113 Archie Andrews

## Archie Andrews

**Archibald "Archie" Andrews** is a main character on The CW's *Riverdale*. He is portrayed by KJ Apa.

During his youth, Archie was both a budding musician and a Riverdale Bulldog, though he struggled to main the two. His team number was number nine, given to him by Coach Clayton. This number was originally Jason Blossom's jersey, and so Archie took it upon himself to retire the jersey in Jason's honor and took the number seventeen in its place. Archie used to be the captain but decided to defer his status as to Reggie after he felt more of an affinity with his music. He also occasionally helped out his father at their family's construction site, Andrews Construction.

Archie has been best friends with Jughead and Betty since childhood. Betty developed feelings for Archie, which she ended up revealing to him during the semi-formal. However, he didn't reciprocate her feelings and decided to stay just friends with Betty, which caused a temporary strain in their relationship. At the time, Archie was instead drawn to Veronica, who had just moved to Riverdale from New York following the arrest of her wealthy father, Hiram Lodge, after he was arrested for fraud and embezzlement. Archie and Veronica eventually began dating.

Archie was an eyewitness to his father's shooting at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe by the Black Hood. In response to the threat, Archie founded the "The Red Circle", a group formed to hunt down the Black Hood, as he felt that local law enforcement was failing to apprehend the menace.

Shortly after Hiram's release from prison, he began to take Archie in under his wing and mentor him, given his relationship with Veronica. However, as Archie realized that Hiram was guiding him down a dark path, their relationship soured, and Hiram framed Archie for the murder of Cassidy Bullock, for which Archie spent some time at Leopold and Loeb Juvenile Detention Center after pleading guilty to spare his friends and family the agony of a drawn out trial. However, with help from his friends, Archie would escape the detention center and hide out in Canada for several weeks before returning to Riverdale, where he and Hiram came to a truce.

With his new found freedom, Archie began to peruse a career in boxing and started training with Tom Keller at the local gym before being gifted a community center by Hiram near the Sweetwater Docks, which Archie would later rename to the Fred Andrews Community Center in his late father's honor and use to uplift the community. While dealing with his father's passing, for a short period of time, Archie became a dark-suited vigilante to protect Riverdale from local thugs. He, Veronica and Betty would later come together and help Jughead fake his death in order to expose the preppies at Stonewall Prep. It was during this time that his feelings for Betty re-manifested, which resulted in a transgressive kiss. Archie would go on to reveal this to Veronica during prom, which led to them breaking up. With his relationship with Veronica having ended and faced with the fact that he'd have to repeat senior year, Archie enlisted in the Army.

Seven years later, Archie returned to Riverdale after serving in the army and summoned Veronica, Betty and Jughead to assist in taking down Hiram, who had begun working to gradually destroy the town in order to mine palladium. He worked with Betty, with whom he had a friends with benefits relationship, to take back his house from the Ghoulies. However, they broke it off not long after, as Archie’s unresolved feelings for Veronica re-manifested while Betty chose to focus on finding her missing sister. With Veronica's divorce finalized, she and Archie rekindle their high school relationship, though they soon break up for good after realizing that they’re on separate life paths, though they remain friends and even work together with the town to exile Hiram. After officially reincorporating the town of Riverdale, Archie and Betty pursue an actual romantic relationship but as they're about to consummate it, they receive a call warning them of a bomb underneath Archie’s bed. The bomb explodes with them in the room, resulting in both Archie and Betty developing powers.

## Character Description

*An intense, conflicted teen, a high school sophomore who got in shape over summer and now has to handle newfound attention from his female classmates. He struggles balancing his social life with his passion for writing and performing music — against the wishes of his father and his football coach.*

## Early Life

Archie grew up in Riverdale, the only child of Fred and Mary Andrews. At the age of thirteen, his parents separated and his mother moved to Chicago, leaving him to be raised by his father.

Archie, Betty Cooper, and Jughead Jones are childhood friends. Archie has known Betty since they were four and have been best friends ever since. They have always gone to the same schools and been in the same classes. When he was in the second grade, he was having trouble reading, so his teacher suggested that he should be held back a year. However, Betty was so against the thought of her and Archie not being in the same grade that she took it upon herself to tutor him every day. When he passed, Archie kissed Betty and asked her to marry him. She told him they were too young but to ask again when they are 18 and that she'd say yes.

