Dimitri Rascalov

"You know, if there is one thing I have learned, it's that we must obey the rules of the game. We can pick the game, Niko Bellic, but we cannot change the rules."

- Dimitri Rascalov in The Master and the Molotov.



Dimitri Rascalov (Russian: Дмитрий Раскалов) is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as the main antagonist of Grand Theft Auto IV. He is also mentioned in The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. Dimitri is a Russian mobster who had immigrated to Liberty City alongside Mikhail Faustin, and was a major and former partner to many people, including Mikhail, Ray Bulgarin, Niko Bellic, Jimmy Pegorino and Giovanni Ancelotti. Dimitri is known for betraying his friends and partners, showing disloyalty to almost everyone.

Background
Dimitri was born in Russia in 1969 and served in the Soviet Army during the Cold War, and at some point in time, he befriended Mikhail Faustin. They later spent time in a Siberian prison together, where Mikhail protected Dimitri from being raped by the other inmates. They have matching tattoos on the palms of their hands, which means that they are "brothers" for life. They began their criminal activities in Russia, where they were both "selling hash to tourists in Red Square" and Dimitri was convicted of murder more than once.

In the mid-1990s, he "exploited a loophole in the US immigration treaty" to move to Liberty City, as did Mikhail. Mikhail moved with his wife and young daughter. Dimitri was arrested in 1998 and 2000 for extortion and hijacking, respectively. In following years, Mikhail's addictions to alcohol and cocaine caused his anger and paranoia to spiral out of control. Dimitri abused painkillers, but remained calm. While Mikhail had taken to an extreme level of violence, even by organized crime standards, Dimitri favored reasoning with people to maximize profits (although he could still intimidate people if necessary, as seen in "Do You Have Protection?"), telling Mikhail time and time again that they had to "play by the rules."

Meeting Niko Bellic
"Wake up. We had to gag him, to stop the screaming."

- Dimitri's first words to Niko Dimitri first met Niko Bellic when he and his cousin Roman were kidnapped and interrogated by Andrei for killing Mikhail's employee Vlad Glebov. Dimitri wanted to have Niko and Roman killed, however Mikhail thought it better to have Niko begin working for them, Dimitri agreed. After Mikhail had shot Roman in the stomach Dimitri shows a kind gesture in having Roman's wounds stitched. However, when Niko complains that the task he and Mikhail set for Niko (pulling over every van in South Broker and stealing the one selling televisions) is impossible he smugly tells Niko that the situation is "a problem for you and your cousin, not me," which foreshadows his betrayal. Later on, Mikhail orders Niko to kill Lenny Petrovic, the son of the country's most powerful Russian mobster Kenny Petrovic, because Mikhail has a vague, unfounded suspicion that Lenny is a snitch. Dimitri tries to reason with Mikhail, saying Lenny Petrovic is dating his cousin and that law enforcement doesn't need a snitch to keep tabs on them due to Mikhail's methods, but to no avail.

Betrayal
"...But you messed up and left a lot of bad debt. You left a good friend of mine out of pocket, big time."

- Dimitri re-introducing Niko to Ray Bulgarin Later, Dimitri meets with Niko privately, claiming that Kenny Petrovic would spare them both if Niko were to kill Mikhail. Whether this was true or not is unclear, as Niko received no repercussions from Petrovic following Mikhail's death. When Niko was supposed to collect his payment, Dimitri revealed that he was allied with Ray Bulgarin, who employed Niko as a human trafficker across the Adriatic Sea until he blamed him for a sinking ship. Niko escaped with the aid of his friend Little Jacob, but failed to kill Dimitri and Bulgarin — both would continue to pursue Niko from then on. The same day, his cousin Roman's apartment building and taxi depot were burned down.

"Wherever you go, people will find you if they want you badly enough."

- Dimitri to Niko Bellic

Soon after betraying Niko, Dimitri became a major figure in the Russian Mafia and started his own cocaine importation operation. He was arrested but released for attempting to bring cocaine into Liberty City along with a business associate. After they went into hiding in Bohan, he discovered that Roman still frequented a gambling den in Broker. Dimitri was owed an unspecified amount of money from The Lost MC associate Ashley Butler and used this to his advantage, sending two henchmen to her place, and convincing Lost MC Vice President Johnny Klebitz, and a member of the Uptown Riders, Malc, to kidnap Roman to try to lure Niko to his death, but Niko successfully rescued his cousin and Johnny was left in the dark as to why he had to execute the kidnapping.

