Alexei Volkoff () is the
alias
Alias may refer to:
* Pseudonym
* Pen name
* Nickname
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film
* ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006
* ''Alias the ...
and
alter ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...
of Hartley Winterbottom (codename Agent X), a fictional character on the television series ''
Chuck
Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to:
People
Arts and entertainment
* Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet
* Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer
* C ...
''. Volkoff is the head of
Volkoff Industries
''Chuck'' is an American television series developed by writer/producers Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak and is broadcast by NBC. The title character of the series is Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), an affable and anxious Nerd Herd associate at Buy ...
. For the first six episodes of the
fourth season, he was an
unseen character
An unseen character in theatre, comics, film, or television, or silent character in radio or literature, is a character that is mentioned but not directly known to the audience, but who advances the action of the plot in a significant way, and wh ...
, directing his operatives from behind the scenes. He first appeared in the seventh episode, "
Chuck Versus the First Fight
The fourth season of ''Chuck'' was announced on May 13, 2010. Having initially ordered 13 episodes, NBC ordered an additional 11 on October 19, 2010 for a total of 24 episodes.
Throughout the season, Chuck faced individual villains: Alexei Volkoff ...
". For the first twenty-one episodes of the season, Volkoff is presented as the character's actual identity. "
Chuck Versus Agent X
"Chuck Versus Agent X" is the 22nd episode of the fourth season of the American action-comedy television series ''Chuck'', and the 76th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Phil Klemmer and Craig DiGregorio and directed by Ro ...
", however, reveals that Volkoff is actually a cover, which, following a botched Intersect upload, Winterbottom unknowingly adopted as his true identity. Volkoff serves as the main antagonist for the first half of season four and tragic character in the second half. He is portrayed by
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama ''The Lion in Winter''. He gained international prominence as ...
.
Biography
Mary Elizabeth Bartowski
Mary Elizabeth Bartowski (née Gunter) is a character on the television series ''Chuck''. Mary is the estranged mother of Chuck and Ellie Bartowski. She is portrayed by Linda Hamilton.
Biography
Few details about Mary's life have been revealed o ...
(codename Frost) was ordered by the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
to track him down when she was placed undercover in his organization under Project ISIS. It was first revealed in "
Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II" and over the course of the first part of the fourth season that
Stephen J. Bartowski (codename Orion) had spent the twenty years following Mary's disappearance privately attempting to locate and stop Volkoff.
According to
Chuck Bartowski
Charles Irving Bartowski is the title character of the American spy show ''Chuck'' on NBC. He is portrayed by Zachary Levi. UGO.com named him one of the best TV nerds.
Character profile
At the outset of the show, Chuck Bartowski is presented as ...
's flash in "
Chuck Versus the Cubic Z
The fourth season of ''Chuck'' was announced on May 13, 2010. Having initially ordered 13 episodes, NBC ordered an additional 11 on October 19, 2010 for a total of 24 episodes.
Throughout the season, Chuck faced individual villains: Alexei Volkoff ...
," Volkoff is 5'10"-6'2" tall and speaks Russian, German, and English. He was born in Moscow, Russia on 30 March or 14 May 1959, was indicted in New York for his involvement in arms trafficking, and is wanted for "conspiracy to kill United States nationals, to murder, to destroy buildings and property of the United States, and to destroy the national defense utilities of the United States."
Volkoff reveals to
Dasha that his home address is 17 Tally Place, he has a dog named Kipper, he had his first sexual experience watching ''
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
'', and he came from a broken home.
["]Chuck Versus the First Fight
The fourth season of ''Chuck'' was announced on May 13, 2010. Having initially ordered 13 episodes, NBC ordered an additional 11 on October 19, 2010 for a total of 24 episodes.
Throughout the season, Chuck faced individual villains: Alexei Volkoff ...
" He later reveals to
Devon Woodcomb
Devon Christian Woodcomb,"Chuck Versus the Ring" M.D., often referred to as Captain Awesome or simply Awesome, is a character on the TV series ''Chuck'', and is portrayed by the actor Ryan McPartlin. The character's nickname comes from Chuck's ass ...
that he
free climbed K2 without oxygen.
