Harsh Realm - Characters

Characters

Tom Hobbes (Scott Bairstow)

• Lieutenant Thomas F. Hobbes was close to his discharge from the Army when he was called to do one last mission and sent into the virtual reality simulation known as Harsh Realm. He left behind in New Jersey his fiancée Sophie Green. They had planned to move to California. He was decorated for saving the life of his friend Waters when they served together in Sarajevo in 1994. In the realm, Hobbes was reunited with the virtual character of his dog Dexter. He also came upon the dying virtual copy of his mother, Katherine, at the same time she was dying of cancer in the real world. He grew up in Columbus, Ohio. His name is a reference to the 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. His gun is a Walther P99. Hobbes originally had a Heckler & Koch P7 pistol in the Pilot episode before moving onto the SIG Sauer P226 pistol and then onto the Walther P99.

Mike Pinocchio (D. B. Sweeney)

• Specialist-4 Mike Pinocchio served in Operation Desert Storm. After that, he served in Yugoslavia, where he was severely injured by a land mine. The loss of his leg and eye prompted him to volunteer to go into Harsh Realm (in which Pinocchio has neither injury). In the Realm, he worked for Santiago before presumably faking his own death and going to live outside the fence. He drives a modified 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle. His gun is a Heckler & Koch MP5K PDW.

Florence (Rachel Hayward)

• Florence is mute and a VC ("virtual character"). She has the ability to heal injuries that occur within the game (not pre-existing conditions coded into the game). She was a member of a group known as the Sisters, all of whom were mute healers. But she left the religious group and took up arms. Her gun is a Colt Commando.

Omar Santiago (Terry O'Quinn)

• In the real world, Santiago is a Sergeant Major in the United States Army and was the most-decorated combat veteran to serve in Southeast Asia. He retired, but apparently that retirement took him to Harsh Realm, where he holds the rank of General in the Republican Guard and is working from his Santiago City headquarters to take over the United States, with a United States of Santiago. Pinocchio claims that Santiago is able to go in and out of the game. The US government in the real world wants him dead. His plans are said to involve destroying the real world so that Harsh Realm is all that remains.

Mel Waters (Max Martini)

• Although they were best friends in the real world, Waters and Hobbes are at odds in Harsh Realm. First Hobbes finds that Waters married Sophie's virtual character. Waters also works for Santiago as well as holding the rank of Major in the Republican Guard (Waters' real world military rank was Sergeant).

Inga Fossa (Sarah-Jane Redmond)

• She works with the military in Fort Dix, New Jersey. She can come and go as she pleases between Harsh Realm and the real world, where she approached Sophie Green with information. She has a past connection to Pinocchio. Her motives in Harsh Realm are unclear, having also worked with Santiago, Waters, and aiding Tom Hobbes. "Inga Fossa" translates to "in the trench" in Latin. Redmond appeared in the 2008 film The X-Files: I Want to Believe as a character referred to on-screen as "Agent Fossa", possibly a reprisal of the character.

Sophie Green (Samantha Mathis)

• Sophie is Hobbes' pregnant fiancée, left behind in the real world. She has two sisters and a brother named Sam. The "virtual character" version of Sophie within Harsh Realm briefly becomes Hobbs' ally until she is gunned down by Waters.