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We're all human. As far as I know.
 
— Artie, "Implosion"

Dr. Arthur "Artie" Nielsen, born Arthur Weisfelt,[1] runs Warehouse 13. He serves as its custodian and has been there longer than any other current Warehouse agent.[2]

Biography[]

Early life[]

Arthur Weisfelt

He was born Arthur Weisfelt on July 2, 1948[3] and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Isadore Wesifelt, who teaches musical composition at Temple University, and an unnamed woman.[4] His family is of Russian Jewish heritage. In 1956, when he was eight years old, Artie stopped being benign.[5]

The young Artie was a gifted pianist who considered sitting at his piano his favorite place in the entire world. At some point he began working on an original piano composition, which his father knew of.[4]

His father and mother worked two jobs to afford to send him to Julliard School.[4] Shortly after graduating while of high school graduate or college graduate age,[6] he was recruited by the NSA as a cryptographer. He would work there in his 20s, and decoded Soviet communications, intercepting letters and intercepting or writing phone transcripts.[7] His perceived abandonment of music strained his relationship with his father and the two never saw each other for decades afterward, with Isadore being led to believe he had died.[4] However, after losing him, Artie continued working on his original composition in the hopes it would help mend their relationship.[8]

Around this time, he was in a romantic relationship with an unknown woman.[9]

At some point in the 1970s[10] (presumably after working for the NSA for a number of years already) he began hunting and trading objects (which he thought had no value to the people he gave them to) to the Soviets to release his relatives from the gulags in East Berlin. After his Soviet contact let it slip that these objects had magical properties, he was overwhelmed with guilt and turned himself in to the authorities.[2][11] Not realizing the existence of artifacts, the NSA believed Artie had betrayed his country and was selling secrets to the Soviets.[1] By the time he was arrested, he had unknowingly conceived a child with his lover, Scott Mohr.[9]

He was going to be prosecuted for treason, but Mrs. Frederic approached him that day and offered him a chance to make amends for his mistakes.[11] Artie claimed he changed his surname so the Soviet government wouldn't be able to find him easily, not because he was trying to hide from the United States government.[1] As Artie Nielsen, he then joined the Secret Service, and later was drafted into service at The Warehouse.

Assignment to Warehouse 13[]

Breakdown04

Date of Recruitment[]

Artie was recruited to the Warehouse sometime in or around the 1970s, but the exact date is unclear. He is presumed to have been hired very shortly after his imprisonment. The show frequently reuses the numbers "40" and "35" no matter how much time has passed between seasons:

  • In "Breakdown", Artie says he has dedicated the last 40 years of his life to the Warehouse. As the episode takes place in 2009, this would date his recruitment to 1969.
  • In "Implosion", a document states that a warrant for then-Arthur Weisfelt's arrest was made November 1978,[12] indicating he was excused and recruited by Mrs. Frederic at some point afterwards.
  • In "13.1" however, Artie was an agent at the same time as Hugo Miller. The episode inconsistently claims that the computer lab was shut down 35 years ago (by 2010, this would be 1975) and that Hugo attempted to create a sophisticated A.I. in the computer lab 25 years ago (1985).
  • A Touch of Fever contradicts itself when discussing Artie's tenure: In Chapter 1, it says that Artie has been "cooped up in the Warehouse for nearly four decades", but in Chapter 2, it says "Artie himself had been recruited as an agent over forty years ago." While not necessarily canon to the television series, it takes place in 2011, placing Artie's recruitment date somewhere in the 1960s or 1970s.
  • In "Parks and Rehabilitation", Artie tells Steve and Myka that he "has been doing this job alone for 35 years." Disregarding the falsity of this statement given the existence of Hugo, Vanessa Calder, James MacPherson, and the two unknown agents mentioned as having "been with" Artie "a few years ago" in the "Pilot" (set in 2009), as the episode takes place in 2012, this would make his recruitment date 1977.
  • In "Cangku Shisi", Artie tells Myka that he has been working at the Warehouse for 40 years. As the episode takes place in 2013, this places his recruitment date in 1973.
    • This is further corroborated by his claim in "Fractures" that he hasn't had a girlfriend since Richard Nixon resigned from his presidency, which occurred in 1974. In "Endless", he reveals he had been in a romantic relationship with a woman prior to being arrested for treason, and did not resume this relationship once he was hired, allowing his ex-lover to believe he had died in prison.

Going by both his necessary relationship with Hugo and Vanessa, and the most recent information given in the series ("Cangku Shisi"), it can reasonably be assumed that Artie was recruited approximately in 1973 (when he would have been 25 years old), and that all previous inconsistent dates have been retconned.

