The Harwood Butcher

The Harwood Butcher
The Harwood Butcher, AKA Tommy Vercetti, was sent to prison in Liberty City in 1971 for multiple counts of homicide which is claimed to total at eleven deaths. His boss Sonny Forelli managed to call in favours and pull strings, as a result, Tommy never received the death penalty or a life sentence in prison without parole. Tommy was released 15 years later, in 1986 and was quickly sent by mob boss Sonny Forelli to the Miami-like Vice City. There, Vercetti met up with various underworld figures and began his own vast criminal empire dealing with drugs, stolen vehicles, guns, and any other odd job that could provide a little extra cash. And with that he formed the Vercetti Gang. The Vercetti Gang remained at the top of the Vice City underworld for an undetrmined period of time, although it's known that it was still at the top in 1992 (the year in which GTA San Andreas is set.

It is eventually revealed that the incident which resulted in Vercetti's imprisonment was an ambush that was orchestrated by Sonny Forelli. Vercetti is said to have had his suspicions, but the truth is not unambiguously revealed until the final confrontation between both men.

Relation to Tony Montana
Tommy Vercetti, in several ways, exhibits characteristics of fictional drug lord Tony Montana from the 1983 film Scarface. This coincides with the heavy themes and appearance of the movie that has been implemented into Vice City. Among these characteristics, his exile from his old home (Liberty City), his rise to power (acquiring property and wealth in the city, and a mansion which also sports an interior similar to that of Montana’s mansion), and his rather short-tempered behavior. Tommy is also a hired assassin, has killed his own collaborators (Lance Vance), took over his temporary boss’s business (Ricardo Diaz) and rebelled against his former leader (Sonny Forelli), as Tony Montana had. The only notable differences are that Montana consumed his own narcotics to the point of severe addiction, a fatal flaw that Vercetti is not depicted to have. However, in GTA San Andreas, when Ken Rosenberg phones him from a rehab clinic on the outskirts of Las Venturas. Rosenberg tries to get in touch with his old boss in The Introduction prequel machinima film in order to find work, only to be turned away several times by one of Vercetti’s associates, as Vercetti has apparently terminated his “employment” due to his cocaine addiction and propensity for liability. Another notable difference is that the final gunfight in Montana’s mansion sees Montana eventually killed, whereas Tommy manages to single-handedly take down his captors and survive.