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"Archer" redirects here. For the TV series of the same name, see Archer (TV series).

"Introspection is the enemy of happiness."

--Princeton Sterling Archer

"Phrasing!"
—Sterling Archer[src]

Sterling Malory Archer, best known as simply Archer, is the main character of the eponymous show who is considered to be the world's deadliest spy.

He is voiced by H. Jon Benjamin.

Appearance

Archer is a very handsome tan-skinned man with thick dark-black hair that is slick on the right side, light blue eyes, visible cheekbones, a dimple in the middle of his chin and almost bushy-like eyebrows.

He usually wears very expensive dark grey tailored business suits at the office and a black turtleneck when on a mission.

Personality

"Has anyone ever told you you are profoundly self-centered?!"
Barry Dylan[src]

Archer is an extremely narcissistic, arrogant, selfish, insensitive, self-absorbed, and sex-crazed man who is constantly focused on himself and his own needs and desires. He arrogantly believes himself to understand any situation better than his colleagues. Thus, Archer selfishly refuses to admit when he is proven wrong and will go to extreme lengths to cover up his mistakes, particularly when they may incur his mother's scorn.

He can also be very hypocritical, and any actions that seem to help others are almost certainly for his own benefit., and is often willing to put his allies in danger. He is also often misogynistic, though he occasionally espouses progressive attitudes if it means showing superiority over others, is superficial and materialistic, often to the point of amorality, refusing to accept anything less than the finest option available, and regularly spends others' money on completely unnecessary luxuries. He is suave and debonair when it suits him but often drops this veneer quickly once he has gotten what he wants. Like his mother, he is a high-functioning alcoholic, often requiring alcohol to perform at maximum efficiency. His juvenile sense of humor includes shouting "phrasing" (which he learned from McGinley) whenever a statement has any sexual double entendre, making snide, disparaging remarks at his co-workers on a daily basis and using his encyclopedic knowledge of trivia to make crude comments. Despite his high opinion of himself, he has also shown hints that he is also deeply insecure & full of self loathing. However, he frequently claims being "The World's Greatest (and most attractive) Spy" is not without some basis, He is presented as being very physically attractive and is shown to be an exceptionally, almost supernaturally talented spy, both mentally & physically when he puts his mind to it. In fact, it is quite possible that if he actually stopped goofing around on his missions, he really would be the undisputed greatest spy in the world. Lana is well aware of this (which is likely why he drives her so crazy) & cites this as one of the primary reasons she chose him as the father of their child.

Possibly as a result of his lonely and friendless childhood, Archer seems trapped in perpetual adolescence, never taking anything seriously until it personally affects him, arrogantly assuming that things will ultimately work out in his favor. He has frequently alluded to believing he is immortal. Though he never explicitly breaks the fourth wall, he often exhibits signs of being aware of his status as the lead character in a television show, and it is strongly hinted at that his lack of concern for his own mortality is a direct result of his awareness of his inherent plot immunity. He constantly tries to justify his actions with absurd reasoning. He hates being told what to do, and is obsessed with being a team-leader of any given group situation (unless the situation goes downhill, in which case he is quick to blame others), calling "dibs" on roles that should be assigned on merit, and insisting on piloting any vehicle, regardless of his actual ability to do so. He also has a tendency to piggyback on people's comments, and take credit for others' successes.

While Archer does insist on compensating anyone from whom he commandeers equipment or goods, he often puts his own spin on what is an "even" trade. Despite often being considered foolish, he is actually rather intelligent when not letting his ego get in the way. He has a vast and diverse knowledge of obscure trivia, and shows fair to advanced proficiency in at least seven languages. He is undeniably an intuitively good operative with an extremely high degree of personal bravery, never once having begged for his life with a gun to his head, and rarely shows fear in the face of life-threatening situations (unless it involves brain aneurysms or any apex predator that survived the K-T extinction).

Archer is quite notorious for his promiscuity, having slept with all three of his female ISIS co-workers and possibly others that work in the environment. He has absolutely no qualms about having sex with women who are in relationships, engaged, or even married. Indeed, he is always aroused by the mere sight of an attractive female to the point where he immediately schemes to have intercourse with them, such as with Janelle Gillette and Mercedes Moreno. Despite this, Archer actually does have standards and respect for consent when it comes to sleeping with women, as he repeatedly, and frantically, refused the advances of Anka Schlotz, who was 16 years old at the time, and displayed displeasure at having been forced to place his hands on her breasts to keep her from freezing to death; insisting that she not enjoy the action. Even so, he requests that when she reaches 18, she should reach out to him for intercourse.

Archer seems to be well-aware of his appalling behavior, but does not seem to recognize other people's opinion of him, as he was somewhat shocked to learn from Cyril that he is rather unlikable, with Cyril himself being surprised that Archer does not seem to notice that. To this end, Archer justifies his demeanor by stating that he is simply the result of his life experiences. True enough, at one point, he was severely bullied when he was in prep school and suffers a degree of post-traumatic stress disorder from the experience, showing genuine anxiety and distress when confronted with his former bullies, such as Richard Stratton IV. This, along with his mother's less than ideal parenting, is likely what caused him to be so unrelentingly abusive in his later life as a way of coping with his trauma.[1]

However, despite his universal disregard for others' safety, he does not have a total lack of compassion. When he believes that he may die from breast cancer, he demonstrates considerable regret at his treatment of his ISIS co-workers and Woodhouse (whom he promised to treat better). When learning that Lana was pregnant, he willingly gave her the last set of scuba gear despite the definite chance of drowning for himself. Additionally, he establishes a friendship with fellow cancer patient Ruth and even visits her in the hospital, later going to great lengths to take vengeance for her death. He saved Rip Riley from a shark attack, bandaged his head and gave him CPR to resuscitate him. In Coyote Lovely, he refuses to leave two border patrol officers to die in the desert. In "The Holdout" he is kind enough to track down the wife of a former Japanese soldier who hasn't talked to his family in decades even telling the CIA to be patient in the moment. Archer has also shown considerable concern and childlike compassion for animals, including Babou (Cheryl Tunt's pet ocelot), sometimes even seemingly being able to communicate with them as if they were human. He has occasionally been shown to confide in Lana, whom he at one point identifies as his only friend.

