3 facts about every GTA games' protagonists in the series

The GTA series has numerous protagonists, which only means that there are several interesting facts to share about them.

There have been over a dozen GTA games in the series thus far. Some games have multiple protagonists, while most only have a single one. Either way, there are some obvious facts and some lesser-known ones that are worth sharing.

This article will go over some facts about the protagonists, and not necessarily just the games they come from. Some protagonists appear in multiple titles throughout the series, which can play into some of the following facts.

Three facts about every GTA games' protagonists

GTA 1

1) There are 26 protagonists that the player could choose from if one counts all versions of GTA 1.

2) Two of those protagonists are only in the Japanese version of GTA 1, and they are Bison and Jack.

3) There is no difference in gameplay based on which protagonist the player chooses. It's essentially just choosing different pixels.

GTA London 1961 & London 1969

1) There are eight protagonists to choose from in the GTA London games, most of which are based on real-life celebrities (like Sid Vacant being based on Sid Vicious).

2) This is the only time when two GTA games have the exact same set of protagonists.

3) Like before, there are no differences in gameplay between the several protagonists.

GTA 2

1) Claude Speed is the only option for a protagonist in the original version of GTA 2. This means that this is the first time in the series where the player doesn't choose which protagonist they play as.

2) However, Claude Speed is absent in the Game Boy Color port. Instead, the player can choose one of six protagonists.

3) Rockstar Games has stated that in GTA 3, Claude's last name "may or may not be Speed."

GTA 3

1) This is the first game in the series where no port allows the player to choose a protagonist.

2) Claude is the first protagonist in the series that can operate boats without the use of mods.

3) Claude can change his outfit (from the orange jumpsuit to his default costume), which is a first in the series. Also, PC players can put skins on him for slightly more customization.

GTA Vice City

Tommy Vercetti (Image via Rockstar Games)

1) Tommy Vercetti is the first voiced protagonist in the series (not counting Toni Cipriani, as he wasn't a protagonist by the time he showed up in GTA 3).

2) Tommy Vercetti is still alive by 2002, as Kent Paul states in the 80's Nostalgia Zone (which canonly takes place in 2002):

"(see, Tom, I didn't mention your name, nowhere. Maybe you won't get us killed now, okay?)"

3) Ray Liotta won a few awards for voicing Tommy Vercetti, such as the Best Live Action/Voice Male Performance award in G-Phoria back in 2003. He also won the Best Performance by a Human award at the 2003 Spike Video Game Awards.

GTA San Andreas

1) CJ is the first protagonist that can dive into a body of water and not instantly drown. He's also the first character in the 3D universe who can swim.

2) CJ is the only protagonist that can get fat.

3) The voice actor for CJ, Young Maylay, is also the cousin of Franklin Clinton's voice actor, Shawn Fonteno.

GTA Advance

Mike doesn't have the usual official artwork that most characters get (Image via Rockstar Games)

1) Mike is the first protagonist in the series that has several branching choices which can affect how a mission goes.

2) Mike kills the least amount of targets in the 3D universe, only killing ten of them.

3) His sprites and animations are reused in an arcade game known as Street Crimes: Gang Wars Edition in GTA Online.

GTA Liberty City Stories

Toni Cipriani holding a katana in Liberty City Stories (Image via Rockstar Games)

1) Toni Cipriani cannot swim and will drown in a deep body of water, like in GTA 3 and Vice City.

2) Toni Cipriani is the first character to show up in a game before they become a protagonist in a later title. Liberty City Stories was made after GTA 3 in this example.

3) He is also the first protagonist to give another protagonist a mission.

GTA Vice City Stories

Victor Vance, talking to his love interest in Vice City Stories (Image via Rockstar Games)

1) Victor Vance is the first protagonist in the series to be seen dead. However, this happens in GTA Vice City and not in Vice City Stories.

2) Victor Vance has a completely different voice between the two games he appears in. In GTA Vice City, he's voiced by Armando Riesco while in Vice City Stories, Dorian Missick took up the mantle.

3) His name was never directly mentioned as Victor Vance in GTA Vice City.

GTA 4

Niko Bellic's official artwork (Image via Rockstar Games)

1) Niko Bellic's last name isn't pronounced correctly for a Serbian last name. It should produce a more "ch" sound at the end rather than a hard "ck."

2) Niko doesn't hit female pedestrians when he carjacks them, but he will hit male pedestrians.

3) Niko Bellic has a Lifeinvader page in GTA 5, where he says "Happy birthday, Roman!"

GTA 4: The Lost and Damned

Johnny Klebitz was originally a random character in GTA 4 (Image via Rockstar Games)

1) Johnny Klebitz's real name is Jonathan Klebitz, and he lives a completely different life from his law-abiding brother, Michael Klebitz.

2) Johnny Klebitz is the second protagonist since GTA 3 that has no alternative outfits that he can wear. The first was Mike from GTA Advance.

3) For some reason, he wears a different outfit in GTA 4 than he does in The Lost and Damned.

GTA 4: The Ballad of Gay Tony

Luis Fernando Lopez lives a different lifestyle compared to the other GTA 4 protagonists (Image via Rockstar Games)

1) Luis Fernando Lopez is the most promiscuous protagonist judging by canon events. Interestingly enough, several women in-game talked about him being anything but endowed.

2) Luis getting killed in GTA 4's mission, The Three Leaf Clover, has no effect on later parts in the game.

3) He is one of three protagonists whose mother is seen in-person. The other is GTA 5's Trevor Philips and Vice City Stories' Victor Vance. Toni Cipriani's mother isn't normally seen in Liberty City Stories. Likewise, CJ's mother isn't seen in-person.

GTA Chinatown Wars

Huang Lee is a part of the HD universe (Image via Rockstar Games)

1) Huang Lee is the only Asian male protagonist in the entire series. He's also the only Asian protagonist that the player has to play as in their game (as Mikki is optional in GTA 1).

2) He also shows up in GTA 4, although not in a conventional way. Instead, players can see a record of him in the LCPD database. It gives some brief facts about him, but there is no picture to go along with it.

3) Huang Lee is the last protagonist to be seen from a top-down perspective within the GTA series.

GTA 5

1) There are three protagonists that the player can play as at any given moment, which is a first within the series.

2) All three protagonists canonly survive the events of GTA 5 thanks to some dialog in a random casino mission in GTA Online, with Tao Cheng stating:

"I almost got killed at this country club once already. Never again."

3) Trevor Philips is the only protagonist to canonly kill another protagonist. This is related to the previous point, as Franklin doesn't canonly kill Michael or Trevor. In Trevor's case, he kills Johnny Klebitz early on in his own story.