Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - Antagonists

Go To

This is the character sheet concerning the main antagonists of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. For a full index of characters from the game, click here. For tropes relating to characters debuting in other titles, see the main GTA Characters Index.

    open/close all folders 

C.R.A.S.H.

    In General 
Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (C.R.A.S.H.) is a unit of the Los Santos Police Department intended to reduce the level of gang crime within the city, however the members of the unit are extremely corrupt and it is basically a gang within the police.
  • Blackmail: They force CJ to kill several witnesses under the threat that he would be framed for the murder of Officer Ralph Pendelbury if he did not do it.
  • Dirty Cop: The unit consists of corrupt cops who will blackmail people into killing witnesses who uncovered their corruption.
  • Donut Mess with a Cop: Their first two missions start at a donut shop named Jim's Sticky Ring.
  • Leave No Witnesses: Whenever someone uncovers their crimes, they get silenced.

    Officer Frank Tenpenny 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0db50034df5f96fe400d6fee85767bb7.png
"Welcome home, Carl. Glad to be back?"

The main antagonist of San Andreas, Tenpenny is the corrupt leader of the LSPD's C.R.A.S.H. (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) Unit. He is bent on destroying all of the gangs in the state by playing them out against each other, and is willing to murder innocents, assassinate fellow officers, and distribute guns and drugs to do this.

Shortly after Carl arrives in Los Santos, he has the former gangster arrested, framing him for the murder of Officer Ralph Pendelbury, an Internal Affairs officer that Tenpenny himself had just silenced. Using this and his power as a cop as leverage, he antagonizes Carl throughout the game, following him all across the state and forcing him to do his dirty work.


  • 0% Approval Rating: Other than Pulaski, no one likes Tenpenny, who is generally seen (not incorrectly) as a menace to society. When the charges against him were dropped, the whole of Los Santos fell into chaos. After he dies, his body is stripped and mutilated by the homeless.
  • Almighty Janitor: Officially, he's a beat cop, the lowest rank in the LSPD. Unofficially, he's the gangland kingpin of Southern San Andreas.
  • Bald of Authority: He's in charge of the LSPD's C.R.A.S.H. unit, and unofficially controls much of the crime in the city.
  • Bald of Evil: Not a hair on his head and not a drop of good in his soul.
  • Big Bad: Of the whole storyline of San Andreas. He pulls the strings of nearly every major conflict in the game, and even when he isn't behind everything, he'll find some way to blackmail Carl into doing some dirty work for him.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: With Big Smoke although it's clear that he's the bigger threat between the two.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity:
    • In the Mission "High Noon," he's finally ready to kill CJ and Hernandez. But instead of just shooting them — Tenpenny knocks Hernandez out, makes CJ dig his own (and Hernandez's) grave, and leaves Pulaski behind to keep watch. Lo and behold — Hernandez wakes up and makes a Heroic Sacrifice that allows CJ to kill Pulaski and escape.
    • Even in "End of the Line," he still can't resist this. Rather than simply shoot CJ from behind, and unload Smoke's safe himself (which would've saved him a good chunk of escape time) — Tenpenny engages in one last bout of Evil Gloating, and makes CJ unload the safe for him... which enables CJ to distract him just enough to turn the tables. CJ even lampshades Tenpenny's screwup.
  • Boomerang Bigot: Downplayed. He doesn't express any bigotry towards other black people, but he turns a blind eye to his partner Pulaski's racism and is generally unconcerned with how the actions of him and his colleagues make life harder for minorities.
  • Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Towards Carl. Tenpenny stopped Pulaski from capping CJ many times because he was still useful.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Tenpenny proudly owns up to his job as a corrupt police officer and never misses an opportunity to brag to CJ about this.
  • Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Despite being able to evade the law, his corrupt actions and arrogant behavior still have made him many, many enemies, dislike from the public, and have alienated him from his fellow officers. His acquittal angers the public so much that it triggers a riot, forcing him to flee for his life, which fails when he is chased off a bridge by CJ and Sweet, who sought revenge.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He will not hesitate to throw you under the bus when you have no further use. He uses the Truth as a contact to CJ while he is exiled from Los Santos, and later sics the feds on him.
  • The Corrupter: He attempts this with every officer who joins his unit, most notably Hernandez, and kills off any that he fails to turn. He also managed to corrupt Big Smoke and Ryder into working with him in distributing crack before the events of the game.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Frequently makes wry, snide remarks about CJ, his family, Grove Street and gangbangers in general.
  • Desecrating the Dead: Radio reports after the final mission note that his body was found by looters, who proceeded to strip and mutilate it before the police found it.
  • Dirty Cop: Tenpenny likes to think of himself as a "Knight Templar", but at his core, he's nothing more than a thug in uniform who uses his police badge, his influence, and his connections for his own criminal and corrupt purposes. Since his actions are not productive at all, Tenpenny is far from someone who wants to do good, not even in an extreme or twisted way. In fact, his way of dealing with gangs is more reminiscent of how a mob boss would do it than that of a police officer.
  • Establishing Character Moment: The first cutscene of the game has him rob CJ at gunpoint, accuse him of murdering a cop knowing he hasn't been in San Andreas for ten minutes, blackmail him, and throw him out of a moving car into hostile gang territory. An honorable enforcer of law and order he is not.
  • Evil Laugh: The opening cutscene has two types: A sadistic, menacing chuckle, and a pretty maniacal laughter as he has Carl thrown out of the cruiser.
  • Expy: He's basically Alonzo Harris in everything but name.
  • Fat and Skinny: The Skinny to Pulaski's Fat.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Almost constantly takes on an affable, chummy tone with CJ, even as he's bullying and outright threatening him into doing his dirty work.
  • Hate Sink: Considering that he's a monstrous, hypocritical, sadistic, disgusting Dirty Cop who uses his police badge, his influence, and his connections to corrupt everyone around him and advance his selfish and criminal interests, it's clear that Tenpenny was meant to receive as much hatred and revulsion from players as possible. It certainly doesn't help that Tenpenny comes too close to the kind of corrupt individuals invoked that can very well be found in real life.
  • Hated by All: Aside from Pulaski, no one seems to like him. When he is acquitted from his trial, literal riots all over Los Santos erupt in response and they will not calm down until they have his head.
  • Humiliation Conga: Posthumously. As if it wasn't bad enough that he died pathetically in front of his enemies, WCTR later reports that his body was stripped naked, abused by rioters, and dumped in a gutter.
  • Hypocrite: Tenpenny's corrupt activities makes it very hard for him to practice what he preaches.
    • Keeps stating that he wants to enact justice and take down criminals and refers to all of them as scum but he's a corrupt cop who deals with criminals in order to create a drug empire and have innocent people murdered.
    • Gets angry at Hernandez for ratting out and betraying him but leaves Pulaski with CJ so he can be killed as he saw him as a loose end, betraying him.
    • States that he's a good person and not a murderer but tells CJ or someone else to kill or murder other civilians or criminals and tries to flat out murder CJ at the end of the game.
  • Immediate Self-Contradiction: During "End of the Line", he tells CJ that "you're gonna thank me one day for opening your fucking eyes", before following this up with a Dramatic Gun Cock and "Time to die".
  • Ironic Name: "Frank" is a synonym for honest, very ironic indeed for a Dirty Cop who uses and manipulates people.
  • It's All About Me: In The Introduction, he scolds Pulaski for calling him "pal." During High Noon Carl tries to warn Pulaski that Tenpenny may turn on him too, and in the final mission, as he dies, he gives a final rant about how much better the city would be off if he was in charge.
  • Jerkass: Almost all the time. When he's not sending CJ on life-threatening missions, he's making snide remarks about him and his "wonderful family", and even punches him in the gut at one point. From what we see, he's not even particularly nice to his own partners, scolding Pulaski for calling him a pal in The Introduction and constantly insulting Hernandez throughout the game.
  • Karmic Death: His fellow cops abandon him in his hour of need — mortally wounded right in the middle of the Grove Street cul-de-sac, with the people he abused through the years standing over him. What's more, his death was a traffic accident that he caused himself - so there's nobody else to pin the blame on.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Easily one of the cruelest, vilest, and darkest villains of the GTA series, and that's saying a lot considering a series that revolves around organized crime and criminals. He does have a few moments that could be considered amusing, but they also further drive home just what an asshole he is.
  • Lack of Empathy: Never shows remorse or concern for others.
  • Laughably Evil: Downplayed. He has some moments of humor thanks to the charisma that he receives from Samuel L. Jackson, but he's still a complete and utter jerkass.
  • Leitmotif: In many scenes where Tenpenny appears, he's accompanied by a menacing trap beat.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Has CJ, his fellow cops, and Big Smoke and Ryder wrapped around his little finger through persuasion and promises of power and riches, or in CJ's case, outright threats. A big part of the story is CJ trying to find a way to get out from under his thumb and turn the tables.
  • Mobile Menace: Tenpenny and Pulaski can zoom around San Andreas as well as Carl can; they even take an extended vacation in Las Venturas specifically to order around Carl.
  • Narcissist: Sees himself as above the rules and has a complete lack of any empathy or remorse for the pain he causes as he abuses his position and has witnesses and other people killed to tie up loose ends.
  • No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Based on the real-life crooked cop, Rafael Pérez, leader of the real-life C.R.A.S.H. Unit.
  • No Honor Among Thieves: During the final mission, he sets a fire in Big Smoke's crack factory, condemning many members of gangs allied with him to death.
  • Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: There are times where he'll claim to just be doing what needs to be done to clean up the streets of Los Santos. However, even if it weren't transparently obvious that he's really a self-serving criminal on a power trip, the fact that he's actively making the city's problems with drugs and gang violence even worse only proves that any claims of ruthlessness in pursuit of an admirable goal are insincere. Notably, when the city descends into rioting following his acquittal, his response is to loot Big Smoke's safe and flee until things cool down rather than help restore law and order; he even goes so far as to steal a fire truck that could have been used to help people in need.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Pulaski's Red, being the more patient and cerebral of the two.
  • Sadist: He has no qualms about violence and intimidation against CJ, and clearly enjoys it.
  • Scary Black Man: Granted, CJ and most of his friends and associates are also black, but Tenpenny is not a man you want in charge of your local police force.
  • Smug Snake: Arrogant, snide, and clearly has nothing but contempt for pretty much everyone but himself.
  • The Sociopath: If someone were tasked with listing out all of Tenpenny's defining character attributes, all they'd have to do is copy and paste a sociopathy checklist and nobody would be able to tell the difference: superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self, a fundamental incapacity for human empathy, willful and repeated exploitation of others without compassion or remorse, pathological lying, a constant need for stimulation (his evil acts are done primarily for his own amusement), a complete inability to form genuine emotional attachments to anyone, and poor impulse control.
  • Time-Delayed Death: Crashing his truck off a bridge fatally wounds him. However, he manages to linger a bit longer and get out of the truck to get help, only to collapse to his death soon after. CJ actually thinks he's not done after seeing this and tries to finish him off with a gun, but Sweet knows better and stops him.
  • Undignified Death: He dies in the heart of Grove Street, surrounded by enemies, no support coming, and whining pathetically about how he could have cleaned up the streets of Los Santos before finally bleeding out. His body is then later stripped and mutilated by the homeless before the officials can recover it.
  • The Unfought: Oddly enough, CJ never comes to blows with Tenpenny. Even in the finale, all that happens is a chase across the city in which he crashes the fire engine over the Grove Street neighborhood and dies from his own injuries.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: He's a cop in charge of a unit focused on dealing with the gang problem in LS. Sounds like a Hero Antagonist pitted against our Anti-Hero protagonist CJ, right? Well, no. His good publicity doesn't last either, since he's put on trial for his many, many crimes and Los Santos learns just how dirty he is. The people hate him so much that they riot when he's acquitted.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Once the FBI takes interest in his activities, the once snarky, condescending Tenpenny becomes irritable and paranoid, more so when he learns that Hernandez ratted him and Pulaski out.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Tenpenny attempts this with CJ twice in the game. Some of CJ's missions are him doing Tenpenny's bidding. Once he no longer has a use for CJ, Tenpenny orders Pulaski to kill him; however, CJ ends up killing Pulaski instead. Then during the final mission, once CJ has packed up Tenpenny's luggage for him, he shoots at him with shotgun, but thankfully misses as CJ distracts him. He then blows up the crack factory, which CJ manages to escape in time.

    Officer Eddie Pulaski 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pulaski_sa_9536.png
"I ain't such a fucking soft touch!"

Voiced by: Chris Penn

Tenpenny's right-hand man in C.R.A.S.H., as well as a racist prick. Pulaski is dumb, loyal, and arrogant, forming a sort of "Bad Cop / Even Worse Cop" routine with Tenpenny throughout the game, starring him as the latter. He also handles anything that Tenpenny deems too important to hand off to Hernandez or Carl, but not important enough to bother with himself.


  • Acrofatic: He's a surprisingly fast runner for a man of his girth.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: Believes himself to be equal to Tenpenny. Tenpenny always shuts him down and reminds him that he is superior.
  • Bigot with a Badge: In his first scene, he insults CJ's cabbie by calling him a "greaseball bastard" and a "stupid Mexican" before offering a half-hearted apology to Jimmy Hernandez, his Latino fellow cop.
  • Blind Obedience: To Tenpenny, to the point that he refuses to believe CJ's premonition that Tenpenny could turn on him anytime soon.
  • The Brute: He works as a muscleman for Tenpenny and has a fittingly cumbersome Desert Eagle for a sidearm.
  • Defiant to the End: Despite his Dirty Coward escape from Carl, when asked if he has a Last Request, he asks, "Can I fuck your sister?" as a final insult to Carl, who then finishes him off.
  • Dirty Cop: He's every bit as rotten as Tenpenny is, acting as his right-hand man during their schemes and dealings.
  • Dirty Coward: Rather then face Carl in a fist or gunfight, he quickly high tails it out of the cemetery and tries to run for it, forcing Carl to chase him down.
  • The Dragon: To Tenpenny.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Possibly. One of Rosenberg's quotes in Vice City whenever Tommy is busted namedrops a "Sergeant Pulaski", though it's unknown whether it refers to Eddie, a relative, or someone else with the same last name.
  • Establishing Character Moment: His racism and general unpleasantness are set up in the opening scene, where he tells CJ's cab driver to "Get outta here, you greaseball bastard!", before muttering "Stupid Mexican" to himself. He then realizes that he said that in front of his Hispanic partner Jimmy Hernandez, and offers a very half-hearted "Oh, hey... sorry."
  • Fat and Skinny: The Fat to Tenpenny's Skinny.
  • Fat Bastard: While not as fat as Big Smoke, he's still pretty chubby.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: He's the more quick-tempered of the two corrupt cops. The introduction shows him mercilessly beating down Officer Pendelbury right before Tenpenny has to step in and keep him from doing any more damage.
  • Hand Cannon: After you disable his car in "High Noon", he attacks you with a Desert Eagle, and can end you quickly if you try to take him on toe-to-toe.
  • Hate Sink: Just as big a scumbag as Tenpenny, minus his coolness and humor.
  • Jerkass: He's often even more snide and obnoxious than Tenpenny is.
  • Meaningful Name: Pulaski, Tennessee is the town where the Ku Klux Klan was founded, likely referencing his racism.
  • National Stereotypes: To an extent, at least. He's Polish (well, Polish-American), and a hot-tempered, not particularly bright blue-collar type.
  • Never Found the Body: The coverage of Tenpenny's trial in "Riot" states that he's believed to be on the run.
  • No Kill like Overkill: After you kill him, you can continue to shoot/stomp/run over his body until it disappears.
  • Plotline Death: During "High Noon".
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: He's quite the racist. Which makes the fact that he's working for a black man pretty ironic.
  • Psycho for Hire: Unlike Hernandez, he does whatever Tenpenny tells him to do willingly. Only Tenpenny can control his homicidal intentions.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Tenpenny's Blue, being the more impulsive and emotional of the two.
  • Sadist: In "High Noon", when CJ is chasing him, Pulaski makes disgusting remarks about CJ's mom and sister just to get under his skin, thankfully this sadistic behavior gets him killed.
  • Satellite Character: Almost never appears on his own and doesn't display much of his characterization till "High Noon." Outside of that, he mostly acts as Tenpenny's Yes-Man.
  • Smug Snake: Even more so than Tenpenny.
  • The Sociopath: Pulaski is just as sociopathic as Tenpenny, though without the superficial charm or pragmatism that characterizes the latter. And unlike Hernandez, who is nothing more than a Punch-Clock Villain, Pulaski manages to be a particularly sadistic Psycho for Hire who willingly participates in some of Tenpenny's nastier crimes. He is also even more impulsive than Tenpenny, being particularly violent and threatening Carl with death on many occasions.
  • Too Dumb to Live: In "High Noon," he keeps insulting Carl's dead mother as well as Kendl... despite Carl now being a known One-Man Army who already has plenty of reason to want him dead.
  • Villainous Friendship: Subverted with Tenpenny, who Pulaski thinks is his friend, when in reality, Tenpenny sees him as a tool like everyone else. Carl outright points this out to him during the final C.R.A.S.H mission.
  • Would You Like to Hear How They Died?: Taunts Carl about Beverly's death.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Carl tries to warn him that Tenpenny may soon turn on him once he has done messing around with the gangs of Los Santos.
  • You Monster!: CJ calls him "an asshole to the end" before he kills him.
  • Your Mom: Prior to his impending death, Pulaski insults CJ's mom by joking about the guys screwing around with her corpse after her spontaneous death.

