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| “ | YOU PICKED THE WRONG HOUSE, FOOL! | „ |
| ~ Big Smoke's first words and most famous quote. |
| “ | I'll have two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda. | „ |
| ~ Big Smoke ordering from Cluckin' Bell. |
Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris is the secondary antagonist of the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
He was a high-ranking member of the Grove Street Families gang, however him and a fellow member, Ryder were later revealed to be working with the Ballas and the C.R.A.S.H. Unit.
He was voiced by Clifton Powell, who also played Earl Latimore in Norbit and Chauncey in Menace II Society.
History[]
Background[]
His role in the game is a senior member of the Grove Street Families. Melvin Harris is overweight, which provides some comic relief early in the game. He later becomes the story's secondary antagonist when he betrays the Grove Street Families to become Los Santos's biggest drug kingpin in league with the Ballas and Vagos.
Early in the storyline, there are several signs of disloyalty to the gang: he has moved out of Grove Street to live in a new home in Idlewood (Ballas territory), and there is suspicion that he paid for the house with drug money, despite his insistence that it was money from his aunt, and he refused to do a drive-by on the Ballas car who ambushed CJ, Sweet, Ryder and him while they were ordering in drive-thru (he said he wanted to enjoy in his food). Also, C.R.A.S.H was seen twice leaving his home in Idlewood, with Smoke saying that they will not let him go. The last thing is his deal with the Russians, which proves bad in downtown mall when they ambush him and Carl and they are forced to escape on a bike through a sewer.
The missions Smoke performs with CJ are generally tangential to the operations of the gang, despite Smoke's assertions to the contrary. He gets involved in conflicts with non-native gangs, including the Russian mob and the San Fierro Rifas.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
In "The Introduction", Smoke tries to convince Sweet to allow the GSF to sell hard drugs, saying that the Ballas have gotten rich and powerful due to their drug sales, while the GSF have lost power because of being neutral. Sweet refuses on the grounds that he does not want to enrich himself and the others at the expense of his neighborhood and GSF members.
Meanwhile, Smoke easily convinces Ryder to his side during a private meeting. Their true nature is revealed in the game when CJ along with Caesar (Kendl's boyfriend) witnesses them meeting with the Ballas and C.R.A.S.H. in a garage with a green Sabre parked. The green Sabre was used in the assassination of Beverly Johnson. When CJ wants to know what Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski did to cause Smoke's betrayal, Eddie says, "Smoke? Smoke does exactly what he is told! He learned that lesson a long time ago!".
After CJ is exiled from Los Santos, Smoke also becomes the manager of OG Loc and opens an orphanage in Los Santos. Smoke cultivates an image as someone who made it out of the ghetto with hard work and wants to give back to his old neighborhood in the form of philanthropy while in reality,he does this to launder his dirty drug money in a legitimate business front.
Ironically, he publicly pronounces his desire to "keep the street clean of drugs". The media reports this version of events and does not appear to question where his money has come from, so he can produce the drugs and sell them over the neighborhood without the media snooping around, and with C.R.A.S.H involved, he is protected from the Los Santos Police.
At the height of his power, Smoke lives in a large, heavily fortified crack den, referred to as a "crack fortress", deep in Ballas territory. He lives in luxury and has the full protection of the Ballas and Vagos, who have unrivaled control of the streets. However, as time progresses, Smoke becomes increasingly paranoid and stops leaving his home because he believes someone will try to take over his business. Meanwhile, due to the influence of Ballas and Vagos, and the loss of morale of the gang with no one to lead them without Carl and Sweet, the GSF surrenders and many Grove Street foot soldiers become addicted to crack and no longer care about fighting to defend their territory, retreating.
In the final mission of the game, Carl tracks down and infiltrates Smoke's crack palace amid a citywide riot to confront for the first time since CJ left Los Santos. He finds Smoke wearing an armored vest, smoking crack, and playing video games. Even while staring down CJ's gun, Smoke refuses to admit wrongdoing and proclaims: "I made it, CJ, I'm a success, I can't be touched! I don't give a fuck, fuck the whole world". In a moment of pity, CJ asks, "What happened to you, man?" to which Smoke replies, "Man, what the fuck do you care?" The lights go out, and CJ kills his former friend in a gun battle. As he dies, CJ asks Smoke what made him flip up and he explains that he betrayed the gang because he finally saw an opportunity to become rich and famous, and took it without caring about the consequences; Smoke says that because of his greedy nature, he had no choice in the matter. With his dying breath, boasts, that everyone will remember his name, before passing. Despite his betrayal of the GSF, CJ still seemed to regret having to kill a life-long friend. When Tenpenny sets Smoke's palace on fire, leading to the building's destruction as it explodes, Big Smoke's corpse is set on fire while off-screen.
