"Does she hate what I am?"

"What you are, meaning the one woman who can free her child from the psychological prison she spent a lifetime erecting?" —Katya Kazanova and Sterling Archer[src]

Katya Kazanova is a former KGB agent who fell in love with Sterling Archer and defected to ISIS. However, she sacrificed herself to save Sterling from Barry Dylan. In "Skin Game", after being rebuilt as a cyborg, she enters a relationship with Barry, only to later dump him.

In "Reignition Sequence", she later becomes the current head of the KGB and begins a relationship with Boris.

Katya is voiced by Ona Grauer.

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Appearance Edit

Katya is a pale-skinned young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair that has a square fringes (or "bangs" as Malory Archer observes it), green eyes (red eyes when she became into a cyborg), long legs, a well toned mid-riff (which is nearly always on display), an ample cleavage, full pink lips and a very sexy Russian accent.

She dresses in a highly impractical way considering the climate of Russia, wearing only a micro corset and mini-skirt combo, a stylish jacket with a Kosak-style hat and white thigh-high boots (her preference for white thigh-high boots contrasts with Lana Kane's black thigh-high boots).

Modeled on the idealised Russian fantasy woman, Katya is an extremely attractive Russian woman (or "smokin' hot" as described by Cyril Figgis) whose attractiveness is turned "up to 11".[2]

Personality Edit

Katya's initial personality traits appear to have been partially designed to be the opposite of Lana Kane:

Katya is a loyal, committed, soft-spoken, romantic and seductive woman, which are stereotypical traits of Russian women and it also happens to be the antithesis of Lana.

Katya succeeds at getting Sterling Archer interested in marriage/monogamy which is impressive considering his epic poon-houndery.

According to her KGB file:

Katya likes sharpshooting, advanced survival training and snowmobile racing while she dislikes aristocrats, bourgeoisie and capitalism. Her behavioral ticks include licking her lips, curling her hair and fluttering her eyes.[1]

Other aspects of the character are based on the fantasy of a Russian Bond Girl:

Biography Edit

Before the Series Edit

"This man, Sterling Archer, is Russia's most dangerous enemy."

"And he is the man I will marry." —Nikolai Jakov and Katya Kazanova[src]

Katya joined the KGB about ten years after Sterling Archer joined ISIS . While KGB head Nikolai Jakov was warning the trainees about Archer, whom he claimed was the world's most dangerous spy, Katya fell in love with him from afar, saying that he is the man she will marry.

Before her defection, she apparently witnessed a "lemon party" (a gay orgy among elderly people) involving the party chairman (who in theory, would have also been the premier of the USSR).[3]

Years later, as Sterling Archer was about to be executed by the KGB, Katya kills all of the KGB agents present and Archer removed his blindfold to see the beautiful girl that saved his life.

It is later revealed that she saved his life on one condition—that he bring her home to America with him. Archer agreed and brought her to meet Malory Archer (Archer's mother). The two are about to have sex in Malory's office, only for her to walk in on them. Once the rest of the ISIS staff have been introduced to Katya, she immediately stirs their suspicion (mostly from Malory and Lana Kane) and these suspicions only become more intense when she pays special attention to Dr. Algernop Krieger's "special project".

Archer and Katya end up falling madly in love, which becomes so strong that she seemingly gets him to quit drinking; however, unbeknownst to her, Archer still drinks occasionally, since he's afraid that if he quits drinking for good then the cumulative hangover will literally kill him.

To quell the suspicions against Katya, Archer has Bilbo look at her KGB file. However, the KGB file shows Katya to be a double agent in the process of destroying ISIS from within. Archer and Katya escape to Archer's apartment, and Malory declares Archer a double agent.

Upon arriving at Archer's apartment, Archer and Katya plan to flee to Canada together. Archer, during a conversation with Woodhouse (Archer's servant), was given his grandmother Bub's ring to propose to Katya with.

