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saudade_apps) wrote2014-04-05 03:48 am
saudade_apps) wrote2014-04-05 03:48 am
Entry tags:
[Beginner] Person of Interest - Harold Finch
PLAYER
NAME: Bird
CHARACTER
NAME(S): Harold Finch (primary alias), Harold Wren (prior alias)
Other aliases include: Arthur Bellenger, Norman Burdett, Walt Trowbridge, Mr. Partridge, Thomas Paine, Harold Crane, Dr. Tillman, Lucas Bennett, Harold Crow, Harold Swift, Harold Gull, Harold Quail, and Harold Starling. (He has a thing for birds. And goes undercover a lot. And these are just the aliases he's used up to the canon point I've chosen.)
AGE: 51, although this is more of an educated guess. It's never explicitly stated in canon, but we can infer that he was born around 1960-1962 based on when he started at MIT (1980), as well as his appearance in flashbacks set in early 1969, 1971, and 1979. With a canon point date of 17 November, 2012, and going with the middle of the potential age range… 51.
FANDOM: Person of Interest
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
[And here we have a wiki link for you to skim. There's a lot of glossing over things, and a few inconsistencies, so.]
Fair warning: Despite choosing a canon point from the middle of season 2 (specifically, episode 13: "Dead Reckoning"), a good portion of the history section includes information from later episodes (including fairly recent ones), thanks to the magic of flashbacks. In other words, thar be spoilers ahead.
Some things to note about the universe he is from: it is essentially our world, with one major difference. Namely, the Machine: A supercomputer so large it was hidden inside a nuclear reactor room (sans reactor, of course), that tracks everything. Telephone calls, camera feeds, e-mails… if it's electronic communication or surveillance, well, to quote Mr Finch: "The Machine is everywhere, watching us with 10,000 eyes, listening with a million ears." Its job is to process this data and detect patterns that point towards planned acts of violence. The U.S. government commissioned the Machine's creation to detect acts of terror, but it also picks up smaller, individual crimes: abuse, assault, murder, etc. Alas, the government only cares about the major attacks -the Machine wasn't built to save someone, it was built to save everyone-, which is where Finch and his associates come in.
We don't know a lot about Finch's life prior to him creating the Machine. What we do know is this: He's originally from Lassiter, Iowa, which is shown to be a small, rural community. He lived with his father, who was older when Harold was born, as he's shown to be slowly succumbing to the effects of dementia as Harold grows up. He was extremely intelligent even from a young age, from identifying the broken part in a carburetor in a matter of minutes while his dad went to go look at a bird Harold wanted him to see, to building a telegraph and talking about how he'd invent a machine to help his dad remember things. As he grew older, his interests in electronics took an illegal turn, and he got involved in phreaking. This culminated in him hacking into ARPANET with a homemade computer in his late teens.
It is worth noting that hacking into government networks is not the best idea. Harold was discovered soon after, and ended up going on the run because he was wanted for sedition. By that point, his father no longer had any memory of him and lived in a nursing home, although Harold still took the time to visit him to warn that government agents might come talk to him and ask that he not believe what they tell him.
Either concurrently with or after these events (it's a little hard to tell; flashbacks show one thing but modern day discussion suggests another), he enrolls at MIT under the alias Harold Wren. This would be his identity for the next several decades, through creating a false identity for his friend Arthur Claypool, the founding of the software company IFT with his friend Nathan Ingram, to building the Machine, until Nathan's death. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
The majority of what is known about Finch happens after the September 11th terrorist attacks. This is when IFT is commissioned by the U.S. government to build a computer system that will predict future terrorist attacks by using the digital information gathered as result of the Patriot Act. Other programmers were also hired, but it is eventually IFT's project, code named Northern Lights, that was selected to be used.
Harold first booted up the Machine on New Year Day, 2002. Interestingly, while Harold was teaching the Machine how to track people and sort the information it was gathering, it seemed to have developed a mind of its own, so to speak. When he gave Nathan a demonstration of how he had programmed the Machine to find outliers -it picks up not just those planning violence, but also people who are otherwise more than they seem-, the Machine gave him a file on a woman nearby named Grace Hendricks. It continued to flag her until Harold finally talked to her in early 2006.
This led to Harold dating Grace, which went rather well despite the fact that he had to keep much of his past a secret from her. This didn't seem to bother her; in fact, when he became upset while admitting that he believed she ought to know what he did for a living, she said they could discuss it while he wasn't upset.
By 2007, the Machine was nearing readiness for shipment. At some point prior to this, Harold had made the decision that, in order to increase the efficacy of the Machine, it would delete all small crime information at midnight every night. This caused Nathan to confront him, as Nathan believed that no crime was "irrelevant", as the small crimes were sorted. However, Harold reminded him that the Machine had not been built to save "someone"… He had built it to save "everyone".
Three years after this confrontation, life seemed to be going well for Harold. He proposed to Grace in September of 2010, and had happily informed Nathan of his impending marriage. However, this happiness was not to last. After telling Nathan about his engagement, Harold followed him to an abandoned library, where he discovered that Nathan had programmed a backdoor into the Machine. This gave him access to the irrelevant list. Harold was quite upset by this, and immediately shut it down. Unfortunately, right before the backdoor was shut, Nathan's social security number came up on the list, but they were too busy arguing to notice.
Two weeks later, Harold finally managed to track Nathan down, as the other man had been away from the office and avoiding his calls. This is when Harold found out that Nathan was going to meet a reporter the next day to reveal the Machine to the public. The only way that he would change his mind was if Harold would restore his access to the irrelevant list. Naturally, Harold refused. Nathan told him to meet him at the ferry terminal the next day, and that the interview was still going to happen.
The interview did not happen. The next day, Harold arrived at the terminal and spotted Nathan, but before they had a chance to speak, a car bomb planted by the government detonated nearby. This resulted in Nathan's death, and permanently injured Harold. When he realised that it was the government who had planted the bomb -he saw two officials confirming Nathan's death by phone- he escaped from the field hospital that the bombing victims had been taken to. Alas, this meant his marriage was not to be; indeed, he saw Grace arrive at the field hospital, but avoided her, which lead her to believe he had died in the blast. He managed to get back to the library and reopen the backdoor, only to see Nathan's number on the irrelevant list seconds before the midnight erasure.
Following the bombing, Finch changed his mind about the irrelevant list. In honour of Nathan's memory, he set to work, upgrading the backdoor to issue the social security numbers in code, and seeking out someone to do the physical work in protecting people. Due to his injuries and the resulting surgeries to repair the damage, Finch was unable to do the necessary fieldwork to stop violent crimes. Indeed, he spent over a year in a wheelchair.
While he was wheelchair-bound, he hired his first employee: a private investigator named Rick Dillinger. However, they had an uneasy relationship due to disagreements about how the work ought to be done. Eventually, they received the number of a man named Daniel Casey, who had managed to hack the Machine and download some of its code before being locked out by the system. This led to government agents being sent to kill him. Finch used the stolen code to create a virus that would allow the Machine to protect itself from future attacks, then put it up for sale.
Dillinger, however, had eavesdropped on Finch's conversation about the code with Casey, and betrayed Finch. Dillinger stole the laptop and drugged Finch, then left to deliever the laptop to the Chinese buyers he had arranged. However, by pure stubbornness, Finch managed to limp after Dillinger and actually caught up with him. Despite being warned off -the only reason Dillinger had decided to spare him was because Finch gave him a job-, Finch continued to follow him, and watched as the Chinese buyers shot and killed Dillinger. He then ended up dragging Dillinger into a copse of trees and buried him.
These events also led him to begin considering John Reese as a potential employee. Reese had been one of the agents sent to kill Casey, yet when he caught up to him, Reese decided to let him live. Finch witnessed part of this conversation from a distance, as he had been heading to meet with Casey to give him a cover identity to hide under.
A year later, Finch crosses paths with Reese again while investigating an irrelevant number on his own. However, the two do not interact until September of 2011, when Finch has Reese released from police custody. He did that because he wanted to offer Reese -who was presumed dead by the government- a job. Reese accepted, after some convincing.
Did we mention that convincing involved kidnapping Reese, tying him to a bed, and forcing him to listen to a recording of a murder that had happened in the very suite that Reese was tied to a bed in? Yeah, that's how Finch convinced him. While the effectiveness of his methods can't be argued with, one must question the ethics of them…
Not that this doesn't backfire on him in certain ways. As the two work together, Reese does a fair bit of investigating, leading to one of Finch's aliases being compromised. In response to that, Finch quit that alias' job -which was, incidentally, at IFT. Still, Reese is quite persistent, and eventually Finch begins to warm up to him, to the point of offering information about himself (albeit relatively trivial information, such as food he likes).
