History Main / MasterArcher

* ''Literature/LoneWolf'' is often given the opportunity to be proved one. The best example arises in the Grand Master story "Dawn of the Dragons", where he is given the option to kill one of the titular antagonists by firing an arrow into its eye. It requires a certain magical ability to make the point of the arrow diamond hard, and of course, ridiculously good aiming skills, but the payoff at being able to kill such a terrifying and mighty creature with such a puny seeming weapon [[RuleOfCool is seriously worth it]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Kikyo of ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'' is an aloof and composed LadyOfWar revered by the titular character as a master archer and marksman. She can fire multiple arrows in quick succession and hit small, quick-moving targets from great distances. Her reincarnation Kagome decides to follow in her footsteps.

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

* Hawkeye, as mentioned under ''Comics'' above, transferred to the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse (mostly under his "civilian" name of Clint Barton) with his skills (and his taste for gadget arrows) intact. On his first (uncredited) appearance in ''Film/{{Thor}},'' a SHIELD commander calls for a marksman, and the initially faceless agent who responds is seen reaching towards a rack of sniper rifles -- and taking a bow. At that point, every comics fan in the audience nods.

* As noted in the Literature folder, Susan Pevensie is first given this role in ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarniaTheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', and she returns to it in ''Film/PrinceCaspian.'' She quickly masters the ability to hit bull's eyes from considerable distance, despite having never so much as held a bow before coming to Narnia, and in the sequel, she's actually powerful enough to ''throw an arrow'' into a man's heart.

* ''The Literature/{{Mahabharata}}'':
** Arjuna is the world's best archer, master of celestial weapons and the wielder of ''Gandiva'', a {{Legendary|Weapon}} Bow made by the gods. He performs great solo feats of heroism and is able to [[OneManArmy fend off dozens of soldiers on his own]] with his bow.
** Karna, Arjuna's [[LongLostRelative secret half-brother]] and ArchEnemy, would be the world's greatest archer... [[AlwaysSecondBest if not for Arjuna]]. They're nearly evenly matched, and Karna has most of the same special abilities as Arjuna, but Arjuna defeated him several times due to technicalities or cheating.

* The Literature/ChroniclesOfNarnia give this role to Queen Susan the Gentle. Aslan explicitly gives her the bow so that she can defend herself from a distance, because he doesn't want her in battle, and she masters it quickly.

[[folder:Light Novels]]
* ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'': Per the rules of the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}, a servant summoned under the Archer class must be renowned for their use of a ranged weapon in some way (not necessarily archery). ''Apocrypha'''s Archers are Atalanta and Chiron of Myth/ClassicalMythology, who both demonstrate some impressive archery skills. Chiron in particular nearly manages to snipe the equally-renowned Achilles from a distance so far Achilles couldn't sense him and manages to deflect one of Atalanta's own arrows.
* In ''LightNovel/MaoyuuMaouYuusha'', Grandpa Archer is renowned for felling his enemies at lightning speed with a bow and is one of the few people who could remotely keep up with the [[OneManArmy Hero]]. [[spoiler:Subverted when it's revealed that he never actually uses a bow, but the way he stood in the backline and killed his foes that quickly made others ''assume'' he was a master archer.]]
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[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''WebComic/MagickChicks'''s Callista Archer, the Archery Club captain, is nicknamed "Deadeye" for a reason -- she's an excellent shot with a bow and arrow. In her EstablishingCharacterMoment, she snipes three girls' belt buckles from a rooftop with a {{Multishot}}.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': The Yuyan Archers, an elite squadron of archers renowned throughout the Fire Nation for their stealth, accuracy, and ingenuity. In "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheBlueSpirit The Blue Spirit]]" they prove more than a match for Aang, a young boy with prodigious bending potential and power, despite being nonbenders.
-->'''Zhao:''' Their precision is legendary. The Yuyan can pin a fly to a tree from a hundred yards away without killing it.

