Aaron Fulton is the male lead on The X Files. He is one of the two protagonists you regularly play as. He makes his first appearance in Season 1, Episode 1.
History
His senior year of high school, Aaron's whole family was murdered by his football coach (Coach Willoughby), a serial killer who also butchered several of Aaron's teammates and their families. As he came home late from partying, he was not with his family when Coach murdered them and ended up surviving to be rescued by Greg Pierce. One of his dialogue options involves accepting the blame for their deaths because he was "out being selfish. Smoking pot, having sex."
Depending on player choices, Aaron blames either himself, Pierce, or Coach for the death of his family. You can also decide the fate of the killer and how Aaron dealt with the loss after moving in with his foster parents. Pierce took a continued interest in Aaron, turning himself into a pseudo father figure and mentoring the young man. When Aaron became an adult, he interned with the Pierce Institute. In addition to doing filing and other clerical work for a number of X Files, Aaron experienced some inexplicable cases himself.
In one, a young girl fluent in a dozen language claimed to have been reincarnated over the course of millenia, including having confidential knowledge of her claimed past lives. The case was cut short when the girl apparently forced her parents to move continents so she could live in area she claimed she used to rule. In another, Aaron was sent to the "backwoods of Washington state" to investigate unexplained lights. He met an older couple who claimed to be searching for their son, who seemed to match stories of a couple that died in a similar search decades before. Outside the Pierce Institute itself, Aaron stumbled upon a strange, humanoid creature and frightened it off, after which Pierce scolded him, claiming that the creature was one of their informants.
Because of Pierce's encouragement and an internship at the latter's institute, he decided to enroll in the FBI academy. Aaron passed his classes in the academy but performed very poorly overall, with the only real exception being behavioral sciences and either surveillance, hand-to-hand combat (specifically jujitsu and muay Thai), or tactical driving depending on player choices. In particular, he is a very poor shot, a weakness which occasionally causes him problems in the field.
Appearance
Aaron is caucasian, with red, slicked hair and a beard. When working, he wears a blue suit jacket, a light blue shirt, and a navy tie. He also wears a FBI badge. Dexler observes that his eyes are usually in motion, although she describes them as observing and gathering information rather than being unfocused.
Personality
Aaron is quiet and thoughtful, and can describing himself as "living in his own head" when talking to Stacey. He is often uncomfortable with emotion and sometimes struggles to express himself.
He has a tendency to get caught up in his own thoughts, often zoning out when others would expect him to pay attention. The most dramatic example of this occurs when he "talks to" suspects in his head, gathering together everything he knows about a killer to carry on an imaginary interrogation in which he imagines their answers to his questions with startling accuracy. Doing so takes almost complete focus and causes him to shut out the world around him, something Dexler describes as "weird."
In general, Aaron takes a sceptic's attitude toward the cases he and Dexler are given, looking for human or scientific explanations rather than supernatural ones. Pierce suggests this stems from the trauma of losing his family, which he believes causes Aaron to look for "psycho killers" as the answer to every case.
Episodes
Season 1
- Episode 1
- Episode 2
- Episode 3
- Episode 4
- Episode 5
- Episode 6
- Episode 7
- Episode 8
- Episode 9
- Episode 10
- Episode 11
Season 2
TBD
Relationships
Jessica Dexler
He and Special Agent Jessica Dexler are partners as of the end of Season 1, Episode 1. Early on in their partnership, Aaron is jealous of Dexler because she performed much better at him at the academy and could have had any assignment she wanted, while he was hoping for behavioral sciences but could only find a place with the X-Files. He considers her decision to choose the job a waste, but doesn't tell her that. Depending on choices, their relationship can be professional, friendly or rivals.
They both have several moments where they have the option to tell each other what they know—or to hide it from each other. While being locked up, Jess has the option to make a move on him by saying he's hot. This will lead to him considering in the following episodes how he should act about it. It's up to the player if he's attracted to her or not.
In Episode 11, it's his choice who of the two becomes L'Ively's hostage. If he offers himself, their relationship will further improve. If he offers Jess, it damages their friendship. If he refuses to choose, Jess will criticize his indecision but their relationship will not decline as a result. In the same episode, If Jess makes another move on him, he can choose to act and kiss her, remember Stacey and leave, or say they should strictly be professional partners.
Stacey Cohen
She is his girlfriend. She works as a bartender but apparently has aspirations of being a writer. The two seem to have a strong relationship and are often together when Aaron is not working. Stacey helps to draw Aaron out of his head and he considers himself lucky to be dating her. As his work in the FBI grows more dangerous and demanding, it begins to put a strain on their relationship. On Dexler advice, Aaron can either face their issues and talk things out with Stacey or out their relationship on the back burner to focus on capturing L'ively.
Pierce
He was the agent working Coach's case. After Coach was arrested, Pierce took Aaron under his wing, acting as a mentor to him. For a time, he became the only person Aaron considered himself to be truly close to. After Aaron's graduation from community college and the FBI Academy, Pierce used his leverage to secure Aaron a position working the X-Files. In spite of the help Pierce has given him, Aaron always tenses up when Pierce gets involved in his personal or professional life. His conversation with Dr. Hill reveals that he resents Pierce, alternately because of his failure to save Aaron's family, his attempts to mold Aaron, or the ways in which he tries to act as a father to Aaron. Although they have the option to work well together in the field, Aaron doesn't fully trust him, especially after Pierce manages to end Ashtag through mysterious means, just in time to save Aaron and Jess from suffocation.
John Doggett
Fulton and Doggett got to know each other well while Fulton interned with the Pierce Institute. The two tease each other good-naturedly when Fulton comes to visit Pierce, and Fulton can mention to Dexler that Doggett is "like an uncle" to him.
Doctor Bennett Hill
Doctor Hill is a former licensed psychologist who became homeless after a row of setbacks, including the suicide of his wife. He is Aaron's therapist. When they first met, Doctor Hill was bleeding to death on a sidewalk. Aaron saved him and the two became friends, at which point Aaron started seeing Hill on a fairly regular basis, giving him food and companionship in exchange for counseling and advice.
Gallery
Outfits
Miscellaneous
Trivia
- Fulton was homeschooled by his foster parents after the murder of his family and eventually attended community college.
- Mulder mentions that Fulton's username on his video call app is "clobberintime," a reference to Marvel Comics character the Thing.
- The imaginary version of Cecil L'Ively that Fulton summons to interrogate has the dialogue option to mention that Fulton eats the same breakfast every morning, but he doesn't specify what it is.