Derrick McReary

"I went into a situation full of optimisim, full of naivete. I got burnt. Look at me... like smack on a fucking spoon."

- Derrick McReary

Derrick McReary (Irish: Darragh Mac Ruairí) is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as a main character in Grand Theft Auto IV, a cameo character in The Lost and Damned and a minor character in The Ballad of Gay Tony. Derrick was an Irish criminal, mainly involved with the McReary crime family with his brothers, Packie and Gerald. Derrick went into hiding in Ireland, as he was caught stealing from the Mafia (probably Ancelotti crime family). He also gained great influence in Dukes and Ireland.

Biography
Derrick was born to Maureen McReary and Mr. McReary in Dukes. Born in 1956, he is the eldest of the McReary siblings, followed by Francis, Gerry, Packie and Kate respectively. He was arrested at three different protests in the early 1970s, all before he was 18. In 1978, he and Bucky Sligo were both arrested for armed robbery. He was arrested in 1980 for cocaine possession and according to the LCPD, his heroin addiction was picked up in prison. In 1985, the last of his American criminal record was him getting caught carrying explosives.

According to Packie, Derrick left for Ireland in the late 1980s when he was depressed. Francis allegedly threw him a farewell dinner in Chinatown. Derrick, Bucky and Aiden O'Malley (all Irishmen from Liberty City) all fought in the Provisional IRA against the British during The Troubles, once fighting in heavily armed combat in Belfast, Northern Ireland (so says Derrick during Three Leaf Clover). Their combat ended in 1995, when the trio were arrested in the US for a string of extremely violent robberies (they robbed the Mafia, according to Francis) Derrick snitched on Aiden and Bucky. Aiden was sentenced to twenty years in prison, but Bucky won his trial. Derrick returned to Ireland and worked for some time with Park Young-Guk, buying his false notes in order to exchange them to current rate. He has returned to Dukes in 2008.

Return and The Bank Heist
Derrick returned from Ireland in 2008, and met Niko Bellic. During the bank heist, Derrick and Patrick argued about how to treat the people in the bank. Michael Keane, a member of the Irish Mob who also aided in the bank heist was shot dead by Eugene Reaper, who was than killed by Derrick and Packie in retaliation. Packie and Derrick, along with Niko, escaped the bank with $1 million.

Derrick wanted the money from the bank heist to be sent back to Ireland in order to help the "cause" (was most likely going to be given to the Continuity IRA), however Packie refused to let him do so, saying that the cause was over.

Jobs for Niko Bellic
After the bank heist, Derrick took up residence in Alderney, where Niko helped him with some problems at Packie's request.

During their first meeting since the bank heist, Derrick tells to Niko that Bucky Sligo, a former associate and friend of Derrick's, wants Derrick and his family dead. Derrick asks Niko to take a Police Car and use the police computer to find Bucky and then kill him and his gang. Niko finds Bucky, and chases him to Bucky's hideout. Niko then kills him and his gang.

Later, Derrick asks Niko to help him in protecting Kim Young-Guk, a Korean mobster who came for business issues, from rivals.

In Derrick's final mission, Derrick asks Niko to silence Aiden O'Malley, who'd been trying to sell the police information on Derrick in exchange for a reduction of his prison sentence. Niko and Packie ambush the prison convoy transporting Aiden to the Alderney State Correctional Facility by blocking its path, killing the police officers and then stealing the truck Aiden is in. They lose the police and later switch vehicle to a more subtle Presidente. After liberating Aiden, Packie tells him they'll be taking him to the cliffs in Leftwood, tricking him into believing he'd be leaving the country on a boat.

When they arrive at the cliffs, Packie reveals the true reason they rescued him and leaves Niko to finish off Aiden alone. In his final moments, Aiden reveals that Derrick had sold him out to avoid prison, suggesting Derrick had not been the innocent victim that he had made himself out to be, but instead was just as crooked and disloyal as Aiden and Bucky were. Ultimately though, Niko executes Aiden, whose body falls into the sea.

