Big Smoke

Background

Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris is one of Carl Johnson's oldest friends and a senior figure in the Grove Street Families. He grew up with CJ, Sweet and Ryder, and when CJ returns in 1992 he seems to be the most welcoming of the old crew. Behind the scenes, however, he has already made a deal with Frank Tenpenny, the Ballas and the Loco Syndicate to build his own crack empire.

Events of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Smoke picks CJ up in Big Smoke, the second mission, and drives him to the cemetery where the family is attacked by the Ballas. He later hands out work: picking OG Loc up from the police station, running down a Vagos member in Running Dog, chasing the Vagos on a train in Wrong Side of the Tracks and fighting off Russian gangsters at the Atrium in Just Business. Each time he presents himself as a loyal Grove Street member.

In The Green Sabre CJ discovers Smoke and Ryder meeting with the Ballas and C.R.A.S.H. under a freeway. Smoke's betrayal explains the gang's decline and Sweet's arrest. While CJ is in exile, Smoke becomes a wealthy drug lord protected by Tenpenny, supplying crack through the Loco Syndicate and Ballas.

In End of the Line, during the riots that follow Tenpenny's release, CJ storms Smoke's heavily guarded crack palace. At the top floor Smoke admits he chose money and power over loyalty, and the two fight. CJ kills him on the top floor. Dying, Smoke insists he had no choice and that people will remember his name.

Several early missions quietly point toward Smoke's double life. CJ twice arrives at Smoke's Idlewood house just as Tenpenny and Pulaski are leaving, and Smoke brushes it off. In Drive-Thru he explains that he moved out of Grove Street because of money he came into, and in Nines and AKs he tells CJ to remember him when he gets to the top. During Reuniting the Families, Smoke and Ryder leave in Sweet's car just before the SWAT team arrives, leaving CJ to rescue Sweet alone.

Personality

Smoke is jovial, talkative and philosophical, famous for his long food orders and rambling speeches. That friendly surface hides an ambitious, calculating man who resents the limits of street life and is willing to sacrifice friends to get ahead.

His speeches often sound wise, but they also reveal resentment. He sees the gang life of Grove Street as a dead end and believes that loyalty to the neighbourhood has kept everyone poor. That belief makes his betrayal feel calculated rather than impulsive.

Relationships

He grew up with CJ and Sweet, and the betrayal hurts both brothers deeply. Ryder is his partner in the betrayal, Tenpenny his protector, and OG Loc is one of the people he helps out early in the story.

Trivia

• Big Smoke is voiced by Clifton Powell.
• His drive-thru order in Drive-Thru became one of the most quoted lines of the game.
• His crack palace in East Los Santos is entered by ramming the wall with a SWAT tank.
• His line about following the damn train in Wrong Side of the Tracks is one of the most famous quotes in the series.