Special agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character on the Fox television series The X-Files (1993-2002). She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series, played by Gillian Anderson. Scully is a special agent of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation, partnered with fellow Special agent Fox Mulder for the first seven seasons and in the eight season partnered with John Doggett. In the television series, they work out of a cramped basement office at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. to investigate unsolved cases labeled "X-Files"; as of the second film, Scully had left government employ and taken a job as a surgeon in a private Catholic hospital. In contrast to Mulder's credulous "believer" character, Scully is the skeptic for the first seven seasons, choosing to base her beliefs on what science can prove. She later on becomes a "believer" after Mulder's abduction at the end of season seven.

She has appeared in all but five episodes of The X-Files, and additionally appears in the 20th Century-Fox films The X-Files, released in 1998 (sometimes subtitled Fight the Future), and The X-Files: I Want to Believe, released 10 years later. The episodes she does not appear in are "3", "Zero Sum", "Unusual Suspects", "Travelers", and "The Gift".

Character arc

Dana Katherine Scully was born on February 23, 1964, to William and Margaret Scully, into a close-knit Catholic family. She has an older brother, Bill Jr., an older sister, Melissa, and a younger brother, Charles, who is never seen on the show except in flashbacks. Scully's father was a Captain, who died of a heart attack in 1994. Dana Scully grew up in Annapolis, Maryland and later in San Diego, California. As a young girl, Scully's favorite book was Moby-Dick and she came to nickname her father "Ahab" from the book, and in return, he called her "Starbuck." Due to this she named her dog Queequeg.

Scully attended University of Maryland, and earned a B.S. in Physics. Her undergraduate thesis was titled Einstein's Twin Paradox: A New Interpretation. While in medical school she was recruited by the FBI; she accepted the agency's offer of employment because she felt she could distinguish herself there. Upon being partnered with Fox Mulder, she maintained her medical skills by acting as a forensic pathologist, often performing or consulting on autopsies of victims on X-Files cases.

In the second season Scully is kidnapped by an ex-FBI mental patient named Duane Barry, and gets kidnapped by a military covert operation that were working with the alien conspirators, but is later returned. She later finds out that a super hi-tech microchip was implanted in the back of her neck. After having it removed, she developed cancer in the fourth season.

She is hospitalized after her cancer becomes terminal. She is saved when Mulder breaks into the Department of Defense to retrieve another chip to be implanted back into her neck. It should be mentioned that, at the time, Scully was also undergoing experimental medical treatments and was having a dramatic renewal of her faith.

After being pronounced infertile, Scully became pregnant in the show's seventh season finale, "Requiem". The child, named William, after Mulder's father, was born at the end of the eight season. The cause of her pregnancy is never revealed. It was around this time that Mulder was fired from the FBI by Deputy Director Alvin Kersh, and Scully left the field to teach Forensics at Quantico. William was given up for adoption during the end of the ninth season after Scully felt she could no longer provide the safety that William needed. William was a "miracle child", of some importance to the alien Conspiracy. He demonstrated extraordinary powers, including telekinesis.

In The X-Files: I Want to Believe she is shown working as a doctor at the Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital in Virginia. Early on in the film Scully is contacted by the FBI who are looking for Fox Mulder in the hope that he will assist them with the investigation of a missing FBI agent. In exchange for his help the charges against him will be dropped. Unlike Mulder, Scully was apparently not considered a fugitive by the FBI. However, she did continue to maintain her romantic relationship with Mulder throughout the six years that he was on the run from the American government. In the movie they are shown to be living together in a secluded house.

Characterization

Throughout the series, her Catholic faith served as a cornerstone, although at times a contradiction to her otherwise rigid skepticism of the paranormal. Upon her career in science and medicine, she drifted from her Catholic upbringing but remained somewhat entrenched in her religious beliefs. Scully almost always wears a golden cross necklace, given to her by her mother as a Christmas present when she was a teen. When she was abducted by Duane Barry, a self-proclaimed alien abductee, it was the only item left behind in Barry's getaway car. Mulder wore it as a talisman of her until Scully miraculously reappeared in a Washington D.C. hospital. After she recovered from the trauma of her abduction, he returned the cross to her.

The abduction visibly tested the limits of her faith - she claimed to have been on board an alien spaceship, brought there by Barry - and she began to exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder on a case involving a murdering fetishist named Donnie Pfaster. This psychological re-victimisation continued after Pfaster escaped from prison five years later and again attempted to kill her in her home, ending only after she fatally shot him. She struggled with what motivated her actions to kill Pfaster, and questioned whether it was God compelling her to kill him, or "something else."

Sometime after her recovery, Scully began to regularly attend Mass again. At the request of Father McCue, Scully got involved in a case concerning a paraplegic girl who was found dead in a kneeling position with her palms outstretched and eye sockets charred. After Scully discovered the girl was part of a set of quadruplets and two more were murdered, Father McCue shared with her the story of the seraphim and the nephilim, which Scully interpreted as a possible explanation for the deformations and deaths of the girls. Scully continued to have visions of Emily, and when the last girl died, Scully believed she was returning the girl to God. Upon her return to Washington D.C., she went to confession to gain peace of mind and acceptance for Emily's death.

