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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

Ratboy en · PROPN

Etymology

From rat + boy. Coined by fans as a humorous reference to the character's amoral and duplicitous nature. Popularized on alt.tv.x-files, the main Usenet newsgroup for the show, where it is first attested in 1994.

Meanings

  1. (qualifier:The X-Files fandom slang) The fictional character Alex Krycek from The X-Files.
    • Do you know who Ratboy is? 1996, Susan J. Clerc, “DDEB, GATB, MPPB, and Ratboy”, in David Lavery, Angela Hague, Marla Cartwright, editors, Deny All knowledge: Reading the X-files, page 37:
    • Given his credentials, Ratboy seems like the perfect candidate for the job. 2016, Natalie Clubb, The X-Files: The Official Collection - The Agents, The Bureau, and The Syndicate, page 144:
    • But this Krycek—self-consciously multivoiced, focalizing as a fan reader through his obsession with Mulder, Ratboy yet sympathetically damaged—is carefully constructed as a recognizable source character interpreted in a new light. 2014, Deborah Kaplan, “Construction of Fan Fiction Character Through Narrative”, in Karen Hellekson, Kristina Busse, editors, Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet, page 143: