Catherine “Cate” Anne Archer was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1942. Her family fell into financial trouble and Cate's father committed suicide. Cate was placed in an orphanage, but eventually escaped onto the streets and into a life of crime as an infamous cat-burglar, referred to as "The Fox". When Cate was a little girl and her father was still alive, the two went on a hunt in the woods. The fox escaped the two and Cate, admiring the cunning of the fox, took on "The Fox" as her personal symbol. Cate continued this trade for a number of years until she happened to pick the pocket of Bruno Lawrie (a UNITY field agent). Cate stole Bruno's watch but had no idea that it contained a homing device that allowed him to track her down and apprehend her. Intrigued by Cate's bravery and skill set, Lawrie enlisted her in the UNITY training program where she eventually became a master-spy under his guidance.
According to a H.A.R.M. memo, Cate is 5 feet 7 inches in height (1.7 meter). She has green eyes and brown hair.
Prior to the events in NOLF 1 and being assigned to field work, Cate Archer had worked in UNITY's Archival Department and was also performing wiretaps on possible suspects.
The Operative: No One Lives Forever
Cate Archer in The Operative: No One Lives Forever
After the death of several key UNITY operatives, Cate Archer and Bruno were sent by a reluctant Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones, the head of UNITY, to Morocco. Their mission was to protect the American ambassador to West Germany, Morris Monroe, from H.A.R.M. assassins. From her hotel balcony (and with tactical guidance from Bruno via a radio headset communicator), Archer protected the ambassador using a scoped Hampton Carbine, picking off unsuspecting H.A.R.M. gunmen. As Archer finishes off the gunmen that were after the Ambassador, Bruno warns Archer that a different group of gunmen made out Archer's position and are coming after her. After dealing with all the gunmen at the hotel, Archer meets up with Bruno at a different wing of the hotel. They discuss their situation and realize that the large number of H.A.R.M. thugs in the area could only mean that they've been betrayed. The two then quickly try to decide how to reach the shore to make their escape, when Dmitrij Volkov appears in a balcony above the two and shoots Bruno. An enraged and emotionally shaken Archer then proceeds to pursue Volkov through the Moroccan streets and marketplaces while fighting off H.A.R.M. agents and gunmen. Ultimately, Volkov escaped with a get-away car and in a later cut-scene, kills Monroe.
Cate Archer in "No One Lives Forever"
Although she had failed the mission in Morocco, Mr. Jones gives Archer a second chance, aggravating Mr. Smith. Archer's new mission is to rescue the scientist, Dr. Otto Schenker from a research facility in East Germany, operated by the Stasi (East Germany's Secret Police). But in order to do so, Archer must first gather and compile her specific instructions by contacting a number of UNITY agents. After doing so, she manages to bribe a security guard with cash and sneaks into the facility. After overcoming some obstacles and eliminating a number of patrol men, Cate reaches Dr. Schenker. They battled their way out of the facility, reaching the city streets, unknowingly being watched by a muscular "Scotsman", whose role in the game is unknown at this point. On-board a plane, heading back to UNITY headquarters in England, Dr. Schenker reveals to Archer that he had been researching a biochemical reagent that can turn ordinary people into human time-bombs. At that moment, the plane begins to rumble and shake violently as it is being boarded in mid-air by another air plane, filled with H.A.R.M. agents, who are under the command of Magnus Armstrong (the Scotsman). Not knowing what exactly is going on outside the room, Archer decides to investigate, telling Schenker to lock the door behind her. She fights the agents to get to the plane's cockpit and as she sees the dead pilot and co-pilot in their seats, Archer is ambushed from behind by Armstrong and is knocked unconscious. H.A.R.M. ultimately kidnaps Dr. Schenker and leaves Archer on-board the badly damaged UNITY airplane to fall and crash to her death. Shortly after they leave, Archer wakes up to find that the escaping H.A.R.M. air plane had stranded some of their gunmen on-board and proceeds to fight them for possession of a parachute when suddenly, the plane explodes sending her free-falling to her death. She battles the other gunmen, who are also free-falling, until she spots a H.A.R.M. agent with an un-deployed parachute pack. She then "borrows" his parachute, deploys it, and floats to safety, narrowly missing the roof of a barn.
