Alexei Volkoff () is the alias and alter ego of Hartley Winterbottom (codename Agent X), a fictional character on the television series Chuck. Volkoff is the head of Volkoff Industries. For the first six episodes of the fourth season, he was an unseen character, directing his operatives from behind the scenes. He first appeared in the seventh episode, "Chuck Versus the First Fight". For the first twenty-one episodes of the season, Volkoff is presented as the character's actual identity. "Chuck Versus Agent X", 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.
Biography
Mary Elizabeth Bartowski (codename Frost) was ordered by the CIA 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's flash in "Chuck Versus the Cubic Z," 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, and he came from a broken home. He later reveals to Devon Woodcomb that he free climbed K2 without oxygen. It is unknown how much (if any) of this is true, though, as he was posing as Frost's MI6 handler both times. Further, the revelation that Volkoff was born Hartley Winterbottom and raised by his mother in Somerset, 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," when Heather Chandler attempts to extort F-22 plans from her husband for Volkoff. In "Chuck Versus the Cubic Z", 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," 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." 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" 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."