Before I begin, I have to say that I have no idea who, if anyone, will read this. As such, I'm unsure what levels of "spoilers" I should use. The X-Files is hardly "Lost", where even the slightest spoilers will ruin the series, but if anyone reading feels I'm being too revealing or too guarded please comment, and I'll adjust my writing style as appropriate.
Now, Fox William Mulder.
Role in show: Mulder is the star. Mulder is the obsessed alien-seeker who managed to draw a show like this out for 9 seasons and two (godawful) movies. Without the character of Mulder, the X-Files would have been two hours in a basement, with a smoking man occasionally coming in and burning files at will. Mulder's disappearance during the 9th season is the reason that a show already running out of ideas finally passed away.
Family: Let's start with Mulder's father, William. William Mulder's exact job description was never (to my knowledge) revealed in detail, although it was revealed that he had previously worked in helping hunt Communists during the McCarthy era, although during Mulder's childhood he held a shady government position, deeply involved in an incarnation of the "Syndicate" a group who had the task of somehow ensuring the human race survived a planned alien invasion, no matter what the cost. The role of Mulder's father isn't discussed too much in the show, but I think William's government job is the main reason Mulder, who seems to rebel against order, rules and the government in general at every turn pursued a career with the FBI. Next is Mulder's mother. There is really not much to say about Teena Mulder. Although she seems well adjusted enough, she really has no noticeable impact upon her son throughout the series until her death. The family member who clearly had the most impact upon Mulder was his sister, Samantha. At a young age, Samantha was taken from the family home with only her brother present. How is not completely clear, but Mulder was convinced via hypnotherapy that aliens abducted her. This is compounded on when it is revealed that Samantha was taken as part of an agreement between the Syndicate and the aliens, the aliens taking one family member of each member of the Syndicate. The desire to find Samantha is the main reason Mulder was drawn to the X-Files, as opposed to the violent crimes unit, where his profiling skill was put to use. He shows signs of guilt quite often in cases involving disappearing children, going a little too far in interrogations and investigations, out of a sense of self-hatred for having been left behind and being helpless to help his sister.
Pre-1994 Life: Mulder attended Oxford University, graduating and entering the FBI as a criminal profiler, at which he apparently was very skilled. A theme of Mulder's character is that he is often told that he had so much potential, especially during the first season or so, to emphasize the fact that he is working on the X-Files out of his own passion for them, as opposed to a punishment or due to his lack of ability as an agent.
Personality: I'll try to pick out some of the most interesting parts of Mulder's personality, or we'll be here for a little longer than I want to be.
Let's start with the quite obvious porn addiction. Scully quite often jabs at Mulder about his extensive familiarity with erotic media, the best example being a throwaway line in the season 3 episode "D.O.P" over an edition of Playboy. Another example is in the season 5 "Dreamland" episodes, in which Mulder swaps lives with a self-proclaimed "Man in Black" working at Area 51. The MiB, Fletcher, checks Mulder's answering machine in the hopes of finding out he has a girlfriend, having his hopes raised by a somewhat suggestive message, only to find out it was an ad for a phone-sex business. Dreamland is a great example of how the X-Files manages to combine their somewhat lighter topics with great character development. Mulder's porn addiction is clearly connected with his lack of passion for anything outside of the X-Files, with Mulder deeming ordinary cases as important as murders "time-wasters" or "punishments", such as the season 2 episode "The Host", where Mulder is outraged he is being forced to investigate an apparent gang hit. Mulder doesn't want anything that will distract him from the X-Files, and porn is the least investment he can have to get off.
Next, there is the willingness to believe. A major flaw in Mulder's character as I see it is his unwillingness to trust people, but the second someone mentions aliens, they can do no wrong. In one episode, season 1's "E.B.E", Deep Throat (I'll get to him in another post, hopefully) gives Mulder a doctored photo, knowing he will believe almost without question. This willingness is short of gullibility, such as when compared to Monica Reyes and his distrust of the government and authority is short of outright paranoia when compared to The Lone Gunmen, but both show a definite division of character, torn between his intelligence and logic and his desperation to believe. "I Want To Believe" is even a motto of the show, alongside "Trust No One", again sending two different messages.
The last personality trait I'll look at is the lack of self-preservation. Mulder doesn't look after himself. He will give up everything for his beliefs, including his sleep, health and life. Although Mulder never actively expects others to do the same, he seems to almost hold them to a similar level unconsciously. Take, for example, the Season 3 episode where Mulder starts telling Skinner (I'll definitely get to him in a later post) how he and Scully are willing to live outside the law and with their lives constantly in danger before Scully tells him she has a problem with this. Mulder doesn't simply expect people to have the same priorities as him, he just seems to get lost in possibilities, needing to be dragged back down to reality, this being exactly where Scully comes in.
Motives:
Throughout the show, Mulder has three clear motives:
1. Find the truth:
"The Truth" begins with Samantha, but expands to include aliens, abductions and essentially encapsulates the entire content of the FBI's X-Files.
2. Protect Scully and her family:
This emerges through seasons 7 & 8, with Mulder attempting to save Scully from "supersoldiers". I think I'll leave that as is, so as not to give too much away.
3. Survive:
Although this is probably the only motive for many characters, it only becomes one of Mulder's most driving motives during the final season, when he disappears so as to protect himself from assassins, but also to find the truth.
Overall, Mulder is a driven character, unable to quite understand other people. His main passion is the facts, even though they might be harmful or damaging to his person.
I would adore some feedback on this series, just to give me an idea of what, if anything, readers want.
Also, I know I said tomorrow. I thought this would take longer to compile. Apparently it didn't.
H. Rourke
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