Horace Harkness is a fictional character in the Honorverse. The weathered-looking, middle-aged chief petty officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy has a habit of picking bar fights with Marines; the latter regard this as a compliment, making the correct assumption that he is looking for sufficiently tough opposition. Officially, he's a gunner's mate; unofficially, he's an expert smuggler and computer hacker. Although he cut back on his illegal activities after Commander Honor Harrington took command of the HMS Fearless, he continued to use his skills to choose his own assignments.