History Archer / TropesAToC

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: 1960s decor, 1970s cars, and early 1980s computers alongside modern cell phones, the Internet, and [[ReferenceOverdosed a veritable tidal wave of modern pop-culture references]]. [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp The Soviet Union apparently still exists]], which makes this outright AlternateHistory, although [[PleaseSelectNewCityName Leningrad is referred to as St. Petersburg]], the [[http://pics.imcdb.org/12767/archerlubyanka.jpg Lubyanka]] has its post-1983 symmetrical façade, the world map behind Malory's desk indicates that Russia and the former Republics are all independent (including Turkmenistan, which is apparently led by an alternate version of its ''current'' leader), and Germany is apparently reunified. Archer's age during known historical events is inconsistent. When Woodhouse's flashbacks show him serving in the war, it's explicitly UsefulNotes/WorldWarI while Mallory and Ron both served in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, yet are nowhere near as old as they would be in the present day. To make it even ''further'' baffling, Archer has flashbacks to his teen years, wherein everyone is dressed out of the ''1920s'', even though a flashback to his birth showed it to be in early-World War II-era Morocco. All of this makes the time period ambiguous.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: Nikolai Jackov is constantly stated to be a Major-General, yet his uniform has the insignia of a Lieutenant-General in the Soviet Army (two stars, which indicates a Major-General in Western militaries). Lana later refers to him as "the major" in one episode.

** Lenn Traxler, who is only a villain by virtue of being head of a rival agency. In fact, he could be considered an outright HeroAntagonist, as he's generally nicer and more competent than most ISIS employees.

** In "[[Recap/ArcherS1E7Skytanic Skytanic]]", Archer lampshades the fact that Lana shoots him in the ''exact same spot'' as she did in "[[Recap/ArcherS1E7Skytanic Skytanic]]". These scars are then later seen in "[[Recap/ArcherS1E10DialMForMother Dial M for Mother]]" when he is strapped to an operating table.

* TheCloudcuckoolanderWasRight: Cheryl often has moments of disturbing insight, correctly guessing at important information that she couldn't have known otherwise, [[spoiler: such as realizing that the Krieger that followed them out of San Marcos was likely a clone, and not the original Krieger]]. She also points out that [[NotSoDifferent Lana has a lot of similarities to Malory,]] and due to her [[OnlySaneMan competence]] and [[ButThouMust lack of other viable career options,]] Lana is the most likely to succeed Malory as the head of ISIS, [[MortonsFork whether Lana wants to or not.]]

* TheBackwardsR: In "Fugue and Riffs", Archer (as Bob) deduces the assassins sent after him are Russian because of "that crazy backwards R" on their clothing tags.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: In "Vision Quest" the 9-1-1 operator Ray manages to contact refused to believe his assertion that the gang are trapped in an elevator, staying "you can't get trapped in an elevator!" and hangs up on him, then blocks his number when Ray tries to call back. Firstly, you ''can'' get trapped in an elevator, and it is actually a rather serious emergency to be in (considering that elevators are small metal boxes with practically zero air circulation when the doors are closed, and some are even airtight which can ''kill trapped passengers by suffocation'', and even then, several people stuck in such an enclosed space is not healthy for anyone involved, and lets not even get started on what could happen if a fire broke out), and secondly, hanging up on a caller, ''even if you think is a joke,'' is an absolutely '''''serious''''' offense in the 9-1-1 business unless one can be 100 percent certain that there is not an emergency occurring, and it is a '''huge''' liability to do something as serious as blocking a caller's number just because they called in with a crazy story ''especially'' if they are requesting help. From a realistic perspective, the operator handling that call would have been fired ''at the very least'' and possibly even faced anything from civil charges leveled against her, such as if someone had been injured during the incident and ISIS had decided to pursue damages, to ''criminal'' charges for dereliction or abandonment of duty.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: In "Vision Quest" the 9-1-1 operator Ray manages to contact refused to believe his assertion that the gang are trapped in an elevator, staying "you can't get trapped in an elevator!" and hangs up on him, then blocks his number when Ray tries to call back. Firstly, you ''can'' get trapped in an elevator, and it is actually a rather serious emergency to be in (considering that elevators are small metal boxes with practically 'ero air circulation when the doors are closed, and some are even airtight which can ''kill trapped passengers by suffocation'', and even then, several people stuck in such an enclosed space is not healthy for anyone involved, and lets not even get started on what could happen if a fire broke out), and secondly, hanging up on a caller, ''even if you think is a joke,'' is an absolutely '''''serious''''' offense in the 9-1-1 business unless one can be 100 percent certain that there is not an emergency occurring, and it is a '''huge''' liability to do something as serious as blocking a caller's number just because they called in with a crazy story ''especially'' if they are requesting help. From a realistic perspective, the operator handling that call would have been fired ''at the very least'' and possibly even faced anything from civil charges leveled against her, such as if someone had been injured during the incident and ISIS had decided to pursue damages, to ''criminal'' charges for dereliction or abandonment of duty.

* AnimationBump: The animation took a noticeable step up. Noticeable in Season 6 where [[spoiler: Archer and Lana are shown passionately kissing in a sequence that uses a lot of frames.]]

* AllAdultAnimationIsSouthPark: Zig-zagged. The show is primarily a black and blue comedy, with its dialogue and content sometimes bordering on softcore to medium-core porn, and its dark comedy often being darker than the usual adherents to this trope, though it also averts StylisticSuck through use of its photorealistic animation, deep characterization, and writing style that rewards consistent listening. Season 8 becomes more of a Dramedy than the previous seasons.

'''Lana:''' [[OhCrap Holy shit]].

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: From Season 11’s finale

'''Lana:''' *realizing he might be right* Holy shit.

** Poor [[{{FatGirl}} Pam]] is probably the straightest example.

* AmusingInjuries: Variously {{deconstructed}} and {{reconstructed}}; though the injuries are almost always initially PlayedForLaughs, several times characters have had to seek advanced medical attention afterwards:

* ConspicuousCG:
** The aerial shots of the Monaco Grand Prix racers in "[[Recap/ArcherS2E11JeuMonegasque Jeu Monégasque]]".
** The helicopter in "[[Recap/ArcherS3E3HeartOfArchnessPartThree Heart of Archness, Part III]]".
** Pretty much every vehicle. That's especially visible in chase sequences, e.g in the drift racing episode.

'''Archer:''' I, uh--[[LampshadeHanging yeah, exactly]]. ''[[BellisariosMaxim Good question]]''.

** Who Archer's father is was a major plot arc, with four major character possibilities and a fifth myseterious figure who showed up in Archer's memories. Then Jakov was killed and shortly after that the entire arc was aborted.

*** "Phrasing!" to point out InUniverse AccidentalInnuendo

*** "Inapprops." whenever someone tells an inappropriate joke and no one laughs or they react negatively.

*** "Cheesey Petes!"

** Kremenski in the pilot seems to be generally all right when not working for the KGB. He thinks everyone should be nicer to Pam and even he is shocked by how messed up Archer is.

** "[[Recap/ArcherS2E11JeuMonegasque Jeu Monégasque]]": Stops a blackmailer and recover stolen bearer bonds. [[spoiler:Malory stole the ISIS [=401k=] accounts to use as payment, which Archer loses in baccarat, forcing them to steal it back and cause the thief to crash into the blackmailer's helicopter by accident, killing both.]]

** "The Honeymooners": Stops a North Korean attempt to purchase weapons-grade enriched uranium. [[spoiler:Archer and Lana get captured and only escape when Cyril provides a distraction that allows Lana and Archer to kill everyone. Also, it turns out Krieger was the seller.]]