The 50 Greatest Gay TV Characters

From:  The Backlot

48. 

Ray Gillette

Archer

Voiced by: Adam Reed

2009-present

Previous rank: N/A

Ray Gillette is only one of two animated characters to make our list of greatest gay TV characters. Why did he make the cut? Perhaps because he (and the show he’s on) is so damned funny. ISIS Agent Ray Gillette is sarcastic and prone to various gay stereotypes, but despite some questionable behavior like renting a Malaysian house boy, he’s also one of the most likable agents at ISIS. The FX series being a broad comedy, Ray’s back story is constantly being amended for comic effect. Over the course of four seasons we've learned that he was a college cheerleader, that he won a bronze Olympic medal for slalom skiing, and that he was once married to a lesbian that he met at a “pray the gay away” camp. No doubt we’ll learn many more weird facts about Ray before the series ends.

One running gag has been Ray’s paralysis. Thanks to Archer’s negligence (most plots on this show are driven by Archer’s negligence), Ray is injured and then confined to a wheelchair. Only it is discovered that he’d actually been faking and could walk. Then, in a cosmic comeuppance, Ray is injured again, and this time he really is paralyzed. Archer doesn’t understand why Ray is so upset by this. After all, he “already had the chair.”

In season four Ray had his lower body replaced by bionic prosthetics, allowing him to walk again. Of course, Archer fries the CPU controlling Ray’s legs with a defibrillator in the season finale, so as it stands now (or doesn’t), Ray is back in a wheelchair