** ComicBook/GreenArrow (Oliver Queen) is the Franchise/{{DCU}}'s best archer, and has trained many younger characters to follow in his footsteps. His first origin story was that of an archaeologist who studied Native American fighting techniques before it was retconned into getting stranded on a deserted island and teaching himself archery to survive. The end result is a nigh-superhuman ability at shooting arrows that strikes fear in the hearts of supervillains and allows him to keep up with his superpowered peers.
** Emiko Queen is Oliver's half-sister, introduced in the ComicBook/New52 continuity, and serves as the second Red Arrow. She is an exceptional archer whose ImprobableAimingSkills are attributed to instantly calculating wind, angle, speed and distance during archery and combat.

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'': While Legolas Greenleaf was noted as a good archer in the books, the films exaggerate this skill of his -- he manages to hit his targets while hanging upside down or surfing down a staircase while on a shield, and takes down a fully-armed [[WarElephants oliphaunt]] with only his bow and arrows.

* As noted in the Literature folder, Susan Pevensie is first given this role in ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarniaTheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', and she returns to it in ''Film/PrinceCaspian.'' She quickly masters the ability to hit bull's eyes from considerable distance, despite having never so much as held a bow before coming to Narnia, and in the sequel she's actually powerful enough to ''throw an arrow'' into a man's heart.

* The ''Literature/{{Dreamers}}'' series by Creator/DavidEddings takes this to its LogicalExtreme with [[TheyCallHimSword Longbow]], an archer who has literally never missed a shot in his life. He began as a simple hunter, but wins great renown as a warrior in the international army assembled by the Elder Gods.

* ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'': Per the rules of the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}, a servant summoned under the Archer class must be renowned for their use of a ranged weapon in some way (not necessarily archery). ''Apocrypha'''s Archers are Atalanta and Chiron of Myth/ClassicalMythology, who both demonstrate some impressive archery skills. Chiron in particular nearly manages to snipe the equally-renowned Achilles from a distance so far Achilles couldn't sense him, and manages to deflect one of Atalanta's own arrows.

* The Reach of Cra from ''VideoGame/{{Dofus}}'' and the ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'' series specialized in bows and long range fight, with the strongest members and the Cra Goddess having perfectly mastered the bow.

* Archery is one of the skills which the Dragonborn can master in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''. By bringing the skill up to level 100, they can perform trick shots, zoom in on targets, and achieve other unusual abilities which no other character in the game is seen to do.

[[/folder]]

* Hawkeye, as mentioned under ''Comics'' above, transferred to the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse (mostly under his "civilian" name of Clint Barton) with his skills (and his taste for gadget arrows) intact. On his first (uncredited) appearance in ''Film/{{Thor}},'' a SHIELD commander calls for a marksman, and the initially faceless agent who responds is seen reaching towards a rack of sniper rifles -- and taking a bow. At which point, every comics fan in the audience nods.

* Myth/RobinHood is a folk hero known specifically for being a Master Archer who [[JustLikeRobinHood robbed the rich and gave to the poor]]. He'd use his bow and arrow to accomplish several impressive feats towards this goal. Many tropes related to archery, such as {{Multishot}} and SplittingTheArrow, originated with him or was popularized by an adaptation of the legend.
* Myth/WilliamTell, Swiss folk hero, is a variant in that he was reportedly known for his skill with the ''cross''bow. He famously [[WilliamTelling successfully shot an apple on his son's head]] when forced to by an evil lord.

[[/folder]]
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** One of Green Arrow's most persistently recurring foes is Arthur King, aka Merlyn the Archer. He's a former member of Ra's al Ghul's League of Assassins and one of the few who can match or even best Green Arrow in an archery contest. In some continuities, he's Green Arrow's mentor-turned-rogue.

