Earning an Economics degree at Harvard, Daniel Sloane-Suarez joined the NSA to pursue a career as an intelligence analyst. While at the Agency, Daniel interpreted signal intercepts connected to dozens of terror plots, and personally identified the leadership of extremist group, the Grass Liberation Front. Though Daniel proved to be a highly capable analyst, his deeply-entrenched resentment of authority created considerable tension with his superiors at Fort Meade.
Daniel soon began to chafe against the bureaucratic confines of his job. Fortunately for him, his personnel file was flagged for potential field duty by recruiters for Third Echelon, and Anna Grímsdóttir quickly approved his admission to the group's gruelling training program. Eighteen months later, he was assigned his call-sign ARCHER.[1]
Before or during the events of the Third Echelon Conspiracy, Archer carried out numerous deniable operations which usually included sanitizing the entire area of enemy personnel. He died at the end of his mission with Kestrel in Russia after their extraction with the EMP. After successfully extracting the EMP device with Kestrel and Andriy Kobin via transport plane, Archer was contacted by Tom Reed and told to "Eliminate Kestrel" whilst in a different area of the plane. Kestrel also became aware of this message as it's also displayed on Archer's OPSAT (which was left on a bag next to Kestrel). The two briefly fought in the hold of the plane (as an in-game event forces both players to fight each other one-on-one), and the victor sadly crouches over the body of his partner and they exchange last words, only to be killed himself as Kobin emerges from the shadows. Archer's corpse can be found in the single player campaign in a body bag in Kobin's mansion.
"We liked ‘Archer’ for our American since the character was imagined as a precise, agile killer. He has a bit of thrill-seeking dilettante in him; a contemporary version of the Ivy League spook archetype. So it made sense to give him a name that evoked both classical sportsmanship with a bit of Robin Hood thrown in."
— Patrick Redding, Splinter Cell: Conviction Co-Op Game Director[2]
He has similar attire to other Splinter Cells with a few exceptions: his Sonar Goggles are green, as opposed to the red ones the other Splinter Cells wear; the lenses are shaped and arranged in a slightly different fashion than those of other agents; his version of the suit does not bear Third Echelon's insignia, which is visible on the shoulders of other Splinter Cells.
His weaponry is also different, as he is not restricted to the SC3000. In addition, other Splinter Cells are seen carrying a knife on the back of their belts, much like Sam in previous games. Archer, on the other hand, reserves this spot for his Portable EMP device, just like Kestrel.
If Archer loses the Face-Off match at the end of Prologue his last words are, "It is as it is, right Moi Droog?" "Moi Droog" (мой друг) is Russian for "My Friend."
Archer's corpse can be found in one of two body bags in the foyer of Kobin's mansion. Due to the other body bag being zipped up, it is assumed that it contains Kestrel's corpse. Also, if you listen to the three guards they'll talk about how they couldn't sell the goggles because they had brain matter and didn't work properly anymore despite the fact Archer didn't die in full gear (he died without wearing the top half of his armor).
In the credits of the main story, Archer is listed as "John Drake Archer". The reason why is unknown.
The shoulder blades of his suit have multiple scratch marks like all Splinter Cell suits.
American
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