Archer Fordham

He is characterized as being assertive and exceedingly capable at his profession, yet more hot-headed and impulsive than his cold and calculating mentor.

Information
Fordham is a young, sturdy and keen-eyed government agent. As the new top Union agent, he is very ambitious and even aggressive at times.

History
Archer, and his associate agents are seen escorting Ryan Lee through the town of Blackwater in the beginning. Archer is juxtaposed to Lee as wearing an unusually immodest three-piece suit.

Archer is only partially explained through early gameplay references to government agents in Blackwater, and is obscured through Lee's reluctance to explicitly state his situation to his various allies.

After Ryan killed Kim Crawford, Archer is seen to converse and exert his unique brand of self-righteous condescension on Lee. Ryan is required to meet Fordham at a bridge crossing between New Austin and Nuevo Paraiso. There, Archer leaves him with instructions to further pursue Daryl Dixon, and then return to Blackwater upon completion.

Ryan eventually kills Dixon, alongside Agustin Allende while working with Abraham Reyes, and quickly returns to Blackwater as instructed. After the death of Dixon, Archer and his partner in the Bureau are still unsatisfied. They then directly worked with Ryan in the Blackwater area to help him track down his oldest friends Jacob and Ashleigh Yzerman. After several skirmishes with Ashleigh's gang, and a final dramatic assault on Jacob's camp with the assistance of the U.S. Army, Lee finally corners Jacob. Jacob chooses to instead kill himself by casting himself from the cliff, declaring to Ryan, that their time is up, a reference to the federal government's manipulation and pursuit of them, and a foreshadowing of Archer betraying Ryan.

After Jacob's death, Archer is unimpressed with Lee's inability to have shot Jacob himself. Taking Lee's pistol and shooting Job's mangled corpse, Archer states that "...it looks better in the report..." After Ryan finishes off with Ashleigh on the train, Fordham finally and unceremoniously relinquishes his custody of Skylar and Ken, telling Ryan they can be found at the Lee ranch on Beecher's Hope. Ryan reunites with his family, living in peace with them and enjoying the life he had worked and killed for.

However, Archer breaks the deal in order to permanently wipe out Ryan's Group. With the help of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marshals, Archer launches an all-out assault on the ranch in Beecher's Hope. Ryan holds off waves of the attackers, fighting mercilessly to protect his family. Eventually, the Lee family retreats to a barn, and Ryan sends his wife Skylar and his adopted son Ken away from the ranch on a horse. Archer and his agents surround the barn, fully armed with their guns pointed at the door.

Deciding to sacrifice himself in order to secure his family's future, and accepting that he is not leaving the ranch alive, Ryan exits the barn slowly and faces the attackers. Pulling out his gun, Ryan fires at the soldiers and is killed in a wave of gunfire. Archer is seen in the crowd lighting a cigar as Ryan falls to his knees. Ryan says "F*ck you, Fordham" as a final goodbye. After drawing his last breath, Lee collapses. Archer and his agents leave the ranch, leaving Ryan's body to be found by Ken and Skylar.

In 2016, Archer continues working in Blackwater under The Union, soon becoming the new FBI. During this time, Skylar sets off to clear the land of Infected, and Ken grows into an eight-teen year old man. His change in appearance and talent with a gun suggests that he has been training extensively to be more like his adopted father and to avenge his death.

After paying respects and mourning at the graves of Ryan and Uncle John, Ken returns to Blackwater. At the train station, he runs into a younger Union agent and inquires about Archer Fordham. He learns that Fordham had received a "...chest full of medals". Archer retired from the Bureau sometime in 2015, and moved to a small cabin with his wife on Lake Don Julio in Cholla Springs, New Austin. Despite his retirement, however, it is apparent that the Bureau still hounds Archer for work due to his level of fame within their organization.

Ken Lee, in 2016, would track down Archer, visiting his retirement home in Río Bravo, where he meets Archer's wife, Rebeka Fordham. She tells him he is hunting with his brother Dick Fordham on the Nuevo Paraiso side of the San Luis River. Ken then crosses into Mexico and finds Dick Fordham hunting along Rio del Toro. Dick tells Ken that his brother is hunting ducks down river. Proceeding west along the river, Ken Lee discovers Archer shooting at a flock of ducks and confronts him about the killing of his father.

Archer shows no remorse for having betrayed and killed Lee, claiming the one ultimately responsible was Ryan himself. He declares that he would similarly have no hesitation to kill Ken, then tells him to leave before he kills him. Ken refuses to leave, resulting in a climactic duel. Archer is gunned down, a long running theme of hypocrisy in the actions of Archer Fordham are ironically concluded, recalling the statement that "...Everyone will eventually pay for what they've done".