However, at that moment, the ISIS crew arrives to kill Archer and Katya. A gunfight ensues; however, it ends with everyone running out of ammo and no one getting hit. Archer takes the moment to propose to Katya, which she accepts. The rest of the gang wonder how they can have a wedding on such short notice, before Krieger reveals that his "secret project" was a dream wedding between Archer and Katya.

On the balcony of Archer's penthouse, Archer and Katya hold their wedding. Cheryl Tunt has her hair redone to look like Katya's and Ray Gillette reveals that he's still a licensed minister and can perform marriages (the irony of which is not lost on him). However, before the two can get married, the party is crashed by Barry Dylan who, after a previous incident with Archer, was converted into a cyborg.

As Barry strangles Archer to death, Malory reveals that she was not quite out of ammo and shoots at Barry - to no effect on Barry's cyborg body. Katya grabs the lace from her wedding dress, garrotes Barry with it, then selflessly leaps off of Archer's balcony, slamming herself & Barry onto the roof of Krieger's van. Unfortunately, saving Archer cost Katya her life - and to add insult to mortal injury, Barry was unaffected by the fall.

After Katya's death, Krieger absconded with her corpse and rebuilt her as a cyborg (while occasionally fondling her breasts).Krieger proudly presented the cyborg Katya to Archer, and the two immediately embraced. That night, Archer and Katya have sex, and the next day Katya tries to get a job at ISIS. Though Katya's changes soon cause rifts in their relationship, eventually Archer is able to overlook their differences and proposes to her again, to which she again agrees.

To save on hardware costs, Krieger bought some of Katya's upgrades from the KGB. Because of this, Barry Dylan crashes their wedding again, to kill Archer - but this time, Katya is more than a match for Barry, and a fight between the two ensues. To depower them both, the lights are turned off. Utilizing infrared goggles, Archer eventually finds Barry & Katya - in flagrante delicto. Initially stunned, then angry, Archer eventually (if begrudgingly) concedes for Katya's happiness. Katya then leaves with an exceedingly smug Barry. However, after Lana mentions how happy Katya looked, we see Katya on the bus with Barry showing clearly that she is not so happy, and is having doubts or regrets about her decision.

Katya's affection for Sterling ensured that Barry gave up his vendetta against him—at least, for a few months. As Barry flew into space to fight Archer on the ISS Horizon, Katya attempted to berate him, but Barry told her that he was in London for "work" and then abruptly hung up on her.

Several months after Barry Dylan ended up trapped on the ISS Horizon, Katya manipulated ISIS and Sterling into facilitating Barry's return from outer space. She fools Archer into thinking that she has no knowledge of Barry's visit to the space station. Archer then attempts to sabotage her relationship by forging a tape that suggests that Barry is cheating on Katya. Though she sees through the ruse, Katya is disgusted upon realizing that Barry's trip into outer space was solely for the purpose of going after Archer. When she confronts Barry as he is en route home, he chides her by reminding her that he is in charge as the head of the KGB. It is then revealed (to the audience, at least) that Katya has in fact taken over the agency herself. Boris, her assistant, tells her that he is willing to be her bottom.

"Remind me never to piss you off."

"Remind yourself."

"...yes, dear." —Barry Dylan and Katya Kazanova[src]

Several weeks later, Katya and Barry are revealed (to the audience) to be behind a disastrous diplomatic dinner at celebrity chef Lance Casteau 's restaurant which completely destroyed US-Albanian relations and further tarnished ISIS's reputation. Katya pitches Lance out of their helicopter when he outlives his usefulness, then silences Barry with a glare.

For the better part of a year Katya and Barry are not seen bothering Archer or his associates, most likely due to ISIS being shut down.[5] It's revealed that during that time Katya finally dumped Barry and began a relationship with Boris (who Barry considered the "dumbest man in all of Russia"). Boris, unfortunately seems to prove Barry's point, as during breakfast in bed, he made a plate of syrup and butter, but forgot to make waffles. Katya was not pleased.