It does take time for trust to build between the two, especially when an early case involving teacher Charlie Burton turns out to not be as cut and dry as they thought. Although it appeared that the man was being pursued by the Russian mob as a witness to the murder of a high-ranking member of Carl Elias' group, it turned out that Charlie Burton was merely an alias that Carl Elias was working under. This would only be the first of many encounters with Elias and his mob. It shook Reese's faith in the Machine, although Finch remained stalwart, as he had never said they would have all the facts and that it was likely they would make mistakes. Another important development of this case, however, was that Finch came to trust Lionel Fusco as a reliable asset to help with their numbers.
During their investigations into the numbers, Finch initially plays more of a supporting role. While Reese does much of the legwork, Finch is busy taking care of the technological and financial end of things. This doesn't mean that Finch doesn't take a more proactive role when necessary, however. Even early on in their partnership, he goes into the field, so to speak, to deliver information to Reese when technological means fail, or to act undercover in situations where Reese would stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. This is especially necessary, as the police -led by Detective Joss Carter- have been investigating their activities, primarily Reese's, which has drawn government attention.
However, it takes a while for Finch to really get involved beyond providing information and support. The first time this occurs is after an almost disastrous situation where they received four peoples' SSNs at once. It turned out that the four people were connected, having established a money laundering scheme using stolen drug money. Finch was the one who confronted the conspirators, although Reese saved them. However, this ended with Reese being shot by a CIA assassin who was sent after him, which meant that he was out of commission for a while so he could recover.
Because of this, their next number featured a role reversal, with Finch doing much of the physical investigation, while Reese provided the tech support. Neither of them were particularly happy with this, as Finch refused to carry a gun and was skeptical of the self defense techniques Reese taught him. At some point during the investigation of this number, he received another number, as he offered it to Carter in order to show her what they do and why. This ploy seemed to have paid off, as Carter backed off on investigating them a bit.
By their next number, things are back to normal with Finch providing support to Reese as the field operative. However, there is little normal about this case. As it turned out, their number had been set up to take the fall for the assassination of a congressman. The assassin had also hacked into government computer systems to plant evidence pointing towards their number as being the culprit. This hacker? Root. Remember that name, it becomes very important later. Especially as she already has knowledge of who Finch is at this point in time.
Their next few numbers have them delving deeper into the crime underworld in New York City. They discover the corrupt police organisation called HR, and once more encounter Carl Elias. This comes to a head during their investigation into an infant whose number came up, as Reese negotiated with Elias to help them save the child, which resulted in them losing Carter as an asset temporarily.
A major point in his partnership with Reese occurs with their next case, where Finch ends up drugged and left to die by the person he assumed was going to be the victim of the crime. After being rescued by Fusco and entrusted to Reese's care, Finch offers to answer any questions Reese might have for him. However, Reese refused the offer. It's never explicitly stated, but it's fairly obvious that because Reese did not take advantage of his intoxicated state, Finch grows to trust him further.
However, because of their budding friendship, Finch ends up seeking to protect Reese from things that would cause him emotional pain (since it would be sliiiightly counterproductive to try to keep him from getting injured). When a number comes up that would bring up bad memories for Reese, Finch gives him the day off under the pretense of it being his birthday. (Although it was Reese's birthday, it is doubtful that he would have had the day off were the case different.) So, Finch goes off with Fusco and Carter to investigate their number -a woman fleeing from her abusive husband, who falsified charges against her using his powers as a U.S. Marshall in order to hunt her down. Luckily for her, Reese was suspicious enough to look into what Finch was doing, and managed to save her after her husband took her into custody.
After that, Finch explained that he'd gotten Reese's ex-girlfriend's number multiple times, but had been unable to figure out why until after her death. It turned out she had been in an abusive relationship and was eventually murdered by her abuser, and he had realised it too late to help her. Reese had been aware of how she had died, and had taken revenge on her husband. Finch had wanted to spare him the pain of being reminded of his past, which was why he'd tried to keep Reese out of the case.
After this, they end up receiving the number of psychologist Caroline Turing, who is being threatened by HR. Upon being unable to hack into her computer system to find out more about her, Reese was forced to go undercover as a patient. He manages to rescue her from the hitmen sent by HR, and protect her while she heads to a rendez-vous with Finch, where he was going to help create a cover identity for her and get her out of the city. However, it turned out that Dr Turing was actually Root, who had hired HR herself to get her number to show up and lure Finch out of hiding.
She proceeds to kidnap Finch and take him with her as she also kidnaps a government official -Denton Weeks- involved in the use of the Machine. Part of her goal is to figure out how Finch and Reese had managed to stop her prior operation, but her primary desire is to free the Machine from the corrupt government officials it has been built for. She knows Finch built the Machine, and expected him to agree with her, except he does not and is actually appalled by her tactics and plans. Finch managed to escape, and free Denton as well, but when Denton realises that Finch was involved in the creation of the Machine, he turns on him and attempts to kill Finch.
Luckily for Finch, Root was actually merely allowing them to try to escape, so she was able to kill Denton first. Not until he revealed where the Machine's servers were, of course. With this information, she takes Finch to Union Station in Washington, D.C., in order to head to the Machine's location. However, thanks to a coded message Finch left behind on a wireless phone handset, Reese manages to catch up to them and rescue Finch. Unfortunately, Root manages to escape.
While Finch had been kidnapped, Reese had been receiving clues from the Machine that allowed him to track Finch down, from information about Root's past, to a number that allowed Reese to acquire an attack dog. This dog ends up being named Bear, who rather conveniently ends up being given to Finch to care for. Apparently Reese's apartment building doesn't allow pets.
Bear is actually instrumental in helping Finch cope with the trauma of being kidnapped, giving Finch both something to focus on, as well as providing a sense of protection and security. This allows him to recover faster, which proves necessary as he ends up having to strike a deal with Carl Elias in exchange for the protection of one of their numbers, who is being pursued by hitmen from the mob.
Reese takes care of the majority of their next cases, which results in him being taken into custody by the FBI. This leaves Finch to take care of their next few numbers by himself, although he does enlist the aid of Detective Fusco to help take care of the criminals he encounters, as well as to provide guard duty for one of the numbers. This allows him to take the time to create information that will substantiate the claims Reese has to make while being interrogated by the FBI, and to bribe a different suspect into identifying someone else as the man the FBI is looking for. However, despite his best efforts, FBI Agent Donnelly manages to figure out that Reese is indeed their suspect, and Reese is taken into custody.
Then Finch gets a phone call from the Machine. The number? Agent Donnelly's. However, he is unable to warn Donnelly in time to prevent him from being killed by Kara Stanton, Reese's partner from when he worked for the CIA.
Stanton kidnaps Reese and straps a bomb vest on him in order to force him to do her bidding, taking advantage of the fact that he would not risk the lives of innocent civilians by denying her. Her goal is to get a virus uploaded to the Machine, in exchange for information about the man ultimately responsible for Reese and her final mission for the CIA, where they were supposed to kill each other due to the government not wanting anyone left alive who knew about the goal of their mission.
Reese managed to get in contact with Finch, who sends Fusco and Carter in pursuit. However, by the time they manage to catch up to Reese, it is too late. Kara has gotten what she wanted, and has set the bomb strapped to Reese to explode in five minutes. Reese sent Fusco and Carter away, and headed up to the roof of the building he was in so that there would be minimal collateral damage when the bomb exploded…
Finch, being very aware of Reese's nature and thus predicting that he would retreat as far from innocent bystanders as possible once the bomb was set to go off, was waiting for him on the roof. Naturally, Reese tried to make him leave, even threatening him with a gun. Which, as Finch rightly pointed out, was not the best negotiating tactic he could have chosen, considering his intent was to make Finch leave so he wasn't killed as well when the bomb went off.
The bomb was wired to an iPhone as its timing device, and the phone itself was locked to prevent Reese from simply de-activating the trigger on his own. However, Finch had an app that allowed him to figure out the potential preset factory lock codes (which is apparently a thing that exists in that universe, and apparently Kara was too cocky to think that maybe she ought to not rely on the preset code). Of course, for maximum drama, there are five potential codes, but the phone will lock him out after three unsuccessful attempts. Still, despite his obvious nerves -Finch is visibly tense, hand shaking slightly- Finch decides to try anyways, despite knowing that if he fails, he will be unable to escape the blast radius in time to save himself.
And this is where we hit the chosen canon point.
PERSONALITY:
"I recognize, Mr. Reese, that there's a disparity between how much I know about you and how much you know about me. I know you'll be trying to close that gap as quickly as possible, but I should tell you, I'm a really private person."