["]Chuck Versus the Leftovers
The fourth season of ''Chuck'' was announced on May 13, 2010. Having initially ordered 13 episodes, NBC ordered an additional 11 on October 19, 2010 for a total of 24 episodes.
Throughout the season, Chuck faced individual villains: Alexei Volkoff ...
" It is unknown how much (if any) of this is true, though, as he was posing as Frost's
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
handler both times. Further, the revelation that Volkoff was born Hartley Winterbottom and raised by his mother in
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, England, casts doubt on the place of birth given in Chuck's flash.
Series
Volkoff has been present in the series as early as "
Chuck Versus the Cougars
"Chuck Versus the Cougars" is the fourth episode of the second season of ''Chuck''. It originally aired on October 20, 2008. Chuck Bartowski learns more about Sarah Walker's past when they run into her old high school nemesis Heather Chandler ( ...
," when Heather Chandler attempts to extort
F-22
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, th ...
plans from her husband for Volkoff. In "
Chuck Versus the Cubic Z
The fourth season of ''Chuck'' was announced on May 13, 2010. Having initially ordered 13 episodes, NBC ordered an additional 11 on October 19, 2010 for a total of 24 episodes.
Throughout the season, Chuck faced individual villains: Alexei Volkoff ...
", Volkoff arranges for her to be on the same prison transfer as Hugo Panzer and hires Panzer to kill her for the failure.
For the first six episodes of the fourth season, Volkoff directed his operatives from behind the scenes. In "
Chuck Versus the Anniversary
"Chuck Versus the Anniversary" is the fourth season premiere of ''Chuck''. It originally aired September 20, 2010. When the CIA gains control over the Buy More, Chuck Bartowski begins searching for his mother (Linda Hamilton). Sarah and Casey f ...
,"
General Beckman assigned Chuck,
Sarah Walker, and
John Casey to the same task as Mary. Volkoff first appears in person in "
Chuck Versus the First Fight
The fourth season of ''Chuck'' was announced on May 13, 2010. Having initially ordered 13 episodes, NBC ordered an additional 11 on October 19, 2010 for a total of 24 episodes.
Throughout the season, Chuck faced individual villains: Alexei Volkoff ...
." Chuck meets him masquerading as "Gregory Tuttle," Frost's enthusiastic, if bumbling and completely inexperienced in the matters of field-work, MI6 handler. With Chuck's assistance, "Tuttle" escapes several Volkoff agents and helps Chuck recover data that would clear Mary and prove she has been working deep undercover to bring down his organization. However, after being apparently wounded in a gunfight while recovering the disks, Volkoff follows Chuck, Sarah and Mary to Stephen Bartowski's base of operations and reveals himself, explaining that the entire operation was a plan to locate and destroy Stephen's intelligence. He attempted to kill Chuck and Sarah in the explosion that destroyed Stephen's work, but was unknowingly betrayed by Mary, who left a means for them to escape.
"
Chuck Versus the Push Mix
"Chuck Versus the Push Mix" is the thirteenth episode of the Chuck (season 4), fourth season of ''Chuck (TV Series), Chuck''. It originally aired on January 31, 2011. Much like "Chuck Versus the Other Guy" in the Chuck (season 3), third season, ...
" confirms that Stephen and Mary had remained in contact ever since her disappearance when going under cover, and that the final key to Volkoff's defeat was a virus written by Stephen which downloaded the entire Hydra database to a computer at his cabin. Volkoff is subsequently arrested by General Beckman. As Volkoff is taken away, he tells Chuck to have his mother come visit, saying, "It's been fun."
It is revealed in "
Chuck Versus the Masquerade" that Volkoff has a daughter named Vivian McArthur, who he has chosen as his successor. Her whole life, Volkoff had been training Vivian for the spy world without her knowledge. Vivian travels to the sealed Volkoff Industries headquarters in Moscow and enters Volkoff's office. It is revealed that the horse
paperweight
A paperweight is a small solid object heavy enough, when placed on top of papers, to keep them from blowing away in a breeze or from moving under the strokes of a painting brush (as with Chinese calligraphy). While any object, such as a stone, ...