As he entered his adolescence, Archie started attending Riverdale High School, where he joined the football team. He spent the summer before his sophomore year working at his father's company, Andrews Construction. Like his friendship with Betty, things were fine between Archie and Jughead until they had a falling out summer of 2017, which temporarily strained their friendship. This proved to be a defining summer for Archie as he embarked on an illicit affair with his music teacher, Geraldine Grundy. During one of their trysts, they were startled by the sound of a gunshot ringing through the morning air. He later discovered that his fellow classmate, Jason Blossom, had died under mysterious circumstances. Fearful that their relationship would be discovered, he and Miss Grundy kept what they knew secret.

## Throughout Riverdale

* Season 1
* Season 2
* Season 3
* Season 4
* Season 5
* Season 6

## Powers and Abilities

 File:RD-Caps-6x10-Folk-Heroes-35-Archie.png
Following the explosion orchestrated by Hiram Lodge at Archie's childhood home, he has begun to demonstrate certain abilities. Archie has not only become heavier and denser, having gone from 165 lbs to 193 lbs in the span of a week, he also appears to be invulnerable as well, the best examples of this being Archie using his body to shield Betty from the explosion in his room and being set on fire with a Molotov cocktail by Abigail. Additionally, he forced an exposed nail out of a piece of wood with his palm and single-handedly took on the Ghoulies without sustaining any damage to himself. Along with his invulnerability and density, Archie appears to have some level of heightened strength, as he was nearly able to put a hole in the side of his car door with a single punch. As further testament to his abilities, Archie was briefly named the world's toughest man by the Guinness Book of World Records for his ability to endure immense pain from laying on a bed of nails, being hit repeatedly in the abdomen with a large hammer, and being locked within in a freezer. Most recently, Archie became truly invulnerable after being forged by Cheryl's "witch fire" as he recited a transmutation spell to turn the palladium in his system to iron.

## Physical Appearance

Archie is a tall, muscular, man with pale skin, messy red hair, and brown eyes. While we haven't seen Archie's build before the start of the series, he got hot according to Kevin during the summer, as he was working at his father's construction company. He was working out and getting in shape in order to maintain his position in the Riverdale Bulldogs.

In Template:Ep, Archie briefly dyed his hair black. This was to ensure that people would not recognize him while he was on the run from Hiram Lodge. He eventually went back to his normal red color in Template:Ep when he returned to Riverdale High School.

## Personality

Archie is a very kind-hearted, loyal, honest and caring person, especially when pertaining to his friends and family. His suffering derives from merely having to stand by and watch his friends suffer while knowing that there is nothing he can do to ease their pain. Archie is a guy who wears his emotions on his sleeve, and this can often be felt through his music, which Geraldine Grundy described as being very real and personal. However, this in no way diminishes his masculinity, as Archie has been known to turn violent and aggressive at times. Not only is he a member of Riverdale High School's football team, the Riverdale Bulldogs, but he has also been in numerous fights with the Southside Serpents.

Although, he is indeed a loyal individual, Archie is shown to have very low self-esteem, he would feel unworthy of Betty's love and unconfident in his music aspirations. He's also shown a certain naivety, leading him to make bad, self-destructive decisions or him being easily manipulated and tempted. He acceded to Grundy's pleas to not report details pertaining to Jason Blossom's murder, as it would expose their affair. He was also easily manipulated and led on by the Blossoms to believe that they would aid him in his music ventures when in truth they were only using him.

After his father's shooting at Pop's, Archie admitted that he was a coward, as he didn't know what to do after his father got shot, even allowing the shooter to escape. Ever since that day, Archie vowed to protect his father in case the killer ever did come back to finish the job. After his father was discharged from the hospital, Archie would sit downstairs with a baseball bat and guard the front and backdoor throughout the night.

## Relationships

### Fred Andrews

Main article: Archie and Fred
 File:RD-Caps-2x12-The-Wicked-and-The-Divine-04-Archie-Fred.png
Archie and Fred's relationship was admirably strong, as the two have shown to care deeply for each other. Fred was always there for his son, Archie, offering him advice when he needed it or just being there for moral support. Originally, Fred's plan was to pass the family business off to Archie as his father did with him, but when Archie revealed that he wanted to pursue a career in music, Fred was very supportive of his choice as he always is. He loved Archie unconditionally, despite of all his mistakes and would often attempt to guide Archie down the right path throughout out various moments in life, such as dealing with the aftermath of Archie's relationship with Ms. Grundy and at one point, his bond with Hiram Lodge, and how that caused a strain on their relationship. However, the protective nature of this father-son relationship extended beyond simply Fred protecting Archie. Archie has displayed bravery and courage in his father's defense, evening running in front of a gun pointed at his father by the Black Hood and also watching over him as he recovered from his gunshot injury.