    Officer Jimmy Hernandez 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jimmy_hernandez_5722.png
"There is only one kind of crime in Los Santos: gang crime. That's why I joined C.R.A.S.H."."

Voiced by: Armando Riesco

A new member of C.R.A.S.H. and a Mexican immigrant, who Tenpenny and Pulaski love pushing around like a slave. He joined C.R.A.S.H. to eradicate gang crime, however, he was forced by Tenpenny to silence Ralph Pendelbury, an Internal Affairs officer of the LSPD who uncovered Tenpenny and Pulaski's corruption within the department. He mostly serves as their henchman in the background handling every menial task that Tenpenny and Pulaski don't want to deal with themselves.


  • Anti-Villain: Probably the least malevolent of the trio. The only adverse action he has taken against Carl is to call him early in the game, warning him not to leave Los Santos, and even then Carl dismisses him as Tenpenny's "bitch".
  • Butt-Monkey/The Chew Toy: He constantly gets this treatment, from both C.R.A.S.H. and Carl.
  • By-the-Book Cop: At least, he tries. Unfortunately, when he is surrounded by the likes of Tenpenny and Pulaski...
  • Contempt Crossfire: Tenpenny and Pulaski look down on him for not being as corrupt and ruthless as they are, and subject him to all sorts of petty mistreatment. C.J. dislikes him for being a cop and calls him Tenpenny and Pulaski's "bitch."
  • Corrupt the Cutie: Used to be a Wide-Eyed Idealist with a strong sense of morality, until Tenpenny forced him to kill Pendelbury.
  • The Dog Bites Back: Ratted out Tenpenny and Pulaski to Internal Affairs once he decided he has had enough of their abuse.
  • Expy: Of Jake Hoyt from Training Day. Both are laughed at by their new mentor upon first meeting after describing a past event on the job, both hesitate to participate in corrupt actions but are coerced into doing so, and both have the initials "J.H.".
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Dies saving Carl from a killing shot by Pulaski during High Noon.
  • New Meat: He's the new guy in C.R.A.S.H., and as shown in The Introduction, clearly had no idea what he was in for being assigned to work with crooked, bullying cops like Tenpenny and Pulaski.
  • Redemption Equals Death: He turns against his superiors and takes a bullet for CJ, saving his life.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: He's rarely seen in the game and only has an expanded backstory in the extended introduction. By the time the mission "High Noon" rolls around, Tenpenny discovers that Hernandez was ratting him out to the feds and is now at risk of being caught. Hernandez was spilling information to the feds for quite a while and if it wasn't for him, Tenpenny's downfall could not have happened.
  • Spanner in the Works: Gets Internal Affairs onto Tenpenny and Pulaski's case, eventually leading to the latter's death and the former's riot-sparking trial (and consequent death as well).
  • Token Good Teammate: Compared to Tenpenny and Pulaski, he's practically a saint. Hell, he might as well the only honest cop in the entire GTA franchise.
  • Trapped in Villainy: He wants to be a By-the-Book Cop, but unfortunately, he's stuck in the most corrupt division of the LSPD.
  • The Voiceless: Downplayed. He only speaks in a phone call he makes to CJ at very beginning of the game, telling him to not try to leave town, other than that he's completely silent during the cutscenes he appears in. Averted in The Introduction.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: In The Introduction, he tries to reason with Tenpenny. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

Ballas

    Little Weasel 

Voiced by: Unknown

A former member of the Grove Street Families who defected to the Kilo Tray Ballas.


  • Et Tu, Brute?: He claims that Tenpenny set him up after CJ took over Glen Park.
  • Face–Heel Turn: He defected to the Ballas and is also associated with Tenpenny.
  • Fat Bastard: Obviously, due to his defection.
  • Meaningful Name: Sweet calls him "Little Weasel" due to his defection from the Grove Street Families.

    Kane 

Voiced by: N/A

A high-ranking member of the Ballas, notably from the Front Yard set.


Los Santos Vagos

    Freddy 

Voiced by: Unknown

A member of the Los Santos Vagos who served time in prison along with OG Loc.


  • Camp Gay: He speaks very femininely.
  • Gayngster: He is a Vagos Camp Gay gangster who used to be in a homosexual relationship with OG Loc. When the chase scene ends with him still alive, he orders his fellow gangsters to attack CJ and OG Loc and says that the latter broke his heart.
  • "Get Back Here!" Boss: He escapes in a motorcycle when CJ and OG Loc attempt to confront him at his house, escalating situation into a chase scene. Freddy then stops at a basketball court in East Los Santos to order his fellow gangsters to kill them.
  • Prison Rape: Discussed, OG Loc claims that Freddy had raped him during his time in prison, however, it may turn into an subversion as Freddy himself implies that their homosexual relationship was completely consensual.

    Big Poppa 

Voiced by: Unknown

A high-ranking member of the Los Santos Vagos who took over Madd Dogg's mansion after his downfall.


  • The Dreaded: Madd Dogg was afraid of him so he had to give his mansion to him.
  • "Get Back Here!" Boss: When CJ and the Triads raid his mansion, he tries to flee, however, he ends up getting killed by CJ.

Loco Syndicate

    Jizzy B. 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3b68af2281d5c1ed54ca40c57d54a7d6.png
"See I only got two eyes and in this world you got to have mo' than that. You gotta be like a fly on shit, you know? A hundred eyes everywhere!"

Voiced by: Charlie Murphy

A higher-up in the Loco Syndicate, the crack cocaine cartel supplying C.R.A.S.H. and the Ballas, and owner of the Pleasure Domes, a strip club underneath the Gant Bridge at Battery Point, on the northernmost end of San Fierro, which also doubles both as the Syndicate's headquarters and center of Jizzy's prostitution ring. Carl targets him as an "in" for the Syndicate, hoping to infiltrate and destroy it so he can halt the spread of crack in San Andreas.


  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: He literally gets on his knees and begs once he's confronted, and once he realizes that it won't work, he starts screaming for his guards.
  • Dirty Coward: Once he's confronted, he looks just about ready to piss his pants, screaming for his guards and running away as fast as his legs can carry him.
  • The Dragon: To Mike.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Calls in the second Lonely Hearts segment of West Coast Talk Radio, advertising the Pleasure Domes to prospective hookers, much to host Christy MacIntyre's disgust.
    Christy: "Good grief! That's not the way Lonely Hearts works at all!"
  • He-Man Woman Hater: He's pretty misogynistic, as shown in his last appearance.
  • Lack of Empathy: As far as he's concerned, he's the only person on the planet that matters.
  • Pimp Duds: Well, duh. A slightly more restrained example as he's lacking more extravagant features like a hat and fur, but he is wearing a gaudy purple suit and a gold dollar sign medallion. In his introduction, he's gloating to his hookers about all the mink clothing and accessories he has, even claiming to have mink carpets in his house.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Like Ryder, he thinks that he's much smarter than he actually is.
  • Smug Snake: Very much so, being very cocky and arrogant and generally thinking he's much more important than he really is.

    T-Bone Mendez 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tbonemendez-artwork2_3637.jpg
"You think you can fucking bullshit me, and fuck me over? I know your fucking game, ese."

Voiced by: Arturo "Kid Frost" Molina, Jr.

The Loco Syndicate's main enforcer and leader of the San Fierro Rifa, a Hispanic gang abundant in the southern half of San Fierro. He serves as the right-hand man to Mike Toreno, helping him deal with any threats to their business. Brutish and distrustful, he's forced to work with CJ once the latter has worked his way into the Syndicate, and serves as a major roadblock to Carl's efforts.