Finch? Is paranoid. And by paranoid we mean multiple aliases with unrelated jobs, hires security guards, hasn't gone by his real name in decades, and deeply appreciates similar levels of concern for privacy and security in others. Of course, is it really paranoia when someone really is out to get you, or is it just a necessary level of awareness required for self-preservation?
Finch has gotten very good at maintaining his privacy, given that he's been hiding from the government since hacking into ARPANET as a teenager. He's knowledgeable in even the subtlest of interrogation techniques -like the information that can be gleaned simply from asking for a recommendation at a restaurant-, capable of losing even the most experienced tail -he's had to do this a few times with Reese-, and capable of creating false identities so secure that bank accounts can be opened in their names. That last one is a skill he's had since at least his days at MIT, as he did create a false persona for Arthur Claypool precisely because Arthur did not believe he could do it. To this end, when one of his aliases is found out by people who he doesn't want aware of it, he swiftly abandons the identity.
He does not easily trust people. It took him some time to warm up to Reese and get used to his presence, and Reese's continual attempts to find out more about him. When people do try to get close, his initial response is always to evade or deflect them. When that fails, he usually falls silent or becomes irritable. Or both. Both is always good.
However, once he trusts someone, he is actually fairly kind and sociable. It's not that he wants to be lonely, rather that he simply wants a certain level of privacy. So long as giving over information about himself is on his terms, and interaction is at the level he desires, he's quite pleased to spend time with people. He can also be very nice when using one of his aliases; the coldness is really a defensive measure to protect his privacy.
Finch also develops something of a protective streak when it comes to those he likes or cares about… or indeed, feels some sort of obligation towards. One of the earliest signs of his concern for Reese was the fact that he kept trying to protect him, whether it was stopping him from doing fieldwork while injured, or trying to keep him from working on a Number when the case was very similar to how the woman Reese loved died. When Finch found out that the government was willing to kill to keep the Machine secret, he swiftly abandoned his identity as Harold Wren by faking his death when his fiancée came to look for him at the hospital after the ferry bombing. Before this, he had tried to keep Nathan Ingram safe by revoking Nathan's backdoor access to the Machine, as he was afraid of what would happen if Nathan was discovered.
"Does survivor's guilt pass when everything that has happened actually is, in fact, your fault?"
Guilt is arguably one of the strongest motivating factors in Finch's present life. In fact, were it not for the guilt he feels over Nathan Ingram's death, it is entirely possible he would have continued on ignoring the so-called "irrelevant" crimes and started work on a new project. Instead, the discovery that Nathan's life could have been saved had he allowed Nathan to keep his backdoor access to the Machine prompted him to re-open the backdoor and begin a plan to help the victims of these crimes.
Although he did seek therapy to deal with the guilt he felt over Nathan's death, although it doesn't seem to have lessened the guilt any. In fact, it is more likely that it strengthened his resolve to do something about the irrelevant list, as he became aware that no one would really be able to understand precisely why he felt guilty. After all, the therapist tried to assure him that he was not responsible for Nathan's death, when in Finch's view, had he not revoked Nathan's access to the Machine, or at least reinstated it when Nathan demanded it, then Nathan would not have been at the ferry terminal the day of the bombing. Indeed, it's possible the bombing would not have happened at all, because the entire point was that the government was eliminating Nathan to prevent the secret of the Machine from being revealed.
This guilt is further compounded when he realises why he saw certain numbers show up time and time again. In the case where he figured it out, it was because the victim -Jessica Arndt- had been living with an abusive spouse. Unfortunately, he had figured this out too late, as by the time he became aware of this, the victim had been dead for two months. It was at this time that he first encountered John Reese, Jessica's former lover. John had been part of the file Finch kept on Jessica, so it may be this incident -specifically, the guilt that Finch felt when he saw how upset John was by Jessica's death, and how he had been unable to help her- that not only made Finch realise he needed help, but also made him consider Reese as a potential asset.
"Knowledge is not my problem. Doing something with that knowledge, that's where you come in."
Another point to note about Finch's personality is what might be best described as sheer stubbornness. This manifests in many ways; one of the more prominent being his treatment of his injuries. Simply put, he does not let them slow him down, or prevent him from doing what he feels he needs to do, despite the fact that on a good day, he'd rate the pain he feels from them at a 3 on a scale from 1 to 5. He does not use a cane, except when acting under certain aliases, and honestly does a level of physical activity that just about any reputable doctor would consider inadvisable, from doing push-ups to the running and occasional fighting that has happened when he's assisted Reese in the field. He even once dug a grave despite barely being able to walk. (Honestly, at some point you have to wonder where the line is between stubborn and stupid, and how many times he's crossed it…)
While Finch would best describe himself as "handi-capable" -and, in fact, has-, it has taken him some time to admit that he needs assistance in his work. Prior to working with Reese, he had made an attempt to take care of the Numbers by himself, but had failed at it. Not due to a lack of knowledge at all, as he was more than capable of finding out almost anything he could want to know about the people whose numbers he received, but because the explosion had robbed him of the capability to do a lot of the physical work required.
Even with the acknowledgement that he needs assistance, Finch does not sit back safely behind his computers. If he deems it necessary, he will go out into the field, often to help protect his comrades. He does this regardless of their feelings on the matter. Reese has told him more than once to stay away or not get involved, but Finch generally refuses to listen. This all really goes back to the fact that he wants to help people, and especially to protect the people he is close to.
"The thing about the world is that it doesn't have any extra pieces."
All told, Finch can seem a bit contradictory in nature. He's paranoid and distant, yet obviously cares deeply about people. He uses his guilt and grief to motivate him to work that even he considers "radical", yet part of that work is to prevent others from acting on their own feelings. He doesn't care for violence or physical crimes, but is more than fine with creating false identities, hacking, and other cyber crimes. In reality, all of these seemingly disparate traits are intrinsically linked. He wants to help people, but he's hidden away the Machine and made sure no one can access it.
Most important is that he well and truly does care about people, to the point where he wants to solve humanity's problems. From wanting to fix his father's memory loss by making a machine to think for him to creating a computer program capable of analysing human behaviour to predict violence, he's wanted to change the world for the better his entire life. Part of that is realising that he can't make people stop being cruel and selfish, probably nothing can… which is why he's hidden the Machine and wrote a 'virus' that gave it the ability to free itself from the government facility it was installed in. Finch is well aware that if any human -even himself- could access it directly, influence it, then they would use it selfishly and not to better the world.
It is also because of his concern that he distances himself from people. He's a wanted man, and he is well aware of that. Between the charges of sedition and the fact that the other people involved in building and installing the Machine have been killed to keep the Machine a secret, it is actually fairly dangerous to be associated with him. Thus, the best way to protect the people he cares about is to not let them in too close.
This may also be a form of self-protection. He has suffered a lot of loss, from the slow loss of his father to dementia, to Nathan Ingram's violent death, to having to separate himself from Grace to keep her safe. Despite his best intentions, however, he does still grow attached to people, because he is, at heart, a caring individual. Even when dealing with people he may likely never see again, like when he was under cover as a teacher, he does his best to inspire and help them. When he rescues people, he doesn't just save their lives and call it done, he helps to set them up so they can live comfortably and have quality life. If he's willing to do that much for strangers, it really shouldn't surprise anyone that he becomes attached to those he works with despite his best efforts.
Seriously, he's even grown attached to Bear, despite his initial dislike of dogs. To the point where even though he's not happy when Bear ruins rare first editions of books, he doesn't become angry, just displeased. Which, when you think about it, is a lot for a man who prefers things to be neat, orderly, clean; who has a preference for the finer things in life like well-tailored clothing.
In the end, he'll misdirect and evade questions about himself, if not outright fabricate an identity. He'll do his best to hack into any and every computer system or network available. Finch will do whatever he can to help, because that's what he does. When confronted about his identity, he can sum it up as simply as this:
"I save lives."
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
John Reese: At this point it's safe to say that despite their rocky start, they are close enough that they would die for each other. Reese is Finch's closest friend, and their strengths and weaknesses tend to balance each other out. Of course, this doesn't mean that they always agree on things. In fact, they often disagree when it comes to matters of violence or other illegal physical means of solving their cases. Despite this, Finch has enough respect for and trust in Reese that he generally doesn't restrict him too much, and in return Reese proves that trust is well-placed.
Joss Carter: They have a somewhat rocky history due to Joss' strong sense of belief in the law. There's been some mistrust because of Finch's refusal to divulge where he gets his information from, but things have been on the mend since Reese and Finch saved Joss' son from Carl Elias. Although they do not interact a lot, Carter has been invaluable in helping keep Reese out of jail and away from the authorities.
