Characters that appear during Archer's dream in Season 8, Archer Dreamland. Since Season 8 is set within an Alternate Reality from the previous seasons, every character can be considered a separate entity from their real-world selves.
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Sterling Archer
Voiced By: H. Jon Benjamin
A detective operating out of 1947 Los Angeles. This is Archer's Dreamland self. His investigation into the murder of his partner Woodhouse gets him mixed up in a war between two crime bosses.
- Adaptational Badass: Played with. While not exactly more badass than his real self (being a private detective as opposed to a secret agent), real Archer is implied to have failed and flunked out of military training. Dreamland Archer is a highly decorated World War II veteran.
- Adaptational Heroism: In real life, Archer could border on Sociopathic Hero, especially in the early seasons. In Dreamland, Archer, while still flawed, is way more morally upstanding.
- Adaptational Intelligence: While the real Archer could show flashes of brilliance, he was still prone to do ridiculously stupid things out of laziness or pettiness. Dreamland!Archer is the most grounded of the cast and is self-aware enough to realize that he often gets carried away.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: By all accounts, he and Woodhouse actually got along and were very close, with none of the usual abuse Archer heeps on him.
- Adventures in Comaland: This version of Archer is the real Archer's avatar in his coma-induced dream.
- Chest of Medals: Not seen wearing them, but Mother mentions he amassed quite a bit of them. Consisting of:
- The Distinguished Service Cross
with Oak Leaf and "V" device. - The Silver Star with 2 Oak leaf clusters.
- The Legion of Merit.
- The Bronze Star with 2 Oak Leaf clusters & "V" device.
- The Belgian or French Croix de Guerre with palm.
- And 3 Purple Hearts.
- The Distinguished Service Cross
- Dark and Troubled Past: It's made clear his time in the war has negatively affected him, as he has sudden flashbacks to the battles he fought throughout the season.
- Declining Promotion: Mother states Archer refused a commision of 2nd Lieutenant during the war, instead ending his career still a Private.
- Dented Iron: Is covered in bruises and cuts by the end of the season, including a broken arm that barely slows him down. Somewhat justified by the season only covering a period of about about 72 hours and Archer taking amphetamines the entire time. Any time he has a Shirtless Scene, he also is more visibly scarred than his real world counterpart.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite being just as unbearable as his real self, he's horrified when he finds out the "goods" a rival mob is shipping are Chinese sex slaves, and blows his cover to rescue them. He’s likewise clearly unnerved at the prospect of cutting a woman’s finger off, just for the purpose of proving you have her.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Just like the real Archer. He's arrogant, obnoxious, lustful, selfish, short tempered and impulsive, yet he greatly valued his partner Woodhouse and vows to catch his killer. He’s likewise openly disgusted by Trexler's human trafficking operation.
- Love at First Sight: He's smitten with Lana the second he sees her.
- Pet the Dog: Goes out of his way to help the victims of Trexler's human trafficking operation, and even apologizes when he snaps at one of the victims.
- Private Eye Monologue: Subverted on four occasions: the first time, he's talking to a stray dog he picked up; the second time, he's talking to a hobo he promised to take to the bus station (who he leaves stranded on the side of the road); the third time, he's just talking to a hooker he paid to accompany him; the fourth out loud to himself, the end result of nearly a week without sleep combined with injuries and amphetamine abuse.
- Private Investigator: In typical noir style, Archer became a P.I. after the war, going into business with Woodhouse.
- Sanity Slippage: Becomes more unhinged as the season progresses which in the last episode he attributes to lack of sleep, his multiple injuries and heavy use of amphetamines, he also suffers from war flashbacks.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: This Archer was a rank private during World War II, and occasionally experiences sudden flashbacks to his service.
- Street Smart: This version of Archer comes across as more competent and down-to-earth than his real-world counterpart, at least as an investigator. This is made especially clear in "Jane Doe," when he tries—but mostly fails—to get Charlotte Vandertunt to stick to his actually plausible plan to help her fake her own death, and immediately understands the implications of Cyril booking her as a Jane Doe.
Woodhouse
- Adaptational Badass: In Dreamland, he was Archer's partner rather than just his butler, and is implied to have been much more assertive.
- The Character Died with Him: In and out of universe, his death coincides with both the death of the real Woodhouse and his voice actor, though it's not clear if Archer is aware of his real world death.
- Crazy-Prepared: He hid a document in Archer's safe to be opened in the event of his murder. Although Dutch's confession in the last episode casts doubt on whether the document contained anything that could have solved that murder. Archer surmises that it probably contained Woodhouse's will.
