First Elder

Gender	Male
Status	Dead
Died	1999
Affiliations	Syndicate
Appearances	The X-Files (14 episodes) The X-Files: Fight the Future
Portrayed by	Don S. Williams

The First Elder (played by Don S. Williams) also known as the Well-Fed Man, and the Italian Man, was a high-ranking member of the Syndicate.

Profile

When it was found that CSM was lying about Mulder being dead, The Elder decided to use other operatives to find Mulder, Scully, and the tape. (TXF: "Paper Clip")

His exact position in the Syndicate is unclear, especially in regards to the Well-Manicured Man. He contacted Scully in person while Mulder pursued evidence of an alien autopsy on a train. (TXF:"Nisei", "731")

While at the Hansen's Disease Research Facility, the military group there found Dana Scully and brought her to him. Instead of imprisoning her, the man informed her about Zama and that he was conducting experiments at that place illegally. He showed her a train car and convincing evidence that Zama was conducting experiments on humans (nothing to do with any aliens), and, furthermore, that she was one of Zama's subjects. He then called the Red-Haired Man, knowing Mulder was with him, and let Scully explain this to Mulder. After Mulder hung up on her, he let her go. (TXF:"731")

The Elder learned about the French salvage ship the Piper Maru and informed the Syndicate in their office. When he noted the last known location was where the UFO was recovered, the others realized a leak was evident and the tape still existed. He heard that the CSM will come to inform them of his actions, so they waited. When he arrived, however, the Elder challenged him on the leak. (TXF: "Apocrypha")

The Elder obtained photographs of a meeting between the Cigarette Smoking Man and Teena Mulder. They were taken by X, but he did not know that then. He saw it as proof that one of the Smoking Man's henchmen was a traitor. The First Elder then set up a trap to reveal the identity of the traitor and dispatched the Grey-Haired Man to kill him. Sure enough, X fell for the trap and was executed. (TXF: "Herrenvolk")

The Elder heard the CSM's report on his handling of the loose bees. He did not believe CSM's "vague assurances" and pressed him on the details. (TXF: "Zero Sum")

After a fateful meeting with Michael Kritschgau, Mulder discovered he had been under surveillance by Scott Ostlehoff. Mulder killed Ostlehoff and obscured his identity with a shotgun blast to the face. Mulder and Scully used the situation to effectively fake Mulder's death. The First Elder confirmed Mulder's death through his FBI source. Soon, the CSM came to him at a race track and spoke with him about Mulder's death, which the CSM saw as unfortunate and unhelpful. The CSM confronted the Elder about there being someone surveilling Mulder without the CSM's knowledge, as it is his job to keep Mulder in check, but the Elder denied knowledge of it as well. (TXF: "Redux")

During these events, the Elder watched the hearings on human cloning. He was concerned to see that Skinner was present there. (TXF: "Redux II")

The Elder saw the CSM again after it was clear Mulder was alive and had broken into the DoD and the Pentagon, and was concerned about the exposure. CSM tried to convince him what he has seen only serves them, as they still need Mulder alive. After the CSM left, however, the Elder told one of his men he could "proceed." The operative followed the CSM as he tried to recruit Mulder to work on the Project, watching their movements through the scope of a sniper rifle. Shortly after the discovery of Scott Blevins' betrayal, the First Elder's operative shot the CSM, who had been holding a photograph of Mulder and his sister. (TXF: "Redux II")

The First Elder is often reserved and unemotional, although he does express anger and impatience on occasion, particularly in response to the incompetence of those beneath him.

The First Elder was at the meeting where Marita Covarrubias described the Kazakhstan incident and Krycek's presence there. He demanded to know more about what was triggering the "group assemblies" so early. He agreed that someone was acting against them, and it seemed that Krycek knew something. At a subsequent meeting, he saw WMM answer the phone and heard that Krycek wanted to trade the boy who saw the massacre for the vaccine, which he knew they were developing. (TXF: "Patient X")

When the alien craft landed in West Virginia, the Elder insisted on turning the rebel over rather than try to join them. While viewing Covarrubias to see if the vaccine that the WMM had obtained, he decided prematurely that it was not working and ordered the releasing of the rebel without the WMM's knowledge. (TXF: "The Red and the Black")

The Elder met with the CSM to take care of Gibson Praise, and he agreed. (TXF: "The End")

The Elder was present in London for Conrad Strughold's meeting about the new development of the alien virus in North Texas. ("The X-Files: Fight the Future")

In New York, the Elder attended the Syndicate meeting where the CSM informed the group about the new alien in Phoenix. He said local police department was involved and pictures taken by crime reporter. A fake story about a Native american killer was created. He learned that the man killed was one of theirs, probably accidentally injected himself while working on virus. The alien killed a man. The Elder insisted that CSM dispose of problem. (TXF: "The Beginning")

In 1999, the Elder was briefed by the CSM on the killing of the project doctors when operating on Cassandra Spender in the Potomac Yard. Oddly, the Second Elder proposed working with rebels, and Krycek argued with him until the CSM stopped him. (TXF: "Two Fathers") When the group gathered at El Rico AFB to meet the aliens as part of the beginning of colonization, the Elder realized that they had been tricked by the alien rebels. He was killed along with the rest of the Syndicate. (TXF: "One Son")

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