Warehouse Career[]

It is known that Artie was an activate agent, and partnered with James MacPherson, by 1981.[13]

At some point during that partnership, he formed a relationship with Carol, with whom James also had a relationship. James disappeared during their partnership and to this day, Carol blames Artie for the disappearance, claiming he was responsible for it. Artie insists she simply chose poorly by choosing James instead of him.[1]

Artie has dedicated the last few decades years of his life to work at The Warehouse.[14] Mrs. Frederic believes that Artie is the best agent the Warehouse has ever had.[14] In his time at the Warehouse he has had a higher artifact retrieval rate than any other agent.

As the senior agent or veteran at Warehouse 13, it's part of his job to train new agents and run things at the Warehouse; he is considered to be the "boss" at The Warehouse

In Artie's file, it says he has an unconventional training method.

Newartie

At some point in his career before or in 1997, Artie posed as a professor in order to get close to graduate student Joshua Donovan, to help him while he attempted teleportation research using Rheticus' Compass. It was Artie's mission to retrieve the compass. Unfortunately, Artie watched helplessly with Joshua's younger sister, Claudia Donovan, as Joshua disappeared, apparently being killed in an experiment with the compass. Only later was it discovered that Joshua had trapped himself in an inter-dimensional space. This incident caused Artie much grief because he had pushed Joshua to continue the experiment and promised Claudia that he would do whatever he could to help keep him safe.

During his career, his old partner, James MacPherson blew up the Umbilicus with Artie still inside, thus killing him. Thankfully though, due to the Phoenix, he was reborn from his ashes, ashes which Pete had the misfortune of choking on. Later on, after MacPherson was killed by Helena Wells, Artie's mind had conjured up MacPherson as a result of Artie not being completely "finished" with their parting. He had gone to James former room (now sealed in the Warehouse) and had found a testament written by James and a pocket watch that he and James had argued about in the past.

Later in his career, he had multiple assignments with Claudia, as she was an apprentice under him. Both Artie and Claudia had dealings involving Philo Farnsworth's Three Dimensional Projector, Man Ray's Camera, Max Wertheimer's Zoetrope, and Mata Hari's Stockings.

Personality[]

The thing about Artie is that he's lost a lot of people in his life. Including agents. So now he just shuts everybody out. It's a defense mechanism.
 

Artie tends towards secrecy. He withholds information about himself and tends to give just enough information to agents for the mission at hand, without answering many of their questions. He obsesses about minutiae to the point of neurosis, and has been known in the past to leap to conclusions based on precious little evidence beyond "gut" instinct.[15] Artie prefers old-fashioned items and ways of doing things because they are familiar and comfortable, not necessarily because he likes them better.[1] Artie frequently tries to protect the people with whom he's forged relationships, either by making them promises to do so (whether or not he can keep them)[16] or by swearing to potential attackers that he won't allow harm to come to those about whom he cares.[1]

While not noticeably a religious man, Artie has studied the Talmud enough to at least be able to quote it.[1] Artie plays the piano.[8]

Artie is apparently also adverse to normal technology, he reluctantly allowed a "hack from Global Dynamics" to come to Warehouse 13 and upgrade the ancient computer systems at the request of Claudia. Claudia described to Douglas Fargo that Artie would have "vetoed fire if he'd been born a few years earlier".

It was later shown in the series that Artie had a crush on Dr. Vanessa Calder, as noticed by Pete when he was "recovering" from the Telegraph artifact in his previous mission.

He likes to think of the Warehouse as "America's attic", and describes his job as being the "gatherer and protector of secrets". He also says that what you have to do when you're on a mission is to "snag it, bag it, and tag it".

Queen For A Day Artie's law of artifacts states that the worst thing that can happen with an artifact will happen with an artifact.'

In The Living and the Dead Claudia and Steve ventured into Artie's mind, and discovered that his mind manifests itself as an extension of the Warehouse, and that he has established a number of defenses to prevent entry into the deepest parts of his mind. These defenses take the form of Dr. Vanessa Calder, Irene Frederic and James MacPherson respectively.

Skills[]

  • Cryptography: Artie was a skilled cryptographer for the NSA.[1] When hired by the Warehouse, after its computer database was created by Hugo Miller, Artie personally designed its encryption.[17]
  • Extensive Knowledge: Artie has a vast range of knowledge on various subjects, ranging from language to history to literature to science. He has a particular knowledge of history as it pertains to the Warehouse, artifacts, and other obscure information that might be related to them.
  • Multilingualism: He is fluent in Russian,[11] German, French,[18] and Italian,[19] has an understanding of Hebrew[20] and Yiddish, and can also read Latin,[19][21] Spanish,[22] and Egyptian Hieroglyphics.[23][24] He can also recognize various other languages, including Middle Eastern languages such as Kemetic.[23]
  • Music: As the son of a piano teacher, Artie is a skilled piano player. He has composed several songs himself.

