Otis Smith

Otis Smith is from Yewess.  His parents decided that it would be good for him to serve at least a year in the army to broaden his horizons and to give him some physical training, seeing as he always had a problem with his weight.  In fact, Smith barely passed the physical requirements to get into the military.  His very first assignment was to serve under Colonel Percy Gehel in a militia force sent to Endía.  Horrified by what he witnessed, Private Smith decided to take a stand with Captain Thomas Shallowhorne.  Neither of them were willing to have any part in the mass killing of unarmed women and children.  This decision constituted him an enemy of the Yewess Government, right along with the rest of the men in what came to be known as the Shallowhorne Gang.

Part of the reason why I wrote West World was to examine what it is that really defines a hero.  The character Otis Smith is constantly comparing himself to Tom Shallowhorne, wishing that he could be just like him.  I created the Otis Smith character knowing right from the beginning that he was going to make certain decisions that would make him into an unexpected hero that is very important to the story.  In the end, Shallowhorne essentially wishes that he could be just like Otis.