Initially considered a cult series, it turned into a pop culture touchstone that tapped into public mistrust of governments and large institutions and embraced conspiracy theories and spirituality.

The X-Files follows the careers and personal lives of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson).

They are usually represented by Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis), a ruthless killer, masterful politician, negotiator, failed novelist, and the series' principal antagonist.

[45] A report that said 3.7 million Americans believed they may have been abducted by aliens, the Watergate scandal, and the 1970s horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker all contributed to trigger the idea for The X-Files.

[51] The producers and writers cited All the President's Men, Three Days of the Condor, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Rashomon, The Thing, The Boys from Brazil, The Silence of the Lambs and JFK as other influences.

At first, the fact that he was asked back to audition for the recurring role slightly puzzled him, until he discovered the reason he had not previously been cast in those roles—Carter had been unable to envision Pileggi as any of those characters, because the actor had been shaving his head.

[63] Carter and most fans felt the show was at its natural endpoint with Duchovny's departure, but it was decided that Mulder would be abducted at the end of the seventh season and would return in 12 episodes the following year.

[10] Carter believed that the series could continue for another ten years with new leads, and the opening credits were accordingly redesigned in both seasons eight and nine to emphasize the new actors (along with Pileggi, who was finally listed as a main character).

[66] Glen Morgan and James Wong's early influence on The X-Files mythology led to their introduction of popular secondary characters who continued for years in episodes written by others: Scully's father, William (Don S. Davis); her mother, Margaret (Sheila Larken); and her sister, Melissa (Melinda McGraw).

New production designer Corey Kaplan, editor Lynne Willingham, writer David Amann and director and producer Michael Watkins joined and stayed for several years.

Bill Roe became the show's new director of photography and episodes generally had a drier, brighter look due to California's sunshine and climate, as compared with Vancouver's rain, fog and temperate forests.

[76] For example, Vince Gilligan's "Drive", about a man subject to an unexplained illness, was a frenetic action episode, unusual for The X-Files largely because it was set in Nevada's stark desert roads.

"[159] While news outlets cited declining ratings because of lackluster stories and poor writing,[9] The X-Files production crew blamed September 11 terrorist attacks as the main factor.

The website wrote of the critics' consensus, stating, "The chemistry between leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson do live [sic] up to The X-Files' televised legacy, but the roving plot and droning routines make it hard to identify just what we're meant to believe in.

"[185] In several interviews around the release, Carter said that if the X-Files: I Want to Believe film proved successful at the box office, a third installment would be made going back to the TV series' mythology, focusing specifically on the alien invasion and colonization of Earth foretold in the ninth-season finale, due to occur on December 22, 2012.

Fox chairman Dana Walden told reporters that "conversations so far have only been logistical and are in very early stages", and that the series would only go forward if Carter, Anderson, and Duchovny were all on board, and that it was a matter of ensuring all of their timetables are open.

Chris Carter was the Executive Producer of the comic book series, while the issues were written by Joe Harris and illustrated by Matthew Dow Smith and Jordie Bellaire.

[246] Empire magazine ranked The X-Files ninth best TV show in history, further claiming that the best episode was the third season entry "Jose Chung's From Outer Space".

[254] After the airing of four episodes, the magazine called The X-Files "the most paranoid, subversive show on TV", noting the "marvelous tension between Anderson—who is dubious about these events—and Duchovny, who has the haunted, imploring look of a true believer".

The review highlighted "The Host", "Duane Barry" and "Ascension", the cliffhanger finale "Anasazi", the "unforgettable" "Humbug" and meeting Mulder and Scully's families in "Colony" and "One Breath".

[258] IGN gave the season a rating of 9 out of 10, with the reviewer noting it was an improvement upon the first as it had "started to explore a little" and the "evolution of the characters makes the product shine even though the plotlines have begun to seem familiar".

[271] Elizabeth Weinbloom from The New York Times concluded, "shoddy writing notwithstanding, it was this halfhearted culmination of what was once a beautifully complicated friendship", between Mulder and Scully that ended remaining interest in what was a "waning phenomenon".

The site's consensus reads: "Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny's chemistry remains intact, but overall, The X-Files revival lacks the creative spark necessary to sustain the initial rush of nostalgia.

[279][280] Capping its successful first season, The X-Files crew members James Castle, Bruce Bryant and Carol Johnsen won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Graphic Design and Title Sequences in 1994.

"[288] In addition to "MOTW", Internet fans invented acronyms such as "UST", meaning "unresolved sexual tension", and "COTR", standing for "conversation on the rock"—referencing a popular scene in the third-season episode "Quagmire"—to aid in their discussions of the agents' relationship, which was itself identified as the "MSR".

The story of the game takes place between seasons 9 and 10 of the show and follows two FBI agents, Casey Winter and Garret Dale, as they investigate a sinister conspiracy.

[312][313] The X-Files directly inspired other TV series, including Strange World,[284][314] The Burning Zone,[315] Special Unit 2,[316] Mysterious Ways,[317] Lost,[318] Dark Skies,[316][319] The Visitor,[284] Fringe,[316][320] Warehouse 13,[316] Supernatural,[316][321] and Gravity Falls,[322] with key aspects carried over to more standard crime dramas, such as Eleventh Hour[316][323] and Bones.

[331] In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations", Benjamin Sisko is interviewed by Federation Department of Temporal Investigations agents Dulmer and Lucsly, anagrams of Mulder and Scully, respectively.

[333] The X-Files has also been parodied or referenced in countless other shows, such as 3rd Rock from the Sun, Archer, NewsRadio, American Horror Story, The Big Bang Theory, Bones, Breaking Bad, Californication (which stars David Duchovny), Supernatural, Castle, Family Guy, Hey Arnold!, King of the Hill, South Park, and Two and a Half Men.

[341] In an interview with The Straits Times, series' writers Jim Wong and Glenn Morgan acknowledged that the show likely played a role in bringing conspiracy theories to a mainstream audience, thereby helping to erode trust in public institutions.