Personality[]
At first, Big Smoke appeared to be a good and loyal friend of CJ. Unlike Ryder and Sweet who constantly berate Carl for his misdeeds, Big Smoke seemed to be compassionate towards the protagonist, comforting him during the funerals. He was also known to be quite funny and, often, joking with CJ and the other gang members and was almost always in a good mood. However, beneath his exterior, Big Smoke is actually a power-hungry hypocrite.
Once Tenpenny starts blackmailing him, Big Smoke has no choice but to betray the gang, as he knows what would happen if he doesn't cooperate with the corrupt officer. Although, he also did it for power and wealth, and indeed incited Ryder to betray the gang, as since he could not do it alone.
With the prospect of power, money, and fame in the drug business too great for them to resist, he establishes a drug delivery venture with the Loco Syndicate in San Fierro with the help of the Ballas and Vagos, and with the partnership with San Fierro Rifas, Smoke runs drug factories in both Los Santos and San Fierro.
Big Smoke became a treacherous, arrogant, ambitious, selfish, delusional, dangerous, and greedy man who believed Los Santos was his city and, once he died, all would remember his name. In truth, he was just a pawn who was used by Tenpenny to take down gangs from Los Santos.
During a conversation in the mission "Nines and AK's", Big Smoke assured that CJ was a visionary like him and to remember him when CJ himself gets to the top. This indicates that even back then Big Smoke had a strong belief that his deal with Tenpenny for a crack empire would never be permanent and had realized beforehand that CJ was the only one in the Grove Street who would become a successful man in his own right. Near his death, however, Big Smoke tells CJ that he was blinded by the money and power he could gain, saw the opportunity, and "had to do it" before giving the last breath. However, in the same part of his final words, Smoke proclaims that "he doesn't give a shit", indicating that he doesn't feel remorse for his actions, however, this could be him referring to his death or a bluff.
Appearance[]
Big Smoke is an overweight African-American who provides some comic relief early in the game. He wears the GSF green outfit (even after his betrayal), blue trousers and light-grey baskets.
Vehicle[]
Big Smoke's Car.
Big Smoke drives a Glendale, cyan-colored with a white roof. The car appears to be very simple, while it has black-gray tiers, silver-white bumpers, and white headlights.
The license of the car is named A2TMFK. However, it is still unknown what the license stands for. Various theories have been made over the recent years about the topic, trying to decipher the meaning.
Most people suggest it stands for "a-two-timing motherf-cker", which is the reference to Big Smoke's betrayal of the Grove Street Families, or "a two-ton motherf-cker" which references Big Smoke's weight.
In other media[]
Memes[]
Just like CJ, Big-Smoke is also notable for becoming a popular meme on the internet. Various users of YouTube started making parodies of Big Smoke, mainly with Big-Smoke's order and the mission in which CJ and Big-Smoke had to follow the train.
FlyingKitty featured Big Smoke in several song parodies, such as "Never Gonna Follow That Train" and "Big Smoke's Order".
