Men in Black (The X-Files)

OnThe X-Filestelevision show, the termMen in Blackrefers to a group of enforcers employed by theSyndicateto execute assassinations, cover-ups and other clandestine operations. It is clear that most, if not all, of them are former members ofspecial operations units.Some, mostly shown in comedic episodes, parodied the traditional view ofMIBs from UFO lore.Most had no known civilian identities, though there were some exceptions. They rarely speak.

The Men in Black are analogous to thealien bounty huntersemployed by the Colonists. The Men in Black were, however, not as reliable as the bounty hunters for difficult tasks. They were sometimes used initially, but it often took the more capable Alien Bounty Hunters to complete these missions. However, the Syndicate would use the bounty hunters only when necessary because of an increased risk of exposure.

As of the series finale, it is assumed they have been phased out, as the"New Syndicate"(Super Soldiers) does not have as great a need to employ normal humans.

X

Main article:X (The X-Files)

Xis portrayed bySteven Williams.X was a high-ranking member of the Men In Black (MIB), a group of operatives used by TheSyndicateto carry out their dirty work. X first appeared at the beginning ofseason 2,after he contacts Mulder to tell him he "has a friend at theFBI."X becameFox Mulder's information source, replacing Mulder's first informant,Deep Throat,who had been murdered at the end ofseason 1.X is a subordinate ofThe Smoking Man.

While X's loyalties and his own agenda were often unclear, he has more than once proven that he at least does not want Mulder dead. In the episode "End Game",he is approached byDana Scully,who pleads that she needs to know where Mulder is, believing his life to be in danger. Initially X refuses, and is subsequently confronted byWalter Skinner,who seemed to recognize X. He relinquishes Mulder's location, though not until after a brief but intense scuffle with Skinner.In the episode "731",X's loyalty to Mulder is further confirmed. Trapped on a train car equipped with atime bomb,Mulder, about to escape, is attacked brutally by an MIB assassin. X fatally shoots the Red Haired Man as he is about to step off the car. X boards the car with only enough time left to save either Mulder or thealien-human hybridthe car was transporting, opting to save Mulder, and carries him off to safety just as the car explodes.

In theseason 4opener "Herrenvolk",X's position as an informant is discovered by theSyndicate.When suspicion arises after the finding of photographs that were taken ofThe Smoking Manby X,false information is plantedat theFirst Elder's behest, in order to root out the leak. Attempting to relay the information to Mulder, X goes to his apartment and is surprised by fellow MIB operative, the Gray Haired Man, who fatally shoots him. With his last strength, X crawls to Mulder's doorstep and writes in his own blood "SRSG", meaning "Special Representative to theSecretary General"of theUnited Nations,and thus, this clue leads Mulder toMarita Covarrubias.After his death, X appears two more times: inThe Lone Gunmenorigin story "Unusual Suspects,"set before his death, and as a ghost in theseries finale.

The Cleaner/Crew Cut Man

The Cleaner,better known asCrew Cut Man,is a character fromThe X-Files.He is portrayed byLindsey Ginter. The Crew Cut Man is an MIBassassin/saboteur employed by theSyndicate,specifically by theCigarette Smoking Man.In theseason onefinale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask",Crew Cut Man is working with a couple of other Men in Black to terminate all evidence of a covertalien-human hybridprogram, whichMulderwas investigating. Mulder ends up being taken by the operatives, and, during the subsequent exchange for Mulder's life,Deep Throatis killed by Crew Cut Man.

Scullywitnesses the murder and later, in theseason twoepisode "Red Museum",she recognizes him during a case in remoteWisconsin,where secret experiments with alienDNAwere being conducted. He is shot dead by a local sheriff as he tries to set fire to a warehouse whereMulderis trapped.

Like most Men in Black, little is known about Crew Cut Man. While Mulder was being held, hiscell phonewas left unanswered by Crew Cut Man, as he remarked that he had "this thing about unsecured lines."

