Characters / Grand Theft Auto V - Protagonists

This is a partial character sheet for Grand Theft Auto V. Visit here for the main character index. Subjective tropes and audience reactions should go on the YMMV page.

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In General

"The unholy fucking trinity. Ballas beware when these fools rolling together."

—Lamar, "Lamar Down'"

The three playable main protagonists of Grand Theft Auto V, composed of Michael de Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Philips. They all are experienced criminals looking to make scores, which puts them in trouble with the law, other criminals, and those in their close circle.

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• Affably Evil: Even though they're all hardened criminals who enjoy the criminal lifestyle more than other GTA protagonists (we're looking at you, Trevor), they're still nice people (as much as Trevor can be nice... ) in general as long as you don't get in their way or threaten the people they care about.
• AM/FM Characterization: Each of the three main characters has a preferred musical genre that will be reflected in their default choice in radio stations.
  • Franklin likes hip-hop & old-school rap, reflecting his gangbanging lifestyle.
  • Michael tends to listen to classic rock from the '70s and '80s, indie rock & indietronica, which emphasizes his romanticization and knowledge of the past. During the stretch of the game where his family leaves him, he's living in Trevor's trailer and driving a crappy rental car, he listens to classic country. Because country, as Xander Harris taught us, is the music of pain.
  • And Trevor only plays hardcore punk, reflecting his raw, angry and primal nature. In fact, changing the radio to a different station as Trevor will during scripted missions result in him complaining about the music and automatically switching it back to the punk station.
• Anti-Hero: Of the Nominal variety.
• Badass Crew: Mainly in the heists. Lamar sarcastically lampshades it near the end of "Lamar Down".
• Bash Brothers: In "Hood Safari", the heists, and "The Third Way" (if Option C is chosen).
• Caper Crew: The main three form a heist crew along with Lester and other individuals that go from robbing a jewelry store to the setting's equivalent of the Federal Reserve. The Online protagonist can join other players in heists.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character:
  • Both Michael and Trevor make a huge contrast when you compare them with Niko. Unlike Niko, who is a man who wants to get away from violence, both Michael and Trevor are much more enthusiastic in this lifestyle, especially Trevor.
  • Trevor contrasts Johnny Klebitz. Johnny has no intention of removing himself from crime, since it's all he knows, and wanted to expand his operations outside of Liberty City. Trevor loves the criminal life and also wanted to expand his meth/gun operations outside of Los Santos, which includes China and Mexico. They are also extremely loyal to their friends and have a deep hatred for the person for the root of their betrayal (Billy for Johnny, Michael to Trevor) to the point of wanting them dead. Unlike Johnny, Trevor was able to reconcile with Michael despite their issues while Johnny took it upon himself to kill Billy. Guess who ended who?
  • On the other hand, Franklin marks a contrast to Luis Lopez. While Luis wanted to leave this lifestyle to focus on legal business, Franklin wants to be a better kind of criminal.
• Deadpan Snarker: All three of them are prone to making wisecracks at others.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Together, the three protagonists deconstruct the mythology behind several GTA protagonists, as well as the idea behind easy money. Outside of the heists, very few missions offer satisfying rewards, showing how petty, self-destructive and selfish anyone would have to be to behave like a GTA protagonist, along with how ultimately depressing the lifestyle itself is. Eventually, this game does this, showing that getting into this lifestyle will either bring you nothing but pain for years and destroy all your dreams (in the case of Michael) or leave you Lonely at the Top (in the case of Franklin). On the other hand, Trevor's life is shown to be pretty depressing all around, and he only finds enjoyment in it because he's too unhinged to care. The mission "Mrs. Philips" is a reminder of how depressing and sad his life really is behind his Comedic Sociopathy and Cloudcuckoolander behavior. That said, all three protagonists can end up with all of their problems solved, ridiculously rich, and with no real repercussions to their actions... but only because they decided to work for themselves instead of cutting deals with everybody else to survive. Throughout the game, working for petty, pathetic criminals is a thankless and penniless affair. Every job they do for someone else ends with them being ambushed or betrayed. This is highlighted in the non-Deathwish endings, where one of them ends up dead, the remaining two are cast aside as pawns and their clients get the far better end of the deal.
  • However, it's implied in both the Option C ending and in GTA Online that they are aware of the consequences of their criminal lives and decide it's best to leave it entirely. Michael nor Trevor are explicitly shown in Online, but the former has been reported to be inactive and the latter surprisingly "went Vinewood". Franklin does make an appearance in Online, now being head of a music company, married to Tanisha, and having children of his own.
• Foil: The online protagonist works with Agent 14 willingly, who is hinted to be part of another government branch (though he often works with the IAA) while the three main protagonists are forced to work with the FIB, and not happy about it.
• Freudian Trio: Michael acts as the brains for most of the jobs and is the most logical (criminal-wise) and sophisticated, yet hot-tempered and sarcastic, filling his role as the Superego. Trevor is the irrational unhinged berserker with poor impulse control and therefore embodies the Id. Franklin being the calm, sane, and nicest of the trio acts as the buffer between Michael and Trevor, making him the Ego.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: While the game does not make literal use of the trope, the three characters exhibit this dynamic in their special abilities.
  • Franklin is the Thief, because his Bullet Time and improved handling in land vehicles make him the best choice at evading enemies or police attention. Personality wise, he is the youngest, most athletic, and least prestigious of the three, starting as the apprentice to Michael and doing a lot of the grunt work throughout the game. Compared to the arrogant Mage (Michael) and the brash Warrior (Trevor), he is also the most easygoing of the three.
  • Michael is the Mage, because his Bullet Time on foot allows him to eliminate multiple enemies long before they can harm him. Personality wise, Michael is the one with the most associations with (and pretensions to) sophistication, serves as the elegant, wiser strategist of the trio, and has knowledge (of the crime business) as his most valuable asset.
  • Trevor is the Fighter, because his increased damage and durability allows him to attack enemies directly without the need for cover or armor. Personality-wise, Trevor is by far the most straightforward, loud and brash (not to mention the most violent) of the three, and the one who is most comfortable with head-on confrontation. Like most Warriors, he also has an honour code (albeit a very strange, twisted, stretched one) that he values highly.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: At a point, all three protagonists will be hostile with each other. Trevor and Franklin before they meet and after choosing "Kill Michael", Michael and Trevor after the latter finds out the truth behind North Yankton, and Michael and Franklin after choosing "Kill Trevor", and thus activities with each other are unavaliable either a certain point or for the rest of the game.
• Ink-Suit Actor: All three characters are modeled after their respective voice actors.
• Karma Houdini: Due to the Diamond Casino and Resort expansion rendering Ending A and B non-canon, it is safe to assume all our protagonists are these after the game's end.
• Land, Sea, Sky: Michael corresponds to sea, since he does most of the aquatic diving parts and actually went out to sea on his yacht. Franklin to land because he mainly does ground work, stealing cars and having an ability suited to driving. And Trevor to sky because he's a former Air Force pilot and thus does most of the missions involving flight.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Franklin at least tries his best to be the nicest. Trevor is an Ax-Crazy, short-tempered man who bullies others for fun. This leaves Michael as the In Between; not as ruthless as Trevor, but still much more bitter than Franklin.
• Power Trio: Michael, Franklin and Trevor form a Badass Crew, and their interactions are one of the main elements of V's story.
• "Rise and Fall" Gangster Arc: All three of them have elements of it, to some degree. Franklin plays the story the straightest, as he rises from a quiet suburban life to a life of high-rise crime. Michael returns to a life of crime after his family continuously disrespects him. And Trevor wants to cause destruction and chaos for its own sake, though the extra money certainly doesn't hurt. In two of the ending options, all three of them fall as fast as they came up. Franklin has to kill either Michael or Trevor to cover his own ass, and even the one who survives ends up with virtually nothing to show for it. With the Los Santos PD hot on their trail, all their money effectively worthless since they can't buy their way out of trouble, and a wake of bodies behind them, Franklin laments that the lifestyle of a gangster simply wasn't worth it, one way or another.
• Sir Swears Alot: Franklin arguably curses the most by habit, while Micheal and Trevor curse up storms when really riled up.
• Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: Their starting stats reflect their positions at the start of the game.
  • Franklin has the best Driving stat, having prior experience in street racing, and being the youngest and fittest of the three he also has the best Stamina. However, he has the worst Shooting and Stealth of the trio, reflecting his status as a relative newcomer to big crime and lack of experience.
  • Michael, being a Retired Badass and The Strategist, has both the best Shooting and Stealth alongside middling Driving, but the worst Strength by a significant margin.
  • Trevor's Ax-Crazy tendencies translate to him having the best Strength and Shooting not far behind Michael's, but the worst Stamina and Driving. He also has much higher Flying than the other two, owing to his background as a former Air Force pilot.
• True Companions: Despite some bumps in the road, the three ultimately become inseparable friends through-and-through and vow to always have each other's backs. If the Deathwish ending is chosen by the end of the story, Michael texts Franklin to call him his "friend for life". Not to mention that whilst not all is forgiven, Trevor and Michael make amends with each other. When hanging out together, Michael apologizes for all his deceptions and for covering Brad's death, to which Trevor accepts.
• Vigilante Man: The three characters can do acts of vigilantism during random events.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Zigzagged.
  • Because the Online aspect of the game takes place a few months before Story Mode, there's little to no mention of where your character is when the single player campaign is active. Lester does acknowledge their existence, however.
    Lester: I've been working with someone, but they're too unpredictable.
  • The Gunrunning Update moves the events of Online past the events of Story Mode, applying this trope to Michael. Updates since the launch of Online feature Franklin and Trevor, but Michael has yet to appear, although one line of dialogue from Franklin implies Michael is still alive, and still working at the movie studio.

Michael Townley/De Santa

Michael De Santa / Townley

"You know, I've been in this game for a lot of years and I got out alive. If you want my advice — give the shit up."

Voiced by: Ned Luke

"You forget a thousand things every day. Make sure this is one of them."

A middle-aged ex-bank robber currently retired thanks to the deal made with Dave Norton, living in a posh mansion in Rockford Hills (the game's equivalent of Beverly Hills) with his dysfunctional family — disrespectful daughter Tracey, lazy son Jimmy, and spendthrift wife Amanda, whose habits force him to return to a life of crime.

Well, that is the story Michael will tell you, anyway. In truth, Michael is bored and frustrated by his domestic life, with his only outlets being whiskey, watching old Vinewood action movies, and trips to his therapist. He serves as the "brains" and leader of the gang, and is described as a "smooth operator".

