He was not harmless, he just transcended his deep violence, that is a completely different thing.
Without that capacity there would have been no way he would have the strength of character that he had. He was an integrated person, not a harmless person.
The reaction of Jordan Peterson, author of "12 Rules For Life", in a British GQ interview when Helen Lewis mentioned Mahatma Gandhi as an example of a person who became iconic and a symbol through his harmlessness. Integrating the shadow self, our inner darkness, is part of practicing wholeness.