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Fox "Spooky" Mulder (b. Oct. 13, 1961) is a fictional character played by David Duchovny on the 1993-2002 television series the The X-Files. FBI Special Agent Mulder believes in UFOs and a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of their existence.
Mulder studied Psychology at Oxford University, graduating summa cum laude in 1982. From there he went on to the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia graduating with honors in 1984. Initially assigned to the Behavorial Sciences Unit, that section of the Violent Crimes Unit which focuses on serial killers, Mulder gained fame within the FBI for his 1990 psychological profile of Monty Props, which led to that killer's capture.
In 1991, however, Mulder gave up what seemed to be a rapidly rising career in Behavorial Sciences to examine the X-Files - cases that had been declared unsolved due to mysterious or unexplainable evidence or circumstances. His dedication to these cases earned him the derisive nickname "Spooky" and a basement office with no windows - which he has decorated with a flying saucer poster proclaiming "I Want to Believe".
Mulder's obsession with extraterrestrials began as a result of the alien abduction of his sister Samantha Mulder when Mulder was 12. He pursues his cases with reckless abandon for the law, often finding himself suspended or under investigation for disorderly conduct in his quest for "The Truth."
Under the influence of agents of the government conspiracy, the FBI became suspicious of his activities and paired him with a medical doctor, Special Agent Dana Scully, to gain his trust and report on his activities. Scully quickly determined that Mulder does not match the profile given to her by her superiors, and became his ally. A hard-bitten skeptic, Scully slowly became convinced of the truth of "the Conspiracy" only after working with Mulder for several years. When Mulder was duped by the Conspiracy into doubting its existence, Scully continued to work against its goals while trying to convince Mulder that he was playing into their hands.
For most of their association, Mulder and Scully had an emotionally intimate but platonic relationship (apart from some verbal flirting). Even after working side by side for years, they for the most part addressed each other by their surnames. The two became romantically involved in the final seasons of the series, an unbreakable relationship based on absolute trust, intimate understanding and mutual respect, although it is unclear if the relationship ever got physical.
Mulder is also assisted in his investigations by numerous characters from the fringes of society, including a trio of conspiracy theorists who publish the tabloid newspaper, The Lone Gunman. These three oddball characters have become known as "The Lone Gunmen".
Throughout the series, Mulder is antagonized by characters such as the Cigarette Smoking Man and the Well-Manicured Man, both of whom are important figures within the conspiracy whose real names are unknown even to their close associates.
Mulder (only his parents and sister call him Fox) is mildly pyrophobic, has red-green color blindness and a semi-secret pornography collection. He rarely, if ever, dates, has a distant relationship with his parents, and apparently has no close friends. His favorite snack is sunflower seeds and he's a basketball fan and player. His favorite NBA team seems to be the New York Knicks. He also follows baseball closely; in the episode The Unnatural (6x19), he gained the confidence of a potential source by correctly giving the number of home runs that Mickey Mantle hit from each side of the plate in his career. For most of the series, the bedroom in his apartment was used solely for storage and he slept on the couch.
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