The X-Files is a
Peabody,
Golden Globe and
Emmy Award-winning American
science fiction television series created by
Chris Carter, which first aired on September 10, 1993, and ended on May 19, 2002. The show was a hit for the
Fox Broadcasting Company network, and its main characters and slogans (e.g., "The Truth Is Out There", "Trust No One", "I Want to Believe") became
pop culture touchstones.
The X-Files is seen as a defining series of the 1990s, coinciding with the era's widespread mistrust of
governments, interest in
conspiracy theories and
spirituality, and the belief in the existence of
extraterrestrial life.
The series has also spawned two theatrical movies (
Fight The Future,
I Want To Believe), and a spin-off series (
The Lone Gunmen).
In the series,
FBI agents Fox Mulder (
David Duchovny) and
Dana Scully (
Gillian Anderson) are tasked with investigating the "X-Files": marginalized, unsolved cases involving
paranormal phenomena. Mulder plays the role of the "
believer", having faith in the existence of
aliens and the paranormal, while Scully is a
skeptic, initially assigned by her departmental superiors to
debunk Mulder's unconventional work. As the show progressed, both agents were caught up in a larger conflict, termed "the mythology" or "
mytharc" by the show's creators, and developed a close relationship which was often seen as romantic rather than
platonic.