Tom Goodman and Cate Archer in Hamburg
After deeming the mission a failure, Mr. Smith assigns Archer a new mission in West Germany to meet up with her new 'supervisor'; another field agent, Tom Goodman, from the UNITY's American branch. The two meet in West Germany at a bar owned by Inge Wagner. They investigate the bar to see if there is a connection to H.A.R.M. In the process, Archer is shot in the back of her neck with a dart from Inge, who is hiding on a balcony above her. Archer shrugs it off and a short time later a gun battle ensues. After the battle, Archer and Tom part ways, agreeing to meet at a shipping yard that H.A.R.M. is using to supply chemicals to an unknown processing plant. Archer sneaks into one of the cargo ships to obtain further information and documents but is then captured and locked in the brig. In the ship's mess-hall, Armstrong and Wagner have a heated discussion about killing Archer when suddenly, explosions around and below the ship are heard, and the call to abandon ship grabs their attention. Still in the brig, Archer wakes up a short time later to find the ship sinking and taking on water. Archer narrowly escapes the sinking ship and returns to meet Tom at their hotel. Disappointed at Archer's failure to obtain the needed documents and information, Tom suggests that they return to the sunken ship and dive to find both the shipping manifest and the captain's log. After doing so, they return to their hotel. As the two have a discussion, the hotel is taken over by H.A.R.M. agents. Both Archer and Tom escape the hotel, each taking a different escape route. The next day, the two take a boat out to sea to reach the sunken ship. When they get there, Tom and Archer argue about who should dive to retrieve the documents. Archer ultimately persuades Tom to let her be the one to dive. As Archer swims throughout the sunken shipwreck, she finds the Captain's log and the ship's manifest and proceeds to make her way out of the wreckage. But as she does, she ends up fighting H.A.R.M. divers at every turn. She manages to fight them off and swims to the surface where Tom is still waiting on their boat. Archer asks Tom about the H.A.R.M. divers, but Tom insists that he saw no other ships in the area and has no explanation for the unexpected resistance.
Upon returning to UNITY headquarters they learn that H.A.R.M. has given UNITY a ransom. H.A.R.M. demands that they be given £50 million, Australia and an international holiday for themselves or else they will detonate people around the world every 48 hours. UNITY initially deems the information from the wreck as mostly useless, but finds a link between H.A.R.M. and Dumas Industrial Enterprises. Archer and Tom are then sent on a mission to investigate the Dumas company by infiltrating their corporate office for further clues. Archer, while working her 'charm' craft-fully interviews Baron Dumas at his estate, learning that he keeps important information in a safe at a new skyscraper that his company is in the process of constructing. Archer and Tom reach the construction site at night to avoid detection. Archer then gains access to a nearby building and reaches the roof to zip-cord across to the roof of the newer building, where the safe is located. She successfully zip-cords to the other roof, but before she can make her way to down to the safe she battles and kills Inge Wagner by electrocution. Archer breaks into the company safe and escapes the building at street level with the documents in-hand. As she meets Tom just outside the building, she gestures for Tom to get moving, but he is just standing there with his hands in the air. Archer asks what is wrong and then Volkov appears out of the shadows and 'kills' Tom. With Tom, lifeless on the ground, at Volkov's feet, Archer flees the scene with a H.A.R.M agent in hot pursuit of her.
Back at UNITY H.Q., Archer practices her shots at the indoor firing range, with a look of gloom in her eyes. With two deaths on her shoulders, Archer has doubts about the mission and questions her capability as a field agent, but she is uplifted by Mr. Jones. Shortly after, UNITY then finds out that the information Archer obtained contains both a possible lead as to where H.A.R.M. is holding Dr. Schenker captive and that Baron Dumas's wife changed her name from Felicity Farnsworth when she was still a little girl. Archer, having prior knowledge on Ms. Farnsworth's background, explains the details to Mr. Jones and Mr. Smith and notes the similarities she shares with her as far as their respective upbringings are concerned. Archer is then sent on a new mission... this time, she is aboard railway train to reach the North American H.A.R.M. facility. When she arrives there, she breaks into Dumas Logging Company and takes a motorbike ride though the mountains towards the hidden, underground H.A.R.M facility. She enters the facility and finds Dr. Schenker, who deduces that H.A.R.M. masterminded his defection from East Germany, and used it as an opportunity to both kidnap him and to get their hands on his human time-bomb research. Archer and the Doctor escape the base though an atmospheric conditioning room and work their way to the surface.
