Sterling Malory Archer, almost exclusively referred to by his surname Archer, and sometimes referred to by his codename Duchess, is a fictional character and the titular protagonist of the American adult animated sitcom Archer. Created by Adam Reed, he is voiced by H. Jon Benjamin and debuted in the series' pilot episode, "Mole Hunt", on September 17, 2009.
Inspired by James Bond, Archer is an alcoholic, womanizing secret agent of the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS), a fictional New York-based intelligence service headed by his mother Malory (Jessica Walter). His narcissism, sharp sense of humor, and complex relationships with his co-workers serve as important aspects of his character. Archer subsequent years see him take on different occupations and personae as the show experiments with new ideas, character arcs and self-contained narratives.
The characterization of Archer, and Benjamin's performance of the character, have been well received by the media. Benjamin has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy nomination and an Annie Award nomination, for outstanding achievement in voice acting.
Attributes Background Archer was born in Tangier as the only child of Malory Archer (Jessica Walter), the retired agent-turned-director of the New York-based International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS). Due to Malory's involvement in espionage throughout World War II, Archer was raised until age 5 by his servant, Woodhouse. The whereabouts of his biological father are unknown barring a fake identity conceived by Malory, though he briefly appears as a faceless figure in a dream sequence in the season four episode "Once Bitten", as Archer hallucinates from a cobra bite. Archer spent his youth at a boarding school, where he excelled at lacrosse. As a result, Archer was offered an athletic scholarship to Johns Hopkins University, but the offer fell through after he was shot in the abdomen. Although not explicitly stated, a background photo in season two's "Placebo Effect" hints Archer may have instead graduated from Georgetown University.See Season 2, Episode 9. Archer is depicted at the bottom of the staircase outside Lauinger Library in a graduation photo. Healy Hall is also shown in the background. Archer has a fondness for the name Randy and has often gone undercover using the name as part of his disguise.
Personality
The comic efficacy of Archer's personality lies in his narcissism and unremitting snark. The character is described as "rude, sexist, and a terrible boss" without a moment's regret. He frequently harasses his peers with caustic jokes, one-liners and over-the-top, elaborate voicemail pranks. Archer is a full-blown alcoholic who uses his position to entice women into sex. Reed envisioned Archer as "dickish as possible", albeit a somewhat sympathetic character à la James Bond, with whom Archer shares his model of gun, the Walther PPK. Archer becomes an even more sympathetic personality as the series evolves in later seasons, when revelations about his troubled past, fears, affection for animals, and a deep admiration of Burt Reynolds, among others, come to light. During the 6th and 7th season severe trauma and important events, in the form of cancer, the death of his ex-fiancée Katya Kazanova (later revived as a cyborg), the death of his possible father Nikolai Jakov, the birth of his daughter, and his relationship with his mother, heavily influence his moral compass and his sense of personal responsibility.
Archer has complex relationships with many of his coworkers. The turbulence between him and Malory stems from years of childhood neglect, resulting in interactions that are often "fraught, laden with [...] memories of unforgiven slights, and the needy fears that accompany codependence". These feelings are sometimes manifested by sexual tension, evidenced when Archer at one point shouts his mother's name while having sex with longtime love interest Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler), and gets an erection after thinking about her death. Archer's relationship with Lana is likewise tumultuous because of his infidelity and immature behavior. Yet she has a new found compassion for him when he becomes ill with cancer, and by the time their daughter is born, their relationship is such that Archer is "willing to put his money [...] where other people's mouths are in order to protect his family."
Storylines Archer is introduced in the pilot episode "Mole Hunt", as a special agent for the intelligence agency International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS). He attempts to make amends with a resistant ex-girlfriend, Lana Kane, who ended their relationship six months prior because of an affair. The situation is further exacerbated by Cyril Figgis, who is Lana's companion at the time. Concurrently, he had a brief relationship with secretary Cheryl Tunt. Lana's drive to get revenge on Archer for cheating on her is fairly evident throughout the initial half of the first season, even going as far as to shoot him on multiple occasions. Unbeknownst to Archer, Malory has been keeping in contact with Nikolai Jakov and Len Trexler, one of whom—despite serving for rivaling agencies—could possibly be his real father. By "Dial M for Mother", he becomes suspicious of Malory's sly tactics, which prompts her to affirm that the identity of Archer's biological father is unknown.