Luis Cardinal/Hispanic Man

Luis Cardinal,portrayed by Lenny Britos. Initially only known as "Hispanic Man",he was aNicaraguanmercenaryworking forCigarette Smoking Man.Cardinal was trained at theSchool of the Americasfacility, and was involved in theIran-Contra affair.While briefly partnered with Alex Krycek, he killedScully's sister,Melissa,in a case of mistaken identity. He was also the man who shot Assistant Director Skinner, who survived. He was later taken into custody by theWashington, D.C.Police Department, and was then hanged in his cell with the appearance of suicide to keep him silent.

Red-Haired Man

TheRed-Haired Man,played byStephen McHattie,is a Man in Black who worked for theFirst Elder,though he claimed to be an agent of theNSA.He worked as an assassin,garrotingseveralJapanese scientistswho had been working on an alien-human hybrid in the hopes of surviving colonisation. He nearly kills Mulder twice, but is eliminated byXin the season 3 episode "731".In theX-FilesDVD collection, his name is given as "Malcolm Gerlach",though he is never named onscreen.

Grey-Haired Man

TheGrey-Haired Man,played byMorris Panych,was first shown, along with other fellow MIB operatives, attempting to deterSkinnerfrom reopeningMelissa Scully's murder investigation.In "Herrenvolk",he assassinatesXper the orders of the First Elder, after the Syndicate learns that X has been leaking information to Fox Mulder.He also appeared in the episodes "Memento Mori"and"Zero Sum".The Grey-Haired Man was originally intended to beThe Smoking Man'shenchman,but disappeared when the actor left. He is seen as a subordinate to both The Smoking Man and the First Elder. He also comes quite close to killing Mulder, tracking him down at a Syndicate facility, but ultimately Mulder escaped thanks to a bulletproof-glass window.

Jose Chung's Men in Black

Man in Black #1,played byJesse Venturain the comedic episode, "Jose Chung'sFrom Outer Space".Acting more in line with (and in a parody of) real-world accounts of theMen in Black,he intimidated those who sawUFOsinto questioning the reality of their accounts.

Man in Black #2,played byAlex Trebek,was the first Man in Black's partner in the same episode. As Men in Black are supposed to appear so ridiculous that stories of encountering them are widely disbelieved, this character's obvious resemblance to Trebek is played up as a plot point, with Jose Chung interrupting Scully to inquire as to whether she really meant to bring up "Alex Trebek? The game show host?"

Plain-Clothed Man

ThePlain-Clothed Man,played by Tim Henry, was a subordinate ofX.He was used to relay information to Fox Mulder, as it was too risky at the time for X to contact Mulder personally. He is eliminated by X at the end of the episode "Wetwired", in order to cover his tracks.The character of the Plain-Clothed man was conceived as an expendable cameo, asSteven Williams,the actor who played X, had scheduling problems due toL.A. Heat,necessitating a temporary character instead.

Dark Man/Moustache Man/Scott Garrett

Dark Man/Moustache Man/Scott Garrett,played by Greg Michaels, was a Man in Black employed to aid a Syndicate cover-up. whilst listed in the episode credits as "Scott Garrett", he was never named onscreen, and the credits fromThe X-FilesDVD collection list him as "Dark Man". In spite of this, he is referred to by fans as the "Moustache Man". He was assigned to oversee a militarycover-upof a plane crash caused by an alien spacecraft, deliberately sabotaging efforts to identify a former colleague who had been on the crashed plane.He accidentally killedAgent Pendrellwhile attempting to shoot a defecting conspirator in Scully's protection. He was later abducted by aliens whilst pursuing Mulder on a passenger flight, during an attempt to salvage alien technology.

Scott Ostelhoff

Scott Ostelhoff,played by Steve Makaj, was an MIB operative withDepartment of Defensecredentials, working for the First Elder. He was tasked with murdering the members of an expedition team that was attempting to excavate a recently discovered alien corpse, which was actuallyan elaborate hoax.He was assigned for an unknown length of time to surveil Fox Mulder from the apartment above his. He is killed in a confrontation with Mulder, and his face destroyed with his ownshotgunso as to allow Mulder to fake his own death.