Additional Information[]

He is a car buff. Artie owns a 1957 Jaguar XJ150 Cabriolet, and a 1969 Chevrolet El Camino. It is unclear if he sold both of those for his 1964 Mercedes-Benz 230SL W113 convertible (which he nicknamed "Scarlett"), later, or if he added the Mercedes to his collection.[25]

Trivia[]

  • There is a group of fans of Warehouse 13 (and more specifically, Saul Rubinek, Artie's actor) called "Artie's Angels." [26][27]
    • Episode podcasts and commentaries make frequent positive reference to this fan group.
  • Like Artie, Saul Rubinek was born in Germany to Polish Jew parents.
  • Artie has a minor case of scoliosis at the lower part of his spine that travels down. His office chair is appropriately adjusted to his body type.[28]
  • Artie knows how to contact David Bowie.[29]
  • The following incidents have occurred in Artie's life:
    • 1956: Artie stopped being benign.[5]
    • Artie worked for the NSA for an unknown length of time. Being recruited "right out of school", the must have recently graduated high school or college (Julliard or otherwise) within the last few years, with an age range of 18-21 (1966-1969) or 21-24 (1969-1972), respectively. By modern standards, as a security specialist (cryptographer), he likely would have had to have joined at 21 years or older,[30] disregarding any multi-year internship or promotion prior, placing his earliest hiring date at 1969.
    • Prior to his arrest for treason and subsequent recruitment to the Warehouse (presumed to be approximately 1973),[31] Artie was in a romantic relationship with an unknown woman.[9]
    • 1970s:
      • Artie had worked for the NSA for an unknown length of time, presumably a number of years prior to his arrest. While in the NSA, he began his dealings with the Soviets in the 1970s.[7]
      • By the time he was arrested, he had unknowingly conceived a child with her (Scott Mohr) within the approximate prior three months.[32] As his lover believed he has disappeared sometime after his arrest (which could be a not-insignificant window depending on how long he was imprisoned before his recruitment),[9] he must not have contacted her after joining the Warehouse. Since 1974, Artie has not had a girlfriend.[33] He is presumed to have begun working for the Warehouse in 1973 or 1974.[31]
      • While not strictly canonical, a shelving tag for Duarte Barbosa's Pocket Watch was made for a set tour for the series, which states it had been collected (by James) in April of 1973.[34] According to James's letter (which he had written sometime prior to his exile from the Warehouse in 1994),[35] he and Artie "used to fight" over the watch.[36] Assuming the simplest explanation, as well as accepting the retcon that it was always an artifact, if Artie is presumed to have been an agent when James had the watch, he would have joined the Warehouse around April 30th, 1973.
      • 1979: Artie saved Cherrie Currie's life. Her song "Secrets" is an homage to their adventure together.[37]
        • Cherrie was involved in two different songs by that title: one written while a member of the band The Runaways, and another written independently with her sister Marie. While the former references using codes and living a secretive double life,[38] which fit Artie's character, it was released in real life three years before Artie claims to have saved Cherrie's life.[39] The latter song was released only a year after Artie saved her life.[40]
    • 1980s:
      • Sometime between 1980 and 1989, Artie collected Sir Walter Raleigh's Pipe.[41]
      • Sometime between 1980 and 1989, Artie began attempting to collect Thomas Wedgwood's Champagne Glass.[9]
      • 1987:
        • The last time Artie was wrong (at least in the context of believing whether an incident involved an artifact or not) was in June of 1987.[42]
        • Artie went to Turin, Italy to collect Primo Levi's Scarf.[43]
    • 1994:
      • Frank Lloyd Wright Jr.'s Pickup Sticks "got (Artie) out of a bad scrape" in Bangkok, Thailand.[44]
      • James MacPherson stole the Phoenix from Artie's pocket, presumably having recently been collected, to save Carol Augustine, resulting in James's exile from the Warehouse.[35]
    • Unknown:
      • Artie knew of, or was the agent assigned to, a case where prehistoric plant pollen had turned a woman into a sexually rapacious sleepwalker.[45]
      • At some point he encountered an incident with an artificial illusion or replica of a real person that "looked real" and would "say anything" to give themselves some kind of advantage, such as freedom or murder. It is implied this copy was given an opportunity to manipulate things in their favor by being given a chance to speak, which Artie describes as having "burned" him before. This incident left him with a bias against replicas, illusions, and other similar entities, which temporarily led him to believe the real Myka trapped inside of Lewis Carroll's Looking Glass was actually her image superimposed over the spirit of Alice Liddell, making him distrustful of giving her a voice and a chance to manipulate others into freeing her.[46]
      • At some point prior to 2012, Artie encountered, or was at least aware of, events in Vienna (Austria), Croatia, and Stuttgard (Germany) where someone's mind had been implanted with subconscious thoughts.[47]
      • At some point presumably between 1989 and 2008-2009, Artie was at the Warehouse when (and may have been involved in) locating Jimmy Hoffa with the help of the tabloid Natter Weekly.[48]
      • At some point after the 1980s, Artie learned of the existence of his son Scott Mohr.[9]
      • At some point after the 1980s, Artie recruited the help of his son Scott Mohr in collecting Thomas Wedgwood's Champagne Glass. This most likely only happened after Artie successfully campaigned for the Regents to allow Warehouse agents to have a One that they could share the truth of their career with.[9] Artie first met the Regents in 2009,[14] and Artie describes having Scott in his life helped him learn to be a better father to Claudia[9] (who joined the Warehouse in the same year).[16] Thus, this most likely occurred sometime in the 2010s.
  • Artie has an extensive list of contacts throughout the world that help him in obtaining information, including:
    • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: A male contact that had the power to call for an evacuation of Allegheny Field when it was threatened by Joshua's Trumpet.[28]
    • Cayman Islands: A male contact who Artie believed could possibly help in obtaining information about A to Z Technologies when it was traced there. Artie was unsure if he was still alive.[49]
  • Artie shares his birthday (July 2, 1948) with Saul Rubinek, making him a Cancer.
    • Coincidentally, Cancers are described as moody, pessimistic, suspicious, and insecure, and dislike strangers and revealing information on their personal life.[50]
  • As a child, sitting at his Glückklavier piano was his favorite place in the entire world, a fact he once told Leena.[4]
  • According to Pete, Artie "never watches television".[19]
  • Artie is not a fan of the band Pink Floyd.[51]
  • In Warehouse 13's sister show Eureka, there is a character named Dr. Carl Carlson played by Saul Rubinek. Coincidentally, both characters are obsessed with their work to the point of believing it is their entire life, and Carlson was obsessed with and supposedly killed by an anomalous object referred to as "The Artifact".

