Roland Fuller

Roland Fuller was a mentally disabled custodian at the Washington Institute of Technology and identical twin brother of the brilliant aerospace scientist Dr. Arthur Grable. 
Roland Fuller was born at Puget Presbyterian to the wealthy Grable family on July 12, 1952 in Seattle, Washington as the twin brother to Arthur Grable. Roland and Arthur were separated when they were three years old, with Roland, who was later given the surname Fuller, spending the majority of his life at the Heritage Halfway House in Colson. He was particularly close to a fellow patient named Tracy Despite Roland having an IQ below 70, as well as significant learning defects, he appeared to have Savant syndrome, possessing incredible mathematical abilities in the form of hypercalculia and had a long-standing interest in airplanes. Mulder theorizes that Roland's condition is the result of him absorbing a damaged chromosome from Arthur during the embryotic developmental stage, which not only made both gifted mathematicians, but may have somehow resulted in a deep psychic bond between the twins.
Arthur, who shared many of Roland's qualities, safe for the intellectual disability, grew up to become an aerotech engineer at the Mahan Propulsion Laboratory at WIT. Sometime in early 90's, Arthur found Roland in the local halfway house system and gave the order for him to be given a job as cleaner at the instititute. Although Roland and Arthur worked in the same environment, Arthur's glasses and large beard hid their resemblance, with Roland's diminished capacity preventing him from recognizing his own brother. 
In November, 1993, Arthur was killed in a car accident before he was able to complete a ground-breaking paper on jet propulsion. Arthur's body was completely destroyed, so only his head could be retrieved and preserved for the requested cryogenic freezing Arthur had requested upon his death. A colleague of his, Frank Nollette, discovered the research paper shortly after, with plans to publish it as his own work. To finish the theory, however, he enlisted the help of Drs. Surnow and Keats, though even with their combined efforts, their progress is stilted and they make errors that invalidate the entire thesis
On April 24th, 1994, Arthur somehow took control of Roland while he was cleaning the floors at the institute while the doctors were testing to confirm their findings for the theory and killed Dr. Surnow by activating the wind turbine chamber he was in. Roland writes out corrected calculations on the whiteboard before he reverts to his usual self and continues sweeping, unaware of Arthur's actions. The next day, Roland is visited by Special Agents Mulder and Scully, who inadvertedly cause him to undergo a vision of himself killing Dr. Keats by submerging his head in liquid nitrogen when the latter comments on his ability with numbers. Scully ends up taking one of his drawings with her, as it had a specific number code written several times on it. An analyst later determines that the writing does not match the one on the whiteboard.
The next night, Roland tosses in his sleep while having an extended vision of a struggle with Dr. Keats. Roland suddenly awakens, apparently possessed by Arthur, and travels back to the lab, where he dons his uniform and puts on safety gloves before knocking out Dr. Keats, killing him in the exact manner he had previously seen and again typing at the computer.
Roland has a dream from when he was taken away from his brother as kids when wakes up at the halfway house in the morning, still fully dressed. Mulder and Scully visit again and find out about how he came to work at the WIT, soon discovering the many similarities in early background in Arthur and Roland, including their shared birthdate. At the same time, Tracy, having overheard the agents talking with him, asks Roland who Arthur was, triggering a vision of him choking Tracy. Roland has a panic attack and locks himself in the bathroom, fearing he will hurt Tracy like he hurt Surnow and Keats. 
The agents, who have now confirmed Arthur's and Roland's shared familial history, suspect that Arthur faked his death and is using Roland as a fall guy and visit Roland once more the next day. Mulder presses Roland to remember what he dreams about, causing Roland to have another fit, again locking himself in the bathroom, but this time, he escapes through a window. Meanwhile, Dr. Nollette has snuck into the cryogenic lab and disabled the temperature regulator for Arthur's cooler. Roland, who is currently back at the instititute and under Arthur's control. writing ambidexterously in a notebook, reacts to this.
It doesn't take long for Dr. Nollette to arrive, who is amazed at Arthur controlling Roland from beyond the grave, but cruelly mocks him and admits to stealing his work as he prepares to shoot Roland, knowing that he will get away with it as self-defence once Roland is ruled the perpetrator. With Arthur's brain being defrosted, Roland begins to fight his brother's influence, which leads Nollette to laugh about the spectacle unfolding before him, distracting him long enough for the former to strike him with a keyboard and drag him into the windturbine chamber. Roland finishes writing in the notebook before activating the engine. Mulder and Scully arrive just in time and manage to appeal to Roland, who shuts the power back off, despite lacking the knowledge to do so.
It is decided that Roland will undergo a psychological examination, but it is uncertain whether or not he will be charged with the deaths of Dr. Surnow and Keats. As he leaves, he tells Tracy that he loves her and combs his hair in the mirror, briefly staring at the man in the reflection before straigthening his posture and walking out. ( "Roland")
==Background Check==
The casting of the Roland Fuller character was regarded, by the producers of , as being pivotal to the success of the episode "Roland". Željko Ivanek was the first performer to read for the producers as Roland Fuller. (, p. 154) Director recalled, "When Željko Ivanek came in and read, and I both looked at each other and said, 'That's the guy." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 26/27, No. 6/1, p. 58) In Carter's words, the actor "just blew us away," to the point where they knew immediately he had landed the part. (, p. 154) "Then we had about ten people come in after him," continued Carter, "but they just didn't get it." The role consequently went to Ivanek. (X-Files Confidential, p. 75)
Assisting Željko Ivanek with the part was thrilling for David Nutter. "I really enjoyed working with him, and making his portrayal as real as possible," the director related. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 26/27, No. 6/1, p. 58) The portrayal ended up garnering high praise from cast and crew of The X-Files. (The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series, the Myths and the Movies, p. 50) Nutter was one of the production staffers who were very pleased with the actor's performance, thinking Ivanek "did a wonderful job." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 26/27, No. 6/1, p. 58) In agreement, Chris Carter described Ivanek's appearance in the role as "just an amazing performance" and further remarked. "This guy, Željko, should have won an award for this. I thought he was just fantastic [...] and he turned in a terrific performance which, for me, made the episode." (X-Files Confidential, p. 75)
Category:The X-Files characters
Category:Monster of the Week
Category:Mutants