List of Grand Theft Auto V characters

Illustration of the three main protagonists in Grand Theft Auto V from a Rockstar Games promotional image. From left to right: Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Philips.

Rockstar North's 2013 best-selling open world action-adventure video game Grand Theft Auto V, published by Rockstar Games, deals with a trio of criminals and their efforts to commit heists while under pressure from a corrupt government agency. The game's use of three lead protagonists is a break from series tradition. Three days after its release, Grand Theft Auto V had earned more than US $1 billion in sales, making it the fastest selling video game in history. Additionally, Grand Theft Auto V was voted Game of the Year from several gaming publications. The game's characters were created by writers Dan Houser and Rupert Humphries. The use of multiple lead protagonists, as well as the cast in general, has received generally positive reviews from gaming magazines and websites.

The three main playable characters in Grand Theft Auto V are Michael De Santa, a retired former bank robber who lives with his dysfunctional family on the proceeds of his former life; Franklin Clinton, a gang member who makes a living as a repo man for an unscrupulous Armenian car dealership; and Trevor Philips, Michael's former partner in crime, who lives alone in a trailer in the desert, where his reckless and psychotic behaviours are fuelled by drug addiction. The three acquaintances are drawn into Los Santos' criminal underworld "in the pursuit of the almighty American dollar".^[1] According to Houser, each of the protagonists is unlike any primary character that has appeared in a Grand Theft Auto title to date: Michael represents a protagonist who "won" in life, and is now trying to adjust to a normal one after his story has come to an end; Trevor is a supporting character recast as a central protagonist; and Franklin is someone who has had no real exposure to a life of crime until the events of the game, and his attempts to avoid such a life end up thrusting him into the middle of it.^[2]

Creation and conception

Grand Theft Auto V was envisioned to exceed the core mechanics of the Grand Theft Auto series by giving players three lead protagonists to switch between. The team's main motivation for including three protagonists was for Grand Theft Auto V to innovate game storytelling and to prevent the series from feeling stale by not evolving the core structure of the gameplay.^[3] The game's co-writer, Dan Houser said, "We didn't want to do the same thing over again".^[4] The concept of having three interconnected protagonists was devised during the development of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), but the team felt they did not have the technical capabilities to realise it.^[5] The game's art director, Aaron Garbut said, "It didn't work from a tech point of view because the three characters need three times as much memory, three types of animation, and so on".^[6] After the release of Grand Theft Auto IV (2008), the team developed episodic content packages, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony (both 2009), each of which introduced a new protagonist. The three interwoven stories had a positive critical reception and confirmed the team's confidence that building Grand Theft Auto V around this model was an innovative decision.^[7]

A single-player story revolving around three lead protagonists was one of Grand Theft Auto V's earliest design objectives. Garbut said such a radical change to the gameplay's core structure was a risk, recalling the team's concern that a departure from Grand Theft Auto's traditional, single lead character set-up "might backfire".^[8] In early conceptualisations, the game would have told three stories; each through a different protagonist. Later, the idea that story trajectories would meet throughout the game was developed from the stories of Grand Theft Auto IV. Eventually, the concept evolved into three interconnected stories that intertwined through the game missions.^[9] According to Benzies, the team made the multiple-character formula "integral to the structure of the gameplay as well as the narrative".^[10] Houser said he felt that Grand Theft Auto V is their "strongest plotted game because the characters are so intertwined" and that the "meeting points [between the character's stories] are very exciting".^[11] In gameplay, the three characters' differing personalities and qualities are intended to appeal to a broad spectrum of players, while offering players the option to learn more about the characters throughout the game.

The central theme to the story of Grand Theft Auto V is the "pursuit of the almighty dollar".^[12] The mission content is structured around the lead characters' efforts to plan and execute complicated heists to accrue wealth for themselves. The team's decided to focus on money as the game's central theme in response to the 2007–08 financial crisis; the effects of the crisis on the main characters are the catalyst for them to conduct heist missions.^[13] Houser said, "We wanted this post-crash feeling, because it works thematically in this game about bank robbers".^[14] The team were encouraged by the positive reaction to the "Three Leaf Clover" mission in Grand Theft Auto IV—in which an elaborate heist is coordinated and executed by the lead protagonist Niko Bellic and accomplices—to develop the story around the heists.^[15] Houser said that while the "Three Leaf Clover" mission was well-received, the team had not captured the thrill of the robbery sequence to the best of their capabilities and wanted to focus on achieving that in Grand Theft Auto V. He said, "We wanted to have a couple of really strong bank robberies ... It felt like that was a good device that we'd never used in the past. Repeating ourselves is a fear when we're doing games where part of the evolution is just technological".^[16]

The team drew upon game protagonist archetypes during the scripting the characters. Michael was considered to embody greed, Franklin ambition and Trevor insanity. Houser said the team characterised Michael and Trevor as juxtapositions of each other. He said, "Michael is like the criminal who wants to compartmentalise and be a good guy some of the time and Trevor is the maniac who isn't a hypocrite".^[17] He said that having three lead characters would help move Grand Theft Auto V's story into more original territory than its predecessors, which traditionally followed a single protagonist rising through the ranks of a criminal underworld.^[17] Ned Luke portrayed Michael, Shawn "Solo" Fonteno portrayed Franklin and Steven Ogg portrayed Trevor. During the initial audition process, Ogg noticed an on-set chemistry between him and Luke, which he felt helped secure them the roles.^[18] Ogg said, "When [Luke] and I went in the room together we immediately had something".^[19] While the actors knew their auditions were for Rockstar Games, it was not until they signing contracts that they learnt they would be involved in a Grand Theft Auto title.^[20]