- Nice Guy: Despite his heroin addiction, he was a good partner and friend to Archer.
- Plot-Triggering Death: His death is what sets off Archer's plotline in Dreamland.
- Posthumous Character: We never see this version of Woodhouse alive; he's introduced as a corpse.
Mother
Voiced By: Jessica Walter
A crime boss based on Malory who enlists Archer to help her eliminate rival criminal Len Trexeler.
- Adaptational Villainy: As ruthless, immoral, corrupt and greedy as the real Mallory is, she is at the very least not as transparently criminal as this version. She's accused of having Woodhouse murdered and although she didn't, she's still devoid of Mallory's minor redeeming qualities.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Once Archer botches the stakeout she’d sent him on, she makes it clear he will continue working for her to make up for it, or else.
- Bad Boss: Cares nothing for Archer's sleep deprivation and even nearly has him strangled to death for failing to get the ransom money due to Figgis and Poovey.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Averted, unlike Mallory she doesn't care about Archer at all she also (accidentally) killed Lana, something it's hard to imagine the real Mallory doing without any visible reaction.
- Manipulative Bitch: Strings Archer along with the promise of helping him find Woodhouse's killer, but she actually has no idea who killed him, and is just using Archer all along.
- Mean Boss: It goes without saying, especially since she shows no regard for how sleep deprived Archer is.
- No Name Given: It's not clear if any of the characters know her actual name, and she certainly never bothers to volunteer that information herself.
- One Bad Mother: "Mother" is an alias she uses and she is far more cruel and vindictive than Mallory ever was.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: Not related to Sterling, or any other known characters, as "Mother" is just an alias.
- You Have Failed Me: She nearly has Archer strangled to death when he was unable to get the ransom money due to Figgis and Poovey.
Lana
Voiced By: Aisha Tyler
Dreamland's version of Lana, a singer who works at Mother's club.
- Adaptational Wimp: As opposed to the real Lana, who is a top class secret agent, Dreamland Lana is a simple singer, who has shown no signs of her counterpart’s combat skills. Even after she revealed to be an undercover agent, her best move is whipping out her badge and trying to order people to do what she wants.
- The Chanteuse: Following Dreamland’s Film Noir theme, Lana fits this role, complete with a long dress, done up hair and being introduced while singing the song “Fever”.
- Cringe Comedy: Her attempt at breaking into comedy, when she lost her band, amounted to thirty minutes of jokes about syphilis. No one found it remotely funny.
- Death by Adaptation: She is accidentally shot and killed by Mother and Poovey in the finale.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: She dies in Archer's arms.
- Intimidating Revenue Service: "Waxing Gibbous" reveals she's an undercover IRS agent.
- Out of Focus: Compared to the other Dreamland versions of the cast, her role is fairly minor. Including her absence from "Ladyfingers", the first time she's ever not appeared in an episode.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: She figures out that Archer is involved in a kidnapping, but she is very wrong about how he is involved.
Ray Gillette
Voiced by: Adam Reed
A jazz trumpet player at Mother's club.
- Adaptational Dumbass: He is far less intelligent that his regular counterpart.
- Adaptational Wimp: By virtue of simply being a musician instead of a secret agent.
- Camp Gay: Rather surprisingly so for the 1940's. He is the only non-veteran in his band because he was so obvious he couldn't even get drafted.
- Demoted to Extra: This Ray plays a much smaller role than the real one. He's just a minor background character in a few episodes, and only plays an important role in one episode.
- Punny Name: The false name he gave to the police is "Phil McCracken". He's so proud of this joke that he retrieves his file just to show everyone else the name.
- Running Gag: Ray yelling "Stop it!" at his drummer's constant Rim Shots.
- Spared by the Adaptation: While Ray is still alive in the real world, this version of Ray is spared the crippling injuries and losing his arm.
Poovey
Voiced By: Amber Nash
Poovey is a detective-sergeant on the police force, and an old friend of Archer’s who’s helping him deal with the investigation into Woodhouse’s death and the conflict with Trexeler. The dream counterpart to Pam.
- Affably Evil: While a Dirty Cop, Poovey is very polite to Archer and even helps him free Trexler's human trafficking victims.
- Ambiguous Gender: Poovey is only referred to on a Last-Name Basis and is referred to with gender neutral pronouns by the writers, has a more androgynous appearance than Pam, but has the same voice. Many daydream sequences suggest that Poovey is supposed to be a man, such as showing having a moustache and suffering from male-pattern baldness in old age, but nothing's made explicit, though one daydream (the one with the moustache) is of Poovey watching a large number of male and female Chinese-American students graduate high school in 1967. The Chinese women refer to Poovey as "Mr. Policeman" in the final episode of the season, but it's unclear whether this is Poovey's true gender or just an assumption on their part. This does get subtly lampshaded when a character simply uses the word "genitals" when threatening a Groin Attack.
