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Video Game: Grand Theft Auto V

In search of the almighty dollar.

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

— Michael

Grand Theft Auto V is a game due to be released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 17, 2013. The latest entry in Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series, it is set in the Los Angeles pastiche of Los Santos and its surrounding countryside based on Southern California. In a first for the series, the game will feature three playable protagonists as opposed to just one:

Michael, a former bank robber in his 40s who retired and went into FIB's Witness Protection, living in a mansion in Rockford Hills (the game's version of Beverly Hills) with his wife Amanda and their children Tracy and Jimmy. However, he is forced back into his old line of work after Amanda burns through all of his money.
Trevor Phillips, a former military pilot turned friend/partner in crime of Michael who is about his age, but never retired, and remained a drug-abusing career criminal living in a trailer out in the desert of Blaine County (based on real-life Salton City).
Franklin, a twenty-something black guy who works as repo man for a luxury car dealership. He feels trapped in the ghetto by his gang banger friends, who in turn see him as having gone "soft" and unfaithful to his roots. He is described as "the young and capable one of the bunch."

Together, They Cause Crime. Players can switch between the three at any time, and a major part of gameplay will be heist missions in which all three characters take part. On the fly, the player can switch between, say, the guy taking hostages inside the store, the guy sniping cops outside, and the guy rappelling down the side of the building.

The first teaser trailer, released in November 2011, can be found here

and a second trailer

was released a year later in 2012, with three new trailers

released on April 30th, 2013. More info here.

As this game has not yet been released, please refrain from adding rumors or other unconfirmed information.

Grand Theft Auto V provides the following tropes:

