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In thefictional universe of the science fiction–thrillermedia franchiseThe X-Files,The Syndicate is a nefarious group of covertly allied influential government officials and businessmen. Also referred to asThe Elders,The Consortium, andThe Group, it is the primary antagonistic force opposingDana Scully,Fox Mulder,John Doggett, andMonica Reyes during the series.
An embodiment of the concept of theshadow government inUFO conspiracy theory lore, the Syndicate is depicted as operating at the highest levels of power, concealing from the world a program by an unidentified extraterrestrial species to colonize and repopulate the planet, as well as their own plans and stake in that future, which they hold to be inevitable.
To carry out murder, cover-ups, sabotage and otherwetworks projects, the Syndicate uses an unknown number ofhenchmen commonly referred to as theMen in Black. Many work ostensibly for theU.S. Defense Department,Central Intelligence Agency,National Security Agency, along with various other government agencies. Prominent Men in Black agents includeX,Alex Krycek, theCrew Cut Man, andQuiet Willy.
The leader of the Syndicate is a former German industrialist named Conrad Strughold, who had fled his home country and relocated toTunisia.[1] However, most of the Syndicate's meetings are held at a nondescript building located on West 46th Street (with parallels to theCentury Association andIvy League alumni clubs) in New York City, and do not involve Strughold, due to the fact that his entry into the United States would potentially draw too much attention because of his ties toNazi Germany. Meetings with Strughold are instead held in London.[2] A possible front for the group, evidenced in the episode "Redux II", is abiotechnology firm called Roush. Reportedly, series creatorChris Carter named the company afterUSA Today TV critic Matt Roush, who was an influential early champion ofThe X-Files.[3] Roush's facilities are used in some experiments involving the virus, shown in thesixth season premiere "The Beginning".[4] Also, according toAlvin Kurtzweil, when the alien takeover was set to commence in December 2012, the Syndicate would have seized control of the United States via theFederal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which had the power to suspend constitutional government upon declaration of a national emergency.[2]
The Syndicate was formed at the end ofWorld War II, after theRoswell incident 1947, when German scientists werebrought to the United States to work on developing analien-human hybrid.Alvin Kurtzweil recounted that when he andBill Mulder were young men in the military, they were recruited for a project that they were told was concerned withbiological warfare.[2]Deep Throat claimed that it began after Roswell, when an ultrasecret conference of power brokers in theUnited States, theSoviet Union,United Kingdom,China,France,West Germany, andEast Germany, signed a treaty that if analien spacecraft crashed onEarth and theextraterrestrials survived, the country that held them would be responsible for their immediate extermination.[5]
The group that would become the Syndicate existed as early as 1952 as a secret group within theDepartment of State. Their activities included experimenting withxenotransplantation,[6] relocating ex-Nazi scientists to the United States after World War II,[7] and covering up theblack oil discovered in thePiper Maru in 1953.[8]
The members of the Syndicate within the State Department officially broke off ties with theUnited States government in 1973. However, some of the members continued to work within the State Department. On October 13, the Syndicate formally forged their alliance with thealien colonists at El Rico Air Force Base. TheCigarette Smoking Man personally presented a foldedAmerican flag to the aliens, symbolizing their surrender to a superior intergalactic force. The Syndicate was also commencing their work on the Project, which would see an immense effort in creating an alien/humanhybrid to serve the aliens as a slave race aftercolonization. To allow the Syndicate to develop the hybrid, they were provided an alienfetus from which to extractDNA and begin research. However, the aliens demanded in exchange samples of human DNA. Members of the Syndicate turned over their loved ones to the aliens as part of the exchange. The Cigarette Smoking Man handed over his wife,Cassandra Spender, andWilliam Mulder reluctantly surrendered his daughter,Samantha.[9]
By March 22, 1993, the Syndicate had use of a vast warehouse inThe Pentagon where artifacts constituting evidence of alien existence were stored. The Cigarette Smoking Man added animplant, recovered by Mulder and Scully on their first case together, to the items kept in this storage facility. As Mulder and Scully learned, other efforts to erase their findings were apparently made, including the disappearance of paperwork, such as a case file onBilly Miles, that the agents had filed with theDistrict Attorney's office in Raymon County, Oregon.[10]