- Anti-Villain: Poovey isn't a complete douchebag like Figgis, but it still a Dirty Cop regardless.
- The Berserker: Self-described as such, and very narrowly lost an offscreen fight with five men.
- Big Eater: Spends most of "Ladyfingers" eating numerous hot dogs, including one found in the coroner’s office, even after Archer points out it could have been removed from a cadaver.
- Even Evil Has Standards: In spite of being a Dirty Cop, Poovey is shocked by Trexler's trafficking operation and helps Archer free their victims.
- Friend on the Force: Archer get along with them pretty well, and they help him in dealing with Trexeler’s men.
- Polyamory: How Poovey seems to view they relationship with the Chinese women rescued from Trexler. Complete with fantasizing about having children by all of them.
- Stout Strength: Is husky and definitely, strong enough to fight Archer and four other men, though not as strong as Zirk.
Charlotte Vandertunt
Voiced By: Judy Greer
The wealthy heiress to the Vandertunt fortune and dream counterpart to Cheryl, she pays Archer to help her fake her death.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Even more so than her real counterpart. When threatened with having her foot cut off, all she could think about was how funny it would be to see her hopping around with only one foot. Then again, it's suggested that Charlotte's... unusual outlook on things stems mostly from her lack of exposure to anything but her equally-weird family, rather than being mentally unbalanced like Cheryl.
- Did Not Think This Through: Her original plan to fake her death was incomplete to say the least, and she relies on Archer for most of the details.
- Everyone Has Standards: Describes her family as “a seething cauldron of neurotic, alcoholic, narcissistic, quasi-incestuous megalomaniacs” and is intent on faking her death to get away from them.
- Faking the Dead: Employs Archer to help her do this in exchange for $10,000.
- Jerkass: Is a frequent asshole to any and everyone she encounters.
- Kick the Dog: Zirk saves her life and admits he did it because he loves her. Charlotte responds by pointing out, in detail, how pathetic it is that he thinks they could ever be together.
- No Social Skills: Unlike the real Cheryl, who worked at ISIS in part to get out in the world, this version in incredibly sheltered and has no idea how normal people act.
- Rich Bitch: Being from a rich family, she has never had to really worry about expenses, doesn’t know how non-rich people live, and generally places her own, often trivial, needs above everyone and everything else. She doesn’t even know the word “waitress”.
- Running Gag: Constantly referred to as "heiress to the vast Vandertunt publishing fortune".
Cyril Figgis
Voiced By: Chris Parnell
A lieutenant with the LAPD, Figgis is a crooked cop who has an antagonistic relationship with Archer.
- Adaptational Badass: For all his flaws compared to the regular Cyril, he can at least fire a gun with his eyes open. He's also much more assertive around Archer, it's only when dealing with his superiors or the cyborg Dutch that his true cowardice reveals itself.
- Adaptational Villainy: Regular Cyril is a nebbish, wussy person who can be a nice guy unless he's around his coworkers who hates him. Dream Cyril is a straight up criminal asshole who abuses Poovey constantly.
- Adaptational Wimp: While the Regular Cyril could be wimpy, he also showed his braver moments. Dream Cyril is a Dirty Coward. He even tries to abandon Poovey during the confrontation with Dutch.
- Butt-Monkey: Just like the real Cyril, only this one actually deserves it.
- Dirty Cop: Figgis takes bribes from crime boss Len Trexler to look the other way when it comes to things like Trexler importing Chinese sex slaves. As Poovey's superior, he also forces him/her to go along with this.
- Dirty Coward: For all his bluster and threats, when it comes to actually having to potentially confront Archer, he responds by sending Poovey in while cowering back holding the money.
- Emasculated Cuckold: Apparently, Figgis was married and Archer seduced his wife. Made worse by the fact that the wife thought that Archer would marry her, which of course he did not.
- Smart People Know Latin: He uses the phrase "cui bono" ("who benefits?") when talking with Poovey about who stands to gain from a crime war that Trexler might lose. While the phrase is pretty common in law enforcement, it is notable that Poovey does not initially get what he is talking about and he has to spell it out.
- Turncoat: When Archer helping the Chinese women escape captivity gets him on Trexler's bad side, Figgis immediately tries to seek an alliance with Mother.
Krieger
- Voiced by: Lucky Yates.
Mother's oddball bartender/part-time inventor.
