Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Grand Theft Auto

Go To

    open/close all folders 

3D Universe

The 3D Universe refers to six Grand Theft Auto games, grouped together because they have interlinking characters, locations and storylines. This is also known as the second generation of GTA games released from 2001 to 2006. For characters appearing on the in-game radio stations, see the GTA Radio page.

Debuted in Grand Theft Auto III

So many that there's its own page here.

Debuted in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

So many that it has its own page here.

Debuted in Grand Theft Auto Advance

    Mike 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mike-001_6114.jpg

The main character in Grand Theft Auto Advance. He starts out working with his friend Vinnie to leave Liberty City, and retire from mob life, however, when Vinnie is apparently killed, Mike is pulled back in. He works for several criminal sources to find out the truth behind Vinnie's death.


  • Broken Pedestal: Vinnie is eventually revealed to have faked his death in order to not only escape the criminal life alone but also leave with Mike's half of the money.
  • Expy: Due to a lack of character development, he is a lot like Claude.
  • I Owe You My Life: Mike was saved by Vinnie from a life living homeless on the streets.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door
  • Revenge: His primary motivation is to find the people behind Vinnie's death.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At the end of the game, he flees by plane to Colombia and finally leaves his life of crime behind him.
  • The Stoic: Justified given the top down view of the game. Only time we see his face is in an illustration. The juxtaposition of his unchanging serious face paired with dialogue like "OH MY GOD! VINNIE! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" ends up being unintentionally funny.
  • Undying Loyalty: To Vinnie, which drives him to find his killer against the odds. Which makes Vinnie's betrayal all the more unexpected and devastating.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Pretty much everyone uses him for their own gains. Though Mike is turn is using them to find out the truth. It eventually turns out even Vinnie was using him the whole time.

    Vinnie 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vinnie-gtaa_1720.jpg

Mike's friend and partner. They worked together in the mafia, and decide to retire from the Mob life. Before they do, Vinnie is apparently killed by a car bomb. Mike decides to find out the truth and continues to work for the Liberty City Underworld. It's later revealed that he faked his death, but when he found out Mike was looking for him, he decided to personally kill Mike himself.


  • Big Bad Ensemble: He forms the game's two major antagonists with King Courtney. After faking his death, he becomes much harsher towards Mike.
  • Faking the Dead: He faked his death to avoid having to share his money with Mike.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: After everything Mike does for him, what does he do? He fakes his own death and wants Mike dead when the story shifts to Shoreside Vale.
  • Walking Spoiler

Debuted in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

So many that it has its own page here.

Debuted in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

So many that it has its own page here.

Debuted in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

So many that there's its own page here.

HD Universe

The HD Universe is the third canonical universe of Grand Theft Auto series, after the 2D Universe and the 3D universe.

The HD universe was introduced in 2008 with the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, and is named for the high definition graphics the game featured. The game was followed by two DLC packs called The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, both of which occur in the same time frame as GTA IV, and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, which is set one year later with a stand-alone story; all games were released in 2009.

The universe was known as the GTA IV Era until the announcement of Grand Theft Auto V, which revealed that games within the series are set in different universe based on their graphics (2D, 3D and HD), contrary to the previous belief that each "numbered" title started a new era.

Debuted in Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, and Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony

So many that it has its own page here.

Debuted in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

    Huang Lee 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ctw_huanglee-artwork_1465.jpg

The main character of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and one of the more intelligent GTA protagonists. He starts out relatively naive and expects to be treated well, but instead ends up working for his uncle for a while, and it all goes uphill from there.


  • Another Side, Another Story: For the Grand Theft Auto IV era as a whole. His story arc is around a year after Niko's, Johnny's, and Luis', and doesn't intersect with them in the way they do with each other.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He is the snarkiest GTA protagonist hands down. Half of his dialogue is an insult of some kind.
  • Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: Averted. Huang is clearly disgruntled being a glorified errand boy for his superiors. It doesn't help that he's forced to kill two of his comrades for betraying the gang, before learning that said comrades were framed by Kenny. He doesn't feel that good with the Triad lifestyle.
  • Jade-Colored Glasses: As the game progresses, he wears these more and more often.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Due to his sprite having rather limited detail, different clothing options would be pointless.
  • Non-Idle Rich: Stated multiple times to be a spoiled rich kid, if only before his appearance in Chinatown Wars. He also has a short criminal record (trademark counterfeiting in 2002, grand theft auto in 2005).
  • No-Respect Guy: For the Triads. Despite doing everyone's dirty work promptly and efficiently he gets absoultely no recognition for it.
  • Only Sane Man: Due in no small part to his bosses throughout the game.
  • Perpetual Frowner: It's somewhat rare for him to crack a smile.
  • The Triads and the Tongs: Most missions revolve around this, and Huang is stated multiple times to be a Triad.
  • You Killed My Father: His initial reason for flying to Liberty City.

