Remember The Original X-Files? Test Your Knowledge!
- by D_Faraci
- – on
- in Movies and TV
In the lexicon of TV history, few shows stand out as both genre-defining and game-changing, but Chris Carter's creation hits both marks with ease.
The X-Files wasn't supposed to become a cultural phenomenon. The show, focused on two FBI agents as they traveled around the United States investigating all things weird, premiered on September 10, 1993 - a Friday night. While quite a lot of things have changed in the 24 years since the show first aired, one thing that has remained the same is that people don't watch TV on Friday nights.
Still, The X-Files found an audience. And that audience grew. The show was moved to Sunday nights and the ratings exploded. Four years into the series, The X-Files became a massive hit. Actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson became sex symbols. Other networks took notice of the show. One thing networks picked up on was that the show spent a lot of time showing gross stuff, mostly through the autopsy work of Scully. These days, you can't find a police procedural that doesn't have lots of autopsy work. CSI and Bones are two of the many shows that wouldn't exist without The X-Files.
After a fifteen year break, The X-Files returned to TV with six new episodes that garnered some of the best ratings the show ever had - and if you're taking this quiz, chances are you watched it. But how well do you know The X-Files?
What is Mulder's nickanme?
In the basement of FBI headquarters, way in the back, sits a little room with a tall man. One of the best profilers the agency had ever seen, but his rebellious nature and his belife in the paranormal really put a damper on what could have been a promising career. Mulder's interests in aliens, ghosts, and other things that you usually find in a John Carpenter movie made him something of a joke to his co-workers. What nickname did Mulder's fellow agents give him?
What was Scully's nickname?
Scully picked up her nickname well before she became an FBI agent. As a child, her favorite book, weirdly, was Moby Dick. Chances are, Scully liked the book because it brought her closer to her father, a navy captain who himself had a love of all things oceanic. Scully and her dad had a close relationship, and Moby-Dick brought them closer. They even had nicknames for each other taken from the book. Scully called her dad "Ahab". What did he call her?
Which of these two things were hobbies of Mulder?
Fox Mulder never had much of a personal life. While his apartment had a bedroom, he slept on the couch each night with the TV on. He didn't like taking vacations, and he never showed much interest in things that weren't related to aliens, monsters, or other paranormal strangeness. Still, as the series went on, we did learn about a few of the things Mulder liked to do in his free time. Which of the two things listed does Mulder enjoy?
What was Mulder watching when his sister was abducted?
All of Mulder's obsessions come from one pivotal moment in his life - the night he was babysitting his younger sister and she was abducted. Throughout the series, the question of who... or what... took Mulder's sister was the major arc. While Mulder believed it was aliens that abducted the girl, sometimes he found that he couldn't trust his memory on the events of that horrifying night. One thing Mulder does remember perfectly is what he was watching on TV the night his sister vanished. What was it?
Where did Mulder and Scully travel to on their first case?
While there was clear respect between agents Mulder and Scully from the start, there was also a fair amount of unease. Scully didn't jive with the paranormal, and Mulder knew she was there to report his actions back to their superiors. Still, the two quickly learned to work together, thanks in part to their shared sense of humor. On their first case together, the duo headed off to investigate what appears to be a series of alien abductions in a small rural town. Where is the town located?
According to Clyde Bruckman, how will Mulder die?
Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose is considered by many X-Files fans as the best episode of the series, and with good reason - the episode is weird, funny, and filled with both heart and tension. In the episode, iconic actor Peter Boyle played Clyde Bruckman, a psychic who Mulder and Scully enlist to help catch a serial killer. In one great moment, as the trio drive to the scene of a murder, Clyde Bruckman seemingly reveals to Mulder how he will die. What is it the cause of death that Clyde mentions to Mulder?
What classic villain is introduced in the episode Squeeze?
Outside of the government goons and alien bounty hunters, The X-Files didn't have many recurring villains, but one of them squeezed his way into fans' hearts early into the series, making two appearances in the first season. This character, who had the ability to stretch his body and reshape it to fit into small spaces wasn't just creepy, he was downright terrifying, and when he came after Scully, every fan of the show got very nervous. What was this man's name?