In 1998, the Syndicate learned ofa rebel faction among the aliens that was fighting against their brethren and thecolonization of Earth. The first incident of rebel violence on Earth occurred inKazakhstan, where dozens of impending abductees were found incinerated.Marita Covarrubias investigated the incident and quickly had it covered up. Shortly thereafter, many more abductees were summoned to Skyland Mountain via their metallic tags. Again, the group was attacked and incinerated by the alien rebels. It was at this time that the rebels were more clearly identified as being faceless—with their facial orifices sewn shut to prevent black oil infection—a telltale characteristic that set them apart as the rebel force.[11] The following year, the rebels made their most daring—and most destructive—move. Outside of Washington, D.C., they attacked a train car, wherein a group of Syndicate doctors led by Eugene Openshaw were experimenting onCassandra Spender—the first successful alien-humanhybrid. The rebels incinerated the doctors, but left Cassandra alive so that the Project would be revealed and subsequently destroyed. Indeed, one of the rebels killed theSecond Elder and assumed his position at meetings of the Syndicate; however,The Smoking Man realized this and had the group cease meeting together.[12]
The Smoking Man contacted his son,Jeffrey Spender, and charged him with killing the rebel posing as the Second Elder. However, Spender failed, andAlex Krycek successfully completed the assassination. Spender then realized the scope of the conspiracy being carried out by his father, and he pledged his support toFox Mulder. Having their hand forced by the rebels, the Syndicate retrieved Cassandra Spender and prepared to present her to the aliens so thatcolonization could begin. However, the rebels instead appeared and incinerated the entire group of high-ranking Syndicate members, meaning the destruction of the Syndicate.[9]
Later in 1999, Scully asked Mulder what more he could possibly hope to do or to find, after having done and uncovered so much, such as exposing the secrets of a conspiracy of men who had been doing human experiments but were all now dead. Mulder's reply was that he still hoped to find his sister.[13] Later on, Mulder dreamt of the Syndicate, in which an illusory version of theCigarette Smoking Man claimed that his group had "made entire cultures disappear".[14]
In reality, the Cigarette Smoking Man continued working on the Project with a group of men who held a conference to discuss colonization in 1999.[13] The Cigarette Smoking Man also continued working with his doctors, who were aware of the Syndicate's work to create ahuman-alien hybrid and attempted to continue this work.[14] The Cigarette Smoking Man is also seen, in "Biogenesis", meeting with a group of men, some in military uniforms, who are speaking about some sort of disaster and "containment" of it.[13] Presumably they are speaking about colonization, and this assembly of men may be part of the Cigarette Smoking Man's intentions, revealed in "Requiem", to try to rebuild the conspiracy.[15]
Inseason eight, DoctorLizzy Gill admitted to Mulder, Assistant DirectorWalter Skinner and Special agentJohn Doggett that, for the past ten years, she and her colleagues had been working to create a human-alien hybrid. According to her, the work had originally been financed by a group of government men but had continued after their deaths. Gill's colleagues, by this time, included Doctors Parenti, Lev and Duffy Haskell, but they all had been killed recently bysuper soldierBilly Miles.[16]
With the Syndicate eliminated, thepower vacuum was eventually filled inseason nine by a new government-like organization. This organization included members such as theToothpick Man,[17] Gene Crane, andKnowle Rohrer, among others. All known members revealed to viewers in the series weresuper soldiers, men with superhuman abilities - with the exception ofAlex Krycek, who was killed in "Existence".[18] During theseason finale, "The Truth" this unnamed organization shuts downthe X-Files office at theFederal Bureau of Investigation. Mulder was left on the run[19] until all his criminal charges qlare lifted inThe X-Files: I Want to Believe.[20] In theeleventh season premiere "My Struggle III", Mulder encountered Mr. Y and his accomplice Erika Price, who claimed to be former members of the Syndicate with their own agenda involving the colonization of space and simulated reality.
TheMen in Black is the unofficial name of a group of enforcers employed by the Syndicate to take care of the dirty work of the conspiracy. Most of them were ex-military, highly trained and loyal hitmen, who worked as a front in government agencies such as theFederal Bureau of Investigation,Department of Defense, and theNational Security Agency.
The Men in Black are analogous to theAlien Bounty Hunters employed by theColonists. The Men in Black were, however, not as reliable as the bounty hunters and though sometimes they were used initially it took the more capable Alien Bounty Hunters to complete difficult tasks. The Syndicate would use the bounty hunters only when absolutely necessary because of an increased risk of exposure.
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