Back at UNITY H.Q., the team learns that the antidote they need to inoculate the infected population, can only be fabricated in a zero-gravity environment (in space). Dr. Schenker reveals to the team that he has overheard that H.A.R.M. has their own space program. With that said, Archer is then sent on another mission to Mandaru, a remote island that UNITY believes H.A.R.M. is using as both their staging area and as a possible launchpad. Archer eventually makes it to the launch facility on the island and determines that the antidote is nowhere to be found on the island itself and sends a radio signal back to H.Q., apprising them of the situation. She also tells Mr. Jones that she intends to board the H.A.R.M. rocket to investigate the space station in orbit around Earth. With no other options, Mr. Jones reluctantly agrees. Shortly after, Archer manages to switch places with one of the H.A.R.M. astronauts and lifts off into space. On-board the H.A.R.M. space station, and still in disguise, she wanders through the various rooms, corridors, and decks, looking for the location of the antidote. In the process, she overhears a discussion between two H.A.R.M. researchers that their proximity radar/sensor equipment has malfunctioned and thus, failed to warn them of an oncoming meteor storm that threatens to hit and surely destroy the station. After realizing the escalating situation, Archer makes her way passed security personnel, obtains the antidote and makes her way into a vacant escape pod. As she escapes, the station is then bombarded with meteors and explodes.
Cate Archer in No One Lives Forever 2
Once Archer makes it back to H.Q., she gives the antidote to Dr. Schenker, who then determines that the obtained sample is viable enough to mass produce it. The only challenge at this point is figuring out to whom the antidote needs to be administered. Archer presumes that any possible list of infected people would likely be in the possession of Baroness Dumas. Mr. Smith voices his disagreement, but having no other suggested options, Mr. Jones sends Archer to the Dumas's vacation home, a chateau in the Swiss Alps, to regain the list. Archer eventually makes it to the Alps, and manages to enter the Dumas's castle though the Baroness's private gondola. After sneaking around, she is eventually ambushed (again) by Armstrong, knocked unconscious and placed in a holding cell. The Baroness visits Archer's cell where they have a long dialogue. The Baroness explains to Archer that she is not only the villain behind the bomb plot, that "H.A.R.M." works for her, that she created "H.A.R.M." to destroy all of the world's rich and wealthy snobs as payback for her parents death. She also explains to Archer that although Inge Wagner infected her with the reagent from the dart at the bar and that she should have had 10 hours to live, Wagner's incompetence resulted in Archer having 10 DAYS to live. When the Baroness leaves to deal with other matters, Armstrong is called in to watch over Archer. Realizing the looming deadline of the human time-bombs going off, Archer manages to persuade Armstrong into a one-on-one fight. Archer eventually wins and Armstrong lets her go. With his defeat at the hands of a "wee little girl" and that he doesn't intend to confront the Baroness with his shameful loss, he reaches a rapport with Archer tells her that he will leave H.A.R.M. Armstrong then leaves the chateau as Archer moves onward to enter the base's lower levels. She then obtains a vial of the antidote (apparently produced by H.A.R.M.) to cure herself. When she reaches the Baroness's office and breaks into her safe, Archer finds the list of names but to her surprise, she finds an unexpected name at the top of the list (Baron Dumas; while the Baron's name isn't exactly shown, the player is left guessing who it could be)! The Baroness escapes the castle as UNITY helicopters filled with agents and troopers arrive. Archer heads though the courtyard, battling against a team of H.A.R.M.'s Elite Guard and to her dismay, finds that the helicopters have left her behind. She makes her way to the gondola and uses it to escape the castle. The scene changes to Baron Dumas sitting down at his dining table, eating a large steak until he lets out a burp and suddenly explodes, destroying the chateau, and everything in it (he was at the top of the Baroness's list). At the end of the cable run, Volkov appears in front of Archer, demanding the list. In the middle of their dialogue, the ground below them caves in and they both fall though a crevice. Archer battles Volkov who falls down the pit to his (presumed) death.