Archer's latent compassion begins to emerge during Lana Kane's pregnancy; he extensively researches possible complications and gets certified as a doula. He truly desires to help Lana raise their child, knowing personally what not having a father figure can potentially do to a child's development. This display of intense personal loyalty is what slowly begins to mend the rift between him and Lana in later seasons of the show. He also expresses faith that Lana will be a better mother to their child than Malory had been to him, genuinely wanting the best for his daughter, and in turn, bringing out the best in himself.

With fatherhood, he adopts a more serious attitude toward Abbiejean Kane-Archer (Archer's newborn daughter) and his genuine compassion for his daughter is shown by constantly worrying for her well-being, as shown when he believes her to be in danger and promises to beat a man to death with his hands for threatening her. He shows a strong desire to protect her from having a similar childhood to his and is always aware of her needs. Since awakening from his coma, he was hurt to learn how Lana has raised A.J. in his absence, such as hearing she was shipped off to boarding school. This likely stems from being haunted, because he recalls how he felt abandoned by Malory during his years at boarding school. He was also devastated to learn A.J. was also raised no longer seeing him as her father and to see his role as a father figure was taken by Robert who A.J. called "daddy". This harsh reality gave Archer a lot of pain, as he felt his coma made people forget him.

Sterling's relationship with Malory is co-dependent, complex and often toxic. Archer is a product of his upbringing (or lack thereof) which is the cause of his warped childish personality. Archer is torn between his anger and hatred of his mother for her neglectful and emotionally abusive parenting of him. While at the same time, he tries to gain her affection, approval and doesn't want to share her, like a young child. This is likely a result of never getting her affection as a child. Since becoming a parent, he has slowly recognized exactly how her poor parenting style has affected him. He has come to regularly challenge Malory's opinion on how to raise Abbiejean, disliking leaving his baby in her care. Being a parent has shown an increasingly independent side to Archer, who no longer seems to fear his mother's wrath and has eroded his reverence of her.

As of Season 12, Archer shows a lot of character development, such as bonding with Cyril. In the season finale, he finds Lana sobbing in his bed and goes to comfort her as soon as he puts together that she isn’t an intruder. The fact that she even went to his apartment at all after Robert cheated on her shows that their relationship is good enough that she trusts him in that situation.

Possible Autism

Numerous hints throughout the series suggest that Archer is in some way autistic: he is often the only character to count bullets during gunfights, including multiple automatic weapons; this coupled with his ability to identify the make and model of firearms allows him to ascertain when enemies are reloading. He is able to identify the make and model of a blender in Fugue and Riffs just by hearing the sound it makes through the phone, and he has an unusual affinity for animals and is able to 'converse' with Babou and Kazak. Archer also shows an inability to pick up on social cues and an apparent lack of empathy on the cognitive level, rather than being void of it entirely, and struggles to dress himself without help from Woodhouse. Another characteristic is his voice, which stays very monotone and changes only in response to strong emotions, particularly rage. The possibility of Archer being on the autism spectrum is directly addressed in the episode Coyote Lovely; when asked if he is autistic, Archer first mocks Lana for suggesting it, but after identifying Border Patrol's Ruger 6s and realizing they were out (after being shot in the back) he remarks, "Holy shit, maybe I am autistic?" before collapsing.

In "The Holdout", Archer states that he is not a "big fan of change." He also has displayed an encyclopedic knowledge of various subjects, even while remaining somewhat unaware of general knowledge. He also has a certain social awkwardness despite his superficial charisma and difficulty with acceptance among his peers due to his interests being somewhat unusual. Another aspect has been his ability to express empathy, though this has increased substantially since the birth of his daughter.

Since coming out of his coma, his difficulty with accepting change has become even more pronounced. Among his most emotional responses being his fury at Lana for sending their daughter to a Swiss boarding school, feeling that she abandoned AJ the same way he feels Malory abandoned him to the same scenario.

Hearing Issues

Archer has over the course of the series shown to have tinnitus and possibly poor hearing due to a history of having guns shot near his unprotected ears. Archer has been exposed to loud gunfire since his very early childhood, as shown in "The Double Deuce" where he moments after being born is exposed to a gun fight. This has caused him chronic tinnitus, as shown in multiple episodes (Movie Star, Stage Two, Arrival/Departure, Vision Quest, etc).

Additionally there is the running gag of Archer repeating a character's name until they respond, seemingly oblivious to them ignoring him (most frequently Lana). While this could be a result of his lack of empathy and need for attention, it could also be him genuinely not understanding he is being purposefully ignored, and not unheard.

