Alex Krycek
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Alex Krycek |
| Occupation: | FBI Agent/double agent/mercenary |
| Relationships: | Affair with Marita |
| Fandom: | X-Files |
| Other: | One-armed |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Alex Krycek was a reoccurring character on the FOX television show The X-Files. He was first introduced as an FBI agent in Sleepless when he became Fox Mulder's new partner. In that same episode, Krycek was revealed to be working for the Syndicate and over the course of the series would switch alliances several times over. He's most likely dead as Skinner shot him several times in Existence and he later appeared to Mulder as a ghost in The Truth, but as Chris Carter has said many times, no one ever dies on The X-Files.
Fannish Engagement with the Character
Quite possibly the original little black dress of fandom, Krycek and his chameleon-like versatility make him a favorite of shippers and slashers alike. Most often paired with Mulder, Scully, Skinner, or Marita, Krycek can also be found in many crossovers, sometimes even having sex with his fellow little black dresses.
Because of his sneaky, underhanded ways (and Howard Gordon, who claims Krycek means "rat" in Eastern Europe), Krycek is referred to as "Ratboy" by his fans. RATales and RatB-K are two mailing lists dedicated to fanfic and discussion about Alex Krycek. AlexK-H-C-orD (link) is a mailing list focusing on hurt/comfort fan fiction featuring Krycek.
Fanon About the Character
Krycek has ties to Russia and spent some time there after he lost his arm in Terma. He can speak fluent Russian and once told Mulder his parents were "Cold War immigrants." For all these reasons, Krycek is often written as Russian or of Russian descent.
Wombat wrote a tongue-in-cheek meta essay cataloguing Krycek's various fanonical character interpretations in the style of a nature catalogue of the facts and habits of various species of animals, called The Spotter's Guide to the Common Krycek
Fan Comments
[There] seems to be an almost overwhelming urge in fandom to redeem (and by redeem I don't mean simply make the baddie not entirely evil, I mean turn them into simply misunderstood good guys) baddies [...] with very few exceptions, the Krycek stories I've read have been very much on the Skippy side of things--and unless some of my friends are keeping quiet (which would be a miracle!), all of my friends who like Krycek are Skippy fans. Well, I should emend [sic] that: all of my friends who started out liking Krycek seem to have either become Skippy fans or are so fed up with the Krycek Is Too A Nice Guy stories/attitudes that they're getting to (or have got to) the point where Krycek is persona non grata.
[...]
I admit, I've been edging too far to the other extreme, because I *like* baddies and I really hate this whitewashing, sanitising fluffy-slipperhood I see being stuck on perfectly good baddies. Obviously, there are exceptions to the unremittingly good/bad extremes of Krycek and every other fictional character... but it's this turning everyone
into tapioca pudding that gets on my nerves. Especially when you have someone who makes such a *good* baddie as Krycek does.[1]
Pairings
- Scully/Krycek
- Mulder/Krycek
- Krycek/Marita
- Skinner/Krycek
- Mulder/Skinner/Krycek
- Krycek/Other
- Krycek/Samantha
Fanfiction Archives
- The RATales Archive, updated 2010
- All Things Rat
- Lair of The Rat
- The Ratboy Fan Fiction Resource
- RatB - Mulder/Krycek Slash Fanfiction Archive, last updated March 2006
- TER/MA - Truly Erotic Ratboy Slash Mulder Association, last updated 2003?
- Skipper Tales - Scully/Krycek Fanfiction Archive], last updated May 2008
- SKINKS - Skinner/Krycek, last updated June 2007 (Wayback link)
- SKSA - Skinner/Krycek Slash Archive, last updated March 2002
Notable Fic
- The North-West Passage: Ghosts and the sequel Lovers by torch. Ghosts even inspired a fanzine. Mulder/Krycek casefile fic, posted 1997
- World Without End by Rachel Anton - an epic post-apocalyptic Scully/Krycek fic, posted March 1999 to June 2001
- Wicked Game by Mare - A Scully/Krycek epic and a flagship fic for the pairing; first part posted in September 1996, unfinished
- These Men of Honor cycle, a Mulder/Krycek mytharc series: Absolution Prologue, Absolution Act One and What Friends Are For by Rachel Lee Arlington and Powerplay and The Moment of Truth by Phyre. Posted 1997
- The Gift of an Enemy by Sylvia/rheasilvia - M/K fic with a casefile, published as a zine in 1998
- Restraint by Slim Slash and Without Me - Krycek/Eminem crossover.
- Krychek by Bren Antrim, the first Mulder/Krycek story
- End of Time by Jessica Kurr - another post-colonization Scully/Krycek story, published on 03-20-2017 and still a work in progress as of 08-27-2018.
Mailing Lists
Meta/Further Reading
- Subject: CONSPIRACY 101: ALEX KRYCEK, ver. 2.5 by Scott Glancy (1998)
- Musings of an X-Phile: Krycek, an essay by Joyce (1999)
- WHY KRYCEK MATTERS: X-Files Mythology by Zachary Conan (2018)