Hugo (left) with Vanessa and Artie
Hugo Miller is a former agent of Warehouse 13.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Hugo Miller attended and graduated Tilson Academy in New Canaan, Connecticut, where he lived. He explored the school extensively and knew "every nook and cranny"; at one point he used this knowledge to get up to some sort of trouble when he was 14.[1]
Warehouse Career[]
Hugo Miller was active in the 1970s around the same time as Artie and MacPherson and joined Warehouse 13 at approximately the same time as Dr. Vanessa Calder, which was prior to Artie joining, as Artie was unaware of Hugo's prior relationship with Vanessa. Vanessa and Hugo were quite close and seemed to have a romantic relationship at one point; he called her by the nickname "V" and she called him "Huey." They would often hang out in the Dark Vault, playing records and smoking marijuana. Hugo was The Warehouse's resident tech expert and spent most of his time in the now disused computer labs, attempting to create a system that could effectively monitor the entire Warehouse single-handed. Despite being rarely seen by the other operatives he was known as a practical joker who, according to Artie, would leave exploding cans of pop around the warehouse that "drove everyone nuts". Hugo also possessed a great love of games but also cheated at the games, a habit that also drove everyone nuts! Sadly, the Regents deemed Hugo's programming ideas for the Warehouse to be too dangerous and research was discontinued. It wasn't long after that Hugo retired from the Warehouse and his computer lab was put into storage.
Hugo appears to have been a fairly dedicated user of marijuana throughout, and probably prior to, his Warehouse career, with allusions to smoking sessions shared with Vanessa, and his observation to his nephew that sharing is admirable if he's 'passing round a joint at a concert'.
"Retirement"[]
Hugo was eventually retired from The Warehouse after a supposed mental breakdown. He was discovered by his fellow agents collapsed in the Warehouse aisles and it was assumed his feverish work habits had managed to get the better of him. He was sent to a mental institute two hours away from the Warehouse, where he remained in a docile, incoherent state. The only curious thing about his condition was scans revealed the left side of his brain had burnt out with no apparent cause. Hugo remained in the sanatorium for 25 years until the Warehouse 13 Fail Safe was activated and he was taken back to the Warehouse.
Hugo believed that his research was too valuable to the world to be lost, that's why he created the Fail Safe without anyone knowing. Instead of creating a new program for the Warehouse computer system, Hugo cheated by downloading an already existing program, himself. By using Max Wertheimer's Zoetrope, Hugo was going to make a copy of his mind, and make it the Warehouses' new AI, but he miscalculated and downloaded his mind instead. However, only half his mind was downloaded, the other half remained with him. The AI was named Hugo1 and automatically activated with the Fail Safe, while the real Hugo Miller suffered from a severe mental disorder for 25 years.
Hugo One[]
Hugo, or rather his "project", eventually reared its head again in the Warehouse when Douglas Fargo was sent from Eureka by Irene Frederic to give the Warehouse systems an upgrade. The initial installation went well, and the group began the conversion, only to find it was not completing itself. Further investigation revealed that someone had hacked the Warehouse from the inside. Artie recognized the location and led them to the disused computer labs, explaining with fondness about his former teammate. Investigating the lab, they discovered that Hugo had, without anyone's knowledge, managed to insert a fail-safe into the Warehouse system that had been triggered by the shutdown of the old system. As well as activating numerous security eyes throughout the Warehouse, it was also uploading something into the mainframe. After checking the Warehouse and finding the eyes were everywhere, Myka and Pete were sent out to retrieve the human Hugo so he could give them
information on what he had done.
While they were away the download completed, and a holographic younger version of Hugo appeared before Fargo, Claudia, and Artie. The hologram introduced itself as the emergency backup system that had been designed to activate when the Warehouse suffered a critical failure. Getting over the initial shock of seeing the entity, and realizing that Hugo had some how made one of the, if not the, first functional AIs, Artie tried to explain to it there was no system failure, and they were just doing an upgrade. The AI, however, did not accept this and preferred to do its own investigation and disappeared into the data core.
Meanwhile Pete and Myka were having little luck dealing with the actual Hugo, who, while non-hostile, was quite insane, addressing Pete and Myka as President Grant and the Snowman. Despite this, they discovered he did have moments of coherent thought when hearing the right words, though these were only brief. For example, while remembering a password was needed to deactivate Hugo One, he drew them a cat when asked for the password. Deciding they had a chance of getting him to remember if they took him somewhere familiar, they determined to take him back to the Warehouse to stimulate his memory. Unfortunately, Hugo still possessed a bit of a devious streak from the past, and playfully managed to grab a tesla off the agents, shot them and ran off. Luckily Pete had a hunch and they found Hugo in the park, watching a Merry Go Round, while mumbling it was not the right one. After securing him they set off back for the Warehouse.
