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Donald "Donnie" Pfaster appeared in the episodes "Irresistible" & "Orison", on the science fiction TV series, The X-Files. He was portrayed by Nick Chinlund.
Pfaster is a "death fetishist" and through his job at a funeral home, he collects objects like hair and nails from corpses. After being fired when his fetish was discovered, Pfaster begins to yearn for living flesh, and starts murdering prostitutes. In the course of Mulder and Scully's investigation, Pfaster is arrested after attempting to abduct a woman. While in jail, he notices Scully, who was there interrogating a different suspect. He becomes infatuated, and after being released, he stalks and kidnaps Scully. Fortunately, Mulder tracks him down in time. Scully, who was disturbed by the case even before being kidnapped, was safe but visibly traumatized by the event.
Five years later, in "Orison", Pfaster escapes from the Illinois penetentiary where he was incarcerated. While on the run, he meets the prison reverend who supernaturally helped him escape in hopes of changing him. The reverend, however, is soon killed by Pfaster, who proceeds to pick up where he left off, and heads to Washington, DC, for Scully. At her apartment, Pfaster attacks and binds Scully, but Mulder unexpectedly arrives and draws his firearm. Scully, who had freed herself moments before, takes her own gun and fires point-blank, killing Pfaster. Scully later questions what motivated her to pull the trigger.
[edit] Trivia
- The original script for "Irresistible" described Donnie Pfaster as a necrophiliac, which was too much for network television. Chris Carter changed Pfaster's description to that of a "death fetishist."
- It is left ambiguous whether Pfaster is a "normal" serial killer, or if he is in fact supernatural. While he appears to be a human, a few characters, including a captive Scully, very briefly see him appearing as some sort of demonic creature. In the episode "Orison," Pfaster seems to change into a demon at will before the prison minister before Pfaster kills him. Also in "Orison", Scully repeatedly sees her digital clock flash "6:66" for a second, including moments before Pfaster assaults her. Also, at the end of the episode "Irresistible," a photo of Donnie with his family as a child is shown while Mulder gives a monologue describing Donnie as "the boy next door," which further confuses the issue (although it may have merely been a commentary on how ordinary some criminals, "demonic" or not, may appear on the outside.)