Blood Brothers
When Derrick's brother, Francis, discovers that he has returned to Liberty City, Francis worries that Derrick will reveal Francis' corruption to the press for money. He talks with Derrick in a park, in an attempt to have Niko assassinate him. Niko has a choice of who to kill. The player does not receive anything from Derrick for killing Francis. If spared, the last time you will see him is during the funeral, bringing the family and everyone else into the church while Niko and Packie shoot at the Albanian gangsters who crashed the funeral. If killed, Derrick is buried at the Dukes cemetery.

Personality
Derrick seems to be the most compassionate of all the McReary brothers, as is shown in the way he tries to calm down and negotiate with the bank staff and customers during the heist. However, he is shown to be rash and violent when intoxicated or high, as seen when he hires Niko to kill both Bucky and later Aiden.

Derrick initially appears to be the most honest of the McReary brothers, claiming that he always fought for what he believed was right (referring to his time in the IRA) and only did what he did to help his cause. However, it is eventually shown that Derrick is not as loyal to his cause as he made himself out to be. When faced with severe criminal charges due to his participation in robberies in the late nineties he betrayed his two former IRA colleagues Aiden and Bucky in order to avoid prison, resulting in the twenty year incarceration of the Aiden.

After GTA IV
Patrick McReary can be found in a random encounter in Grand Theft Auto V, and if he is helped in his predicament he will be available as a gunman for any heists that take place after his encounter. If recruited for The Paleto Score, Packie will talk about his involvement in the Bank of Liberty City heist and names his accomplices including Michael, Niko and Derrick. During the conversation, he reveals that Derrick is in fact dead. This could mean that Niko killing Derrick in Blood Brothers was the canon choice in the story, or if he was spared he later died from his drug habits or natural causes.

The latter seems likely, as after Out of Commission if Derrick was spared Packie will say he's all his mother has left, but it is unknown why he says this when Francis is spared, most likely because he tried to avoid his family at all costs.

Mission Appearances

 * GTA IV
 * Three Leaf Clover
 * Smackdown (Boss)
 * Babysitting (Boss)
 * Tunnel of Death (Boss)
 * Blood Brothers (Can be killed)
 * Undertaker (Only if spared in Blood Brothers)


 * The Lost and Damned
 * Credits

GTA V
 * The Ballad of Gay Tony
 * I luv LC
 * The Paleto Score (mentioned)

Trivia

 * Derrick's portraits are hung on the wall inside the Steinway Beer Garden and Lucky Winkles bar.
 * Derrick is one of two McReary's to appear in more than one game, the other being Packie.
 * Derrick's relationship with North Korean criminal Kim Young-Guk and the counterfeit dollars scheme closely resembles the alleged involvement of former IRA leader Seán Garland in the distribution and resale of North Korean produced "Superdollars".
 * Derrick's favorite radio station is The Journey.
 * If he was killed in the mission "Blood Brothers," his tombstone at the Steinway like his brother, but with a small gravestone that says: "Here lies Derrick McReary, Brave, Honest, Shot Dead." Francis' will say the same thing, but his grave will be on Colony Island.
 * If Niko kills Derrick, in the mission Undertaker, Kate McReary says that she didn't know Derrick that well, despite being siblings, most likely because of their wide difference in age (24 years apart).
 * In the beginning of the mission Tunnel of Death you can see Derrick driving a Green Willard.
 * Derrick is one of 4 former employers that can be killed or spared in GTA IV. (The others being Playboy X, Dwayne Forge and Francis McReary).
 * Derrick McReary's old age and white hair give him a striking resemblance to James Pegorino.
 * Derrick, along with Patrick McReary, Ivan Bytchkov, and Vladimir Glebov are only featured in the credits when they appear in The Lost and Damned.
 * Derrick is confirmed as being dead by Patrick McReary in GTA V. However, it is unknown as to whether or not this was because of Blood Brothers, or another situation entirely. However, it seemingly implied that he died during Blood Brothers, as there is no mention of Francis.