Lionel Fusco: Initially, Finch did not trust Fusco at all, believing that as a corrupt cop he was likely to turn on Reese. To this end, he even directly accused Fusco of telling the mafia information about one of their numbers that they were trying to protect from the mobs. However, upon discovering that Fusco really was on their side, Finch was apologetic. Afterwards, he begins to see Fusco as a more valuable asset.
The Machine: While not a character in the strictest sense -more of a sentient Deus Ex Machina, really-, the Machine is responsible for a LOT of Finch's development. Despite his initial pride in his creation, it seems now that he views it with a bit of regret. After all, were it not for the Machine, his friend Nathan would still be alive, and he probably would have been able to marry Grace. Still, the Machine recognises Finch as its creator, and as such has been shown to act outside its programmed functions for Finch. For instance, when Finch is in danger, it gives Reese assistance to find him. Even earlier still, it nudges Finch to ask Grace out on a date. Meanwhile, Finch seems reluctant to consider it as a sentient being. Theirs is a complex relationship that unfortunately doesn't get explored a lot until after my canon point. Oy.
Root: Root is currently an enemy. She knows Finch is the creator of the Machine, and kidnapped him to try to force him to divulge how to access it. They do not see eye-to-eye at all, and Finch thinks she's a danger to herself and others with her fanatical devotion to the idea of the Machine as a "goddess".
Bear: Despite his initial disdain for the idea of owning a dog, Finch got stuck with Bear because Reese's apartment did not allow pets. And, honestly, that was probably one of the better things that could have happened to him. Finch's personality softened a lot, going from paranoid and fastidious and somewhat aloof to somewhat more relaxed and personable. Not a complete 180º, but definitely warmer. For example, he started off throwing a tennis ball to Bear by picking it up with a tissue, and generally being annoyed by Bear's presence; to spoiling him with treats, throwing the ball bare handed, and being unable to take away a squeaky toy despite it being very annoying. If that's not love, I'm really not sure what is.
Nathan Ingram: Finch's former business partner and friend. It appears they had a lot of trust between them, as Nathan knew that Harold was wanted for sedition and thus was using a false identity. Unfortunately, Nathan broke this trust by using a backdoor in the Machine's code to access the Irrelevant List, and then went on to attempt to reveal the Machine to the public, despite knowing that Finch believed people should not know about it and that no one should have access to the Machine. Finch has a lot of regret about Nathan's death, believing it to be his fault, and he has taken on helping the irrelevants because of this guilt.
Grace Hendricks: Finch's fiancée. Well, probably ex-fiancée, as she believes he is dead. However, he still cares deeply for her, and watches over her from afar. Indeed, it is because he cares that she is not aware he is alive, as he took advantage of the chaos after the bombing to fake his death in order to protect her from those who might threaten him to get to the Machine. It is heavily implied that he uses his many connections and aliases to ensure that she has a steady stream of work.
STRENGTH OF HEART MOMENT SUMMARY: Finch is coming from close to the end of episode 13 of season 2, "Dead Reckoning", where he's attempting to deactivate the bomb vest that's been strapped to Reese's chest. Considering by the time he gets there, it's so close to going off that if he fails, there's no way he'll be able to escape the blast in time… well, it's hard to think of a greater moment for someone than being absolutely willing to risk their life to save a friend. Especially if the person doing the life-risking started out as paranoid and reclusive and unwilling to become close to anyone. Sure, there may be more technically impressive moments in his life -creating the Machine comes to mind immediately-, but I would be hard pressed to find one that exhibits more powerfully the growth he's gone through and the absolute goodness of his
heart.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
As of the last time he'd checked his phone, he'd been standing there for exactly an hour. Which was really far too long to be standing in one place for a man of his disabilities, but whatever had been responsible for the scene before him hadn't been quite so thoughtful as to provide a chair for him to sit down, and he wasn't altogether fond of the idea of sitting on the hard glass beneath his feet, then having to get back up again later.
In theory, Finch thought, it all seemed quite simple. All he had to do was choose. That was the problem, however. It could hardly be as easy as it seemed; surely there was some hidden catch, some trick he was unaware of. After all, this already had failed to live up to the common expectations of the afterlife. …Well, it was somewhat similar, in the loosest of ways, to ancient ideas of the soul being judged, although those stories tended to have someone else doing the judging. None of this self-analytical soul-searching, for one thing.
No great rose windows or pillars or cryptic messages delivered by a painfully familiar voice he hadn't heard in over thirty years, either.
There was no use dwelling on any of that, however. Not with the matter at hand. Simply put, he had to choose one of these items.
To his left, a police badge. Somewhat obvious symbolism, all things considered. The power of the shield. To serve and protect. Strength to defend those in greatest need. Of course, given how corrupt the police force could be, he wasn't quite sure it was the best symbol to have been chosen. Finch would have chosen a computer if he'd been setting this up. Or perhaps a bulletproof vest, considering what was to his right.
That is, a computer. The power of knowledge. To build and ruin. Strength that comes from within. In a way, it certainly made sense. Much of what he was capable of was because of what he knew. How to craft an entire existence out of thin air, as seemingly real as any person who had actually been born. How to tear down entire corporations with a few well-timed clicks of a mouse. And yet, how this represented inner strength specifically, was still a bit beyond him, though he was sure he'd figure it out.
Finally, between the two, was the pillar he'd shied away from as soon as he'd realised what rested there. It held a pistol. John probably would have known the exact make, but he wasn't here. Besides, Finch doubted that there was any significance in the model; merely the inherent significance of a firearm. The power of the soldier. To strike and destroy. Strength to fight with unending courage. He pondered all these, eyes closed.
If he were to be perfectly honest with himself, the pistol was a very tempting choice. If only he were stronger, capable of fighting when necessary, then he wouldn't have had to bring others into his vigilantism. Wouldn't have gotten two rather undeserving men killed because he was weak and soft and preferred a less violent approach. Indeed, how many other lives could he have saved had he just been more capable?
But he had no knowledge of what laid beyond this. Considering that his injuries were still present, who knew if his choice here would change that when he got to wherever he was going. Perhaps it would, perhaps it wouldn't. What he did know, however, was the kind of man he wanted to be, had tried to be as he'd grown and realised he'd strayed from the ideals he'd had for himself.
And it was not the kind of man whose first choice in the face of the unknown would be a weapon.
With that, he opened his eyes, mouth set in a grim, determined line, and marched as best he could over to the shield. It really was the only choice. He wasn't a violent man, and while he would never deny his abilities when it came to the judicious application of knowledge, the fact was that he'd done his best to use his intellect towards the goal of helping people. Even if he hadn't always succeeded.
"I'll take the shield," he declared as his hand closed around the badge.
What will you give up in return?
Finch almost laughed as he looked down at the badge in his hand. Well, he should have seen that coming, really. That was the catch. The reminder that everything came at a cost; nothing came freely. What would he give up, indeed.
He slowly turned towards the other two pillars. It wasn't much of a decision, was it? As much as he wanted to keep the gun, just so he wouldn't have to put anyone else in the line of fire… Fighting was not what he did. It had never been something he'd done. Sure, there was that line from Orwell about peace being the result of men ready to do violence, but he simply wasn't one of those men.
"The gun, of course."
So, you've chosen the shield and you're giving up the weapon? Is this the path you're going to take?
Honestly, what was this? Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Afterlife Edition? "Yes, that's my final answer."
He had several seconds to contemplate his answers as the pillars sunk back into the window. And then Finch found himself wondering if he'd chosen wrongly, as the window began to shatter, the outside edges flying out into the oppressive, impenetrable shadows surrounding him, followed swiftly thereafter by the smaller panes, until finally even the glass beneath his feet gave way to the darkness.
The badge in his hand dissolved as he fell, and one would have to forgive him for being too distracted hoping for a soft landing to notice as it reformed around his shoulder, still thin metal, light and brightly polished, but shaped as a pauldron instead of a shield.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Canonically, unless you count being a super genius, Finch has no special abilities. (Considering that still doesn't give him any supernatural abilities like telepathy, clairvoyance, or other inexplicable powers, I don't think that counts. Alas.) However, as a Paladin (having chosen the Shield and discarded the Sword), he will have access to magic. Time will tell if he decides to pursue this or not. Should he do so, he'll likely find learning the theory quite easy, whereas the practise won't come naturally at all as magic simply doesn't exist in his frame of reference.
He'll also have the Keyblade Armour, because giving a "middle-aged cripple" full body armour is clearly a brilliant idea. Well, at least he'll be well protected?
INVENTORY:
-Cell phone
-Clothing (suit, coat, glasses...)
NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
In case it's not quite clear from the combination of canon point and the Awakening sample, Finch kind of thinks he's a bit… well… dead. It's really a logical conclusion to draw. He was trying to disarm a very powerful bomb, and then he was in a very dark and strange place. So, he thinks he's dead. Fun. (I'm sure he'll figure out that he's not dead relatively soon, though. He's smart like that.)
Also, the personality section is basically just a tweaked version of one from a prior game. Hopefully that's okay.
NAME: Bird
CHARACTER
NAME(S): Harold Finch (primary alias), Harold Wren (prior alias)
Other aliases include: Arthur Bellenger, Norman Burdett, Walt Trowbridge, Mr. Partridge, Thomas Paine, Harold Crane, Dr. Tillman, Lucas Bennett, Harold Crow, Harold Swift, Harold Gull, Harold Quail, and Harold Starling. (He has a thing for birds. And goes undercover a lot. And these are just the aliases he's used up to the canon point I've chosen.)
AGE: 51, although this is more of an educated guess. It's never explicitly stated in canon, but we can infer that he was born around 1960-1962 based on when he started at MIT (1980), as well as his appearance in flashbacks set in early 1969, 1971, and 1979. With a canon point date of 17 November, 2012, and going with the middle of the potential age range… 51.
FANDOM: Person of Interest
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
[And here we have a wiki link for you to skim. There's a lot of glossing over things, and a few inconsistencies, so.]
Fair warning: Despite choosing a canon point from the middle of season 2 (specifically, episode 13: "Dead Reckoning"), a good portion of the history section includes information from later episodes (including fairly recent ones), thanks to the magic of flashbacks. In other words, thar be spoilers ahead.
Some things to note about the universe he is from: it is essentially our world, with one major difference. Namely, the Machine: A supercomputer so large it was hidden inside a nuclear reactor room (sans reactor, of course), that tracks everything. Telephone calls, camera feeds, e-mails… if it's electronic communication or surveillance, well, to quote Mr Finch: "The Machine is everywhere, watching us with 10,000 eyes, listening with a million ears." Its job is to process this data and detect patterns that point towards planned acts of violence. The U.S. government commissioned the Machine's creation to detect acts of terror, but it also picks up smaller, individual crimes: abuse, assault, murder, etc. Alas, the government only cares about the major attacks -the Machine wasn't built to save someone, it was built to save everyone-, which is where Finch and his associates come in.
We don't know a lot about Finch's life prior to him creating the Machine. What we do know is this: He's originally from Lassiter, Iowa, which is shown to be a small, rural community. He lived with his father, who was older when Harold was born, as he's shown to be slowly succumbing to the effects of dementia as Harold grows up. He was extremely intelligent even from a young age, from identifying the broken part in a carburetor in a matter of minutes while his dad went to go look at a bird Harold wanted him to see, to building a telegraph and talking about how he'd invent a machine to help his dad remember things. As he grew older, his interests in electronics took an illegal turn, and he got involved in phreaking. This culminated in him hacking into ARPANET with a homemade computer in his late teens.
It is worth noting that hacking into government networks is not the best idea. Harold was discovered soon after, and ended up going on the run because he was wanted for sedition. By that point, his father no longer had any memory of him and lived in a nursing home, although Harold still took the time to visit him to warn that government agents might come talk to him and ask that he not believe what they tell him.
Either concurrently with or after these events (it's a little hard to tell; flashbacks show one thing but modern day discussion suggests another), he enrolls at MIT under the alias Harold Wren. This would be his identity for the next several decades, through creating a false identity for his friend Arthur Claypool, the founding of the software company IFT with his friend Nathan Ingram, to building the Machine, until Nathan's death. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
The majority of what is known about Finch happens after the September 11th terrorist attacks. This is when IFT is commissioned by the U.S. government to build a computer system that will predict future terrorist attacks by using the digital information gathered as result of the Patriot Act. Other programmers were also hired, but it is eventually IFT's project, code named Northern Lights, that was selected to be used.
Harold first booted up the Machine on New Year Day, 2002. Interestingly, while Harold was teaching the Machine how to track people and sort the information it was gathering, it seemed to have developed a mind of its own, so to speak. When he gave Nathan a demonstration of how he had programmed the Machine to find outliers -it picks up not just those planning violence, but also people who are otherwise more than they seem-, the Machine gave him a file on a woman nearby named Grace Hendricks. It continued to flag her until Harold finally talked to her in early 2006.
This led to Harold dating Grace, which went rather well despite the fact that he had to keep much of his past a secret from her. This didn't seem to bother her; in fact, when he became upset while admitting that he believed she ought to know what he did for a living, she said they could discuss it while he wasn't upset.
By 2007, the Machine was nearing readiness for shipment. At some point prior to this, Harold had made the decision that, in order to increase the efficacy of the Machine, it would delete all small crime information at midnight every night. This caused Nathan to confront him, as Nathan believed that no crime was "irrelevant", as the small crimes were sorted. However, Harold reminded him that the Machine had not been built to save "someone"… He had built it to save "everyone".
Three years after this confrontation, life seemed to be going well for Harold. He proposed to Grace in September of 2010, and had happily informed Nathan of his impending marriage. However, this happiness was not to last. After telling Nathan about his engagement, Harold followed him to an abandoned library, where he discovered that Nathan had programmed a backdoor into the Machine. This gave him access to the irrelevant list. Harold was quite upset by this, and immediately shut it down. Unfortunately, right before the backdoor was shut, Nathan's social security number came up on the list, but they were too busy arguing to notice.
Two weeks later, Harold finally managed to track Nathan down, as the other man had been away from the office and avoiding his calls. This is when Harold found out that Nathan was going to meet a reporter the next day to reveal the Machine to the public. The only way that he would change his mind was if Harold would restore his access to the irrelevant list. Naturally, Harold refused. Nathan told him to meet him at the ferry terminal the next day, and that the interview was still going to happen.
The interview did not happen. The next day, Harold arrived at the terminal and spotted Nathan, but before they had a chance to speak, a car bomb planted by the government detonated nearby. This resulted in Nathan's death, and permanently injured Harold. When he realised that it was the government who had planted the bomb -he saw two officials confirming Nathan's death by phone- he escaped from the field hospital that the bombing victims had been taken to. Alas, this meant his marriage was not to be; indeed, he saw Grace arrive at the field hospital, but avoided her, which lead her to believe he had died in the blast. He managed to get back to the library and reopen the backdoor, only to see Nathan's number on the irrelevant list seconds before the midnight erasure.
Following the bombing, Finch changed his mind about the irrelevant list. In honour of Nathan's memory, he set to work, upgrading the backdoor to issue the social security numbers in code, and seeking out someone to do the physical work in protecting people. Due to his injuries and the resulting surgeries to repair the damage, Finch was unable to do the necessary fieldwork to stop violent crimes. Indeed, he spent over a year in a wheelchair.
While he was wheelchair-bound, he hired his first employee: a private investigator named Rick Dillinger. However, they had an uneasy relationship due to disagreements about how the work ought to be done. Eventually, they received the number of a man named Daniel Casey, who had managed to hack the Machine and download some of its code before being locked out by the system. This led to government agents being sent to kill him. Finch used the stolen code to create a virus that would allow the Machine to protect itself from future attacks, then put it up for sale.
Dillinger, however, had eavesdropped on Finch's conversation about the code with Casey, and betrayed Finch. Dillinger stole the laptop and drugged Finch, then left to deliever the laptop to the Chinese buyers he had arranged. However, by pure stubbornness, Finch managed to limp after Dillinger and actually caught up with him. Despite being warned off -the only reason Dillinger had decided to spare him was because Finch gave him a job-, Finch continued to follow him, and watched as the Chinese buyers shot and killed Dillinger. He then ended up dragging Dillinger into a copse of trees and buried him.
These events also led him to begin considering John Reese as a potential employee. Reese had been one of the agents sent to kill Casey, yet when he caught up to him, Reese decided to let him live. Finch witnessed part of this conversation from a distance, as he had been heading to meet with Casey to give him a cover identity to hide under.
A year later, Finch crosses paths with Reese again while investigating an irrelevant number on his own. However, the two do not interact until September of 2011, when Finch has Reese released from police custody. He did that because he wanted to offer Reese -who was presumed dead by the government- a job. Reese accepted, after some convincing.
Did we mention that convincing involved kidnapping Reese, tying him to a bed, and forcing him to listen to a recording of a murder that had happened in the very suite that Reese was tied to a bed in? Yeah, that's how Finch convinced him. While the effectiveness of his methods can't be argued with, one must question the ethics of them…
Not that this doesn't backfire on him in certain ways. As the two work together, Reese does a fair bit of investigating, leading to one of Finch's aliases being compromised. In response to that, Finch quit that alias' job -which was, incidentally, at IFT. Still, Reese is quite persistent, and eventually Finch begins to warm up to him, to the point of offering information about himself (albeit relatively trivial information, such as food he likes).