### Mary Andrews

 File:RD-Caps-4x01-In-Memoriam-122-Mary-Archie.png
Archie and Mary have a close bond but not nearly as close of a bond as he had with his father. Archie hadn't seen his mother up until she returned to Riverdale after leaving and moving to Chicago two years prior. She and Archie spent quite a bit of time together while she was in town, and before she left for Chicago again, Archie promised that he would come spend some time with her over the next summer break since he had chose to still live in Riverdale with his father after Mary suggests that he come move to Chicago with her. After his father's passing, Mary moved back to Riverdale, where she gained full custody of Archie. The two have continued to grow close, and Archie is even supportive of her relationship with Brooke Rivers.

### Jughead Jones

Main article: Archie and Jughead
 File:RD-Caps-2x06-Death-Proof-123-Archie-Jughead.png
Archie and Jughead are childhood friends. Archie would often sneak out at night to go to Jughead's treehouse. However, the summer of 2017, before sophomore year, they had falling out as a result to a canceled road trip. Jughead would later discover that Archie canceled on him because of his illicit affair with the music teacher, Geraldine Grundy. They lost touch and never attempted to make up until later in the school year after Archie apologizes to Jughead. Since then, the two of them have remained close friends. For a short period of time, Jughead even stayed with Archie after the Twilight Drive-In was demolished, and Jughead was left without a home. However, when Jughead was relocated back to the Southside and joined the Southside Serpents, their friendship began to strain once more, as Archie feared he was going down a dark path. And with the Serpents and Bulldogs constant back and forth, it quickly became tiring for the two of them. Still, they remained friends through it all. And when Archie was sentence to jail after being framed for the murder of Cassidy Bullock, Jughead assisted in his breakout. Archie later returned the favor when he, Betty, and Veronica helped Jughead fake his death in order to expose Stonewall Prep.

### Betty Cooper

Main article: Archie and Betty
 File:RD-Caps-4x17-Wicked-Little-Town-100-Betty-Archie.png
Archie and Betty have been next-door neighbors and best friends since they were four years old and have been in the same school, grade, and classes together for as long as they can remember. When they were in the second grade, Archie was falling behind in reading and was potentially going to be held back another year. Betty was so opposed to the idea of her and Archie not being in the same grade that she took it upon herself to tutor him every day after school. Young Archie was so ecstatic that when he passed, he kissed Betty and asked her to marry him. She turned him down, as they were too young for marriage. However, she told him to ask her again when they were eighteen, and she would say yes. Fast-forward to sophomore year, and now Betty has feelings for Archie. She expresses these feelings at the back-to-school Semi-formal, but Archie turns her down, as he never wished to pursue a romantic relationship because he felt that he just wasn't good enough for her and that she deserved better. Not long after Betty began dating Jughead, Archie started to develop romantic feelings for her and expressed these feelings on multiple occasions, most recently in his garage, where the two shared a kiss. Archie and Betty decided to further discuss these feelings despite him being with Veronica and her being with Jughead. Archie wished to pursue a relationship, but Betty believed that these feelings have only manifested because everything was changing and that they'd be off to college soon. However, Archie and Betty eventually come clean to Veronica and Jughead. This results in break-ups for the both of them, but they still manage to part with their exes on good terms by graduation. They return to Riverdale seven years later and become romantically involved while attempting to save Riverdale from Hiram Lodge. When Archie begins to grow old feelings for Veronica again, he and Betty agree that it's best for them to end their romance. After briefly rekindling his romance with Veronica and the two ultimately realizing they weren’t compatible anymore, Archie and Betty begin an actual romantic relationship.

### Veronica Lodge

Main article: Archie and Veronica
 File:RD-Caps-4x04-Halloween-114-Archie-Veronica.png
Archie first met Veronica at the start of sophomore year, more specifically the day before at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. He was instantly mesmerized by her beauty and took a liking to her. Archie and Veronica shared their first kiss in a closet at Thornhill after the Semi-formal, though they both instantly regretted the kiss, as they realized how much pain it brought to Betty. However, after Betty began dating Jughead, Archie and Veronica were free to peruse their feelings for one another, and they consummated their relationship after the Jubilee. Unfortunately, they would face numerous bumps later down the road. Their first bump would come after Archie told Veronica that he loved her, but she didn't reciprocate the feeling, which resulted in their first breakup, though they did manage to rekindle their relationship on Christmas day, when Veronica told Archie that she loved him too. Another issued within their relationship stemmed from Veronica's father, who initially despised Archie before developing a bond with him, which ended with Hiram framing Archie for a murder. For this, Archie was sentence to the Leopold and Loeb Juvenile Detention Center, and though Archie managed to escape with help from Veronica, Betty, and Jughead, he was forced to go on the run, and therefore, break up with Veronica for the second time. It wasn't until Archie was vindicated and he and his friends were being hunted down by Penelope Blossom that the two reconciled. After breaking up at the end of high school and briefly rekindling their romance 7 years later, Veronica and Archie have since broken up again for good as she’s moved to dating Reggie and Archie has moved on to dating Betty.

