BIG SMOKE

**Melvin Harris**, better known as **Big Smoke**, is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as a main character and the secondary antagonist of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Big Smoke was voiced by Clifton Powell, who has also appeared in *Menace II Society*, *Next Friday*, and *Friday After Next*.

s, noticing that the Ballas,
 who control Idlewood, are selling drugs to fuel their rising influence.

 He then tries

   to persuade Sweet to allow the Grove Street Families to

sell more potent drugs (since the Families already sell marijuana and
PCP), although Sweet refuses due to crack cocaine's destructive
influence on the areas they are sold in.

At some point Big Smoke forms an alliance with the Ballas and begins to secretly work with them. Smoke later includes the Los Santos Vagos and the Russian Mafia, who were hoping to get a foothold in Los Santos, into his new alliance. They also form an alliance with the Loco Syndicate who began supplying them with various drugs from their base in San Fierro, although he doesn't realize that an undercover government agent is involved in the operation.

###

## Biography

### Background

#### Early life

Big Smoke was born in Los Santos, likely in Ganton due to his close relationship with Sweet and Carl Johnson, and he later became a member of the Grove Street Families. He rose through the ranks of the gang until becoming the right hand man of Sweet, being helped by the departure of Carl in 1987 after his brother's death.

Big Smoke quotes the Bible on many occasions, hinting that he may
 be religious. But however, Carl claims he's "still talking shit."

#### Joining the Ballas

Smoke also, at one point, lived in Ganton, which may have been from birth, but moved to Idlewood in 1989, purchasing a house with his *aunt's money* from a will. The Grove Street Families, however, began to lose influence and status among the city gangs, noticing that the Ballas,
 who control Idlewood, are selling drugs to fuel their rising influence.
 He then tries to persuade Sweet to allow the Grove Street Families to
sell more potent drugs (since the Families already sell marijuana and
PCP), although Sweet refuses due to crack cocaine's destructive
influence on the areas they are sold in.

At some point Big Smoke forms an alliance with the Ballas and begins to secretly work with them. Smoke later includes the Los Santos Vagos and the Russian Mafia, who were hoping to get a foothold in Los Santos, into his new alliance. They also form an alliance with the Loco Syndicate who began supplying them with various drugs from their base in San Fierro, although he doesn't realize that an undercover government agent is involved in the operation.

### Events of *GTA San Andreas*

#### Carl's Return

"*CJ? Ooohh my dog! Whassup? Hahaha! Hey baby, you okay, man?*"
―Big Smoke
In 1992, after failing to convince Sweet, he goes to Ryder and convinces him to join forces with the Ballas, who later attempts to kill Sweet but fails, instead killing his mother. The death of Beverly Johnson leads to her son, Carl, returning from Liberty City, and Carl meets Smoke inside his old house.
 Smoke initially fails to recognize Carl but immediately accepts the
return of an old friend, contrary to Sweet, who remains initially
hostile. It is not until later in the game that his true intentions with
 the Ballas-C.R.A.S.H. unit are revealed, but several times before his revealed betrayal do many hints appear foreshadowing it.

Smoke appears alongside Carl, Sweet, and Ryder in the first mission in the game, and also later appears at the funeral
 of several GSF members. However, during the mission, the attackers will
 only attack Carl and Sweet, hinting Smoke's future betrayal. He also
appears playing basketball with Sweet in Tagging up Turf, and also briefly appears in Cleaning the Hood at Sweet's house. In the mission Drive-Thru, Sweet, CJ, Smoke and Ryder decide to visit Cluckin' Bell
 to eat; however, they are attacked by Ballas members whilst there.
Smoke's refusal to open fire on the Ballas (claiming that he would only
shoot when he was done eating) was another large hint to his betrayal.
After appearing in the introductory scene of Nines and AKs, Smoke later helped the gang in the mission Drive-By. After this, Smoke gives his own missions to Carl; the first is to free an old friend (OG Loc) from prison. The next is to help Smoke eliminate a Vagos member. In the mission Wrong Side of the Tracks, before Smoke and CJ work to kill more Vagos, Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski
 are seen in Smoke's house; however, Smoke's comment that they are
simply "nosey" hints that he is not-so-hostile towards them. CJ would
then later assist Smoke in taking down Russian Mafia members in the mission Just Business, and Smoke would later assist CJ, Ryder and Sweet in the mission Reuniting the Families.

#### Betrayal

"*Shit, Smoke...C.R.A.S.H. makin' you sell us out!*"
― Carl Johnson
The mission The Green Sabre is ultimately the turning point in both the game and in Big Smoke and Ryder's characters; in it, Sweet explains to CJ that they are going to go take down a large amount of Ballas and to meet at the Mulholland Intersection; as soon as CJ leaves, CJ's friend (and his sister's boyfriend) Cesar Vialpando tells him he must urgently meet him at an alleyway. At the ally, CJ is shocked to see Big Smoke and Ryder—along with Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski and some Ballas members working together. Also, the green Sabre—the
 same one that was used to murder Beverly. CJ arrives to the
intersection to save his brother. Although Sweet survives, he ends up
injured through gunfire and stuck in a prison hospital.

