The Krycek File

Information accurate as of April 2, 2001

A complete guide to everything Krycek, a convenient collection of all that is known or can be reasonably surmised about the endlessly intriguing Ratboy. Included is information from aired episodes as well as episode scripts, comments from X-Files staff or actors, reasonable assumptions, and fannish traditions. (Every attempt will be made to indicate the pedigree of the information.)

Name: Alex Krycek

Which may or may not be his real name. He uses the name "Arntzen" with the militia and as a Russian agent, but this appears to have been an alias; when he finally meets Vassily Peskow in person, Peskow calls him "Comrade Krycek," not "Arntzen."

Alex is a pet form of the Greek name Alexander, "defender of men." It's a popular name in all English-speaking countries (as well as in Russia). According to Howard Gordon, who wrote "Sleepless," Krycek means "rat" in Eastern Europe. It's also been suggested that the name Krycek came from the name of a character in one of Chris Carter's favorite movies, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. At any rate, Krycek is not a Russian name; Czechoslovakian, perhaps. Arntzen is reportedly a German name.

Internet fans call Krycek "Ratboy" (probably because it's easier to spell than "Krycek"), but he was never called that in any of the episodes. Other Internet nicknames include "Skippy," "Weasel," and "Weaselboy," none of which ever approached the popularity of "Ratboy."

Physical Description:

Height: 6'-1"

Weight: 180 lbs./85 kg

Eyes: hazel

Hair: brown

Date of Birth: Unknown, but he appears to be somewhere between 25 and 35. (In an early draft of the "Sleepless" script, Krycek is described as being 25 years old. If true, that would mean he was born in about 1969, since the episode took place in 1994. But Krycek's age is never established in the canon, i.e., the aired episodes.)

Education:

Presumably Krycek joined the FBI in the usual way and went through the Academy. Otherwise, it would have been too risky to pose as a new agent in the DC area, a short drive from Quantico. Indeed, the first thing Mulder does is take Krycek to Quantico with him, to see Scully, who is working as an instructor there. ["Sleepless"] It would have all been over if Scully had asked her colleagues about Alex Krycek, and no one remembered his ever being at the Academy.

The FBI requires its Special Agents to have at least a 4-year degree; while the Consortium may have manipulated records to get Krycek admitted to the Academy, the man has obviously gotten an education somewhere along the line, formally or informally. Garden-variety thugs don't say things like "The autopsy revealed 43 small internal hemorrhages and skeletal fragments which just doesn't just happen spontaneously, not without some kind of corresponding external trauma."

Background:

The place and date of Krycek's birth is unknown. He tells Mulder his parents were "Cold War immigrants," but this seems unlikely - for historical reasons, and because Krycek had every reason to lie. When we first meet Krycek, he is posing as a very young, inexperienced agent, presumably in his 20s, but again, this may have been a ruse. It's possible Krycek only looks young. It's not clear if he was a Russian agent from the beginning, unbeknownst to CM, or was recruited after being abandoned in the missile silo. Nick Lea says he thinks Krycek grew up in a military family, a kid with a lot to prove, who got in over his head when he joined the Consortium. But he's also said that he thinks Krycek is American, with Russian parents. It doesn't seem likely that Russian-immigrant parents would have been in the U.S. military.

Work History:

A chronicle of Krycek's history: everything he's done, everything that's happened to him.

Overview: Timeline

International Player

Consortium Agent Again

Man of Mystery

Consortium Elder-In-Training

Man of Mystery Again

The Anti-Mulder

The Trickster

Special Skills:

Fluent in Russian. Fetches a mean coffee. Damned fine marksman, since he was able to shoot Augustus Cole with a pistol, even though Mulder was standing between them. Pretty good seamstress, if he was the one who sewed Dmitri's eyes and mouth closed. He can skydive. (Go Airborne!) Everyone's favorite chauffer. Master of disguise. Alien-spiker extraordinaire.

Key Relationships:

Well-Manicured Man

Spender

The Library:

Here, for your research convenience, are a variety of items for newbies or fan writers: transcripts of Krycek scenes and episodes, a Krycek Concordance, and some other fun and useful stuff! Click here. (Last updated February 28, 2000.)

The Photo Gallery:

A collection of images from each Krycek episode, with emphasis on visual details of interest to the fan writer. Click here. (Last updated April 2, 2001.)

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