The Lone Gunmen

The Lone Gunmen
The X-Files character
Byers, Frohike, and Langly, from left to right
First appearance	"E.B.E."
Portrayed by	Bruce Harwood (Byers) Tom Braidwood (Frohike) Dean Haglund (Langly)
Information
Affiliated with	Fox Mulder

The Lone Gunmen are a trio of fictional characters, Richard "Ringo" Langly, Melvin Frohike and John Fitzgerald Byers, who appeared in recurring roles on the American television series The X-Files, and who starred in the short-lived spin-off, The Lone Gunmen. Their name was derived from the Warren Commission's conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was solely responsible for the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Described as counterculture patriots, they are ardent conspiracy theorists, government watchdogs and computer hackers who frequently assist central X-Files characters Mulder and Scully, though they sometimes have their own adventures. The Lone Gunmen author a news publication called The Lone Gunman (once referred to as The Magic Bullet Newsletter; a pejorative reference to the single bullet theory and, like the group's name, a reference to the Kennedy assassination), to which Mulder loyally subscribed. None of them have day jobs; they rely on financial backers who believe in their cause, and the revenue generated by the subscriptions to their paper. They share a loft apartment where they also work, and use a 1974–79 VW Transporter to commute.

John Fitzgerald Byers (Bruce Harwood) was once a public relations worker for the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He was a conservative dresser with a neatly trimmed beard, a stark contrast to his grungier comrades. He had at least some working knowledge of medicine, genetics and chemistry and is known for the famous line, "That's what we like about you, Mulder. Your ideas are even weirder than ours". He was born on November 22, 1963, the same day that President Kennedy was assassinated, so his parents named him after the fallen president. His name would have been Bertram otherwise. Byers was the most "normal" of the three, and while Frohike and Langly were seemingly born angry misfits, Byers dreamed of a quiet, uneventful, suburban life. Byers' father was a high-ranking government official, but they never saw eye to eye and when Byers' father appears in The Lone Gunmen pilot, the two had not spoken for some time.