- Adaptational Badass: Not necessarily stronger than the real Kreiger but definitely braver standing up to a bunch of armed Nazi solders and surviving thanks too an army of cyborg dogs.
- Adaptational Heroism: Although still a completely unethical Mad Scientist, his backstory in Dreamland is that he's a Jew who defrauded the Nazis out of millions; not for personal gain, but to waste resources that otherwise would have fed the Nazi war effort. On top of that, his intentions for turning Dutch into a cyborg seemed relatively good. True, it was naive of him to expect a mob enforcer to be a decent person, but you can't blame him for trying. Huge step up from being a potential clone of Hitler.
- Adaptational Name Change: Here, his real name is Aaron Liebowitz, and he adopted the name "Krieger" to infiltrate and sabotage a Nazi robotics project.
- All Germans Are Nazis: Notably averted. Unlike his non-coma counterpart, Dreamland Krieger is a Jewish intellectual that actively sabotaged the Nazi war effort.
- Bad Liar: When caught holding one of his anti-rejection drugs and asked what it was, his only response was to deny it existed before running off and locking himself in his lab.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Still as batty as he is in the real world.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: While his evilness is more in doubt this season his grief at the deaths of his cyborg creations is genuine, even Dutch.
- Faking the Dead: Back in Nazi Germany, he faked his death due to being a Jew named Aaron Liebowitz and reemerged as a Nazi scientist, sabotaging their war effort with a boondoggle cyborg experiment.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Genuinely believed that Dutch could have been a real success story, a cyborg acting for the good of all mankind. Dutch probably puts it best in the season finale:Krieger: You're better than this, you don't have to be a killer! You can use your power for the good of all mankind!
Dutch: Yeah, I could, but I was a murderer before you turned me into a freak, so I don't know why you thought this was gonna have a happy ending. - Just Think of the Potential!: His intentions for turning Dutch into a cyborg seemed genuinely good.
- Mad Scientist: Just as much so as his real counterpart. He’s been experimenting with cyborgs for decades by this point.
- You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: Explicitly tells Dutch that he could "use [his] power for the good of all mankind". Unfortunately, Dutch is a total psychopath and not really interested.
Len Trexler
Voiced by: Jeffrey Tambor
Fellow L.A. mobster and primary rival to mother.
- Adaptational Villainy: Compared to regular Trexler, who was a smarmy tool at worst, Dreamland!Trexler is a complete murderous wacko.
- Bait-and-Switch Boss: Is built up as the Big Bad of the season, only for Dutch to usurp him in “Waxing Gibbous”. Additionally, he is the one that claims that Mother is the one that killed Woodhouse.
- The Don: A powerful crime boss, who is Mother’s only real rival in the city. Trexler is involved in smuggling, assassination and human trafficking.
- Kosher Nostra: All but explicitly stated; aside from his name, this version of him has a much stronger Yiddish accent, occasionally tosses out phrases like "schnorrer", and is shown to have originally been based out of Rochester, New York before he started running L.A., making him a rough Expy of Mickey Cohen.
- Pet the Dog: He seems to be genuinely sad about telling Archer that Mother killed Woodhouse. Subverted as she didn't and he was likely only trying to turn Archer against her, although Adam Reed claims he genuinely believed it was Mother.
- Wham Line: He reveals to Archer that Mother killed Woodhouse. Subverted when it turns out that he was wrong.
Dutch Dylan
Voiced by: Dave Willis
Dreamland's version of Barry and Len Trexler's second in command.
- Achilles' Heel: Unlike real Barry, Dutch only has his limbs made robotic. Meaning he's not invulnerable like Real Barry, and can be incapacitated with enough effort.
- Adaptational Villainy: While pre-cyborg Barry was just a colossal douchebag who was only antagonistic towards Archer for breaking his legs, his counterpart in Dreamland is the right hand man of a mob boss, and is the one tasked with dissolving bodies in vats of acid.
- Adaptational Wimp: The real Barry has little to no human parts left and is Nigh-Invulnerable. Dutch only has robotic limbs and, though still one of the biggest badasses on the show, is killed by Krieger's dogs, an attack that the real Barry would almost certainly have survived.
- Agony of the Feet: Archer runs over his ankles with a truck, leading to eventual amputation.
- Artificial Limbs Are Stronger: Dutch's robotic limbs give him incredibly strength and speed. Unlike the real version of Ray, the issue of the strain this puts on his back is ignored.
- Ax-Crazy: Dutch was quite violent before becoming a cyborg (being Trexler’s main enforcer) but following his transformation, he becomes utterly psycho, brutally and inhumanly mangling people for no good reason.