Appearances[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Implosion
  2. 2.0 2.1 Hulu.com"Whose Warehouse Is it Anyway." Video clip. (2009)
  3. We All Fall Down (see this image)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Secret Santa
  5. 5.0 5.1 Beyond Our Control
  6. The phrasing of "right out of school" implies he had recently graduated either high school or college. While students do not attend high school in their 20s, as Myka describes him having worked for the NSA at that age, there is leniency for "right out" to mean within a few years of graduating, rather than within the same year.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Myka Bering: "He used to work for the NSA. He was a cryptographer, a code-breaker, when he was in his 20s. They recruited him right out of school, had him decoding Soviet communications. He intercepted letters, phone transcripts." ("Implosion")
  8. 8.0 8.1 Regrets
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Endless
  10. Artie: "Well... in the 70s, I had some dealings with the Soviet Union." ("Vendetta")
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Vendetta
  12. "Implosion" (see this image)
  13. Artie: "James I snagged that, what, 30 years ago?" (Shadows) As the episode takes place in 2011, 30 years prior would be 1981.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Breakdown
  15. This is evidenced in "Implosion" during his conversation in the bar with Carol and again in the bar when he shows Mrs. Frederic the evidence of James MacPherson's presence in the case. She says "Artie, we've both seen you like this before."
  16. 16.0 16.1 Claudia
  17. The Greatest Gift
  18. Merge With Caution
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 A New Hope
  20. Love Sick
  21. Endless Terror
  22. Savage Seduction
  23. 23.0 23.1 Buried
  24. Queen For A Day
  25. https://www.imcdb.org/m1132290.html
  26. http://artiesangels.webs.com/
  27. https://www.facebook.com/Saul-Rubinek-Fans-Arties-Angels-131681710236199/
  28. 28.0 28.1 3... 2... 1
  29. Around The Bend
  30. https://www.applyforajob.org/nsa-careers-application-process/#2_Meet_the_minimum_age_requirement_for_your_chosen_field
  31. 31.0 31.1 Cangku Shisi
  32. Artie explains that his lover never told him she was pregnant. As the physical signs of pregnancy, notably the growing stomach, become noticeable around the end of the second trimester (13-16 weeks, or around 3 months) into the pregnancy, he must have been arrested before he could see the physical proof of her pregnancy.
  33. Fractures
  34. File:Duarte James Watch.jpg
  35. 35.0 35.1 MacPherson (Episode)
  36. Mild Mannered
  37. Runaway
  38. https://genius.com/The-runaways-secrets-lyrics
  39. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Runaways_(album)
  40. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messin%27_with_the_Boys
  41. Personal Effects
  42. Elements
  43. No Pain, No Gain
  44. The 40th Floor
  45. Resonance
  46. Duped
  47. Second Chance
  48. All the Time in the World
  49. Shadows
  50. https://www.astrology-zodiac-signs.com/zodiac-signs/cancer/
  51. Don't Hate the Player
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