In the next month or so, Dimitri allied himself with Italian mob boss Giovanni Ancelotti, becoming their cocaine supplier and to profit from his family's rackets. The Pegorino Family learn of this affiliation and decide to steal a shipment of cocaine in Catch the Wave. His first action was to extort deputy mayor Bryce Dawkins to help them control several construction unions, blackmailing him with knowledge of his gay affair with Bernie Crane. Coincidentally, Niko was an old friend of Bernie's and stopped the blackmailers. He also tried to ambush Bernie and Niko by boat while they were having lunch. Niko then allied himself with Gambetti family boss Jon Gravelli and destroyed their shipment of cocaine.

Death
At the end of the game, Dimitri offered to sell the heroin from Jimmy Pegorino to a third party; Pegorino had Niko working for him at the time. Pegorino was made aware of their feud but still ordered Niko to participate in the deal. The player is then given the choice of whether Niko will participate in the deal and be paid, or rebel and kill Dimitri.

Deal= "Fuck you... you dick."

- Dimitri's last words (Deal) (translated)

Dimitri was to collect heroin and sell it to a third party, who would in turn pay Niko and Phil Bell. Dimitri betrays Niko as expected and leaves him and Phil trapped in the compound, forcing them to fight their way to the money and escape the compound. The very next day Niko's cousin Roman was getting married, and Dimitri sent a hitman to kill Niko. He accidentally killed Roman in a struggle with Niko, after which Niko swore revenge on Dimitri. After Niko and Little Jacob find Dimitri and Pegorino at an abandoned casino in Alderney, where they witness Dimitri execute Pegorino in an attempt to claim the profits for himself. Niko chases Dimitri throughout the city before killing him on Happiness Island.

Just like Pegorino in Out Of Comission, Dimitri during the final battle has 100% body armor and 200% health (About twice as much as a normal enemy), allowing him to sustain about three times as much damage as a standard enemy. Dimitri is equipped with a Carbine Rifle, while Pegorino is equipped with a simple pistol. Revenge= "Niko, it's not too late, we can work this out! It was a long time ago that I pissed you off. Forget about it. I didn't mean nothing. Please. Think about Pegorino, he's got nothing without this deal. It was never my idea to set you up. Go easy on me. We were friends, remember? You don't need to do this. You're fucking a lot of people over by killing me. Hey, come on, we got history. Don't do it."

- Dimitri's last words (Revenge)

Ignoring Pegorino's orders, and following a tip given to him by Roman in a phone call with him recently, Niko immediately confronts and kills Dimitri on the Platypus tanker ship, coincidentally the same ship that brought Niko to Liberty City. As a result, Pegorino loses most of his money, power and influence, and personally attempts to kill Niko at his cousin Roman's wedding. He accidentally kills their family friend Kate McReary, after which Niko swears revenge. He tracks Pegorino to the abandoned casino in Alderney and chases Pegorino throughout the city before killing him on Happiness Island.

Personality
When first introduced, Dimitri was shown to be a very calm and collected individual, but nonetheless slightly aggressive, seen as Dimitri slapped Niko Bellic in order to "wake him up", but expressed horror and shock upon witnessing Mikhail Faustin murdering their fellow employee, Andrei.

In contrast to Faustin, Dimitri acts as the brains of their organization, and even Faustin himself admits this during Do You Have Protection?, as Faustin states "That's the way it works, I am angry, you are calm. I scare, you reason. It works". Dimitri also seems to possess some sort of emotional detachment towards others, and according to Faustin, it's due to Dimitri's overuse of painkillers.

Despite having a long history with Faustin, Dimitri showed little to no hesitation about having him killed, mostly to protect himself from Kenny Petrovic's wrath after Faustin ordered Niko to have his son murdered. Afterwards, Dimitri showed himself to be a highly untrustworthy individual, seen as he betrayed Niko and ambushed him alongside Ray Bulgarin in order to form a partnership with the latter, although Dimitri never showed signs of betraying Bulgarin, as Bulgarin was a heavily powerful and influential mobster, and Dimitri was possibly afraid of the consequences should he betray him, but wasn't above betraying lesser influential people, such as Jimmy Pegorino (Deal Ending).

Aside from his treacherous nature, Dimitri also shows signs of hypocrisy, telling Niko that he couldn't accuse him of disloyalty as "he [Niko] killed Mikhail and knew as much about loyalty as he [Dimitri] did", despite Dimitri himself planning the assassination.