Bisexual Tendencies

"If I ever have sex with a man, it'll be a man who remembers the gum!! And not that it matters... also black."
Sterling Archer[[The Archer Sanction|[src]]]

Archer has shown several signs of potential bisexuality. He was willing to--and, judging by the finger he held up to Lana during the act, with some passion--kiss Ramon Limon while he was (apparently) dying. When locked in a cell in San Marcos with Gustavo Calderon two cells down, and his wife in between them, the three of them have been having sex through the bars; when Juliana is taken upstairs by Cyril so she can marry him, Gustavo asks if Archer "wants him to move over one", and Archer seriously considers the idea. In "The Archer Sanction" it is revealed that "Bang Joe Frazier" is on his bucket list; during the same episode, he also reveals having genuinely given thought to his physical preferences in a male partner. He had a devil's threeway with Skorpio and Lana in "Skorpio"; though he seems to regret it, he claims that this is rather because "wooden spoons are a huge emotional trigger". He later also consents to what he mistakes to be a proposal of another such threeway with Lana's parents. It is also possible that part of this "attraction" stems from his desire for a father figure. As the men he shows the most enthusiasm towards tend to have the qualities Archer would want in a father; Confident, cool, & fun loving while also being supportive & encouraging.

History

Birth

Archer sawed C96 1

Archer just after his birth in Reggie's Bar.

Sterling Malory Archer was born in Reggie's Bar in Tangiers, in northern Morocco, Africa, when his mother, Malory Archer, was assisted in the birthing process by Woodhouse. Woodhouse handed Malory a rattle made of sterling silver for the baby. Malory liked the name Sterling and decided to name him that. Woodhouse suggested that his middle name be "Reginald", after Captain Reginald Thistleton (a deceased friend of Woodhouse's that served in World War I, with whom Woodhouse may or may not have been infatuated), but Malory decided that Reginald sounded "too gay" and instead named him after herself. Malory offered Woodhouse the job of taking care of Archer. Woodhouse traded his bar for a boat, sailed Malory and Sterling to Lisbon, got Malory to an Office of Strategic Services safe house, sold the boat, and used the money to take Sterling back to the U.S.[2]

Malory Archer, Sterling's mother, speculates that Sterling was conceived shortly before she participated in Operation Gladio. The list of Archer's possible fathers include Nikolai Jakov, Len Trexler, and Buddy Rich, as well as an unnamed young man who was gunned down in the streets of Italy and had "blue eyes, full lips, and thick wavy hair".[3]

Childhood

Sterling spent the first five years of his life being raised by Woodhouse and only seeing his mother a few times per year, such as on Christmas. This made him have an extremely negative view of his mother as a young child. It got to the point that when she came home he clung to Woodhouse and stated he had no mother and said he hated her even though she brought him several gifts when she returned.

When Archer was four years old, Archer's "father", John Fitzgerald Archer, was "killed" in action. Malory upheld this lie so far as to hold a military funeral for him.[4]

At some point as a child, Malory moved without telling Archer's boarding school, leading to him to take a train home alone and eventually ending up in a police station. Malory had to pick him up and continues to view the situation as not her fault, stating that he could have picked up a phone book.[5]

Young sterling and gator

Young Sterling’s birthday gift from his real father

Archer celebrated his sixth birthday while his mother assisted in overthrowing the government of Guatemala (in reality, the CIA overthrew Guatemala's government over June 18-27, 1954). Unbeknownst to Malory, Sterling's real father visited him and gave him a stuffed toy alligator as a gift. Ever since that time he loved alligators,[6] but at some point his love became a chronic fear.[7]

One year on Halloween, Archer lost a card game to Malory, losing all of his Halloween candy. This incident caused Archer to have an extremely negative view of gambling for many years to come. He drank alcohol for the first time during the same incident, presumably at his mother's insistence (and, when the alcohol made him ill, to her subsequent disappointment).[8]

One year, Archer got a brand new bike for his birthday. However, Archer left his bike on the curb. Malory took it from him without giving it back, thinking it would be a good lesson to him. When Archer discovered that his bike was missing, he sat crying on his bed. Malory walked in and asked where his new bike was. Archer simply cried harder, and Malory spanked him with a red ping-pong paddle.[9] Although it's not clear if this is his first spanking or if Malory ever used other objects, Sterling developed a sexual kink for play with ping-pong paddles in adulthood. [10]

One day, Archer decided to use a vacuum cleaner to simulate the experience of receiving a blowjob. However, it did a number on Archer's balls.[11] Woodhouse called an ambulance while hiding the vacuum from both Malory and the doctor, who both went out together while Woodhouse waited for the ambulance to take Archer to the hospital.[12]. From this day forward, Archer suffered an irrational fear of robots, or robophobia.

Archer lost his virginity at age 12 to his female Brazilian au pair, who was seemingly unaware of the American age of consent. At his tenth-grade sports banquet, Archer was caught having sex with his lacrosse coach's wife, Mrs. Mumford. Malory considers this to be the most embarrassing thing Archer has ever done. Archer states that she came onto him and so it was not his fault.[13]

During his freshman year, Archer was given a swirly by Richard Stratton IV and Trent Whitney in a toilet that Whitney had pissed in. Archer spent five weeks in the hospital; he had aspirated water in his lungs and gotten pneumonia from it. This incident caused him to miss out on varsity lacrosse his freshman year at St. Joshua's Prep.[1]

Adulthood

He spent up to 15 years at boarding school, despite American schooling taking 13 years. His hobby was lacrosse and flashbacks have indicated he had few to no friends.[5] At age 18, he was regarded as the most recruited lacrosse player in America, although an incident with a crazed stalker gut-shooting him cost him both his lacrosse career and a possible scholarship to Johns Hopkins University (although it is implied this would not have happened anyway because of his poor SAT scores).[6] A picture of Archer shows him graduating from Georgetown University,[14] implying he is at least smart enough to receive a bachelor's degree (although according to his mother, he flunked out of college). The picture shows Archer wearing a dark red hood, which according to the traditional Academic Hood Colors List would make him a student of either Communications or Journalism (a crimson hood), Conservation or Forestry (a russet hood), or Canon Law, Divinity, or Theology (a scarlet hood). Since Georgetown does not offer terminal degrees in Communications, Journalism, Conservation, Forestry, Canon Law, or Divinity, this presumably means Archer has a degree in Theology.

