C.G.B. Spender and William Mulder worked in the State Department since as far back as the late 1940s-early 1950s; early in their careers they were involved in the group entrusted with research in the future alien menace, which allowed them to grow in the circles of intelligence and top-secret projects. C.G.B. married Cassandra and William married Tena. C.G.B. and Tena had a short-lived but passionate affair, which left Tena pregnant. The identity of the real father was hidden to William when the child, Fox, was born and brought up in the Mulder family. C.G.B. and Cassandra later became the parents of Jeffrey; William and Tena became the parents of Samantha.

C.G.B. was perhaps the instigator of the collaborative proposal that led to the creation of the Syndicate in 1973. To seal the deal with the aliens in 1973, C.G.B. surrendered his wife Cassandra. Bill would have surrendered Fox, but C.G.B. convinced him otherwise, probably revealing who the real father was; Bill gave up Samantha. Bill’s remorse over decades of experimentation on humans and moral discomfort with collaboration with the aliens led him to leave the Syndicate, not before launching one last project for resistance: research into a vaccine against the Black Oil. Since then, Bill groomed high hopes for his children (biological or ‘adoptive’): for Samantha, he hoped that she would survive colonization in the form of an alien/human hybrid (as herself or as a clone); for Fox, he hoped that he would grow to expose and thwart the plans of C.G.B., the Syndicate and the aliens. His later attitude towards his son was accordingly harsh, in order to stiffen him to fight the future. Samantha’s abduction led to the divorce of Tena and Bill.

Samantha was taken away from the Mulders to live with the Spenders; Cassandra and Samantha continued to be abducted and be experimented on. Eventually, in 1979, Samantha was ‘taken’ by the Walk-ins and thus departed from the physical plane, essentially dying; this disappearance was mysterious even for C.G.B., who came to believe she was dead.

Fox Mulder was born on October 13, 1961. The event that marked his life was being the only witness to the abduction of his sister Samantha by aliens when he was 12. Mulder went on to study psychology and entered the FBI in 1986; he was assigned to the violent crimes unit and was considered brilliant by his coworkers. It was not until 1989 that he stumbled in a case involving governmental conspiracies and mind control, a case where he also met the future Lone Gunmen, a trio of conspiracy ‘freaks’ who would become close allies to Mulder. After this, Mulder enlisted the help of Dr. Heitz Werber to recollect the memories of his sister’s abduction through regression hypnosis. Quickly enough, Mulder became obsessed with anything paranormal, conspiratorial and extraterrestrial, earning him the nickname “Spooky” in the FBI. A “believer”, though not inclined towards religion.

Only FBI Agent Diana Fowley stood by him; they developed a strong bond which evolved in a romantic relationship. In 1990 they discovered the X-Files, cases the FBI has deemed unsolved and that involved unexplained or supernatural phenomena, cases on which FBI Agent Arthur Dales had worked on in the 1950s. It is then that C.G.B. Spender became interested in Mulder’s case. He saw the X-Files as both a means through which believers could be discredited to the greater benefit of the Syndicate and illegal governmental deeds, but also as a means to prepare Mulder as a possible future heir of C.G.B.. In this rite of passage of sorts, Spender approached Fowley and took her under his influence. Spender, as a Treasury Department executive powerful in the FBI, allowed the X-Files to be opened in 1991; Mulder and Fowley were assigned to them whilst Fowley was secretly answering to Spender. In 1992, the Syndicate assigned Fowley to other tasks in Europe and Mulder was left a lone embarrassing element at an FBI basement office. Senator Richard Matheson was his only supporter during that time.

Dana Scully was born on February 23, 1964, daughter of William and Margaret. Her father was a Navy Captain and her upbringing was Roman Catholic; she had two brothers, William Jr and Charles, and a sister, Melissa. She did her undergraduate in physics and continued studying forensic medicine. Against her father’s wishes and not totally certain of her career choices, she entered the FBI in 1990. Scully developed a high sense of independence and strength as a woman evolving in a mostly male environment. She believed adamantly in science and its rigorous procedures to deduct conclusions. With science the only prism through which the world could be explained, she was a “skeptic” and wary of all things paranormal. This would clash with her underlying faith in God and would at times fill her with doubt throughout her life.

