Mikhail Faustin

"This American greed takes over everyone...It's like a disease! Only I am still sane!"

- Mikhail Faustin

Mikhail Faustin (Russian: Михаил Фаустин) is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as a main character and minor antagonist in Grand Theft Auto IV. Faustin was the founder and the leader of the Faustin Bratva. Faustin was known for his very short temper due to his heavy drinking and cocaine use. He became extremely violent and murderous, which led to him making decisions that led to his own execution.

He was voiced by Karel Roden, a prominent Czech actor who appeared in the films Hellboy, The Bourne Supremacy, Mr. Bean's Holiday, Orphan and Rock n' Rolla.

Background In Russia
Mikhail Faustin was born and raised in 1963 in Russia (then Russian SFSR, USSR). He met his "brother for life" Dimitri Rascalov while serving in the Army during the Cold War as early as 1987, and were later cellmates in a Siberian prison camp. Both he and Dimitri have tattoos on the palms of their hands which represent that they are "brothers for life", according to Mikhail. Also by Mikhail's record, he protected Dimitri from being raped in prison, which he will sometimes remind him of to guilt him into following orders. In 1988, when Mikhail was 25, he had a baby girl named Anna with his future wife Ilyena, who was only 18 at the time. Ilyena reminisces that Mikhail was "beautiful" at this time, before he became possessed by anger. Dimitri also says of Mikhail back then, "he had a temper, but he was fair". After the Cold War ended in 1991, they were both "selling hash to tourists in Red Square" according to Dimitri, and both men had multiple murder convictions.

Criminal Enterprise In United States
Mikhail "exploited a loophole in the immigration treaty to gain US residency in the late 90's", arriving in Hove Beach with Dimitri, Ilyena and Anna, then under 10 years old. He was living in Liberty City and situated into a criminal life by 1998, when he was arrested for extortion. Mikhail built a criminal enterprise based in Hove Beach, made up of several investments - the Perestroika cabaret, protection rackets, cocaine distribution, pornography and stolen goods (which he was arrested for in 2002). This offered him a lavish lifestyle consisting of a large Beachgate home, two luxury cars (a Turismo and custom black Schafter) and being able to raise his daughter in the upper-class American fashion (she speaks in a perfect American accent and Mikhail says he has "spoiled her rotten").

Mikhail began abusing cocaine and alcohol - likely since 2005, when he was arrested for holding cocaine, as well as Ilyena and Dimitri having grown accustomed to Mikhail's disturbing new personality by 2008. After attaining his new personality, he became abusive of his wife, and treats his daughter harshly. He also cheats on his wife (With employee Vladimir Glebov's sister which he told Niko in the mission Crime and Punishment saying that "You are very lucky that Vlad was an idiot. The only reason I keep him around is because I fuck his sister.", and two women at his cabaret). He refuses to take advice from Dimitri, with him saying " You never know who he will shoot, and who he will stab!" Examples of his violent streak include the deaths of Andrei, (a member of his gang in which Dimitri favored) a  TV van driver and a v an protector in Crime and Punishment, in which Mikhail instructs  Niko to kill, and Jason Michaels (a member of the Lost biker gang dating his daughter).

If the player calls Mikhail to his cellphone and listens to the answering message, it's possible to hear what Mikhail may have been like before becoming aggressive. In the voice-mail recording, he is calm and politely tells the caller to "contact him at his home" when he is available or "as an alternative leave [him] a message".

Death
"Betrayed! Betrayed by Dimitri and you! Too kind! That's what I was, too kind! I let the snakes into the nest, and they destroyed everything!"

- Faustin's last words

Among other violent, rash moves, Mikhail ordered the death of Lenny Petrovic, son of the most powerful Russian mob boss in Liberty City, Kenny Petrovic, because he frivolously assumes that Lenny has snitched on him. This results in an all-out war before Kenny Petrovic contacts Dimitri about having Mikhail killed to create peace. Dimitri agrees, and they both decide on the condition that the "hired gun" who originally killed Lenny, Niko Bellic, would be the one to kill Mikhail.

Niko is immediately sent to Perestroika to assassinate Mikhail. After a bloody shootout, Niko confronts Mikhail on the roof and shoots him so that he falls to his death, ignoring Mikhail's warnings that Dimitri will betray him too, though these were proven true.

Murders committed

 * Andrei - Murdered for making too much noise in his house.

Mission appearances

 * GTA IV
 * Crime and Punishment
 * Do You Have Protection? (Boss)
 * Final Destination (Boss)
 * No Love Lost (Boss)
 * Rigged to Blow (Boss)
 * The Master and the Molotov (Killed)

Trivia

 * After you kill Faustin, his voice-mail will change; Ilyena will talk instead.
 * Mikhail is the second of his former employers that Niko kills (the first one being Vlad).
 * The only time Mikhail appears outside of cutscenes is in the mission The Master and the Molotov.
 * If you punch Faustin he will pull out his pistol and try to shoot you.

Navigation
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