Wasted

Wasted is the term used for when a player is heavily injured and collapses in a Grand Theft Auto by losing all their health. In Grand Theft Auto IV and its episodes, the terms Wasted and Busted are not used, but the same effects take place for each.

Causes

 * Drowning (in GTA San Andreas, GTA Vice City Stories and Grand Theft Auto V the player has a breath meter which has to run out for the player to be wasted except in Grand Theft Auto IV where the player will drown from swimming too long).
 * Damage from explosions (Potential one hit).
 * Getting Punched by a Pedestrian while the super punch cheat code is enabled, killing the Player instantly in one hit, unless the God Mode cheat code is enabled (GTA San Andreas).
 * Damage from being shot.
 * Trapped in an exploding vehicle (One hit).
 * Catching fire.
 * Standing for too long on an electrified railroad, resulting in the player being shocked. (Grand Theft Auto 1 and Grand Theft Auto 2).
 * Repetitive damage from fists or melee weapons.
 * Knocked out in cage fighting competition (The Ballad of Gay Tony).
 * Damage from falling off a high point into the ground or water (Grand Theft Auto V only), or failing to open parachute (GTA San Andreas, The Ballad of Gay Tony, and Grand Theft Auto V).
 * If the player has completed the Paramedic side mission in GTA San Andreas, CJ will gain 50% more health, resulting in that he will not be wasted if falling, even from the highest points or planes. It is possible to exploit this glitch without the Paramedics side mission; if the player has their maximum health fully maxed out, they will survive with a miniscule amount of health. However, if the player is in the position before deploying a parachute, he will die if he hits the ground before deploying the chute.
 * Running too fast on stairs, and therefore falling off, though this deals very little damage. (3D Universe)
 * Being run over by a passing vehicle. (2D Universe and HD Universe only)
 * Damage from headshots (GTA IV and GTA V, sometimes can be a one-hit).
 * Being trapped underneath a heavy vehicle.
 * Stumble down the steps while drunk (Grand Theft Auto IV).
 * Thrown through the windshield at mid-to-high speeds (Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Damage from bailing or falling off a bike (GTA Vice City, GTA Liberty City Stories, GTA Vice City Stories and Grand Theft Auto IV).
 * Damage from bailing out of a moving vehicle (GTA Vice City, Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Misusing explosives or other weapons with wide damage radius (Shooting too close to the cars or on the wall)
 * Crashing at high speeds (Grand Theft Auto IV).
 * Swimming out too far in the ocean. Although planes and boats are scripted to stop working and sink and a shark will appear to "finish off" the player, this can be changed  by switching to a different character and back to the one in the ocean. If the player continues to swim out far enough in the ocean, the game will kill the player at a certain point (Grand Theft Auto V)
 * Getting squashed by solid objects (HD Universe).
 * Getting hungry at least 48 hours that the player was not eating anymore. (GTA San Andreas).
 * Failing to throw a Grenade in time (One hit) (Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V ).
 * Letting go of the ladder while sliding down, thus hitting the ground hard (Grand Theft Auto IV).
 * Trip and then fall to the ground when going on top of a moving vehicle (Grand Theft Auto IV).
 * Falling into the gap between two train cars (or fall off the sides) in the subway (GTA IV).
 * Induce vomiting after eating 11 meals in a small amount of time (although the meals themselves max your health out, so the damage from vomiting can't be lethal – GTA San Andreas).
 * Crashing aircrafts torwards objects, thus exploding with the player inside (One hit) (GTA San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto V).
 * In GTA San Andreas random plane crashes occasionally occur in the vicinity of Carl as he drives or walks around the state. A direct hit can cause major damage to Carl and/or make the vehicle he's driving in catch fire and explode.
 * Sliced then thrown in the air by helicopter blades (One hit) (Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Shot down, while in a plane or helicopter. (e.g. in GTA San Andreas, if the player flies over the No-Fly Zone, SAM-rockets will be fired at the plane/helicopter).
 * Crashing a helicopter at high speeds (One hit) (Grand Theft Auto IV).
 * Smashing into a propane tank (One hit) (Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Smashing into a gas station pump causing an explosion. (One hit)
 * Repeatedly crashing the car at high speed while driving it. (Grand Theft Auto V).
 * If you follow another protagonist in free roam, he will start to tell you to stop doing it, eventually leading to attack you and instantly wasting you (One hit, inevitable; Michael and Franklin will give the player-controlled protagonist a punch while Trevor will give a headbut instead). A short cutscene will play displaying the followed protagonist's angry face to which he will turn around to punch the player-controlled protagonist while saying various things before attacking the player-controlled one. (Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Sharks attack Michael, Franklin, or Trevor in the ocean if they swim too close to them (Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Cougars attack Michael, Franklin, or Trevor (Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Dogs attack Michael, Franklin, or Trevor (Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Running through a plane's propellor (Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Ingesting a pill as a form of suicide (Grand Theft Auto Online; this costs $500 in order to do so).
 * Shooting yourself with a Pistol (Grand Theft Auto Online; this costs $500 to do so).
 * Submersible imploding if going below 550 ft underwater (Grand Theft Auto V). (One hit)
 * Tripping and tumbling down from a steep slope for prolonged periods of time (Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Vehicle exploding on impact from a high fall (on the side or the roof) (One hit) (Grand Theft Auto 1, Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Descending too fast towards the ground while parachuting (Grand Theft Auto V). (Potential one hit)
 * Entering "Commit Suicide" cheat code (One hit, unavoidable).
 * Continuous running after losing stamina (if the stamina level is very low), resulting in a loss of health. You'll fall down the first time from exhaustion, supposedly at 10% or less health remaining, recovering a light bit of stamina. Continued activity past that will result in more falls and eventually wasted (Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Diving too far in the ocean (even with diving gear or a Submersible) (Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Getting shocked by electric transformers in the power station (Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Getting blown up from the exploding oil drums.
 * Damage from being intoxicated on drugs or alcohol.
 * Hitting onto a building while descending down with a parachute, which can result the protagonist fall down after impact (Grand Theft Auto V).
 * Blasted by the P-996 Lazer's jet turbine (Grand Theft Auto V) (Potential one Hit)
 * Shooting at stocked missiles in Fort Zancudo, resulting in an explosion (Grand Theft Auto V) (One hit, if close to the blast radius)
 * Falling into bodies of water from any significant height (Grand Theft Auto V differs from Grand Theft Auto IV in which the character can fall from an helicopter and receive no damage as long as he hits water)
 * Shooting too close at explosive crates, or driving over it in a vehicle (Grand Theft Auto V) (One hit, if in a vehicle)
 * Killed by an explosion even in distance using Body Armor (Grand Theft Auto V; differs from Grand Theft Auto IV in which the character can survive from distance explosion; one hit)

