Line #162 Webcomic/MonsterOfTheWeek


1	[[quoteright:274:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/motf_7873.jpg]]
2	->''Agent Scully, we have a rogue agent in the basement. Go stare disapprovingly.''
3
4	''Monster of the Week: The complete cartoon X-Files'' is a webcomic by Shaenon K. Garrity that started in June 2012 and chronicles ''The X-Files'', episode by episode. Every Friday, a new episode is presented in the form of a neat, black-and-white twelve-panel cartoon.
5
6	Long story short, it's TheAbridgedSeries of ''Series/TheXFiles'' in the form of a webcomic. Of course, some changes were inevitable. ''Monster of the Week'' doesn't take itself seriously, throws away multiple plots from the series, Mulder is a GenkiGuy, and characters [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall lean on]] or outright [[BreakingTheFourthWall break]] the fourth wall.
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8	The comic went on hiatus in June 2014 after concluding season four of ''Series/TheXFiles''. It briefly came out of hiatus as of February 2016 to recap the 2016 miniseries, again in February 2018 to recap season 5 (as a side reward for kickstarting a reprint of her original comic, ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}''), October 2020 to recap season 6 (as a side reward for kickstarting the ninth print volume of her original comic ''Webcomic/SkinHorse''), and (currently) August 2022 (as part of the stretch goals for kickstarting ''Skin Horse'''s 11th and 12th volumes).
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10	You can start reading it [[http://www.shaenon.com/monsteroftheweek/2012/06/29/06292012/ here]]. Their Patreon can be found [[https://www.patreon.com/Shaenon?ty=h here]][[note]]If it reaches $2000, the webcomic will fully be brought out of hiatus[[/note]].
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12	Not to be confused with [[{{MonsterOfTheWeek}} the trope]] or [[{{TabletopGame/MonsterOfTheWeek}} the Tabletop RPG]].
13
14	----
15	!!Tropes in this webcomic are (among others):
16
17	* AbortedArc: Subverted. Whenever Scully notes that the season arc seems to have disappeared, it pops up again.
18	* TheAbridgedSeries: ''Monster of the Week'' is basically the webcomic equivalent of this trope for ''Series/TheXFiles'', often exaggerating character traits and plotlines for the sake of comedy along with satirizing/lampshading some of the weirder aspects of the series itself.
19	* ActorAllusion: [[invoked]]Quite often the author points out through caption or TheRant that a particular guest actor appearing in one episode became famous later. It's pretty uncanny to see how long is that list. Lampshaded in TheRant in ''Soft Light'':
20	-->The X-Files has so many before-they-were-stars moments.
21	* AffectionateParody: As much as the webcomic mocks ''The X-Files'', it's still abundantly clear that Garrity absolutely loves the series as evidenced through the numerous injokes and moments of praise.
22	* AGoodNameForARockBand: SKINNER'S FIST. Additionally, the first album should be titled "Shirtless Edition".
23	* AllAccordingToPlan: Discussed:
24	-->'''Sexy informant:''' My triple-dog agenting against Skinner went according to plan, sir.
25	-->'''Cancer Man:''' You don't know the plan.
26	-->'''Sexy informant:''' Eh, everything always turns out to be according to plan.
27	* AndAllIGotWasThisLousyTShirt: There's are these little gems in ''Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man'': Cancer Man {{expy}} gets a t-shirt with "I saved goddam democracy and all I got was this T-shirt" and Mulder {{expy}} gets a t-shirt with "I joined the conspiracy and all I got was this T-shirt" written on them.
28	** [[invoked]] Also used to lampshade Season 10's status as a PostscriptSeason in its first episode ''My Struggle'' in the first few panels with Scully wearing a t-shirt that says "I learned [[ArcWords the truth]] and all I got was this T-shirt".
29	* AndThenWhat: After capturing Flukeman in ''The Host'', Scully asks what they would do with it. Cue BeatPanel.
30	* AnimatedActors: Played with ([[InvertedTrope inverted?]]). Scully and Mulder repeatedly refer to their actors, usually when giving an explanation why they can't join in on an adventure. However, they always refer to their actors as separate people while doing so, and seem to go on vacation while they're missing, rather than whatever their actor was actually doing.
31	* ArtShift: In ''Jose Chung's "From Outer Space" '' every panel is in different art style. They were contributed by multiple webcomic artists.
32	* AssholeVictim: All of the victims in ''Shapes''. It's even lampshaded:
33	-->'''Scully:''' You know, the werewolf was the only one who wasn't a dick to us.
