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
At one point prior to 2013, Haines joined the FIB and in the following years became a highly decorated FIB agent. However, despite the decorations from the Bureau and being famous as 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, Haines was infamously corrupt and also known to be on the payroll of several wealthy and powerful people, including eccentric billioner Devin Weston, whom Haines considers a "friend".

Events prior to Grand Theft Auto V
At the time GTA V takes place, the FIB and the rival IAA are in a heated battle to secure government funding after cuts had been made to the budgets of both organizations 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 and secure more funding from the US government.



Events of Grand Theft Auto V
In 2013, Haines uses his influence over agent 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 called Tahir Javan, which they succeed in.

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 that was going to be used by the IAA to launch terrorrist attacks and receive funds from the government as well as 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 meets with Michael and Norton at the Kortz Center and attempts to frame and arrest them for the raid to cover his involvement, 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, working with Sanchez and a Merryweather battalion arrive. The situation quickly goes out of control as Haines is shot in the leg by a member of the FIB team and in retaliation, Haines kills Sanchez and escapes, leaving Michael and Norton behind to die, however they manage to shoot their way out and escape, with Trevor's assistance.

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 option C, he, Michael and Trevor lure Haines' corrupt FIB unit and Weston's private Merryweather batallion to a foundry and take them out in a massive three-way shootout, thus eliminating both Haines' and Weston's criminal muscle. After surviving the shootout, they decide to eliminate their enemies once and for all, agreeing to kill those they weren't directly associated with to throw off suspicion. They call Lester Crest who tells them the current locations of Haines, Devin Weston, Stretch and Wei Cheng. Michael leaves to kill Stretch, but not before ordering Franklin to kill Cheng and ordering Trevor to kill Haines. Trevor eagerly leaves to kill Haines, who is shooting an episode of his show at the ferris wheel on Del Perro Pier due to the fact that Trevor wanted to kill Haines from the moment he met him. Trevor arrives at the pier and while Haines is talking infront the cameraman, Trevor readies his sniper rifle (or any other weapon, based on the player's choice) and from a distance shoots Haines dead, with his murder getting caught on camera. His death is reported on a internet article and after some time, Dave Norton calls Michael to reveal that he is going to replace Steve as the host of the Underbelly of Paradise program.

Personality
From the dialogue, it can be determined that Haines is selfish as he only thinks about his career and is also shown to be quite arrogant. He is disliked by almost everyone he makes contact with and is an opportunist: he uses Michael De Santa, Trevor Philips, and Franklin Clinton to do his dirty work in an attempt to advance his career and does not hesitate when it comes to breaking the law and Bureau procedure and policy. Haines also has a short temper which is seen when Michael jokes around with Sanchez and Haines quicky grabs him by the throat and threatens him not to joke with Haines and his team. Haines is also willing to sacrifice others to save his own skin which is evident when he attempts to have Dave Norton and Michael De Santa arrested to deflect blame for all the criminal activities they participated in.

Characters murdered by Steve Haines

 * Tahir Javan - Murdered by Michael De Santa on Haines' orders for alleged ties to terrorrist groups.
 * Andreas Sanchez - Murdered for passing information on Haines' criminal activities and for working with a rival FIB team.
 * Trevor Philips - Murdered by Franklin Clinton with Michael De Santa's assistance on Haines' orders due to being a liability. (option A)

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. 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.
 * If the player chooses the "Deathwish" ending, a news article about his death will reveal that Haines was unmarried and lived with his mother. This references real-life FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who was unmarried and lived 43 years with his mother.
 * Even if the "Deathwish" ending was not chosen, there will still be a Bleeter post speaking of his death. This could possibly mean that he somehow died in another way, or it may be an oversight.
 * Even after his death he will still appear on his show, although these could be reruns.
 * According to the Rush Casting Call, his beta name was Mitch Hayes.
 * In his show, The Underbelly of Paradise, he implies that the FIB (or his unit, at least) have a community approach with the Ballas. As he tries to prove this, he greets a Ballas member, only to be amusingly talked back and insulted by the gang member, who clearly knows about Haines and his show.
 * Haines is one of the few characters to survive a canon gunshot. A few others being, Roman Bellic, Pathos, and Sean "Sweet" Johnson.
 * He has been shot twice in the leg. First at the IAA compound when he shoots himself in the leg and second at the Kortz Center when he is shot in the leg by a FIB operative.
 * His voice actor is Robert Bogue, who previously voiced another GTA character, Troy. In the end of The Ballad of Gay Tony Troy is promised to get his own reality show. ironically, Steve has his own reality show, The Underbelly of Paradise.
 * His phone number was 328-555-0150.

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