Dr. Schenker and Cate Archer in No One Lives Forever 2
Archer reaches an Alpine Village to contact UNITY Headquarters via phone. At the end of her phone call, she finds the Baroness outside the phone booth and a short gunfight ensues between them. After the Baroness is disabled, the Baroness tells Archer that H.A.R.M. won't die with her... that it will go on without her. Shortly after, the Baroness lets out a burp, revealing that she has infected herself with the reagent! Archer hurries to get the nearby villagers out of the streets and into the buildings for cover as the Baroness explodes violently.
Back at UNITY HQ, Archer is congratulated by Mr. Smith, who is 'delighted' to having been proved wrong about Archer's competence and is now recognized by her colleagues as as a full UNITY field agent. Afterwards, Archer pays a visit to Bruno's grave but is then surprised as she finds Tom Goodman still alive and angry. 'Tom' then reveals himself as the traitor that sold out the UNITY and their field agents and a battle between the two ensues in the graveyard. Ultimately, Archer gets the upper hand, but does not wish to kill him. A gunshot is heard and 'Tom' falls backwards into a hollowed-out grave. Mr. Smith then appears on the scene, with the smoking gun in-hand and prepares to kill Archer until he is shot by Mr. Jones. As Mr. Jones reveals that Mr. Smith is the real traitor, Archer expresses her distress at the entire situation and that Bruno would've still been alive if he had been warned about these facts. Immediately after Archer finishes her sentence, Bruno shows up, alive and well and then explains to Archer that he and Mr. Jones knew of Mr. Smith's treachery but didn't have the proof needed to arrest him. Mr. Smith, still alive, then picks up his gun and takes aim to fire, but Archer reacts faster and fatally shoots him in the heart. Bruno then explains to Archer that after Mr. Smith had been pulled out of service as a field agent, he intended to exact revenge by formulating a scheme to become the new head of UNITY and formed a relationship with H.A.R.M. as a means of doing so. Bruno takes out the hand puppet (as seen in the ransom footage, earlier in the game) and explains that he found it in Mr. Smith's residence, as he was investigating there for further evidence of Mr. Smith's links to H.A.R.M., and thus, proving Mr. Smith's guilt. 'Tom' is revealed to be 'Melvin Blitzny', an American vacuum cleaner salesman from Akron, Ohio and that the 'real' Tom Goodman died in an earlier UNITY campaign in Amsterdam. When Archer asks who is buried in Bruno's grave, Bruno tells her that it was an empty casket. Archer, now furious at Bruno's act of faking his death, then proceeds to chase him about the Cemetery.
Rest and Relaxation
After the mission, Archer takes a well-deserved holiday on a remote island in the South Pacific. While there, she finds that her hotel is actually a front for yet another secret H.A.R.M. operation. She travels though the jungle, battling H.A.R.M. agents and eventually reaches the inside of their secret volcano base. While looking for a way to destroy the base, she overhears a H.A.R.M. scientist that yields the key to doing just that. Before she makes her escape, Archer overloads the lava control network, thereby destroying the secret base and dealing another crippling blow to H.A.R.M. and their ultimate goal of world domination.
Secret Cate Archer
No One Lives Forever - A secret Cate Archer double!
In the Game of the Year (GOTY) version of The Operative: No One Lives Forever, on the level Safecracker, you can find an "extra" Cate Archer behind the building at the start of the level.
The video on the right-hand side, depicting how to get to this secret, is provided by YouTube user, rkmugen. Below is a table, listing which versions of the game have been confirmed to have the secret "extra" Cate Archer.
| NOLF (non-Game of the Year Edition; PC version) | Not Confirmed |
| NOLF (Game of the Year Edition; PC version) | Confirmed |
| NOLF (Playstation 2) | Confirmed |
Contract J.A.C.K.
Cate in Contract J.A.C.K..
While John Jack is being transported to a Military Supply Outpost in Czechoslovakia, he spots Cate Archer along the side of the road. H.A.R.M. and Danger Danger also have wanted posters displayed offering a reward for Archer.
- Unfortunately, there is no interaction between Archer and Jack in the game.