Killa Harkan

*"A blind man, a guy with a dog and John Wick walk into a bar and take a seat at the table. That either sounds like the beginning of a stupendous joke or a most profitable opportunity. One thinks he can serve his way out. One... thinks he can buy his way out. And one... thinks he can kill his way out. Each of them all think that they have the winning hand. But what they fail to realize is that the moment they took a seat at the Table... they had already lost."*
—Killa Harkan[src]
**Killa Harkan** was the head of the German branch of The High Table and a mob boss in Berlin who operates a nightclub called Himmel und Hölle. He is one of the antagonists in *John Wick: Chapter 4*.

## Biography

### *John Wick: Chapter 4*

*"Mr. John Wick in the flesh! The Baba Yaga!"*
—Killa welcomes John
On behalf of Vincent Bisset de Gramont, Killa was responsible for the assassination of Pyotr, the father of John's surrogate sister and a leader of the Ruska Roma. In order to get re-inducted into the Ruska Roma, John agreed to kill Killa in retaliation for his uncle's death. As part of the plan, John allowed himself to be beaten and brought by Klaus to Killa ostensibly as a peace offering. Klaus then brought John to Killa's office at Himmel und Hölle where he was seen playing cards in his own. Klaus then gives a letter to Killa from the Ruska Roma about their agreement as John being a peace offering to him. Killa then tells Klaus that his honored with their actions and hoping to have this continuation to their partnership.

At the same time however, both Caine and Mr. Nobody showed up wanting to claim the bounty on John's head. Killa thus proposed they play a game of poker to decide who would kill John. During the game however, Killa cheated by playing five twos, before ordering his men to kill all three assassins. John then cut his neck with a playing card before chasing Killa through the nightclub while Caine and the Tracker fought his other goons. John confronted Killa in the middle of the dance floor, where Killa sniffed drugs before trying to brawl him in hand-to-hand combat. While Killa initially manhandled John, John was eventually able to get the upper hand, prompting Killa to try and flee. John was eventually able to kill Killa by knocking him over a ledge and onto some stairs, where Killa snapped his neck upon hitting the ground. John then tore one of Killa's gold teeth out of his mouth to give to Katia as proof he had carried out the deed.

## Personality

*"How about we play a game? One hand. The winner decides who lives and who does not."*
—Killa offers to play poker[src]
A German mob boss associated with the High Table, Killa was a cunning and bigoted person who enjoyed toying with people. Killa made John Wick, Caine, and Mr. Nobody play a game of poker with him in order to decide who would kill John and claim the bounty money, knowing full well he would cheat and crown himself the winner. Killa even went so far as dealing Mr. Nobody a royal flush, to lull him into a false sense of victory, before dealing himself five 2s. Killa is also extremely gluttonous, betraying his partners, the Ruska Roma, by killing their leader, Pyotr, after being offered payment by the Marquis de Gramont. He was also willing to disregard any potential deal made with Caine so he could kill John himself, despite Caine being sent by the Marquis.

*"That family sold you out, Mr. Wick. They gave you up in the vain hope of saving themselves. You see, that's why I never trust the Cossacks. They are dirty people."*
—Killa Harkan to John Wick[src]

Additionally, Killa appeared to hold prejudice towards Cossacks. Though he does not seem to feel this way about John Wick, Killa taunts John about his family's (the Ruska Roma) willingness to give John up just to save themselves, noting that he never trusted Cossacks and views them as "dirty people." Killa was also an insane and mischievous person along with his maniacal laughter towards Caine, Mr. Nobody and especially John that he contentedly mocks his life during their fight. Killa did have limits to his mischievousness though, as after John had shot him, he aggressively attacked him and even seemed to aggressively break down when John wounded him further, questioning why John hadn't died.

*"Know what is your problem is, Mr. Wick? You are unlucky. Unlucky in life, in love, in friendship. And now... in death."*
—Killa taunting John.

## Killa's Mob

The German mobsters who are under Killa's criminal organization are depicted as men donned with maroon suits and pants with big belts and black shirts underneath. They appear to be bouncers of his nightclub and were commonly seen using hatchets during the club's attack. Furthermore, instead of hatchets as their weapon, they were seen in Killa's office handling other firearms and weapons such as guns. The mob was seen fighting with hatchets, knives, and even hand-to-hand combat.

