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Player: jabbers
Contact:
Age: 23
Current Characters: n/a
Character: Archie
Age: ~32
Canon: Pokémon: Alpha Sapphire (video game)
Canon Point: end of game; post Delta Episode
Background:
Here is an overview of the plot of both games, and Archie’s involvement. His role is very different in Omega Ruby, but obviously none of that is relevant for this specific version of him.
Personality:
For someone who barely pushes past five and a half feet, Archie stands very tall in the confidence he exudes through his personality. Throughout the game he’s extremely loud, hot blooded and over-dramatic in everything he does, clearly relishing his position of power as the leader of Team Aqua. Despite this, other than the first threat towards the player when they first meet, Archie is shown to be very affable when faced with his defeat in battle; he doesn’t exude fury like characters past, but rather acts quite proud. This is lampshaded in his dialogue during the first meeting where he notes that the player seems to have something different about them from other trainers that had tried to stop him. Unfortunately, it’s not enough that he’d stop trying to enact his plan (or there would… be no game), but considering the resources he has at his disposal, considering he just lets the player off the hook to come after him again and again – along with his late comment that he sees them as the hero trying to save the world – just shows how he comes to treat the player as an actual rival.
Despite being the villain of the game, he’s less vitriolic towards the player than enemy team leaders in other games, something which sets him apart and heavily foreshadows his change of heart towards the end of the game. Archie may have been introduced as a deluded ecoterrorist, and maybe it took him having to realise that his ignoring the warnings from his loyal admin and watching the beginning of the end of the world was what finally made him realise he might have been wrong… but at least he’s not quite as bad as Lysandre? Either way, Archie goes through most of the game believing that humans are harming Pokémon by destroying their habitats with their natural progression and exudes a high level of contempt for people who don’t agree with Team Aqua’s methods for this reason. Archie almost acts like he was forced into enacting his plan – though not because he doesn’t want to – and that he’s the only one that can save the planet from human selfishness. Even at the end of the game, Archie states plainly that his dream world (the one he was trying to create with Kyogre) isn’t something he can let go of so easily, though he now realises the extremes he went to to try and achieve it were unacceptable. He also has to accept that it’s wrong to reject humanity the way he did; thinking that everyone was at fault for destroying Pokémon habitats and that the key to preserving what they have is to spread the message in less.. world-endy ways. It’s never stated where Team Aqua end up after Archie promises to reform them, but the world hasn’t ended in future games, so we can only assume he didn’t decide to give up and use Kyogre again.
It’s not just the player that Archie gains a decent rapport with, either. While the previous games had characterised the team leaders as largely apathetic and condescending towards the wellbeing of their members and using the grunts as tools, it’s made clear that the Team Aqua grunts are treated well. In the Team Aqua base, they are provided with beds (though somehow having nap rooms isn’t a new concept for enemy team bases) and somewhere to prepare food, in addition to the fact there’s several vending machines around. One grunt also comments that the team in general is extremely laid back and they have no set working hours, making it possible for them to take the day off or have breaks whenever they need them. While this would initially seem like Archie isn’t entirely dedicated to his team and doesn’t care what they do, the fact that they are given this option but still believe in their leader enough to not take advantage of it and do their jobs shows otherwise. Archie isn’t shown interacting with any grunts, however many of them comment on how strong he is and how dedicated they are to the cause. It may not be shown on-screen, but it’s easy to extrapolate that he cares about his team and while he was blinded by his ambitions enough to ignore the warnings when he was in arm’s reach of his goals, up to the Seafloor Cavern (where he temporarily loses his last marble), Archie was a confident and strong leader. His post-game dialogue even has him lament specifically over how he let his grunts down by doing what he did.
Moving up from the grunts, Team Aqua has two admins, Matt and Shelly. Shelly has been friends with Archie since they were children and while it’s not stated when Matt came into the picture, both are entirely dedicated to him and his cause for different reasons. Both go above and beyond to get to him – Shelly tries to talk him out of awakening Kyogre when she figures out it would be a bad idea and even through Archie doesn’t listen initially, she stays by him when she realises he’s genuinely remorseful post-game. Matt is loyal to Archie to the point that even after he’s abandoned the idea, Matt tries to finish for Archie because he doesn’t like how his leader has changed after realising he was wrong. Admittedly, Matt’s dedication is more extreme and certainly not right, but his misguided actions were born out of loyalty. The two admins decide to stay with Archie and Team Aqua not only out of loyalty to him and his dream, but because they both have a relationship with him personal enough that they want to stay because they genuinely care about their relationship past the team connections.
After Archie’s plan has unraveled he immediately realised what he was doing was wrong and needs to do everything he can to fix it immediately. Like, inside the same hour as awakening Kyogre immediate. He does this, joining the player in Sootopolis and while he doesn’t actually go into the Cave of Origin with them (for… some reason), Archie is the one that offers the last word of support before the big fight with Kyogre. After this, he says that he cannot give up on his dream, but still knows that he went way too far in believing that he could control Kyogre’s power and use it the way he had intended to.
Additionally, post Delta Episode, we see a small cutscene of Archie talking to Matt, saying that he was wrong to ignore his Admin’s feelings and loyalty, that he hadn’t lived up to the standard his team deserved. In the previous two generations, with the focus on Team Rocket, we see that the upper echelons of the gang end up disbanding and running away when they’re defeated. The fact that Archie was so upset about specifically letting his team down by leading them into crime and world-ending shenanigans shows that under it all, he just wanted to do something he felt was right. Even if it really wasn’t. It gets to the point that his regrets are so much, while he’s talking to Matt he literally breaks down in tears.
Archie goes through a tangible character arc through the entire game; he starts off unstable, willing to go to low lengths to achieve his goal which he whole heartedly believes is for the good of everyone, though he only treats people he deems ‘worthy’ with respect and discards everyone else if they don’t believe in Team Aqua’s goals. Despite his egotism, he’s a personable and affable team leader who’s garnered the respect of those under him by treating them well, rather than intimidating them into line.
By the end of the game, he’s less egotistical and far more self-aware about what he’s done and where he stands regarding it. He even acknowledges that what he’s done is beyond forgiveness but deigns to try and work towards it nonetheless, simply because it’s the right thing to do. He may come out of the plot with a lot to work though, but at the very least he came to understand
Abilities:
Pokémon: Archie is, generally, just a regular ol’ trashbag human with no special abilities. He does, however, posses four Pokémon which are essentially superpowered, sentient animals. Pokémon can act of their own accord, though Archie is their trainer and leader and they will listen to him above anyone else. The Pokémon he has on hand are as follows: Crobat, Muk, Sharpedo and Mightyena. He can mega-evolve Sharpedo and the information on all this can be found here.
Any other ability he has is fully within a normal human purview, albeit one who has been through the villain wringer. Even his incredibly toned pecs.
Alignment:
Peromei, for the despair he feels over almost causing the end of the world and the intense guilt that came with it, but the hope he has for fixing his mistake and seeing his dream world slowly come to fruition through the co-operation of humanity and Pokémon.
General Sample: TDM sample
Emotion Sample: Feels a lot, hates it, immediately represses it like a true adult
Other: