5 best GTA Chinatown Wars characters, ranked

GTA Chinatown Wars is an underrated game full of memorable characters. While the game's plot is simple, the writing for general dialogue and characterization is quite fun. Naturally, some characters end up much better than others in this short handheld title.

GTA Chinatown Wars barely features any voice acting. The characters below are ranked highly based on how good their personalities are and their ties to the plot. Both the Nintendo DS and PSP versions are considered for this list.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer

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Ranking Wade Heston and other great GTA Chinatown Wars characters

5) Melanie Mallard

Melanie Mallard (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA Chinatown Wars was released on the Nintendo DS before getting ported to the PSP. Interestingly, some new characters were made for this release. One of them is Melanie Mallard, a journalist who only cares about her own success.

Melanie tries to capture a Triad drug deal on camera and then shows it on Channel 15. Huang Lee and Chan don't want their faces exposed, which leads to a conflict where Huang Lee has to kidnap Melanie.

Unfortunately for Melanie, her overreaching ambition for fame leads to Chan shooting her.

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4) Ling Shan

Ling Shan (Image via Rockstar Games)

Ling Shan is shown in nearly half a dozen promotional artworks for GTA Chinatown Wars but only appears in two missions. The character is criminally underused for somebody who is witty and can humorously reject Huang Lee's advances for "hot coffee." She also teaches him combat before a random thug guns her down.

There isn't much female representation in this game, so it's a shame that Ling Shan was barely around as it was. Her brother, Xin Shan, didn't like Huang Lee due to her death and even tried to kill him for it. Unfortunately for Xin, he died in the same alley as his sister.

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3) Wade Heston

Wade Heston (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA Chinatown Wars' deuteragonist is an undercover cop who gets along well with the criminal Huang Lee. He's surprisingly loyal to the protagonist even when he doesn't need to be.

Wade's personality is pretty cool, and he even has some more witty one-liners on par with some of Huang Lee's. He also has a funky theme associated with him whenever he gives Huang Lee a mission.

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2) Wu Lee

Wu Lee (Image via Rockstar Games)

Not all main antagonists are interesting, but GTA Chinatown Wars' Wu Lee is an entertaining character in his own right. The game starts off with Huang Lee assuming that his uncle is on his side until it's later revealed that Wu Lee is trying to take advantage of the current power struggle in the Triads for his own benefit.

Wu Lee's betrayal is only revealed in the final mission of the game, yet his motivations are simple enough for the average gamer to understand. He is the one who stole the Yu Jian Sword and even tried to attack Huang Lee with it, only to end up dead at his nephew's hands.

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1) Huang Lee

Huang Lee (Image via Rockstar Games)

The main playable character of a Grand Theft Auto game is usually an interesting or entertaining character. Huang Lee is one of the more exciting protagonists in the series due to his sarcastic personality in a game with fun writing.

One can't really have a memorable GTA Chinatown Wars without Huang Lee. The player sees him almost all the time, often making a witty one-liner or doing some task assigned to him by another character in the game. He even backtalks his superiors several times, making his interactions quite enjoyable to see.

A good sense of humor goes a long way in making somebody memorable, and if anybody is capable of giving the player a chuckle in the game, it's Huang Lee.