Much of the second season of Archer is devoted to the character identifying his real father. Archer travels to Russia to find out whether Jakov is his biological father, only to be stranded and kidnapped by agents of the Soviet Committee for State Security (KGB). Worried about her missing son, Malory sends nemesis Barry Dylan to rescue Archer from the KGB—Barry is later severely injured after falling from grabbing onto Archer's legs for dear life. Although unsuccessful at finding out the DNA results, he meets Katya Kasanova, a former KGB spymaster looking to enter into ISIS. Eventually, the couple get married; however, the marriage is interrupted by Barry, who is now a cyborg revitalized by the KGB (in a parody of The Six Million Dollar Man). Following a growing disdain of Archer after previously destroying his femur and having anal sex with his (now ex-)fiancée, Barry attempts to murder him. Katya unsuccessfully attempts to kill Barry by jumping off of the roof of Archer's apartment building, sacrificing herself in the process. During the search for his father, Archer develops breast cancer after being exposed to high doses of radiation. Although the group thinks that he has entered into remission by the latter half of "Stage Two", the following episode concedes that the tumor has progressed into stage-two breast cancer. Treatment for the tumor (aside from the copious amounts of marijuana he was using) consisted of sucrose pills and Zima, according to an evaluation commenced by Dr. Algernop Krieger, causing Lana and Archer to tackle a local Irish gang that has been smuggling anticancer drugs in lieu of the sucrose pills and Zima solution. In the same episode, it is revealed that Archer filmed his massacre of the Irish gang and edited it into a movie called, "Terms Of Enrampagement".
Distraught by his fiancée's death, Archer retreats to French Polynesia to recuperate from the frenetic pace of his occupation. Rip Riley, a former ISIS agent, is recruited by Malory to pursue him and return Archer to New York City. After a futile attempt, Lana and Ray Gillette are sent to rescue Archer and Riley, who have been kidnapped by pirates. Ultimately, the duo are captured by the pirates and put into a dungeon, where Riley, Noah (a doctoral candidate in anthropology who was enslaved by the pirates after they captured his research vessel), and Archer are being harbored. Malory prepares to administer a ransom for the group, but later declines to extort money to the assailants after being insulted by Archer. Now temporarily severed from ties with the International Security Intelligence Service, the group steals a helicopter and escapes from the pirate fortress.
FBI agents shut down ISIS as it turns out it was not sanctioned by the U.S. government to perform acts of espionage whatsoever. Throughout the fifth season, Archer and the rest of ISIS are selling the ton of cocaine they have stored in order to make enough money for early retirements, which they fail throughout the season. In the season finale, Malory succeeds in having ISIS reinstated as an official agency by cutting an affiliation deal with the CIA. At the same time, it is revealed that Archer is the father of Lana Kane's newborn daughter, conceived through in vitro fertilization from semen stored when Archer was being treated for cancer.
In season six, a reluctant Archer and his co-workers are reinstated as freelance agents working for the CIA on a trial basis. In the first episode, which takes place six weeks after the end of season five, Archer has been residing in Thailand because he was shocked that Lana used his sperm to conceive a child without his permission, but then he finally comes home after a mission in Borneo. For the rest of the season, Archer tries (and the most part fails) to be a part of his child's life and in episode eight goes with Lana to meet her parents, who, even though they don't think much of Archer, still consider him part of the family. In the finale, the CIA hires Archer and the others to save the life of a brilliant scientist by shrinking down and destroying a lethal blood clot in his brain. Even though they manage to destroy the blood clot, they end up killing the doctor when they prematurely regrow while inside him, with the CIA disavowing them and leaving them with nothing.
Archer convinces the group that they should start a detective agency in Los Angeles, setting up the events of season seven where they are subjected to the machinations of actress Veronica Deane. It eventually results in Archer being shot several times by Veronica in the season seven finale, later revealed to have survived but in a coma for three years. Season eight follows Archer in his coma-induced dream where he imagines himself as a private detective and all of his co-workers, friends and associates as characters in a 1940s-esque film noir setting known as "Dreamland". Season nine has Archer, remaining in a coma-induced dream, imagined as a co-pilot with Pam, who crash land onto the lush and mysterious Pacific island of Mitimotu. Season ten continues the coma-induced imagination themed setting, this time portraying Archer as the co-captain of the starship M/V Seamus in a "1970s vision of the future" reminiscent of Star Wars and Alien. He finally awakens from his coma after the three seasons to find that three years have passed and he now needs a cane to walk.
Development
Conception
After the cancellation of the television series Frisky Dingo in 2008, Reed took a year off from work and travelled to Europe and Morocco for leisure. He would often observe the general atmosphere of the environment around him. "I was in Europe and Morocco for most of the year," Reed recalled, "bumming around with a backpack and a scruffy beard, and sitting in cafes writing in my journal, seeing all these wealthy people and beautiful women, walking around, looking all European. I kept thinking about this world that I wasn't invited to going on behind me in these gorgeous buildings. I was like, 'I know there's some awesome cocktail party on the roof of that building, and I am walking around with a Hot Pocket.' So I kept thinking about, y'know, James Bond would totally be at that party, and would not be eating this Hot Pocket."