History Characters / GrandTheftAutoIII

* AscendedFanon: Officially, Claude's name wasn't made canon until ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. Prior to this, "Claude" was unnamed as he was designed as an AudienceSurrogate for the player to project themselves onto. However, he was given "Claude" as a FanNickname due to his resemblance to Claude Speed, ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoII''; with some believing they were meant to be (at least two versions) of the same character.

* BenevolentBoss: To Claude.

* BrotherSisterTeam: Downplayed. She and Kenji are on good terms, but they appear to be independent in doing their job.

* {{Flanderization}}: In ''GTA III'', she is for the most part just a drug kingpin with ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, aside from a few crazier moments. In ''San Andreas'', she is a complete psychopath who changes mood within a few minutes and makes a lot of references to torture and even cannibalism. Justified, being the drug kingpin for her cartel (and the sole distributor of SPANK) meant that she needed to keep her own psychotic impulses in check to rule effectively.

* HateSink: In ''San Andreas'', at least. She's clearly not meant to be likable in the game due to her attitude.

* RiddleForTheAges: How she became the leader of the Columbian Cartel after spending years as part of an OutlawCouple with Claude is never explained.

* VillainProtagonist: He's the PlayerCharacter of a ''Grand Theft Auto'' game, so this is a given. He wantonly steals cars, assaults people, murders, blows things up, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking has sex with hookers]]. He has no loyalty to anyone and is willing to kill even his former bosses should they slight him.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Why Claude never talks is never explained, though given that he's completely silent, even when on fire or shot, it's very possible that Claude physically can't speak. Or perhaps, he has a neurodevelopmental condition.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: While there's no doubt that Claude ''is'' a VillainProtagonist, the fact he never speaks or expresses much personality makes him rather hard to read. It's unclear if Claude has any loyalty or friendship with associates, as he certainly has no issues killing former bosses (though when he does, it's notably those who betray or slight him); and notably he keeps Asuka in the dark about her brother's death, ostensibly to help eachother fight Catalina's cartel. Though given Claude's status as an AudienceSurrogate, it seems any personality can be projected onto Claude by the player.
* AntiHero: Of the NominalHero type-he's an unrepetant criminal, but so are all of his enemies.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Claude's defining trait. Claude will turn on ''anyone'' as long as there's money to be made. JustifiedTrope since his long-time lover and confidant, Catalina, did the exact same thing to him. [[spoiler:Salvatore Leone does the same thing to him as well, only Claude gets a warning first. And King Courtney tries it too. Let's face it, by the end of the game, Claude would [[ProperlyParanoid have trouble trusting anyone not to turn on him]], so why not turn on them first?]]
* DragonInChief: Claude is a pretty effective enforcer for his bosses, be it Salvatore Leone, the Kasen's or Donald Love. However it's implied that Claude is using them more as a means to his own ends than the other way around, such as helping Donald Love start a war between the Yakuza and the Cartel. He also has a tendency to turn against and kill some of his bosses. When Asuka learns of Claude's history and vendetta towards Catalina, it becomes more like the Yakuza are helping Claude in his fight than the other way around.

* HandicappedBadass: Claude is seemingly mute, and is still able to conquer the Liberty City underworld in a very short timespan, form associations with the Yakuza and kill Catalina, who is the leader of a multinational drug cartel.

* HellBentForLeather: Well, his upper attire at least.

* MeaningfulName: Claude is Latin for "lame". ''GTA III'' Claude is a mute.

* MythologyGag: He's almost identical to "Claude Speed" of the ''Grand Theft Auto 2'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-9NtgpNg4E intro]]. While no official statement has been made, the prevailing opinion in the fandom is that he's the same. This would be inconsistent however, since Claude Speed was in his late twenties during ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoII'', which is stated to take place in 2013. This would mean that this Claude was 7 at the time ''San Andreas'' takes place, and 16 when ''GTA III'' does. There's also the fact that ''[=GTA 2=]'' takes place in the 2D Universe while ''GTA III'' takes place in the 3D Universe. Then again, some characters (mostly background characters) in ''GTA'' games tend to have counterparts in multiple universes, most notably Lazlow, who has a counterpart in the 3D and HD Universes. Then again, some sources say that ''[=GTA 2=]'' takes place in 1999... If it's really 1999, then Claude's 29-31 in ''III'', and his ChronicBackstabbingDisorder has been exaggerated, such as he backstabbed ''two'' Yakuza gangs throughout his lifetime.

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: One of his main motivations, as evidenced by his willingness to betray former partners.

* {{Revenge}}: His primary motivation along with [[OnlyInItForTheMoney money.]]