It does take time for trust to build between the two, especially when an early case involving teacher Charlie Burton turns out to not be as cut and dry as they thought. Although it appeared that the man was being pursued by the Russian mob as a witness to the murder of a high-ranking member of Carl Elias' group, it turned out that Charlie Burton was merely an alias that Carl Elias was working under. This would only be the first of many encounters with Elias and his mob. It shook Reese's faith in the Machine, although Finch remained stalwart, as he had never said they would have all the facts and that it was likely they would make mistakes. Another important development of this case, however, was that Finch came to trust Lionel Fusco as a reliable asset to help with their numbers.
During their investigations into the numbers, Finch initially plays more of a supporting role. While Reese does much of the legwork, Finch is busy taking care of the technological and financial end of things. This doesn't mean that Finch doesn't take a more proactive role when necessary, however. Even early on in their partnership, he goes into the field, so to speak, to deliver information to Reese when technological means fail, or to act undercover in situations where Reese would stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. This is especially necessary, as the police -led by Detective Joss Carter- have been investigating their activities, primarily Reese's, which has drawn government attention.
However, it takes a while for Finch to really get involved beyond providing information and support. The first time this occurs is after an almost disastrous situation where they received four peoples' SSNs at once. It turned out that the four people were connected, having established a money laundering scheme using stolen drug money. Finch was the one who confronted the conspirators, although Reese saved them. However, this ended with Reese being shot by a CIA assassin who was sent after him, which meant that he was out of commission for a while so he could recover.
Because of this, their next number featured a role reversal, with Finch doing much of the physical investigation, while Reese provided the tech support. Neither of them were particularly happy with this, as Finch refused to carry a gun and was skeptical of the self defense techniques Reese taught him. At some point during the investigation of this number, he received another number, as he offered it to Carter in order to show her what they do and why. This ploy seemed to have paid off, as Carter backed off on investigating them a bit.
By their next number, things are back to normal with Finch providing support to Reese as the field operative. However, there is little normal about this case. As it turned out, their number had been set up to take the fall for the assassination of a congressman. The assassin had also hacked into government computer systems to plant evidence pointing towards their number as being the culprit. This hacker? Root. Remember that name, it becomes very important later. Especially as she already has knowledge of who Finch is at this point in time.
Their next few numbers have them delving deeper into the crime underworld in New York City. They discover the corrupt police organisation called HR, and once more encounter Carl Elias. This comes to a head during their investigation into an infant whose number came up, as Reese negotiated with Elias to help them save the child, which resulted in them losing Carter as an asset temporarily.
A major point in his partnership with Reese occurs with their next case, where Finch ends up drugged and left to die by the person he assumed was going to be the victim of the crime. After being rescued by Fusco and entrusted to Reese's care, Finch offers to answer any questions Reese might have for him. However, Reese refused the offer. It's never explicitly stated, but it's fairly obvious that because Reese did not take advantage of his intoxicated state, Finch grows to trust him further.
However, because of their budding friendship, Finch ends up seeking to protect Reese from things that would cause him emotional pain (since it would be sliiiightly counterproductive to try to keep him from getting injured). When a number comes up that would bring up bad memories for Reese, Finch gives him the day off under the pretense of it being his birthday. (Although it was Reese's birthday, it is doubtful that he would have had the day off were the case different.) So, Finch goes off with Fusco and Carter to investigate their number -a woman fleeing from her abusive husband, who falsified charges against her using his powers as a U.S. Marshall in order to hunt her down. Luckily for her, Reese was suspicious enough to look into what Finch was doing, and managed to save her after her husband took her into custody.
After that, Finch explained that he'd gotten Reese's ex-girlfriend's number multiple times, but had been unable to figure out why until after her death. It turned out she had been in an abusive relationship and was eventually murdered by her abuser, and he had realised it too late to help her. Reese had been aware of how she had died, and had taken revenge on her husband. Finch had wanted to spare him the pain of being reminded of his past, which was why he'd tried to keep Reese out of the case.
After this, they end up receiving the number of psychologist Caroline Turing, who is being threatened by HR. Upon being unable to hack into her computer system to find out more about her, Reese was forced to go undercover as a patient. He manages to rescue her from the hitmen sent by HR, and protect her while she heads to a rendez-vous with Finch, where he was going to help create a cover identity for her and get her out of the city. However, it turned out that Dr Turing was actually Root, who had hired HR herself to get her number to show up and lure Finch out of hiding.
She proceeds to kidnap Finch and take him with her as she also kidnaps a government official -Denton Weeks- involved in the use of the Machine. Part of her goal is to figure out how Finch and Reese had managed to stop her prior operation, but her primary desire is to free the Machine from the corrupt government officials it has been built for. She knows Finch built the Machine, and expected him to agree with her, except he does not and is actually appalled by her tactics and plans. Finch managed to escape, and free Denton as well, but when Denton realises that Finch was involved in the creation of the Machine, he turns on him and attempts to kill Finch.
Luckily for Finch, Root was actually merely allowing them to try to escape, so she was able to kill Denton first. Not until he revealed where the Machine's servers were, of course. With this information, she takes Finch to Union Station in Washington, D.C., in order to head to the Machine's location. However, thanks to a coded message Finch left behind on a wireless phone handset, Reese manages to catch up to them and rescue Finch. Unfortunately, Root manages to escape.
While Finch had been kidnapped, Reese had been receiving clues from the Machine that allowed him to track Finch down, from information about Root's past, to a number that allowed Reese to acquire an attack dog. This dog ends up being named Bear, who rather conveniently ends up being given to Finch to care for. Apparently Reese's apartment building doesn't allow pets.
Bear is actually instrumental in helping Finch cope with the trauma of being kidnapped, giving Finch both something to focus on, as well as providing a sense of protection and security. This allows him to recover faster, which proves necessary as he ends up having to strike a deal with Carl Elias in exchange for the protection of one of their numbers, who is being pursued by hitmen from the mob.
Reese takes care of the majority of their next cases, which results in him being taken into custody by the FBI. This leaves Finch to take care of their next few numbers by himself, although he does enlist the aid of Detective Fusco to help take care of the criminals he encounters, as well as to provide guard duty for one of the numbers. This allows him to take the time to create information that will substantiate the claims Reese has to make while being interrogated by the FBI, and to bribe a different suspect into identifying someone else as the man the FBI is looking for. However, despite his best efforts, FBI Agent Donnelly manages to figure out that Reese is indeed their suspect, and Reese is taken into custody.
Then Finch gets a phone call from the Machine. The number? Agent Donnelly's. However, he is unable to warn Donnelly in time to prevent him from being killed by Kara Stanton, Reese's partner from when he worked for the CIA.
Stanton kidnaps Reese and straps a bomb vest on him in order to force him to do her bidding, taking advantage of the fact that he would not risk the lives of innocent civilians by denying her. Her goal is to get a virus uploaded to the Machine, in exchange for information about the man ultimately responsible for Reese and her final mission for the CIA, where they were supposed to kill each other due to the government not wanting anyone left alive who knew about the goal of their mission.
Reese managed to get in contact with Finch, who sends Fusco and Carter in pursuit. However, by the time they manage to catch up to Reese, it is too late. Kara has gotten what she wanted, and has set the bomb strapped to Reese to explode in five minutes. Reese sent Fusco and Carter away, and headed up to the roof of the building he was in so that there would be minimal collateral damage when the bomb exploded…
Finch, being very aware of Reese's nature and thus predicting that he would retreat as far from innocent bystanders as possible once the bomb was set to go off, was waiting for him on the roof. Naturally, Reese tried to make him leave, even threatening him with a gun. Which, as Finch rightly pointed out, was not the best negotiating tactic he could have chosen, considering his intent was to make Finch leave so he wasn't killed as well when the bomb went off.
The bomb was wired to an iPhone as its timing device, and the phone itself was locked to prevent Reese from simply de-activating the trigger on his own. However, Finch had an app that allowed him to figure out the potential preset factory lock codes (which is apparently a thing that exists in that universe, and apparently Kara was too cocky to think that maybe she ought to not rely on the preset code). Of course, for maximum drama, there are five potential codes, but the phone will lock him out after three unsuccessful attempts. Still, despite his obvious nerves -Finch is visibly tense, hand shaking slightly- Finch decides to try anyways, despite knowing that if he fails, he will be unable to escape the blast radius in time to save himself.
And this is where we hit the chosen canon point.