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• Abusive Dad: According to Amanda, Michael's father was a drunk who beat Michael. Mike doesn't seem to angst about it at all.
• Acrofatic: He's considerably older and more heavyset than the other two protagonists. But, Michael seems to do most of the legwork during group missions, beats exercising demon Mary-Ann in a footrace, and has the highest initial stamina of the trio.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: If you fail to save Michael from the meat grinder in "Fresh Meat" (or if you just watch the whole thing unfold without doing anything), he'll yell for the Triads to stop the meat grinder at the last second. They don't listen.
• Alas, Poor Villain: If the player decides to kill him, it can be quite sad seeing Michael rant about how he saw Franklin as his son, and it is not hard to see how shocked he is by Franklin's betrayal. Not only that, he was patching things up with his family and got a call from Amanda that their daughter just got into college.
• The Alcoholic: Out of boredom and his depressing family life.
• Alcoholic Parent: To the point where it's quite possible for him to exchange dialogue with Jimmy and Tracey while stumbling around the house.
• Angst: He becomes vocally more cynical and self-pitying as the game progresses and his personal life begins crashing around him. Franklin eventually gets fed up and calls him out for it, pointing out out that that he's been given multiple clean breaks and has friends who are willing to risk their necks to help bail him out of his situation with the FIB with no strings attached, and thus has very little to really complain about.
• Animal Motif: Trevor constantly compares him to a snake for betraying him and for causing Brad's death so he can go into witness protection with his family.
• Anti-Villain: His only "professional" interest is in making a few big scores. He'll kill law enforcement and Merryweather troops, but both agencies are corrupt and his two primary villains are an FIB agent and the partial-owner of Merryweather. Even though he chases Molly down when she steals his movie, he wasn't planning on getting her killed and regrets that she died. The only truly innocent people he kills are at the orders of Steve Haines and Devin Weston. Even when there are witnesses to his heists, he either threatens them or bribes them when it would be easier and safer to kill them.
• Ascended Fanboy: He's a huge geek for Solomon Richards films. When Solomon proceeds to name him Associate Producer after killing Rocco for Meltdown, Michael is positively giddy.
• Awful Wedded Life: To Amanda, with whom he trades curses and screams. They eventually patch things up towards the end of the game. If you play tennis with her, they do admit their marriage may suck, but tennis is a good way to distract themselves.
• Ax-Crazy: While he'll avoid too many casualties, he's very good at hiding it. Split Personality and anger issues aside, he sounds pretty psychotic during random killings.
  Michael: [during random killings] AIN'T THE AMERICAN DREAM GRAND!
• Badass in Distress: After getting kidnapped by the Triad, prompting Franklin to come rescue him.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Due to his more affluent lifestyle compared to the other protagonists, he's most commonly seen in suits. Especially in official art.
• Bad Liar: If it's not specifically the act of lying itself that Micheal sucks at, then it's how he'll try to keep up a lie even when the other party (usually Dave or Trevor) makes it clear that they know he's bullshitting already. Particularly when he follows Trevor all the way back to North Yankton to keep him from digging up "his" grave. He'll drop it with continued prodding.
• Brains and Brawn: The Brains to Trevor's Brawn. Although neither is lacking in either department, Micheal has a better assessment of risk.
• Because I'm Good At It: Subverted. He claims to come out of retirement because he doesn't have any talents except bank robbery. He's only making excuses to jump back into the game so he doesn't have to put up with his fractured and mundane domestic life.
  "Doc, why is it I only ever feel competent with a gun in my hand or a price on my head?"
• Bald of Evil:
  • You can shave Michael's head at any barber shop.
  • He also had a buzz cut in the Prologue that cannot be attained at any barber shop.
• Be Yourself: Deconstructed, Michael is a violent criminal with anger issues but he suppresses his anger for the sake of his family. But in doing so, he's not being honest with them, and his ignorance borders on neglect as Trevor is appalled that he would allow Tracey to be humiliated on television than defend her. Dr. Friedlander points out in his therapy sessions that Michael makes a lot of excuses for himself and is very defensive about who he is, telling Michael that he should take responsibility and be honest with who he is. In the end, Michael does find a way to harmonize with his demons; admitting he's a bad person and utilizing his demons to protect his family.
  Dr. Friedlander: Honesty is an obstacle for you Michael. Have you considered that transparency might be less painful than obfuscation?
• Beard of Evil: You can give Michael a beard at any barber shop.
• Berserk Button:
  • He doesn't really mind that Amanda's cheating on him — in fact, he also cheats on her quite frequently, and both are pretty honest about the fact that their marriage has run its course. What does rile him up is the fact that she had to cheat on him in their house, on their bed, with a guy he is paying to spend time with her.
    "If I have to use a motel, she has to use a motel!"
  • He knows that he isn't the greatest dad in the world, but the second somebody messes with one of his kids, it's a certainty that he's about to deliver an ass kicking.
  • Despite their strained marriage, never show disrespect toward his wife. Fabien learned this the hard way after he tells Amanda that she must pay for his new leotard.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: If you try to have Franklin rescue Michael in the "Kill Michael" ending, Michael headbutts Franklin and falls to his death anyway.
• Big Damn Heroes: He gets a bit of this in "Fresh Meat" despite being the kidnapped one, by shooting someone fixing to stab Franklin.
• Black-and-Gray Morality: He has a very troubled conscience, whether with regards to his criminal life or his domestic life.
• Blood Knight: Subverted. It's suggested by Dr. Friedlander that Mike enjoys killing people attacking him, but Michael says he actually gets the rush from narrowly avoiding death. Killing just happens to come with it.
• Book Ends: The first time Michael meets Fabien he eventually takes a swing at him, only for Fabien to casually throw Michael to the ground (or more accurately into the pool) before walking away with Amanda. The last time Michael meets Fabien he eventually takes another swing at him, leaving Fabien on the ground while Michael walks away with Amanda.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: According to Trevor, he took the "You forget a thousand things every day. Make sure this is one of them." from an old movie.
• Brooklyn Rage: He speaks with an Irish-American accent, and he is a pretty belligerent criminal.
• Bullet Time: His special ability causes time to slow down during a gunfight, Max Payne style.
• Butt-Monkey: Michael has a Dysfunctional Family; a cheating wife, and two bratty children who all give him no end of shit whether he's at fault or not. Throughout the storyline of the game, he gets drugged and robbed by his own son, beaten and threatened by a mob boss, and gets kidnapped/knocked out, undressed and left someplace (in that order) more than once. Although most of what happens to him is his fault, it almost seems that the universe conspires to put him in humiliating and dangerous situations. In other words, Michael just can't take a break.
• Byronic Hero: One of the biggest examples of the franchise. As Michael Townley, his temper issues in high school spoiled his chances in pro football, turning instead to a life of crime, which ended by faking his death and changing his surname to "De Santa". Almost a decade later, the ghosts he had been fighting for years reappear and sink him ever more...
  Dr. Friedlander: And where did these opportunities get you, Michael?
  Michael: They got me right... fucking here! The end of the road! With a big house and a useless kid and I'm stuck talking to you because no one else gives a shit. Oh I'm living the dream, baby, and that dream is fucked! It is... fucking fucked!
  • However, after choosing "Option C" at the end, his life gets better.
• Character Catchphrase:
  • Turns out it isn't a great idea for a career criminal to have a signature catchphrase, but Michael can't resist having one anyway: "You forget a thousand things every day. Make sure this is one of them."
  • "Fuckin' A!" When he does something awesome.
• Character Development: Michael begins the game as a terrible husband and father who betrayed others to save himself. If you choose Ending C, he not only begins to win back the trust of his family, but also rekindles an old friendship.
• Character Tic:
  • Whenever someone talks to him on his right side, he'll shift his body to the direction of that person. While there's no in-universe explanation for this, this is a side-effect of Ned Luke being near-deaf in his right ear. (It is, however, plausibly explained early on in the sting in the prologue, where Trevor shoots the security officer holding Michael from behind in the face, right next to Michael's ear, resulting in hearing damage.)
  • He almost always cracks his neck side-to-side after a switch cutscene. There is a sound effect of his neck joints popping too but it's often impossible to hear from the background noises.
  • When standing idle, he looks impatient and irritable, and frequently looks at his wrist, as though he's checking the time on a watch.
  • If Michael fires a pistol then walk or run, he'll be holding it in both hands, something neither Franklin nor Trevor do.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He can be hard to trust, and his past includes a chain of betraying those close to him. Betraying Trevor and Brad so he could be with his family, only to start cheating on his wife and ignoring his kids. He might continue the trend if the player chooses ending A or keeps using the "services" of Strippers and Prostitutes as Michael after endings A or C. You can actually invoke this yourself if you join Epsilon Program, and betray Cris and his cult, and steal $2,000,000 off of him.
• Chronic Villainy: He's bored by civilian life and cannot come to terms with it, and therefore uses Amanda's spendthrift lifestyle as an excuse for him to return to a life of crime.
• Climbing Climax: The non-canon "Kill Michael" ending concludes with Franklin pursuing Mike up an industrial catwalk, trading gunfire and accusations. Michael eventually topples over the edge and dies.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Niko Bellic. They're both fiercely loyal to their friends and family and wants to leave their life of crime, but will not hesitate to betray people out of safety of their loved ones. With Niko, he doesn't care much about his employers and just works for people just to get by. They are both forced to work with a government agency after being blackmailed by them. With Niko, the I.A.A. honors their end of the bargain and let him leave while the FIB intends to work Michael like a dog to which he is sick of. In the end they are free to end their criminal careers and move on especially true for Michael in ending C.
• Color Motif: Blue, the color most associated with the law, tying into his relationship with the FIB. It also represents his desire to live a calmer life, as well as his status as the cold, calculating brains of the group.
• Cutting Off the Branches: While Online is generally vague about Franklin's final choice, it is confirmed that Ending C and Michael's survival is canon to Online as Tao Cheng recalls nearly dying from Franklin's assassination against his father and in "The Contract", Franklin hopes that "one of the producers" he knows isn't at work while he and the protagonist are brawling against one of the targets right in the middle of the Vinewood lot.
• Deadpan Snarker: Always has some sort of snark or quip about everything. Trevor and Amanda even call him out on this.
• Death Faked for You: How he got to where he is now in Los Santos, courtesy of FIB agent Dave Norton.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Michael represents the GTA protagonist who "won". He has it made and can comfortably retire, but has found life after crime to be boring and wants desperately to get back in "the game".
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Surprisingly, he continues to suffer under this trope even after his return to a life of crime. After he reunites with Trevor, he realizes that his lifestyle is no longer as thrilling as it once was and that it will eventually endanger the lives of his family. Fortunately, he meets Solomon Richards and finds a passion that is just as exciting, but safer for his wellbeing and slightly less illegal: film production. He later settles into a new career as Richards' business partner provided he survives the ending of the game.
• Dirty Coward:
  • How Trevor sees him and his decision to leave the life of crime behind in favor of raising a family, while also pointing out that he thinks more about the trouble he's in than solving it. More so when Trevor discovers that Michael sold him and Brad out in exchange for a new life (although it was at least as much for his family's sake as his own, and Trevor and Brad were not exactly stable individuals). Depending on the ending, he and Trevor may reach an understanding and patch up their friendship, or Michael may betray him again.
  • He actually offers to help the Triads hunt down Trevor together in "Fresh Meat," if they spare him. One wonders if he was serious.
• Disco Dan: Pop culturally, he's stuck in The '80s, preferring standard TV and old school movies to more modern forms of entertainment, something he's often called out for.
• Disney Villain Death: In the Kill Michael ending, Franklin ultimately finishes off Michael by pushing him off of a tower in an industrial complex.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • He catches Amanda's tennis instructor in bed with her. So he chases him down and tears down his house. Except it wasn't his house.
  • For that matter, most of the missions involving Michael's family involve him resorting to extreme levels of vigilante violence to resolve mundane problems. While a lot of this can be chalked up to GTA's phenomenal Video Game Cruelty Potential, the violence neither shocks his family nor (usually) fails missions. At one point he steals a police car to free Amanda from shoplifting charges.
• Distressed Dude: During "Bury the Hatchet", Michael is kidnapped by Wei Cheng as part of the latter's revenge on Trevor and almost got forced into a meat grinder before Franklin rescued him.
• Driven to Suicide: In the Option B ending, Franklin can try to save Michael when he's hanging from the catwalk, but Michael will headbutt Franklin and fall to his death rather than be rescued. The reasons for this could range from knowing he's a dead man walking anyway thanks to Devin Weston and Merryweather Security coming after him, or it could have also been knowing that Franklin, one of his closest friends who he saw as a surrogate son, had betrayed him.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Michael drinks frequently because he's unhappy with his life.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: His life takes the best turn out of all three protagonists if Option C is taken. His dream of being a Vinewood movie producer has come true, and as a result seems to have given up his life of crime for good. His friendship with Trevor is restored (despite him definitely not giving up crime), and his family life is... slightly less dysfunctional. If nothing else, at least Amanda and the kids love him again even if they spend half the time shouting at each other.
• Enemy Mine: His entire partnership with Trevor is this for the whole game. No matter how many times they want to kill each other, they put aside their animosity for one another to accomplish a common goal. Best shown in the events after "Bury the Hatchet" where they become actual enemies but are forced to cooperate in order to rob the Union Depository.
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • The scene where he first speaks his catchphrase, warning the guard to walk away and then bemoaning Trevor's decision to kill him. Doubles as one for Trevor too, since he mocks Michael for his concern.
  • The first scene after the Time Skip, where Michael quickly rants with exposition about his new status quo.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • A lifelong criminal and a ruthless thief, he is the only protagonist who raises objections to killing innocent people and tries to make sure his heists leave as few civilian casualties as possible. He also found Molly's death both nasty and needless.
  • He was also visibly perturbed by the FIB and IAA's treatment of Mr. K, instructing the former to "go easy on him" when they took him into custody.
  • He believes Jimmy went too far in trolling an internet comedian when he learns that said comedian's infant child had serious birth defects.
  • In ending B, he'll kill Trevor alongside Franklin, and tells him that Trevor was simply too dangerous and psychotically violent to live. Mostly as a coping mechanism to justify it.