34	** Similarly, all of the victims in ''Kaddish'' are Neo-Nazis, and so both Mulder & Scully don't mind the fact that [[FailureHero they didn't really do anything in this episode]].
35	* {{Author Avatar}}: Shaenon appears many times in the comic to state her opinion on the episode or for [[BreakingtheFourthWall fourth wall breaking jokes]]. She also resembles Helen from one of her other comics, ''{{Webcomic/Narbonic}}''. Her husband Andrew also has an avatar, but his appearances are far fewer than Shaenon's.
36	* AuthorFilibuster: ''Small Potatoes'', instead of abridging the episode, is the author telling us her feelings about it.
37	* AudienceSurrogate: Scully is this for the author. Lampshaded in ''Beyond the Sea'':
38	-->'''Andrew:''' You just identify with Scully.
39	-->'''Shaenon:''' Do not!
40	--> (beat panel)
41	-->'''Shaenon:''' ...Do you think I should dye my hair red?
42	-->'''Andrew:''' Yes.
43	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Scully and Mulder have a few moments. Of course, they immediately notice that this is going to inspire fanfiction.
44	* BatDeduction: In "[[https://www.shaenon.com/monsteroftheweek/2022/12/04/mow-38/ Chimera]]", the nonsense by which Mulder goes from Scully talking about a street preacher to realising who the monster is, lampshaded by him calling Scully "[[Series/Batman1966 Old chum]]".
45	* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: {{Lampshaded}} in the first panel of Season 5 [[RecurringCharacter lone gunmen]] {{backstory}} [[ADayintheLimelight episode]] '' Unusual Suspects'', where Byers introduces himself as being the exact opposite character of how he had been know previously in the series, only to become his current self by the end of the episode(which may or may not have been caused by the [[ChemistryCanDoAnything crazy gas that causes paranoid delusion]]):
46	-->'''Byers:''' Boy, I love being a loyal government employee with no paranoid beliefs whatsoever!\
47	'''Caption:''' ''Ironic!''
48	* BigBad: Cancer Man a.k.a. the Cigarette-Smoking Man.
49	* BigNo: Scully after flirty science guy gets shot:
50	-->'''Scully:''' ''NOOOOO! Whose romantic advances will I politely rebuff now?''
51	* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: A result of Mulder and Scully's argument:
52	-->'''Scully:''' Mutants!\
53	'''Mulder:''' Aliens!\
54	'''Both:''' Mutant Aliens!
55	* BreakingTheFourthWall: The author, Mulder and Scully all speak to the audience sometimes.
56	* BrickJoke: In ''Beyond the sea'', Shaenon asks her husband whether she should dye her hair red. A few months later, she admits in the rant that she did so.
57	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Heroic variant in ''Kitsunegari'', where it is {{lampshaded}} that Mulder can't recognize a returning villain from a previous episode:
58	-->'''Scully:''' Mulder! Your nemesis escaped and is coming after you!\
59	'''Mulder:''' Which ''one?'' I have too many nemeses.
60	* ButHeSoundsHandsome: In ''Zero Sum'', when Skinner impersonates Mulder during the opening investigation.
61	-->'''Mulder:''' Director! Somebody stole my identity to investigate [[NightmareFetishist an awesome bee murder]]!\
62	'''Skinner:''' Damn that handsome bastard!
63	* ButThouMust: As reflecting the episode's BittersweetEnding, the strip for ''Monday'' gives no option to access the GoldenEnding (the GroundhogDayLoop being broken and Mulder & Scully taking Pam out for ice cream) in its "choose your own adventure" structure, with Pam's only options being to either perform a HeroicSacrifice (TakingTheBullet for Mulder, thus breaking the time loop) or let the bank get blown up by her crazy boyfriend Bernard.
64	* [[invoked]]CaliforniaDoubling: [=MoTW=] frequently {{Lampshades}} the use of Vancouver as a shooting location for the first five seasons of ''Series/TheXFiles'' by mentioning "the rainy pine forests of [place of current episode]".
65	* CardCarryingVillain: Doctor Evil in ''Memento Mori''.
66	* CartwrightCurse: Flirty Science Guy dies a few panels after being flirty with Scully, prompting her BigNo.
67	* ChekhovsGunman: The Lone Gunmen, Krycek and the abduction victims from Season 2 all appear later.
68	* {{Cliffhanger}}: All over the place. Almost one in five episodes end with a cliffhanger.