And Now for Someone Completely Different: A new major feature of the game. Instead of playing as a single protagonist throughout the experience, you switch between three different characters at the press of a button. Each character has their own unique strengths, attributes and storyline that all intertwine.
Ax Crazy: Trevor, fueled by his drug addiction.
Badass: The three main characters — Michael, Franklin and Trevor.
Badass in a Nice Suit: Michael, having the most affluent lifestyle of the protagonists, has been depicted like this.
Balding of Evil: Trevor has the least amount of hair of the protagonists and is also the most violent and unstable.
Bank Robbery
Blood Knight: Heavily implied in Trevor.
Broken Bridge: Averted. Unlike past main entries in the series, the entire map will be open from the start.
Bullet Time: Michael's special ability allows him to use it in combat, while Franklin's allows him to use it when driving cars.
The Cameo: Rockstar confirms that V will be set in the "HD Universe", which includes the IV era, and thus some characters from the three games of that era can be expected.
- This is further evidenced in a blink-and-miss moment in Trevor's trailer, in which you can see a sign advertising The Lost MC Los Santos, hinting towards the return of at least Johnny in the game.
Church of Happyology: The Epsilon Program, making its return from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, is seriously weird. Since the game is taking place in a Los Angeles Expy, it could be a Take That at The Church of Scientology itself.
Cool Pet/Right-Hand Attack Dog: Chop, Franklin's pet rottweiler.
Cool Plane: Planes (including fighter jets) will be making a return.
Conspiracy Theorist: Trevor's friend Ron.
Chronic Villainy: It is implied that Michael is bored by civilian life and cannot come to terms with it, and therefore uses Amanda's spendthrift lifestyle as an excuse for him to to return to a life of crime. His therapist outright tells him that he is "addicted to chaos" in the third trailer.
Deconstructed Trope:
- Michael is the traditional GTA protagonist who has already won. Having "beaten the game," so to speak, he's decided to get out, settle down and raise a family, but he finds "normal" life boring. It's implied that he only uses his wife's wasteful lifestyle as an excuse to go back to the one thing he knows how to do.
- Trevor as well, though in the opposite direction, commenting on people who ignore the game's storylines and play them for what they're most infamous for. See You Bastard.
- Franklin appears to be be the traditional GTA protagonist as well, except unlike the past characters he's trying to get out of the gang life, rather than delve deeper into it.
Dysfunctional Family: Michael's. His primary communication with Amanda consists chiefly of expletives, Tracy doesn't respect him, and Jimmy spends most of his time in his room smoking weed and playing video games.
Every Car Is a Pinto: As per series tradition. This time around, the player can pour a Vapor Trail of gasoline and watch the fireworks.
Game Within a Game: The tennis and golf games are supposedly more advanced than just simple minigames.
Gatling Good: The minigun (albeit a more realistic version) reappears, after being absent from IV.
Government Agency of Fiction: In addition to the FIB from IV, there's also the IAA serving as a stand-in for the CIA, apparently carrying on an Interservice Rivalry with the FIB.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Trevor. In fact, Trevor seems to be a military version of Tommy DeVito.
Holler Button: Well, it is more like a "flip-the-bird button".
Hollywood California
Honest John's Dealership: The car dealership Franklin works for, whose owner is a sleazy Armenian guy who pressures yuppies into buying expensive cars clearly beyond their purchasing power, then sends Franklin to take them back when the payments stop coming in.
Hotter and Sexier: GTA V will feature Jiggle Physics.
Lighter and Softer: Compared to the Darker and Edgier path that followed the company in Vice City Stories and the IV saga, this sequel has been designed with a conscious push in this opposition.
Like a Son to Me: Michael calls Franklin "the son I always wanted." With a heavy dose of sarcasm.
Malevolent Masked Men: In the first trailer, the three main characters storm a jewelry store wearing dust masks and exterminator uniforms.
Monkey Morality Pose: The three main characters does one in the second trailer, with Michael being "hear no evil", Trevor being "see no evil", and Franklin being "speak no evil."
Mythology Gag: As Franklin's trailer shows, his gang colors are the same as that of the Grove Street Families. The members of the opposing gang is shown to wear purple, like the Ballas gang.
New Meat: Of the main trio, Franklin is the youngest and least experienced.
Pretty Fly For A White Guy: Michael's son, Jimmy.
Jimmy: Okay, let's bounce!
Michael: "Bounce?" We're "bouncing" now?
Regenerating Health: Up to 50% of your character's health regenerates. After that you'll need to find health kits to restore the rest.
Retired Outlaw: Michael, initially.
Saw It in a Movie Once: A small heist mission entitled "Blitz Play", which is based off of Heat, has Michael saying he got the idea for it from a movie.
Sequel Escalation: Rockstar has described the map as being bigger than those of San Andreas, IV and Red Dead Redemption put together, and then some to spare. On top of having a full-sized city, the game also features the surrounding countryside (much as was done with San Andreas).
Shout Out: No doubt more will be revealed once the game ships, but as early as the second trailer, Rockstar seems to be teasing the inclusion of a car based off a very familiar classic British grand tourer.
Take Cover: A much improved cover system from IV returns.
The Sociopath: Trevor.
Token Evil Teammate: While the protagonists are probably going to be very dark Anti-Heroes at best, Trevor seems to be far more amoral than the other two.
The New Tens: May very well become a subtle period piece for the early 2010s, as did IV for the Turn of the Millennium. The game takes place during an economic downturn, where class divisions are stark. The mobile phone has been stated to have internet-browsing capabilities.
Threatening Shark: Among other animals, sharks have been confirmed to appear in the game, likely as Border Patrol.
Trunk Shot: One piece of artwork.◊
Unflinching Walk: Trevor does this away from an exploding house.
Unnecessary Combat Roll: While these were present in IV, they're being much improved for V, allowing characters to additionally roll from cover to cover.
Villain Protagonist: Whereas most Grand Theft Auto protagonists are usually somewhat sympathetic (including Franklin and Michael themselves), Trevor is a completely straight example of this.
Vapor Trail: Players can do this in-game, strategically pouring the gasoline themselves.
Wide-Open Sandbox: It's GTA, of course. However initial promotion of the game suggests the sandboxing will be taken to a whole new level with a new range of random encounters and incidental missions that won't be as linear as they have been in the past.
Witness Protection: Michael, until he (or rather, his wife) ran out of money.
You Bastard: Word Of God states that Trevor is, essentially, the typical GTA player personified as a character — a vicious psychopath who runs around causing havoc death, and destruction for his own amusement. Previews described him going out and setting a car on fire simply for the lulz and the second trailer prominently portrays him as casually walking away from a house explosion caused by himself.
Trevor: "I'll swing by and sign the contracts, all right? ...Just ignore the bodies."