    Wu "Kenny" Lee 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wulee_artwork.png

Huang's uncle, and the leader of Lee Family.


  • Ambition Is Evil: His desire to become leader of the Liberty City Triads leads him to to kill his brother, manipulate his nephew, and frame two of his fellow gangsters for betrayal.
  • Big Bad: Revealed to be this to Chinatown Wars.
  • Cain and Abel: To his brother, who was Huang's father. Huang's father was the most promising candidate to succeed Hsin Jaoming, so Kenny killed him.
  • Evil All Along: While nobody in this story is purely good, Kenny is this as he's revealed to be behind the death of Huang's father and has been lying to Huang all along.
  • Evil Uncle: He killed Huang's father, then manipulated Huang into helping him take over the Triads.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Despite his harsh attitude, he does appear to care about Huang, doing his best to teach him Triad values and praising him whenever he accomplishes something for the gang. Then it's revealed that he orchestrated the death of Huang's father and has been manipulating Huang in a bid to replace Hsin Jaoming as head of the Liberty City Triads. Once his treachery is revealed, he immediately tries to kill Huang.
  • Meaningful Name: Wu Lee is a Chinese homophone of "the fox". This illustrates his true nature.
  • Speak Ill of the Dead: Insults his dead brother from time to time. There's a very good reason for this.
  • Treacherous Advisor: Kenny is revealed to be this at the end, as he convinced Hsin that Chan and Zhou were traitors so that he would have no competition in the race to succeed Hsin.
  • Villainous Breakdown: In the final mission "Salt in the Wound", he suffers from this when Huang and Wade Heston find out he's behind the events of the game. He tries to escape from them and attack Hsin, only to be killed by Huang.

    Hsin Jaoming 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hsinjaoming_artwork.png

The elderly head of Jaoming Family and the leader of Liberty City Triads.


  • Big Bad: Subverted. Despite being the leader of the Triads he's nothing more than an Unwitting Pawn for Kenny.
  • The Don: For the Liberty City branch of the Triads.
  • Evil Old Folks: He's in his 70s and he's still working as the Triad leader.
  • Grumpy Old Man: He's rather stern and condescending in his interactions with Huang. Given that he has to deal with Chan and Zhou, it's quite understandable.
  • Offing the Offspring: Ordered Huang to kill his own son after being shown an FIB report of him and Zhao. Turns out it's Kenny's doing.
  • Sophisticated as Hell: While his manner of speech is rather formal for the most part, he's not afraid of using some salty language here and there.
  • Taking the Bullet: Stabbed by Kenny using his Yu Jian before Huang kills him. Hsin doesnn't die however-at least not on-screen.
  • Uncertain Doom: He's still alive at the end of the game, but he's been gravely wounded and it's unclear if he'll survive much longer.

    Ling Shan 

The Lee Family's Master of Arms.


  • Advertised Extra: Despite being featured prominently in the game's marketing, including her own character poster, she only appears in the first 30 minutes of the game before being abruptly killed off.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Her: Though the game sets her up as an important character and even a possible love interest for Huang Lee, she gets shot dead by a faceless grunt without any fanfare.
  • Faux Action Girl: Despite being the Lee Family's Master of Arms and shown in advertising to be a formidable martial artist, she gets unceremoniously killed by one of the many faceless grunts that Huang Lee could kill by the dozens.

    Chan Jaoming 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jaoming_gtacw_artwork.png

Hsin Jaomin's hedonistic, scatterbrained son.


  • Addled Addict: He's almost always strung out on some illegal substance.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: He may be an absolute jackass, but his frantic attempts to dissuade Huang from killing him is hard to watch. It's made even worse when you realize that his so-called betrayal was nothing but a lie cooked up by Kenny.
  • Co-Dragons: With Zhou Ming.
  • Creepy Crossdresser: More than once, the player catches him in women's clothing.
  • Fall Guy: Kenny presents evidence than Chan is a snitch for the FIB and has Huang kill him, but it later turns out that Kenny was the real snitch.
  • Fat Bastard: He's overweight and an unrepetant gangster.
  • Fat Idiot: He's not the sharpest tool in the shed, to put it lightly.
  • Fat and Skinny:
    • Fat to Zhou Ming's Skinny.
    • Also, Fat to Huang Lee's skinny.
  • Inadequate Inheritor: The reason why Hsin is looking for a successor is because Chan is too stupid for the job.
  • Nepotism: It's implied that the only reason the Triads haven't kicked him out is because his father is The Don for the Liberty City branch.
  • Never My Fault:
    • One mission has you helping Chan win a street race by sabotaging the other racers. When this gets him kidnapped in the next mission, he blames Huang for sabotaging the race, despite the fact that Huang did it on his orders.
    • Another mission from Chan has him agree to meet with known enemies of the Triads. Shockingly, it turns out to be a trap, and Huang pulls him out of the mess. Chan ends up blaming Huang for the whole ordeal to his father.
  • Psychopathic Manchild: He's in his 40s, but acts like an irresponsible teenager. Even Lance Vance looks like a paragon of maturity compared to him.
  • Sarcasm-Blind: Huang's snarking always ends up going over his head.