69	** Especially {{lampshaded}} in the Season 10 finale, with Shaenon expressing her frustration in [[BreakingTheFourthWall a fourth wall breaking joke]], in which an alien is [[Film/ThePrincessBride reading the chapter to her as a bedtime story]]:
70	-->'''Shaenon:''' What? What happens next?\
71	'''Alien:''' That's it. That's the end of the show. \
72	'''Shaenon:''' You're reading it wrong! Who gets the conspiracy? Is it Samantha? Who?!\
73	'''Alien:''' Nobody gets the Conspiracy. It lives. Go to sleep.\
74	'''Shaenon:''' ''Jesus'', X-Files.
75	* CloneArmy: Multiple Samanthas and Good Clones from ''Memento Mori''.
76	* TheCloudcuckoolanderWasRight: Mulder is ''always'' right about the supernatural/paranormal explanations of their cases, up to the point when it just bores Scully.
77	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In ''Wetwired'', after Paranoid!Scully suggests that Mulder should show the chip he wound in a cable box to "[his] ''cigarette-smoking'' friends", where does he go?
78	-->'''Mulder''': (meeting with [[spoiler:the Lone Gunmen]]) Do any of you guys smoke?
79	-->'''[[spoiler:Langly]]''': [[YourMom Ask your mom.]]
80	* ContinuityNod: Upon finding the premise of the ''Kaddish'' episode (racial minority) Scully immediately remembers previous "racial minority" episodes (one with melanine vampires) and notes they don't have a very good track record of dealing with such cases (the vampires episode wasn't exactly sensible).
81	* DamselInDistress: Scully, more often than she'd like to.
82	-->'''Caption:''' Time for: Scully in peril!\
83	'''Scully:''' ''Dammit.''
84	* ADayInTheLimelight: ''Avatar'' is one for Skinner, although this doesn't end well. Same thing with ''Zero Sum''.
85	* DeadpanSnarker: Scully.
86	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Inverted in ''The Post-Modern Prometheus'' (recapping the episode which played this trope straight), which is the first fully colored strip in an otherwise black and white comic.
87	* DeliciousDistraction: In "Chimera", Fox, of all people, appears to be far more interested in the food the sheriff's wife is providing than actually solving the case. In fact, it's not clear he even really believes it's an X-File and isn't just using it as an excuse to stay for dinner.
88	* DeusExMachina: {{Invoked}} and {{Lampshaded}} for Mulder's survival of the season 2 finale cliffhanger at the beginning of Season 3, where he's brought back from the dead by [[MagicalNativeAmerican mystic Navajos]]:
89	-->'''Navajo Man:''' ''Though there is no plausible way the FBI man could be alive, my dreams warn me of a Deus Ex Machina. For generations my people have been convenient plot devices.''
90	* DownerEnding: Only ''Soft Light'' had one so far.
91	* DudeNotFunny: [[invoked]] The author states in TheRant that writing ''Oubliette'' (the Season 4 episode with the kidnapped girl) was especially hard, because she can't see any way to make kidnapping less than horrifying.
92	* EitherOrTitle: Each episode is given a title by template "[original X-Files episode title], or [author's joke title]".
93	* ExpansionPackPast: Lampshaded when ''The Unusual Suspects'' inexplicably portrays Young FBI Agent Mulder as not believing in conspiracies. It's pointed out to him that he joined the FBI ''because'' he believed in conspiracies, and he replies that it's really hard to keep track of this stuff.
94	* FailedASpotCheck: Mulder and Scully do it repeatedly. Suprisingly, it's rarely lampshaded.
95	* FailureHero: Mulder and Scully only solve the episode's conflict about a third of the time, if that. As noted by Shaenon, [[StatusQuoIsGod the nature of the series means they can't really get solid proof of the paranormal or expose the Conspiracy]], so so they often achieve very little and generally end up letting enough people die that they have to close the case. They even have a {{catchphrase}} for when they are particularly ineffective (see RunningGag below). Of course, being an abridged series this is all PlayedForLaughs.
96	* {{Fanservice}}: Mulder provides some examples, as well as Skinner, once:
97	-->'''Caption:''' ''SKINNER'S FIST!!! (shirtless edition)''
98	** The Season 10 episode ''Babylon'' has it lampshaded in TheRant:
99	--->'''Shaenon:''' This strip is mostly male nudity. [[YaoiFangirl Thank you again, X-Files]].
100	* FantasticallyIndifferent: Citizens of the Bay Area, as described by author:
101	-->''On the other hand, Colma's on the BART[[note]]Bay Area Rapid Transport[[/note]] line, and robed figures in masks toting corpses would be unlikely to inspire comment.''