* SilentProtagonist: The implication is that he genuinely lacks the ability to verbalize. This may or may not be {{Fanon}}, though, due to the only "evidence" being CJ accusing him of being a mute in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. If true, however, it may be an AscendedMeme.

* VillainProtagonist: He's the PlayerCharacter of a ''Grand Theft Auto'' game, so this is a given. He wantonly steals cars, assaults people, murders, blows things up, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking has sex with hookers]]. He also betrays most everyone for money, which makes him no better than the people who betray him.

* DragonLady: Has shades of this. Is coupled with EvilIsSexy and plenty of LesYay.

* AffablyEvil: Very friendly, very polite, and one of the few people who won't ever betray Claude [[spoiler:(In fact, Claude betrays ''her'' when he murders her brother Kenji, and she never learns the truth)]]. Still a ruthless Yakuza boss.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Belittles Claude constantly for his Gajin heritage. Becomes a case of TheDogBitesBack when [[spoiler:Claude betrays him]].

* AmbiguousDisorder: Why Claude never talks is never explained, though given that he's completely silent, even when on fire or shot, it's very possible that Claude physically can't speak.

* SociopathicHero: Or VillainProtagonist. At face value, Claude is among the most ruthless and cold blooded protagonists of the series. if he has any kind of loyalty towards his associates or allies, he certainly doesn't show it. He has no issues killing for profit, and lets Miguel be tortured by Asuka, who falsely believes the Cartel killed her brother (who was killed by Claude himself to help frame the Cartel). With that said, Claude's betrayals are often towards those who betray and try to kill him (such as Salvatore) or even verbally belittle him (such as Kenzi). While he does have a PetTheDog moment is rescuing Maria, the AmbiguousSituation on if he killed or not makes things a little murky.

* OneManArmy: Near single handedly orchestrates and wins a war against the Columbian Cartel.

* AscendedExtra: In ''III'', [=McAffrey=] only appears in a single mission where not only does he not speak, but Ray orders Claude to take him out. In ''LCS'', he has a much larger role.

->'''Voiced by:''' N/A

* AffablyEvil: Very friendly, very polite, and one of the few people who won't ever betray Claude [[spoiler:(In fact, Claude betrays ''her'' when he murders her brother Kenji, and she never earns the truth)]]. Still a ruthless Yakuza boss.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: She is very willing to turn on anyone as soon as [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they stop being useful to her]]. First, she ditches CJ for Claude. Next, she shoots Claude during their bank heist to take all the money for herself. When Claude catches up with her and Miguel, she shoots Miguel and ditches him to save herself. Finally, when Claude brings her the ransom money in exchange for Maria's life, Catalina takes the money and orders her men to kill him while also lampshading that she's "not to be trusted".

* {{Flanderization}}: In ''GTA III'', she is for the most part just a drug kingpin with ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, aside from a few crazier moments. In ''San Andreas'', she is a complete psychopath who changes mood within a few minutes and makes a lot of references to torture and even cannibalism.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Has a tendency to kill those who have betrayed or mistreated him (albeit at the behest of someone else in some cases) examples include [[spoiler:Salvatore Leone or Kenji Kasen, which would explain why he has no problem killing them. Another noteworthy example is coldly leaving Miguel to be tortured by Asuka for his part in Catalina's betrayal. And finally there's his killing of Catalina herself.]] Lesson learned, do not cross Claude.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: She is the victim of this at the end of ''Grand Theft Auto III'', and in Catalina's case, it's more like "Kick the Bitch".

* PermanentlyMissableContent: [[spoiler:If you complete the above mission before finishing Kenji's mission strand, his missions are gone for good.]]

* {{Yakuza}}: co-leader of Yakuza along with his sister Asuka.

* YouHaveOutLivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Fond of pulling this. Though hasn't ended up dead despite failing to follow through.]]

* HeroicMime: The implication is that he genuinely lacks the ability to verbalize. This may or may not be {{Fanon}}, though, due to the only "evidence" being CJ accusing him of being a mute in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. If true, however, it may be an AscendedMeme.

* AudienceSurrogate: According to WordOfGod, the reason why Claude had no name, voice or any real character is because he was designed to be just an avatar for the player, and thus the player would project themselves onto him. Notably, Claude didn't get his name canonized until ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', and even that's considered a case of AscendedFanon; "Claude" started out as a FanNickname due to his resemblance to "Claude Speed" of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoII'' - with some believing them the same character.

A [[DirtyCop corrupt LCPD officer]] with connections to several gangs.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Maria swoons when she discovers that Asuka has a massager. Asuka lets her know that's not a massager.

* GoodCopBadCop: When he was paired with McAffrey, he used to be a honest cop.