S03E04-Archer child Camero

East Bound and Down!

As a young adult, Archer idolized Burt Reynolds, often dressing up as him and continually watching his movies.[15]

Upon growing up, Archer attempted to join the army but failed. Instead, he began work as a spy at his mother's agency, ISIS, quickly climbing the ranks as their top spy thanks to both his genuine skill and his mother's preferential treatment. Archer has the less than masculine code name of "Duchess" (taken from his mother's beloved Afghan hound, though Malory denies this) and had an on-again, off-again relationship with fellow agent Lana Kane for several years, which makes their working environment tenuous and difficult. [10]

Archer developed a genuine friendship with Lucas Troy (who unknowingly was in love with Archer) but they broke off their friendship when Troy quit working for ODIN. Troy secretly raped Archer while on a mission to tap a Cuban embassy. This would not come to light until Luke's deathbed confession many years later. It is unknown if the rest of the group, apart from Lana and Cyril as they were present for the confession, is aware of this.[16]

Wounds

S01E09-Archer shot

Archer's self-inflicted wound in "Job Offer".

The Series

Season 1

"Mole Hunt"

"What is the point of these simulations--"
"Crenshaw's arousal?"
"--if you don't take them seriously?!"
Malory and Sterling[src]

When we first see Sterling Archer, he is in the middle of a KGB torture exercise being run by Crenshaw. However, because of Crenshaw's lack of intimidation (and his constant changing of accents), Archer does not take it seriously. Malory angrily ends the exercise. When Crenshaw shocks Sterling's foot with the golf cart battery he is holding, Malory simply smiles.

That night, Archer had sex with a flight attendant. The flight attendant had a dog named Abelard, and dogs are normally not allowed in Archer's house. However, a drunken Archer stated that Abelard's barking sounded like Puttin' On the Ritz, and insisted that an exception to the "no dogs" rule be made. When Archer awoke the next day to see Abelard at the foot of the bed, Archer immediately kicked out the flight attendant despite promising her breakfast and told Woodhouse that he'd better clean up all the dog hair or Archer would rub sand in his eyes.

Archer gets his clothes from the wash-and-fold, which were a week late, and the owner stated that this was unprofessional. Archer told the owner that he finds his sweatiness unprofessional, which the two have in common besides the fact that now both of their shirts reek of curry. The owner asked Archer when he would settle his expense account, and Archer asks when the owner will get a dress shield. The owner says that he is not wearing a dress; Archer asks "That's not a dress?", and then the elevator door closes. Archer sniffs and complains that the elevator smells like Indira Gandhi's thong. Archer goes around the ISIS office asking people to smell his shirt when he runs into his ex-girlfriend, Lana Kane. When Archer asks Lana what his shirt smells like, she asks if it's the dysfunctional asshole she broke up with six months ago; Lana tells Archer to jump up his own ass and die. Archer asks if Lana will treat him like this after all the HR mediation, to which Lana responds, "Yup!"

Archer then runs into Cyril Figgis, who is dating Lana now. Cyril asks Archer about his operations account, which Archer tries to avoid. Cyril tells Archer that he's sure Archer wouldn't use his operations account for personal expenses, and Archer tells him that's a very serious implication, and Cyril adds that embezzlement is as well; Archer adds that somehow Cyril is dating Lana, which Archer shouts around the office, saying that if Pam knows, everybody knows, thanks to Pam's huge mouth; Archer tells Pam that HR mediations are supposed to be confidential. Archer bids Cyril goodbye; Cyril tries to talk to Archer about his account, but then realizes he's fallen for "classic misdirection".

Archer then runs into a crying Cheryl Tunt. Archer tells Cheryl that she's ugly when she cries, before asking if his mother is in her office or out eating a baby. Cheryl tells Archer that he stood her up again last night, but then Archer tells her that he was helping a guy with cancer, like in Brian's Song. Archer asks her if, to make it up to her, if she can buzz him in. When an angry Cheryl asked if that's all Archer had to say to her, Archer told her yes.

Archer walks in on Malory having phone sex with someone, who she abruptly hangs up on when she sees Archer walk in. Malory asks Archer what he's doing, and Archer asks her the same thing. Malory skirted away from the conversation by telling him that she was reviewing his operations account, which makes for "fascinating reading." She goes over several locations where Archer never checked into the hotel before telling him that ISIS isn't his own personal travel agency and that it doesn't exist just so Archer can jet off to "Whore Island." Malory tells him that she has 50 agents who would kill to be in Archer's position, and if Archer doesn't settle his expense account by Monday, they won't need to, since Archer's position will be vacant. However, Archer isn't listening, since he is picturing Whore Island. Malory asks if Archer understands the situation, to which Archer says yes. Malory then orders him out and tells him to take a shower, because it smells like a whore house in her office. Archer says, "Okay, your-own-fingers," and Malory asks him to repeat before Archer says, "Nothing." Before Malory can say anything else, Archer tells her that "Johnny Bench called."

