History Main / TheArcher

* Katniss Everdeen in the ''HungerGames'' is a masterful archer who uses the skill to hunt and survive to feed her family, and then uses those skills to survive in, fight and win The Hunger Games.

* The English longbow is famous for being a particularly advanced weapon that set England apart from other European nations and granted it notable advantages in warfare. English subjects were required to own and train with longbows regularly, while most other nations felt that archery was beneath them. Many historians argued for decades that the stories of English Longbowmen routinely using bows with draw weights of 180-200 pounds were massive exagerations because modern professional archers rarely do more than 80 pounds. Howard Hill, quite famous in his day, proved them wrong by using a bow with a 190 pound draw in his '''sixties'''. Just to understand how powerful this is, most people have trouble drawing 40 pounds. King Edward I, who popularized longbows, once said something to the effect of, "If you want a great bowman, start with his grandfather."
** From the point of manufacturing, the longbow is actually extremely simple, to the point of being almost primitive. It's just a curved piece of wood, but made from the perfect type of wood and in an optimal shape. It's incredible effectiveness comes from the lifelong training of the user, which was so extensive that you can easily recognise the skeletons of professional archers by looking at the shape their bones have grown.
*** More to the point you can recognise lonbow archers because they are cripples. The human skeleton is not able to withstand and sustain the forces that using a longbow puts on it and is trying to grow additional bone structures to support it. Unfortunatly that is both painful and crippling to the person.

Nor to be confused with [[StarTrekEnterprise Captain Jonathan Archer]], [[NoOneLivesForever Cate Archer]], [[FaceOff Sean Archer]], ''{{Archer}}'', [[BondJamesBond Sterling Archer]], ''TheArchers'', or [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Servant Archer]].

* John J. ''{{Rambo}}'' uses a bow in various occasions (with and without shirt). His bow (or rather an imitation thereof) can also be bought somewhere on the internet.

* In ''ResidentEvil 4'', the AxCrazy muscleman Jack Krauser uses a bow, probably due to being a pastiche of ''{{Rambo}}''.
** In ''Resident Evil 5'', Sheva has an unlockable alternate outfit called Tribal Sheva that uses a longbow as its signature weapon.

* Strongbow (obviously) and Nightfall in ''{{ElfQuest}}'', both of whom are fairly bold and not particularly weak.

* Susan Pevensie, and later her little sister Lucy, of Creator/CSLewis's ''{{Chronicles of Narnia}}'' used bows in battle, in contrast to their brothers, who used swords. Later when Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole turned up, Eustace was trained with a sword and Jill got a bow and arrows.

* Squint from ''{{The Malazan Book of the Fallen}}'' is correct to life in being described as a very heavy-built man with extremely powerful arm muscles.
* Stark from ''{{The House of Night}}''. BlessedWithSuck because he hits whatever he's thinking about, even if it's not his target, even if it's nowhere near his line of sight. For example, he hits his mentor during a competition by accidentally thinking about him. Oops. He's also unable to quit doing archery altogether.

* Daffyd Ap Hywel, the Welsh archer from [[GordonRDickson Gordon R. Dickson]]'s ''[[TheDragonKnight Dragon Knight]]'' novels. Daffyd's bow has a ''200 pound'' draw, and he is fully aware that he's pretty much the best around. An incident is mentioned when some nobleman thought it would be fun to force one lone bowman against three fully-armored knights on horseback. PrettyLittleHeadshots ensued.
* Birgitte Silverbow from ''{{The Wheel of Time}}'' series. A literally legendary shot that is bound to the Wheel and the Horn of Valere until [[spoiler:she ends up being "spun out" into real time by an angry Forsaken for saving Nynaeve.]] She has the cold analytical traits described here in spades, to such a high degree that others linked to her mind can sense her supreme focus in tense situations, and compare it to "a drawn bow aimed at the target."

* In ''{{Percy Jackson and the Olympians}}'', the children of Apollo as well as the Huntresses of Artemis use bows as their primary weapons, and are a great shot with them.
* Katniss Everdeen in ''{{The Hunger Games}}'', as well as her hunting partner Gale Hawthorne.

