Archer

Archer アポロ Apollo
Art from HeartGold and SoulSilver
Gender	Male
Eye color	Teal
Hair color	Black (II), Teal (IV)
Hometown	Unknown
Region	Johto
Trainer class	Executive
Generation	II, III, IV
Games	Gold, Silver, Crystal, FireRed, LeafGreen, HeartGold, SoulSilver
Member of	Team Rocket
Rank	Executive, Interim Boss

Archer (Japanese: アポロ Apollo) is one of the four Team Rocket Executive introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver. However, he went unnamed until Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.

In the games

At first, Archer seems to make an appearance in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, as an unnamed male Team Rocket Admin in the Rocket Warehouse on Chrono Island. He is the leader of the Sevii Islands branch of Team Rocket, and accuses the player of spreading rumors that Team Rocket has disbanded, something he does not believe. When the player defeats the him, he recognizes the Earth Badge and accepts that Giovanni has been defeated, finally disbanding Team Rocket, but he vows to find him and resurrect Team Rocket someday. The computer he was working on mentions the effect of radio waves on Pokémon evolution, foreshadowing Team Rocket's actions three years later.

Three years later, Archer is the interim head of Team Rocket during the absence of Giovanni. He leads the team in its takeover of the Goldenrod Radio Tower, aiming to locate his missing leader and bring him back to the team.

Just like other Executives, Archer received a major overhaul in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, where his identity was expanded on. In addition, his color scheme was noticeably switched, where he now wears white clothes on the topmost layer, as opposed to the traditional black outfit.

Pokémon

Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal

File:GSC Rocket ExecutiveM.png Rocket Executive Goldenrod Radio Tower Gold, Silver, and Crystal Rocket and Professor Executive Oak Goldenrod Radio Tower Gold, Silver, and Crystal Reward: $2520

Types: Dark Fire Held item: None Houndour♂ Lv.33 Faint Attack Dark   --       Ember Fire   --       Bite Dark   --       Roar Normal   --       Type: Poison Unknown Held item: None Koffing♂ Lv.33 Sludge Poison   --       SmokeScreen Normal   --       Tackle Normal   --       Haze Ice   --       Types: Dark Fire Held item: None Houndoom♂ Lv.35 Faint Attack Dark   --       Ember Fire   --       Bite Dark   --       Smog Poison   --

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

File:FL RocketGruntM.png Team Rocket Admin Rocket Warehouse FireRed and LeafGreen Team Rocket and Professor Admin Oak Rocket Warehouse FireRed and LeafGreen Reward: $1760

Types: Poison Flying Ability: Inner Focus Held item: None Golbat♂ Lv.53 Shadow Ball Ghost   --       Sludge Bomb Poison   --       Confuse Ray Ghost   --       Air Cutter Flying   --       Type: Poison Unknown Ability: Levitate Held item: None Weezing♂ Lv.54 Thunderbolt Electric   --       Shadow Ball Ghost   --       Explosion Normal   --       Sludge Bomb Poison   --       Types: Dark Fire Ability: Unknown Held item: None Houndoom♂ Lv.55 Flamethrower Fire   --       Crunch Dark   --       Shadow Ball Ghost   --       Iron Tail Steel   --

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

File:ArcherHGSS.png Executive Archer Goldenrod Radio Tower HeartGold and SoulSilver Executive and Professor Archer Oak Goldenrod Radio Tower HeartGold and SoulSilver Reward: $3040

Types: Dark Fire Ability: Early Bird Held item: None Houndour♂ Lv.35 Faint Attack Dark Physical   --       Fire Fang Fire Physical   --       Crunch Dark Physical   --       Roar Normal Status   --       Type: Poison Unknown Ability: Levitate Held item: None Koffing♂ Lv.35 Sludge Poison Special   --       SmokeScreen Normal Status   --       Tackle Normal Physical   --       Haze Ice Status   --       Types: Dark Fire Ability: Early Bird Held item: None Houndoom♂ Lv.38 Faint Attack Dark Physical   --       Fire Fang Fire Physical   --       Bite Dark Physical   --       Smog Poison Special   --

Quotes

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

• Before battle

"Oh? You managed to get this far...? You must be quite the Trainer. We intend to take over this Radio Tower and officially announce our comeback. That should bring our boss Giovanni back from his solitary training. We are going to regain our former glory... I will not allow you to interfere with our meticulous plans!"