#### Rise to power

"*I MADE IT, CJ! I'M A SUCCESS! I CAN'T BE TOUCHED!*"
― Big Smoke
In the absence of both Sweet and Carl, Smoke and Ryder disband the
Grove Street Families, leaving Ganton and all other Grove Street turf in
 the hands of the Ballas.  A few Grove Street Families gangsters,
meanwhile, begin working as drugs smugglers, taking them from the Loco
Syndicate factory in Doherty, San Fierro
 back to Los Santos. Cesar Vialpando, however, discovers this and alerts
 Carl Johnson, who stops a number of the supplies from reaching Los
Santos. Carl and Cesar later photograph Ryder with three men, later identified as Jizzy B., T-Bone Mendez and Mike Toreno. Carl, upon returning to his garage in San Fierro has Wu Zi Mu and his Triad allies discover more about the trio.

Carl then begins to work for Jizzy B., attempting to gather more
information on the operation, and later gains his trust. Carl, however,
later kills Jizzy, San Fierro Rifa leader T-Bone Mendez and undercover agent Mike Toreno (or so he thought) as well as Ryder, before destroying their drug manufacturing factory, stopping the supply back to Los Santos. Smoke, however, is undetered and instead starts his manufacturing plant in East Los Santos. He also begins working as the manager of OG Loc, a rapper and childhood friend of both Smoke and Carl, who helped him by sabotaging the career of Madd Dogg. He also attempts to show himself as a philanthropist when telling West Coast Talk Radio (which can be heard on the radio anytime after the mission Pier 69) that he is using his money to try and stop the sale of drugs in Los Santos, despite being the drug baron of the city.

Big Smoke, like Ryder, continues to wear green clothing after his betrayal of the Grove Street Families becomes common knowledge. This is because Big Smoke and Ryder only have one coded outfit.

#### Death

"*I had no choice, I had to do it. I just see the opportunity. When I'm gone, everyone's gonna remember my name...BIG SMOKE!*"
― Big Smoke's last words
In the meantime Carl is re-united with Toreno, who used a decoy on
his scheduled departing flight, and begins working for him attacking
those harming American interests. As a reward, Toreno gets Sweet parolled from prison and the two return home, taking Ganton
 back for the Grove Street Families, who once again ally themselves with
 the formerly absent leaders. By this time, however, Smoke had become a
recluse and extremely paranoid, hiding away in his drug manufacturing plant. Sweet and Carl continue their attack on the Ballas, re-taking both Glen Park (in Beat Down on B Dup) and Idlewood (in Grove 4 Life).

The Johnson brothers then decide to take down Big Smoke and his operation, using a SWAT Tank
 to break into his drug manufacturing plant. Carl then proceeds to shoot
 his way past the many Ballas, Los Santos Vagos, Russian Mafia and San
Fierro Rifa gangsters in the factory until reaching the top floor, where
 he finds Big Smoke. The two become involved in a gun fight, which is
won by Carl, who manages to talk to Smoke about his betrayal before his
death. Smoke, showing remorse for his actions, tells Carl that he got
caught up in the money and power he was able to obtain. He reminds Carl
that when he is dead people will remember his name before dying from the
 gunshot wounds inflicted by Carl. Carl shows remorse for Smoke but is
interrupted by Tenpenny, who he later chases before he drives a fire truck off a bridge into Grove Street and dies.

Big Smoke is shown to have two large bullet holes in his armour following the shoot-out during End of the Line, regardless of how he is killed. It is even possible to kill him in a single punch if the "Super Punch" cheat is turned on, and the bullet holes will still show up on his armour.

* Big Smoke drives a blue Glendale with a white roof, which has the license plate *A2TMFK*.

 Opinions on the meaning of this are varied: Some believe it to be an
acronym for 'a two-timing motherfucker', a reference to his betrayal of
the Grove Street Families. Some believe it to be an acronym for 'a
two-ton motherfucker', a reference to his weight, and some believe it to
 be a reference to the Cypress Hill song 'A to the motherfucking K', which was released in 1993 (a year after the events of GTA San Andreas).

* Big Smoke previously drove a black Perennial, until it was destroyed by the Ballas.

## Development

The beta version of Big Smoke is shown wearing a white Los Santos Saints jersey and black trousers, with Smoke having a bald head, which can be seen on the statue of Smoke in the drug manufacturing factory in East Los Santos. Or on the back of the PS2 case (Top, Middle) and also Sweet, and Ryder without his hat and his sunglasses.[1]

## Mission Appearances

GTA San Andreas
* The Introduction
* Big Smoke (Boss)
* Sweet & Kendl
* 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)