FX's smart-as-a-whip animated comedy Archer is full of some of the zingiest one-liners, raunchiest sex scenes, and longest running jokes on television. But beneath all that is the skeleton of classic spy stories that rival the staples of the espionage genre. That's where the villains come in. No matter how complicated or unrealistic their schemes are, they provide the backbone for the comedy that ensues. They motivate the plot so that the jokes have context. Without villains, Lana, Sterling, Cyril, Pam, Cheryl, Malory, Ray, and Dr. Krieger are goofballs without a cause.
Good guys are attracted to bad girls, they sometimes do bad things, and in the case of Sterling Archer, come from bad parents, but the bad thing that good guys need most badly is bad guys.
Zip up your turtleneck and watch your phrasing for this trip in to the Danger Zone with a ranking of Archer's greatest nemeses, villains, scoundrels, and downright bad guys.
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1
120 VOTES
Barry Dylan
Photo: FX
Barry began as an agent of ODIN, ISIS's primary rival, but after being dropped off of a balcony and a fire escape by Sterling Archer, he was resurrected as a schizophrenic cyborg. Working for the KGB, all of his missions were compromised by his burning desire to exact revenge on Archer. Though he's had his skin burned off and been marooned in space, Barry has managed to steal Archer's girlfriend twice, making him a most formidable foe.
Even though they're (usually) on the same side, Sterling Archer's greatest nemesis may be his abusive mother. The life of a former OSS agent and the head of ISIS didn't leave much time for little Sterling. Among other offenses, she can't or won't name his real father, held a funeral for a fake father, and for all intents and purposes, abandoned Archer to his boarding school when he was a child. His butler, Woodhouse, is the closest thing Archer ever had to a parental figure, and Sterling treats him like garbage.
Yet another one of Archer's foes comes from the side of the angels. In addition to being fixated on stealing away Lana's affections, Slater frequently leaves out mission details or designs unnecessarily dangerous operations to intentionally put Sterling Archer in harm's way. He also shot Archer with a beanbag gun on their first meeting.
78 votes
4
86 VOTES
Katya Kazanova
Photo: user uploaded image
Archer nearly married "R2-Double-D2" twice, but that was before she became the cyborg head of the KGB. She also sabotaged his relationship with Lana by leaving her robo-vagina in his sink after a failed seduction.
86 votes
5
69 VOTES
Nikolai Jakov
Photo: FX
The late head of the KGB might or might not have been Sterling Archer's father, but he was definitely a nuisance. He planted a mole inside ISIS, arranged for two assassination squads to kill one of Malory Archer's dinner guests, and had a mind-control chip implanted in Archer. His attempt to defect to ISIS led to his demise at the hands of Barry.
69 votes
6
59 VOTES
Mr. Moto
Photo: FX
Mr. Moto is the head of the Yakuza who happened to run afoul of Pam Poovey twice. The first incident occurred when the Yakuza stole Sterling Archer's beloved 1970 Dodge Challenger and Pam won an illegal street race to get it back. The second time, she tricked his Yakuza out of $1 million worth of amphetamines while she was high on cocaine.