    Zhou Ming 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zhouming_artwork.png

Hsin's arrogant and Ax-Crazy lieutenant.


  • Alas, Poor Villain: Like Chan, he desperately protests his innocence before being killed.
  • Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Zhou is an arrogant and selfish guy, even if he's loyal to his gang.
  • Ax-Crazy: He cuts out Uri's heart with his dagger. Uri may have been a snitch, but it's still hard to swallow.
  • Big "NO!": Lets one out as Huang shoots his helicopter down.
  • Co-Dragons: With Chan.
  • Expy: Of Ray Boccino from the previous game. Both are Jerkass subordinates to a crime boss who end up getting killed by the protagonist on the boss's orders for being suspected of being a rat.
  • Fat and Skinny: He is skinny to Chan's fat.
  • Flunky Boss: You have to fight off his mooks while he shoots at you with his helicopter.
  • Hellish Copter: He dies when Huang shoots his chopper down.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: When Huang accuses him of being a snitch, he points out that as one of the candidates to succeed Hsin, he has no reason to betray the gang.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In a game full of jerkasses, he's one of the standout examples. Despite this and his extreme smugness, he's loyal to his gang and even develops some grudging respect for Huang.
  • Narcissist To almost unbelievable degrees. At one point he outright compares himself to Jesus and mentions he's tried walking on water.
  • Pet the Dog: Despite his arrogant and sometimes psychotic behavior, he does occasionally show some grudging respect for Huang from time to time.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: His debut mission is named "Stealing the Show" where he asks Huang to work for him, considering Chan being Too Dumb to Live.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: He eventually develops this kind of relationship with Huang until he's accused of being a snitch.

    Wade Heston 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heston.png

An undercover LCPD Detective, becomes a friend and an ally of Huang Lee.


    Lester Leroc 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lesterlerocartwork_gtacw.png

A private investigator that Hsin Jaoming hired to discover if an FIB informant is connected to the Angels of Death.


  • Affably Evil: In a game full of jerkasses, he's easily the nicest person Huang meets during his quest.
  • All for Nothing: There is no FIB informant within the AOD.
  • Badass Biker: Nope. He's terrible with a motorcycle.
  • Elvis Impersonator: The LCPD's record on him claims that he's "known to frequent Burger Shot restaurants and dress in a 'King of Rock' costume". He also sports a purple version of said costume in his promotional artwork.
  • Fake Ultimate Hero: In relation to the Badass Biker subversion, he had Huang impersonate him to be inducted into the Angels of Death, despite the weight and appearance differences.
  • Fat Bastard: Downplayed with the "bastard" aspect, as he's infiltrating the AOD in search of an FIB informant on behalf of the Triads and is fairly amiable, but he's not lacking in the "fat" department.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Lester's fairly snappy, but he thanks Huang for his help and tells him that he can call him should he need assistance in the near future. He's easily the most amiable person Huang meets throughout the game.
  • Kavorka Man: He somehow manages to hook-up with Meredith, the girlfriend of the AOD's leader.

    Rudy D'Avanzo 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rudy_4.png

A mobster who contacts Huang Lee claiming to know who's the rat that's giving the Triads trouble.


  • Creepy Crossdresser: He's often seen outside a women's clothing store and is seen wearing women's clothing in his last appearance.
  • Freudian Excuse: The LCPD record on him notes that he "hates the Triads after his father was killed in a fish factory explosion", which was suspected to have been the Triads' doing.
  • The Mafia: As to what crime family he belongs to, however, is unknown.
  • Manipulative Bastard: He exploited Huang's desire to find the snitch for his own gain. Hsin had him killed for his deceit.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: He uses some rather racist dialogue when speaking to Huang and outright calls him a gook behind his back.
  • Red Herring: He was feeding Huang bad intel. Rudy lied about Jimmy Capra being the snitch.

Debuted in Grand Theft Auto V

So many that it has its own page here.

Debuted in Grand Theft Auto Online

So many that it has its own page here.


Alternative Title(s): Grand Theft Auto Advance, Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars

Top