If Niko decides to exact revenge on Dimitri by storming in the Platypus, Dimitri shows little to no fear, as Dimitri was being protected by countless guards and thugs, but after finding himself alone with Niko, pleads for forgiveness and attempts to talk his way into a partnership, effectively proving himself as a coward in contrast to Mikhail who instead reprimands Niko for making him what he was and warning of Dimitri's betrayal, as Dimitri constantly taunted Niko throughout the story with phone calls, as Dimitri believed that he was untouchable when it came to Niko.

Unlike Faustin, Dimitri's take on leading his organization seemed incredibly more efficient and profitable than Faustin's, as during Faustin's leadership, their organization only operated on a small part around Hove Beach and they only possessed one business interest, the Perestroika, but after Dimitri's takeover, the organization's influence and power grew drastically, seen as they began operating around Algonquin and Alderney City, gained numerous new business interests and expanded their horizons, and even influential mobsters like Jon Gravelli and other politicians, such as Bobby Jefferson and the Mayor of Liberty City, have taken notice of Dimitri's actions.

Murders Committed

 * Jimmy Pegorino - Murdered to claim the profit from the heroin sale all for himself. (Deal ending only)
 * Heroin Buyers - Murdered to betray Niko and keep the money for himself. (Deal ending only)

Prominent Appearances in Missions

 * Grand Theft Auto IV
 * Crime and Punishment
 * Do You Have Protection?
 * Final Destination
 * Rigged to Blow
 * The Master and the Molotov (Boss)
 * Russian Revolution (Boss/Betrayal)
 * Roman's Sorrow (Post-mission phone call)
 * Hostile Negotiation (Text message/Post-mission phone call)
 * Union Drive (Post-mission phone call)
 * Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend (Post-mission phone call)
 * Deal Ending
 * If the Price is Right (Voice)
 * A Revenger's Tragedy (Killed)
 * Revenge Ending
 * A Dish Served Cold (Killed)

Trivia

 * Dimitri appears to be based on Slava Malevsky, a character introduced in season three of . In addition to Dimitri having similar appearance to Malevsky, both are members of a Russian crime syndicate that works with an Alderney (New Jersey)-based mob organization to conduct business. Furthermore, Both men served in the armed forces of the Soviet Union alongside a close friend that immigrated with them to America (Mikhail Faustin in GTA IV, Valery in The Sopranos), and whom they subsequently grew disillusioned with.
 * Dimitri is an uncommon variant of the popular Russian name Dmitry. It is traditionally only used in the Church Slavonic language, although it is still used, albeit rarely, under normal naming conditions.
 * Dimitri's surname, Rascalov, is a Russianized version of the word "rascal." This is an obvious shot at Dimitri's personality, as a rascal is a mean, unprincipled and dishonest person. "Rascalov" is an incorrect transliteration, as a Cyrillic transliteration would use the letter K rather than the letter C.
 * Like many other characters, Dimitri features distinctive models for cutscenes and in-game sequences. However, Dimitri's in-game model is inconsistent with that of the cutscenes in that his tie has been fused with his white shirt and textured to match its color, when cutscenes depict his tie as pink and capable of swinging in motion. Despite these differences, the shape of the "fused" tie can still be seen on Dimitri's in-game model, particularly during "A Dish Served Cold." After Niko has executed Dimitri in this mission however, the tie does not appear on Dimitri's corpse. The frames of his glasses also differ, as they are black in cutscenes but yellow in regular gameplay.
 * Dimitri's cousin was a girlfriend of Lenny Petrovic before his death. This may be the reason why Dimitri could make a deal with Kenny Petrovic after Mikhail Faustin's hit.
 * If the Revenge option is taken, Dimitri is the one of two main antagonists not to be killed in the final mission. The other being Vinnie in Grand Theft Auto: Advance.
 * Like most characters in the game, Dimitri will don a unique helmet when riding alongside the protagonist on a motorbike. His helmet is green, with two white stripes along the temples.
 * In mission A Dish Served Cold Rascalov says in Russian "Shut up this Balkan cock sucker.". However, the actor is mispronouncing Balkan as Baltic.
 * When calling Dimitri's phone his answering machine will reply with "Здравствуйте, вы позвонили Дмитрию Раскалову. Я сейчас не могу ответить. Пожалуйста, оставьте ваше сообщение, и я вам перезвоню". As the subtitles shows this translates to "Hello, this is Dimitri Rascalov's phone. I cannot answer right now. Please leave me a message and I will get back to you."
 * Dimitri's favourite radio station is Vladivostok FM.

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