PERSONALITY:
Finch? Is paranoid. And by paranoid we mean multiple aliases with unrelated jobs, hires security guards, hasn't gone by his real name in decades, and deeply appreciates similar levels of concern for privacy and security in others. Of course, is it really paranoia when someone really is out to get you, or is it just a necessary level of awareness required for self-preservation?
Finch has gotten very good at maintaining his privacy, given that he's been hiding from the government since hacking into ARPANET as a teenager. He's knowledgeable in even the subtlest of interrogation techniques -like the information that can be gleaned simply from asking for a recommendation at a restaurant-, capable of losing even the most experienced tail -he's had to do this a few times with Reese-, and capable of creating false identities so secure that bank accounts can be opened in their names. That last one is a skill he's had since at least his days at MIT, as he did create a false persona for Arthur Claypool precisely because Arthur did not believe he could do it. To this end, when one of his aliases is found out by people who he doesn't want aware of it, he swiftly abandons the identity.
He does not easily trust people. It took him some time to warm up to Reese and get used to his presence, and Reese's continual attempts to find out more about him. When people do try to get close, his initial response is always to evade or deflect them. When that fails, he usually falls silent or becomes irritable. Or both. Both is always good.
However, once he trusts someone, he is actually fairly kind and sociable. It's not that he wants to be lonely, rather that he simply wants a certain level of privacy. So long as giving over information about himself is on his terms, and interaction is at the level he desires, he's quite pleased to spend time with people. He can also be very nice when using one of his aliases; the coldness is really a defensive measure to protect his privacy.
Finch also develops something of a protective streak when it comes to those he likes or cares about… or indeed, feels some sort of obligation towards. One of the earliest signs of his concern for Reese was the fact that he kept trying to protect him, whether it was stopping him from doing fieldwork while injured, or trying to keep him from working on a Number when the case was very similar to how the woman Reese loved died. When Finch found out that the government was willing to kill to keep the Machine secret, he swiftly abandoned his identity as Harold Wren by faking his death when his fiancée came to look for him at the hospital after the ferry bombing. Before this, he had tried to keep Nathan Ingram safe by revoking Nathan's backdoor access to the Machine, as he was afraid of what would happen if Nathan was discovered.
Guilt is arguably one of the strongest motivating factors in Finch's present life. In fact, were it not for the guilt he feels over Nathan Ingram's death, it is entirely possible he would have continued on ignoring the so-called "irrelevant" crimes and started work on a new project. Instead, the discovery that Nathan's life could have been saved had he allowed Nathan to keep his backdoor access to the Machine prompted him to re-open the backdoor and begin a plan to help the victims of these crimes.
Although he did seek therapy to deal with the guilt he felt over Nathan's death, although it doesn't seem to have lessened the guilt any. In fact, it is more likely that it strengthened his resolve to do something about the irrelevant list, as he became aware that no one would really be able to understand precisely why he felt guilty. After all, the therapist tried to assure him that he was not responsible for Nathan's death, when in Finch's view, had he not revoked Nathan's access to the Machine, or at least reinstated it when Nathan demanded it, then Nathan would not have been at the ferry terminal the day of the bombing. Indeed, it's possible the bombing would not have happened at all, because the entire point was that the government was eliminating Nathan to prevent the secret of the Machine from being revealed.
This guilt is further compounded when he realises why he saw certain numbers show up time and time again. In the case where he figured it out, it was because the victim -Jessica Arndt- had been living with an abusive spouse. Unfortunately, he had figured this out too late, as by the time he became aware of this, the victim had been dead for two months. It was at this time that he first encountered John Reese, Jessica's former lover. John had been part of the file Finch kept on Jessica, so it may be this incident -specifically, the guilt that Finch felt when he saw how upset John was by Jessica's death, and how he had been unable to help her- that not only made Finch realise he needed help, but also made him consider Reese as a potential asset.
Another point to note about Finch's personality is what might be best described as sheer stubbornness. This manifests in many ways; one of the more prominent being his treatment of his injuries. Simply put, he does not let them slow him down, or prevent him from doing what he feels he needs to do, despite the fact that on a good day, he'd rate the pain he feels from them at a 3 on a scale from 1 to 5. He does not use a cane, except when acting under certain aliases, and honestly does a level of physical activity that just about any reputable doctor would consider inadvisable, from doing push-ups to the running and occasional fighting that has happened when he's assisted Reese in the field. He even once dug a grave despite barely being able to walk. (Honestly, at some point you have to wonder where the line is between stubborn and stupid, and how many times he's crossed it…)
While Finch would best describe himself as "handi-capable" -and, in fact, has-, it has taken him some time to admit that he needs assistance in his work. Prior to working with Reese, he had made an attempt to take care of the Numbers by himself, but had failed at it. Not due to a lack of knowledge at all, as he was more than capable of finding out almost anything he could want to know about the people whose numbers he received, but because the explosion had robbed him of the capability to do a lot of the physical work required.
Even with the acknowledgement that he needs assistance, Finch does not sit back safely behind his computers. If he deems it necessary, he will go out into the field, often to help protect his comrades. He does this regardless of their feelings on the matter. Reese has told him more than once to stay away or not get involved, but Finch generally refuses to listen. This all really goes back to the fact that he wants to help people, and especially to protect the people he is close to.
All told, Finch can seem a bit contradictory in nature. He's paranoid and distant, yet obviously cares deeply about people. He uses his guilt and grief to motivate him to work that even he considers "radical", yet part of that work is to prevent others from acting on their own feelings. He doesn't care for violence or physical crimes, but is more than fine with creating false identities, hacking, and other cyber crimes. In reality, all of these seemingly disparate traits are intrinsically linked. He wants to help people, but he's hidden away the Machine and made sure no one can access it.
Most important is that he well and truly does care about people, to the point where he wants to solve humanity's problems. From wanting to fix his father's memory loss by making a machine to think for him to creating a computer program capable of analysing human behaviour to predict violence, he's wanted to change the world for the better his entire life. Part of that is realising that he can't make people stop being cruel and selfish, probably nothing can… which is why he's hidden the Machine and wrote a 'virus' that gave it the ability to free itself from the government facility it was installed in. Finch is well aware that if any human -even himself- could access it directly, influence it, then they would use it selfishly and not to better the world.
It is also because of his concern that he distances himself from people. He's a wanted man, and he is well aware of that. Between the charges of sedition and the fact that the other people involved in building and installing the Machine have been killed to keep the Machine a secret, it is actually fairly dangerous to be associated with him. Thus, the best way to protect the people he cares about is to not let them in too close.
This may also be a form of self-protection. He has suffered a lot of loss, from the slow loss of his father to dementia, to Nathan Ingram's violent death, to having to separate himself from Grace to keep her safe. Despite his best intentions, however, he does still grow attached to people, because he is, at heart, a caring individual. Even when dealing with people he may likely never see again, like when he was under cover as a teacher, he does his best to inspire and help them. When he rescues people, he doesn't just save their lives and call it done, he helps to set them up so they can live comfortably and have quality life. If he's willing to do that much for strangers, it really shouldn't surprise anyone that he becomes attached to those he works with despite his best efforts.
Seriously, he's even grown attached to Bear, despite his initial dislike of dogs. To the point where even though he's not happy when Bear ruins rare first editions of books, he doesn't become angry, just displeased. Which, when you think about it, is a lot for a man who prefers things to be neat, orderly, clean; who has a preference for the finer things in life like well-tailored clothing.
In the end, he'll misdirect and evade questions about himself, if not outright fabricate an identity. He'll do his best to hack into any and every computer system or network available. Finch will do whatever he can to help, because that's what he does. When confronted about his identity, he can sum it up as simply as this:
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
John Reese: At this point it's safe to say that despite their rocky start, they are close enough that they would die for each other. Reese is Finch's closest friend, and their strengths and weaknesses tend to balance each other out. Of course, this doesn't mean that they always agree on things. In fact, they often disagree when it comes to matters of violence or other illegal physical means of solving their cases. Despite this, Finch has enough respect for and trust in Reese that he generally doesn't restrict him too much, and in return Reese proves that trust is well-placed.
Joss Carter: They have a somewhat rocky history due to Joss' strong sense of belief in the law. There's been some mistrust because of Finch's refusal to divulge where he gets his information from, but things have been on the mend since Reese and Finch saved Joss' son from Carl Elias. Although they do not interact a lot, Carter has been invaluable in helping keep Reese out of jail and away from the authorities.
Lionel Fusco: Initially, Finch did not trust Fusco at all, believing that as a corrupt cop he was likely to turn on Reese. To this end, he even directly accused Fusco of telling the mafia information about one of their numbers that they were trying to protect from the mobs. However, upon discovering that Fusco really was on their side, Finch was apologetic. Afterwards, he begins to see Fusco as a more valuable asset.