    Franklin: Man, that was your best fuckin' friend!
    Michael: Fuck you! (screams in catharsis to himself) You know what, tough guy? It's... it's time you grow the fuck up. I admit, I'm a bad piece of work. But that guy? That piece of shit? No boundaries. No sense of when to back off! No nothin'! 24/7 insanity! Day in! Day out! All the time! Never regretted nothin'. Cared for nothin'. Well fuck him! I mean... there's gotta be a limit, kid! Y'know where assholes like us say enough is e-fucking-nough! Human stew! That's my limit. I know that now.
• Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Zigzagged. Michael wants Jimmy and Tracey to have proper, fulfilling careers instead of chasing cheap fame in Vinewood or, God forbid, becoming professional criminals. However, when Jimmy announces that he's given up drug dealing to apply for a real job, Michael is disappointed that he cut off his only source of income.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Michael wears a buzz cut in North Yankton, before changing to longer and more well-maintained hairstyles after moving to Los Santos.
• Fanboy: Michael is a big fan of legendary movie producer Solomon Richards, and jumps at the chance to meet his idol when Devin Weston offers it.
• Fat and Skinny: The mid-life crisis, miserable alcoholic fat to Trevor's meth abusing psychopathic skinny.
• Fat Bastard: Trevor, and initially his family, clearly see him as such.
• Fatal Family Photo: The "Kill Michael" ending hammers this home with a phone call from Amanda: Their daughter got accepted into college. Mike is elated at the prospect of reuniting his family. Franklin, who is preparing to dispose of Mike, keeps his game face on, but has trouble hiding his guilt.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Michael has a Hair-Trigger Temper that gets him into all sorts of trouble. In one of the endings, he's also the cause of his own death because his anger over Franklin stabbing him in the back causes him to fall to his death.
  • Nostalgia and sentimentalism, Michael cannot let go of his past and he jumps at the opportunity to relive his glory days as a master criminal, spouting movie quotes and reveling in the action. However, this causes problems for him in 2 ways. Amanda has to reign him in and remind him that he has a family now and can't endanger them on a whim, resulting in them temporarily splitting up out of fear that Michael was going to hurt them. Secondly, him dropping his favorite movie quote gets Trevor involved in the plot after he recognizes it from a witness being interviewed on the news Michael ran into.
• Final Boss: The "Kill Michael" ending has the player-controlled Franklin engage him in a car chase and shootout for the final confrontation.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: His anger towards his family is because he had to do the worst of things to survive while his children grew up in privilege and became ungrateful about his sacrifices. However, Dr. Friedman states Michael needs to take responsibility for actions and stop justifying them to himself or anyone else.
• Freudian Trio: The Ego, although he has his fair share of flaws and hypocrisies.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He grew up poor and started out as a small-time criminal. He went on to become one of the most infamous bank robbers in the midwestern United States. Michael's reputation was so fearsome that when Dave "killed" him it gave a tremendous boost to the latter's career.
• Gentleman Thief: The most sophisticated of the three criminal protagonists.
• Glory Hound: Deconstructed, Michael was a master criminal but he had to escape the criminal life to protect his family. Ten years later, he's now pining for the glory days and bored with his mundane life, desperately wanting to find an excuse to get back into it. After destroying Martin Madrazzo's home in a fit of anger, he's overwhelmed with his adrenaline and starts emulating his heroes from action movies, spouting cliché one-liners and trying to emulate a charismatic personality. However, Trevor is able to find him after recognizing the quote that Michael had said to a witness, and his "charisma" only causes Dave to roll his eyes and everyone else to be irritated by it. It eventually causes his family to leave him because they believe his behavior is a sign that he's going insane and will eventually get them killed. His attempts at charm also receive the ire of the FIB, who threaten him with all sorts of punishments if he doesn't get back in line.
• Good Is Boring: Although the initial cause of his troubles is due to a mistake with a cartel, he really does want to return to a life of crime. May cross over with Being Good Sucks seeing how his family life has gone down the tubes during his "retirement".
• Grumpy Old Man: Being in his late 40s he's younger than most examples but he goes as far as self-identifying as this. If you pick the rooftop entry during the FIB raid heist Franklin calls him out on his whiny behavior.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Not as pronounced as Trevor, but Michael also tends to fall into an Unstoppable Rage when wronged. He tries to rein this in and first talk things through, but often resorts to violence when it isn't enough.
• Happily Married: In a post-game cutscene, a prostitute propositions him, but he turns her down and says he's happily married now. The player can have him turn right around and change his mind, though. Other cutscenes show him living a much happier domestic life than the start of the game.
• Hates Being Alone: It's made abundantly clear that for all he argues, ignores, and consistently tells his kids to get a job, his family leaving him alone in his empty mansion is a major factor to his angst. If he (optionally) calls Tracey he tells her that her mother left so he needs her at home before she shouts back that she was the one who told Amanda to leave.
• Heel–Face Turn: After being exiled to Blaine Country, he realizes how much of a shitty person he's been to his family and vows to make a real effort into changing his ways. Depending on one of the endings to the game, he may either die trying, goes back to his criminal ways, or succeeds in doing so.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Trevor before he faked his death. If you pick Option C they become this again with Franklin and Lamar.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Michael is one of the most challenging opponents to play against in darts, likely because he has the highest default accuracy of all the protagonists.
  • "Reuniting The Family" shows that he knows how to use a tattoo gun, something he picked up in prison.
• Hot-Blooded: Compared to Trevor, Michael seems well-adjusted. But, especially early on in the game, he has rather poor impulse control. He reintroduces himself as a playable character by forcing Franklin at gunpoint to ram the car they're both in into Simeon's car dealership before beating Simeon himself to a pulp.
• Hypocrite:
  • Berates Amanda for sleeping with strangers, yet the dialogue makes it clear he cheated on her first before the events of the game. To be fair in this case, he's more mad about her sleeping with an instructor he's paying for and doing so in his bed, rather than the act itself.
  • He tells Franklin when the latter first comes looking for criminal advice to give up crime and that it leads nowhere. This despite Michael living in a Big Fancy House funded by his numerous crime sprees and his own desire to return to crime using his family's spending habits as an excuse.
  • He (albeit rightfully) calls out Jimmy for being a Manchild who curses at strangers and spends his days playing a Murder Simulator, but Michael himself swears a lot, participates in violent heists to avoid boredom, and has the impulse control of a 15 year old.
• Hypocrite Has a Point: Michael is correct when he calls out Amanda for cheating on him, even if he was the one who cheated on her first. He also has a point in calling out his son Jimmy for his Manchild behavior, even though he too has shown these tendencies throughout the game.
• Hypocritical Humor: He constantly makes fun of Steve's polo shirts, but one of his default outfits is, yes, a polo shirt.
• Hypocrisy Nod: Whenever Michael is hanging out with Jimmy, if the player stops by a bar, Michael will forbid Jimmy from drinking, as he is one year below the legal drinking age in America. Jimmy will point out that his dad is perfectly fine with committing other crimes, which Michael agrees with and is perfectly fine with living with.
• I Coulda Been a Contender!: Michael was apparently a football player in high school, a good one too, but his injuries and anger issues forced him to turn to crime to survive.
• I Don't Know Mortal Kombat: Sometimes, he will be playing Righteous Slaughter with Jimmy when you switch to him. Despite being a skilled gunman who gets involved in several massive battles during the story, he's apparently very bad at playing first-person shooters, judging by how he rage-quits and storms away after a few seconds.
• In Harm's Way: Dr. Friedlander diagnoses him with an outright addiction to chaos.
• Informed Flaw:
  • Michael is often mocked as being out of shape and overweight by his friends and associates. However, he looks to be in relatively good shape for a man at the cusp of his fifties, starts out with the most stamina out of the three characters, and is often made to do the most physically strenuous parts of missions involving the trio.
  • His alcoholism is often mentioned, but he drinks during a cutscene precisely twice and never during a Random Event. All other times when he drinks, it's because the player made him do it.
  • Other characters, especially Amanda, love pointing out how Michael constantly cheats on his wife with strippers and prostitutes, but outside of completely optional booty calls, and picking up prostitutes, which, again, is completely optional, the only time Michael has any interaction with a prostitute outside the player's control is a switch scene in which he doesn't even go through with it.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Solomon Richards. And on the other side, with Franklin.
• It's All About Me: Several characters call out that Michael is just as selfish and impulsive as Trevor, but with a deluded sense of sophistication. This is most noticeable after he meets Devin. Michael is given the option to walk away from the entire situation, which would also put Trevor and Franklin off the hook, but changes his mind when Devin offers Michael the chance to work with his favorite producer. In the next mission for Devin, Trevor questions Michael's suspicious decision to work for him, but Michael tries to justify it by saying it's all for Franklin's benefit. Franklin himself wants no part of it. So in truth, this is totally about Michael and Michael alone.
• I Was Never Here: His "You forget a thousand things every day. Make sure this is one of them" catchphrase, serving as a threat to would-be witnesses.
• Jaded Washout: He has gone through two rounds of this. In high school he was an all-state quarterback and loved every second of it, and his turn to a life of crime was originally motivated by the bitterness of being unable to continue his football career. Then he found out that he got the same rush from the dangers of crime as he got from being on the football field, and came to enjoy that too, so it was another bitter pill to swallow when he was forced to retire.
• Jerkass Has a Point: When he first meets Franklin he immediately calls Franklin an Extreme Doormat who does what he's told without taking responsibility for agreeing to do it, then abuses this to take revenge on Simeon and get Franklin fired. Franklin's entire story shows just how right Michael is, with only the Golden Ending breaking Franklin out of it.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A ruthless, sarcastic bank robber who would rather avoid collateral damage as much as possible, and while he's not exactly the best husband and father, at least he's aware of it and is consciously trying to set things right, as seen when he gets increasingly exasperated by the numerous problems his family end up getting into.
• Karmic Death: In Ending B, Michael gets killed by a partner-in-crime and someone he considered a close friend. All because Franklin claimed he had no choice if he wanted to save himself. However, subsequent updates to ''GTA Online'' render Endings A and B non-canon.
• Killed Off for Real: If the player chooses Option B. However, the Diamond Casino and Resort and The Contract updates make Ending C the canonical ending of GTA V, as the in the latter update, Franklin mentions that he knows a producer at the Richards Majestic studio.
• Large Ham: Turns into one when he gets upset. His reactions to getting into car accidents are especially hilarious.
  "You fool!"
  "You entitled piece of shit!"
  • His attempt to fake his death was also incredibly hammy, shouting out at the top of his lungs that he's going to bleed out and die, then instantly going limp.
• Lazy Husband: For most of the game, Michael spends his time at home drinking and smoking on the couch or by the pool, much to his wife's dismay. The first scene of him at his home shows him ignoring an argument between Tracey and Amanda in favor of basking in the sun listening to Phil Colins. Once he's back in the game and in his element, he's as active as you would expect.
• Lonely at the Top: One of the defining aspects of his character. He openly tells Franklin not to idealize the life he lives, knowing firsthand the consequences of achieving it.
• Mandatory Unretirement: He is forced back into pulling off heists after destroying a $2.5 million stilt house belonging to Martin Madrazo.
• Manly Facial Hair: If you like, you can give him a large bushy beard, some thick stubble, or a circle goatee. When combined with the right hairstyles, the second and third beards can make him look like Max Payne and Neil McCauley, respectively.
• The Mentor: To Franklin.
• Meta Casting: Michael's VA, Ned Luke had taken a long hiatus from acting prior to working on Grand Theft Auto V, such that it was taking a toll on his personal life. This parallels Michael's own struggles since retiring from a life of crime. An interviewer once remarked on how a personal anecdote from Luke sounded eerily similar to one of Michael's rants in the game.
• Mis-blamed: In-Universe, Amanda blames their failing marriage on his criminal activities; however, it was falling apart long before he got back into the game. Jimmy also admits to Franklin that the only reason he's so hard on his father is so he can blame all of his (non-existent) problems on him.
• Mistaken for Gay:
  • Lazlow thinks he and Trevor are a couple when they encounter him in "Fame or Shame", thinking they're Tracey's two dads. He's still under this impression in "Reuniting the Family".
  • Because he's alone with Trevor at certain points, the Triad believes him to be his lover.
  • Franklin's friends from the "Hood" believe Michael to be an old rich man whom Franklin is providing sexual services to in exchange for money.
• The Movie Buff:
  • Up to the point of (according to Word of God) basing the armored car robbery in the mission "Blitz Play" off a scene he saw in a movie. Lester even makes fun of him for liking films made during the golden age of Vinewood, pointing out that ended over 30 years ago. Ironically, Michael ends up affiliated with Solomon Richards, and ends up producing a film exactly like the ones that were made back then.
  • In the mission "Marriage Counseling", the way he deals with what he thinks is Kyle's house, is lifted directly from '80s film Lethal Weapon 2.
  • This ends up working against Michael during the jewelry heist. He quotes a movie to intimidate a witness, which allows Trevor to identify him as one of the robbers because Michael used it so many times when they committed crimes together.
• My Greatest Failure: Despite his attempts to justify it, Michael is clearly deeply haunted by his betrayal of Trevor and Brad.
  • My Greatest Second Chance: If Ending C is chosen, Michael gets his chance to finally redeem himself by helping Trevor and Franklin kill the FIB and Merryweather agents misled into the Murrieta Heights foundry by Lester. When Trevor asks if they're going to wait for Michael to betray them again, he retorts:
    "Oh, bite me. Ain't nobody getting turned again, and you know that."
• Naked Nutter: Not normally, but he wakes up in his underwear after Jimmy drugs him in "Did Somebody Say Yoga?," so he apparently became one while he was tripping.
• Nice Mean And In Between: The Nice. He's much more bitter and dismissive than Franklin even on a casual day, but he tries to pass himself off as the nicest of the trio and is the most likely to spare a witness rather than kill them. If you're being robbed by the three, he's the one you want to negotiate with.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: He shares parallels with Michael Townley, a real life person under federal witness protection. He was a former CIA operative who was involved in the 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier, a Chilean ambassador. Considering that Michael was on the FIB witness program, the in-universe FBI equivalent (although in this case, being in witness protection was something Michael made up in order to cover up the deal between him and Dave) and throughout storyline he has been involved in agencies of the U.S. government, there is a possibility that those parallels are not mere coincidences.