Effects
As a result of being Wasted in the 3D Universe (except for GTA Vice City Stories where you can bribe the hospital staff to keep the weapons you'd normally lose) the player will lose all of their weapons and $100 ($1,000 in Grand Theft Auto III), the same as being Busted. In Grand Theft Auto IV however, the player is fined 10% of their money ($10,000 max) and gets to keep their weapons, and in GTA San Andreas, if you date Katie Zhan (a nurse) you are able to keep your weapons upon death. In all games, any mission the player was on will be failed.

In Grand Theft Auto V, getting Wasted during a mission will not transport you to a hospital. Instead, you will simply retry from a checkpoint, with no other penalty but unable to achieve gold medals in timed missions. However if you cancel the mission after you are killed or died outside mission, you will lose a maximum of $5000.

Trivia

 * The term is known as "You're Brown Bread" in GTA London 1969 and 1961, which is Cockney rhyming slang for "you're dead".
 * In the German version it says "Außer Gefecht" which is translated to "knocked out" or "out of action".
 * In the Brazilian Portuguese version for GTA V, it says "Se Fodeu", which is grossly translated to "You Got Fucked Up".
 * In the French version it says "Vous êtes mort" which translates to "You are Dead."
 * In GTA 2 a special term "toasted" is used to indicate, that the player has died due to catching on fire (particularly by the effects of Flamethrower), or "shocking" to indicate, that the player has died by electricity – by walking too long on electrified rails. Maybe even by being hit by ElectroGun or ElectroFingers, but no NPC will ever use it against you. The results are, however, perfectly the same as if you were wasted in any other way.
 * In all GTA games, a pool of blood will most likely appear under the player (With a few exceptions like the flames in GTA IV).
 * In GTA IV, the term "Wasted" doesn't appear in the screen. Instead, the screen turns grey, everything moves in slow motion, and the player is transported to the nearest hospital. However, if you die in a certain way, (the player's body is still falling, etc.) the game will continue showing the slow-mo scene until you press the continue button, which skips the scene. Skipping with the button also works when you simply don't want to watch the whole "blackout".
 * The words "Wasted" and "Busted" have returned in Grand Theft Auto V, albeit darker in tone. Also includes a flash in the screen and a sound effect reminiscent of a camera right in the moment you die.
 * In the 3D universe, if the health cheat is entered as the player dies, the players health will be restored for a few seconds and the player will die anyway and will not get up.
 * In GTA San Andreas, if CJ dies while he is on a jetpack and the health cheat is entered before he hits the ground, CJs health will be restored but if the player leaves the jetpack CJ will fall down and die instantly. This is most likely a glitch.
 * No matter how fatal some injuries seem to be (e.g bitten in half by a shark, shot in the head or even blown up), the main characters always return from the hospital alive and with no signs of these injuries intact, except in GTA V where minor cuts and bruises are shown when exiting the hospital.
 * Trevor Philips' Special Ability will avoid most of the damage, including some lethal forms, like being shot by the Rhino.
 * If the Invincibility Cheat is enabled in GTA V, Trevor, Michael and Franklin are immune to damage from explosions, getting run over by vehicles and falling from high altitudes unlike in GTA San Andreas where as Carl Johnson can still lose health and /or subsequently die from explosions and falling from high altitudes.
 * However, In GTA V, Trevor, Michael or Franklin (whoever the player is playing as) can still get wasted from getting attacked by following the other protagonist too much.
 * Oddly, while whoever was wasted will be in slow motion, whoever attacked the other character will move in normal speed. This is best observed with Michael.
 * In GTA V, if the player friendly fires another protagonist (e.g., Franklin firing an RPG on Michael) in Free Roam, their bodies will remain intact on the spot. When switching to the character that the player wasted, he will spawn into the hospital, and when switching back to the former, the latter character will text the player and lose $5000, just like the player himself getting killed.
 * This also applies with Michael should he kill any of his family members.
 * If the player (playing as either Trevor or Franklin) kills Michael, or if playing as Michael followed by getting knocked out by either of two characters for staying too close to them for long duration, Amanda will furiously text the player on Michael's behalf.
 * Wasted is often a term for being highly intoxicated from the use of alcohol or drugs.

Gallery
Wasted