* In RobertEHoward's "Literature/{{Queen of the Black Coast}}," ConanTheBarbarian, uncharacteristically, makes heavy use of the bow, both to inflict casualties among the crew of the ''Tigress'' while aboard Tito's ship, and to kill the transformed minions of the winged monster that murdered Belit. Conan mentions that he learned archery among the Hyrkanians and that it's not his idea of a man's weapon.

* Any {{Robin Hood}} adaption will probably have this, the latest BBC version even had a character named 'Archer'.

* Though Lina from ''{{Riviera the Promised Land}}'' uses bows as her primary weapon, she's whimsical, spontaneous, and childish, not to mention immature, whiny and selfish. Fia the fencer and Serene the scythe-and-claw girl come far closer to typical personality.
* Elves are naturally known for this in the [[{{Warcraft}} Warcraft Universe]], particularly the more feral Night Elves. The Priestess of the Moon in particular from Warcraft III (and the Dark Ranger, an undead High Elf) put their bowstrings to very good use on fleshy opposing armies. Class is a bigger variable than race in ''{{World of Warcraft}}''. Though bows are available to a number of classes, only Hunters possess the skills and talents necessary to make them into effective weapons. Good Hunters also embody the analytical traits described here -- not only does their long-range position and lack of flashy effects (compared the nukers like mages and warlocks) give them a much better vantage point of a pitched battle, but they are masters of battlefield control with aggro management skills like Distracting Shot and Feign Death, the ability to set traps, and being able to act in two places at once by commanding their pet.

** Chester Barklight in ''VideoGame/{{Tales of Phantasia}}'' is a nontypical example; he's {{hotblooded}}, aggressive, and highly driven. In the original, you can actually set his AI to "aim carefully" or "[[MoreDakka berserk fire]]," and his [[InfinityPlusOneSword best bow]] supports the latter, since its superiority is not in damage but in attack speed.
** Chelsea Torn in ''VideoGame/{{Tales of Destiny}}'' (arguably, Garr/Woodrow can be considered one, but he mainly uses his Swordian).
** Nanaly Fletch in ''VideoGame/{{Tales of Destiny}} 2''.
** [[BadassPrincess Princess Natalia L.K Landvaldear]] in ''VideoGame/{{Tales of the Abyss}}'', returning to old school bowmanship.
** ''VideoGame/{{Tales of Vesperia}}'' gives us Raven, who uses a bow-sword contraption. His personality is atypical for an archer. It's notable he switches to slashing with a dagger in close-combat.
** Hisui Hearts of ''VideoGame/{{Tales of Hearts}}'', who is also HotBlooded, making him an atypical example of both this trope and TheMedic archetype.

* The Archery powerset in ''{{City of Heroes}}'' utilises a customisable bow and various types of arrows. On some Archetypes it can be paired with the TrickArrow powerset.

* Morgan from ''{{Tears to Tiara}}'' is the player's primary archer for a lot of the game, but she doesn't fit the personality type at all, being a very energetic {{Big Eater}}.

* ''Webcomic/{{The Order of the Stick}}'' has Haley Starshine

* Julie, the protagonist from ''{{Our Little Adventure}}'' uses a bow as her weapon of choice and since gaining two levels since the comic started, she's gotten quite [[ImprobableAimingSkills good with it.]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' [[DarkAndTroubledPast Artemis]] has this role, as do [[RageAgainstTheMentor Red Arrow/Roy]] and [[{{Green Arrow}} Green Arrow/Ollie]].

* Susan in ''Prince Caspian'' is able to hit a specific cone in a pine at more than thirty paces. When shooting at the Telmarin cavalrymen, each arrow hits and disables or kills.

** Beleg (''Quenta Silmarillion'') favors his bow and is an excellent archer, but also quite skilled in close combat as well.
** Legolas (''{{Lord of the Rings}}'') wields a bow as his primary weapon, with a long knife for close combat, during the quest of the Fellowship of the Ring. His archery skills in the [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings PJ films]] are boosted to ridiculous over-the-top feats.
** Bard the Bowman (''TheHobbit'') is a rare example of the dragon-slaying hero using a bow.

* Both Huang Zhong and Xiahou Yuan in the Chinese classic ''{{Romance of the Three Kingdoms}}'' are known for their archery skills.

* Centaurs from the ''HarryPotter'' series are well-known for their archery skills, along with some other things.

