Alien/Human Hybridization : The Roundup

Etymology: Latin "hybrida", from Greek "hubris" (ύβρις), meaning abundant pride, arrogance, that can be a challenge to the laws and the gods.

Hybrids, meaning alien/human hybrids, are abundant in the mythology of the X-Files. They are the result of the mixing of genetic material of humans and aliens, or in a sense humans and the gods, destined to populate the world after these gods return. Following the Cold War-era science fiction worried with the dangers of nuclear holocaust, the X-Files chose to focus on an other technological tool that can be used for both good and, in the case of dytopic scifi, for bad: the emerging field of biotechnologies and genetics. Cronenberg's "The Fly" (1986) and Otomo's "Akira" (1988) memorably illustrated the metamorphosis of the human organism and Crichton/Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" (1993) popularised genetic engineering and its potential drifts. Mixing the above with themes inherited from Nazism and racialism on the purity of the species, the X-Files would come to develop heavily the theme of genetics and the merging of the human with something in-human, featuring a host of hybrid variations and culminating in a miracle offspring of human and alien blood.


Recommended reading: Anne Simon's "Monsters, Mutants and Missing Links: The Real Science behind the X-Files". Anne Simon, an acquaintance of Chris Carter's, is a virologist and was XF's scientific advisor for seasons 1-6.

On the menu:

Page 1 : Children of Purity
- Shapeshifters
- Humans

Page 2 : First human efforts
- Human cloning (Eves)
- The xenotransplants
- Pre-1973 hybridization attempts (The Merchandise)

Page 3 : Cloned hybrids
- 1973: The Method, the fetus
- Unsuccessful (Samanthas, Gregors, Kurts)
- Successful (Jeremiah Smiths)

Page 4 : Gene therapy hybrids
- The abductees (Dana Scully, MUFON women)
- Delta Glen
- Bellefleur
- Dr. Berube's efforts (Zeus Storage)
- Dr. Ishimaru's efforts (Perkey center)
- The anemic babies (Emily Sim)
- First successful hybrid (Cassandra Spender)

Page 5 : Supersoldiers
- The first wave (Rohrer, McMahon, Toothpick Man)
- The second wave (Billy Miles)
- The chloramine babies

Page 6 : Special cases
- The Huichol
- The chimeras
- Gibson Praise
- Fox Mulder
- William

E.T.C 2004-2009