• Noble Demon: Even as a retired career criminal, Michael makes a point of leaving as little bloodshed as possible in his wake, preferring to bribe or intimidate people into submission rather than outright killing them. He also tends to feel guilty for the deaths he causes, and also suffers a slide into extreme guilt and self-loathing after his family leaves him early in the first Los Santos arc of the game.
• Not So Above It All: While not shown in-game, it's highly implied by both Amanda and Dr. Friedlander that Michael too had quite a bit of infidelity issues in their marriage.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Franklin gives him a speech about how at the end of the day, he's not so different than Trevor; they both have a problem keeping a lid on their emotions when it counts, and they both have a habit of antagonizing powerful forces. If anything, Michael's temper has gotten the crew into more trouble.
  • This is illustrated rather darkly and subtly in Ending A if you stop to pay attention to Michael's words. After Michael makes sure that Trevor is dead, either by his own hand or Franklin's, he goes on a rage fueled rant about how much of a monster Trevor is; citing how the man never cared about anyone, nothing held him back from his 24/7 insanity, and all around had no meaningful standards that gave him any decent sense of restraint. Michael briefly acknowledges that he himself is a piece of work but at least he has a line he can draw in the sand, where he can say that's enough, but the cruel irony is that by killing his best friend Trevor, who is probably the only man who has ever truly understood Michael and was so close that everyone considered him a member of his family Michael has proven that he too is willing to kill literally anyone, albeit for different reasons, making him ultimately not much better than Trevor in the end.
• Nothing Personal: One of the lines he can say when he carjacks a female driver is "Sorry lady. Nothing personal."
• Oh, Crap!:
  • His reaction when he realized that he ended up offending Martin Madrazo and his cartel (and saddled with a $2.5 million debt) by destroying one of their houses, where the tennis instructor whom Amanda cheated on him with hid, and later when Trevor tracks him down on his house.
  • If he accidentally hits Franklin as an NPC with a vehicle (as in Michael being in the player's control), he visibly freaks out and throws a Rapid-Fire "No!".
  • Similar to the above, he's audibly heartbroken if he hits his family.
  • Undergoes a breakdown when Trevor reveals that he kidnapped Madrazo's wife Patricia, putting a price on both their heads and forcing them into hiding.
• One-Man Army: His special ability is bullet time similar to Max Payne, letting him take out mooks faster than Franklin or Trevor.
• Only Sane Man: Of San Andreas, at least in his solo scenes. The game world is positively crammed with nutjobs, and Michael seems to have an unfortunate talent at crossing paths with them all the time. Since these folks include Amanda's loony yoga trainer and especially the Epsilon Program, it's no wonder he's almost constantly wearing a variety of "WTF?" expressions on his face during these encounters.
• Outside-Context Problem: Invoked when Michael decides to kill Stretch at the end of the game. Seeing as though Stretch is Franklin's Arch-Enemy and Trevor had previously been involved in a Ballas shootout with him and Lamar, Michael elects to take down the man himself, so that Franklin doesn't get fingered as a known associate.
• Papa Wolf: He might not be on good terms with his wife or children, but the moment he finds they're in danger, or potential danger, he leaps into action. In one case, he does leap off a pier and swim a couple hundred yards to "rescue" Tracey.
• Parents as People: While Michael's nowhere near being a great dad and is far from being the greatest guy ever, he does try to bond with his kids throughout the game and be a good dad. He's not very good at it, but he tries.
• Parental Hypocrisy: There are numerous lines of dialogue where he'll admit that it's hypocritical of him to give his kids hell for being lazy when he's a murderer and a thief, but he says he can live with it. Taking a hit from Jimmy's bong will also have him berate himself for yelling at his kids for doing drugs, when he gets high himself (and on their stash).
• Parental Neglect: He has a hard time understanding his kids, and therefore he often leaves them to their own devices. A lot of his conversations with Jimmy and Tracey have him lament that he does want to be more involved in their lives, but simply doesn't know how to.
• Parental Sexuality Squick: Inverted. He's understandably disturbed by his daughter's overly sexual dancing, especially when she starts stripping her panties off. When Laslow joins in... that's when he enters Papa Wolf mode instead.
• Past Experience Nightmare: One of the random events that occurs when you switch to Michael has him wake up screaming and frantically waving a pistol around. This carries the implication that his increasingly-stressful home life is causing him to suffer night terrors. The fact that he sleeps the least of the three protagonists (only six hours, compared to Franklin's eight and Trevor's twelve) is probably a factor as well.
• Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: After finally returning home after being exiled from Los Santos, Michael still has an empty house with no one of his family members or house servants present. Then Trevor comes and simply offers his company, but their conversation once again escalates into another bad argument, and Trevor even asked who was even buried in his place. Michael gives a very half-hearted "I don't know" instead of using a past victim from the North Yankton job. Trevor realizes who was buried in Michael's place, and their immediate response finding Brad's body is to pull a gun on each other. Trevor then runs off, forcing Michael in having to defend himself from Wei Cheng's hired assassins to deal with them, getting his keys stolen, and captured. After Franklin bails him out, Michael and Trevor become hostile with each other for the rest of the game until Ending C.
• Prefers Going Barefoot: The player can customize him to be barefooted if they choose to do so.
• The Protagonist: While there are three playable characters, Michael is the one who undergoes the most Character Development and the story by and large revolves around him and the choices he's made in his life.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Basically, Michael behaves less like an adult and more like a teenager. Like a teenager, Michael is temperamental, angsty, self-centered, self-contradictory, self-critical, self-destructive, hypocritical, impatient and sarcastic. The irony is that he's very critical of millennials and he's no different from the generation he criticizes. As an individual, Michael is probably a reflection of how Rockstar sees a good portion of its fanbase.
• Put on a Bus: Although it's explicitly stated in-story that Michael did indeed retire from crime after pulling off "The Big One", working with Solomon Richards, he is neither seen nor mentioned in post-2017 GTA Online updates until The Contract update when Franklin mentions that he knows one of the producers at Richards Majestic, implying that Michael is still working at the film lot as of 2021.
• Rage Quit: He does this (complete with Cluster F-Bomb) when trying to play Jimmy's video game.
• Really Gets Around: He cheats on Amanda with various strippers, Which the player can add to.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers a brutal one to his rival Devin Weston before pushing him off a cliff.
• Retired Badass: Initially, but circumstances in the present day bring him back to a life of crime, letting him kick some ass once more.
• Retired Outlaw: He was once a bank robber, and after the incident in North Yankton, he's relocated to Los Santos, seemingly done with crime. That is until he runs into Franklin, and crosses paths with Trevor again.
• Rich Boredom: Is suffering from this badly by the time he's introduced.
• Riches to Rags: Amanda's spendthrift habits as well as demolishing Martin Madrazo's stilt house are some of his motivations for getting back into the game.
• Sad Clown: Michael's sarcasm and dry sense of humor are his only coping mechanism for all the problems he's facing with his family and his strained relationship with Trevor. Even Trevor himself, who has his own moments, calls out Michael for using sarcasm as an excuse to escape his problems.
• Saw It in a Movie Once: Word of God says Michael got the idea for the "Blitz Play" heist from a movie he saw, presumably Heat, or the GTA-verse equivalent.
  • In a Hanging Out conversation, Trevor goes so far as to say Michael's entire life runs on this trope. Michael's self-image as a cool, calculating, sophisticated master thief is a persona he created by emulating his favorite movies in order to disguise his uncultured trailer-trash background.
• Self-Deprecation: He takes snarky pot-shots at himself just as often as he does for other people. He'll even reference his own supposed weight problems.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: In contrast to the more casual Franklin and the extremely casual Trevor.
• Shotgun Wedding: According to Trevor, he originally married Amanda because she was pregnant. Their current relationship is pretty complex.
• Small Name, Big Ego: After Solomon Richards gives him an Associate Producer credit in one of his pictures, the Random Event when you switch control to him will sometimes be him yelling at the Richards Majestic gate guard that he is the man's boss now.
  • It's implied that he's officially in the business after Solomon asks him to look over his notes. And the fact that he's always at the studio means someone is letting him in.
  • After the ending, switching over to him can show him on set, working on Richards Majestic's latest picture.^note Which, incidentally, involves aliens identical to the ones in Michael's Mushroom Samba. So yes, he is, in fact, in the business. However, his attitude when talking to the guard, as well as another random event where he'll yell at a club bouncer who's not letting him into the club, shows that his ego is a tad inflated, all things considered.
• Smoking Is Cool: When switching to Michael, he can often be seen smoking a cigarette before the player takes control.
  • Michael's smoking infuriates Amanda to no end, which in turn leads to many arguments, one of which eventually escalates into Amanda and the kids leaving him.
  • In the Golden Ending, before all the protagonists kill Devin, Michael attempts to light up but coughs a bit before throwing the cigarette and his lighter off a cliff, realizing he's lost his will to smoke. The action symbolizes his Character Development into a better man.
• The Sociopath: An interpretation, but ultimately subverted, as he really cares about his family. He's also less likely to kill people, at least in story cutscenes, and even gives up a gold bar worth 300,000 dollars to a hapless security guard they forced to play along with their heist rather than simply shooting him like Trevor wanted.
• Something Only They Would Say: Trevor realizes that Michael must be alive when a witness to his jewel store heist mentions that the robber said Michael's catchphrase.
• The Spock: A rather complex example. He's, generally speaking, more rational than Trevor's McCoy, but he has his own Hot-Blooded tendencies and his pragmatism is sometimes taken to a selfish, cowardly extreme.
• Split Personality Oh boy. When he's not the melancholic, rich-but-miserable, "your-mistakes-will-follow-you-to-your-grave" Michael, he's the choleric, aggressive, thieving, murdering, cheating Michael. It could be attributed to his midlife crisis, but it all really comes down to his inability to compromise between the family life and the life of crime - the very reason he sold out Trevor and Brad in Ludendorff.
  Michael: (to his therapist) It's like I'm two different people and I don't like either one of them.
• The Stool Pigeon: His situation in exchange for the FIB's protection.
• Stout Strength: He used to have it, since Trevor describes him as "kinda fat, but strong underneath" when recalling their first meeting. Even as an older man, he beats up two other characters on-screen. He starts with the lowest strength stat of the three playable characters, but the fact that his safehouse comes with a tennis court means that it's relatively convenient to grind his strength stat.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: According to the GTA Wiki, Michael is 6'2" (188cm), and he's certainly snarky.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: As mentioned above, he is 6'2" (188cm), is a ruthless thief, and not much of an ugly guy to look at. Shared with Franklin, but for Trevor, somewhat Averted for the "Handsome" part from some of the characters.
• Take My Hand!: During their last standoff in the "Kill Michael" ending, Mike's scuffle with Franklin sends him toppling over the rail. Franklin appears to relent and tries pulling Mike up from the scaffold. He still plummets to his death.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Once the final act of the game starts, Michael and Trevor's relationship will severely go downhill once the latter finds out Brad died in his place, and so activities with each other won't happen for most of the game. The only time he has to put up with Trevor is when the latter saves them from the Mêlée à Trois between him and Dave, Merryweather, the IAA, and Sanchez's agents, and when Franklin needs them to save Lamar after being set up by Stretch, and in their heist in robbing the Union Depository.
• Tell Him I'm Not Speaking to Him: "Tell Trevor I said 'Bite me'."
• Tempting Fate: He repeatedly expresses his certainty that Trevor is dead and buried. Naturally, Trevor is not only very much alive, but lives less than ten miles from Michael's house.
• Too Dumb to Live: Actually exploited by Michael in the prologue. In a normal situation staying out in the open after someone has just been shot by a sniper would be a suicidally bad idea. Michael, of course, had made a deal to have his death faked by Dave in exchange for going into hiding with a clean slate.
• A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Most of the conflict in the main plot is (at least in part) generated by Michael's lack of self-control, e.g., destroying Martin Madrazo's house before he confirmed whose it was, using his catchphrase on a whim, volunteering Trevor for Madrazo's "favor", and chasing Molly Schultz to her death.
  • In Ending B, should the player choose to pull Michael up from falling to his death, he headbutts Franklin purely out of spite causing him to drop Michael anyway.
• Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Despite the number of crimes they've committed together, Trevor believes that Michael's worst deed was betraying him and Brad so he can go into witness protection with his family. A betrayal that caused Brad's death and left Trevor with survivor's guilt and living in squalor until he got back on his feet.
• Troll: He knows full well how much Trevor loathes hipsters. So obviously, the next best thing is to call ''him'' a proto-hipster.
• Tranquil Fury: After he catches Simeon scamming his son, he calmly ambushes Franklin in the back of the car, tells him to drive through the shady car dealer's shop window and then proceeds to soundly kick Simeon's ass in a brutal fistfight.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Becomes this if Ending A is chosen; unable to cope with the guilt of betraying Trevor yet again, he tries to place the blame on Franklin entirely and distances himself from him.
• Vague Age: The game can't decide whether he was born in 1965 or 1968.
  • It may be that he adopted a fake birthdate along with the de Santa name as part of his cover.
• Victory Is Boring: Rockstar describes him as a GTA protagonist a few years after "winning" the game. They don't mention how exactly he won it, but we gradually find out. Hint: betrayal.
• Villain Protagonist: Compared to Franklin and Trevor, Michael is a career criminal and prefers the thrill of the chase more than anything else. Despite his work making him an admitted thief and murderer, he does have some standards, preferring to go in smart and avoid collateral damage, if possible.
• Villainous Breakdown: Before Franklin saves him in "Fresh Meat".
• We Used to Be Friends: Used to work together with Trevor before his apparent death, only to be reunited after pulling a heist that gets TV coverage.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets one from Franklin if one of the crew dies during "The Bureau Raid", since he seems to have forgotten that fact in his rush to pat himself on the back for how well it went.
• What You Are in the Dark: Inverted, What sets Michael apart from Amanda's many lovers is the fact that Michael will protect his family come hell or high waters. When Franklin goes to steal Jimmy's car there's an opportunity to show this difference, if Franklin is caught by Kyle Chavis and Amanda then Kyle will immediately cower behind Amanda and use her as a shield. When Michael finds out the mercenaries are currently breaking into Michael's house to kill his family, he immediately runs home and kills every soldier on sight to protect Amanda and Tracey.
• Why Are You Not My Son?: Feels this way toward Franklin.
• Younger Than They Look: He is (probably) in his 40s, and still looks much older. Most likely due to his sedentary lifestyle.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Michael's relationship with Trevor is strained at best, but when Trevor compliments Michael, it's usually a sign that Michael's gone off the deep end.

