Anyone watch "The X-Files"? Agent Mulder has Asperger's

Post Reply New Topic

"The X-Files" was a science fiction thriller series that ran on Fox in the 90's that focuses on two FBI agents investigating paranormal activity. Since learning I am on the spectrum I have spotted many fictional characters with undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome. One of them is the series protagonist, Fox Mulder, whose odd behavior causes his colleagues to refer to him as spooky.

Impaired social interaction
* He has very little facial expression and body language.
* He has no friends exept Scully and The Lone Gunmen, but he doesn’t usually socialize with them.
* He seems to lack in emotional reciprocity.
* He seems to have some difficulty understanding others.
* He has problems with authority.
* He doesn’t work well in groups.

Thinking, behaviour and routines
* He definitley is obsessed with the paranormal and almost his whole life is centered around that.
* In several episodes you can see him doing small ritual/routine-like actions.
* He seems to have a problem thinking of other ways of doing things and other reasons why things happen then what he is used to.
* He is a hoarder.
* He seems to have difficulty with organization.
* He has a photographic memory.
* He can focus on things he likes for long periods of time, but he has little patience for things he doesn’t like.

I think that's a distinct possibility, with the added comorbidity of paranoia.

I'm a big X-Phile but I honestly never picked up on that. These mannerisms make sense in regards to his character's history: through flashbacks and anecdotes, he was apparently a normal kid with normal interests (baseball, TV, etc.) until the trauma he endured by his sister's abduction, which fueled his lifelong obsession with the paranormal and finding out what happened to her. He was ostracized by his peers for his interests (hence the nickname "Spooky", for his beliefs in the supernatural) and even by his superiors, so of course he would become pretty much isolated; the Gunmen are the only (somewhat rational) people who believe his theories and Scully was merely assigned to him whether she liked it or not.

Outside of his work, he's presented as a pretty normal guy, even so much as a stereotypical American male who drinks beer and watches sports games on TV. He's shown sympathy and empathy towards a lot of victims and he most notably has a strong sense of humor and cracks a lot of jokes. Also, as far as "very little facial expression and body language", well...David Duchovny's not exactly the most dynamic of actors.

I can see how someone could come to that conclusion, but I think under closer scrutiny, it just doesn't hold up, at least in my humble opinion.

I just don't see it...I mean, at what point do the lines blur between being on the spectrum and being eccentric? Mulder is a traumatized loner on a one-man mission against the US government to find out what happened to his sister. All the traits described seem like something which would naturally fit that kind of character's personality and backstory. Like I said, he didn't go down that path until after his sister's abduction; for all we know, had she never been abducted, he could have become a normal joe working in a cubicle or running a sports bar.

I dunno, whenever you start a topic of discussion like "Does *fictional character* Have Asperger's?", you're going to get a lot of divided opinions, and I'm on the side that says "no" for this one.

It's not something that's delved too deeply into, but there's been enough flashbacks and mentions of Mulder's childhood throughout the series to indicate that he seemed pretty normal. 'The X-Files' Wikia is more detailed than my memory is, but it does say that he "pretty much led a normal life" up until his sister's abduction: http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Fox_Mulde ... nage_Years

Actually, looking through Scully's page, she almost seems like a more likely candidate. An actual quote from an episode: "Ever since I was a child, I’ve never allowed myself to get too close to people. I’ve avoided emotional attachment."

Was watching X-files, and yeah, he totally does have it. Trauma could not explain all of his symptoms, and the fact that he stated in the episode "Tooms" that he has always had his mother and father call him Mulder, even as a child would lead one to believe he was odd even then. He had other childhood eccentricities too that have been brought up, and one of the reasons he liked Samantha so much was that she "got" him, she could understand him.

I think both Mulder and Scully seem Aspie in different ways.

I think its more of David Duchovny himself that comes off as a bit autistic, although he would definitely be a more social one.

I'm not sure if mulder has aspergers. But i really love the show and i am very excited for the new episodes in January.

I didn't get the impression that Mulder had Asperger's. It seemed to me a more self-made isolation due to the abduction of his sister and his guilt over it; also, the episodes only showed you stuff around the cases, so you don't really get a picture of his social life.

It seems likely to me that he does have Asperger's. Does anyone watch Bones? I think she has Asperger's too.

Bones is always high on everyone's list of "fictional characters who must be aspies" that appear on every aspie website.

Scully is more aspie than Mulder, and the aspie (plus paranoid) traits of Mulder are due to the backstory (trauma, paranoid about the goverment really plotting against him, etc). At least thats what the casual occasional viewer gets out it.

If you're a dedicated watcher of every episode you might glean some subtle other stuff.