102	* FondMemoriesThatCouldHaveBeen: Spoofed in the recap of ''Founder's Mutation''. Scully wants to have a sideflashback about her missing part-alien son. Next panel has her and William skipping hand in hand, and the panel's heading reads "Impossibly idyllic child-rearing fantasy". The last panel portrays Mulder and William watching a movie, Mulder calling William "fantasy son" and Scully his "fantasy mom".
103	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
104	** In ''Fallen Angel'', about the Lone Gunmen becoming recurring characters:
105	--->'''Scully:''' I hope you learned a lesson about the responsibility of owning your own conspiracy nut.\
106	'''Mulder:''' Yeah. Next time I'll get at least three.
107	** In ''Leonard Betts'', about Scully getting cancer:
108	--->'''Leonard Betts:''' I'm sorry but you've got something I need.\
109	'''Scully:''' Wait, what? What did that mean?.[[note]]Leonard Betts is a mutant who eats tumors.[[/note]]
110	* ForTheLulz: Aliens' motivations as explained in ''Fearful Symmetry''.
111	* FormulaBreakingEpisode: Many times the author changes the formula from abridging episodes to something else:
112	** ''Jersey Devil'', in which the author, underwhelmed at how easy the namesake creature was to kill, proceeds to reimagine the plot. [[RuleofCool It involves Batman riding the Jersey Devil like a Flying Mount]].
113	** ''Firewalker'', in which the author questions the scientific accuracy of the killer fungi, and [[BreakingthefourthWall invites a Mycologist to debunk it]], but he eventually gets so annoying that [[RageAgainsttheAuthor Mulder and Scully proceed to throw him at a pit of the (now debunked) killer fungi]].
114	** ''Excelsis Dei'', which is presented as an instructional video to create awareness on the difficult subject of ghost rape.
115	** ''Aubrey'', in which due to the participation of actor Terry O'Quinn, who would play Locke on ''{{Series/Lost}}'' years later, the strip then turns into a {{Whatif}} {{Crossover}} of how several other ''Lost'' characters would act if they were in the episode.
116	** ''Irresistible'', ''Die Hand Die Verlezt'' and ''Orison'', which are a list of the ten top reasons why their respective [[TitleDrop monsters of the week]](Donnie Pfaster, Mrs. Paddock, and Donny Pfaster again) are so creepy.
117	** ''Fearful Symmetry'', in which aliens explain their plans to abduct zoo animals and turn them invisible, [[ItAmusedMe for the lulz]].
118	** ''Humbug'', which is presented as a list of carnival attractions, in reference to the {{Circus of Fear}} involved in the episode.
119	** ''F.Emasculata'', which is a series of tips to prevent another outbreak like the one that happened in this episode. Which are actually only two tips: [[TooDumbtoLive don't lean in close to stuff covered in giant pulsating boils]] and listen to the CDC and not any [[EvilTwin evil impersonators of the CDC]] that may show up instead.
120	** ''D.P.O'' and ''Small Potatoes'', in which the author recognizes these episodes as her GuiltyPleasure and goes on to list the many reasons for this.
121	** ''Hell Money'', which is a list of the inaccuracies of the episode's portrayal of San Francisco, being the actual living place of the author.
122	** ''Jose Chung's "From Outer Space" '' which is a series of one-shot panels drawn by different artists, lampshading the many ways in which the episode intentionally makes no sense.
123	*** It also mimics the differing artwork of the "[[http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-big-book-of-conspiracies-doug-moench/1000232920 Big Book of Conspiracies,]]" as Jose Chung itself is a patchwork combination of various UFO conspiracy theories found in that book.
124	** ''Home'', in which the author purposely changes the strip to a story of her husband and she watching the episode, [[NightmareFuel/TheXFiles because the dark, mundane horror of the plot makes it hard to properly satirize]].
125	** ''Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man'' is written as one of CSM's "Jack Colquitt" novels.
126	** ''Mulder And Scully Meet The Were-Monster'', which offers an explanation for Guy Mann being dressed like [[Series/KolchakTheNightStalker Kolchak]] - by suggesting that the murder victim he stole clothes from was Kolchak himself.
127	** ''Babylon'', which is mostly about the dying terrorist character breaking the fourth wall to complain about the portrayal of Muslim culture in the episode. The ending is then reimagined with [[MoodWhiplash the Muslim guy leaving Mulder in order to have a dance party with]] [[TheCameo the Lone Gunmen]].