The actors began working on the game in 2010.^[20] Their performances were mostly recorded using motion capture technology.^[21] Dialogue for scenes with characters seated in vehicles was recorded in studios.^[22] Because the actors had their dialogue and movements recorded on-set, they considered their performances were no different those of film or television roles. Their dialogue was scripted so that it did not allow the actors to ad-lib; however they sometimes made small changes to the performance with approval from the directors.^[22]

Playable characters

Michael De Santa

Michael De Santa (born Michael Townley) is one of the three playable protagonists of Grand Theft Auto V. Ned Luke played Michael, providing voice acting and motion capture. Michael is aged in his 40s and is the husband of Amanda and father of Jimmy and Tracey. Each of the protagonists have special abilities that can be used during gameplay; Michael's ability is to enter bullet time in combat.^[23]

In the game's prologue, Michael takes part in a botched robbery in Ludendorff, North Yankton, in 2004 that forces one of his accomplices, Trevor Philips, into hiding. Nine years later, now in 2013 Trevor discovers that Michael's death was faked and that he is living in Los Santos under witness protection with his family. Throughout the game, Michael and Trevor commit a series of heists with the help of Franklin Clinton. However, Trevor later discovers that Michael set up the Ludendorff heist, which killed one of his friends. Despite not forgiving Michael, Trevor later aids his escape from a Mexican standoff. After completing their most daring feat ever (raiding the Union Depository's gold bullion reserve), Trevor considers forgiving Michael. Later, Franklin is approached by two parties demanding that he kill Trevor or Michael. Should he choose the latter, Franklin chases Michael to a secluded spot, before pushing him to his death off a water tower.^[24] Should he choose to kill neither, the trio join forces to dispose of all their enemies (Michael kills Franklin's nemesis Stretch).^[25]

When Luke's agent advised him of the casting call for Grand Theft Auto V, he initially did not want to audition for the part because it was in a video game. After reading the audition material and learning more about the project, Luke became interested in auditioning. He said, "I went immediately after reading the material from 'I'm not doing it' to 'nobody else is doing it'. It was just brilliant". To prepare for his role as Michael, Luke gained 25 pounds and studied Rockstar's previous games, starting with Grand Theft Auto IV. Luke considers Michael's characterisation to be an amalgamation of Hugh Beaumont's portrayal of Ward Cleaver in the American sitcom Leave It to Beaver (1957–63) and Al Pacino's portrayal of Tony Montana in the 1983 film Scarface.^[20]

Franklin Clinton

Franklin Clinton is one of the three playable protagonists of Grand Theft Auto V. Shawn "Solo" Fonteno played Franklin, providing voice acting and motion capture. Part of the Chamberlain Gangster Families set of the Families gang, Franklin is a former gang banger who has ambitions to make big money, and realising he will not get that in the gang life, he works a semi-legitimate job as a repossession agent for Simeon Yetarian, who owns a luxury car dealership, alongside his best friend Lamar Davis.^[26][27] The special ability that Franklin can use is the ability to slow down time while driving.^[23]

When Simeon orders Franklin to repossess the vehicle of Jimmy De Santa, Jimmy's father Michael holds a gun to Franklin's head and orders him to smash the window of the dealership, which in turn leads to Franklin's firing. Impressed by Michael's professional criminality, Franklin seeks him out for possible work. Michael sees great potential in Franklin, and later employs him in jobs, including many heists and the two soon forge an ersatz father/son bond (Michael openly calls him "the son I never had").^[28][29][30] Meanwhile, Franklin clashes with Harold "Stretch" Joseph, a Families OG that believes he can give Franklin orders due to his higher status in the gang, a notion that Franklin scoffs at.^[31] Lamar often brings Franklin into dangerous deals organised by Stretch, angering him and causing a rift between the two friends.^[32] When Franklin refuses to help rescue Lamar from another deal gone bad, Franklin's ex-girlfriend Tanisha convinces him to remain concerned about people from his old life; Franklin saves Lamar, deducing that Stretch switched allegiance to the Ballas, a rival gang, and is constantly setting up deals so he and Lamar will be killed.^[33] After completing the most audacious heist,^[34] Franklin is ordered by Steve Haines to kill Trevor, and by Devin Weston to kill Michael. Should Franklin kill either Trevor or Michael, he ceases contact with the survivor and returns to his old life.^[24][35] Should he kill neither, the trio dispose of their enemies, including Haines and Weston (Franklin kills Trevor's nemesis Wei Cheng).^[25]

Fonteno first became aware of the acting job through his friend DJ Pooh, who worked on San Andreas and was involved in Grand Theft Auto V's music production.^[20] Fonteno said growing up in South Los Angeles and being exposed to gang culture helped him connect to the character of Franklin. He drew upon his earlier involvement with a gang and trafficking drugs in his portrayal of Franklin. "I lived his life before ... He's been surrounded by drugs, the crime, living with his aunt—I lived with my grandmother—so there was a lot of familiarity", Fonteno said.^[20] Having not worked as an actor since portraying Face in the 2001 film The Wash, Fonteno sought counsel from Ned Luke and Steven Ogg, actors of Michael and Trevor, respectively, to refine his acting skills.^[20]

Trevor Philips

Steven Ogg portrayed Trevor in Grand Theft Auto V.

