Is Big Smoke the best villain in the GTA franchise?

Melvin Harris, often known as Big Smoke, is the secondary antagonist in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the seventh edition in the Grand Theft Auto series.

He is a childhood buddy of Carl “CJ” Johnson and a member of the Grove Street Families, one of Los Santos, San Andreas‘ most well-known criminal organizations. While appearing as a helpful ally to CJ and his brother Sweet, Big Smoke covertly conspires with CRASH leader Frank Tenpenny and the Ballas to betray the Families in order to sell crack to Los Santos for money and power.

Clifton Powell voiced him.

What Brings Him Close to Being Pure Evil?

1. After Sweet stated that he did not want Grove Street Families to sell drugs, Big Smoke formed an alliance with C.R.A.S.H. and the Ballas.
2. He also persuaded Ryder, a high-ranking gang member and personal buddy, to betray Grove Street Families.
   He planned to assassinate Sweet with the Green Sabre, but it failed, and his mother, Beverly, was accidently slain instead. Even after the unintentional shooting, Smoke showed no remorse for the failed assassination.
3. He pretended to be sorry or sympathetic about Beverly’s death so Sweet wouldn’t suspect him.
4. He left Grove Street to prepare for his eventual betrayal, and began dealing with C.R.A.S.H. members behind the Grove Street Families’ backs. While he claims to have purchased the property in Idlewood with money left to him by his aunt in her will, Kendl Johnson later denies this, claiming that he most likely obtained the house with money from his new supporters.
5. While he, Sweet, Carl, and Ryder are ambushed by a Ballas automobile at Cluckin’ Bell, Smoke refuses to shoot at the Ballas and instead continues eating his lunch, insisting that he will only shoot after he is finished, endangering his companions’ lives in the process.
6. It is implied that when he exclaimed, “Hey, kill that asshole!” he was directing the Ballas to kill CJ or any of the other passengers in the vehicle.
7. To facilitate his coup, he uses CJ to remove several Vagos gang members and Russian Mafia.
8. After CJ reclaims some of the Ballas’ territories, Big Smoke sets up a trap with Ballas and the others in which the Grove Street Families are to be annihilated by an ambush, attempting to kill both CJ and Sweet, which is only narrowly avoided when CJ discovers the truth and kills the Ballas.
9. His betrayal gives Ballas and Vagos complete control of the city and allows them to expand their drug dealing activities throughout it, while Grove Street Families and Varrios Los Aztecas are severely weakened and forced to engage in gang wars in order to reclaim their headquarters and rid them of drug dealers.
10. His ambush of the Johnson brothers lands Sweet in prison, where he may be raped and murdered, and Tenpenny exiles CJ from Los Santos to do his dirty job for him, as well as executing other actions for various figures in order to get Sweet out of jail and reclaim his gang.
11. With CJ and Sweet out of the way, Smoke forms an alliance with the Loco Syndicate of San Fierro to sell crack in Los Santos, acquiring significant power, fear, and money throughout the state.
12. He establishes the Crack Palace in East Los Santos and forms a large coalition with numerous Ballas, Vagos, San Fierro Rifa, and Russian Mafia members, as well as corrupt LSPD cops, to carry out all of San Andreas’ drug trafficking, as well as some other businesses such as prostitution.
13. When Ryder was slain by CJ, Big Smoke never mentioned him throughout his fight with CJ, demonstrating that he never cared for him and just turned him to facilitate his treachery.
14. When CJ confronts him and warns him that Tenpenny is using him and would dispose of him once Tenpenny obtains what he desires, Big Smoke refuses to listen and begins a shootout in an attempt to kill him.
15. During CJ’s raid on his mansion, Big Smoke does not assist his troops and is instead preoccupied with playing a video game, and despite this, he cowardly asks for help during their shootout with CJ.
16. Even after CJ mortally injured him, Big Smoke showed no remorse for his misdeeds, boasting that everyone would remember his name and that he didn’t give a sh*t about his activities, with CJ’s sister Kendl pointing out to her brothers that Smoke was always looking out for himself rather than others.
17. While he had funny moments earlier in the game, such as his ridiculously huge order at Cluckin’ Bell, he subverts them near the finish.

What prevents him from being completely evil?

He fails the Heinous Standards set by Tenpenny and Catalina, the former merely exploiting him to sell narcotics in order to gain power, and the latter selling SPANK, an even more terrible substance that converted individuals into suicidal living weapons.

He dies in a sympathetic manner, with CJ regretting how far his former friend had fallen owing to avarice. It is also hinted that he felt regret, but he denied it until his death.