Emily Oatman

**Emily Oatman** is a character in The X Files.

## History

Dr. Oatman was a practicing oncologist in Philadelphia, where she was developing an experimental cancer treatment combining radiation and cryotherapy, though Mulder describes her as being of "questionable credentials." Martin Sneberg's parents, desperate after traditional treatments had failed, allowed Dr. Oatman to test her process on him. Not only did her treatment cure her cancer, but it also gave Sneberg cryokinetic abilities that he had not previously possessed.

As a result of her work on Sneberg, she gained the attention of the Syndicate, who kidnapped her and forced her to experiment on other patients to recreate her results. When she was unable to do so, she was traded for some kind of oil sample to an unnamed shadow organization, where she worked to develop the Mucous Man with Dr. Johansson as well as experimenting on Cecil L'Ively.

She describes a long period of work on L'Ively, saying that his genetic mutations seemed to be actively evading the doctors' attempts to study them. Oatman became increasingly, frustrated, careless, and obsessed. Eventually, she forgot to discharge static electricity before working on L'Ively, leading to him burning her face and hand so severely she lost the ability to do surgical work. She expected her handlers to execute her but instead was given her current identity and allowed to retire to the "sleepy exurb" of Muskego, Wisconsin .

## Appearance

Oatman has a light skin tone, shoulder-length gray hair, and blue eyes. The right side of her face is covered in a large burn scar.

## Personality

If Dexler and Fulton find and interview her at the end of season one, she seems to sincerely regret her role in the suffering of her various subjects and their victims, to the point where takes her own life during their visit. She describes her actions as having been under duress, but does not attempt to morally excuse herself. She describes her failure to intervene or refuse to cooperate as cowardice.

## Relationships

### Martin Sneberg, Jr.

Although it was her treatment that caused Sneberg to develop his abilities, he doesn't seem to harbor any particular animosity toward her. For her part, she seems to regret the fact that her treatment led him indirectly to being blackmailed and force to kill for the Magic Bullets. She says that she didn't realize that her treatment had caused Sneberg to develop cryokinesis and denies that she ran from the side effects of her treatment.

### Aaron Fulton

Fulton interrogates Oatman after Dexler becomes upset and leaves the house. He notes that her regret seems to be sincere, although he can still condemn her for her participation in the experiments.

### Jessica Dexler

Dr. Oatman was one of the scientists responsible for creating the Mucous Man that killed the other members of Dexler's unit in the Aleutian Islands. She is horrified to find out that Dexler was one of the Marines stationed at Rowan Base and asks Fulton to give his partner her apologies before she dies.

## Trivia

* Her crimes include torture, aiding and abetting, and illegal experimentation.

## References

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskego,\_Wisconsin