The Well-Manicured Man (played by John Neville) was a member of the Syndicate. Without his group's authorization, he secretly helped FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, partners assigned to the X-files, in the late 1990s. (TXF: "The Blessing Way", et al.) The Well-Manicured Man had at least one grandson and resided (at least temporarily) in Somerset, England. (The X-Files Movie)
- It seems implied, several times, that the Well-Manicured Man is the leader or at least a ranking member of the Syndicate, as the group is portrayed in the television series; Conrad Strughold seems to be the ultimate leader of the organization, but that character is only present in The X-Files Movie and neither appears nor is directly referenced in the television series.
Biographical Information
Early Photograph Appearance
The Well-Manicured Man pictured furthest right in a group of men in the early 1970s.
About 1973, the Well-Manicured Man was present when a photograph was taken outside the Strughold Mining Company in West Virginia. Six other men, including Fox Mulder's father, William, were also present. (TXF: "Paper Clip")
Helping Scully
In 1995, he attended a meeting between members of the Syndicate in a club on New York's 46th Street. During the meeting, the Cigarette Smoking Man, another member of the group, announced that Fox Mulder was dead. Before his reported demise, Mulder had stolen MJ documents - important Department of Defense files concerning UFOs. At the meeting, the Cigarette Smoking Man stated that the files had been returned.
Soon thereafter, the Well-Manicured Man attended the funeral of William Mulder, Fox Mulder's father. He overheard Dana Scully, who was also present at the funeral, say that she thought Agent Mulder was still alive. The Well-Manicured Man soon revealed his presence to Scully, introducing himself as a "friend of the family", and asked that they talk in private about an extremely serious matter. As they walked along a nearby path, he admitted that he had overheard her earlier.
He also revealed that he was a member of a group which represented certain global interests. If the MJ documents had not been returned, those "interests" would be so threatened by the files that they would be willing to commit murder to retrieve them. The Well-Manicured Man claimed that Mulder was dead. Although Scully refused to believe him, he assured her that he was not lying.
He also warned Scully that her own life was in danger, as the group he was part of would send someone to kill her. He further explained that Scully was in danger because, unlike his group, she wanted justice, and because they were almost completely certain that she did not have the MJ documents.
He confessed that he had informed Scully of this news due to his belief that his colleagues were acting impulsively, and a fear that Scully's death would bring unnecessary attention to his group, a motive that he admitted was selfish. He told Scully that his group were in the business of predicting, and inventing, the future, before he left. (TXF: "The Blessing Way")
He died in a car-bomb explosion, probably as suicide, after helping Fox Mulder to locate Dana Scully in 1998. (The X-Files Movie)
Relationships with others
The Well-Manicured Man in 1998.
Well Manicured Man seems to get along rather well with most everyone around him and is even polite and respectful to Mulder and Scully during their encounters. the only person whom he seems to openly dislike is Cigarette Smoking Man, whose methods and attitudes he is often vociferously contemptuous of. He seems to regard CSM as little more than a brute killer, and in regards to one situation, he angrily tells CSM "This will take more than just a good aim!"
Appearances
- TXF:
- "The Blessing Way" (Season 3)
- "Paper Clip"
- "Apocrypha"
- "Tunguska" (Season 4)
- "Terma"
- "Patient X" (Season 5)
- "The Red and the Black"
- "The End"
- The X-Files Movie
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