Big Smoke

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Character

Melvin Harris
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Appearances	[[Appearance::Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]
Full Name	Melvin Harris
Aliases	Big Smoke
Gender	Gender::Male
Place of Birth	Los Santos, San Andreas
Date of Death	1992
Nationality	American
Home	Big Smoke's House, Idlewood, Los Santos Big Smoke's Crack Palace, East Los Santos, Los Santos
Main Affiliations	Grove Street Families C.R.A.S.H. Ballas Los Santos Vagos San Fierro Rifa Russian Mafia
Vehicles	Perennial Glendale
Businesses	Big Smoke's Crack Palace
Voiced by	Clifton Powell
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Melvin Harris (? - 1992), known as "Big Smoke", was a senior member of the Grove Street Families. Early in the storyline, there were several telltale signs of Big Smoke's disloyalty to the gang: he 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. In addition, Big Smoke has, on occasion, showed little interest in defending or aiding the gang, as seen in the mission "Drive Thru" when the rest of the gang was shooting at a Ballas car that had attacked them, Smoke was in the back seat of Sweet's car eating fast food. Big Smoke would also be seen dragging himself into conflict with other non-native gangs, including the Russian Mafia and the San Fierro Rifa. Furthermore, Frank Tenpenny and his clique show up at Big Smoke's house during the beginning of several missions, suggesting familiarity, although Big Smoke claims each time that they are attempting to extract information from him. Big Smoke claims to have had a cousin, killed by Russians after "the wall came down".

His true nature was revealed when he turned his back from the gang, having been seen along with Ryder collaborating with the Ballas and C.R.A.S.H., and appeared to be linked, along with Ryder, to the killing of Carl's mother. With the prospect of power, money, and fame in the drug business too great for Big Smoke to resist, he goes on to establish a drug delivery venture with the Loco Syndicate in San Fierro with the help of the Ballas, transporting the merchandise and money between Los Santos and San Fierro, as well as running several drug manufacturing factories in both San Fierro and Los Santos (the former destroyed by Carl during his stay in San Fierro). It is also revealed during certain WCTR news that he becomes OG Loc's manager and that he tries to be a "philantropic" man by helping the defavorized streets and cleaning them from drugs, which is an obvious bald-faced lie.

File:Bigsmokeart.jpg

Big Smoke

In the final mission of the game, "End of the Line", Carl enters Big Smoke's remaining drug factory (and home) in Los Santos, amid a citywide riot, to confront Big Smoke, and ends up killing him. As Big Smoke lies dying on the floor he crawls over to his safe and pulls out some money saying that he "will at least die with cash in his pockets" and then proclaims that though he is gone, his name will stay in history forever and utters his last words before dying: "When I'm gone, everyone gonna remember my name...BIG SMOKE!".

In The Introduction, Smoke unsuccessfully tries to convince Sweet to have the Grove Street Families sell drugs, saying that the Ballas have gotten rich and powerful due to drug sales, while the Grove Street Families have lost power. Smoke, however, easily convinces Ryder to his side during a private meeting between the two. It is also evident that Tenpenny had a large hand in Smoke turning traitor, apparently tempting Smoke with chances of money and power, and possibly even threatening him.

Clifton Powell provided the voice for Big Smoke.

Trivia

• Big smoke drives a Glendale with a white roof and baby blue body. When you get a chance look at his license plate, it spells A2TMFK, which then says A 2 Time Mother F**ker, which then translates to "a traitor", which he is. This is a foreshadowing of his actions later in the game. Some say it is also a reference to the cypress hill song "A to the Motherf**kin K", however the game is set in 1992, and the song came out in 1993.

• Even though friends call him "Big Smoke", which means that he is heavy smoker, he smoked only once in the game (mission End of The Line). (The "Big" in "Big Smoke" could also be a reference to his obesity.)

GTA San Andreas Mission Appearances

• Big Smoke (Boss)
• Tagging Up Turf
• Cleaning the Hood
• Drive-Thru
• Nines and AKs
• Drive-By
• OG Loc (Boss)
• Running Dog (Boss)
• Wrong Side of the Tracks (Boss)
• Just Business (Boss)
• Reuniting the Families
• The Green Sabre (Betrayal)
• End of the Line (Killed)