CHARACTER PROFILE
Mike Harper
- Primary work
- Poker Under Arms
Other recorded work links
Mike Harper (マイク・ハーパー, Maiku Hāpā) is the main antagonist of Poker Under Arms. He is a skilled gunman and a card sharp player whom Don Peckinpah challenges in a game of poker.
A modern iteration of him also appears in the spin-off series Cool Shock Old B.T. as a secondary antagonist, specifically in " The Smoker Under Arms Incident."
Image attribution details
Mike Harper. Source illustration via JoJoWiki; copyright remains with the original rights holders.
Image via JoJoWiki. Original franchise/production rights holders retain copyright; the wiki text CC BY-SA license does not license this image.
Original image ↗ · Archived image ↗01Basic information
02Appearance
Mike Harper is a lean man with a long face and smooth features, save for a scar on the left side of his mouth. Harper has long, curly, light hair. He wears a light shirt, a dark tie, a spotted vest, and a dark jacket. He also wears a typical cowboy's hat.↗
03Personality
Contrasting Don Peckinpah, Mike has a sincere yet prideful personality. He is a man of few words, who is nonetheless cordial and more sophisticated than Peckinpah in his mannerisms. When Peckinpah shows off, Mike feels obligated to also demonstrate his skills at cardistry to match with his foe, and he shows some satisfaction when he wins against Peckinpah at poker.↗↗
It is implied that Mike is as brutal as Peckinpah, as he has amassed a bounty of $10,000 like Peckinpah. When a bounty hunter shows up, Mike guns him down at the same time as Peckinpah and then draws a gun on him when he learns that he's cheating at poker, showing that Mike is ready to kill his enemies.↗↗↗↗
04Abilities
Gunmanship
Mike is a skilled gunman, who's managed to survive despite having a $10,000 bounty on his head. When the bounty hunter appears, Mike has the instinct to see him coming and easily guns him down.↗↗
Cardistry
Mike is also skilled at cardistry. He's able to mix a deck of cards and make it so the four aces are next to each other, even when someone cuts the pile. His "luck" at poker is implied to be him cheating, and he's able to switch four cards in his hand without being caught, until someone points out that he and Peckinpah have the same hand.↗↗↗
05Story
SPOILERS
Poker Under Arms
Mike Harper is a skilled gunman who has amassed a bounty of $10,000. Just after arriving in town, Mike goes to the saloon and plays poker. He easily wins and catches the attention of Don Peckinpah, another outlaw with a bounty on his head. To show off, Peckinpah takes four cards and flicks them into the deck to push out the four aces. Not to be outdone, Mike then mixes the deck so that the four aces end up at the top, scaring the other players away. The two gunmen agree to play one-on-one.↗↗
Mike Harper quickly reveals himself to be the better player and keeps winning. Frustrated by his losing streak, Peckinpah takes out his anger on a drunken old bum interrupting the game. Regaining his composure, Peckinpah devilishly suggests that they bet their guns to make the game more interesting, which would the loser defenseless against anyone wanting to claim their bounties. Unaware of the bluff, Mike reluctantly agrees.↗↗
The Smoker Under Arms Incident
In the year 202X, Mike Harper is a gambler working for Manabu who goes to casinos and cheats to earn money. He is warned by Manabu not to go to the Dinosaur Hotel in Las Vegas, since the Magic Gentleman B.T. is working there. Mike ignores his boss's concerns and heads to Dinosaur Hotel anyway, believing B.T.'s magic can't defeat his modern science. Mike hacks into the casino's security cameras and communicates with AI using earbuds or a bone conduction headset.↗
B.T. first wishes to test the spinning wheel to check if it isn't tilted, and throws several balls into the wheel, showing that he can control them to land in specific slots. Mike spoils the trick by guessing that they will land in all the slots numbered in prime numbers, and the balls indeed land in those slots. Mike tries provoking B.T. by saying that at least their match hadn't started yet. However, B.T. remains confident and taunts Mike that he should've wished that was the real game.↗
As their real match begins, B.T. spins the wheel and throws the ball in, but suddenly, a lit cigarette appears in his mouth. Unnerved, Mike hurriedly bets on the color red instead of a single number. However, the ball finally lands in the 00 slot, which is not colored, and thus B.T. wins. Enraged, Mike pulls out his handgun and tries to shoot B.T., but the latter quickly flicks two balls at his face and hand, knocking him out. B.T.↗↗
07Sources & attribution
- Mike Harper
Source text: JoJoWiki and its contributors. This entry has been reorganized and condensed for readability under CC BY-SA 4.0. Archived records reflect their capture dates. Referenced manga, anime, and artwork retain their respective copyrights.
Source bibliography (7)
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