In 1992, under the orders of C.G.B. Spender, she was assigned to work with Mulder in the X-Files by Section Chief Scott Blevins. Her scientific and medical expertise was needed to assist (and perhaps discredit) Mulder’s un-scientific approach.

Despite conflicting world-visions, the Mulder-Scully partnership built on mutual respect on each other’s competences. Even though the cases were not always solved neatly and question marks remained, the success rate was high enough. Mulder was approached by a man only known as “Deep Throat”, a man who once worked for the Syndicate, a government executive attempting to provide Mulder with information so that the truth would somehow be exposed. Scully’s father died that year. The unsettling questions the X-Files raised around government and military cover-ups surrounding alien presence on Earth eventually resulted in the X-Files being shut down in 1994; in the same case Deep Throat was shot dead for his role as an informant.

Mulder and Scully were assigned to other FBI tasks but continued communicating and investigating paranormal cases. The Syndicate decided that more extreme measures would have to be taken to silence them. Mulder was partnered with Alex Krycek, who was working undercover for the Syndicate. In a case involving Duane Barry, allegedly an alien abductee, Scully was abducted. She underwent many tests and experiments; her genome was soiled by alien DNA in hybridization experiments; her ova was taken, leaving her barren; she was implanted with both man-made and alien chips. She was returned four months later. FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner, in an uneasy position balanced between his sense of duty and his orders from C.G.B. Spender, re-opened the X-Files. Skinner would become an uncomfortable ally torn between blackmailing and what felt morally right.

Mulder and Scully’s mutual trust grew as they discovered a governmental conspiracy involved with alien beings, spreading in ever more unexpected directions. Scully’s disbelief in all things alien did not prevent her from having her initial faith in the government shaken. The two agents’ quest for the truth became deeply personal when Bill Mulder was murdered by Krycek as he was about to reveal the truth of his involvement in the conspiracy to his son, and Scully’s sister Melissa was murdered in her stead; Mulder came close to dying but was healed with the help of Navajo Albert Hosteen. The existence of the Syndicate became evident, even though its goals were still unknown or ill-defined. C.G.B. Spender, nicknamed “Cigarette-Smoking Man” (CSM), became the agents’ nemesis. They often crossed paths with Krycek, on whom they and Skinner had reasons to seek revenge. The no-nonsense Syndicate henchman nicknamed “X” replaced Deep Throat, and after his death UN executive Marita Covarubias became Mulder’s occasional informant.

Mulder came across various clones of his sister with the constant hope that he would find the original one; these hopes were often fuelled by others in an attempt to manipulate him towards their own goals. Mulder became victim of tests involving the Black Oil in Russia. Scully progressively learnt the truth behind her abduction experience and after she took off her implant she developed a terminal cancer. The CSM allowed Mulder to get the cure for Scully in an attempt to pull him on his side in the Syndicate, his plan for the last 6 years. Mulder refused and the CSM was shot for not complying with the Syndicate’s majority agenda.

Scully and Mulder’s beliefs were deeply shaken and oftentimes they were at a loss. A case of an alien body hoax involving the manipulation of the X-Files, as revealed by Department of Defense employee Michael Kritschgau, led Mulder to lose all his beliefs on the alien presence for a time.

Scully discovered her ova had been used to create children in a hybridization experiment; she attempted to adopt one of those children, Emily, but Emily died as a result of Scully’s tampering. New elements that would destabilize the Syndicate appeared in 1998 with the faceless Rebels burning abductees. The agents met Jeffrey Spender, who had also become an FBI agent. With a case that might have finally turned conclusive evidence of the existence of aliens, mind-reader boy Gibson Praise, Mulder and Scully attracted the attention of the Justice Department; the case turned bad, the X-Files were shut down and the X-Files office was burnt to the ground by the CSM, freshly returned from exile.