"Training Day"

"Killing Utne"

"Diversity Hire"

"Honeypot"

"Skorpio"

"Skytanic"

"The Rock"

"Job Offer"

"Dial M for Mother"

Season 2

"Blood Test"

"Swiss Miss"

"Movie Star"

"The Double Deuce"

"Tragical History"

"A Going Concern"

"Pipeline Fever"

"Stage Two"

"Placebo Effect"

"El Secuestro"

"Jeu Monégasque"

"White Nights"

"Double Trouble"

Season 3

"Heart of Archness: Part I"

"Heart of Archness: Part II"

"Heart of Archness: Part III"

"Lo Scandalo"

"The Man From Jupiter"

"El Contador"

"The Limited"

"Drift Problem"

"Crossing Over"

"Bloody Ferlin"

"Skin Game"

"Does she hate what I am?"
"What you are, meaning the one woman who can free her child from the psychological prison she spent a lifetime erecting?"
Katya Kazanova and Sterling Archer[src]

"Space Race: Part I"

"Space Race: Part II"

Season 4

"Fugue and Riffs"

"Coyote Lovely"

"The Wind Cries Mary"

"Legs"

"Midnight Ron"

"Viscous Coupling"

"Once Bitten"

"Live and Let Dine"

"The Honeymooners"

"Un Chien Tangerine"

"The Papal Chase"

"Sea Tunt: Part I"

"Sea Tunt: Part II"

Season 5

"White Elephant"

"Archer Vice: A Kiss While Dying"

"Archer Vice: A Debt of Honor"

"Archer Vice: House Call"

"Archer Vice: Southbound and Down"

"Archer Vice: Baby Shower"

"Archer Vice: Smugglers' Blues"

"Archer Vice: The Rules of Extraction"

"Archer Vice: On the Carpet"

"Archer Vice: Palace Intrigue, Part I"

"Archer Vice: Palace Intrigue, Part II"

"Archer Vice: Filibuster"

"Archer Vice: Arrival/Departure"

Season 6

"The Holdout"

"Three to Tango"

"The Archer Sanction"

"Edie's Wedding"

"Vision Quest"

"Sitting"

"Nellis"

"The Kanes"

"Pocket Listing"

"Reignition Sequence"

"Achub Y Morfilod"

"Drastic Voyage: Part I"

"Drastic Voyage: Part II"

Season 7

"The Figgis Agency"

"The Handoff"

"Deadly Prep"

"Motherless Child"

"Bel Panto: Part I"

"Bel Panto: Part II"

"Double Indecency"

"Liquid Lunch"

"Deadly Velvet: Part I"

"Deadly Velvet: Part II"

Season 8

"No Good Deed"

"Berenice"

"Jane Doe"

"Ladyfingers"

"Sleepers Wake"

"Waxing Gibbous"

"Gramercy, Halberd!"

"Auflösung"

Season 11

"The Orpheus Gambit"

Season 12

"Identity Crisis"

Dream Personas

After the events at the end of season 7, seasons 8, 9 and 10 see Archer enter a coma. He takes the form of a different dream persona in each, as do the core cast. Their relationships with each other, and to Archer, are all shaken up:

Relationships

Lana Kane

Lana is Archer's main love interest on the show. They have a love/hate relationship, which is very complicated and is also noted to have a lot of sexual tension. Before the start of the series, Archer and Lana were together for a long time. But due to Archer's constant lying and cheating with other women, Lana finally broke off their relationship and started dating Cyril. They bicker constantly and act immature and unprofessional during missions. However despite they're fighting, it is clear to anyone that they care for each other deeply.

It is clear that Archer still had strong feelings for Lana after their breakup and Archer thinks when Lana gets angry at him when he sleeps or flirts with every women he meets, it's because she's jealous and is still hung up on him. And he's always asking her if wants to "bang" or flirts with her constantly. When he thought he would die from his cancer in (Stage Two), he confessed to Lana that he was in love with her and asked her to stay the night with him which she did. In (Placebo Effect) Archer found out his cancer medication were fake, Lana begrudgingly accompanied him in his "rampage," serving as his cameraman and chauffeuse. Although they still bicker a lot, over the course of the show they become friends again and Archer admitted that Lana is his only friend in (Heart of Archness: Part III). They are always paired up on missions and she is always accompany him on crazy and not thought out plans. At one point Lana realized her job was mostly babysitting Archer (Coyote Lovely).

In the season 4 finale (Sea Tunt: Part II) Lana reveals that she is pregnant so Archer decides to give her his scuba suite while he has to drown temporarily while telling Lana he loved her before loosing conscious. However they successfully revived him and Lana gave Archer hug in gratitude for her and her child. In season 5 he starts to show concern for Lana when she becomes pregnant that he looks up all the complications of pregnancy. Also he hoped to give her child a father figure because he knew first hand how growing up without a father can mess-up a person. In (Archer Vice: Arrival/Departure) Lana gives birth to a baby girl who she names Abbi-Jean. When Archer and Lana have a moment she reveals that she used the sperm that Archer donated when he had cancer and used it to impregned herself. This meant that Abbi-Jean is in fact Archer's daughter and he is indeed her real father. Although this surprised; Archer was determined to help Lana raise their new child together. The birth of their child has brought both Archer and Lana closer to each other and consider each their family. Lana stated once in (The Kanes) that Archer was like family to her, and not because of AJ. In (Pocket Listing) Archer and Lana try to make each other jealous by having sex with visiting royalty. When they both argued about one another still not over the other, they finally give in to their sexual tensions and make out passionately and had sex in the bathroom. After that they rekindled their relationship and started dating again.