Franklin Clinton

Franklin Clinton

"You cool? Cool what? Slinging dope and throwing up gang signs?"

^{Click here to see him in The Contract update}

Voiced by: Shawn "OG Solo" Fonteno

"Motherfucker, I got respect for reality."

An ex-gang banger from the Chamberlain Hill Gangster Families who yearns to leave the lifestyle he deems destructive — by working as a repo man for Premium Deluxe Motorsport in Vespucci Beach (the equivalent of Venice Beach).

As the most inexperienced of the three protagonists, he looks up to the other two as mentor figures, for better or for worse. During heists, he's usually their getaway driver, helping them flee the scene as fast as possible.

---

• Acquired Poison Immunity: Implied to be the case during his part of the Grass Roots Strangers and Freaks Mission when Barry gives him his homegrown weed that caused Mushroom Samba for Michael and Trevor earlier; only for Franklin who has regularly indulged in Weed on a regular basis to comment that Barry's stuff is weak.
• Affably Evil: Despite being a hardened criminal, he's a Nice Guy as long as you aren't an idiot, jerk, enemy, or any combination of the three.
  [Michael and Trevor are repeatedly bickering]
  Franklin: Hey! Hey! Enough! You got me out here! You roped me into your crazy world of bullshit! If it was lies, New Age shit, and arguments about how good life used to be, I could have stayed my ass in Los Santos!
  Lester: Hello Franklin.
  Franklin: [Completely changes his tone] What's up?
• All the Other Reindeer: Gets antagonized by his friends and family for not submitting to the status quo of the gang banging lifestyle.
• Ambiguously Christian: See Religious Bruiser below; he refers to the author of the relevant Gospel as "my boy Matthew" and can carry on an extended conversation with Jesse down at Vespucci Beach.
• Ambition Is Evil: His primary motivator for his criminal deeds is to be more than just another gangbanger in the hood.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: The "Short Trips" mission line in GTA Online: The Contract involves the online protagonist and one other player getting so high off of Lamar's LD Organics weed while touring Dr. Dre's studio that they have an out-of-body experience, switching the mission perspective to Franklin and Lamar for the first and second player, respectively.
• Animal Motifs: Dogs, he's refered by the slang and can use Chop the dog on missions. Like dogs, Franklin is unquestioning and loyal to his friends and employers.
• At Least I Admit It: His response to Lester's rant about making the world a better place by killing people. Franklin knows he's doing something terrible, but isn't going to delude himself that it's for any other reason than money.
• Badass Boast: He tells Imani that "he made the FIB his bitch a long time ago".
• Badass Biker: Overlapping with his Badass Driver skills. Pre-release screenshots frequently depicted him riding a dirtbike, and Lamar (after stealing it from a repo job) gives him a WMC Bagger early on in the story.
• Badass Driver: Has the best driving skill of the three protagonists, and has a special ability for cars.
• Bad Liar: In the ending where he kills Michael, Franklin denies he had anything to do with it. Nobody buys his words for a second.
• Bald of Evil: You can make him bald at any barber shop, with one "excuse" being to rid him of his "yee-yee ass haircut".
• Bash Brothers: With Michael and Trevor.
• Beard of Evil: You can give him a beard or a goatee at any barber shop.
• Big Damn Heroes: He saves Michael in "Fresh Meat" (on his own with some help from Lester) just in time from being murdered by Wei Cheng and the Triads.
• Big Fancy House: Lester manages to gift him a cliffside mansion after a particularly successful heist.
• Bilingual Bonus: While not a separate language, Franklin's missions with Lamar are populated by nonstop, usually unexplained street and gang culture slang.
• Bookends: If the player chooses Ending A or B, Franklin's story ends the same way Michael's started - alone in a Big Fancy House with no real relationships left and a metric ton of self loathing.
• Bond One-Liner: If he kills Peter Dreyfuss, who brutally murdered an innocent young woman in 1975.
  "Say hello to Leonora, motherfucker."
• Broken Pedestal: For Michael, by the time of "I Fought The Law", a mission that involves stealing cars, racing them, and not being paid for either... which is exactly what Franklin was doing before he met Michael. Franklin followed Mike specifically to get out of that game, but is right back where he started thanks to being wrapped up in Michael's baggage. And in ending A, he clearly loses all respect for Michael after seeing him betray Trevor so callously, especially when there's no guarantee he wouldn't do the same to him.
• Bullet Time: His special ability allows him to activate this ability in cars, similar to Need for Speed's Speedbreaker. While driving, his car control dramatically increases, the rest of the world slows down, and he can react superhumanly fast.
• The Bus Came Back: After having disappeared from V ever since the events of the main story, Franklin finally returns in The Contract update for GTA Online, centered around him running a PIA.
• Calling the Old Man Out:
  • While he's very receptive and grateful to Michael showing him the ropes with regards to organized crime, he's savvy enough to point out when Michael (or occasionally Trevor) is getting out of control.
  • When he moves out of his aunt's house to the house Lester gives him, she sends him a text complaining about how she has to do everything alone now and insulting him and his dead mother. Franklin promptly texts her back, calling her out on how she's mistreated him and to never insult his mother.
• Captain Obvious: Some of his random dialogue during missions comes off this way. For example, he's sometimes given to shouting, "I guess we shooting our way out of here!" ...after the shootout has already been going on for several minutes.
• Category Traitor: Franklin aspires to more than the "gangsta" lifestyle, jumping at the chance to join Michael in higher-stakes crime. This catches him a lot of flack from his peers, like Lamar and Tanisha.
• Character Catchphrase: The word "What?!" Franklin also gets a lot of mileage out of "Man, fuck you."
• Character Development: Franklin spends most of the game as little more than a thug who takes orders from everyone in the hopes of payment, in particular often deferring to Michael or Trevor and never really making decisions for himself. However, when forced to choose between killing Michael or Trevor, Franklin can instead Take a Third Option, take charge for himself and successfully get Michael and Trevor to defer to him instead as they take down everyone who ever wronged them.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Will drop what he's doing to help out his friends in the hood, Michael and his family, Trevor and even random strangers if so inclined - Franklin has by far the most Stranger missions of the three playable characters. Lamar thinks this trope is very subverted.
• Color Motif: Green, the color of his former gang, the Chamberlain Gangster Families. It also represents his status as the youngest, least experienced, and most impressionable of the trio, as well as his desire to become wealthy and successful.
• The Comically Serious: See the Straight Man entry.
• Consummate Professional: Definitely compared to Trevor and Michael. While Franklin has his own issues, he leaves his baggage at the door. Which is why Lester uses him for a few missions as an assassin.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Franklin is this to Carl Johnson. The two have similar storylines, being crooks who are disillusioned with the gang banger lifestyle. CJ is because of the death of his brother and Franklin is because of a epiphany of the futility of it all. They both get derided about this by their peers. In CJ's case, he eventually comes around to it in the end while Franklin remains adamant about walking away from that lifestyle.
• The Cracker: Not Hollywood Hacking territory by any means, but when it comes to computers he's more or less competent enough to be able to keep up with Lester and the heist crew hackers. And during the Union Depository Heist, he and the hired hacker hijack the traffic control network to keep Merryweather mooks away from the trucks.
• Cultural Rebel: Unlike his homies, who are content to continue with their "gangbanging, retro-vengeance bullshit" as he calls it, Franklin wants to get involved in high-stakes organized crime.
• Danger Takes a Backseat: His introduction to Michael.
• Deadpan Snarker: Especially when it comes to Lamar's Get Rich Quick Schemes (and his blindness to Stretch's obvious disloyalty), Jimmy's Pretty Fly for a White Guy attitude ("Enough with the F-Dog shit!"), and his aunt's outlandish attempts to get in touch with her femininity. He's not as sarcastic as Michael but he's more subtle with his remarks.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Franklin represents a new GTA protagonist, one who is trying to improve his lot in life. In Franklin's case, he works to achieve this by leaving behind the gang-banger culture he grew up in and rolling with professional criminals, first a morally bankrupt used car dealer, and then the bank robber Michael who earns him far bigger scores than he used to.
• Decoy Protagonist: Zigzagged. Franklin is the first of the three playable characters we're properly introduced to, but once Michael and Trevor are introduced, the story mainly focuses on them while Franklin is off either doing other things or helping Michael and Trevor out. That said, Franklin is the one who initiates the final mission of the game, being tasked to either kill Michael, Trevor, or take out everyone who's ever wronged all of them, and it's the latter where Franklin steps up to the plate to lead all of them to the Golden Ending.
• Did Not Get the Girl:
  • End of the game, Tanisha still gets married to her doctor and Franklin's left with either his strippers and hookers, or no one at all.
  • Averted in The Contract DLC. Apparently Tanisha's marriage did not last long as she is married to Franklin eight years after Story Mode. And they now have children.
• Drugs Are Bad: With the exception of pot,^note And then he tends to become borderline self-loathing whenever he smokes weed. he seems to believe this. He has a particular disdain for crack, as he watched his mother destroy herself with it.
• The Eeyore: He often gets called out as one by Lamar (and Stretch) for his pessimism towards Lamar's schemes and deals. Franklin ismlef asserts that he's just a realist; years of Lamar's schemes failing or ending with them getting shot at have left him with little positive expectations or enthusiasm for working with him. He's comparatively less critical when working with Micheal and (to some extent) Trevor.
• Embarrassing Nickname: After reluctantly sharing the story of his first heist with the other protagonists, Trevor tries to stick him with the nickname "Dye-pack" on account that that's what ultimately caused the heist to fail. Averted when Franklin makes it very clear how much Trevor's annoying him.
• Establishing Character Moment: When he and Lamar first appear, they're arguing about the legitimacy and profitability of their current job. Franklin has doubts about both, while Lamar mocks him for not hustling anymore. The two then repo two cars and race through Los Santos, cementing Franklin's Badass Driver skills.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He tells off his Aunt Denise partly for insulting his mother.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Franklin is upfront about how he does bad things for money, but there are a few times that where even he draws the line at some things. He shows a dislike for drugs like cocaine and crack. He's also legitimately disgusted by Peter Dreyfuss and his sadistic murder of Leonora Johnson.
• Extreme Doormat: He pisses and moans about it, but he never refuses a request, no matter how stupid or dangerous or how little reason he has to go along with it. He even lampshades it when he meets Dom.
  Franklin: Man, shit. I gotta learn how to say "no".
