The man behind the cloud of smoke has been involved in the affairs of the X-Files since the day Section Chief Scott Blevins assigned Dana Scully to "assist" Fox Mulder. His silent presence in Skinner's office is always a warning that the shadowy government attempting to discredit Mulder is again keeping an eye on the nonconformist agent. When not in Skinner's office, he can be found in the basement of the Pentagon, secreting evidence in a vast storehouse of classified materials. The tension between Mulder and the Cigarette-Smoking Man has increased steadily as the nameless man with the pack of Morleys increasingly involves himself in Mulder's work. In "One Breath," Mulder blamed the Cigarette-Smoking Man for the abduction of Dana Scully, and came within a trigger-pull of killing him. In "Anasazi", we learned that his involvement goes back to the beginning, all the way to Fox Mulder's father. He may be responsible for Bill Mulder's murder, and he is certainly responsible for several attempts on the life of the X-Files agents. His menace may be fading, however, as both the Well-Manicured Man he answers to and Alex Krycek, his tool who has turned against him, threaten to bring upon him a justice Mulder and Scully cannot.