128	** ''Monday'', which is designed InTheStyleOf a "Choose Your Own Adventure" story through its panel layout instead of serving as a "normal" comic.
129	** ''The Unnatural'', which mostly consists of Shannon informally talking about her love for the episode and how Creator/DavidDuchovny is actually a genius with a master's degree from Yale.
130	** ''Hungry'', which is an infomercial by brain-eating mutant Rob Roberts about "the power of proboscoid thinking".
131	** ''The Goldberg Variations'', which is an explanatory diagram of how the Goldbergian chain of events fits together.
132	** ''X-Cops'', which is another one which focuses on Shaenon and Andrew's reactions to the episode. This time he falls asleep.
133	** ''Je Souhite'' has Mulder recap the actual episode in the first panel, and the rest is Scully telling the genie ''her'' three wishes (which are [[JackassGenie ironically]] granted in the next episode).
134	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In ''Little Green Men'', when Mulder talks with the Senator, there's a picture of the Senator shaking hands with an alien hanging in the background.
135	** It gets revisited in the first episode of Season 10 - ''My Struggle'' - where in the first panel with a picture in the background of Scully with an alien [[BunnyEarsPicturePrank doing the bunny ears on her]].
136	* GenkiGuy: Mulder, full stop. He does it almost once every episode.
137	* GenreSavvy: Scully, and Mulder to a lesser extent.
138	* GirlfriendInCanada: Pheobe Green from the episode "Fire" is introduced by Mulder saying "Hey, Scully. Remember how I told you I did so have a girlfriend but she lives in England and you wouldn't know her?"
139	* IdiotBall: [[invoked]]Mulder tends to act like an idiot every time [[WildCard Krycek]] is around. Scully calls him out on this, but he just won't listen...
140
141	* TheInternetIsForPorn: {{Discussed}} in the Season 5 episode ''Kill Switch'' as the one overriding advantage [[BrainUploading uploading your mind]] into the nascent [[TheNineties nineties internet]] has.
142	-->'''Mulder:''' Imagine what those hackers will experience in cyberspace.\
143	'''Scully:''' It's the 90's. They can only do so much with a T3 line and access to ''Geocities''.\
144	'''Mulder:''' But the porn, Scully! The porn!
145	* JumpScare: Much like the episode it's based on, ''[[spoiler:War of the Coprophages]]'' has [[spoiler:a cockroach walk across the strip]]. As in, [[spoiler:the strip is actually a GIF '''and it happens without any prompting''']].
146	* JokerImmunity: Lampshaded for Cancer Man in ''One Breath'':
147	-->'''Mulder:''' Found you, Cancer Man!\
148	'''Cancer Man:''' You can't kill me. I'm the best villain.\
149	'''Mulder:''' True. I'll go yell at Skinner instead.
150	* KillerRabbit: Kitten in ''Teso dos Bichos'', although they're not very killer.
151	* KlaatuBaradaNikto: When Mrs Paddock set up her... [[BuffySpeak chapel-thing]] in ''Die Hand die Verletzt'', she wrote it under the pentagram, along with 666, Cthulu reference and "I heart evil".
152	* LampshadeHanging: Everywhere. Scully does it most often.
153	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Often.
154	-->'''Mulder:''' These migrant workers are killed by our grossest special effect yet.
155	* MagicalNativeAmerican: Lampshaded in ''The Blessing Way, or Crap Goes Down Part II: Indians Are Magic''.
156	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Parodied at the end of ''Avatar'':
157	-->'''Mulder:''' So who was that old lady?
158	-->'''Skinner:''' None of your business, agents.
159	-->'''Mulder:''' I think she was the ghosts of Vietnam.
160	-->'''Scully:''' [[DeadpanSnarker I think she was Mulder's mom.]]
161	* MediumAwareness: Very common, with Mulder and Scully usually being the ones to break the fourth wall and recognize that they're in a television series.
162	-->'''Mulder:''' Are you even ''aware'' you're in a TV show?
163	* TheMole: Krycek for Cancer Man.
164	* MultipleEndings: After failing their El Chupacabra assignment, Mulder and Scully give Skinner two alternative endings to their report: "Alien Abduction Ending" and "Chupacabra Bros Ending". Skinner finds this to all be "sexy, sexy nonsense."
165	* NoTimeToExplain: In ''Colony'', Mulder's dad calls him up and says he needs to come home and he'll explain when he gets there. Mulder says "Why do people ''do'' that? Just tell me over the phone!"