Back at the Warehouse things had taken a turn for the worse! When Hugo One returned from its investigation, it declared there was a problem with the Warehouse: the Agents! Hugo One had reviewed their statistics and found them less than satisfactory, and to Artie's horror had decided to activate the Falcon-Scott Protocol, and locked them in, sealing the Umbilicus. Artie explained to Claudia and Fargo the protocol was an emergency system that would freeze and preserve the artifacts, but would kill any living person that remained trapped inside.
Entering the storage area, Artie retrieved some of the stones from the Tower of Babel, so the trio could speak without Hugo One being able to understand when listening in. Artie explained he doubted that Hugo One was a true AI; a fact that Fargo agreed on, because, at that time, AIs were still pure science fiction. Thinking the real Hugo may have used an artifact, Artie sent Claudia and Fargo to the aisle where Hugo had his breakdown to find some clues. Artie himself, however, was going to return to the lab to confront Hugo One. Meanwhile, Pete and Myka ran in to some trouble when they called in to the base, causing Hugo One to become aware of what they were doing. Using the Warehouse system, the AI sent out a news bulletin saying Myka and Pete were kidnappers, causing them to be held up at a store before they manage to slip away.
Back at the Warehouse, Artie confronted the AI, saying that, since things were hopeless, he had simply come to play a game with the AI; something to pass his final moments. Also he guessed that if the AI was anything like its creator, it would not be able to resist - which proved to be true. Meanwhile, Claudia and Fargo were able to locate the suspect Zoetrope Artifact that had mental transference powers. That being the easy part, they now had to avoid Hugo One's defenses and a few grumpy artifacts to get to their destination. Myka and Pete had also arrived with the real Hugo, but remained locked outside and pinned down by the laser defenses.
Back in the computer lab, Artie beat Hugo One at Battleship which surprised and angered the AI, especially when Artie revealed he had cheated by not putting his pieces on the board. Artie then declared his suspicion about the AI to him, saying that he knew the real Hugo loved games but also had a habit of cheating at them as well and if the AI was a true, complete copy it to would be the same.
In fact the more he thought about it, the more Hugo One seemed like the real Hugo or at least a part of him. Hugo One got defensive at this, saying Artie didn't know anything about him. Artie responded that he did and mentions several facts about Hugo and his preferences, and the hologram was unable to hide genuine human reactions to them, proving Artie's theory. That and the look on the Hologram's face at the mounting evidence was proof it wasn't an AI but rather the genuine article - Hugo Miller.
Surprised and shocked, Artie asked his old teammate what had become of him. Hugo explained that the Regents declared his experiments to create a single monitoring system with a human interface too dangerous and risky, and ordered the project stopped. Despite this, Hugo knew that a human computer interface would be a great boost and benefit to the scientific community, so he couldn't let it lie. Artie then guessed Hugo attempted a shortcut with an artifact, a fact which the hologram admitted. He attempted to make a copy of his brainwaves with an artifact, Wertheimer's Zoetrope, but he miscalculated and the artifact transferred his brainwaves instead of copying them to the computer. Artie then realised Hugo's breakdown wasn't a breakdown at all; he was simply missing the left side of his brain, which was now living in the computer, while the right side of his brain was still in his body.
Attempting to reason with the left side, Artie explained to the AI that it couldn't run the Warehouse with half a brain; this being demonstrated by the fact Artie had managed to trick him in a children's game. He then asked the left side of his friend's psyche to let Pete and Myka return with Hugo's body so they could try and put him back together.
After Hugo One was returned to the real Hugo Miller, Fargo escorted Miller to Eureka, where his talents with Human-AI cross-transfer would be considered groundbreaking by their research community.
Return from Eureka[]
In the third episode of season three, "Love Sick," Hugo returns from Eureka at Artie's request because he needs Hugo's expertise in dealing with a computer virus that has leapt from computers and begun to affect human beings. Once at the hospital, Artie is shocked that Hugo greets Dr. Calder with a kiss on the lips. As Artie discovers, Vanessa and Hugo had joined Warehouse 13 at about the same time and had worked together and seemed to have some sort of romantic attraction and possible relationship, which Artie is silently jealous of. Hugo works with Artie and Vanessa to find the cause of the virus, while Claudia tracks down the artifact responsible for supercharging it. At one point, Artie saves Vanessa from being infected with the virus, while the remainder of the occupants in the store - including Hugo - become infected. Hugo then hurried to finish an anti-virus before the infection killed him, but the virus mutates before Claudia returns with the artifact responsible, and the new strain infects Vanessa and begins to cause rapid deterioration of her body. In the end, Artie is able to combine Hugo's anti-virus and use the artifact to cure everyone in the store. When he says goodbye to Hugo, he assumes that Hugo and Vanessa will be rekindling their past relationship. Hugo also informs Artie that he will not be returning to Eureka, as Artie thought, because there are too many regular explosions. Instead, he wants to find a nice, peaceful place to live. Vanessa later informs Artie that she is going to Atlanta and will not be accompanying Hugo.
