5 most unhinged GTA protagonists of all time

Rockstar Games has masterfully crafted a world of black-and-grey protagonists in the GTA franchise.

GTA protagonists can be cruel and cold-blooded creatures. The vast majority of players wouldn't even consider these characters to be good people.

In the crazy world of GTA, these are the men who redefine the concept of madness.

Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views.

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5 most deranged protagonists in the GTA franchise

#5 - Carl Johnson

Most players consider Carl Johnson to be one of the most likable protagonists in GTA history.

Despite being a criminal mastermind of the underworld, CJ holds himself to a higher standard than the likes of Tommy Vercetti. For starters, he looks out for Grove Street and sees gang members as more than numerical casualties in a war.

However, there is underlying darkness beneath his friendly exterior. There are a few infamous missions where CJ performs questionable actions even by GTA standards. One example is when CJ becomes a crazy psychopath and ruthlessly murders construction workers for insulting his sister.

Another controversial moment is when CJ murders Madd Dogg's manager and an innocent female passenger by driving their limo through a boardwalk and drowning them.

#4 - Niko Bellic

Unlike most GTA protagonists, Niko Bellic follows his own misguided moral compass. As a former war criminal, he realizes what he did was unquestionably wrong.

Niko tries to start a new life for himself in Liberty City, but things don't work out the way he wanted them to.

If any criminal crosses Niko (such as when Dimitri kidnaps his cousin Roman), the Serbian foot soldier will put his military training to good use. During explosive shootouts, Niko often loses his cool and starts screaming like a deranged maniac. It is a sight to behold and is often the last thing that his enemies see.

#3 - Tommy Vercetti

Tommy Vercetti is not a man to mess around with. The Downtown residents of Vice City learned this the hard way.

The Messing with the Man mission saw biker gang leader Mitch Baker give Tommy Vercetti a simple mission: to fill out a Chaos Meter in under two minutes. To do so, he must raise hell by attacking police and civilians alike. This is notably the only time in the GTA series where Rockstar actively promotes killing pedestrians.

While he strongly believes in honor and loyalty, Tommy Vercetti mainly cares about himself. As demonstrated in the Messing with the Man mission, most of his actions have proven to be detrimental to the entire populace of Vice City.

#2 - Trevor Philips

It's hard to justify CJ or Niko randomly hitting pedestrians on the road, given their characterization through in-game dialog and cut-scenes. However, Trevor Philips' actions are more than believable.

Undeniably demented, Trevor is prone to impulsive acts of violence and sudden mood swings. All of this makes sense when one considers his abandonment issues and drug addictions. The guy does what he does just for kicks.

#1 - Toni Cipriani

Toni Cipriani stands out as a shark in the bloody waters of Liberty City. Even Trevor Phillips seems like a small-time fish compared to his craziness.

Toni is easily the most vicious GTA protagonist, mainly for his role in the Liberty City Stories mission, Bringing the House Down. In this mission, he destroyed a large residential area in Fort Staunton with a set of explosives. Several innocent bystanders were killed in what is considered the most destructive act in GTA history.

The only reason Toni goes through all this trouble is so Donald Love can rebuild the area and make a gigantic profit. Most GTA protagonists don't willingly kill civilians unless the player controls them. Here, Toni's monstrous behavior is 100% canon to the entire story.

In the Dead Meat mission, Toni even dismembers Giovanni Casa for not paying his protection money. Toni then sells the remains of Giovanni at the latter's own butcher shop. There is no telling how many unlucky customers were fed a human corpse that day.

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