. ^ Michael Lange. "Miracle Man". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 18. Fox.
  25. ^ Daniel Sackheim. "Conduit". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 4. Fox.
  27. ^ a b David Nutter. "Tooms". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 21. Fox.
  28. ^ Kim Manners. "Monday". The X-Files. Season 6. Episode 14. Fox.
  30. ^ a b R.W. Goodwin. "Anasazi". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 25. Fox.
  31. ^ R.W. Goodwin. "Sein Und Zeit". The X-Files. Season 7. Episode 10. Fox.
  32. ^ R.W. Goodwin. "Talitha Cumi". The X-Files. Season 3. Episode 24. Fox.
  33. ^ David Duchovny. "William". The X-Files. Season 9. Episode 16. Fox.
  34. ^ a b Kim Manners. "Two Fathers". The X-Files. Season 6. Episode 11. Fox.
  35. ^ Rob Bowman. "Sleepless". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 4. Fox.
  36. ^ a b c "Inside the actor's studio - David Duchovny (part 1)". Youtube. Retrieved July 12, 2009. 
  40. ^ Germain, David (April 28, 2000). "Scully, Mulder go Hollywood in Duchovny's `X-Files' tale". The Associated Press. Retrieved July 9, 2009. 
  46. ^ Winrich Kolbe. "Lamentation". Millennium. Season 1. Episode 18. Fox.
  50. ^ "3rd Annual SAG Awards Nominees". Screen Actors Guild Award. Retrieved July 10, 2009. [dead link]
  54. ^ "1st Annual SATELLITE Awards (1997)". International Press Academy Satellite Award. Retrieved July 10, 2009. 
  55. ^ "2nd Annual SATELLITE Awards (1998)". International Press Academy Satellite Award. Retrieved October 23, 2011. 
  60. ^ "Duchovny's droll appeal". BBC. May 18, 2001. Retrieved 9 July 2009. 

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