Hybrids, meaning alien/human hybrids, are abundant in the mythology of the X-Files. They are the result of the mixing of genetic material of humans and aliens, or in a sense humans and the gods, destined to populate the world after these gods return. Following the Cold War-era science fiction worried with the dangers of nuclear holocaust, the X-Files chose to focus on an other technological tool that can be used for both good and, in the case of dytopic scifi, for bad: the emerging field of biotechnologies and genetics. Cronenberg’s “The Fly” (1986) and Otomo’s “Akira” (1988) memorably illustrated the metamorphosis of the human organism and Crichton/Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” (1993) popularised genetic engineering and its potential drifts. Mixing the above with themes inherited from Nazism and racialism on the purity of the species, the X-Files would come to develop heavily the theme of genetics and the merging of the human with something in-human, featuring a host of hybrid variations and culminating in a miracle offspring of human and alien blood.

As the series progressed and its mythology wrapped many storylines in a single one, the existence of a single alien race was established, a race out of which all the hybrids were developed: Purity. The alien ascent of the human race was also established, making the theological themes of the series as a search for God more explicit. In a mythological sense, we are the children of the gods, striving through hybridization to improve the limits of our human bodies and come closer to the perfection of the gods. In the following pages we will explore all the instances when hybrid beings appeared, in a roughly chronological order within the series’ mythology.

Recommended reading: Anne Simon’s “Monsters, Mutants and Missing Links: The Real Science behind the X-Files“. Anne Simon, an acquaintance of Chris Carter’s, is a virologist and was XF’s scientific advisor for seasons 1-6.

On the menu:

Page 1 : Children of Purity
– Shapeshifters
– Humans

Page 2 : First human efforts
– Human cloning (Eves)
– The xenotransplants
– Pre-1973 hybridization attempts (The Merchandise)

Page 3 : Cloned hybrids
– 1973: The Method, the fetus
– Unsuccessful (Samanthas, Gregors, Kurts)
– Successful (Jeremiah Smiths)

Page 4 : Gene therapy hybrids
– The abductees (Dana Scully, MUFON women)
– Delta Glen
– Bellefleur
– Dr. Berube’s efforts (Zeus Storage)
– Dr. Ishimaru’s efforts (Perkey center)
– The anemic babies (Emily Sim)
– First successful hybrid (Cassandra Spender)

Page 5 : Supersoldiers
– The first wave (Rohrer, McMahon, Toothpick Man)
– The second wave (Billy Miles)
– The chloramine babies

Page 6 : Special cases
– The Huichol
– The chimeras
– Gibson Praise
– Fox Mulder
– William