## Skills and Abilities

*""Du schießt mir in den Arsch! Schweinehund!"*
—Killa shouting at John before having a fight
* **Expert Martial Artist**: Belying his larger build, Killa was shown to be an expert martial artist and hand-to-hand fighter. He was able to briefly go toe-to-toe with John Wick and hold his own for a while before John managed to overpower him. Though he resorted to using his larger build to bodily throw John around quite a bit, he also showed great enough technical skill to overpower John at various stages during their fight. His fighting style consists of Kickboxing, Judo, Wrestling and Taekwondo.
* **High Pain Tolerance**: Killa was shown to have quite a high pain tolerance, having been shot in the backside and having his neck cut with a playing card. He was even able to continue fighting John with little difficulty, after John had pushed his finger into Killa's wound.
* **Cheating**: Killa is extremely skilled at false dealing. He was able to deal extremely specific hands: a dead man's hand to John Wick as a threat, a royal flush to Mr. Nobody, and the winning hand of five 2s to himself.
* **Bilingualism**: Killa spoke fluent German and English.

## Weaknesses

* **Physical Condition**: Though Killa is a highly capable fighter, belying his weight, his movement is still hindered by this. Killa is seen slowly jogging while trying to escape John, ultimately leading to his demise. John also used Killa's momentum against him, shoulder charging Killa off a balcony. Had Killa been of a slimmer build, he could have escaped John Wick or could have survived the fall.

## Equipment

* **Inhaler**: Killa has an inhaler which he frequently takes hits from. Whether Killa is asthmatic or is ingesting a narcotic is unknown, however, it is likely asthma as Killa is heard intensely coughing before taking a hit from the inhaler.

### Weapons

*"You know, this discord between old friends, it saddens me. Allow me to help."*
—Killa Harkan[src]
* **Smith & Wesson Model 500**: Killa had a snub-nosed Smith & Wesson Model 500. He prepared to shoot John Wick, but Caine held him at gunpoint to stop him.

## Trivia

* During Killa's game of poker, Killa deliberately dealt John Wick two black Aces and two black Eights, a Dead Man's Hand. This is foreshadowing John's fate.
* Killa's characterization evokes the depiction of Le Chiffre in the novel version of *Casino Royale*, who (unlike how the movie adaptation depicted the character as slim and suave) is an overweight gambler who uses an inhaler. Also fitting the Bond homage, Killa's bigotry towards John for being a Cossack brings to mind *GoldenEye* and Zukovsky's similar attitude towards Trevelyan.
	+ His gold teeth and cheating attitude in the poker's game also nod to Auric Goldfinger from the 007 francshise.
* He owns a large night club named "Himmel und Hölle" which translates to "Heaven and Hell".
	+ At Killa's nightclub exterior, two banners were displayed between a huge door below the main entrance both having Gustave Doré's Illustrations to the poem *Paradise Lost* by John Milton, the left banner is titled "Himmel" with an illustration of Doré's *Fall of the Rebel Angels* for the poem's Book I*,* while in the right banner is titled "Hölle" with an illustration of Doré's *Depiction of Satan* for the poem's Book IV*.*
* According to Scott Adkins, Chad Stahelski said that Killa's character was inspired by Hong Kong martial artist and actor Sammo Hung and his character in the movie *SPL: Sha Po Lang.* The movie also includes Donnie Yen. The character is also inspired by Signor Ferrari in the movie *Casablanca.* Furthermore, Scott also stated that his performance was inspired by Ronald Lacey's character in *Raiders of the Lost Ark,* specifically for his German accent.
* His name "Killa Harkan" seems like a blend of Germany born Turkish rapper and songwriter Killa Hakan, and Turkish singer Tarkan.
* When filming the nightclub fight scene, on the first take, Keanu Reeves has to pull a tooth out of Scott Adkins's character, KIlla, and so he did, but Keanu did not realize that he had accidently grabbed Scott Adkins's lip when doing the first take. On the second take, he had to hide his lips so the same mistake wouldn't occur again.

## Gallery

Killa aiming his gun at John Wick whilst Caine aims his gun at KillaJohn facing Killa during their fightKilla's struggle with John WickKilla deceasedKilla Harkan character card in the John Wick 4 SteelbookKilla Harkan tarot card