• The Fatalist: Ultimately he's no better than Lamar on this. He may want to get out of the gang life, but he has no real desire to go straight, either. The only options he sees in life are on the wrong side of the law. As he puts it, his choice is between working with Mike on high risk heists, or slinging dimebags on the street. It's all down to which gets him paid.
• Fat and Skinny: Has this dynamic with Lamar, although he's more muscle than fat.
• Formerly Fat: It's not emphasized, but a conversation with Michael Franklin mentions that he used to be "bigger" before he started working out.
• A Friend in Need:
  • Franklin is an exemplar of this trope. He comes to the aide of Lamar, Tonya, and many other friends and associates from the hood out of either loyalty or guilty conscience. Later in the game, when he stumbles across the O'Neil brothers hunting down Trevor, Franklin leaps in to help, warns Trevor, and helps fight the O'Neils without a second thought. To note, Franklin has no idea who the O'Neils are, why they're after Trevor, or what they may be capable of. They're against his friend, and that's enough. This Friendship Moment gains Trevor's immense respect.
  • This ultimately ends up becoming a Deconstruction of sorts: since Franklin is the one character who actually has everyone's trust, he ends up getting forced into either killing Michael or Trevor. He can potentially choose a third option though.
• Freudian Trio: The Superego to balance out Michael's Ego and Trevor's Id.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Franklin goes from slinging dime bags to boosting cars for a morally questionable car dealer to joining Michael and Trevor in committing some of the most brazen heists in the West Coast.
• Gang Banger: He is trying to escape this life, viewing it as self-destructive. In reality, he just wants a more lucrative criminal lifestyle.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: In ending B, if he changes his mind about killing Michael and tries to save him, Michael headbutts him in a fit of rage and falls to his death anyway.
• Heel–Face Turn: The Contract update for GTA Online reveals he and Lamar pulled one sometime after the story has ended, as Franklin has established a "celebrity solutions agency" called F. Clinton and Partner which helps "rich folk who got rich folk problems" solve those problems. However, he still misses "getting these hands dirty".
• Hidden Depths:
  • He actually does have his fair share of issues; he thinks he's empty inside, that he doesn't have any real friends, that he doesn't feel anything, and no one likes him, as well as some pent up anger at his mother for turning to crack. He just only touches on these when he's high; take a hit from his bong at his safehouse and you can hear his inner thoughts.
  • Franklin is hiding some positive qualities as well. Despite poking fun at his associates for their hypocrisies and, on occasion, insecurities, Franklin always focuses on getting them to get their act together.
  • There is a moment between Franklin and Jimmy if you ask him to hang out, one on one, soon after you unlock him as a contact. Jimmy, being himself, overreaches and claims he and Franklin are already brothers and, after getting shot down, breaks down and accidentally admits he sees Michael as a "withholding asshole," lumping Franklin in with him for rejecting Jimmy's assertion. Franklin, despite failing to hold in his amusement at Jimmy's blubbering, gently asks him to put it behind him and promises to show him a good time. It's not much, but it shows that Franklin is at least willing to entertain something of a Big Brother Instinct.
  • A potential conversation between him and Michael if they hang out shows that Franklin has a lot of thoughts about the state of the modern-day movie industry of Vinewood, considering the executives to be "the real criminals", criticizing how trailers rely on hype and cool shots and asking when "the basic requirements of making sense and acting consistently in character could go out the window."
• Honor Before Reason: Upon deciphering the Letter Scraps sidequest, Franklin is given the option to confront Richard Dreyfuss and make sure he finally receives justice for the death of Leonora Johnson. Even though Leonora is long dead by this point and Franklin has nothing to gain for killing Dreyfuss, his behavior during the sidequest indicates that he's genuinely disgusted by Dreyfuss's actions.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick:
  • If you think about it, really, he was this to Lamar before he started working with Michael. Franklin may have been the only thing keeping Lamar alive, but Lamar was the one who actually came up with all their various jobs, plans, schemes, and scores. There's no indication that Frank did anything of his own initiative until he went to go see Michael.
  • Franklin lampshades this in his relation to Michael and Trevor. Despite being "new blood," Franklin states that since he's the only one capable of keeping his emotions in check, he's on equal terms with the other two.
• Immune to Drugs: When he takes a toke of Barry's weed, instead of experiencing a Mushroom Samba like Michael and Trevor, Franklin, a regular weed-smoker, just coughs a little and remarks on it not being that strong.
  Franklin: Man this shit is garbage.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Franklin is a downplayed example of this trope as he is still reasonably competent with a gun. That being said, Franklin does have (by default) the worst shooting ability of the three protagonists.
  • It's even lampshaded in game by Michael after the mission "Marriage Counseling" when Michael sends Franklin a text message encouraging him to go to a shooting range to improve his skill.
  • However, this trope becomes subverted as the game goes on since Franklin can improve his shooting skills at the shooting ranges or by simply going through the main storyline and surviving all the shootouts.
• Implausible Deniability: After Ending B, he attempts to deny his role in Michael's murder to Trevor despite the fact that he called Trevor right before doing it and told him what he was going to do and why.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Michael, Trevor, and Lester.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a pretty decent guy as far as GTA protagonists go, as long as you're not trying to kill him and Lester (or any of his friends for that matter) doesn't want you dead. If he crashes into another car, he's the only one of the protagonists who sounds sincere when he apologizes for it.
• Junior Counterpart: There are several parallels to be drawn between him and Michael, more so as the game goes on, and his relationship with Lamar is basically a toned-down mirror of Michael's relationship with Trevor. In Ending B, he follows Michael's path in life by betraying a close friend (Michael himself) and retreating into a well-off lifestyle afterward.
• Karma Houdini: Becomes this if Ending B is chosen. Even if you don't do that, he never faces any consequence for his crimes, as is traditional for player characters of GTA.
• The Kirk: Is forced into this role by Michael and Trevor's infighting, to the point of playing the unofficial leader later in the game. The ending forces him to choose between Michael's Spock and Trevor's McCoy. Or not, since he can refuse the choice altogether and help both of them.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Despite despising the hood lifestyle, he frequently returns to help out his old friends.
• The Lancer: To Michael.
• The Leader: Becomes the trio's leader after Michael and Trevor turn on each other. It's up to him to bring them together to do missions and to stop them from killing each other during the missions.
• Like a Son to Me: Michael calls him "the son I always wanted."
  • In one post-game conversation, Trevor refers to him as the kid that "[Michael] shares with me." Franklin is nonplussed by this.
  • Simeon Yetarian says that if he had a black son, he would want him to be Franklin, though he's decidedly less honest about it.
• Lonely at the Top: Lamar and Tanisha cite this trope as Franklin's inevitable future should he continue to pursue his dreams of being a big-time crook and abandon the hood, though Lamar's motives for claiming such are decidedly selfish. Michael also nudges him in this direction, although he's more subtle about it. They're proven right should the player choose Ending A or B, with most of the relationships he built during the game completely shattered, and him stuck living alone in his mansion with hardly any friends to his name - just like Michael.
  • This is ultimately averted as of The Contract, where aside from being a wealthy semi-legitimate businessman he's now a family man, not to mention still hanging out and bickering with Lamar.
• Manly Facial Hair: You can give him a few different beards, ranging from stubble to a big bushy Rick Ross-esque beard. He's also sporting a beard in The Contract.
• Meaningful Name: His name combines the surnames of Benjamin Franklin and Bill Clinton, both famous and affluent Americans, referencing his desire for wealth and status. It's double-edged as well - individual U.S. dollar banknotes are referred to as "Bills", and "Benjamin" is common slang for the 100$ note, which displays Ben Franklin's portrait.
• Mistaken for Gay: Apparently after he starts hanging out with Michael, the people back in the hood assume he's acting as a "rent boy"; i.e., whoring himself out to a rich white guy.
• Morality Pet:
  • His best friend Lamar. And even though he complains about it, he also takes his time to help out Tonya despite her being an Ungrateful Bitch.
  • Same with Tanisha, who, at the start of one mission shames Franklin into saving Lamar (again) from a Balla ambush in a sawmill.
  • Franklin himself assumes this role for Michael, who always makes a point of looking out for him.
• My Parents Are Dead: Both are at the start of the game. He doesn't talk about it, and doesn't seem too emotionally affected, but switching to him sometimes results in arriving at his safehouse solemnly looking at a picture of his mother hugging him. Also, when you take a hit from his bong, he'll occasionally think back on his mother, fondly at first before becoming angry with her for turning to crack and killing herself with it.
• Mr. Fanservice: Two decades younger, and a lot more physically fit than schlubby Michael, or methed-out Trevor
• N-Word Privileges: Boy howdy, do he and Lamar use it when together — almost every sentence in any of their conversations.
• Neat Freak: At least compared to Michael and especially Trevor. Franklin can sometimes be seen cleaning his vehicles or doing house chores like taking out the trash.
• Nerves of Steel: As opposed to Michael and Trevor, Franklin tends to keep his emotions in check (when he's not snarking on the idiocy of his homies).
  • Heck, even when Trevor seems all set to turn on him at the beginning of "Fresh Meat", Franklin seems mostly unfazed, and apologizes mostly to be able to continue the conversation rather than out of fear.
• New Meat: When compared to Michael and Trevor.
• Nice Mean And In Between: The in-between; generally speaking, he's more pragmatic than Michael, but not as ruthless as Trevor. If you're being robbed by the three, he won't interact with you much at all.
• Noodle Incident: When Trevor scans his ID, he notices that Franklin was previously arrested for "public exposure". Frank utterly refuses to elaborate further, only making a vague implication that he had "a high ass"; his pants were sagging, and the cops arrested him for this minor offense due to him being black.
• Not So Above It All: While he isn't the type to laugh out loud, he guffaws hysterically when Trevor tries (and fails) to hop over his fence at the start of "Fresh Meat".
• Older and Wiser: Eight years after the main storyline, Franklin goes from a career criminal in the streets to a successful businessman, married to his ex with children together.
• One-Man Army:
  • Considering his low shooting status and poor marksmanship, a shotgun with a flashlight was all he needed to take out a crew of Ballas and a couple of police helicopters after a deal gone wrong.
  • In the mission Fresh Meat Franklin single-handedly breaks into a warehouse and mows down a army of Chinese Triad members to save Michael.
