- "Archer" redirects here. For the TV series, see Archer (TV series).
- "I am the perfect gentleman."
- —{{{2}}}
Sterling Malory Archer, better known simply as Archer, is the world's deadliest spy.
Background
According to the episode, "Once Bitten " Sterling Archer was age six and celebrated his birthday alone, while his mother assisted in overthrowing the government of Guatemala (in reality the CIA overthrew Guatemala's government in 1954, making his birth year around 1948). He is a member of spy agency "ISIS," located in New York City.
His relation with his mother Malory—who is also his boss at ISIS—is often strained, never sympathetic, and sometimes bluntly abusive. It is implied that Archer was exposed to "negative reinforcement" when he was growing up by Malory in The Double Deuce (Malory denies Seamus a toy, saying, "Did somebody trick you, hmm? See, that's how the world works dear, and I'm the only one you can trust.") making Archer over-dependent on his mother. Archer believed for most of his life that his father was a deceased, decorated Navy pilot, John Fitzgerald Archer. It was revealed in Dial M for Mother that his father may be KGB head Major Nikolai Jakov, ODIN director Len Trexler, or jazz drummer Buddy Rich. Later added to the list of possible fathers was an unnamed young Italian man who was gunned down in the streets of Italy and had "blue eyes, full lips and thick wavy hair".[1]
Archer has the less than masculine codename of "Duchess " (taken from his mother's beloved Afghan wolfhound, though Malory Archer denies this) and used to have an on-again, off-again relationship with fellow agent Lana Kane, which makes their working environment tenuous and difficult. At home, he employs an aging valet, Woodhouse who contributed greatly to Archer's parenting. Archer is voiced by H. Jon Benjamin.
In the Season 4 episode, Once Bitten, Sterling revisits his past led by a cut-rate James Mason, as his spirit guide. James shows Archer memories that Sterling had blocked out. These include a visit to Baltimore to try out for the Johns Hopkins lacrosse team, as well as being stalked and subsequently shot by a mysterious woman, Ruth Anne Litzenberger. Sterling's memories culminate in remembering his sixth birthday when his real father gave him a stuffed alligator. He, unfortunately, awakens before remembering his father's face.
Personality
Archer and his bride Katya Kasanova
In a nutshell imagine Don Draper and James Bond had a son who was raised by Charlie Sheen.
Archer is first and foremost completely focused on himself, his needs and desires. If he aids another person, it is always because he will somehow benefit. He does, however, insist upon compensating anyone from whom he commandeers equipment or goods, although he does not always trade to them items they want or need.
Although he has numerous personality flaws, such as insensitivity, egotism, and a casual attitude towards murdering anyone who crosses him (or even sometimes merely crosses his path), he is also undeniably an intuitively good operative with a fairly high degree of personal bravery, as shown during his escape from Moscow when he consistently outwitted and outfought the numerous soldiers dispatched to recapture him despite never having a functional firearm and "three pounds of glass" in his feet. When he was finally cornered in an elevator, he blindfolded himself and fully intended his last words to be "F*** you, you douchebags."
Archer is not completely devoid of a sensitive side however, as seen in Stage Two, when he believes that he may die from breast cancer, he demonstrates considerable regret at his treatment of his co-workers at ISIS, buying Pam and Cheryl bunches of roses and later stating to Lana Kane that he still loves her (also in the season 4 finale he gives Lana the last set of scuba gear and tells her he loves her before drowning to be resuscitated). Archer also bonds with the wee baby Seamus over the course of the episode as he considers him the closest that he will ever get to having a child, going so far as to have "Seamus" tattooed on his back in recognition of that affection. Additionally, he establishes a friendship with a fellow cancer patient, Ruth. Another example of this is in Honeypot when Archer finds himself in a bar that hosts chicken-fighting matches. A big, weeping Dominican man is sitting next to him, crying over the death of his slain rooster. The next time we see Archer, he is covered in dirt and carrying a shovel, and mentions that he spent all night helping a giant Dominican guy bury his rooster in the everglades, This becomes even more heart warming in hindsight after the second season reveal that alligators are one of Archer's three biggest fears. In Heart of Archness: Part 1 , he saved Rip Riley from being attacked by a shark by pulling him out his destroyed seaplane, bandaging his head and giving him CPR
He spent up to fifteen years at boarding school, despite American schooling taking thirteen years. His hobby was lacrosse, although flashbacks have indicated he had few friends. A picture of Archer in Placebo Effect shows Archer graduating from Georgetown University, implying he is at least smart enough to receive a bachelors degree in an unknown major. Woodhouse is present, also implying he is a better parent to Sterling than Malory, who was not present. As a result of this long classical education and friendlessness, Archer is surprisingly well-read.
It is revealed in Fugue and Riffs that for a short period of time, he assumed the identity of Bob Belcher from the show Bob's Burgers. The reason for this sudden life-change is that he entered a fugue state (stress-induced amnesia) following Malory's wedding to Ron Cadillac .
