Harman Smith
Harman Smith (ハーマン・スミス, Hāman Sumisu) is one of the central characters of killer7. He is the leader of the Smith Syndicate and the player character during a handful of particular story moments in the game. A younger version of him is also a regular playable character in killer8 mode.
Appearance and Personality
Harman appears as an elderly man with white hair and a serious expression. He is almost always seen in his wheelchair. Harman wears what looks to be an all-black tracksuit and a distinctive wide-brimmed black hat. In his younger appearance, he wears a tan suit and a fedora.
Harman usually gives off the impression of a serious leader, acting as a "master" to Garcian Smith and the other members of his group. However, it is hard to say what Harman's true emotions are like, as he is a very old and enigmatic figure. He has a close relationship with his enemy Kun Lan, who is also his best friend; they are able to laugh at their jokes together and frequently meet for chess. Harman is deeply embroiled in the political history of both the United States and Japan, and his ultimate allegiances and intentions are rather unclear, his battle with Kun Lan seemingly taking precedence over all else.
Abilities
Harman has Multifoliate Personae Phenomenon, a bizarre supernatural psychological condition that allows him to absorb the consciousnesses and bodies of the dead as personae. They become a part of his psyche, and he gains the ability to transform into them both mentally and physically. However, only certain individuals are compatible with this system, for unknown reasons. Incompatible individuals still have their consciousness absorbed, but rather than a persona, it becomes a ghost known as a Remnant Psyche that follows Harman and his personae around, only visible by them. During the events of killer7, though, Harman's personae and psyches actually belong to Emir Parkreiner, who has subsumed Harman and his powers. It is also possible for a persona and their body to return to individual life through unclear methods.
Harman also has the powers of the God Killer, which he acquired from former persona Dimitri Nightmare. The God Killer places Harman in opposition to Kun Lan, and apparently makes him immortal, as he has been shown to come back to life after being killed time and time again. It also may have to do with why there are multiple separate incarnations of Harman; these powers are presumed to come from the God Killer as they are shared with Kun Lan, the holder of the God Hand.
History
Harman Deltahead
Harman Smith was born Harman Deltahead in New Southampton, Wineport in 1750. The first son of the Deltaheads, he lived a mostly ordinary American life. However, when he was eight years old, Harman met a man who introduced himself as Harman's neighbor. This man was Kun Lan.
Harman later met a girl who he fell in love with named Susan, and they got together. When he was eighteen, though, Susan was murdered. Kun Lan guided Harman to a small villa where Susan was killed, and there Harman encountered the first symptoms of his condition, the Multifoliate Personae Phenomenon. Harman saw seven remnant psyches, one of which was Susan. This drove Harman mad, and led him to pursue a career in killing to ensure he would not be a victim again.
At twenty-two years old, presumably having trained as a killer for around four years, Harman Deltahead joined the Jim Townsend Survey Company, a census firm that was a front for professional assassins to take contracts. Two years later at twenty-four, one of Harman's missions brought him to the Union Hotel. On the roof of the building, he met a man named Dimitri Nightmare. Harman's neighbor Kun Lan suddenly appeared as well, and acted as a medium through which Dimitri talked to Harman. This led not only to Harman becoming acquaintances with Dimitri, but also to Harman and Kun Lan becoming close friends who met for tea regularly.
By the time he was twenty-five, Harman Deltahead had already become one of the best assassins in the world. Becoming too strong for mere contract missions, Harman killed Jim Townsend himself. Deciding to form his own team of assassins known as the Smith Syndicate, whose last names would all be Smith, he changed his name to Harman Smith. He also killed Dimitri, and in the process gained the power of the God Killer; between it and the Multifoliate Personae Phenomenon, Harman was no longer human. Absorbing Dimitri into his psyche, Dimitri became a member of the Smith Syndicate, acting as a bodyguard persona. This was Harman's first alternate personality.
The Syndicate didn't last long, however, as three years later, Harman Smith suddenly quit work as an assassin; in the process, the psyche-body of the Smiths was split and the Smiths became their own persons again. However, something very strange happened, as one of the beings splitting from Harman was none other than Harman himself, returning to his identity of Harman Deltahead. The Harman who kept the Smith name disappeared, while Deltahead, no longer a member of the Smith Syndicate, pursued a different career in life.
The new Harman Deltahead
In 1780, the new Harman Deltahead founded Coburn Elementary School, a project planned by secret capitalist organizations, and worked there as its principal. He stayed friends with Kun Lan and began playing chess with him at Coburn. He continued to be involved with Coburn for forty years, until 1820 when both Harman and Kun Lan were killed in the middle of their chess game.
It would be over a century before they resurrected, but both of them were divine beings with multiple avatars. In 1955, the previous Harman Smith who had vanished confronted a boy named Emir Parkreiner on the roof of the Union Hotel. A serial killer, Emir had tried to kill himself after one of his latest killings in the hotel, and was in the process of dying when Harman took an interest in him, likely due to the presence of his Third Eye which had previously belonged to former Smith, Dimitri. Harman saved his life, but due to the head trauma from the suicide attempt, Emir forgot his name and past, and became the persona Garcian Smith.
