| “ | I made it, CJ! I'm a success! I CAN'T BE TOUCHED! | „ |
| ~ Big Smoke |
| Melvin Harris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Series | Grand Theft Auto |
| Age | 27-28 |
| Birthday | 1965 |
| Sex | Male |
| Species | Human |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80m) |
| Weight | 267 lbs (121 kg) |
| Alignment | Neutral Evil |
Melvin Harris, better known as Big Smoke is a protagonist/antagonist hybrid, serving his role as the former at the first half of the game, and the latter during the second. He is a Grove Street gangster originally until he joined the Ballas gang.
Background[]
Smoke was originally a member of the Grove Street gang, under the rule of Carl and Sweet Johnson. An idea came to Smoke - the rival gang of Ballas were selling drugs around Los Santos, gaining tons of money. Melvin attempted to convince Sweet to sell drugs as well. However, the Sweet denied saying it would ruin the gang. Soon, however, the two brothers' mother was killed during Carl's trip to the East Coast. Carl then returned after the assassination of his mother.
Alongside Ryder, Smoke betrayed the Grove Street gang and sold them out to C.R.A.S.H. - a corrupt police force that set their sights on Carl specifically. The cops dropped Carl in a city god-knows-where and with Sweet being in a prison hospital from a gunfight, Smoke was free to do as he wished. With Ryder soon being killed by CJ, Melvin already became a celebrity in the Los Santos criminal world and became the leader of the Ballas gang after Kane's death, soon absorbing the Vagos and nearly all of Grove Street. He created a city-wide riot, due to the police not being capable of taking control of such a massive group.
But Carl returned. He rescued Sweet from prison and went on to reunite the Grove Street families. He soon found Smoke in his Crack Fortress and after a fight, he proved victorious. With his last words, Smoke implied that his name will be remembered. Carl also chased down Tenpenny and uninitially killed him. This slightly weakens the Ballas and gives an end to the C.R.A.S.H.
Equipment[]
- Glenade: Smoke's car after his old Perennial was destroyed. It's a blue car with a white roof.
- Body Armor: Self-explanatory, protects the wearer from damage, including bullets.
- Baseball Bat
- Pistol: Based on the real-life M1911 pistol, the gun is listed as a 9mm firearm, despite the real-life equivalent shooting .45 ACP rounds. It holds 7 bullets in a single magazine, with an effective firing range of 50 meters (160 feet) with the muzzle velocity of 1 181 feet per second (360 m/s).
- TEC-9: The TEC-9 is a blowback-operated semi-automatic pistol, holding fifty 9x19mm Parabellum rounds in one magazine. It shares the effective range and muzzle velocity of the M1911 pistol.
- AK-47: A gas-operated assault rifle, with semi and full-auto modes. It holds thirty 7.62×39mm bullets in a single magazine, with a cyclic rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, semi-auto rate of fire of 40 rounds per minute and bursts of 100 rounds per minute. It has a muzzle velocity of 715 m/s (2,350 ft/s) and effective firing range of 350 m (380 yards).
- Combat Shotgun: Based on the Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun, it holds seven 12-gauge 2 3/4" shells. It has pump-action and semi-automatic modes.
Feats[]
Strength[]
- Knocked a gang member out with a single hit of his baseball bat.
Durability[]
- Brushed off jumping out of a speeding car.
- Can tank gunfire while wearing body armor.
Speed[]
- Could, surprisingly enough, keep up with CJ, Ryder and Sweet during their escape from a Balla car.
Skill[]
- Can shoot five targets in eight seconds.
- Alongside CJ, fought his way through a building full of Russian gangsters.
- Owned his own Crack Fortress.
- Became a celebrity in the Los Santos criminal world.
- Can hit targets on a moving train, while himself being on a motorcycle, albeit with trouble.
- Beat Sweet in basketball and was winning against him in dominoes.
- Strategic enough to turn off the lights during his fight with CJ.
Weaknesses[]
- Humanity
- Obesity: Due to his horrible diet, Smoke is slow and a very large target. He can also be very easily exhausted.
Trivia[]
- The license plate of Smoke's Glenade says "A2TMF", which the fans have translated to many different things, including "a two-timing motherfucker", "a two-ton motherfucker" or a reference to the song "A to the motherfucking K".