  • Affably Evil: Not him, but his gang, San Fierro Rifa, are content with driving around, gathering, and drinking, when there is no gang war happening (which is very rarely, if ever, happening in San Fierro). The Rifas never attack unless in retaliation of carjacking or being attacked, and even then, it's not always.
  • Ax-Crazy: He is brutally sadistic and impulsive and gets extremely angry easily. In "The Introduction" video, he gives a brutal beating of another gang member, possibly to the point of killing, and at one point threatens to rape and kill CJ's family as a "joke."
  • Blood Knight: He really enjoys killing.
  • The Brute: The main muscle of the Loco Syndicate. Notably, he's one of the two antagonists (the other being Big Smoke) who actually stands his ground.
  • Celebrity Paradox: Kid Frost's "La Raza" can be heard on Radio Los Santos.
  • Dead Star Walking: He's voiced by rapper Arturo "Kid Frost" Molina Jr., and as an antagonist, it comes as no surprise that he eventually winds up in the player's crosshairs.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: He has a tendency to go nuts at the drop of a hat, especially when it comes to potential rats in the Syndicate.
  • Jerkass: He's very callous and has no problem with threatening violence against others for the slightest provocation.
  • The Leader: Of the Rifa.
  • Manly Facial Hair: A cop mustache, ironically enough. In-game, that is; some pieces of promotional art (such as the one on the right) depict him as having a much larger and bushier mustache.
  • Post-Climax Confrontation: Not him, but the Loco Syndicate/San Fierro Rifa's drug factory is blown up two missions after the mission in which he is killed, ending the San Fierro - Los Santos drugrunning route for good.
  • Properly Paranoid: He suspects Carl of being a rat from the start, and rightfully so. Although he never actually knew it until Carl is standing besides Cesar, who gun him down ruthlessly (and deservedly as well, since he's the largest drug supplier to Los Santos.)
  • The Sociopath: He's an utter psycho who's willing to kill or torture anyone to keep his business afloat, and his sense of humor reflects that.
  • The Stoic: When he's not pissed off, he's rather calm and doesn't talk much.

    Mike Toreno 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miketorenogtasa_5824.png
"It's not all white knights and heroes. We have to make decisions, kid. You know, I try to set bad people on other bad people and sometimes I let good guys die."

Voiced by: James Woods

The mysterious leader of the Loco Syndicate, a drug-running enterprise in San Fierro that supplies C.R.A.S.H. and the Ballas with crack. Few people have seen his face, fewer know his name, and fewer still know anything more than that. Carl targets him in an attempt to halt the flow of crack into Los Santos, destroying his business and shooting his helicopter out of the sky.