### Geraldine Grundy

Main article: Archie and Geraldine
 File:Season 1 Episode 4 The Last Picture Show Archie Grundy 3.jpg
Archie's relationship with Geraldine began during the summer of 2017 after she spotted him leaving his dad's construction site. It was abusive and statutory given the 15+ years age gap between Archie, who was merely 15 years old at the time, and Geraldine, who was well into her 30s. Despite Archie being underage and Geraldine being a teacher at the high school, the two engaged in an illicit affair that spanned the summer and the beginning of Archie's sophomore year. They were at Sweetwater River on the 4th of July hooking up when they heard a gunshot. They later discovered that Jason Blossom had died under mysterious circumstances and were worried that someone would find out about them. So, they promised each other that they wouldn't tell anyone about what they'd heard that morning, and broke up. But they resumed shortly after school started, during which time more people began to find out about them; first Jughead, then Betty, and lastly Veronica. Betty would go on to write about this in her diary, which Alice would then read and report to Fred, thus bringing an end to Archie's affair with Geraldine, who fled Riverdale in fear of being arrested. Years later, while under the influence of Percival Pickens' spell, Archie comes to realize just how toxic his relationship was with Geraldine and how he was being groomed during his youth.

### Reggie Mantle

Main article: Archie and Reggie
 File:RD-Caps-4x10-Varsity-Blues-42-Archie-Reggie.png
Archie and Reggie's relationship is rather complicated and fragile. While they may be friends and teammates, they often butt heads over football and Archie's friendship with Jughead, who Reggie initially didn't like and would instigate confrontations with. Archie has even come to blows with Reggie on Jughead's behalf. Their physical altercations aside, Reggie has also displayed loyalty towards Archie, to a certain extent; an extension of their brotherhood through the Bulldogs. This is actually what birthed the deep-seated rivalry between the Bulldogs and the Southside Serpents. Archie and Sweet Pea's constant back and forth resulted in their respective groups inheriting their beef. And so Archie and Reggie would fight side-by-side against the Southsiders.

### Cheryl Blossom

 File:Season 1 Episode 9 La Grande Illusion Archie Cheryl (2).jpg
Archie and Cheryl have known each other for most of their lives, both having grew up in Riverdale. Archie has never shown any form of hostility towards Cheryl despite her not being the easiest person to get along with and some people in town not liking her. In fact, he'd been kinder to Cheryl than most of her own family. After Jason died, Archie corroborated Cheryl's recount of hearing a gunshot on the morning of July 4th. To thank him, she asked Josie for a favor, who then allowed Archie to observe the Pussycats’ rehearsal for the upcoming Taste of Riverdale event at which they were going to perform. From here, their relationship continued to blossom. Cheryl asked Archie to escort her to her family's annual Tree Tapping Ceremony, during which time Archie defended Cheryl from her verbally abusive family. This sparked a romantic interest in Cheryl directed at Archie. However, he rejected her advances. Although, she was initially upset, the two have remained friends, and Archie even saved her from drowning at Sweetwater River.

### Josie McCoy

 File:RD-Promo-3x16-Big-Fun-24-Archie-Josie.jpg
The relationship between Archie and Josie pre-dates the series given that they both grew up in Riverdale. Their relationship originally started out as a small rivalry between musicians, as Archie, who was looking to rise as an up-and-coming songwriter, hoped that Josie would assist him in doing just that. While Josie on the other hand, who is an established musician in her own right, wasn't willing to help him achieve his aforementioned goal. However, their relationship later evolved into a friendship after the pair bonded over their love of music, which resulted in Archie performing alongside Josie and the Pussycats. Josie and Archie’s friendship turned into a romantic pairing when they sought comfort within each other rather than being in a world of isolation. At first hidden to the world, Sweet Pea reveals the secret of their relationship to their friends during the production of *Heathers: The Musical* when he saw them getting intimate at the party organized at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy by Evelyn. However, this relationship didn't last, as Josie left town to peruse her music career.