* [[KamenRiderKuuga Kuuga (Rising) Pegasus]]
* [[TheDukesOfHazzard Beau and Luke Duke]] are under probation, and are not allowed to carry firearms. So, they defend themselves with bows and arrows -- including explosive arrows.

*** ''The'' Amazons were a race of such. Amazon literally means "without breast," as some stories say that they would [[BreastAttack cut off a breast]] to prevent it from interfering with their archery. However, Amazons are never depicted as single-breasted in any historical art.

*** In the ''{{Mahabharata}}'', Arjuna, who is the closest it has to a main character, is an archer. It also has mentions of full-metal arrows used, beheadings and cutting down things like banners with arrows, [[AutomaticCrossbows and so on]]. Virtually every [[NominalImportance named]] warrior's WeaponOfChoice is mentioned, but the two most prominent heroes (bitter rivals, demigods and [[LongLostRelative in fact half-brothers]]) Arjuna and Karna are both great bowmen, so the Great Battle's crucial moment is a shoot-out.

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'',

* Genghis Khan's rapid conquest of the then-known world is partially attributed to his army's speed and accuracy when loosing arrows ''while riding on horseback''. Six out of ten men in the cavalry were [[HorseArcher horse archers]], all using Mongol bows (which have a draw of about ''160 pounds'').

[[folder:TabletopGames]]
* ''[[DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'',

[[folder:WebComics]]

** The sequel has DLC character Sebastian Vael as the archer (like Nathaniel, one of his weapons belonged to a family member). Varric also uses a... [[AutomaticCrossbow one of it's kind Crossbow.]]

* The Ishidas from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' (Uryuu and his father Ryuuken) are the ''only'' characters to use [[EnergyBow a bow and arrow]] while the vast majority of other characters have a BFS.

* Gokudera Hayato from ''KatekyoHitmanReborn'' uses his Flame Arrow that turns into a bow that shoots powerful Dying Will Flames when merging his Flame Arrow and Cambio Forma Box Weapon Uri. It is also said that the first Generation Storm Vongola Guardian used a bow given to him by the Primo himself when the situation turned serious.

* Tomite from ''FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'' uses a bow and arrow set made of ice.

* In Marvel's ''GIJoe'' series, Storm Shadow is considered the greatest archer, even using it back when he was a GI in the Vietnam War. This is the one martial art where even Snake-Eyes could not equal or surpass him. Like most ninja in that series, he is enigmatic, aloof, self-assured, and rather irreverent at times. Zartan is the second-best archer, though he used various sonic detection devices to hit distant targets blindly.
* ''SinCity''

* Rutger Hauer's charactet in SamPeckinpah's final film ''TheOstermanWeekend'' uses bows a crossbows in his house against the enemies, as immortalized on the cover.

* Susan Pevensie, and later her little sister Lucy, of CSLewis's ''{{Chronicles of Narnia}}'' used bows in battle, in contrast to their brothers, who used swords. Later when Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole turned up, Eustace was trained with a sword and Jill got a bow and arrows.

* JRRTolkien's Middle-earth stories feature a few examples of prominent archers, though they are never characterized as weaker or delicate:

* Though archery seems to be a common skill in the series, Renn from ''TheChroniclesOfAncientDarkness'' is the standout, having practised it for so long that her bow is almost a CompanionCube to her.

* Hayk, the legendary patriarch of the Armenians, was depicted as an archer who took down the tyrannical Assyrian titan Bel with his arrow and liberated the Armenians from Bel's rule. The ancient Armenians referred to the constellation Orion as Hayk.

* ''[[DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'',

** [[FireEmblemAkaneia Dark Dragon Sword of Light and others]]: Gordin and his brother Raian, Tomas, Norne, Sedgar, Robert, Beck.

* Due to the fact that in ''[=~Baldur's Gate~=]'' the longbow actually has a high strength requirement, the beefiest warriors are typically the archer of the group. Minsc, the team's LargeHam [[CloudCuckooLander Dim-witted]] [[TheBerserker Berserker]] Ranger, the second strongest party member available in the series, can use bows to great effect, especially because his lack of shield makes it easier to swap between weapons.

* Reimi Saionji of ''[=~Star Ocean: The Last Hope~=]'' uses a high-tech bow. True to form, she is extremely calm and level headed, [[spoiler:even taking over as the leader of the group during Edge's HeroicBSOD.]] Her restraint usually only fails her during Edge's AccidentalPervert moments.