166	* NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer: Lampshaded on several occasions to note the absurdity of certain episodes' plot twists. It's almost to {{Running Gag}} levels, as seen whenever there is a message attached to a strip which says: "Actual line/joke/dialogue used in the episode".
167	** ''The Calusari'': "Old lady eaten by chickens: thing that happens."
168	** The entirety of ''War of the Coprophages'', at the very beginning with a message from the author: "Okay, I admit it. [[PoesLaw I can do nothing better with this episode]] than just quote all the best lines".
169	** ''Hell Money'': "Left His Heart in San Francisco <- Actual Joke used in this Episode.[[note]]The episode is about a human organ trafficking ring.[[/note]]"
170	** ''Terma'': "Interlude: Horse framed in scientist's death."
171	** ''Chinga'': "Scully microwaves a doll. ''(beat)'' And that is a thing that happens in an X-File."
172	* OminousLatinChanting: Lampshaded in ''The Field Where I Died'':
173	-->'''Scully:''' ''Are those Gregorian chants on the soundtrack? My people [Catholics] refuse to take responsibility for this particular religious abuse!''
174	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Lampshaded in ''Unrequited''.
175	-->'''Mulder:''' ...So the government put us in charge of protecting those generals cause it knew we'd fail!
176	-->'''Skinner:''' Impossible!
177	-->'''Mulder:''' Isn't it suspicious that they gave us a real FBI job?
178	-->'''Scully:''' [[TheCloudcuckoolanderwasRight He's got a point, sir.]]
179	-->'''Skinner:''' Hmmm.
180	* OpeningACanOfClones: Who's the real Samantha?
181	* PerspectiveFlip: ''Fearful Symmetry'' is told from the perspective of aliens.
182	* PowerPerversionPotential: [[invoked]] Lampshaded in ''Kaddish''; after learning that the episode's {{golem}} was meant as a ReplacementGoldfish for the main character's husband, Mulder is too {{Squick}}ed out to ask if the golem was able to do... "[[SexBot other]] things" with her.
183	* QuestionableCasting: Subverted. The author praises X-Files casting repetitively in-universe.
184	* TheRant: There's one under every strip where the author is talking a bit about her feelings towards an episode she's currently abridging.
185	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: [[invoked]]
186	** Lampshaded in ''Sleepless'' as the reason for Mulder to temporarily get a new companion (Krycek):
187	--->'''Scully:''' Sorry Mulder, I can't fight any crimes or [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall be shot from the waist down until Gillian Anderson pops out her baby]].
188	** For the comic itself, Shaenon went on hiatus the first time due to also being pregnant.
189	* RecapEpisode: Each season ends with recap strip, where single frames from each of the season's strip are combined into one.
190	* RippedFromTheHeadlines:
191	** Lampshaded for ''The Field Where I Died'':
192	-->'''Mulder:''' Man, how'd we get roped into raiding a suspiciously Waco-like cult?
193	-->'''Scully:''' I hate missions ripped from the nation's headlines.
194	** [[invoked]] Also used, in a DudeNotFunny fashion, in the Season 10 episode ''Babylon'', where the dying Muslim character complains about the portrayal of Muslim characters in the episode as terrorists, and Mulder retorts invoking this trope.
195	* RedShirt: There's a lot of those, but it's especially lampshaded in ''Ice'', when, upon hearing what their newest mission is about, Scully decides to collect a bunch of "some redshirts to get killed ahead of us". Those are: "[[DisposablePilot Cynical hard-bitten pilot!]]", "[[BunnyEarsLawyer Wacky scientist whose quirks will be missed]]!", "[[SubvertedSuspicionAesop Suspicious guy who will probably turn on everyone!]]" and "[[TheSmurfettePrinciple A woman]]!" ("I'm a woman ''and'' a scientist. That's ''two'' traits.")
196	** Also, [[CartwrightCurse Flirty Science Guy]].
197	* RuleOfCool:
198	-->'''Mulder:''' ''I don't think we're dealing with a zombie. We're dealing with a golem. (beat) Because it's cooler.''
199	* RunningGag:
200	** Scully in peril!
201	** "So...even by our usual low standards, we completely failed."
202	** "Oh ''God,'' don't make me say [something] vampire."
203	** The screenwriters of the series being drawn as [[TheGreys grey aliens]].
204	** SKINNER'S FIST!!!
205	** The rainy pine forests of [place of current episode].[[note]]Which is in turn a reference to the episodes [[CaliforniaDoubling being shot in Vancouver]]--only in the pilot episode the name Vancouver is actually used.[[/note]]
206	** Mulder's love of sketchy, suspicious informants.
