'Riverdale': Red masked to Red Palladin, how the antics of a dark town forced Archie to become a hard-knuckled vigilante
This article contains spoilers for 'Riverdale' Season 1 to Season 4
The star of the comics that portrayed a love triangle with Riverdale's golden girl Veronica and sweet-natured Betty, Archie has more connected to his red mane than his genetics.
Although the Blossoms have given the color red a daunting meaning, Archie's hair has not only managed to make him a target but instilled in him a rage courtesy of the meaningless murderous antics of a town his father devoted his life to.
With the Black Hood, a vigilante, running around with murder on his brain, Archie had to witness his father Fred Andrew take a shot at Pope Tate's, the usual "happy" hangout spot for the Archie gang.
With the gang trying to reel from the murders of the town, Archie experienced a ton of guilt as his family starts to become the target of the well thought out plan of Riverdales older residents — Penelope Blossom and Hal Cooper.
In an effort to take down the Black Hood who turned out to be Betty's deranged father, Archie began his dotted vigilante journey forming The Red Circle and taking matters into his own hands with a red mask.
Although he disbanded the group on the request of Principal Weatherbee, the intense need to get rid of the scums of Riverdale never quite left his mind. Riverdale has more than its share of murders and murderers, but Archie lost his father to a car accident.
Andrews passed away being the good-natured fellow he was. His dream? Never to give up on the town he grew up with. He built it with his own bare hands serving Archie a sense of pride he had to abide by.
Of course, with the town's twisted obsession with not letting high schoolers be teenagers, Archie unwillingly further dove headfirst into a board game that mirrored the murderous souls of Riverdale.
His hair, bright enough to attract the wrong type of attention had him deemed "The Red Palladin" leading him to go head to head with mob boss Hiram Lodge who had it out for his daughters' lover.
Trying to prove his loyalty to Hiram Lodge, Archie got himself into murky waters and was hit on the head by the mobster himself. Archie spends most of his high school life with his pals to dissolve murder mysteries and takedown hooded killers, so we can only what that does to a growing prideful ego.
In Season 3 and 4, the gang has to get the hit of Archie's had revealed the dark fantasy that is Penelopes revenge on Riverdale's occupants. Believing she has to get rid of the scums, the gang has to take down a bunch of dangerous vigilantes — the Black Hood, the Gargoyle King and the Red Dahlia.
This forces these teenagers to develop hate that has them on the verge of becoming killer vigilantes themselves. They may not use guns, but Archie's knuckles gave hard hits — he took a lot of them too, so it's justified, right?
This urge to right Riverdale's wrongs took the most out of Archie turning him into the yang of his father's ying, but one filled with too much teenage angst.
Somewhere along the lines of solving brutal murders, unmasking murders and being the center of a torturous board game, Archie lost his purpose making him vulnerable too many times to too many intruders.
As Archie made it his mission to take down Riverdale's vile beasts, he wasn't aware of the person he was becoming until he realized he had a darkness in him a therapy session couldn't calm.
The red knuckled town hottie was more than a vigilante bursting anger. He has a score to settle with Riverdale and he's willing to give up a lot more than secure future to see his father's dream of a worthy Riverdale to fruition.