### Valerie Brown

 File:Season 1 Episode 5 Heart of Darkness Archie and Valerie.png
The relationship, both platonic and romantic, between Archie and Valerie, was relatively short-lived. Initially, Valerie helped Archie with his budding interest in music, but their time together quickly advanced into romance. However, Archie became involved with drama concerning the Blossoms, specifically Penelope and Cheryl and the promises of future in music. Archie then began ignoring her, which eventually led to a confrontation that resulted in Valerie ending their relationship on the grounds that Archie knew nothing about her and that he was selling his morals. Later at Jughead's 16th Birthday Party, Archie attempted to make up for ignoring Valerie and get back together with her. However, as far she was concerned, reconciliation was futile. Despite this, Valerie did support Archie after his father was shot by the Black Hood at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe.

### Sweet Pea

 File:RD-Promo-2x22-Brave-New-World-12-Archie-Sweet-Pea.jpg
Archie and Sweet Pea's relationship had a hostile start, which stemmed from Archie forming the Red Circle and began to spray painting his symbol around town to draw out the Black Hood, primarily on the Southside. During their first encounter, Sweat Pea pulled out a knife and demanded Archie return to the Northside. Instead, Archie pulled out a gun. This lead to an all-out rumble between the Serpents and the Bulldogs. From there, they became enemies, and due to Sweet Pea's hate towards the Northsiders in general for looking down upon Southsiders and treating poorly, he despised Archie. However, Sweet Pea and Archie became allies after Archie provided the Serpents with asylum on the Northside from the police, who raided the Whyte Wyrm. Archie also led a protest, uniting Northsiders and Southsiders, who were all wearing Serpent jackets in support of the Southside students staying at Riverdale High.

### Mad Dog

 File:RD-Caps-3x17-The-Raid-61-Archie-Mad-Dog.jpg
The relationship between Archie and Mad Dog started out rough, with the two barely saying a word to each other. After sharing a prison cell for some time at Leopold and Loeb Juvenile Detention Center, they became friends, even going as far as protecting each other. They both eventually found themselves entangled in the underground fight club ran by Warden Norton, who Archie repeatedly disobeyed. One day, Archie returned to his cell after the prison yard riot to find Mad Dog was gone. He was told that Mad Dog died during the riot, but Archie knew that to be a lie. Mad Dog later returned to help Archie escape, and in return, Archie blackmailed the Governor to get Mad Dog pardoned from Leopold and Loeb. The two have shown their loyalty and have proven that they're willing to fight for the other.

### Arthur Adams

 File:RD-Caps-2x10-The-Blackboard-Jungle-33-Archie-Special-Agent-Adams.png
The relationship between Archie and Adams is rather complicated given the fact that he is not who he initially claimed to be when they first met. Upon meeting Archie, Adams introduced himself as an agent of the FBI. However, in actuality, he was one of Hermione Lodge's capos, who she tasked with applying pressure to Archie as a test to his loyalty towards the Lodges. A test that Archie would later come to pass. During their multiple rendezvous, Archie and Adams had a strictly professional relationship. Archie would supply Arthur with information that he would then supposedly use to incarcerate Hiram Lodge. However, as Archie began to feed him false information, per Hermione's request, Arthur turned his attention towards Fred Andrews in order to see if Archie would crack, which he didn't.

## Trivia

* Archie appears to be a big fan of the American comic book publisher, Template:Wikipedia. He had two posters plastered in his room, one of Template:Wikipedia and another of Template:Wikipedia.
* Due to their red hair and varsity jacket, Archie is often compared to Jason Blossom.
* KJ Apa broke his hand while filming the season one finale, which involved him punching through ice to rescue Cheryl Blossom, which was, in actuality, a foam mat sitting on ice.
* Archie knows how to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), a skill that came in handy when saving the life of Cheryl Blossom.
* To suit the role of 'Archie', KJ Apa has to get his hair dyed and bleached every two weeks to red since his natural hair color is dark brown.
* "Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club" is the first episode that Archie did not appear in. However, KJ Apa, the actor who portrays Archie, appeared in another role.

## References

1. ↑ *Riverdale pilot fills out cast* - EW
2. ↑ K.J. Apa Hid the Fact That He BROKE HIS HAND on the Riverdale Set - Teen Vogue
3. ↑ Riverdale's K.J. Apa on His Dye Job - Vulture