Ray Bulgarin

Ray Bulgarin was a minor character in Grand Theft Auto IV and was the main antagonist in The Ballad of Gay Tony.

Biography
Bulgarin was a Russian mobster who had immigrated to Liberty City in the 1980s, only to be deported after being arrested on human trafficking charges. At some point following his deportation he moved to the Mediterranean, where he lived in a large mansion overlooking the Adriatic Sea. He ran a smuggling operation from there, transporting both people and goods. He employed Niko Bellic, who smuggled people into Italy from Eastern Europe, until one run in which the ship sank, and Niko was forced to abandon ship. Bulgarin blamed Niko for this loss, and sought to hunt him down; Niko joined the merchant navy to escape Bulgarin's influence within Europe, and eventually escaped to Liberty City.

At some point, Bulgarin returned to America and met up with his old friend Dimitri Rascalov, who was at the time coincidentally an employer of Niko. Dimitri offered Niko to Bulgarin without hesitation, as a token of friendship; Niko escaped the ambush with the help of Little Jacob.

Bulgarin crossed paths with Luis Lopez and Anthony "Gay Tony" Prince, and hired Luis to assist him in acquiring Liberty City's professional hockey team, the Liberty City Rampage, but at some point they had a falling out. This lead to the demise of Marki Ashvilli, the hockey team owner and his private army when Luis was sent to eliminate them.

Finding out that the cook was part of the diamond deal, he beheaded him, leaving his head in a birthday cake box on a rooftop for Luis to find when he walked into an ambush Bulgarin had set up.

He later encountered both Niko and Luis for a final time (in GTA IV) when Niko and Luis were representing opposing parties (the McReary Family and the Ancelotti Family) in an hostage exchange. Gay Tony offered the McRearys a large quantity of diamonds in exchange for Don Ancelotti's daughter, Gracie, whom the McRearys had kidnapped. The exchange went as planned for Gay Tony, Luis, and Gracie, however when Bulgarin showed up and claimed that the diamonds were in fact rightfully his, he ordered his men to attack Niko and Patrick, though in the end neither sides got the diamonds.

When Rocco Pelosi revealed to Luis that Ray is at a sit down with Giovanni Ancelotti discussing the diamond situation, Luis dicided he had to kill Ray, before Ray killed Tony and Luis. Luis went after Ray's right hand, Timur, and the heroin left from Dimitri Rascalov; he destroyed the heroin and killed Timur, before heading after Rodislav, who was preparing to leave the city on his jet. With the help of Yusuf Amir, Luis managed to break into Ray's jet and face him after taking out several bodyguards. Despite threatening to destroy the aircraft with a grenade, Luis shot and killed him, causing him to drop the grenade and tearing off the cockpit. Luis retreated to the tail of the plane before the grenade detonated and escaped via parachute.

Trivia

 * Bulgarin's appearance has changed slightly from GTA IV to The Ballad of Gay Tony. In The Ballad of Gay Tony, his skin tone has changed to a more pale color and his hair color is much darker. More detail has also been added to his face and he wears a different outfit.
 * Ray is depicted in The Ballad of Gay Tony to be residing in a house in Meadow Hills
 * Ray has a sister named Galina Bulgarin. Ray either kills, or seriously injures his own sister, when he shot up through the floor at her with an AK-47 after she was continuously annoying him in the beginning cutscene to the mission In the Crosshairs.
 * Ray was revealed in The Ballad of Gay Tony to be collecting celebrity memorabilia (notably sports and rock band memorabilia) as a hobby.
 * Ray had two cars, a black Marbelle which he drives in GTA IV and a dark blue Landstalker which he drives in The Ballad of Gay Tony. If you look closer, Ray is also driving a black Esperanto in the mission "Ladies Half Price".
 * Bulgarin used to wrestle and was in wrestling academy as a boy.
 * According to the LCPD Database, Bulgarin is supposed to be deceased before GTA IV even starts.
 * During the final cutscene of Out of Commission in GTA IV, Bulgarin's jet can be seen exploding in the background, this only happens in the revenge ending as the deal ending involes killing Dimitri in the last mission, as Departure Time takes place after Dimitri's death

LCPD Database information
Surname: Bulgarin

First Name: Ray

Age: 50

Place of Birth: Unknown

Affiliations: Linked to Russian Organized Crime Syndicates throughout Liberty City

Criminal Record:
 * 1989 - Human Trafficking

Notes:
 * People smuggler and high profile figure in global Organized Crime.
 * Believed to be operating in Europe on the Adriatic.
 * Deported after being caught receiving a shipment of Albanian sex workers at the Liberty City Docks in late 80s.
 * Reports indicate that he may try to return to the US.

Mission appearances

 * GTA IV
 * Russian Revolution
 * Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend


 * The Ballad of Gay Tony
 * Boulevard Baby
 * Going Deep (Boss)
 * Dropping In... (Boss)
 * In the Crosshairs (Boss)
 * Ladies Half Price
 * Departure Time (Killed)