What is the name of the agent who becomes Mulder's partner in the second season?
In the second season of X-Files, the powers that be decide that Mulder and Scully are too good together, creating a threat to the status quo, and so they split the duo up. While Scully heads off to Quantico, Mulder continues to look into the weird cases, gaining a new partner along the way. This new partner ends up being one of the great villains of the series. As an agent for the Cigarette Smoking Man, this character is almost like the evil version of Mulder. What was his name?
What is Assistant Director Skinner's first name?
The X-Files isn't known for its action scenes, but it did have a few great fights and chases over the years. One person who quickly became known for his hard as nails attitude and willingness to get into fistfights with anyone who miffed him, even Mulder, was Assistant Director Skinner. As their boss, Skinner found himself constantly caught in the middle of following the orders of his own superiors and making sure Mulder and Scully had the tools needed to find the truth. What is Assistant Director Skinner's first name?
How did Mulder let Deep Throat know he needed to talk to him?
The best way to learn the truth is to know someone on the inside, and for Mulder that someone was the man with the rather unimaginative code name "Deep Throat". Deep Throat would sometimes point Mulder in the direction of a case, but just as often he would tell Mulder to leave a mystery alone. His knowledge of the truth, and just how much of that truth he was willing to share, constantly annoyed our favorite FBI agents. When Mulder needed to speak to Deep Throat, he would set up a signal. What was that signal?
What brand of cigarettes did the Cigarette Smoking Man smoke?
Easily one of the greatest villains in all of television history, the Cigarette Smoking Man was originally going to play a much smaller part in the show, but his look was just too perfect. Over the years, Cigarette Smoking Man did his best to keep Mulder away from the truth, but from time to time, there was a sense that he was actually rooting for Mulder to win. As the show went on, we learned about the Cigarette Smoking Man's past, including when he started smoking. What brand of cigarettes did the Cigarette Smoking Man smoke?
What is Mulder's sister's name?
The driving force behind everything Mulder does is his guilt over the disappearance of his sister. Mulder was watching her the night she was taken, and just before the tragic events of the evening happened, the two had argued over what to watch on TV. His sister's abduction not only fed into Mulder's belief in aliens, but in his need to better understand people, making him one of the best profilers the FBI had ever seen. What is Mulder's sister's name?
What was Scully's sister's name?
While Mulder only had one sibling, Scully grew up with two brothers and a sister. Their Irish Catholic childhoods were happy, but as the Scully kids grew up, they all became very different people. For example, while Scully is a skeptic and prefers science over faith, her sister was way into new age mysticism. Still, the two sisters got along well. Sadly, Scully lost her sister when two government assassins shot her thinking that it was Dana they were killing. What was Scully's sister's name?
Which of the Lone Gunmen had a crush on Scully?
Every now and then when Mulder needed some hard to find information he would call on the conspiracy-obsessed counterculture patriots called the Lone Gunmen. These three men each had a specialty and background that, when brought together, created a single mind that knew more, and believed in weirder things, than Mulder did or ever could. The Lone Gunmen were such fan favorites that they got their own short-lived spin-off series. One of these three men had a not so secret crush on Scully. Who was it?
Who claimed to be able to speak to Scully's dead father?
While working on a case, Mulder and Scully meet with a man on death row who claims that he is psychic and will be able to lead them to a serial killer. Neither Scully or Mulder believe the man until he begins to tell Scully things about her recently deceased father. The inmate claims that he is able to talk to Scully's father's spirit, and while he is proven to be a fraud, he is convincing enough that in her grief she almost believes him. What was that inmate's name?
Where did the Flukeman come from?
While the X-Files had a number of great monster of the week episodes, one creature who everyone loved was the Flukeman. Mulder and Scully met this creepy fella when he showed up in a shipyard in New Jersey, killing people as it attempted to implant them with larva. While the Flukeman only made one appearance in the series, he is one of the few creatures to get his own toy and appear in the X-Files comics. The question is, where was it that the Flukeman came from?
