Walter Skinner is an FBI assistant director who served in the United States Marine Corps in the Vietnam War. During this time he shot and killed a young boy carrying explosives, an episode which scarred him for life. Skinner is originally the direct supervisor of special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, and the X-Files office. He later serves the same position for agents John Doggett and Monica Reyes. Although he is originally portrayed as a somewhat malevolent character, Skinner eventually becomes a close friend of Mulder and Scully. He appeared in an episode of The Lone Gunmen and both The X-Files feature films.