John Doggett

Doggett served in the United States Marine Corps in the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit from 1977 to 1983. His final rank was Sergeant (E-5). While serving in the military, he became good friends with fellow Marine Knowle Rohrer. From 1982 to 1983, Doggett played a role in the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force in Lebanon. Doggett retired from the U.S. Marine Corps with commendations after being wounded in the line of duty. After gaining a Juris Doctor and a Master's degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University, Doggett went on to work for the New York Police Department from 1987 to 1995, eventually becoming a detective in the Fugitive Division's Warrant section. While he was working for the NYPD, his son, Luke Doggett (played in flashbacks by Jake Fritz), was abducted and murdered. Doggett teamed up with Special Agent Monica Reyes, who was working out of the New York FBI field office at the time, to search for his son's killer. After his son's death, Doggett's marriage to Barbara Doggett (played by Patrick's real-life wife Barbara) ended in divorce. In 1995, Doggett graduated from the FBI Academy and assumed the position of FBI Special Agent in the Criminal Investigations Division. In 2000, Agent Doggett was assigned by Deputy Director Alvin Kersh to head up the manhunt to find Special Agent Fox Mulder. Initially, Scully and Doggett were not very trusting of each other. After years of investigating several X-Files cases with Mulder, Scully had slowly grown to believe in the existence of the paranormal. Doggett and his new partner, Reyes, took charge of the X-Files after Mulder was fired from the FBI and Scully left active duty to teach at the FBI Academy and to care for her son, Baby William. In the series finale, Doggett testified on Mulder's behalf when Mulder was charged with murder. Later, he and Reyes narrowly escaped from Knowle Rohrer, who Doggett had discovered about a year prior was working for the conspiracy. At the end of the series, Doggett is likely a regular agent, as it appears that Kersh was forced to close down the X-Files division. Doggett does not appear, nor is he mentioned, in the 2008 X-Files feature film. He similarly does not appear or is mentioned in the 2016 television revival of The X-Files. == Conceptual history ==

More than one hundred actors auditioned for the role, but only ten were taken seriously by the producers. Known actors such as Lou Diamond Phillips and Hart Bochner were among the auditionees for the role as Agent Doggett. Both Phillips and Bochner were considered for the role, but the producers eventually chose Robert Patrick. Chris Carter said "I think it was something that we all talked about, but I wrote his voice. So, I think he was someone we all came up with together, but his voice came out of my head. But, it was something that was helped in a large degree by casting Robert Patrick." Patrick had an obligation to work on another series after being cast as Doggett. Carter was inspired to write the scene in which Scully throws water into Doggett's face, due to Carter being aware that new actor Patrick would be facing opposition from some members of the fan community, Patrick has even called that scene his favorite ever shot for the series, admitting that he couldn't think of a better way to introduce the character and that the scene not only said a lot but that it had actually helped him. The introduction of the new character in the eighth season was one of two main factors that influenced the series' production personnel to decide to go back to more serious episodes. The other major reason was to avoid "trivializing the absence of Mulder". == Reception ==

Some members of the fanbase criticized the introduction of Doggett, claiming that the character had been intentionally created to replace previous lead Fox Mulder's work. Robert Patrick was awarded a Saturn Award in the category "Best Television Actor" in 2001 for his role as Doggett, winning over such nominees as Richard Dean Anderson for his work as Jack O'Neill on Stargate SG-1. He was also nominated for the award the following year. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Ken Tucker said that Patrick's portrayal brought "hardboiled alertness" to the series, being overall positive towards the new character. Anita Gates from The New York Times said that most fans had "accepted" Doggett, and further commented that the character actually looked "like a Secret Service Agent." Kathie Huddleston from Sci Fi Wire commented on the absence of Mulder, calling Patrick a "fine actor", and asserting that the character was "way-too-serious" to be intended as a direct replacement for Mulder. Carter commented on the character, saying "everybody likes Robert Patrick and the character", Patrick's performance saw him named as one of "The Ten Sexiest Men of Sci-Fi" by TV Guide. == References ==