Volkoff used to shatter
Yuri the Gobbler's glass eye is also compatible with a
locket
A locket is a pendant that opens to reveal a space used for storing a photograph or other small item such as a lock of hair. Lockets are usually given to loved ones on holidays such as Valentine's Day and occasions such as christenings, wedding ...
he gave to Vivian. Vivian connects the locket, unlocking a secret compartment,
revealing a card to access Volkoff's bank vault in
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
, containing various pictures of Vivian's life. Vivian is last shown driving away with Volkoff's lawyer
Riley to learn the truth.
[" Chuck Versus the First Bank of Evil"] She then hires an agent named Damien to kill Chuck, following in her father's footsteps and effectively becoming Chuck's nemesis.
[" Chuck Versus the Muuurder"]
The CIA orders Vivian assassinated, but Chuck refuses to believe that Vivian would hire Damien. In a meet, Vivian gives Chuck a component of a Volkoff weapon known as the "Norseman". Chuck and Sarah visit Volkoff at River Hill Penitentiary, only to learn that he has begun a path to redemption. In exchange for a meeting with Vivian, Volkoff helps Team Bartowski find the weapon's tracking device and killing agent, along the way apologizing to those he had wronged in the past. When Volkoff panics and nearly gets Chuck and himself killed, Chuck encourages him to return to his old ways. It is then revealed that Vivian had communicated with Volkoff simply by giving Chuck the Norseman, and he goes to rejoin her. However, Vivian refuses to forgive her father or Chuck for their lying and leaves them to die. However, Volkoff saves the team, returning to spiritual ways. Before being returned to prison, Volkoff meets with Mary one last time and reminds her, "Remember, family and friends are everything. Money, greed, and power are a dance with
Satan
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
. And he looks like me."
In "
Chuck Versus Agent X
"Chuck Versus Agent X" is the 22nd episode of the fourth season of the American action-comedy television series ''Chuck'', and the 76th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Phil Klemmer and Craig DiGregorio and directed by Ro ...
", Chuck, Ellie, and the rest of the team discover that the CIA and Orion created Volkoff as a cover for Agent X, an English scientist named Hartley Winterbottom and a close friend of Stephen Bartowski. This was part of an early Intersect version implanted into Winterbottom shortly before Chuck was born, but the implant malfunctioned and apparently permanently overwrote Winterbottom's own personality with that of his cover identity. Casey recognizes the danger of what they have learned, and he hides Winterbottom's spy will and the key to protect them from government retribution.
In "
Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger
"Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger" is the Chuck (season 4), fourth season finale of the American NBC Action (fiction), action-comedy Television program, television series ''Chuck (TV series), Chuck''. Aired on May 16, 2011, it is the season's 24th epis ...
", Chuck seeks out Volkoff to help him find a cure for the Norseman, which Vivian used on Sarah. Unfortunately, CIA agent Clyde Decker, who was involved in the coverup of Agent X, anticipated his move and had Volkoff deprogrammed to his original identity as Hartley, who has no recollection of the past thirty years. Nonetheless, he tries to help Chuck by preparing an antidote but it is not strong enough for Sarah. Learning from Mary that Volkoff was developing an improved version of the antidote, he and Chuck went to Volkoff Industries, only for Hartley to get cold feet and run away. He later came back and talked down Vivian from killing Chuck. It is also revealed that he volunteered to go undercover and convinced Stephen to use his Intersect program on him. He and Vivian then start new lives with flawless IDs provided by Casey. He also sends Chuck and Sarah all the controlling interest shares to Volkoff Industries, allowing them to purchase the
Buy More
''Chuck'' is an American action comedy/ spy-drama television series created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck Bartowski, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail ...
and start a freelance spy operation.
Development
It was announced in October 2010 that actor Timothy Dalton (famous for the role of
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
in ''
The Living Daylights
''The Living Daylights'' is a 1987 spy film, the fifteenth entry in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first of two to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by John Glen, the film's ...
'' and ''
Licence to Kill
''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond. It sees Bond suspended from MI6 as he pursues t ...
'') was cast in a recurring role as Mary's MI6 handler, Tuttle, who has a connection to Mary in the past. Series co-creator
Josh Schwartz
Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series ''The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known for ...
told ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'', "It's not the kind of character you'd
xpecthim to play. There's nothing suave or debonair about him."