Trevor Philips is one of the three playable protagonists of Grand Theft Auto V. Steven Ogg played Trevor, providing voice acting and motion capture. Trevor is Canadian-American, born just north of the border and raised in the United States. He grew up with a physically abusive father and an emotionally abusive mother.^[36] While Michael and Franklin have the special ability to slow down time, Trevor's special ability is to deal out extra damage, and take less damage, and he can also perform a unique melee attack when the special meter is activated.^[23][37]

In the game's prologue, Trevor takes part in a botched robbery in Ludendorff, North Yankton, that forces him into hiding, while his accomplices Michael De Santa is presumed dead and Brad Snider sent to jail. Nine years later, Trevor discovers that Michael faked his death,^[38] and the two commit a series of heists with the help of Franklin Clinton. Meanwhile, Trevor deals with other enemies, such as the Lost Motorcycle Club, Varrios Los Aztecas gang, and the O'Neil Brothers. However, Trevor soon discovers that Michael set up the Ludendorff heist, and that Brad is not in jail, but buried in Michael's fake grave.^[39] Thus, Trevor vows to kill Michael, but agrees to spare him in order to complete one final heist to secure his fortune. After completing this heist, Franklin is approached by two parties demanding that he kill Trevor or Michael. Should he choose the former, Franklin takes down Trevor with the help of Michael, killing him by setting him alight.^[35] Should he choose to kill neither, the trio join forces to dispose of all their enemies (Trevor kills Haines), and Trevor forgives Michael.^[25]

Ogg felt Trevor's characterisation evolved over time. He said, "Nuances and character traits that began to appear—his walk, his manner of speech, his reactions, definitely informed his development throughout the game".^[19] Ogg cites Tom Hardy's depiction of English criminal Charles Bronson in the 2008 biopic Bronson as a strong stylistic influence on his portrayal of Trevor.^[19] Ogg said that while Trevor embodies the violent, psychopathic Grand Theft Auto anti-hero archetype, he wanted players to sympathise with Trevor's story. "To elicit other emotions was tough, and it was the biggest challenge and it's something that meant a lot to me", Ogg said.^[20]

Central characters

Allies

Lester Crest

Lester Crest is a business partner of Michael and Trevor. He is portrayed by Jay Klaitz.^[40] Lester who worked with Michael and Trevor on many of their heists prior to the heist gone wrong. Following this, Lester kept knowledge on the two, knowing both of their locations. When Michael realises that he needs more money, he contacts Lester,^[41][42] who helps him on most of the following heists in the game.^[28][29] He suffers from wasting disease, which has rendered him unable to walk without a cane. He also knows how to hack into computers for heists, and shows a hatred of white-collar criminals and powerful CEOs who use legitimate businesses to rip off unsuspecting citizens and thus hires Franklin and Michael to kill several powerful businessmen, destroying their companies while he reaps the rewards from buying stock in their competitors.

Lamar Davis

Lamar Davis is Franklin's best friend. Lamar is played by Slink Johnson.^[40] Lamar is a gangbanger in the Families, and previously worked as a repossession agent alongside Franklin. However, Lamar has opposing ideals with Franklin; while the former appears to be more concentrated on the gang, the latter is more focused on earning serious money-making opportunities. Lamar devises several schemes to make quick money, but he often displays a lack of planning. When kidnapping a member of a rival gang, he allows his face to be shown and uses his own phone to call his co-kidnappers with the money (the rival gang member is associated with the police, making it easier to track him). Lamar is in awe of Stretch, a gang member he admires, but remains unaware of Stretch's plans to kill him, as he secretly switched to a rival gang while in prison. Lamar wishes to start a new set called the Forum Gangster Families with Franklin,^[31] but it is unknown if he ever asks Stretch for permission, or if his request led to Stretch wanting to kill him. His lack of forethought, habit of blindly walking into obvious traps and his constant need to be saved by Franklin are all treated as one running gag throughout the game. Lamar's run-ins with Stretch leads to a major rift with Franklin, who is disturbed at Lamar's admiration for Stretch. At the end of the game, should Franklin choose to kill either Michael or Trevor, Lamar contacts Franklin and tells him that Franklin was right about Stretch and decides to cease contact with him. Should Franklin kill neither, Lamar aids the trio in repelling an assault on them by the FIB and Merryweather before they go on to kill their enemies, including Stretch.

