He was created by writer Stephen Miller and portrayed by Peter Cowper in George Mihalka's original and Richard John Walters in Patrick Lussier's 3D remake.

Harry awakens from a coma and goes on a rampage - subsequently becoming an urban legend of residents of the local mining town, in which he is believed to unleash a wrath upon those who partake in the forbidden Valentine's Day dance.

When police chief Jake Newby receives an anonymous box of Valentine chocolates containing a human heart and a note warning that murders will begin if the dance proceeds, he checks the mental institution where Harry Warden was incarcerated, but they have no record of him.

Though Warden’s gear and body disappear, it is eventually revealed Tom had become the killer after suffering a psychotic break and developing a split personality based on Harry.

[1][2] He is depicted as a once normal man who descended into madness when his bosses weren't paying attention to their workers, which led to the disaster and subsequently Warden's insanity.

In Canadian Cinema Since the 1980s: At the Heart of the World, Mihalka stated, "Harry Warden [the original Valentine's Day killer] wasn't born evil; he was a hardworking man who went insane when the bosses neglected the people that worked for them, causing a disaster.

[6] In Understanding Social Divisions, Shaun Best compared Warden to Hannibal Lecter, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Leatherface, Norman Bates, and Jason Voorhees, stating that they all "reinforce the stigma surrounding mental illness and present a powerful picture of people who suffer from mental illness as potential psycho-killers.

"[7] Matt Molgaard of Horror Freak News praised the character, saying, "You know, it really doesn’t matter who sports the mask of the Miner: be it Harry Warden, Tom Hanniger, or Billy Crystal.