The reveal of Volkoff's true identity was highly praised. Eric Goldman of ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' has praised Dalton's performance, writing that he "continues to shine as Volkoff. The mixture of menace and humor he brings is perfect."
Goldman asked, "How can you not share the delight of a villain who boasts that his boat has state of the art weaponry and security, 'and an old-fashioned ice cream parlor!' The fact that he was later seen having a menacing conversation, while eating ice cream, only added to that epicness."
Personality
In his first appearance, he claimed to be able to kill a man with a plastic fork. When threatened with torture by Dasha, he instantly reveals several irrelevant details about his life.
It is later revealed that Alexei loves Mary and will go to great lengths to protect her. However, he would rather kill Mary than let her live without him.
When holding people at gunpoint, Volkoff cocks the
hammer
A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...
of his
semi-automatic pistol
A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actuall ...
, an action unnecessary due to
recoil operation
Recoil operation is an operating mechanism used to implement locked breech, autoloading firearms. Recoil operated firearms use the energy of recoil to cycle the action, as opposed to gas operation or blowback operation using the pressure of the p ...
, simply because he likes the sound.
Volkoff reveals to Sarah that he is a romantic who appreciates "paintings, poetry, the art of massage." He later gleefully discusses Yuri the Gobbler by saying, "Don't ask why he's called that... It's because he eats people!" In the same episode, he expresses his disappointment before shooting Yuri in the head without hesitation.
["]Chuck Versus the Gobbler
The fourth season of ''Chuck (TV series), Chuck'' was announced on May 13, 2010. Having initially ordered 13 episodes, NBC ordered an additional 11 on October 19, 2010 for a total of 24 episodes.
Throughout the season, Chuck faced individual villai ...
" In "
Chuck Versus the Push Mix
"Chuck Versus the Push Mix" is the thirteenth episode of the Chuck (season 4), fourth season of ''Chuck (TV Series), Chuck''. It originally aired on January 31, 2011. Much like "Chuck Versus the Other Guy" in the Chuck (season 3), third season, ...
", Volkoff reveals that the password to unlock
Hydra
Hydra generally refers to:
* Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology
* ''Hydra'' (genus), a genus of simple freshwater animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria
Hydra or The Hydra may also refer to:
Astronomy
* Hydra (constel ...
is "Death is the solution to all problems," a quote from his "favorite poet and humanitarian,
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
."
Although Volkoff claims to be loved by children,
the longest he ever saw his own daughter was ten minutes,
with years between each meeting.
[" Chuck Versus the Masquerade"] Volkoff's customary greeting is a kiss to both cheeks and, in Chuck's case, the lips.
[" Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff"]
"
Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff" saw a drastic change in Volkoff's personality, as counseling sessions in prison have led him to regret the way he has lived his life. To prove that he is a changed man, he takes every opportunity to apologize to those he has wronged in the past. He is shown to play
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
, nearly getting himself and Chuck killed when he panics after being
checked in a
computer chess
Computer chess includes both hardware (dedicated computers) and software capable of playing chess. Computer chess provides opportunities for players to practice even in the absence of human opponents, and also provides opportunities for analysi ...
game. It suddenly dawns upon him that he does not want to die. After encouragement by Chuck to return to his old ways, Volkoff is shown to have led the automated player into a trap, paralleling the way he has manipulated Team Bartowski throughout the episode. When his daughter leaves him to die for lying to her, however, Volkoff appears to have genuinely changed.
It is first revealed in "
Chuck Versus Agent X
"Chuck Versus Agent X" is the 22nd episode of the fourth season of the American action-comedy television series ''Chuck'', and the 76th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Phil Klemmer and Craig DiGregorio and directed by Ro ...
" that Alexei Volkoff is actually a constructed identity. As Agent X, Volkoff possesses two distinct personalities: the dangerous arms dealer and his true, long lost personality as the gentle scientist with a dislike for guns, Hartley Winterbottom.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volkoff, Alexei
Chuck (TV series) characters
Fictional secret agents and spies
Fictional scientists
Fictional British secret agents
Fictional English people
Fictional characters with dissociative identity disorder
Fictional murderers
Television characters introduced in 2010