Quiet Willy

Quiet Willy,played by Willy Ross, was an operative ordered by the First Elder to carry out the assassination ofThe Smoking Man,although this attempt was to prove unsuccessful.At a later date, he was appointed by theWell-Manicured Manto investigate the mysterious deaths by burning of Syndicate scientists involved in thehuman-alien hybridprogram. During the course of this investigation, Quiet Willy apprehendedCassandra Spender,but was killed by thefaceless rebels.His guise was later adopted by one of the Alien Bounty Hunters while tracking down one of these same rebels.Quiet Willy was never officially named in his appearances, his name being a fan coinage derived from his tacit nature and the name of the actor portraying him.

The Shooter

The Shooter,played byMartin Ferrero,was a marksman who only appeared in theseason 5finale, "The End".He was a formerNSAagent andSpecial Forcesoperative with experience in assassinations. On orders from the Syndicate, he attempted to killGibson Praisewith asniper rifleduring an internationalchesstournament.The attempt failed, as Gibson was able to telepathically discern what was about to happen, and The Shooter was taken into police custody. While in custody, he was shot through a slot in his cell door by his fellow Man in Black, theBlack-Haired Man.

Black-Haired Man

TheBlack-Haired Man,played by Michael Shamus Wiles, is another Syndicate-employed marksman. He first appears in the season 5 finale, "The End", where he executes fellow Man in BlackThe Shooter.IntheX-Filesmovie,he is seen leaving a building before it is blown up, and also surveils at least one of Fox Mulder's meetings with Alvin Kurtzweil. Later in the film, he kidnaps Scully while disguised as aparamedic,and almost kills Mulder when he fires at himpoint blank.He is later ordered to spy on Scully in theseason 7episode "En Ami",and almost kills her via sniper rifle, but is dispatched by his superior, The Smoking Man.

Morris Fletcher

Morris Fletcheris portrayed byMichael McKean.Fletcher was in charge of keeping all ofArea 51's information out of the press, by all means necessary. He has claimed that in 1979, he found a youngdinner theateractor named John Gillnitz inTulsa, Oklahoma.He set him up as thePresident of Iraqunder the nameSaddam Husseinin order to distract the American public. During his time in Area 51, Fletcher metRonald Reagan's family andNewt Gingrich.

In 1998, as a result of an incident withUFOtechnology accidentally caused by General Edward Wegman, Fletcherswitched mindswithFBISpecial AgentFox Mulder.During his time inhabiting Mulder's body, Fletcher revealed state secrets toThe Lone Gunmenand helped improve Mulder's relationship withAssistant DirectorAlvin Kersh.When the warp reversed itself, and Mulder and Fletcher returned to their rightful bodies, they lost all memories of the events, and only a few changes actually occurred.The following year, Fletcher was among the visitors toDef-Con99 inLas Vegas, Nevada.Two years later he appeared onThe Lone Gunmenepisode "All About Yves",where the Lone Gunmen attempt to trick him into revealing information about Area 51 and government involvement in UFO cover-ups. He then finds himself aiding the Gunmen in tracking down their Enigma tic acquaintance Yves Adele Harlow in the belief that she worked for Romeo 61, a government-sponsored wetworks unit.

By 2002, he had left Area 51 and was working for an international arms dealer. He staged another hoax to once again catch Harlow, the arms dealer's daughter. Using FBI Special AgentsJohn DoggettandMonica Reyes,Fletcher tracked down Harlow and helped prevent a massive genetically engineered virus from being released inNew York City.The Lone Gunmen died from the virus and Fletcher was present at their funeral.

Howard Grodin and Jeff Smoodge

Howard GrodinandJeff Smoodge,played by Michael Buchman Silver and Scott Allan Campbell respectively, were co-workers of Morris Fletcher at Area 51.