Dave Norton

David "Dave" Norton is an agent of the Federal Investigation Bureau, working under his superior Steve Haines. He is portrayed by Julian Gamble.^[40] In 2004, Dave somehow came into contact with Michael Townley and the two worked together to stage Michael's fake death during an upcoming heist in Ludendorff; Michael would be able to leave crime behind and Dave would finally have something to highlight his unremarkable career. After the heist, Dave shoots Michael and Brad Snider during their escape, but he fails to shoot Trevor Philips, as was the original plan;^[43] Brad dies and is buried in Michael's grave, while Michael survives thanks to a bullet-proof vest.^[44] Dave pulls strings to secretly get Michael and his family into witness protection in exchange for monthly hush money. Dave then enjoys the fame of being the man who killed one of the most wanted men in the country, but that wanes after a few years, with his career remaining stagnant.

For the next nine years, Michael lives in Los Santos under the surname De Santa, with Dave being in touch with him. He arrives at Michael's mansion after Michael and his protege, Franklin Clinton, robbed a jewel store, warning the former that this act will attract Trevor,^[28] who Dave has been sending emails to in the disguise of Brad to keep tabs on him. Haines discovers Dave's deal with Michael, forcing Michael, Trevor and Franklin to work for him and Dave, and the trio do several jobs for them, with most of the jobs are against the IAA. Haines wants to get rid of Michael so he'll be able to get out clean of the suspicions against him, leading Dave to briefly turn against Haines during a massive shootout between the FIB, the IAA, and Merryweather, during which Dave gets help from both Michael and Trevor.^[45]

Dave tries to calm down Haines, who agrees to spare Michael, but wants Trevor dead. Haines orders Franklin to kill Trevor,^[33] while Devin Weston tells him to assassinate Michael.^[24] If the player chooses to spare Michael and Trevor, Haines is killed, and Dave is named new host of "The Underbelly of Paradise", the reality show that Haines hosted. Although Trevor suggests that Dave be killed as well, Michael insists that he be spared in order to keep suspicion away from them. He admits to Trevor that he was posing as Brad, and tells him the FIB will leave him alone if he stays out of trouble.

Although on opposite sides of the law, Michael and Dave are good friends. Dave freely admits that he is corrupt, but is quick to point out that he is less corrupt than many others.^[46]

Ron Jakowski

Ronald "Nervous Ron" Jakowski is a friend of Trevor, and a fellow redneck. He is played by David Mogentale. He is a paranoiac conspiracy theorist, and is often quite terrified of Trevor,^[47] always calling him "boss" and apologizing to him when he does anything slightly wrong. Ron also hosts a radio show on Blaine County Radio, where he reveals that he used to be married and lived a normal life, but one day he met Trevor, whose anarchic worldview changed Ron's perspective on everything he once knew. He left his wife behind, but now owes her much in alimony.

Mogentale was cast as the character of Ron after the first audition. As Grand Theft Auto V was his first project in both voice acting and motion capture, Mogentale committed to going "all out" when portraying Ron. He has also expressed his feeling of nervousness when performing the character, due to his lack of motion capture experience and the limited time for rehearsal; a few days prior to shooting a scene, the required actors were given the script for that specific scene only.^[48]

Wade Hebert

Wade Hebert is a friend of Trevor. Matthew Maher portrayed Wade.^[40] He is a juggalo, and chronic methamphetamine addict whose addiction has left him with the mind of a child,^[49] though it is implied that he was already quite naive before getting addicted. Wade met Trevor when he and his friends bought drugs off him; it is hinted that Trevor then killed Wade's friends when Wade was not looking, and 'takes care' of Wade ever since. Like Ron, he is quite nervous around, and loyal to, Trevor.

Solomon Richards

Solomon Richards is Michael's favourite film producer. He is portrayed by Joel Rooks.^[40] Devin Weston manages to get Michael in contact with Richards, and the two become instant friends. Michael does some work for Richards, namely intimidate director Anton Beaudelaire into starting the shooting of the movie, and actor Milton McIlroy into apologizing to Richards, and taking out Rocco Pelosi, his agent,^[50][51] before being listed as Associate Producer on his latest film, Meltdown.^[52] He is even invited to the red carpet premiere, along with his family.^[53]

Enemies

Devin Weston

Devin Weston is one of the two main antagonists of Grand Theft Auto V. He is portrayed by Jonathan Walker.^[40] He is a billionaire investor and corporate raider, and the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Devin Weston Holdings, which owns shares in nearly every company in the state. Weston believes he is so rich that he can do anything without having to suffer the consequences. He is particularly ruthless in his investment tactics to the point where he gets sexual pleasure out of double-crossing his business partners by exploiting loopholes in their contracts. He is shown to be arrogant and unsympathetic towards others, and likes to advertise his own sexual prowess. He also acts as a friend to the protagonists, even though his scorn is in the open.

Weston employs Michael, Franklin and Trevor on a job to steal some cars, which they complete, but orders Franklin and Trevor to retrieve three more cars before they can get paid. Impressed with Franklin's work, Weston hints to him that he should move past Michael to better things, which strikes a chord with Franklin. After he receives the three cars, Weston still refuses to pay, which angers the trio greatly. Weston also attempts to shut down Richards Majestic Studio, the last of Vinewood's film studios for profit, but his efforts are thwarted by Michael, who recently acquired a job there. Michael's actions result in the accidental death of Weston's loyal Senior Vice President Molly Schultz.