Katya Kazanova

Archer first met Katya in the end of (White Nights) when she saved him from Russian solider, by shooting them to death. After that Archer fell instantly and madly in love with her as she did with him. She defected from the KGB to go be an ISIS agent so she could be with Archer. However his mother did not want her son to be with her due to thinking her to be a KGB spy. Archer decides to runaway with Katya after the KGB try to make her look like a double agent, which was no true. After a stand off with his mother and the rest of his agency, Katya revealed she had been in love with Archer since they day the KGB showed a photo of him as the worlds deadliest spy. Archer than proposed to Katya which she happily accepted. However Barry who is now bionic tries to kill Archer for revenge but Katya sacrifices herself by using her wedding veil to pull Barry off Archer's penthouse building and plugin to her seemingly death. Leaving Archer heart-broken and depressed of her loss.

After her "death" Archer falls into a depression and leaves ISIS and his mother for three months in the Caribbean, working as a bar tender and having sex with many women there. He would eventually move on from Katya and returned to ISIS and his old habits.

Not long after in (Skin Game) Archer would once again reunite with Katya thanks to Dr. Krieger, who saved her and turned her into a cyborg. But Archer was overjoyed to be with her again and Katya reaffirmed her love for him. However due to Archers fear of robots and cyborgs, Archer had a difficult time trying to accept her new bionic body, especially after finding her vagina in the sink after sex. But Archer was determined to be with her no matter what and once again proposed to her. During their wedding Barry once again crashes it again and tries to kill Archer again and his bride. But with her beaning bionic now, she could now hold her own against him and the two cyborgs began to fight. After a while Archer tried to help Katya fight off Barry only to discover them having sex with each other, much to his horror and dismay. Katya explain to him that even though she was touched that Archer tried to overcome her bionic form; Barry and her were the same and that she needs to be with someone like her. Archer although heartbroken; reluctantly decided to let her be with Barry and let her be happy with him. She than gave him a good-bye kiss on the cheek and left with Barry, leaving Archer with a broken-heart.

In (Viscous Coupling), Katya would return to New York city to ask Archer to help her find Barry, who is trap on the Horizon space shuttle; thanks to Archer who still harbored feelings for Katya and used this opportunity to trick Katya into think Barry is cheating on her with the women on the space settle, so Archer can have Katya back. However it turned out Katya was using Archer's lingering feelings for her to help Barry make a space ship to get back to earth. Katya would become the new head of the KGB and not long after; dump Barry for Boris.

Katya would not appear in the show for a while until (Reignition Sequence) when the Cyril and the gang contacted her to help them spit the rekindled romance between Archer and Lana. Hoping by bringing the only other women Archer ever really loved besides Lana and his obsessive need to sleep with every women he meets, Archer will sleep with her and end his "nauseating" romance with Lana. Archer would find Katya in his apartment and in lingerie attempting to seduce him. However; Archer surprisingly turns down all advances Katya makes and tells her that having a child with Lana made him realize how even though they always fought, Lana and him were always been best friends and how much he's always been in love with her and doesn't want to lose Lana again after finding her. Katya and his friends were all touched by his love and devotion for Lana and felt guilty for trying to spilt them. Katya understood this and gave him one last good-bye kiss before Lana arrived at his apartment and said she would miss him very much before she left, making this her last appearance for a while.

Trivia

S03E07-Ping pong paddle

Where is your new bicycle?