There's Always a Downside[]
Hugo Miller alerted the Warehouse that he had found an artifact, Bobby Fischer's Bag of Marbles. He claimed he had mysteriously received a the artifact in the mail and he didn't know who sent it. He alerted the Warehouse and Artie sent Pete and Claudia to pick it up. Hugo was no longer living in Eureka. He was now living in his home town of New Canaan, Connecticut. When Pete and Claudia arrived they immediately gooped the artifact, but it didn't work because Hugo had "lost some of his marbles". Hugo's nephew, Brady, had "borrowed" one of the marbles so he could use it as a study tool for his debate team. However, Brady had also given a marble to each of his four other teammates. After collecting all the marbles, Brady and his friend's blood pressure all began to go down and one of them died of stroke. Also, Hugo admitted his mistake which was that he showed Brady the marbles and showed him what they could do. The reason Hugo did this was because he wanted Brady to be a Warehouse agent and be his legacy. Claudia set Hugo straight though and it's unlikely Hugo will mess with an artifact a third time.
Endless Terror[]
Paracelsus travels back in time and alters history making himself soul authority over Warehouses 9 through 13. In this alternate Warehouse 13, Hugo worked for Paracelsus performing horrible experiments on innocent
Hugo and Vanessa in the altered time line
people while testing different artifacts. Hugo didn't want to do it, but Paracelsus made him as he had his and Vanessa's children, Vanessa and Hugo were married in this alternate universe, held prisoner. When Paracelsus captured Artie and Claudia, Vanessa and Hugo were going to experiment on them with artifacts like Joan of Arc's Helmet, William Bleckwenn's Stethoscope, Lewis Carroll's Looking Glass, and the Duke of Exeter's Daughter Torture Rack Spindle, but fortuntely Pete and Myka were able to turn everything back to normal in time.
Trivia[]
- The name "Hugo" is of Germanic origin and means "Bright spirit; inspiration; heart; mind; spirit." This could be a reference to his high intelligence and light, cheerful personality.
- It also means "mind" or "intelligence."
- Hugo and his family are likely rather wealthy, as both Hugo and his newphew attended a pretigious private academy, he dresses well, and he lives in a well-furnished multi-story home in one of the wealthiest cities in the United States.[1][2]
Appearances[]
| Season 1 | ||||||||||||
| Opening Credits: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "Pilot": | Absent | 7. "Implosion": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "Resonance": | Absent | 8. "Duped": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "Magnetism": | Absent | 9. "Regrets": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "Claudia": | Absent | 10. "Breakdown": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "Elements": | Absent | 11. "Nevermore": | Absent | |||||||||
| 6. "Burnout": | Absent | 12. "MacPherson": | Absent | |||||||||
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||
| Opening Credits: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "Time Will Tell": | Absent | 7. "For The Team": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "Mild Mannered": | Absent | 8. "Merge With Caution": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "Beyond Our Control": | Absent | 9. "Vendetta": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "Age Before Beauty": | Absent | 10. "Where and When": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "13.1": | Debut | 11. "Buried": | Absent | |||||||||
| 6. "Around the Bend": | Absent | 12. "Reset": | Absent | |||||||||
| 13. "Secret Santa": | Absent | |||||||||||
| Season 3 | ||||||||||||
| Opening Credits: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "The New Guy": | Absent | 7. "Past Imperfect": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "Trials": | Absent | 8. "The 40th Floor": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "Love Sick": | Appears | 9. "Shadows": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "Queen For A Day": | Absent | 10. "Insatiable": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "3... 2... 1": | Absent | 11. "Emily Lake": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 6. "Don't Hate The Player": | Absent | 12. "Stand": | Absent | |||||||||
| 13. "The Greatest Gift": | Mentioned | |||||||||||
| Season 4 | ||||||||||||
| Opening Credits: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "A New Hope": | Absent | 11. "The Living and the Dead": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "An Evil Within": | Absent | 12. "Parks and Rehabilitation": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "Personal Effects": | Absent | 13. "The Big Snag": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "There's Always a Downside": | Appears | 14. "The Sky's the Limit": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "No Pain, No Gain": | Absent | 15. "Instinct": | Absent | |||||||||
| 6. "Fractures": | Absent | 16. "Runaway": | Absent | |||||||||
| 7. "Endless Wonder": | Absent | 17. "What Matters Most": | Absent | |||||||||
| 8. "Second Chance": | Absent | 18. "Lost & Found": | Absent | |||||||||
| 9. "The Ones You Love": | Absent | 19. "All the Time in the World": | Absent | |||||||||
| 10. "We All Fall Down": | Absent | 20. "The Truth Hurts": | Absent | |||||||||
| Season 5 | ||||||||||||
| Opening Credits: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "Endless Terror": | Appears | 4. "Savage Seduction": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "Secret Services": | Absent | 5. "Cangku Shisi": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "A Faire to Remember": | Absent | 6. "Endless": | Absent | |||||||||