Relationships

While in medical school, she carried on an affair with her married instructor, Dr. Daniel Waterston who may have been the "college boyfriend" mentioned in "Trust No 1." It is never indicated in the show whether or not the relationship became sexual. According to Anderson in the episode's audio commentary, Scully came very close to having an affair with the married Waterston but left before she could break up his marriage. The end of her relationship with Waterston came about following her decision to go into the FBI. After her entrance to the FBI's Academy at Quantico, Scully began a year-long relationship with her Academy instructor, Jack Willis, with whom she shared a birthday.

Towards the end of the series, her relationship with Fox Mulder crossed over into the romantic sphere. When Mulder was injured in a boat crash, he awakened in a hospital and told Scully that he loved her. In the episode a ghost that seems to know the inner workings of Scully's mind suggest that her source of intimacy from Mulder comes from her desire to always prove him wrong. By the end of the sixth season, Mulder and Scully were increasingly shown enjoying more light-hearted activities together, such as practicing baseball, using FBI funds for a "night out" during a movie premiere, and watching a movie at Mulder's apartment. In the season seven episode Scully is shown getting dressed in Mulder's bathroom, whilst Mulder sleeps, apparently naked, in the bedroom. In another episode, a man reveals to Scully that he works for a "new" Syndicate like-organization, and his job requires him and a few other colleagues to spy on her around the clock. Due to this he knows intimate details of Scully's personal life, right down to her "natural hair color". It is suggested by this man that Scully ultimately initiated a sexual relationship with Mulder, as he remarked that he was very surprised when she invited Mulder "into her bed". The last scene of the series finale featured Mulder and Scully holding each other on a bed, facing an uncertain future together.

In the film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, which takes place six years later, Mulder and Scully are still in a relationship and are now living together in Virginia. Scully was concerned that Mulder's continuing pursuit of the unknown was taking its toll on their relationship and they could not be together if he couldn't "escape the darkness." However, the film ends with the couple sharing a passionate kiss, and in the "secret ending" after the majority of the credits, Scully is seen in a small rowboat with Mulder, both clad in swimwear, in a tropical sea, having taken him up on his offer to run away together.

Conceptual history

Chris Carter has stated that he named Scully after his favorite sportscaster, Vin Scully. John Doggett was named after Scully's longtime broadcasting partner, Jerry Doggett. Coincidentally (or perhaps not) Scully was previously a known name in UFO lore. In 1950 the less than credible Behind the Flying Saucers was published, written by Variety magazine columnist Frank Scully. The name Scully was also used in 1976 film All the President's Men, an obvious inspiration for the show, in a list of names who work for the campaign to reelect the president.

Scully appears in every episode of the nine-season series exception of "3", "Zero Sum", "Unusual Suspects" and "Travelers". She has appeared outside The X-Files on numerous occasions, the most notable being in the Millennium (also created by Chris Carter) episode "Lamentation," The main character, Frank Black, visits the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and Mulder and Scully are briefly seen descending a stairway. In fact, they are Duchovny and Anderson's stand-ins. An animated version of Scully, which featured the voice acting of Gillian Anderson, would appear on season 8 of The Simpsons, in the episode "The Springfield Files", as well as Eek! the Cat, on the episode "Eek Space 9". The animated television series ReBoot featured characters "Fax Modem" and "Data Nully", obvious spoofs of Mulder and Scully, in the episode "Trust No One". Anderson provided her voice work for the episode, but co-star Duchovny declined.

Reception

Scully was portrayed by Tea Leoni in the movie within the episode "Hollywood A.D.". Scully, along with Mulder, is strongly referenced in the song "Mulder And Scully" by the band Catatonia. In the online roleplaying game World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment played an April Fools joke on the online community by fictionally creating the "Tinfoil Hat". The Blizzard Tinfoil Hat page stated that if players ate enough of a specific food or drink, agents Sculder and Mully would appear, a reference to Mulder and Scully. In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "The Pack", Buffy says to Giles: "I can't believe you of all people are trying to Scully me" and is later mentioned in "Life Serial". In an episode of the television series Angel she is mentioned as a "Skeptic".

In season one of American Dad! both Scully and Mulder appear to be played by two extreme X-files fans at a science fiction convention. Mulder was also mentioned by Klaus when Roger tried to imitate the agent's background story in, "The Office Spaceman" of season three. In the pilot to Supernatural, Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) manages to sneak himself and his brother into the investigation on a bridge. As two FBI agents approach them, he nods to them and says, "Agent Mulder. Agent Scully."

In an episode of Roswell, while Michael Guerin and Maria Deluca sneak into Courtney's house, carrying flashlights to investigate her and Maria says the following to Michael:Maria: Michael! I feel like we're Scully and Mulder or something. On the pilot episode of Bones, while trying to convince Temperance "Bones" Brennan to help him on a case, FBI Agent Seeley Booth agrees to allow her to join him in field work by saying "I'm Mulder. You're Scully." These two characters are often compared to Scully and Mulder in fanbases, as the latter is a famous earlier example of a relationship that is platonic but filled with unfulfilled sexual tension, which is emulated on Bones. On the Doctor Who's spin off series Torchwood, the characters of Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper are often called Mulder and Scully.

References

External links

• Dana Scully on Keleka.net