  • Jason Fitzgerald served as a model for Sterling.
  • Archer slightly resembles the actor John Travolta. Coincidentally, John Travolta played an FBI agent in Face/Off, whose last name is "Archer".
  • Archer frequently uses a red ping pong paddle during intercourse. His mother used to spank his bare bottom with one. Some famous sadists, such as the Marquis de Sade and Aleister Crowley, were also severely beaten on their bare buttocks in their formative years, which some (including themselves) theorized as being influential in their later fetish for this behavior.
  • Though highly proficient with multiple types of guns, Archer's preferred firearm is the Walther PPK, which he has needlepoint accuracy with. He has an odd habit of carrying it everywhere he goes, even into a bath ("Jeu Monégasque") or a stuck elevator ("Vision Quest").
  • As of "Sitting", Archer has been shot 34 times, although technically 36 including being shot with beanbag rounds on two occasions.
  • In "Heart of Archness: Part I", Archer somehow acquires ammo for his previously emptied weapon in the prior episode "Double Trouble", incurring discontinuity. Similarly, Katya Kazanova in this exact same scene somehow moves from the top of Krieger's Van which wasn't previously fully crushed in the prior episode, and in "Skin Game" in this same scene is suddenly on the other side of the van being dragged away by Krieger without Archer and his full situational awareness not noticing.
  • Archer's ringtone is usually "Mulatto Butts", but in "The Wind Cries Mary" he has personalized calls from Lana Kane to play "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins, a reference to his recurring joke on her that she is in the "Danger Zone" because of her obsession with him, as well as it being one of his favorite songs.
  • Archer is fond of creating elaborate voicemail pranks, in which the recording is designed to trick people into believing he has answered his phone.
  • Archer is abusive to anyone of lower social status or rank than him (such as Woodhouse). This is probably taught by his mother, who is even more derisive than he is toward such people (except to Woodhouse, to whom she does show respect based on their prior history).
  • Archer was shipped off to boarding school by Malory as early as kindergarten and remained for as long as fifteen years (two years longer than grades would allow). This apparent abandonment by his mother is often a sensitive topic for him, which he tends to color as a more positive experience than flashbacks and recollections tend to portray.
  • Archer was shown to have spent a very brief time in the army but was kicked out when Malory arrived on the obstacle course while Archer was struggling to climb the wall and told his drill sergeant he was gay.
  • In Archer's adult life, he continues to have very few friends. In "Heart of Archness: Part III", he tells Lana she is his only friend. The only other close relationship shown is with Lucas Troy, whom Archer did not know had raped him while harboring a homosexual attraction to him. In "Pocket Listing" he begins telling Pam his plan to sleep with the queen to get back at Lana. When Pam asks him why he's telling her his plan, they realize that she is his best friend.
  • Archer favors the use of night-vision goggles during missions, despite being repeatedly blinded by them due to exposure to bright light.
  • Archer is known to faint. Malory has remarked: "You would think he was half fainting goat". His condition could possibly be due to vasovagal response, which is known to cause fainting episodes in stressful situations; as seen in the episodes "Dial M for Mother", "Stage Two", "The Man From Jupiter" and "Skin Game".
  • Archer frequently uses the name "Randy" for his assumed personas in the field ("Drift Problem", "Live and Let Dine", "Sea Tunt: Part II"), only changing to "Rando" when the frequency of his usual choice was called into question.
  • The acronym AJTTOTD Archer uses on his Twitter account is "Archer's Just The Tip Of The Day," which was a recurring joke in "Mole Hunt".
  • Archer has $480,810 in his ISIS 401(k), though he was unaware of it.[8]
  • In the first episode "Mole Hunt", Archer had multiple scars on his chest and body, but these have since disappeared with the exception of the bullet wound through his foot.
  • Archer is rarely shown drinking non-alcoholic drinks. He has an incredibly strong tolerance to alcoholic intoxication rivaling that of Pam Poovey, managing to for the most part avoid hangovers altogether. This builds his liver to such a point that some drugs, such as tranquilizers, barely affect him, although not to the extent of his mother's ability. [16] This does not mean he is incapable of intoxication, however, as he has appeared deeply intoxicated and hung over on several occasions.
  • The freelance spies and spies from other agencies consider Archer the "World's Most Dangerous Spy." Notable as they don't state that he is even a good spy, just most likely to kill them.[10][17][18]
  • Archer is an excellent lacrosse player, having played it extensively in his boarding school days.
  • Archer had breast cancer that is currently in remission ("Stage Two", "Placebo Effect") due to his careless behavior around radioactivity. He was also told that family history and a history of alcoholism were potential risk factors. Malory had been diagnosed with breast cancer as well (although this was later shown to be a false positive), and both of them show symptoms of alcoholism.
  • Archer has two tattoos; one on his right shoulder blade reading "Seamus" and one on his left shoulder blade reading "Dicky" which he got in "Stage Two" and have been seen in multiple episodes since.
  • Archer has developed tinnitus due to his fellow agents firing guns near his ears ("Movie Star"). As the show progresses, he continues to have guns fired next to the same ear and is exposed to multiple explosions which cause further damage to his eardrums and worsen his tinnitus ("Stage Two", "White Nights", "Heart of Archness: Part II").
  • Archer has written How to Archer: The Ultimate Guide to Espionage and Style and Women and Also Cocktails Ever Written.
  • Archer's hero since he was a small boy is Burt Reynolds. Archer makes a strong effort to imitate Reynolds' various movie and television personas in his daily life. In particular, Archer favors Reynolds' performances in White Lightning and Gator and constantly expresses his wish to see a third movie to the series.
  • Archer has a surprising fondness for cats, such as Cheryl's pet ocelot Babou and a captive tiger in El Contador. He also loves dogs (with the exception of his mother's dog), particularly treating Agent Kazak with much affection during a mission in Morocco. However, he also has a firm "No Dogs" policy regarding his apartment (as seen in the pilot).
  • Archer always refers to Malory as "Mother", never "Malory" or "Mom".
  • Archer is an avid reader of novels, movies, and political fiction, and constantly references them in conversation. He seems to have an extensive knowledge of trivia, particularly film, television, and literature.
  • Archer is known to have had sex with many of his female co-workers, including Lana, Cheryl and Pam, the last of which he had a brief friends-with-benefits agreement with.
  • Archer knows a lot about mixing drinks, and is somewhat of a snob about them, constantly criticizing bartenders. He is pretty good at mixing them himself and improvising drinks in odd situations, although at home he generally has Woodhouse make drinks for him. He usually has Bloody Marys for breakfast.
  • Archer is highly skilled in hand to hand combat, as well as fighting with improvised weaponry.[18][19][20] He is also an expert escape artist. In particular, he can fight in handcuffs [16] or get out of them.[20]
  • When he was 30, Archer wanted a toy truck which Malory wouldn't let him have.[21]
  • He often wears black turtleneck sweaters on missions, a style which he claims he invented and becomes extremely annoyed when he sees other spies, especially ODIN goons, trying to wear them.
  • Archer was for a short time married to Linda Belcher, during his amnesia-induced time as Bob Belcher. He proposed twice to former KGB agent Katya, though both times ended without them being married. He proposed to a pregnant Lana in "White Elephant", though she blew him off.
  • "Fugue and Riffs" episode highly reflect on Bob's Burgers since H. Jon Benjamin also voiced as Bob Belcher from said series
  • In "Archer Vice: Arrival/Departure", Lana gave birth to their daughter, Abbiejean Kane-Archer, whose birth was the result of Lana's use (without Archer's consent) of the sperm Archer had had frozen during his cancer treatment.
  • Archer appears to be the only one to notice the ambiguous timeline the show goes through, frequently asking "What year is this?!" and receiving no answer from the person asked. When around others who note the same thing, he replies with "Right?!" [This is a trope called "lampshading"]
  • Archer's four biggest fears, besides his mother, are crocodiles, alligators, aneurysms (and embolisms), and the Bermuda Triangle, in that order.
  • Nightcrawler AKA Kurt Wagner is his favorite creature with a prehensile tail, his second favorite being Didelphis virginiana, more commonly known as the Virginia Possum (Un Chien Tangerine).
  • Archer has had a "Female Body Inspector" shirt at some point -- which is what he says FBI could stand for -- as he claimed he got in Myrtle Beach (Archer Vice: House Call)
  • It's mentioned multiple times that Archer seems calm and seems to enjoy needling his co-workers or antagonizing his enemies, possibly worsening the situation. In "Drastic Voyage: Part II," he explicitly states that he honestly believes he can't die, showing an unnerving lack of concern for mortality.
  • Archer has a cleft chin (a trait which is dominant over non-cleft chins). His mother does not have one, so the only other person he could've inherited it from is his father. Len Trexler and Buddy Rich also do not have cleft chins, however, Nikolai Jakov does. This means that Nikolai Jakov is more likely than the other two men to actually be Archer's father. But in "Lo Scandalo," Malory describes an unnamed Italian man with similar features to Archer who could also be his father, though she does not specify if he had a cleft chin.
  • In "Deadly Velvet: Part II," Archer was shot by Veronica Deane and while he appeared dead, it was revealed in Archer Dreamland: No Good Deed that he survived, but was left in a coma.
  • Sterling Archer's five most famous phrases are "I can't hear you over the sound of ...," "Phrasing!", "Danger Zone!", "LANAAAAAAAAA", and "WOO".
  • Archer does not get the concept of hiding his occupation as a secret agent since it's really cool.
    • Even when people point out to him the danger of exposing his cover, he still doesn't get it.
  • Archer's car number plates are always "SPY GUY".
  • Archer has at least one cousin named Brian, a member of the US Air Force. This implies that his mother Malory has at least one sibling; Sterling's aunt or uncle. Sterling seems to have a good standing with him, as he ponders on talking to him to catch up.
  • Archer has not been seen interacting with his grandmother Bub. It also appears they have a tense relationship as Sterling hoped that she might've finally died.
  • Over the years, Archer has had sexual relationships with many different women, but he has only ever genuinely fallen in love with two: Katya Kazanova and Lana Kane.
  • In Once Bitten, Archer says on his 6th birthday his mother was in Guatemala because "Guatemala's democratically elected government wasn't gonna overthrow itself," a reference to Operation PBSuccess in 1954. Meaning Sterling would be born in 1948 in the real world.
  • He is the Archer counterpart of:
    1. Homer Simpson (The Simpsons)
    2. Hank Hill (King of the Hill)
    3. Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
    4. Hubert J. Farnsworth (Futurama)
    5. Stan Smith (American Dad)
    6. Cleveland Brown (The Cleveland Show)
    7. Bob Belcher (Bob's Burgers)
    8. Bud Buckwald (Bordertown)
    9. Ernesto Gonzalez (Bordertown)
    10. Wayne Edwards (Bless the Harts)
    11. Jack Harris (Duncanville)
    12. Beef Tobin (The Great North)
    13. Shlub (Krapopolis)