• After sending out last Pokémon

"We can't have you getting in the way before news of our resurgence reaches Giovanni!"

• During battle

"That's impossible..."

• When defeated

"No! Forgive me, Giovanni!"

• After being defeated

"How could this be...? Our dreams have come to naught. I was not up to the task after all. Like Giovanni has done before me, I will disband Team Rocket here today. Farewell..."

Sprites

		File:FL RocketGruntM.png	File:ArcherHGSS.png
Archer's sprite from Gold, Silver, and Crystal	Archer's sprite from Stadium 2	Archer's sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen	Archer's sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver	Archer's VS sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Archer in the manga

Archer appears in the HeartGold & SoulSilver arc of the Pokémon Adventures manga alongside the other three executives. They appear at the end of the first round to take over control of Team Rocket from Carr, saying that they will stay true to Giovanni's intentions.

Trivia

• Archer's design in Generation IV is based upon the original sprite of all male Rocket Executives from Generation II. The other two male Executives (now known as Proton and Petrel), who also used that sprite, were given entirely new designs. Similarly, Ariana's design is based on the original female Executive sprite, being the only female Executive in Johto.
• Before Archer's name and identity were revealed in Generation IV, Pokémon Adventures and Golden Boys had adapted the original male Executive as Carl and Grey, respectively. Having similar roles to Archer and owning a Houndour, they should be considered as his cross-canon counterparts.
• Considering Saturn is left the assets of Team Galactic in Cyrus's absence, Archer could be seen as his parallel, as he controls Team Rocket in Giovanni's absence.

Names

Language	Name	Origin
Japanese	アポロ Apollo	From the US Apollo program, the US spaceflight program with the goal of landing on the Moon. It also may also come from Apollo, the god of the light and the sun.
English, Italian	Archer	May be a reference to the AA-11 Archer (also known as the Vympel R-73), an air-to-air missile from the Soviet Union. In addition, it may allude to his Japanese name, as Apollo, the Greek god, is an archer.
French	Amos	From Amos, a family of of Israeli communications satellites.
German, Spanish	Atlas	From Atlas, a family of US space launch vehicles.
Korean	아폴로 Apollo	Same as Japanese name.

Members of Team Rocket
Bosses:	Giovanni (anime • Adventures • Pocket Monsters • Masters) Madame Boss (anime only) • Masked Man (Adventures only)
Executives:	Archer (Masters) • Ariana (Masters) • Petrel (Masters) • Proton (Masters) Anime only: Iron-Masked Marauder Adventures only: Carl • Sham • Will (former) • Karen (former) Golden Boys only: Grey
Trios:	Jessie (Masters), James (Masters), & Meowth (JJM) Koga, Lt. Surge, & Sabrina (Triad) (Adventures only; former) Ken, Al, & Harry (TRET) (Adventures only) Carr, Sird (former), & Orm (T3B) (Adventures only)
Duos:	Anime only: Butch & Cassidy (former) • Attila & Hun • Annie & Oakley (dub only)
Scientists:	Gideon Anime only: Dr. Fuji • Dr. Namba • Sebastian • Dr. Zager Adventures only: Blaine (former)
Others:	Grunts • Rocket BrothersRBYFRLG/Rocket SistersPE Anime only: Domino • Rocket Scout • Wendy • Tyson • Jubei • Viper Christopher (former) • Matori (Matori Matrix) • Pierce • Gozu Radio drama only: Miyamoto • Mondo How I Became a Pokémon Card only: Kaede