• Only in It for the Money: His primary concern with any mission is being paid. Justified, because he's tired of being a career criminal sans the "career". This is most noticeable in an early conversation with Lester, where he defies Lester's Utopia Justifies the Means rant.
• Only Sane Man:
  • The more realistic and normal of the three. Also tends to happen when surrounded by Lamar and his crazy aunt.
    "You can't repo the assets of a dead man, 'bitch sitting chief asshole'!"
  • In a literal sense, Franklin is also the only one of the three protagonists who doesn't have any psychological baggage... at least, any that really affects the plot.
• Pop-Cultured Badass: He's a fan of the Righteous Slaughter video game series that Jimmy is addicted to. Well, he was one until after the second installment shipped, but he can still relate when Jimmy discusses Righteous Slaughter 7.
• Private Intelligence Agency: Franklin Clinton used his experience working with Michael and Trevor to set up a PIA named F. Clinton and Partner in the Greater Los Santos Area, which shows in the DLC event "The Contract". FCP takes on clients from Los Santos-based actors/musicians to wealthy officials and rich families. The company takes on clients who want FCP to run asset recovery, hostage rescue and intelligence analysis/support for them. In some missions, the online protagonist engages Merryweather contractors running a citywide surveillance program.
• Professional Killer: After successfully completing the first heist, Lester recruits Franklin to become an assassin on the side. Taking down corrupt figures to both right wrongs and get their hands in the stock market.
• Really Gets Around: One of the scenes you can see when switching back to him is sending his latest booty call home in a taxi.
  • Franklin also has the most potential options for booty calls in the game; aside from the four available strippers at the Vanilla Unicorn, which are available to all three PCs, he can also pick up Ursula, who's restricted to either him or Trevor, and Liz, who's exclusive to Frank, as he gets her number as part of one of his taxi cab missions.
• Rebuilt Pedestal: His relationship with Michael can recover from the damage it takes in the late game, but only if you choose Option C. Any other option will lead to Michael either being A: openly hostile toward Franklin or B: dead.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Lamar's and Trevor's red.
• Redeeming Replacement: Franklin effectively becomes the redeeming replacement for Brad in the criminal trio with Michael and Trevor. Michael never got along with Brad and despite Trevor initially being enraged at Michael for lying about Brad's death, he later admits Brad was "a dick" and that he'd have killed Brad at some point anyway. Lester described Brad as the "shit" part of the team, calling him lazy, forgetful, mean and stupid.
• The Reliable One: Michael takes Franklin under his wing when Franklin helps him to save his son. Michael flat out calls Franklin the most reliable member of the trio, and when both Michael and Trevor's baggage start raining down on the team, Franklin says he feels more like the "senior partner" rather than the new blood. Especially in Ending C where Franklin has to talk Michael and Trevor down from their feud in order to face the incoming rush of FIB agents and Merryweather mercenaries.
  • During the first heist, if the player choose poor teammates to save money, Franklin is the only member of Michael's heist to perform competently.
• Religious Bruiser: Implied. Pre-release art depicted him with a neck tattoo that showed praying hands holding a cross (strangely, this tattoo can't be purchased, although a somewhat similar one can), and he briefly discusses the Bible with Michael in the mission "Marriage Counseling", referring to St. Matthew as "my boy".
• Retired Monster: Being the CEO of a PIA and a family man in 2021 means that he can't be the GTA protagonist that he used to be back in 2013. However, he's still down to bang with Lamar for his legitimate marijuana business, peeling caps like in the old days.
• Roaring Rampage of Rescue: The mission "Fresh Meat", in which Franklin fights his way through a large force of Chinese Triad gangsters to save Michael from being killed via a giant meat grinder.
  • Likewise whenever he has to bail out Lamar from the obvious trap he walked right into, but the greatest case of this is when he calls in Trevor and Michael as back-up to wipe out an entire lumber-mill worth of Ballas, who were about to execute Lamar.
• Sadistic Choice: He is given the choice of how to resolve the issue of the bounties on both Michael's and Trevor's heads. However, he's free to Take a Third Option which is explicitly stated to be a death wish, in which instead of killing Trevor or Michael, you kill everybody who wants them dead, and survive unscathed.
• Self-Deprecation: He doesn't deny that he's not a very nice person. He'll also occasionally give people he runs over a self-deprecating apology:
  Franklin: You gotta look out for fools like me!
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Kill either Michael or Trevor, and Franklin ends up back to banging in the hood with Lamar. The survivor will cut off all ties with Franklin.
  • Then again, by the end of the game, he is a multi-millionaire, and probably has a few businesses on the side, as well as a mansion, so he's probably doing pretty well for himself, all things considered.
• Smug Snake: Gets accused of being this by both Denise and Stretch because of his disdain for the CGF. If Franklin returns to his old neighborhood after moving into his fancy new house, even random CGF hoodlums will accuse him of being this.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: Can perfectly understand what dogs are saying. It even weirds him out — after he's well into his conversation with the dog.
  "I have officially lost my damn mind."
• The Stoner: He's a habitual pot smoker.
• Stereotype Flip: He comes from the hood, but is completely uninterested in gang life.
• Stop Being Stereotypical: He tells everyone from his hood this. But, Tanisha, whom he really seems to like, tells him the same.
• Straight Man: Plays this role to virtually every character in the game.
• Supporting Protagonist: Though he's a playable character and the ending hinges on the decision he makes, Grand Theft Auto V is really Michael and Trevor's story. Franklin's role is more akin to that of an Audience Surrogate.
• Surpassed the Teacher: His story arc with Michael has shades of this. While planning the final heist, he complains that he sometimes has to take charge when Michael and Trevor start bickering. Ending C sees his graduation from Michael's Number Two to a bonafide shot-caller when he reunites Michael and Trevor and launches a plan to eliminate all their enemies.
  • A darker example of this trope occurs in Ending B when he decides to betray and kill Michael to save himself. In this case, it's his Chronic Backstabbing Disorder that has surpassed Michael's. Fittingly, the Gold Medal Requirement for this mission is entitled "Surpassed the Mentor."
• Surrounded by Idiots: How he feels being surrounded by people who don't seem to realize the futility of holding onto their lifestyle.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Dark-skinned, 6'0" tall, and the youngest and most conventionally attractive of the three protagonists.
• Tall Poppy Syndrome: His relationship with his "friends" and family from the hood. They all constantly insult and degrade him for wanting to leave the hood and accuse him of thinking he's too good for them, when by all appearances he really is too good for them.
• Take a Third Option: For the Golden Ending. He puts it best himself.
  "Hey, my bad, homie. I picked "C". Ain't that a bitch?
  • Devin Weston himself sarcastically alludes to this while pressuring Franklin to kill Michael.
    Devin: A, B, and C. Clock's ticking, beep-beep-beep, and your answer is?
    Franklin: Man, you know what? *opens door* Man, fuck you.
    Devin: Genius answer, pal. Total genius, but time is running out. You think about it. Me? I got a triathlon coming up, and I am in deep training. Buh-bye!
    Franklin: Man, fuck you!
  • After he complains about this dilemma to Lester, he suggests a fourth option to just kill Michael and Trevor. Franklin points out that is even worse.
• Thrill Seeker: In GTA Online: The Contract, he tells the online protagonist that this is ultimately the reason why he co-founded the F. Clinton & Partner agency to do wet work for rich people. He also found the Idle Rich lifestyle of investing for more money boring.
  Franklin: Shit, I miss getting these hands dirty.
• Token Good Teammate: Compared to Trevor and Michael at least.
• Took a Level in Badass: Kind of understated, but Franklin goes from a low ranking gang banger and repo man, to a One-Man Army Professional Killer. And he does all of this without the excessive baggage that Michael and Trevor have. By the end of the story, he even begins to outclass Michael and (arguably) Trevor in terms of sheer deadliness and efficiency to the point of being easily able to take either of them out in Ending A or B.
  • He also goes from taking orders from Michael and Trevor to being able to take command and direct them and they accept his lead especially in Ending C where they both have him to thank for being able to survive.
• Two First Names: "Clinton" can also be used a given name.
• Undying Loyalty: Zigzagged:
  • While he may seem loyal to Michael, his only true loyalty lies with whoever can make him money, and he's even willing to kill Michael on short notice if it can help him earn a paycheck from Devin Weston. If you pick Option C and he chooses to save both his mentors, however, then this is completely played straight.
  • To Lamar. Even when Lamar gets himself into trouble way too many times, Franklin always pulls all the stops to save him.
• Ungrateful Bastard: If Ending B is chosen. Despite Michael taking him on as a protégé and making him a lot more money than he would have seen otherwise, Franklin still opts to kill him in an attempt to cover his own ass.
  • This can be downplayed in the same ending however. Franklin has the option to change his mind and try to save Michael from falling to his death. Unfortunately, this will lead to Michael headbutting Franklin, forcing him to drop Michael to his death anyway.
• Unscrupulous Hero: Teetering on the edge. He will help out his friends and others in need no matter what, but his main motivation is getting money through different means, even if they are no different from the gangbanging he used to do. Even if he kills Trevor or Michael, he at least feels some regret, but tries to justify the action.
• Verbal Tic: "Homie", which almost every non-black character mockingly repeats at least once. There's also "dog" and "shit".
• Vigilante Man:
  • He can play this role at the end of the Letter Scraps sidequest. While Michael and Trevor can also collect scraps, only Franklin can decipher the mystery of the gruesome murder of '70s starlet Leonora Johnson, and confront the man the papers point to, controversial director Peter Dreyfuss.
  • He also essentially becomes one to Lester, by helping him wage his crusade against Corrupt Corporate Executives.
• Villain Protagonist: He comes across as more of an Anti-Villain and Punch-Clock Villain than Michael and Trevor, being Only in It for the Money.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Has this relationship with Lamar, and Michael and Trevor to a lesser degree.
• We Used to Be Friends: Tries to assert this with Lamar later on the game after one too many screw-ups. At first he tells Devin Weston to just pay him upfront when the tycoon thinks of hiring Lamar. Then when Tanisha comes to get Franklin to save Lamar from another one of Stretch's traps, Frank's reluctant and frustrated to the point of near refusal.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Sincerely believes that he (and his homies) can leave behind the life of drug trafficking, gang wars and foul run-ins with the law. The rest of his gang chew him out for this, claiming he has gone "soft". As of The Contract however, he's had the last laugh by going legit.