Archer as Bob
Autism
Numerous hints throughout the series suggest that Sterling is autistic: he is often the only character to count bullets during gun fights, he is able to identify the make and model of a blender in "Fugue and Riffs," and he has an unusual affinity for animals and is able to 'converse' with Babou and Kazak. He also shows an inability to pick up on social clues and a lack of empathy, and seems to be unable to dress himself without help from Woodhouse. The possibility of Sterling's autism is directly addressed in the episode Coyote Lovely: asked if he is autistic, Sterling seriously considers the possibility.
Enemies
When Sterling and Cyril are being chased and shot at by Lana in his car in "Training Day", he lists some of his enemies. They include but are not limited to:
- The KGB
- The Stasi
- Shining Path
- Popeye
- Barry Dylan
- El Frente Rojo
- The Camorra
- Barry Dylan
Biggest Fears
Sterling's fear of alligators may stem from an event revealed in Once Bitten.
- Alligators[2]
- Crocodiles[3]
- Brain Aneurysms[4]
- The Bermuda Triangle[5]
- ...
- Cyborgs[citation needed]
- Predator[citation needed]
Trivia
- Jason Fitzgerald served as the model for Sterling.
- Archer resembles the actor John Travolta.
- Coincidentally, John Travolta played a FBI agent in Face/Off, where his last name is "Archer"
- Frequently uses a red ping pong paddle during intercourse. His mother used to spank his bare bottom with a similar paddle. 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 behaviour.
- Has a fear of wooden spoons because his mother used to spank him with them.
- His 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.
- Is fond of creating elaborate voicemail pranks, in which the recording is designed to trick people into believing he has answered his phone. He is in the habit of deliberately ignoring calls. In Season 4, he switches off his voicemail so that the phone simply continues to ring essentially forever, just to make people even more crazy. He says in Viscous Coupling that once Woodhouse was trapped in his dumbwaiter for two days because Archer ignored his calls. In that episode, his ringtone has been changed to a regular ring.
- Needs glasses to read - "Skorpio." This may be why he has Woodhouse read his paper to him. He tends to avoid reading in front of others as well, masking it with impatience, perhaps because he is embarrassed by this.
- He is abusive of 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 (three years longer than grades would allow). This apparent abandonment by his mother is often a sensitive topic for him, which he often colors as a more positive experience than flashbacks and recollections tend to portray.
- The length of his tenure at private school may have been in part due to a learning disability which is alluded to in Heart of Archness: Part III, wherein Malory gets him out of school by threatening to burn it to the ground. Regardless of whether it was because of being spoiled, laziness, disinterest, his eyesight, or his possible learning disability, he is usually depicted as having had difficulty with academics. For instance in addition to the aforementioned his abysmal SAT scores are referenced in "Once Bitten." From the first episode, Archer is presented as a person whose achievements and position in life are due to dumb luck and his mother's influence rather than his own hard work and diligence.
- In the same set of flashbacks from "Heart of Archness: Part III," Archer is shown having what was probably a very short stint in the Army, where he was for some reason unable to climb the wall used in basic training. Malory got him out of the Army as well, by announcing "He's gay." This is in contrast to the usual case that Archer is quite adept at physical challenges (his main asset as a spy). Since failing basic training would probably in itself get him out of the Army it is possible that he had been drafted, although it may have been, like his private school, an attempt at character building by his mother. It could also have been an attempt to follow in his "father's" footsteps, as the imaginary father Malory created to tell him of was in the Navy. In any case it has historically generally very difficult to get out, especially during the days of the draft, but Malory was able to get him out without consequences.
- In keeping with the theme of his mother's neglect, he was also generally sent to camp during the summer (particularly lacrosse camp). He generally portrays his experiences there, like those in private school, in a more positive light than flashbacks reveal. in both cases he is shown as a lonely boy with no friends.
- In his 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. Usually this is explained as being a result of the way he treats people, such as in "Training Day," wherein Cyril says "no one likes you."
- For the first 5 years of his life he was raised by Woodhouse, his mother being out of the country.
- Archer favors the use of Nightvision goggles during missions, despite being repeatedly blinded by them due to exposure to bright light.
- He 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 "Stage Two", "Dial M for Mother" and "Skin Game".
- The aforementioned fainting is often a response to revelations about his mother which he cannot handle, such as when he found out Burt Reynolds was dating her. He also generally responds to any reference to his mother's sexuality by puking uncontrollably, which is another running gag.
- His codename "Duchess" comes from the name of his mother's deceased dog.[6]
- The acronym AJTTOTD he uses on his Twitter account is "Archer's just the tip of the day," which was a recurring joke in "Mole Hunt."
- One of his favorite snacks is gummy bears.
- He also likes to eat Chicken and Waffles.
- He says that Pam is one of the best sexual partners he's ever had.