207	** [[invoked]] Mulder and Cancer Man being B.F.Fs. [[note]]Which seems to be actually a legit aspiration of Cancer Man, making him somewhat of a JerkassWoobie.[[/note]]
208	** Shaenon [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes freaking out whenever the black oil]] makes an appearance.
209	** And of course, [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight MULDER IS RIGHT!]]
210	* RussianReversal: ''Tunguska, or In Russia, Oil Lightly Seasons YOU".
211	* RussianGuySuffersMost:
212	** Two prominent examples in the two parter in which Mulder and Krycek go to Russia:
213	** In ''Tunguska'' Mulder and Krycek are captured by Russians after a horseback chase and then sent to a gulag. The author states her opinion about this in TheRant:
214	--->'''Shaenon:''' The Russians chasing Mulder and Krycek with horsewhips may seem over the top, but literally the same thing happened to Pussy Riot. So, you know, Russia.
215	** In ''Terma'', the Russian prisoners method to prevent black oil infection are over the top even for Krycek:
216	--->'''Russian Prisoner:''' We came up with a way to escape the Black Oil inoculations stranger. CUT OFF OUR INOCULATION ARM.\
217	'''Krycek:''' Wow. That is really... Russian.
218	* SayingTooMuch / SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Several times.
219	** The opening panel of ''Fresh Bones'':
220	--->'''Mulder''': We're here to investigate a string of suicides at your military base.\
221	'''Colonel Wharton''': I don't know about any voodoo revenge murders.
222	** From ''Our Town'':
223	--->'''Scully''': Neurological diseases of this kind are often spread by cannibalism...\
224	'''[[UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken Colonel]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext Sanders]]''': Egad! Are you accusing us of eating tasty human flesh for eternal life?\
225	'''Scully:''' What? No, I just want to search for contaminants--\
226	'''Colonel Sanders:''' In all my 150 years, I have never heard such balderdash! I mean less than 150 years. This interview is over.
227	* SeenItAll: Mulder's attitude in ''Unrequited'':
228	-->'''Scully:''' So what, we're dealing with a vet[eran] who kills invisibly through MindControl?
229	-->'''Mulder:''' Nah, that already happened in Season 2.
230	-->'''Scully:''' A vet who kills invisibly through psychic projection?
231	-->'''Mulder:''' ''(smugly)'' Season 3, Scully.
232	* ShoutOut: To ''Thunderbolts'', ''Film/FaceOff'', ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment'', ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'', ''Film/{{Reanimator}}'' and ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon'' among others. Scully seems particularly pop culture-savvy, [[TimeyWimeyBall even if pop culture in question wasn't there when show is supposedly taking place]].
233	* SkewedPriorities: When Mulder discovers that he is now seeing the "kill" messages in ''Blood'' (after Scully shoots down his idea that the LSD-spraying program is involved[[note]]Because ''he'' was sprayed, [[TemptingFate and was fine]][[/note]]), how does he react?
234	-->'''Mulder:''' ''(with crazy eyes, pumps fist)'' Yes! I'm crazy! My theory holds!
235	* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: In his first shot Mulder is seen wearing glasses, helpfully pointed at and signed "smart glasses".
236	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute:
237	** Scully introduces herself to Mulder as "I'm [[Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Clarice Star]]--Dana Scully."
238	** Season 10 Agents Miller and Einstein are basically younger versions of Mulder and Scully. Lampshaded in Season 10's last chapter ''My Struggle II'':
239	-->'''Scully''': The world's ending and Mulder's run off again!. Good thing we acquired Muppet Babies versions of ourselves this season.[[note]]Also counts as a VisualPun, since they are both drawn as children instead of young adults.[[/note]]
240	** In the ''Series/{{Millennium\|1996}}'' crossover, Scully points out that Frank Black, "controversial FBI profiler", is somewhat similar to Mulder. Mulder asks her how many hit series ''she's'' showrun.
241	* TakeThat:
242	** In TheRant for ''Zero Sum'', Shannon mocks anti-vaxxers and complains about them inadvertently trying to bring back smallpox through their stupidity.
243	** ''Redux'' ends with one to Season 10.
244	--->'''Scully:''' Well, this mission was overstuffed with exposition and backstory to the point of incoherence.\
245	'''Mulder:''' I know! Don't you wish we could have a whole reboot like this?\
246	''(Scully promptly gives Mulder a DopeSlap)''
247	** After recapping Season 4, quick jabs are made at the Season 5 episodes ''Chinga'' and ''Kill Switch'' with this remark:
248	--->''Next: Season 5! - Creator/StephenKing vs. Creator/WilliamGibson: Who Will Disappoint Us More?''