Trevor Philips

Trevor Philips

"I'll swing by and sign the contracts, alright? Just ignore the bodies..."

Voiced by: Steven Ogg

"The guns and crank in this area go through Trevor Philips Enterprise, OR THEY AIN'T GOING!"

A Canadian-born former airman, career criminal, and Michael's old best friend and partner in crime, now a mentally unstable drug lord/addict and weapons dealer living in a trailer park full of meth heads and biker gangs by the Alamo Sea (based on the real-life Salton Sea) in Blaine County.

When he's not filling the role of the crew's designated pilot, he's their designated sniper, though he doesn't really fit into either the Friendly Sniper or the Cold Sniper mold.

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Has his own page here.

Online Protagonist

Online Protagonist

"You've been making quite a name for yourself... and that name is 'Dangerous Idiot'."

— Lester Crest

An out-of-towner who is fresh off the plane when introduced in GTA Online. They're friends with Lamar, whom they met on LifeInvader and invited them to take advantage of criminal opportunities in Los Santos.

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• The Ace: Even more than Niko Bellic. The protagonist is extremely competent in technology, weapons, heists and planning. Also, if you want to increase your skills, they can also be a Genius Bruiser.
• All Women Are Prudes: Every female protagonist will become invariably pissed at Lamar's attempts to hit on her. However, he is being kind of an idiot about it, and furthermore, this may be a case of Incompatible Orientation; see Ambiguously Gay below.
• Ambiguously Gay: It's either this or the developers didn't account for straight female players. The female protagonist, just like the male protagonist, can visit the strip club, feel up the strippers, and pick up (universally female) hookers, but the game doesn't offer any option to hook up with a man, suggesting the female protagonist may well be a lesbian.
• Anti-Hero: While any GTA protagonist has the potential to be one, the Online Protagonist fits the bill the best so far in the series. Sure, they are mobsters with a penchant for murder, but their victims in missions are almost always other crime outfits. In the Gun Running update Agent 14 even says they have already made the country a much safer place and that's before they get into the quasi-legal gun running business. They also commit the single most heroic action of the entire franchise: saving the world from an Omnicidal Maniac.
• Ax-Crazy: The Online Player's psychosis is determinant on the player's actions, and is only evident when killing civilians or other players. The High Life Update added a Sanity Meter that shows your character's mentality. The higher it is, the more of a target you'll become.
• Badass Adorable: If you want, your character can be incredibly cute and attractive. Surprisingly the first trope of the series and in any Rockstar game.
• Badass Crew: The player is encouraged to build a "Crew" of friends and associates to help tackle the tougher activities, or just to have a posse at their back.
• Badass Longcoat: If you want.
• Badass Normal: Compared to Michael, Trevor, and Franklin. No bullet time for shooting or driving. No berserker rage without bullshark testosterone or the Stone Hatchet. They're able to fight without special abilities and they're still tough.
• Bag of Spilling: Most equipment and services will be unavailable when heisting. In universe, this is often Hand Waved by explaining that you shouldn't use your own equipment in case it gets traced back to you.
• Bounty Hunter: You can choose to hunt down other players that have a "bounty" placed on them and collect the reward money. Of course, if you're the person with the bounty, good luck with that.
• Butter Face: Whatever the female protagonist's face looks like, she has a pretty nice body. Although this mainly occurs in the PS3/Xbox 360 versions; female protagonists in the PS4/Xbox One/PC versions are more attractive due to both the updated graphics and the more in-depth character creation system.
• Challenge Seeker: As the updates progress, it's implied that the protagonist constantly gets involved in new ventures not because they need the money, but because they love a challenge.
• Class and Level System: In the form of "Reputation Points". Ranking up gains you new missions, weapons, and abilities.
• Closet Key: Chastity, a stripper at the Vanilla Unicorn, will give her number out to a female protagonist despite claiming to be straight in the main game. And then subverted; turns out she's just giving her number out to come over and give private dances.
• Combat Stilettos: Literally. "Combat boots" for a female protagonist come with stiletto heels. Female protagonists can obtain other shoes with stiletto heels as well.
• Competition Freak: Well, think about it. Early missions involve competing in races, sports, shooting games, and fights to the death with complete strangers. You have to do a lot of these, and win, in order to gain more Reputation Points.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: They are this to Claude from Grand Theft Auto III. They are Silent Protagonists who are an Anti-Villain at worst. Unlike Claude, they seek to enjoy their new life in Los Santos, and has no personal vendettas with anyone.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: They can own an organization that can run illegal operations.
• Crazy-Prepared: The game includes bulletproof helmets and special piece of armor one can wear that halves all damage during missions and heists. Typically at least one person in a mission will combine this with a love of everything in the heavy weapon slot.
• The Dreaded: Once the Online Protagonist reaches the higher levels, they are feared and respected as one of the most dangerous criminals in San Andreas.
• Extreme Doormat: Even more so than Franklin.
  Karen: When I had ran agents in the field I had to entrap them, cajole them, threaten them with deportation. [...] Now, apparently, all you gotta do is give them a couple bucks and a few kind words. I guess there really is no accounting for stupidity.
• Expy: The Online protagonist is basically the HD Universe counterpart of Claude in that they never utter a single peep and take orders from just about anybody paying.
• Featureless Protagonist: Just about everything is customizable, including skin color, daily habits, gender, clothing, and even parentage.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Most female outfits hug the figure very snugly.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Lampshaded by several in-universe characters. Particularly Lester. The Online Protagonist goes from being an outsider known by no one except Lamar to one of the most dangerous people in San Andreas.
• Gendered Outfit: Most clothing and accessories look different if bought by a male or female.
• Generation Xerox: Possibly, if a previous GTA protagonist (namely, Niko or Claude) is chosen as their father.
• Genius Bruiser: They're very capable of hacking doors and planning heists. Besides, if you want to improve your skills, the protagonist can be incredibly strong.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: If you put a lot of hours into illegal work during character creation of the PS3/Xbox 360 versions, you'll end up with some fairly nasty facial scars. In all versions, you get temporary scars and bruises depending on how you died.
• Hero of Another Story: The hero of their own story, set a few months before Story Mode, and eventually after Story Mode.
• Heroic Mime: Well, not that "heroic" since you're a criminal, but still a protagonist. Averted if you have a headset and use game chat; it causes your character's lips to move, and in some circumstances actually affects gameplay; i.e., flirting with the girls at the Vanilla Unicorn and shouting at clerks during stick-ups. Despite that, the player character is canonically mute, as pointed out by many characters during cutscenes and missions.
• Hired Guns: How you and your Crew can operate, if you want. Some missions specifically give off this vibe.
• Improbable Age: Depending on who you pick as your father, although these are almost certainly non-canon.
  • Niko Bellic is stated to be 30 in GTA IV, which would put him between 34-35 at the time of Online and V; the youngest you can make your protagonist 21, meaning Niko would have fathered them around age 13/14. Of course, you can make your protagonist up to 40 years old, meaning you'd be older than your own father.
  • On the flip side, John died six decades before the earliest the protagonist could have been born; even if he survived the events of Red Dead Redemption in this timeline, he'd have died of old age long before being able to father the protagonist. Although you could argue this is a case of Dead Guy Junior instead of the man himself if you consider this John as the grandson of Jack by the end of the first game's Playable Epilogue.
• Informed Attractiveness: No matter how fugly you make your female character, Lamar will call you fine and try hard as he might to tap that. This could be hand-waved by saying Lamar is the same guy who repeatedly tells Franklin how much he lusts for his aunt in Story Mode, but at the same time, the Female Protagonist can still get the phone number of Chastity, Fufu, and Nikki at the Vanilla Unicorn strip club; the latter being especially notable because she claims to be straight in single player.
• Informed Equipment: Averted, unlike the single player protagonists, if they're supposed to be wearing armor it's visible, though it can be hidden if the player so chooses.
• Intergenerational Friendship: If created at the higher age ranges, then their friendship with Lamar counts as this.
• Jerkass: Some of the Online Protagonist's actions quickly cement them as a bit of a dick at times.
• Made of Iron: As per GTA Protagonist tradition, injuries that would kill or maim normal people only "Waste" the Online Protagonist. To get a good picture of how tough the protagonist is, though, notice how many civilians are outright killed or KOed from automobile accidents, while you can just drive or walk away right after.
• Near-Death Experience: When the player gets Wasted by another player early on. This allows them to enter "Passive" mode, and Spectator Mode, which is justified in-universe by saying they watch other players as a spirit or ghost or something without being able to affect the game world.
• Nerves of Steel: They're completely unafraid of Trevor upon meeting him for the first time. When the protagonist is male, this pisses Trevor right off; when she's female, Trevor expresses his affection for her.
• New Meat: Like Franklin (and pretty much every GTA protagonist before him) has to work their way up the criminal ladder.
• Nipple and Dimed: The female protagonist showers with her bikini on, despite having her back to the camera the whole time.
• Not So Above It All: For the most part, they're The Stoic. However, you can tell that they're absolutely giddy when stealing the sports car in the set-up for the prison heist.
• One-Man Army: At later levels, the Online Protagonist will be a walking armory.
• Playing with Fire:
  • Besides usage of the jerry can, the protagonist can get a Flare Gun as of the Heists Update, which can be used to set people on fire with a direct hit, but it isn't really a practical combat option.
  • On the other hand, while not standard Ammu-Nation goods, there are certain methods of acquiring molotov cocktails as a weapon option, that, in the hands of a competent thrower, play this trope much straighter.
• Pretty Boy: If you want, your male character can be incredibly attractive.
• Professional Killer: Martin Madrazo sends you on missions to this effect.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: You can choose any gender you wish to play. This means that a female protagonist is playable for the first time. While they are statistically the same, there are still some differences; several NPCs (Lamar, Simeon, Trevor, etc.) react differently to the female protagonist than they do the male, clothing is different, and the female protagonist gets more accessories (necklaces and earrings), and different clothing types (camisoles, bustiers, skirts) than the male. Female protagonists can also wear high heels.
• Remember the New Guy?: Apparently, you're Lamar's online friend.
• Renaissance Man: The protagonist is a stick-up robber, assassin, heister, business owner, drug runner, importer/exporter of legal and illegal cargo and vehicles, gun manufacturer, gun smuggler,contracted to save the world, celebrity solutions expert, auto mechanic, arena car driver... They excel at all of those things.
• Resurrective Immortality: Granted to them by Cris Formage after their first death. No matter what they are killed with up to and including a Kill Sat they will reappear nearby in a few seconds no worse for wear and a couple of hundred dollars shy ready to resume their business.
• Silent Snarker: As much of a Deadpan Snarker as a Heroic Mime can be, often seen rolling their eyes in cutscenes that either feature Lester or Ron and such.
• The Sociopath: Depends on the player, though it's a lot easier to class the Online Protagonist as one than the other protagonists in V since they don't show any emotion, even as they are mowing down henchmen by the hundreds, or murdering innocent civilians.
• Shout-Out: One optional setting for your Dad is John Marston. Or, if you have the Collector's Edition, Claude or Niko.
• Showy Invincible Hero: Easily the biggest badass in the GTA franchise. Your character is able to survive shootings and missions comparable to those of The Punisher, and that's saying a lot!
• The Spymaster: Becomes this if you buy and properly upgrade a Facility. Both the Orbital Weapons System and the Security Room give them Sinister Surveillance of the whole map, the former lets them snipe people with a Kill Sat, and the latter lets them sic Elite Mooks on targets.
• Statuesque Stunner: The female protagonist stands around 6' tall, according to the character creation in the PS4/PC/Xbox One versions. Players can make the female protagonist a few inches taller with the addition of high heels.
• The Stoic: The Online Protagonist never speaks in cutscenes, and seems to be able to communicate just by facial expressions and body language.
• Stripperiffic: Much of the clothing for the female protagonist is very revealing or ridiculously sexy for no reason. For example, a simple shirt, jacket or t-shirt is ridiculously low cut, shows off a ton of midriff and/or is incredibly tight. Hell, freakin' combat boots among other shoes exclusive to the female protagonist come equipped with stiletto heels!
• There Can Be Only One: Deathmatch games have a setting which makes death permanent until the match is over. Also Last Team Standing missions.
• Token Evil Teammate: Depending on the job, you can be a total dick in a team full of "nice guys" (being red with high mentality).
• Token Good Teammate: Depending on the job, you can be the most sane person out of a team of psychopaths (being white with low mentality).
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: In the PS3/Xbox 360 versions, you could choose your grandparents from both sides of the family, which influenced how your parents looked, which influenced how your character looked. In the PS4/Xbox One/PC versions, you just choose your parents. All versions include variable sliders on which parent the respective child looked more like, with the next-gen versions even including a slider for which parent's skin tone and complexion you take after.
• Unflinching Walk: At the end of the Humane Labs Raid, after Karen gives them a grenade to blow up the Valkyrie they just used.
• Victory Pose: You can choose from several. Most are some sort of hilarious vulgar action, like wanking/jerking or a middle finger.
• Violation of Common Sense: The daily activity function in the character creator for the PS3/Xbox 360 versions. For example, sitting on the couch all day makes you one hell of a pilot, and getting more sleep increases your height considerably.
• Villain Cred: Made into an actual mechanic, via "Reputation Points".
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Can be invoked but only as a male.
• Walking Swimsuit Scene: If you choose to run around in nothing but a bikini as a female.

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