Quotes

Archer's Just The Tip of the Day: If a woman is lingering around your house the next morning, give her cereal for breakfast. Nothing says, “go away” like Raisin Bran.


Appearances

Appearances for Sterling Archer


Gallery of Images

There are 467 images of Sterling Archer on this Wiki, visit the Sterling Archer gallery to view all the images and screenshots. Here is a small sample of images from the gallery:

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Archer S07E03: "Deadly Prep"
  2. Archer S02E05: "The Double Deuce"
  3. Archer S03E08: "Lo Scandalo"
  4. Archer S01E10: "Dial M for Mother"
  5. 5.0 5.1 Archer S01E09: "Job Offer"
  6. 6.0 6.1 Archer S04E06: "Once Bitten"
  7. Archer S02E04: "Pipeline Fever"
  8. 8.0 8.1 Archer S02E11: "Jeu Monégasque"
  9. Archer S03E07: "Drift Problem"
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Archer" S01E01: "Mole Hunt" Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Mole Hunt" defined multiple times with different content
  11. Archer S03E09: "Skin Game"
  12. Archer S04E03: "Legs"
  13. Archer S02E03: "Blood Test"
  14. Archer S02E09: "Placebo Effect"
  15. Archer S03E04: "The Man From Jupiter"
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 Archer S04E02: "The Wind Cries Mary"
  17. Archer S01E04: "Killing Utne"
  18. 18.0 18.1 Archer S02E12: "White Nights"
  19. Archer S04E01: "Fugue and Riffs"
  20. 20.0 20.1 Archer S04E09: "The Honeymooners"
  21. Archer S05E05: "Archer Vice: Southbound and Down"

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