249	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The author stated in-universe that she considers the shapeshifter episode in season one a missed opportunity.
250	* ThisIsGonnaSuck:
251	** In the pilot, Scully's reaction to Mulder's office being full of UFO stuff and nerdery is "Aw, crud."
252	** Scully barely makes it four panels before realizing just how stupid ''Space'' is going to be.
253	--->'''Mulder:''' Aw, play along.
254	--->'''Scully:''' I'm sorry... I just don't even...
255	** This is also Scully's reaction in the Season 5 episode ''Kill Switch'', when she founds out they'll be teaming up with [[{{Hackette}} "the other kind of fictional hacker"]]:
256	--->'''Hacker Girl:''' Hey normies.\
257	'''Scully:''' Oh God.\
258	'''Hacker Girl:''' I'm Invisigoth.\
259	'''Caption:''' For reals!\
260	'''Scully:''' Oh ''God.''
261	** PlayedForLaughs in the Season 6 episode ''Triangle'':
262	--->'''Scully:''' Skinner, the day we always feared has come.\
263	'''Skinner:''' Christ, [Mulder] ''finally'' went to the Bermuda Triangle.\
264	'''Scully:''' I swear I took my eye off him for a minute.
265	* TruthInTelevision: Lo Pan in ''Hell Money'', according to the author.
266	-->''X-Files: Lo Pan from "Big Trouble in Little China" rules the city and can steal your organs any time.''\
267	''Reality: True.''
268	* UnfazedEveryman: Scully, especially in ''Unruhe''. She just shrugs off this nonsense.
269	* UnfinishedBusiness: Ghost in ''The List'', revenge variety.
270	* UnwinnableByDesign: As a ShoutOut to [[Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure "Inside UFO 54-40"]], ''Monday'' (stylized as a choose-your-own-adventure story) has the GoldenEnding (where Pam survives, and Mulder and Scully take her out to Ultima Ice Cream) be disconnected from the paths of the story.
271	* VillainEpisode: ''Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man'' is this for Cancer Man, except more so than the actual episode because it's mainly a retelling of the episode as if it was [[StylisticSuck one of his Jack Colquitt stories]]. Notably, it delves headfirst into FanFic territory when [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute "Wolf Mandrake"]] shows up.
272	* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Mulder says it... moments before angry Russians start chasing him. And he's with Krycek.
273	* WhoWritesThisCrap:
274	** ''Miracle Man'', the [[TitleDrop Monster of the Week]] himself says it best:
275	--->Well, it's all over... and no one figured out the murders were done by me, the burn victim he miraculously healed! Mainly because it makes no sense.
276	** ''Space'' mostly consists of Scully in upset silence over how dumb the episode is.
277	--->'''Mulder:''' I'm sorry, Scully. This was a bad one.\
278	'''Scully:''' I... Sometimes they're just too ''stupid'', you know?
279	** ''Hollywood AD'' has Mulder asking this repeatedly, with the joke being it was Creator/DavidDuchovny.
280	--->'''Mulder''': It's like this case was devised by someone with a Master's in the Late Modernists.
281	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Mites for Mulder and Scully, as well as Black Oil for the author.
282	* WildCard: Krycek. Astoundingly, Mulder trusts him every time.
283	* WonderTwinPowers: {{Invoked}} and referenced the {{trope namers}} in the Season 10 episode ''Founder's Mutation'', in which after being reunited the mutant siblings [[spoiler: get revenge on their evil doctor dad by [[YourHeadAsplode giving him a scanner death]]]], by shouting [[ShoutOut "MUTANT SIBLINGS]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}} POWERS ACTIVATE"]]
284	* YouHaveToBelieveMe: All over the place since Mulder has the habit of telling other police officers his paranormal/supernatural theory of what's going on, regardless of how crazy it sounds to normal people. Especially lampshaded in ''Pusher'' where he tries to convince a court of the [[TitleDrop monster of the week]] paranormal abilities:
285	-->'''Mulder''': Your honor, Mr. Modell has been driving people to suicide with his telepathic powers.\
286	'''Judge''': What? No. That's not a thing.\
287	(beat panel)\
288	'''Mulder''': I can't believe Modell mind-controlled the judge to dismiss the case!\
289	'''Scully''': (Rolls eyes)Yes, that's definitely what happened.
290

Context Webcomic / MonsterOfTheWeek