Feeling humiliated by her death, Weston enlists Merryweather Security Consulting - which he also owns a share in - to kill the De Santa family, but Michael fends them off. Realizing that he needs someone close to Michael to pull the trigger, he orders Franklin to murder Michael under threat of severe repercussion, while Steve Haines orders Franklin to murder Trevor. However, Franklin can also choose to murder Haines and Weston along with Wei Cheng and Harold "Stretch" Joseph; if he chooses this, Trevor kidnaps Weston, before taking him to a desolate location. When Michael and Franklin arrive, they push the car holding Weston down a cliff; it hits the ground and explodes, killing him.^[25]

Steve Haines

Steven "Steve" Haines is one of the two main antagonists of Grand Theft Auto V, portrayed by Robert Bogue.^[40] He is a decorated FIB agent who is so skilled that he has his own television reality show, Saints and Sinners: The Underbelly of Paradise about the crimes of Los Santos. He is Dave Norton's superior and learns of his subordinate's deal with Michael after the former bank robber comes out of retirement. Instead of reporting it, Haines decides to use Michael, Franklin, and Trevor to perform dirty work aimed at undermining the International Affairs Agency (IAA), the FIB's rival, so as to secure more funding from the government. He is shown to be particularly psychotic and arrogant, and is despised by almost everyone he comes into contact with. He claims a close, personal friendship with Devin Weston, and it is implied that he has Weston's influence to thank for his position.

Following a raid on a biological weapons research facility, the FIB begins investigating Haines, so he needs help covering his tracks, which culminates with him trying to arrest Michael to silence him. Haines's protege, Andreas Sanchez, betrays him by informing the FIB of his superior's activities; this results in him killing Andreas. Towards the end of the game, Haines is convinced by Norton to spare Michael and only silence Trevor, whose actions brought more heat onto them. He orders Franklin to kill Trevor while Weston orders Franklin to kill Michael. Franklin has the choice to ignore both of these orders, and go after these men; if the player chooses such option, Trevor finds Haines at the Del Perro Pier, where he is shooting with his cameramen for the next episodes of his own show at the Ferris wheel and Trevor kills him.^[25]

Wei Cheng

Wei Cheng is one of the two secondary antagonists of Grand Theft Auto V, played by George Cheung.^[40] He is the leader of the Los Santos Triads (A Chinese/American criminal organization), and wants to base his business in Blaine County. He contacts Trevor, as he wishes to work with him and his company (Trevor Philips Enterprises/Industries). He sends his son out to talk to Trevor,^[54] before declining the request to work with him as he deems it too risky.^[55] Cheng enters a partnership with the O'Neil Brothers, Trevor's rival, which causes Trevor to kill most of the O'Neil Brothers and blow up their meth factory, ruining Cheng's deal. After the murder of the leader of the O'Neil Brothers, Elwood O'Neil, Cheng sends men to find Trevor, but when they do, they incorrectly deduce that Michael - who is living with Trevor for a time - is Trevor's lover. The Triads ambush Michael and Trevor when the two return to Ludendorff, capturing Michael.^[44] Cheng proceeds to hold Michael hostage and torture him in a meat factory in Los Santos for days, hoping to lure Trevor into a trap; Franklin ultimately bursts in and rescues Michael.^[56] At the end of the game, if Franklin sets out to save Michael and Trevor, he then tracks him down at the Pacific Bluffs and kills him.^[25]

Harold "Stretch" Joseph

Harold "Stretch" Joseph is one of the two secondary antagonists of Grand Theft Auto V. Hassan Iniko Johnson played Stretch.^[40] After being released from prison, Stretch immediately returns to his gang, the Chamberlain Gangster Families, demanding respect and doling out orders to Franklin and Lamar. Franklin openly disrespects Stretch, considering him pathetic for never growing out of the gang mentality, which angers Stretch. Lamar, however, looks up to him and convinces Franklin to come along on deals organized by Stretch. Stretch goes with Franklin and Lamar to the first deal he set up, which turns out to be an ambush by their enemy gang, the Ballas. They fight through the Ballas, and manage to survive.^[31] Stretch is later revealed to be a traitor and associate of the Ballas (having switched gangs in prison), and his deals are actually attempts to ambush and kill Franklin and Lamar. He ultimately arranges for Lamar to be abducted in order to lure Franklin into a trap, but regardless the duo manages to foil every attempt on their lives. At the end of the game, when Franklin makes the decision to save both Michael and Trevor, Lester manages to track down the basketball court where Stretch is, and Michael kills him and the remaining Ballas.^[25]

Supporting characters

Amanda De Santa

Amanda De Santa (previously known as Amanda Townley) is the wife of Michael, and the mother of Jimmy and Tracey. She is played by Vicki Van Tassel.^[40] During the early days of Amanda's marriage with Michael, she was a stripper, and she was once very close to her husband. Their relationship became shaky following her family's placement in a witness protection program after Michael was involved in the North Ludendorff heist. During the events of the game, it becomes evident that Amanda and Michael do not get along. The two are constantly arguing with each other, and can never seem to agree on anything.^[57][58] It is even revealed that Amanda has been having an affair with her tennis coach, and likely others. Following many of Michael's crazy decisions and actions, Amanda and her children decide to move out and she begins dating her self-absorbed yoga teacher Fabian, only to realize that she truly loves Michael.^[41] Amanda later suggests that the family take a counselling session, which erupts into a massive shouting match between Amanda and Michael. Despite this, Amanda acknowledges that she found the experience "cathartic," and that nobody will ever understand their family like they understand each other. The family subsequently move back in with Michael and it is shown that their relationship is finally beginning to improve.^[59]

