| This article is about a non-canonical topic in the Metal Gear series. |
Dr. James "Jimmy" Harks (a.k.a. Jimmy the Wizard) was a teenage technical genius and engineer who was leading the Metal Gear GANDER development team under the supervision of Gen. John Parker, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff.
Biography[]
Early life and career[]
James Harks was considered a child prodigy from an early age, and as such managed to acquire a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University in 2000 while he was only 16 years old. He was later recruited by Ramdyne Systems, a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense, to head the development of Metal Gear GANDER under the cooperation with the U.S. Army. Although Harks was considered to be the foremost authority in the field of robotics at the time, he was also the subject of several complaints by his development team due to his immature and stubborn behavior.[2]
Galuade Incident[]
After being kidnapped in 2002, he was held captive in Galuade and forced to cooperate with the Gindra Liberation Front in completing the assembly of GANDER, although he did so largely because he was attached to the bipedal tank, rather than fearful of his life, being unaware of the deaths of the rest of the development team.[3] During his captivity, Harks was guarded by Marionette Owl, a member of Black Chamber mercenary group contracted by the GLF. Owl, who was formerly a serial killer that targeted women, would taunt Harks that he is lucky to be a male.
During his infiltration mission in Galuade, Solid Snake located Harks in a holding cell and helped him escape in return for information about Metal Gear GANDER. However, after GANDER became operational and prepared to fire a nuclear warhead, Snake was forced to leave Harks in the care of Sgt. Christine Jenner, much to her chagrin. Harks also attempted to convince Snake to not destroy GANDER, claiming it was his masterpiece, but Snake maintained that it had to be done.
Snake finds Jimmy standing over Lt. Smith's corpse.
Harks was later recaptured after he and Jenner were caught in an ambush. Afterwards, his clothing was planted with a transmitter to activate explosives in his handcuffs by Black Arts Viper, as he anticipated that Snake would rescue him.[4] He eventually escaped again, aided by another Delta Force team survivor, Lt. Smith, who died soon after shielding Jimmy from an incoming bullet. Before he died, Smith revealed to Harks that Jenner was not with the Delta Force team at the time of the Black Chamber attack; this revelation made Harks distrustful of Jenner,
Devastated by all he had seen and experienced, Jimmy later broke down in front of Snake, lamenting his mistakes, regretting his involvement with the Metal Gear project, and wishing to start his life all over again. Snake consoled him by saying it was never too late to do that, as long as he had the will to do so. At that moment, the explosives hidden within Jimmy's handcuffs were detonated remotely by Viper, resulting in Jimmy's death.
Behind the scenes[]
His nickname "Jimmy the Wizard" is a reference to the titular character of the 1989 movie The Wizard, who has an innate skill at playing Nintendo Entertainment System games.
Gallery[]
.jpg "James Harks (Ikuya Nakamura).jpg (15 KB)")
Notes and references[]
- ^ Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2000).
Jimmy is described in a Codec conversation with Brian McBride to be 18 years old during the events of Ghost Babel, which occurred in 2002. - ^ Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2000).
His history is revealed in a Codec conversation with Brian McBride. - ^ Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2000).
-Stage 5-2 clear-
No. 4: Neither Snake, nor Harks in his isolated cell, seemed to know, but all the remaining engineers were already dead at this point. They were killed for refusing to co-operate with GLF, but Harks was spared because he volunteered to conduct the final adjustments on Metal Gear. In his defense, I might say that he was motivated more by his attachment to Metal Gear than a desire to save his own skin. But of course... Well, one always sees the light when it's too late. C'est la vie. - ^ Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2000).
-Stage 7-2 clear-
No. 4: Chris Jenner and James Harks are attacked shortly after this point... Viper figured that Solid Snake would come to rescue Harks and he'd had Harks' clothes rigged with a transmitter. But letting Jenner escape was not a part of their plan. Seems Jenner was a much tougher adversary than Viper had anticipated. Parker had made the right call in selecting her to bury the Project Babel evidence for him.