Mulder and Scully’s coincidental involvement with a Syndicate cover-up in Texas brought them to the full realization of the Syndicate’s plans for colonization. Mulder saved Scully from a Black Oil infection, which cost the Syndicate member “Well-Manicured Man” his life. These circumstances led to the re-opening of the X-Files. However, the CSM turned his attention to Jeffrey this time, going through the same procedure as with Mulder: scheming to put him on the X-Files and bringing back Fowley from Europe to assign her with him and train him to learn the truth and join the CSM’s side. Jeffrey did not prove as ‘worthy’ as Mulder as a believer and seeker of the truth in the eyes of the CSM. When the Syndicate elders were burnt by the Rebels in 1999, the CSM’s life’s work was destroyed; in the aftermath he shot his own son Jeffrey.

Mulder and Scully were reassigned to the X-Files. After all these years of deep appreciation and mutual understanding, the two agents grew ever more closer. Mulder’s remnant Black Oil turned him into an alien/hybrid when an alien Ship surfaced in Africa; the CSM used this as an opportunity to transfer these hybrid properties from Mulder to him; after the operation, Diana Fowley was murdered, Mulder recovered but the CSM became terminally ill. All these years in the X-Files and Scully’s examination of the Ship made her put her non-believer stance into question. As she progressively got more open, Mulder’s quest for his sister came to a closure with his discovery of her true fate with the Walk-ins and with his mother’s death he became an orphan. Mulder and Scully ended up resolving the underlying tension between them and consummated their relationship. A last attempt of the CSM to resurrect the Syndicate in 2000 ended up having him murdered by Krycek and having Mulder abducted by the Colonists, who were still actively pursuing preparations for colonization. Scully was left alone, and pregnant.

Agent John Jay Doggett was assigned to the X-Files with the expressed aim to find the missing Mulder. His respect and chivalric protection of Scully eventually won him her trust. Mulder, along with a series of abductees that were undergoing conversion into Supersoldiers, was returned months later and, considered dead, was buried. Three months later he was discovered alive; a series of coincidences ended up saving Mulder from alien replication. In the meanwhile, Scully had developed real doubts as to the possible alien nature of her baby. The delivery, assisted by Monica Reyes, FBI agent and a friend of Doggett, was very stressful and witnessed by many Supersoldiers. Skinner finally got revenge on Krycek by killing him.

Mulder and Scully were allowed a short reunion with their newborn son William before Mulder was forced into hiding by the Supersoldier conspiracy that sought to kill him. Scully became a medical instructor and only did consulting with the X-Files, which were now manned by Doggett and Reyes.

Scully learnt that William’s emerging supernatural abilities were due to a project to progressively turn human babies into Supersoldiers. She also learnt that her ability to procreate had been given to her by the alien Ship in Africa, and that her son was a prophecized leader for the alien Colonists — unless Mulder survived and guided him to be a leader of resistance. Jeffrey Spender, who had survived all this time, gave William an injection which prevented him from becoming a Supersoldier; this, however, did not revoke the prophecy and Scully resolved to give William up for adoption in order to protect his identity and location.

Mulder resurfaced when tried for an alleged murder; he was condemned to death by a staged military jury and was helped to escape by his friends. Mulder and Scully had a last meeting with the CSM, who had survived in hiding; the Supersoldier conspiracy, fully in power in the Syndicate’s stead, finally killed the CSM and continued chasing Mulder and Scully. Doggett and Reyes were faced with the closure of the X-Files; Skinner and FBI Deputy Director Alvin Kersh were faced with reprimand for their support of Mulder. The Mulder and Scully couple became fugitives.

Scully, now a doctor in a Catholic hospital, and Mulder, still on the lookout for anything paranormal, are a couple very much in love however tortured by inner and outside demons and have settled in a house in rural Virginia.