Steve Haines

"I guess you getting involved with a clapped out, old agent who's been living off his past glories was your first mistake. You're my boy now, amigo. My career depends on this, and that's very important to me. So seeing as we're all boys now, that makes it important to you."

- Steve Haines

Steven "Steve" Haines is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series, appearing as a central character and one of the two main antagonists in Grand Theft Auto V.

Steve Haines is voiced by Robert Bogue, who also voices Troy in The Ballad of Gay Tony.

Background
Haines is a highly decorated but also highly corrupt FIB agent, who is not above breaking both the law and Bureau procedure and policy to advance his career. He is also the host of a TV show called The Underbelly Of Paradise, where he makes reports on gang activity and the overall criminal underworld of Los Santos. At the time GTA V takes place, the FIB and the IAA are in the middle of a heated battle to secure more government funding and Haines is one of the main FIB agents that actively engages in attempts to sabotage the IAA, in order to gain more prestige within the Bureau.

Events of Grand Theft Auto V
In 2013, Haines uses his influence over Dave Norton to force Michael De Santa, Trevor Philips, and Franklin Clinton to aid him in his plans to sabotage the IAA's operations and thus secure more government funding for his own agency. The first of these plans involves kidnapping Ferdinand Karimov, an IAA prisoner/informant and getting information out of him to kill a suspected terrorist.

Under Steve's orders, the protagonists hijack a security van containing IAA money; rob a corrupt bank in order to obtain funds to raid an IAA compound and steal an experimental neurotoxin and break into the FIB building to steal compromising information about Haines.

As the missions progress, more and more suspicion begins to fall upon Haines, making him become increasingly paranoid. After the raid on the Bureau's offices, Haines attempts to have both Michael and Norton arrested and framed for the raid, but he gets betrayed by his associate Andreas Sanchez, who alerted some of his enemies to their location. Separate groups consisting of IAA agents, rival FIB operatives and a Merryweather battalion arrive and a massive three-way shootout breaks out, during which Haines kills Sanchez and escapes, leaving Michael and Norton behind to die, only for them to be rescued by Trevor.

After the shootout, an infuriated Haines wishes to have all three protagonists killed, but Dave manages to calm him down. Ultimately, Haines decides to spare Michael and Franklin, but insists that Trevor has to die. Haines tasks Franklin to kill Trevor, while Devin Weston simultaneously hires Franklin to kill Michael. As he can't kill both, Franklin is left with three choices: kill Trevor, kill Michael or save them both and team up to take down their enemies.

Endings
If Franklin chooses option A, he kills Trevor with Michael's assistance. Afterwards, Franklin calls Haines to inform him that he's done as requested and also to ask him to persuade Devin Weston not to go after him for sparing Michael. Haines tells Franklin that he'll handle Weston, because Merryweather has lost its licence to operate in the state, but also tells him never to contact him again.

If Franklin chooses the third option, the "Deathwish" ending, he, Michael and Trevor engage in a shootout at a Foundry with the FIB and Merryweather. After surviving the shootout, they decide to put a stop to their enemies once and for all, agreeing to kill those they weren't directly associated with to throw off suspicion. While Michael kills Stretch and Franklin kills Wei Cheng; Trevor offers to kill Haines, due to his inherent hatred of him. While Haines is shooting an episode of his show at the ferris wheel on Del Perro Pier, Trevor takes him out from a distance using a sniper rifle, with his death being caught on camera.

Murders Committed

 * Andreas Sanchez - Murdered for working with a rival agency (IAA) and informing them of Steve's illegal activities.

Mission appearances

 * GTA V
 * Three's Company
 * By The Book (Boss)
 * Blitz Play (Boss)
 * Paleto Score Setup (Boss)
 * Derailed (Post-mission phone call)
 * Monkey Business (Boss)
 * Cleaning Out the Bureau
 * The Wrap Up  (Betrayal)
 * Lamar Down
 * Something Sensible (Option A; Boss/Post-mission phone call)
 * The Third Way  (Option C; Killed)

Trivia

 * Haines is similar to Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption antagonist Edgar Ross. As both men are corrupt federal agents that blackmail the protagonists into doing their dirty work, and both eventually betray the protagonist by setting them up to be killed. Unlike in Redemption, Haines' plot to have the protagonist he betrayed murdered can fail or succeed based on the player's choices.
 * Haines' full first name is only mentioned in his TV show.
 * If the player chooses the "Deathwish" ending, a news article about his death will reveal that Haines was unmarried and lived with his mother.
 * Even if the "Deathwish" ending was not chosen, there will still be a Bleeter post speaking of his death.

Navigation
Steven Haines Steve Haines