Agent Mulder

Basic Information

The Agent Mulder (sometimes also called the Agent Cooper) is the investigator who believes in pretty much everything. This can range from having an open mind, up to bisociation, syncretism, or even a certain amount of gullibility.

They are often a Government Agent or Detective, and frequently are paired with a partner that fits the Agent Scully trope.

Things The Mulder Almost Certainly Believes In:

• Coded Myth
• Conspiracy Theories
• Cryptids
• Magic
• Miracles
• Mythological Creatures, including Demons, Ghosts and Vampires
• Psionics
• Reincarnation, or some other form of Afterlife
• UFOs that are actually Alien Spacecraft
• Unknown Phenomenon, bordering on Negative Space Wedgie
• Urban Legends

Sources

Bibliography

1. TV Tropes Wiki

2. TV: X-Files - starring Agents Mulder and Scully

3. TV: Twin Peaks - starring Agent Cooper

Game and Story Use

• This sort of character fits best in settings with some sort of Masquerade hiding the truth from the public eye.
  • In a setting where everyone knows monsters and magic exist, there's not much point to having your primary characterization be "I believe in monsters and magic".
  • On the other hand, just because monsters and magic exist doesn't mean every imaginable monster or spell exists. "I believe in space aliens" or "I believe in psionics" are entirely valid characterization if the consensus is that the campaign world is the only inhabited one and that magic requires specific external actions.
• This character type also benefits from a Wander The Earth structure - too much weirdness in one place can be hard to believe, unless it's due to a Hellmouth or Weirdness Magnet.
  • Speaking of Weirdness Magnets, in Twin Peaks, two different characters told Agent Cooper that he brought the evil with him. Such a character could be fun to play. You believe in all these crazy things because they happen near you, but rarely if ever do they happen in when you're not around.
• Like anyone else with odd beliefs, the Agent Mulder can be a source of exposition ranging from "dangerous nonsense" through "a kernel of truth" and "right for the wrong reasons" to "can back this up with solid evidence".
  • A trap for PCs to fall into might be mistaking what Agent Mulder tells them in a personal capacity for the Agency's official position. They think they've gotten "disclosure" of the secret truth, and act on his wild ramblings before his partner can correct them.

---

Building This Character

Level

• Probably a high-level character. Especially if he's without a support network. The more of the agency that believes and backs The Mulder, the less he individually needs to be a bad ass.

Attributes:

• The focus of the Agent Mulder is on Mental traits and investigative skills.
• If there's an Intuition or Willpower stat in your game, the Agent Mulder type will have a strong rating in it.
• Needs decent Physical Traits, but this is probably secondary to the mental stats.

Skills:

• Forensics, possibly also Tracking or Shadowing.
• Police Procedures in general
• Cryptozoology or Biology
• Interviewing or Interrogation or Oral History
• Occultism or Mythology. Probably doesn't have full-blown Magic and Powers, but may have a good Psychic Defense or know the basics of Hedge Magic or at least Headology.
• Since the Agent Mulder expects to be facing down some monsters, he'll be at least passable at marksmanship, and know the traditional weakness of the most likely monsters to actually exist.
• Be careful not to boost your Persuasion or Charisma too high, or else you'll be too well equipped for convincing your fellow agents. Part of the fun of being the Agent Mulder is believing in things everyone else is skeptical about.

Special Abilities:

• If your setting has a supernatural effect that enforces a masquerade, resistance to it can explain why you believe when no one else does.
• As an investigator or official agent of some type, Status or Rank.

Drawbacks:

• Keep in mind that if Mulder has any kind of backing from an agency, any drawbacks should not rise to the level of a disqualifying mental disorder unless they were acquired on the job.
  • Compulsive Behavior of some kind. Someone clued in might be unwilling to sleep in places without a horseshoe over the threshold and salt lines on the windows.
  • Delusion, since someone who believes in everything likely believes all kinds of false things.

Variants:

• Agent Cooper from Twin Peaks was this with some Eastern Influences and extra quirkiness - Tibetan Buddhism, Dream Analysis, and Hypnotism are on his list, maybe even some minor psionics.
• If the Agent Mulder shows up in a high-tech / futuristic setting, they'll also be familiar with the basics of Astrophysics, Quantum Mechanics and Relativity (including understanding the powers of fourth dimensional lifeform or the implications of the many worlds interpretation, and possibly a belief in Quantum Immortality).