What is the name of the family in the episode "Home"?
In the fourth season of the series, the X-Files found itself becoming too creepy for some audiences with the classic episode "Home". This episode, about an inbred family that Mulder and Scully mix it up with, was the first episode of the series to open with a viewer discretion warning, and with good reason - in the first scene, some kids playing baseball find a dead baby, and the camera doesn't shy away from it. What was the name of the inbred family?
Who abducted Scully?
In a storyline that starts off feeling like a one and done, Mulder is brought in to help deal with a hostage situation when a former FBI agent takes a group of people hostage at a travel agency. The former agent believes that he had been abducted by aliens on a number of occasions, and all he wants is for someone to take him seriously. Mulder, of course, takes him seriously. While Mulder is able to end the hostage situation, a series of events lead to the former agent breaking into Scully's home and abducting her. What is his name?
Who is the agent that replaced Mulder?
After Mulder quit the FBI and went into hiding, the agent who was tasked with tracking down Mulder failed to complete his assignment and as punishment he was assigned to Mulder's old desk in the X-Files. Now teamed up with Scully, the new member of the X-Files this agent took on the role of Skeptic to Scully's believer (though she wasn't nearly as much of a believer as Mulder) and while their working relationship was not as strong as Mulder and Scully's, this new agent proved himself in time. What was his name?
How many children has Scully had?
During the course of the series, Dana Scully has been through a whole lot of hell. Both of her parents have died, and her sister was murdered because of her work in the X-Files. She was abducted by aliens who implanted something in her, and on more than one occasion she found herself having to go to great lengths to save her partner from his own foolish antics. Dana also had children, all of whom she gave up for adoption, knowing that to raise them would mean putting their lives in great danger. How many kids has Scully had?
What is the Were-Monster?
In the season 10 episode "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster", our heroes meet the strangest creature they have ever face, a Were-Monster. The existence of the Were-Monster comes to their attention after a man is found dead in the Oregon woods. Soon enough, Mulder and Scully, along with a park ranger, see the Were-Monster in action. In the end, Mulder learns that the Were-Monster isn't a killer at all, but a misunderstood creature who just wants to be left alone. What is the Were-Monster?
What singer do Mulder and Scully take Mutato to see?
In the season five episode "The Post-Modern Prometheus", Mulder and Scully head to Albion, Indiana after they get a call from a woman who learned about them from the Jerry Springer Show. As Mulder and Scully learn, the people of Albion are living in fear of a monster called Mutato. Over the course of the episode, Mulder, Scully and the townspeople learn that Mutato isn't an evil monster at all, but the result of a genetic experiment done by a mad scientist. With everything cleared up, Mulder, Scully and Mutato go to a concert. Whose concert is it?
Which of these actors didn't guest star on the X-Files?
Over the course of the ten (soon to be eleven) seasons, X-Files has been host to many a special guest star. Peter Boyle won his first and only Emmy for his work as Clyde Bruckman, setting a standard for all known guest stars. And while there were plenty of actors who were well known when they showed up on the X-Files, some had yet to become household names. Of the four actors below, which one wasn't a guest star on the X-Files?
Who were the Men in Black?
In the classic comedic episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space", viewers were treated to a Rashomon style episode where a writer - Jose Chung - is trying to find out the facts of a series of weird happenings in Klass County, Washington that involved Mulder and Scully. One of the weird things that happened was that multiple people claimed to see two celebrities together, and that these celebrities, both dressed completely in black, were insisting that there were no aliens. Who were the celebrities?
Which of these shows didn't crossover with The X-Files?
The X-Files was the kind of cultural phenomenon that couldn't be contained to itself. In time, the show crossed over with other shows on TV. In some cases, this was done in the hopes that X-Files fans would come over and watch the other show, in other cases it was done just for fun. In one instance, when the network execs wouldn't let a planned crossover happen, X-Files and the other show just snuck the plot into each others episodes for the same week. Which of these shows didn't cross over with X-Files?