- Big Bad: Usurps Trexler and as the killer of Woodhouse, he is responsible for all of the seasons woes.
- Death by Adaptation: He is ripped apart by Krieger's dogs.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Revealed to be the killer of Woodhouse. Not even for any reason. Just because.
- The Dragon: For Len Trexler, it’s specified that it’s he who does all of Trexler’s killings and dissolves the bodies in vats of acid. That is, until his roboticisation.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Dutch was already a feared mob enforcer before he was injured. Now, he's a psychotic cyborg out for revenge.
- Faux Affably Evil: Post-Unwilling Roboticisation, he certainly sounds like a friendly guy, but pretty much everything he does proves the exact opposite.
- For the Evulz: His reason for killing Woodhouse essentially amounts to "I was bored".
- Glass Cannon: When Compared to Barry and Katya from previous seasons. Even though only his limbs are bionic he is still a Lightning Bruiser compared to the other characters.
- Hate Sink: Winds up being the source of all the season's woes and gives damn near every character a reason to hate him. Justified, as this is all Archer's dream; naturally, he would subconsciously turn Barry into an even worse villain than the real Barry.
- Knight of Cerebus: Becomes this as the season goes on. His brutal massacre and viciously painful mutilation of Trexler’s gang in "Waxing Gibbous" is one of the more horrible and grotesque moments in the entire show.
- Made of Iron: Unlike the real Barry (who's pretty much a Terminator), Dutch's torso is still organic. He still manages to survive being rammed by a car and repeatedly run over by Archer without much trouble.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Played With. Trexler has his limbs replaced with robotic ones because his legs have been destroyed beyond repair, and believes doing so is overall for the best. However, Dutch doesn’t want to become a cyborg. Still even after he accepts the process he still wants to murder Trexler.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: When he tries to murder Krieger, but finds out he needs anti-rejection drugs every twelve hours or he'll die, he accidentally gives him the idea to only make enough anti-rejection drugs for one injection at a time.
- Sanity Slippage: Granted he wasn't that sane to begin with, but after losing his feet and getting unwanted robot parts, he jumps right off the deep end. Episode 5 adds more to it when he begins to talk to "Other Dutch", just like his real life counterpart.
- The Sociopath: Archer outright calls him one in “No Good Deed”. Between his sheer casual brutality and habit of killing people in horrible ways for no good reason, he qualifies.
- The Starscream: In "Waxing Gibbous" he brutally murders Trexler’s bodyguards and usurps his position.
- Third-Person Person: Refers to "Other Dutch", like the real Barry.
- Turned Against Their Masters: Tries to kill Krieger, but then discovers he needs anti-rejection drugs every twelve hours to survive and unintentionally convinces Krieger to only make enough for one injection at a time.
- Unwilling Roboticisation: Doesn’t want to have his limbs replaced with robotic parts, at least until he wakes up.
- Villain Has a Point: Very wisely points out to Krieger that turning someone who was already a sadistic mob enforcer into a cyborg wasn't going to have a happy ending.
Cecil Vandertunt
Voiced by: Eugene Mirman
Charlotte's brother, and Dreamland counterpart to Cecil Tunt.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the real world, he's a decent person, if lacking in business sense. This version of him is even more messed up than his sister: he murdered a housekeeper (possibly several, though Charlotte points out that one died from a back-alley abortion), lusts after and sexually harasses his sister, and doesn't care if she's mutilated as part of a ransom.
- Cloudcuckoolander: His real-world counterpart may not have been that great with money, but he was relatively level-headed, especially compared to the main cast. In Dreamland, he's weird enough to give Cheryl a run for her money. For starters, he refuses to examine the proof of Charlotte's kidnapping that he insisted on in the first place, because he trusts a man he only just met and who is claiming to have his sister hostage.
- Fetish: Cecil is fascinated by anything considered to be a taboo. Even Trinette, a prostitute, is grossed out by his proposed role-playing scenario and refuses to be left alone with him.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: to Trinette. They'd known each other for a few hours at most.
- Incest-ant Admirer: He's the primary reason Charlotte calls her family "quasi-incestuous".
- Upper-Class Twit: Like his sister, he has no experience outside his life of wealth and thinks a single orange costs $20. In the 1940s. He's also described as being weird by other characters.
Zirk
- Beast and Beauty: With Charlotte, but she doesn't reciprocate.
- Big Damn Heroes: Kills Kreiger's Cyber-Hounds to save Charlotte.
- Satellite Character: His only role is to be Mother's muscle whenever she needs to threaten people
- The Brute: His role for mother.
- The Unintelligible: Speaks only in growls, though the others are able to understand him perfectly.