Quotes[]
| “ | CJ? OOOOOHHHHHH, my dog! What's up? | „ |
| ~ Big Smoke to CJ upon recognizing him. |
| “ | Hey, I don't know why this had to happen, but I promise you, I'm going to find out who killed your moms. | „ |
| ~ Big Smoke promising to avenge Carl's mother. |
| “ | Respect has to be earned, Sweet. Just like money. | „ |
| ~ Big Smoke to Sweet. |
| “ | ALL WE HAD TO DO WAS FOLLOW THE DAMN TRAIN, CJ. | „ |
| ~ Big Smoke to CJ. |
| “ | CJ: Hey, Smoke! Big Smoke: Hey CJ, I was wondering when you'd show up. CJ: How'd you know it was me? Big Smoke: Knew it was my old dog CJ, knew you was coming and I don't give a s**t. CJ: I'm here to take care of your fat a$$, then I'm going to take care of your friends in the police department. Where they at? Big Smoke: Man, f--k this s**-t. Man, that's some good s**t... CJ: Man, you and Tenpenny- Big Smoke: F**k Tenpenny and f**k his polish lap dog, and f**k the police, man. All that's old s**t. Look at you, you got the whole world. I ain't got no regrets, man. CJ: Smoke, you had- Big Smoke: I MADE IT, CJ! I'M A SUCCESS. I CAN'T BE TOUCHED! I don't give a f**k. F**k the whole world. CJ: What happened to you, man? Big Smoke: Man, what the f**k do you care? Guess we better do this s**t then... |
„ |
| ~ Big Smoke to CJ, before they start attacking each other. |
| “ | CJ: You wearing body armor, Smoke? Man, I'm disappointed in you. I thought you was a gangsta. Big Smoke: Hey, I'm a motherf**king celebrity. All kinds of crazy cats out there want a piece of me! SOMEBODY, SAVE THE SMOKE! |
„ |
| ~ Big Smoke to CJ. |
| “ | CJ: Hey, Smoke, what made you flip out like that, man? Was it the drugs or what? Big Smoke: I got caught up in the money, the power... I don't give a s**t, oh f**k man... CJ: Why you just didn't quit, man? We was like family, homie. Big Smoke: I had no choice, I had to do it... I just see the opportunity. Oh! When I'm gone, everyone gonna remember my name... Big Smoke! |
„ |
| ~ Big Smoke's final words before passing away. |
Trivia[]
- In earlier previews of San Andreas, he was seen wearing a white basketball jersey with no hat; his design was changed in the final version. However, a statue of Smoke in his "crack palace" has him wearing the outfit he sported in the previews. His car was a black Perennial station wagon that he decided to keep in mint condition, at least until it was blown up in a Ballas drive-by shooting during the opening mission of the game. He then switches to a light blue Glendale sedan in which CJ chauffeurs him around in several missions. The license plates are A2MFK.
- Although Frank Tenpenny was the main antagonist of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Big Smoke is arguably one of the most popular villains in the Grand Theft Auto series.
- There is a nod to Big Smoke in Grand Theft Auto V. During the mission, Hood Safari, three men seem to be riding bikes, those three men could possibly refer to CJ, Big Smoke, and Ryder.
- Even though Big Smoke died in-game, he has become a famous meme on Internet since the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (notably with his quote "All we had to do was follow the damn train, CJ!" as well as his large order from Cluckin' Bell), so in a way, Big Smoke was successful in getting remembered after his death.
- His alias "El Grando Smokio" erroneously translates to "The Big Smoke" from Spanish to English. In Spanish, the correct word for "big" is "Grande" (since "Grando" is just a made-up word) while the Spanish word for "Smoke" is "Humo" (since "Smokio" is another made-up word).
- There are several easy-to-overlook indications that foreshadow Smoke being a traitor from the beginning.
- Unlike Sweet, Ryder and Kendl, who were in the cemetery, Smoke was at CJ's home, which is strange, since he knew about CJ's mother's funeral. It is highly speculated that the reason why Smoke was in CJ's house in the first place was to assassinate Sweet when he comes home from the funeral.
- When Smoke, CJ, Ryder and Sweet are to leave the cemetery, a group of Ballas appears and destroys Big Smoke's car. The gang starts to flee by bicycle, but the Ballas only shoots to CJ and Sweet, while Big Smoke and Ryder easily escape.
- Big Smoke's house is located in Idlewood, a Ballas territory.
- In the mission "Drive-Thru", when CJ start to ask about the death of his mother, Big Smoke quickly changes the subject, unlike Ryder who claims they wanted to kill Sweet. Then when the Ballas head to Grove Street, unlike Sweet and Ryder, who start to shooting, Big Smoke does nothing, stating that he "needs to finish eating". Actually, he was waiting for the Ballas to get to Grove Street.
- In most of Big Smoke's missions, Tenpenny and Pulaski appear leaving their house. Although he claims that they just annoy him, he is actually doing business with them.
- Big Smoke's missions are primarily based on his own benefit and not the gang's.
- During a mission to link up with the Grove Street members in the motel, Smoke and Ryder almost abandon Sweet and CJ hoping the SWAT teams would end or arrest both of them. However, Smoke and Ryder eventually come back and pick up CJ and Sweet. This is most likely due to Smoke's paranoia since he knows how capable CJ is in a gunfight which turns out to be true since if he and Ryder did not come back to pick up Sweet and CJ, Sweet would think of kicking them out of the gangs since their action is clearly treacherous.
- In the mission "Reuniting the Families", when the cops and SWAT show up, and CJ tries to rescue his brother from the motel, Big Smoke and Ryder leave the place, possibly waiting for CJ to die in the shooting. Although later they appear to get CJ and Sweet out of trouble, this track turns out to be definitive, since just a mission later, "The Green Sabre", Big Smoke and Ryder's betrayal is revealed.
- He is based on the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G.
