Prior to the events that led to his moving from the east to the west coast, there isn't a whole lot to tell about Harry's life. He grew up in the very small town of Embrey, Indiana – 'when in doubt, cut up a pig' level small – and eventually moved to New York City, likely because it was easier to blend in while you were stealing things in a place with approximately a million more people in it.

His life really didn't get all that interesting until the night he tried to steal his niece's Christmas gift, as it began one of the most unlikely series of events ever. Attempting to run away from the cops after his partner got shot, he ran into an open audition by accident and wound up being flown to Los Angeles in preparation for the part in the movie he'd landed. While out on surveillance, learning from a real private detective how to play the part of one in the film, he stumbled into a real life murder mystery. During the course of the mystery, he befriended the PI – Gay Perry – ran into an old friend of his from childhood, lost one of his fingers (repeatedly), shot about eight people, shares a fun kiss with Perry, found out his friend's sister was murdered, found a body in his shower (and peed on it) after having found the same body in a lake, and ultimately wound up partnering with Gay Perry, becoming an actual PI in the end.

Harry Lockhart possesses no particular preter, super, or even slightly unnatural abilities, except for possibly being consistently the luckiest slightly-below-average man on the planet. Really all he can lay claim to is having somewhat remarkable hand-eye coordination, attributed by himself to having 'used to be a magician'.