* The [[http://cutstuff.net/blog/?page_id=1509 Hunter]] class from ''GhoulsVsHumans'' (and he's the protagonist in the earlier ''The Ghoul's Forest 3''). He's sort of BornInTheWrongCentury, as he prefers to use medieval weaponry and armor despite living in what looks like modern times. He has a couple of magical arrows - ArrowsOnFire, ice arrows, lightning arrows - and is also something of a sorcerer, as he can fire flames, ice and thunders from his hand.

* Ranmaru is the archer in ''SengokuBasara''. He is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter.

* On ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' [[DarkAndTroubledPast Artemis]] has this role, as do [[RageAgainstTheMentor Red Arrow/Roy]] and [[{{Green Arrow}} Green Arrow/Ollie]].

*** More to the point you can recognise lonbow archers because they are cripples. The human skeleton is not able to withstand and sustain the forces that using a longbow puts on it and is trying to grow additional bone structures to support it. Unfortunatly that is both painful and crippling to the person.

* The old Hungarian army (before converting to Christianity) also consisted mostly of horse archers with similar bows. Their predominant strategy was feigning retreat to get the enemy knights chase them (and thus break their formation) then showered them with arrows shot ''backwards''.

* The samurai of Japan were mounted archers before they were swordsmen. The discipline of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_archery kyuudo]]'' is the remnant of this; it's still recognizable as horseback archery by the shape of the bow and way the bow is drawn down from overhead rather than back from the front (so that the horse doesn't get in the way.)

** Tsuruhime in ''SengokuBasara 3'' is Ranmaru's perky, sparkly, love-struck miko replacement who figure skates on a boat. She's got great speed and range and that's about it.

* Ranmaru is the archer in ''SengokuBasara''. But because he is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, he doesn't appear much after that game. Tsuruhime in ''SengokuBasara 3'' is the perky, sparkly, love-struck miko archer who figure skates on a boat. She's got great speed and range and that's about it.

* Tsuruhime in ''SengokuBasara 3'' is the perky, sparkly, love-struck miko archer who figure skates on a boat. She's got great speed and range and that's about it.

* KatnissEverdeen in the ''Hunger Games'' is a masterful archer who uses the skill to hunt and survive to feed her family, and then uses those skills to survive in, fight and win The Hunger Games.

* Katniss Everdeen in the ''Hunger Games'' is a masterful archer who uses the skill to hunt and survive to feed her family, and then uses those skills to survive in, fight and win The Hunger Games.

* Almost every ''TalesSeries'' party has an archer member.

* [[JeanneDArchetype Leliana]] in DragonAge is set up to be the most powerful archer in the party, and is [[ThePollyanna a sweet, kind, and forgiving sort]]. Awakening has Nathaniel Howe, who even has an AncestralWeapon for a unique weapon.
** The sequel has DLC character Sebastian Vael as the archer. Varric also uses a... [[AutomaticCrossbow one of it's kind Crossbow.]]

* [[TheAsianSaga Shogun]] has Toda Buntaro, who shows himself able to shoot his longbow with perfect accuracy while sitting down (more impressive than it sounds) against a target he can't actually see (there's a Japanese paper wall between him and the target). One character also remembers that at an archery competition Buntaro scored six bullseyes on a target 200 paces away, [[BeyondTheImpossible and fired so quickly that the sixth arrow had been loosed before the first had hit the target.]] Note that this book is a work of realistic historical fiction, and is a well-researched representation of samurai life and culture, so presumably these ImprobableAimingSkills were actually shown by certain real-life samurai!

* [[Film/ThePunisher The Punisher]] uses a bow when infiltrating Saint's nightclub.

* Legolas in the [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Jackson film adaptations of ''The Lord of the Rings'']] has an incredible rate of fire with his arrows.

* In ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Faith, [[PsychoForHire of all people]], employs bow and arrow twice.
** Faith's usage of a modern compound bow mirrors Buffy's preference for medieval crossbows.

* Princess [[LegendOfZelda Zelda]] often takes up a magic bow alongside Link. Her [[LimitBreak Final Smash]] in ''SuperSmashBros Brawl'' has her using the Light arrows to attack.