After Archer and Lana begin dating again, the rest of the ISIS group, having grown disgusted and jealous with their saccharine happiness, hire Katya to seduce Archer in order to sabotage his relationship with Lana. Agreeing to do so, Katya lies to Boris, and shows up in Archer's apartment. She does all she can to seduce him, and while Archer is clearly tempted, he shockingly refuses, due to how much his relationship with Lana means to him, especially now that they share a child. At first shocked and angered, Katya accepts the news, and she and Archer part amicably, with only a final good-bye kiss. However, despite failing to seduce Archer, she still manages to damage his relationship with Lana, by accidentally leaving her robo-gina in the sink for Lana to find. To repair their relationship, Archer drugged Lana and took her to Wales.[6]

Series Arc Edit

Katya's arc is one of true love found, then lost through self-sacrifice and then tragic rebirth. After being educated into the existence of the super-spy Archer during her KGB training, a decade long infatuation with him began. Once she finally met Archer she was totally dedicated to him. Her commitment was total, to the point of she sacrificing herself on their wedding day to save him from being murdered by Barry Dylan. Her personality shifted considerably after her initial introduction - from kind and passionate, to cold and ruthless - primarily as a result of being turned into a cyborg by Algernop Krieger against her will.

Once resurrected by Dr. Algernop Krieger, she was clearly and irrevocably changed not only physically, but psychologically, and was visibly upset when Malory Archer calls her an abomination. She knew she was no longer the natural beauty Sterling Archer fell in love with, instead being transformed into an artificial monstrosity with hobo skin and a detachable vagina! Her humanity lost, she gained inhuman physical capabilities and virtual invulnerability, making Barry Dylan - her true love's nemesis - her only equal.

Having rescued Archer from Barry's psychotic revenge, she decides she can no longer marry Archer due to their irreconcilable differences (and her tracking signal). She thus pairs up with Barry and begins on the path of super-villainess, as opposed to being the loyal partner and equal to Archer that she dreamt of being. If she cannot be with him, she can at least continue to protect him by keeping Barry otherwise occupied.

By the time Barry follows Archer into space and Katya takes over the KGB, her personality has become colder, more aggressive and calculating, allowing her to manipulate Archer to get Krieger to supply Barry with a ship back to Earth, hire Lance Casteau to poison the Albanian ambassador, and then murdering him when she became annoyed at him. She would use this domineering and determined attitude to run the KGB with fear and intimidate even the likes of Barry.

Trivia Edit

The name Katya means "Pure" in Russian. Katya is a diminutive form of Ekaterina / Yekaterina , the Russian form of the English name Catherine .

means "Pure" in Russian. Katya's surname Kazanova (especially the way it's usually pronounced in the series) seems to be a nod to Giacomo Casanova. In Russian, it would usually be pronounced ka-ZA-no-va , not ka-za-NO-va . The rest of her name may be a reference to: Katya Kabanova , the main character in The Storm (an 1859 play by Russian author Alexander Ostrovsky) Káťa Kabanová (an operatic adaptation of the play by Leoš Janáček)

(especially the way it's usually pronounced in the series) seems to be a nod to Giacomo Casanova. The final scene of "Skin Game", with Katya and Barry Dylan on the bus, is an homage to the ending scene of The Graduate .

. Katya is ten years younger than Sterling Archer as she was a KGB trainee when first learning of (and falling in love with) Archer, who was already an active agent.

One of the reasons why Malory dislikes Katya is that she has bangs. During Katya and Archer's first attempt at a wedding, Cheryl gets her hair done the same way as Katya does for some reason, even though Cheryl thinks she herself looks like a whore with bangs.

Katya is the second character in the series to become a cyborg. The first character to become a cyborg was Barry. Katya's (and Barry's) CPU’s are powered by photostatic. Katya's operating system is on the Windows platform.mean



Appearances Edit

References Edit