- He has $480,810 in his ISIS 401(k)[7]
- In the first episode, "Mole Hunt," he had multiple scars on his chest and body. These have since disappeared, with the exception of the bullet wound through his foot.
- He has an incredibly strong tolerance to alcoholic intoxication rivalling 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 tranquilisers, barely affect him [8]
- He once tricked five enemies into playing a game of Russian Roulette, making all of them kill themselves.[9]
- The freelance spies and spies from other agencies consider him the "World's Most Dangerous Spy."[6][9][10]
- Archer is an excellent Lacrosse player, having played it extensively in his boarding school days.
- Is constantly called racist in many episodes.
- Appears to know a lot about certain people as he constantly tells people (mainly Lana) to read books.
- Believes Skynet and Predator are real.
- Whenever he upsets a person and they ask for a weapon, he always replies "No you're agitated." Which is then followed by a reason why they're agitated (being that Archer was the cause).
- 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"
- He has tinnitus due to his fellow agents firing guns near his ear. - "Heart of Archness: Part I." 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 worsening his tinnitus. He has been seeing a specialist for this problem and among other things has to sleep with a fan on to drown out the ringing. This may be the same specialist Lana uses, to whom she took him in "Placebo Effect." He had commented on how good that doctor was after meeting him, and was planning to recommend his doctor to Rip.
- He has written How to Archer: The Ultimate Guide to Espionage and Style and Women and Also Cocktails Ever Written.
- His hero since he was a small boy is Burt Reynolds.
- He has a surprising fondness for cats, such as Babou the Ocelot and a captive tiger in El Contador.
- Always refers to Malory as "Mother", never "Malory" or "Mom".
- Avid reader of novels and political fiction.
- Hates Patricia Neal. Possibly because she died of three brain aneurysms, one of Archer's fears. - "The Limited"
- Seems to have an extensive knowledge of trivia, particularly film, television, and literature. It's obvious he watched a lot of television, obsessively, which may be further evidence of neglect by his mother.
- He knows a lot about mixing drinks, and is somewhat of a snob about them, constantly criticising 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. He can also, merely by hearing it, recognize equipment used to mix drinks, such as the Hamilton Beach 727 DrinkMaster.[11]
- It's possible that Woodhouse, who owned and operated Reggie's Bar in Tangiers, was the one who taught Archer to mix drinks. As a result, Archer probably prefers to have Woodhouse mix his drinks. This could also be out of laziness.
- He is an expert escape artist. In particular he can fight in handcuffs[8] or get out of them.[12]
- He is an expert in fighting with improvised weaponry.[10][11][12]
- He is a very snappy dresser, which is a reference to James Bond. However he seems unable to actually dress himself at times,[9] and is extremely vain about his clothes, which are all expensive and tailor-made.[10][13] Woodhouse, in addition to dressing Archer, has learned to be a tailor in order to better serve him.[14]
- It would appear he is seemingly almost immortal having survived a stab wound in the back which punctured a lung, 6 almost point-blank shots from his mother's .44 magnum to the center of his chest, 12 shots from similar weapons to his back all at once, among other injuries.
- He appears to be the only one who notices the odd mish-mash of time periods the show takes place in; in both Blood Test and Lo Scandalo, Archer expresses confusion when he hears the question "What year is this?".
- 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.
- He proposed to Lana In White Elephant though she blew him off. One of the reasons he gave was that he has first-hand experience of not having a father in his life. This also gives another hint to genuine romantic feelings he has for Lana.
- He is completely unaware of the various forms of internet pornography as indicated in the episode, "House Call", due apparently to him never owning a computer with internet access.
Quotes
- "I swear I had something for this" - Most Episodes
- "That is so classic her." -Most Episodes (referencing his mother's overtly selfish/sexual behaviour)
- "Do you not?"
- "BOOYAKASHA!"
- "WOOOO!!!"
- "Lana. Lana. Lana! LANAAA!!!"
- "DANGER ZONE!"
- "F*** you, Space!"
- "Phrasing!"
- "Just the tip?"
- "Duh and/or hello!"
- "Can't or won't?"
- "Well obviously!"
- "Obviously, the core concept."
- Katya: Does she hate what I am?
- Archer: What you are meaning the one woman who can free her child from the psychological prison she spent a lifetime erecting?! - "Skin Game"
- "Little column A, little column B"
References
- ↑ "Lo Scandalo". wikia.archer.com. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
- ↑ Pipeline Fever
- ↑ Pipeline Fever
- ↑ Pipeline Fever
- ↑ Sea Tunt: Part I
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mole Hunt
- ↑ Jeu Monégasque
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Wind Cries Mary
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Killing Utne
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 White Nights
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Fugue and Riffs
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Honeymooners
- ↑ Tragical History
- ↑ Double Trouble
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 sample of four images from the gallery:
Videos
External links
- Maxim interview
@codenameduchess on Twitter