Jimmy De Santa

James "Jimmy" De Santa (born James Townley) is the son of Michael and Amanda, and the younger brother of Tracey. Danny Tamberelli portrays Jimmy.^[40] Despite Michael's attempts to bond with his son, they have a confused relationship, and Jimmy and his sister have a hateful relationship. In particular, Michael is frustrated by his son's lack of ambition, as Jimmy spends most of his time in his room, getting high and playing videogames. At one point early in the game, Jimmy attempts to sell his father's yacht, however it is then stolen with him inside, and Michael and Franklin are forced to save him.^[60] Later on, Jimmy tricks his father into drinking a spiked beverage, before stealing his car, money, and moving out of the house with his mother and sister.^[57] Later on in the game, Jimmy and Michael start reuniting the family and the family return to their house with Michael, it is then hinted for the rest of the game that Jimmy is attempting to get in shape and may be applying for college.^[59]

Tracey De Santa

Tracey De Santa,^[61] (born Tracey Townley) is the daughter of Michael and Amanda, and the older sister of Jimmy. She is played by Michal Sinnott.^[40] She has a very damaged relationship with the rest of her family; she is often seen arguing with her mother, regularly fighting with her brother, and is constantly bickering to her father, mostly over her efforts to seek fame by hanging out with porn producers and C-list celebrities, as well as her attempt to get on the reality program "Fame or Shame." She is known to have sex with multiple people, and to also take various drugs, much to the disapproval of her father.^[62] Tracey is not seen socializing with her father much in the game; the only time they are seen communicating is when they are angry with each other.^[62][63] After the family returns to the house, Michael gets a call from Tracey, that someone is stalking her, so he helped her find the stalker and kills him, the two then bond afterwards as Michael teaches her the art of denial.

Sinnott intermittently worked on Grand Theft Auto V for three years.^[64]

Floyd Hebert

Floyd Hebert is Wade's cousin and lives in his girlfriend Debra's condo in Vespucci Beach. Jimmy Ray Bennett plays Floyd.^[40] Floyd works as a stevedore, or dockhand at the Port of Los Santos. He is unequivocally shown to be a milquetoast, stuck in a dead end job and in a relationship with a woman who does not appreciate him. He is quite nervous around Trevor, who frequently bullies him, forcing him to assist Trevor in his crimes, and, along with Wade, trashes his girlfriend's apartment. Floyd is quite serious about his relationship, and is worried that he may never get a chance to have a girlfriend again if his current relationship ends. Floyd is perhaps the only decent person and positive role model in the entire game, believing in living an honest life and abstain from vices such as drugs, violence, adultery, corruption, greed, and materialism or any forms of crime. At one point, Trevor bursts in the safehouse to find Debra and Floyd, who are angry at him and each other for his ruining of her apartment and their lives. In a Mexican standoff, Debra pulls out a handgun on Floyd and Trevor; consequently, Floyd pulls a knife on Debra. Having failed to calm them down, Trevor kills him and his girlfriend off-screen. ^[65]

Lazlow

Lazlow is an insecure, ill-mannered, and perverted radio host who has retained work across the Grand Theft Auto rendition of the United States for nearly 30 years, portrayed by Lazlow Jones.^[40] His first appearance comes in the mission "Fame or Shame", as the host of a talent show Tracey is auditioning for with a sexually suggestive dancing routine. Lazlow incurs the wrath of Trevor and Michael when they witness him participating in the dance. They chase him down and humiliate him by forcing him to remove his pants and dance in his underwear while Trevor video records it on his phone.^[63] The episode heals the rift between Michael and Trevor, but causes conflict between Michael and his daughter.

Lazlow appears later on in the mission "Reuniting the Family" when he agrees to let Tracey back on 'Fame or Shame' in exchange for sexual favours. Michael overhears this and assaults Lazlow, forcibly tattooing a genital on his body and piercing him before cutting off his ponytail. Lazlow initially claims he was assaulted by a deranged fan, but later claims it's his "new look".^[59] He is later seen interviewing a few celebrities at the premier of Michael's new film Meltdown at the Oriental Theater, where he seems to now have a job as an interviewer for Weazel News. Upon seeing Michael, he nervously and hastily retreats inside, pulling the cameraman along with him.^[53] Lazlow also co-hosts the show Chattersphere on the radio station West Coast Talk Radio. He bemoans his fall from fame, and expresses disgust at the only roles available to him, which he considers to be beneath him, but nevertheless accepts because he is desperate to cling onto his media profile. He claims to be a member of the liberal media, but repeatedly contradicts himself on-air before breaking down in front of his co-host. He also spends much of the show punching holes in the liberal facade the city's upper and upper-middle class wear, mentioning that they have one of the worst carbon footprints in the world and yet no one wants to sacrifice their luxury to do anything about it.

Other characters

Characters from previous games in the series return in Grand Theft Auto V, including Packie McReary, Johnny Klebitz, Ashley Butler, Rocco Pelosi, the U.L.P. Contact and Michelle/Karen, all from Grand Theft Auto IV or its episodes The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.