** One of Green Arrow's most persistently recurring foes is Malcolm Merlyn, usually referred to as just "Merlyn". He's a member of Ra's al Ghul's League of Assassins and one of the few who can match or even best Green Arrow in an archery contest. In some continuities, he's Green Arrow's mentor-turned-rogue.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' imports ComicBook/GreenArrow from comics to TV, complete with formidable bow skills (even if it does drop the "Green"). It also adds a number of other highly competent archer characters.

* Link from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' is typically portrayed as famous for his archery skills whenever it gets overtly pointed out. This is especially true in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', where his mid-air BulletTime archery is one of the reasons his fighting skills are so legendary, to the point that the [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/600px_botw_link_shooting_artwork.png primary concept art]] for him in this game portrays him using this technique with Ancient Arrows. ''Breath of the Wild'' also introduces the [[BirdPeople Rito]] Champion Revali, whose mid-flight MultiShot archery skills are the main reason he was recruited as a Champion.

* Series/{{Arrow}} imports ComicBook/GreenArrow from comics to TV, complete with formidable bow skills (even if it does drop the "Green"). It also adds a number of other highly competent archer characters.

The Master Archer is someone noted, either by the narrative or by other characters, for being an excellent shot with a bow and arrow, maybe to the point of being [[WorldsBestCharacter the best in the world]]. Maybe they hunt legendary beasts that can be felled only by the most skilled archers. Maybe they've proven their worth in competitions or on the battlefield, executing {{Multishot}}s or SplittingTheArrow with ease. Maybe they win with sneaky {{Trick Arrow}}s. Or maybe they're a mysterious and anonymous figure who shoots their arrows from the shadows, and nobody knows where to find them. Either way, if they've got their arrows pointed at you, you better run -- they can shoot you down from a distance, no matter [[ImprobableAimingSkills how improbable it seems]]. This distinction immediately sets the character up as someone impressive or fearsome, especially if the bow and arrow is not a common weapon in the setting.

The PinnedToTheWall trope is a common tactic for this archetype in comics — e.g. for Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}} or Comicbook/GreenArrow. If the Archer Archetype is a MasterArcher with ImprobableAimingSkills, he may also be able to do a {{multishot}}.

** ComicBook/GreenArrow is the Franchise/{{DCU}}'s best archer, and has trained many younger characters to follow in his footsteps. His first origin story was that of an archaeologist who studied Native American fighting techniques before it was retconned into getting stranded on a deserted island and teaching himself archery to survive. The end result is a nigh-superhuman ability at shooting arrows that strikes fear in the hearts of supervillains and allows him to keep up with his superpowered peers.
** One of Green Arrow's most recurring foes is Malcolm Merlyn, usually referred to as just "Merlyn". He's a member of Ra's al Ghul's League of Assassins and one of the few who can match or even best Green Arrow in an archery contest. In some continuities, he's Green Arrow's mentor-turned-rogue.

** ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}: Clint Barton is the canon's foremost archer. His accuracy is nigh-superhuman due to much training, and he achieves things an average human can only dream of. In addition to being a Master Archer he is also skilled with several other weapons and is a highly-trained martial artist.

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'' is a strong candidate for TropeCodifier. SplittingTheArrow may have originated (on film) here. Further, if Robin wants to send an {{Arrowgram,}} it lands ''exactly'' where it can be instantly read by the intended recipient. If he wants to [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands shoot a mace out of Sir Guy's hand]], he can do so despite the fact that both are on horseback. And if he decides to skip the disarming and go straight for the kill, [[OneHitKill you're dead where you stand.]]

* Myth/WilliamTell, Swiss folk hero, is a variant in that he was reportedly known for his skill with the ''cross''bow. He famously [[WilliamTelling successfully shot an apple on his son's head]] before shooting a second one at the governor who forced him to make the first shot.

* Myth/WilliamTell, Swiss folk hero, was reportedly known for his skill at using bows. He famously [[WilliamTelling successfully shot an apple on his son's head with an arrow]] before shooting a second one at the governor who asked him to do the first task.