The same year, Harman Deltahead resurrected. Possibly in response to Kun Lan's machinations in the east, Harman decided to start up the Smith Syndicate again. He became Harman Smith once more, and joined with his split counterpart; although they became part of the same psyche-body again, their minds never fully merged, and the previous Harman Smith, who still had a younger appearance, was nicknamed "Young Harman" and remained as a secret persona. Over the next two years Harman gathered six more members, and with them, himself and Garcian, the Second Smith Syndicate was formed.
Harman Smith
Although he was the leader of the Second Smith Syndicate, Harman Smith was not technically a part of their main combat unit, the "killer7". He mainly served an advising role, except for political negotiations or when confronting his best friend and enemy Kun Lan. On occasion, he went on solo missions, such as one for Hiro Kasai in 1967. He continued to play chess with Kun Lan, which he almost always won. When he did lose, such as in 1973, he would make major concessions to Kun Lan. As part of one of these concessions, Dan Smith was sent to Seattle, Washington, a city Harman already had history in, to help establish control of the west coast to one of Kun Lan's associates.
Harman and the Smiths met many people in Seattle, including future government go-between Christopher Mills. Eventually, it would even become the Smiths' main base of operations in the form of Garcian's Trailerhouse. In 1975, after having retrieved Dan's corpse from his death at the hands of Curtis Blackburn, Harman and Mills hijacked the car of a doctor named Graham MacAlister. Mystified by them, Graham agreed to let them stay in his hotel room; in the process, he witnessed Harman's Multifoliate Personae Phenomenon, as Harman absorbed Dan's body into himself. Appreciating Graham's curiosity, Harman agreed to let him become his physician.
At some point between 1989 and 1995, Harman lost his power as the dominant personality in an event known as the "Smith Syndicate Incident", which was conflated by history and memory with the Union Hotel killings from 1955. In this event, Emir Parkreiner lashes out and kills the Smiths; it is unclear if this event happened much earlier with the other killings, or if Emir's dormant psyche reasserted itself. In any case, at some point the structure of the Syndicate changed and Emir/Garcian became the dominant personality, but they didn't seem to know this. Garcian became a go-between for Harman and the rest of the personae, and the truth of the matter was hidden from him.
In 2000, Dan, who hated Harman, tried to kill him. This wounded him and caused him to enter a semi-coma, giving him an even more passive role in his own Syndicate. From then on, he required the care of former persona Samantha Sitbon within his room/base, Harman's Room.
killer7
In 2003, the Smiths were called upon by the U.S. Government to combat Kun Lan's Heaven Smiles, already a recurring foe of the Smiths. Throughout the game, Harman is a constant presence through his room and his talks with Garcian; however, he plays only a minor role in the actual Targets themselves, being rarely playable.
In 2010, in Angel, Harman and Kun Lan rose to their full power and met, signaling the beginning of a battle that would last through the next year. In Sunset, Harman met with their target, old acquaintance Toru Fukushima and talked politics. However, before they could battle, Julia Kisugi killed Fukushima and demanded Harman give her the Yakumo. Not being in possession of it in the first place, he fled the room and gave control of the psyche-body back to the others. Harman did not participate in Cloudman or Encounter, as they were personal jobs of Garcian and Dan respectively. In Alter Ego, Harman appeared for the battle with the Handsome Men; battling Handsome Red, Harman took him out in one shot with his GLIDER, turning Red into 1s and 0s.
Prior to Smile, Harman woke up while the lights were on in his Room, a time in which Samantha was abusing him. In retaliation, Harman apparently raped and killed Samantha and left the Room to resume playing chess with Kun Lan in the Forbidden Room. This distressed Garcian, who was increasingly forced to act on his own. As Garcian got closer and closer to the truth about his past as Emir, he eventually met Young Harman, who told Garcian everything. They went together to the Forbidden Room, where Young Harman killed both Kun Lan and his older counterpart.
The Future
Just as when they were killed playing chess before, Harman Smith and Kun Lan would resurrect again in 2115 in Shanghai, and they apparently continued to forever, Harman always forming additional Smith Syndicates and continuing his and Kun Lan's game of chess.
Official profiles
| Harman Smith "Good night, child. It's past your bedtime." (1) Born in New Southampton, Wineport, Harman Smith is of Irish descent. He is sixty years old and handicapped. (2) He is the Deltaheads' first born son. (3) He is the leader of the world's most powerful group of assassins, the Killer7. (4) Because of his power, he is known as the "God-Killer." (5) He is the origin of the multiple personae. (6) In his twenties, he worked as an agent for the Jim Townshend Survey Company. He has been an assassin ever since. (7) His weapon is an armor-piercing rifle. (8) He is better than Kun Lan at chess. (9) In 2000, he was nearly killed by Dan Smith. (10) In 2010, he was resuscitated. (11) He is tied intimately to Coburn Elementary School. (Hand in killer7) |