Character	Actor	Details
Simeon Yetarian	Demosthenes Chrysan[40]	Simeon Yetarian[23] is an Armenian car dealer, and Franklin and Lamar's employer. He owns a car dealership which acts as a front for a loan shark and extortion businesses. Whenever people call him on his crooked ways, he accuses them of being racist. Simeon's dealership sells cars to people who can't afford them and when they default on the payments, Franklin repossesses the cars. After Franklin is forced by Michael to drive a car through the front window of the dealership, Simeon fires him.[66]
Martin Madrazo	Alfredo Huereca	Martin Madrazo is the leader of one of the most ruthless Mexican narcotic gang in the Los Santos area. Madrazo has a fearsome reputation, with several attempts to indict him being shut down after all of the witnesses disappeared. He first appears after Michael and Franklin pull down his mistress Natalia's deck, which a tennis coach who had been cheating with Michael's wife, Amanda, had been hiding on. Martin is often described as a psychopath because of his short temper, and ruthless methods of dealing with people who go against him. Despite this, he shows gratitude to Michael when he paid for the house and despite their rocky beginnings, Martin trusted Michael enough to employ him. Martin also seems to respect people who respect him back as seen in GTA Online, where he will be friendly towards the protagonist and call him his friend if the job he gave was completed successfully. Not doing a job for Martin in GTA Online for a period of time will result in angry phone calls from him.
Molly Schultz	Elizabeth Mason[40]	Molly Schultz is the Senior Vice President of Devin Weston Holdings and Weston's General Counsel.[67] She is a serious and humorless professional who often acts as Weston's representative when dealing with Michael, Franklin, and Trevor. Molly is a devout follower of Devin and may be in love with him, resulting her in following his orders without question, which Franklin calls her out on.[52][68] When Weston attempts to shut down Richards Majestic Studios, Molly takes a film reel containing Solomon's latest movie and heads to the airport. Michael, who is the movie's executive producer, gives chase. After an intense pursuit, Molly crashes her car and runs into the path of a jet engine, in which she is sucked into and killed. Weston later blames Michael on her death and sends Merryweather personnel in a failed bid to kill Michael's family.
Rocco Pelosi	Greg Siff[40]	Rocco Pelosi previously appeared as the secondary antagonist of The Ballad of Gay Tony. Rocco returns in this game where it is revealed he moved to Los Santos after the events of The Ballad of Gay Tony and became a corrupt talent agent who agreed to do work for Solomon Richards, and convinced an actor and his manager to stall and negotiate a new contract. Solomon employs Michael to beat up Rocco and return them to set. He is later killed by Michael for beating up Solomon in revenge for the earlier incident.
O'Neil Brothers	Joe Curnutte (Dale O'Neil) Matt Carlson (Elwood O'Neil)[40]	The O'Neil Brothers are composed of nine inbred redneck brothers that specialize in meth distribution. Trevor goes to war with them when he learns that the Triads will be buying meth from them instead of his organization Trevor Philips Industries. After Trevor burns down their ranch,[55] they attempt to seek revenge. However, they are soon tracked down and killed by Trevor, Michael and Franklin.[69]
Denise Clinton	Janet Hubert[40]	Denise Clinton is Franklin Clinton's selfish aunt. Denise has a very cold relationship with Franklin; she refers to him as the "one mistake" her sister ever made. She is identified as a "new age feminist," and is seen on multiple occasions leading "spirit walks" with her friends, which involves chanting feminist phrases during cardio exercises.
Chop	N/A	Chop is Franklin and Lamar's pet Rottweiler. Although nominally Lamar's dog, Franklin agrees to take care of Chop after a mission, and Lamar does not reclaim him when Franklin moves to Vinewood Hills. He can be taken for walks, and can attack enemies when told to. He occasionally accompanies Franklin on missions.[70] Chop's known to be very loyal to Franklin. When Franklin throws a ball, Chop will run for it. His behavior can be controlled with the iFruit App. If his happiness is low, he'll be upset and won't perform any tricks. If his happiness is high, he'll behave really well. When Franklin approaches him, he'll bark because he wants attention. When Chop's able to perform a trick, he sometimes won't listen and Franklin will demand him to listen again.
Debra	Claire Byrnes[40]	Debra is Floyd Hebert's girlfriend. She is a lawyer who is frequently abroad and thus has a rather strained relationship with her beau. Debra appears to be lovers with an associate called Bob. When Debra meets Trevor after seeing her ruined apartment, she threatens both him and Floyd with her pistol, with Floyd threatening her with a kitchen knife while Trevor tries to calm them down. As he fails to calm them down, Trevor then begins killing them off-screen.
Isiah Friedlander	Bryan Scott Johnson[40]	Dr. Isiah Friedlander is Michael's therapist,[71] and can be visited for appointments in any time during the game. At one point near the end of the game, Michael, his wife, his son and his daughter all visit Dr. Friedlander for a therapy session, which he does not say anything during.[59] It is clear that he makes patients pay too much for their session with him, for very unsuccessful results. Michael has the choice to let Friedlander go or chase and kill him during the last shrink visit. If you let Dr. Friedlander go, the news about his death will still appear. However, after some time, Friedlander will send an e-mail to Michael, confirming that he is alive. In the e-mail, Friedlander explains how sorry he is about what he did to Michael, but how he can now help more people with his new radio program and TV show. He also says that he values the time spent with Michael and that they should both forget what happened between them and move forward. Michael has the option of replying to the e-mail; if so, he states that if he were to meet Friedlander again, he would kill him.
Brad Snider	Ryan Woodle[40]	Bradley "Brad" Snider was a friend of Trevor and Michael. He often participated in many of the heists that Trevor and Michael pulled off, including the heist in North Yankton that went wrong; Michael and Brad were shot.[42][43] Michael was believed to be dead by many, including Trevor, following the heist, while Brad was believed to be in jail, while in reality he died. Nine years after his death, Trevor, after uncovering Michael's secret ventures to find out who was buried in Michael's place in his grave; he finds Brad.[44]
Johnny Klebitz	Scott Hill[40]	Jonathan "Johnny" Klebitz, who previously appeared as the main protagonist of The Lost and Damned, returns in Grand Theft Auto V. He evidently takes methamphetamine, and at one point in the game, he gets angry at Trevor, who is having sex with Ashley Butler, whom Johnny admits that he still loves. Trevor reacts to Johnny's protest by murdering him in a fit of rage, which then begins a war between Trevor and the Lost MC.[72]
Jay Norris	David Cope[40]	Jay Norris is the founder and CEO of Lifeinvader, Jay Norris invented Lifeinvader in his parents' house in East Carraway and later made a fortune off selling the personal information of over a billion people who used Lifeinvader to corporations and the government. In the mission Friend Request, under orders by Lester Crest, Michael De Santa plants a device in the prototype phone Norris was to present later in the day. As Norris unveils the phone, Michael calls it from his home which activates the explosive in Lester's device, blowing up the phone and killing Norris. He is possibly modelled on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Andreas Sanchez	Abdel Gonzalez[40]	Andreas Sanchez works for the Federal Investigation Bureau, acting as the right-hand man of highly decorated and corrupt FIB agent Steve Haines, often being seen with him during meetings with Michael De Santa and Dave Norton. Later on, during Haines' confrontation with Michael and Dave during the event's of the mission The Wrap Up, Sanchez is forced to arrest De Santa and Norton through orders of Steve Haines, however before he arrests them, Norton points a gun at Sanchez. Suddenly a rival FIB team (possibly the FIB counterpart of the real FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility) appears and it is revealed that Sanchez had been secretly working with them and passing them information about Haines' criminal activities. IAA agents and Merryweather mercenaries also appear, enabling a Mexican standoff. During the confrontation, a member of the FIB team shoots Haines in the leg. Haines then shoots Sanchez in the head, killing him instantly. Following the shootout, Dave tells Michael that they can pin most of the blame on Sanchez.

