Illya Kuryakin (TV series)
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| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Illya Kuryakin |
| Occupation: | |
| Relationships: | |
| Fandom: | Man from U.N.C.L.E. |
| Other: | |
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Illya Kuryakin is Napoleon Solo's partner in the television show and movie The Man From U.N.C.L.E..
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Some Brief Canon Facts About Illya
Illya Kuryakin is a KGB agent in times of the Cold War. Not much of his childhood is revealed in the TV show.
Fanon or Canon?
Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin is fanon.
Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin/Gaby Teller is fanon.
Gaby Teller/Illya Kuryakin is fanon in the original television series, but canon in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015 film).
The Istambul Affair its existence is canon, but details of this mission are fanon.
The Fanon Illya
Pairings
Napoleon/Illya is the dominant pairing.
Gaby/Illya and Napoleon/Illya/Gaby.
The Appeal of Illya
From a slash fan in 2016:
Always the darling of the show in his day, Illya’s appeal doesn’t seem to have dampened with the fans in the last few decades. I fell for him hard on my own first watch, to the point where I skipped a lot of episodes where he didn’t appear (if anything, the rarity of his scenes in the early series only adds to their appeal). He’s a thoroughly likable character, combining the best parts of the snarky sidekick and mysterious outsider all in one – just alien enough to be intriguing.
Though fanfic often (and not unreasonably) extrapolates his having had to deal with his share of anti-Russian sentiment while working in the US, and the new movie re-imagines him as a man driven by conflicted loyalties, the original Illya has a quiet confidence a thousand miles deep, and plainly feels he has nothing to prove to anyone. A card-carrying cynic, Illya has bone-dry wit, a disarmingly cute smile, and an occasional tendency to get over-involved in his undercover roles in charmingly ridiculous ways (Illya may gripe about some of his roles, but when he commits, he commits). He can play several instruments, speak a number of languages, and apparently convincingly reproduce any accent (except, apparently, that of a native English speaker). He rarely expresses strong opinions on food or drink, but never misses a good chance to stop for a meal. He’s not much for tact and charm – even his rare upper-class roles come out on the irascible side – but otherwise, it may be shorter to list the things he can’t do (though ‘avoid an obvious opportunity to get himself captured and tied up’ would have to be top of the list). The show goes back and forth a lot on his feelings on women, varying from 'perfectly susceptible to a pretty face, just less of a horndog than Napoleon’ to almost comically blank disinterest. His “How did I get into this? Oh, right, Napoleon,”-face is quite the thing of beauty. [1]
Some Original Series Illya-Centric Fiction
- Illya Makes a Date by JantoJones
- Illya Kuryakin Looked at me by JantoJones
- Waking Up - Illya by Gevaudan
Some Illya-Centric Vids
Some Illya Art
front of The Ukrainian and a Gentleman Affair, artist unknown
cover of Trilogy, artist is Suzan Lovett
back cover of the doujinshi Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, artist unknown
cover of My Kingdom for an U.N.C.L.E., artist is Bonnie Reitz
cover of Kolya's Son, artist is Warren Oddsson
cover of One Night Stand, artist is KOZ
from Dyad #1 (1989), artist is Marilyn Cole
"An Old Spy" by Joey Rodrigues. Most MUNCLE fanart depicts the characters as they were on the TV show. This is a rare example of a fanartist illustrating the character as he aged.
References
- ^ from a much longer essay by rallamajoop at The Characters: Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, Archived version (February 22, 2016)