The Machine: While not a character in the strictest sense -more of a sentient Deus Ex Machina, really-, the Machine is responsible for a LOT of Finch's development. Despite his initial pride in his creation, it seems now that he views it with a bit of regret. After all, were it not for the Machine, his friend Nathan would still be alive, and he probably would have been able to marry Grace. Still, the Machine recognises Finch as its creator, and as such has been shown to act outside its programmed functions for Finch. For instance, when Finch is in danger, it gives Reese assistance to find him. Even earlier still, it nudges Finch to ask Grace out on a date. Meanwhile, Finch seems reluctant to consider it as a sentient being. Theirs is a complex relationship that unfortunately doesn't get explored a lot until after my canon point. Oy.
Root: Root is currently an enemy. She knows Finch is the creator of the Machine, and kidnapped him to try to force him to divulge how to access it. They do not see eye-to-eye at all, and Finch thinks she's a danger to herself and others with her fanatical devotion to the idea of the Machine as a "goddess".
Bear: Despite his initial disdain for the idea of owning a dog, Finch got stuck with Bear because Reese's apartment did not allow pets. And, honestly, that was probably one of the better things that could have happened to him. Finch's personality softened a lot, going from paranoid and fastidious and somewhat aloof to somewhat more relaxed and personable. Not a complete 180º, but definitely warmer. For example, he started off throwing a tennis ball to Bear by picking it up with a tissue, and generally being annoyed by Bear's presence; to spoiling him with treats, throwing the ball bare handed, and being unable to take away a squeaky toy despite it being very annoying. If that's not love, I'm really not sure what is.
Nathan Ingram: Finch's former business partner and friend. It appears they had a lot of trust between them, as Nathan knew that Harold was wanted for sedition and thus was using a false identity. Unfortunately, Nathan broke this trust by using a backdoor in the Machine's code to access the Irrelevant List, and then went on to attempt to reveal the Machine to the public, despite knowing that Finch believed people should not know about it and that no one should have access to the Machine. Finch has a lot of regret about Nathan's death, believing it to be his fault, and he has taken on helping the irrelevants because of this guilt.
Grace Hendricks: Finch's fiancée. Well, probably ex-fiancée, as she believes he is dead. However, he still cares deeply for her, and watches over her from afar. Indeed, it is because he cares that she is not aware he is alive, as he took advantage of the chaos after the bombing to fake his death in order to protect her from those who might threaten him to get to the Machine. It is heavily implied that he uses his many connections and aliases to ensure that she has a steady stream of work.
STRENGTH OF HEART MOMENT SUMMARY: Finch is coming from close to the end of episode 13 of season 2, "Dead Reckoning", where he's attempting to deactivate the bomb vest that's been strapped to Reese's chest. Considering by the time he gets there, it's so close to going off that if he fails, there's no way he'll be able to escape the blast in time… well, it's hard to think of a greater moment for someone than being absolutely willing to risk their life to save a friend. Especially if the person doing the life-risking started out as paranoid and reclusive and unwilling to become close to anyone. Sure, there may be more technically impressive moments in his life -creating the Machine comes to mind immediately-, but I would be hard pressed to find one that exhibits more powerfully the growth he's gone through and the absolute goodness of his
heart.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
As of the last time he'd checked his phone, he'd been standing there for exactly an hour. Which was really far too long to be standing in one place for a man of his disabilities, but whatever had been responsible for the scene before him hadn't been quite so thoughtful as to provide a chair for him to sit down, and he wasn't altogether fond of the idea of sitting on the hard glass beneath his feet, then having to get back up again later.
In theory, Finch thought, it all seemed quite simple. All he had to do was choose. That was the problem, however. It could hardly be as easy as it seemed; surely there was some hidden catch, some trick he was unaware of. After all, this already had failed to live up to the common expectations of the afterlife. …Well, it was somewhat similar, in the loosest of ways, to ancient ideas of the soul being judged, although those stories tended to have someone else doing the judging. None of this self-analytical soul-searching, for one thing.
No great rose windows or pillars or cryptic messages delivered by a painfully familiar voice he hadn't heard in over thirty years, either.
There was no use dwelling on any of that, however. Not with the matter at hand. Simply put, he had to choose one of these items.
To his left, a police badge. Somewhat obvious symbolism, all things considered. The power of the shield. To serve and protect. Strength to defend those in greatest need. Of course, given how corrupt the police force could be, he wasn't quite sure it was the best symbol to have been chosen. Finch would have chosen a computer if he'd been setting this up. Or perhaps a bulletproof vest, considering what was to his right.
That is, a computer. The power of knowledge. To build and ruin. Strength that comes from within. In a way, it certainly made sense. Much of what he was capable of was because of what he knew. How to craft an entire existence out of thin air, as seemingly real as any person who had actually been born. How to tear down entire corporations with a few well-timed clicks of a mouse. And yet, how this represented inner strength specifically, was still a bit beyond him, though he was sure he'd figure it out.
Finally, between the two, was the pillar he'd shied away from as soon as he'd realised what rested there. It held a pistol. John probably would have known the exact make, but he wasn't here. Besides, Finch doubted that there was any significance in the model; merely the inherent significance of a firearm. The power of the soldier. To strike and destroy. Strength to fight with unending courage. He pondered all these, eyes closed.
If he were to be perfectly honest with himself, the pistol was a very tempting choice. If only he were stronger, capable of fighting when necessary, then he wouldn't have had to bring others into his vigilantism. Wouldn't have gotten two rather undeserving men killed because he was weak and soft and preferred a less violent approach. Indeed, how many other lives could he have saved had he just been more capable?
But he had no knowledge of what laid beyond this. Considering that his injuries were still present, who knew if his choice here would change that when he got to wherever he was going. Perhaps it would, perhaps it wouldn't. What he did know, however, was the kind of man he wanted to be, had tried to be as he'd grown and realised he'd strayed from the ideals he'd had for himself.
And it was not the kind of man whose first choice in the face of the unknown would be a weapon.
With that, he opened his eyes, mouth set in a grim, determined line, and marched as best he could over to the shield. It really was the only choice. He wasn't a violent man, and while he would never deny his abilities when it came to the judicious application of knowledge, the fact was that he'd done his best to use his intellect towards the goal of helping people. Even if he hadn't always succeeded.
"I'll take the shield," he declared as his hand closed around the badge.
What will you give up in return?
Finch almost laughed as he looked down at the badge in his hand. Well, he should have seen that coming, really. That was the catch. The reminder that everything came at a cost; nothing came freely. What would he give up, indeed.
He slowly turned towards the other two pillars. It wasn't much of a decision, was it? As much as he wanted to keep the gun, just so he wouldn't have to put anyone else in the line of fire… Fighting was not what he did. It had never been something he'd done. Sure, there was that line from Orwell about peace being the result of men ready to do violence, but he simply wasn't one of those men.
"The gun, of course."
So, you've chosen the shield and you're giving up the weapon? Is this the path you're going to take?
Honestly, what was this? Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Afterlife Edition? "Yes, that's my final answer."
He had several seconds to contemplate his answers as the pillars sunk back into the window. And then Finch found himself wondering if he'd chosen wrongly, as the window began to shatter, the outside edges flying out into the oppressive, impenetrable shadows surrounding him, followed swiftly thereafter by the smaller panes, until finally even the glass beneath his feet gave way to the darkness.
The badge in his hand dissolved as he fell, and one would have to forgive him for being too distracted hoping for a soft landing to notice as it reformed around his shoulder, still thin metal, light and brightly polished, but shaped as a pauldron instead of a shield.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Canonically, unless you count being a super genius, Finch has no special abilities. (Considering that still doesn't give him any supernatural abilities like telepathy, clairvoyance, or other inexplicable powers, I don't think that counts. Alas.) However, as a Paladin (having chosen the Shield and discarded the Sword), he will have access to magic. Time will tell if he decides to pursue this or not. Should he do so, he'll likely find learning the theory quite easy, whereas the practise won't come naturally at all as magic simply doesn't exist in his frame of reference.
He'll also have the Keyblade Armour, because giving a "middle-aged cripple" full body armour is clearly a brilliant idea. Well, at least he'll be well protected?
INVENTORY:
-Cell phone
-Clothing (suit, coat, glasses...)
NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
In case it's not quite clear from the combination of canon point and the Awakening sample, Finch kind of thinks he's a bit… well… dead. It's really a logical conclusion to draw. He was trying to disarm a very powerful bomb, and then he was in a very dark and strange place. So, he thinks he's dead. Fun. (I'm sure he'll figure out that he's not dead relatively soon, though. He's smart like that.)
Also, the personality section is basically just a tweaked version of one from a prior game. Hopefully that's okay.