References

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24. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "The Time's Come"; Option B: Kill Michael)
25. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "The Third Way"; Option C: Deathwish)
26. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Franklin and Lamar")
27. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Repossession")
28. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "The Jewel Store Job")
29. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "The Merryweather Heist")
30. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "The Paleto Score")
31. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "The Long Stretch")
32. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Hood Safari")
33. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Lamar Down")
34. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "The Big Score")
35. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Something Sensible"; Option A: Kill Trevor)
36. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Mrs. Phillips")
37. Shuman, Sid (28 June 2013). "Grand Theft Auto V: What We Know". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
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39. Trevor breaks into Michael's grave, and finds the corpse of Brad. Trevor: "As if I didn't know... Brad." Michael: "Look, we do what we got to do to survive. This thing, it didn't work out the way it was supposed to." Rockstar North (17 September 2013). Grand Theft Auto V. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Rockstar Games. Level/area: "Bury the Hatchet".
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42. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Friend Request")
43. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Prologue")
44. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Bury the Hatchet")
45. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "The Wrap Up")
46. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "By the Book")
47. "Game Informer". Game Informer (36): 98 pages. December 2012.
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49. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Friends Reunited")
50. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Mr. Richards")
51. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "The Ballad of Rocco")
52. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Legal Trouble")
53. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Meltdown")
54. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Trevor Philips Industries")
55. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Crystal Maze")
56. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Fresh Meat")
57. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Did Somebody Say Yoga?")
58. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "The Good Husband")
59. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Reuniting the Family")
60. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Father/Son")
61. R* Q (4 July 2013). "Original Grand Theft Auto V Artwork: Friends. And Family.". Rockstar Games. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
62. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Daddy's Little Girl")
63. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Fame or Shame")
64. Coughlin, Erin (16 October 2014). "Actress Michal Sinnott of Every. Drop. Counts. and GTAV Interview". ThriveWire. Arkleus Broadcasting. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
65. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Hang Ten")
66. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Complications")
67. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "I Fought the Law")
68. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Pack Man")
69. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Predator")
70. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Chop")
71. "Affordable Healthcare". Rockstar Games. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
72. Grand Theft Auto V (Mission: "Mr. Philips")

Sources

• Rockstar North (17 September 2013). Grand Theft Auto V. PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. Rockstar Games.

External links

• Characters in GTA V article on Grand Theft Wiki