  • A Lighter Shade of Black: His methods are every bit as brutal as Tenpenny's, ruthlessly killing fellow law enforcers and sending his underlings on impossible missions. Where they differ is that Toreno will stop short of killing his underlings once they outlive their usefulness, unlike Tenpenny. He will also honor any deal made with them, as seen when he actually releases Sweet once CJ does everything he wants. And as brutal as he is, Toreno does seem to have stuck with his good intention of protecting America, whereas Tenpenny is just wallowing in debauchery at the expense of everyone else.
  • Always a Bigger Fish: Much, much bigger than Tenpenny, to the point he outright steals Tenpenny's leverage over CJ and Tenpenny can't do anything about it.
  • Anti-Villain: His ways of maintaining the balance to evil in the world may be quite creepy, but his intentions are good.
  • Bad Boss: He will reward his subordinates if they perform well enough, but don't expect this guy to actually give a damn about them. T-Bone is by all measures an extremely loyal henchman, yet Toreno casually brushes aside his death and then recruits his killer as replacement. CJ himself isn't spared from this, as Toreno never takes any step to protect him from Tenpenny, leading to a near-fatal encounter in the desert. There's also his Jerkass tendency, best seen when he threatens Sweet with sodomy if CJ doesn't perform up to his standard.
  • Badass in Distress: In his introductory mission, he gets kidnapped by the Da Nang Boys and CJ has to rescue him.
  • The Chessmaster: Fakes his death in "Toreno's Last Flight," gives CJ missions that affect the international stage to Toreno's liking, and pulls strings to keep Sweet safe in prison and ultimately grant him an early release.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Not as much as The Truth, but still...
  • The Comically Serious: He never loses his calm and professional demeanor, no matter how outlandish the circumstances.
  • Conspiracy Theorist: Ridicules the claims that Hitler committed suicide and that the USA nuked Japan. Considering the fact that he's a secret agent, he might be telling the truth.
    Mike Toreno: "If it helps people sleep better at night, I guess".
  • Deadpan Snarker: His banter with CJ is among the funniest of the game.
  • Deus ex Machina: CJ's war against the Loco Syndicate is intended to only be a small step in the war against C.R.A.S.H. However, the boss of said Syndicate just so happens to be a powerful government agent, who not only forgives CJ, but also offers him the mean to remove his brother from C.R.A.S.H's custody in exchange for some work. Though CJ has to admittedly bust his ass off to get this one done, going to an even bigger corrupt cop for help is never presented as an option for him before this point. Without Toreno's unexpected assistance, the last act of the game would not be possible as CJ wouldn't be able to take back Los Santos without jeopardizing Sweet's life, no matter how rich or how many allies he has accrued up to that point.
  • Evil Genius: Not entirely "evil," but still. He's manipulative, intimidating, and always has a plan in motion.
  • Foil: To Officer Tenpenny, curiously enough. They are both agents of the law whose modus operandi involve divide and conquer tactics against "bad people" with Tenpenny manipulating street gangs and Toreno against Gods-know-who he is fighting. The key difference is that Toreno doesn't seem to be corrupted by power like Tenpenny and is revealed at the end to be a man of his word.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Is both The Don of the Loco Syndicate and an undercover agent for the Government, wielding influence that even Tenpenny can only dream of. However - Toreno is busy with other, larger-scale affairs and even becomes an indirect, string-pulling ally for CJ.
  • Jerkass: He's constantly taunting, mocking, and berating CJ over just about everything.
    CJ: "Moms always told me not to talk to strangers."
    Toreno: "And look what happened to the bitch."
    • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Far from gold, but he does offer some kind words to CJ when it counts - and he always keeps his promises.
  • Karma Houdini: Has American soldiers and agents killed by CJ, but accomplishes all of his goals and never receives any comeuppance from anyone.
  • Knowledge Broker: Besides knowing a lot about CJ's life and Sweet's imprisonment (which he uses to make the former comply), he also admits that he knows about Tenpenny and C.R.A.S.H, even that him and Pulaski killed Officer Pendelberry. CJ even questions why he doesn't do anything to stop them...
  • Large Ham: When you're an Affably Evil Cloudcuckoolander voiced by James Woods, this is inevitable.
  • Laughably Evil: His over-the-top antics and constant wisecracking makes it easy to forget that he's a ruthless drug lord and government agent.
  • The Men in Black: His real job, which provides the majority of his humor.
  • No-One Could Have Survived That: When CJ shoots his helicopter out of the sky, the caption says that "there's no way Toreno could have survived that fireball." Of course, he did survive (no other antagonist receives this caption upon their deaths in the game), and pops up again two missions later. Then again, the helicopter CJ shot down was just a decoy, and Toreno was really in hiding during that time.
  • Noble Demon: Toreno is a ruthless drug lord and government agent willing to sell to very nasty people. However, he eventually takes a liking to Carl and keeps his promise to get Sweet an early release from jail.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • As manipulative of a bastard as he is, Toreno still compliments CJ for a job well done and compensates him generously for his work.
    • Ultimately keeps his word to protect and eventually free Sweet for CJ, even sounding genuinely happy for them despite earlier dismissing Sweet as "just collateral."
  • Sink or Swim Mentor: He teaches CJ to fly by essentially handing him a plane and ordering him to figure it out.
  • The Sociopath: Toreno certainly qualifies as an example of a highly-functional sociopath. There is no doubt that Toreno is incredibly cold, false, manipulative, ruthless, a Consummate Liar, is the head of a large-scale criminal operation, and he has no qualms about betraying others to further his goals after earning their trust. On the other hand, he is also incredibly methodical, brilliant, pragmatic, and while he has no qualms about sending Carl on dangerous life-and-death missions, at least he didn't betray his promises and promised to free his brother from jail, an example that not all sociopaths can be completely mean and dishonest.
  • The Spook: CJ doesn't even learn his name until he's been working for the Loco Syndicate for several missions. And everything else he knows about Toreno, Toreno told him himself.
  • Stealth Hi/Bye: Does this so often that CJ compares him to the devil.
  • Villain of Another Story: He's involved in a whole other conflict that's implied to be grander in scope that what's happening in the game, but is only ever alluded to. The Loco Syndicate was just one thread in Toreno's greater scheme, and CJ inadvertently gets embroiled in it when he goes to war against the syndicate and catches the agent's attention.
  • Villain Takes an Interest: CJ destroying his entire drug-running enterprise doesn't earn Toreno's enmity, it captures his interest instead when he realizes CJ could be very useful for his operation.
  • Voice with an Internet Connection: He loves to talk to CJ by phone or radio, more than any other boss in the game.
  • Walking Spoiler: The fact that there's more to him than just being drug baron makes it hard to describe what kind of man Toreno really is.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He insists that what he does for the government is justified in the grand scheme of things, killing "scumbags" inside and outside America in equal measure.

Top