Ballas (3D Universe)

The Ballas, also known as the Los Santos Ballas, are the Grove Street Families' primary enemy and have been around since 1975 In the beginning of the game they are the most powerful street gang in Los Santos. They are involved in drug dealing, gang banging, prostitution, arms dealing, vandalism, degeneracy, and the crack cocaine trade. They are clearly based on the Bloods, not the Crips.

The Ballas are rivals with Grove Street Families going back for several years. When the rivalry started isn't known, but the rivalry between the two gangs was in full swing as early as 1987. They are also rivals to the Varrios Los Aztecas. They have ties with the San Fierro Rifa, and the Loco Syndicate for narcotics, and the Russian Mafia for weapons. The Ballas also collaborate with CRASH. In addition, Big Smoke defects against the GSF to lead the Ballas with his lieutenant Ryder. Unlike the GSF, the Ballas have no reservations about making money by selling drugs; the spread of crack cocaine into the Grove Street community is part of their strategy to wipe the GSF out.

By 1992 the Ballas controlled most of the streets of Los Santos, with Grove Street Families being driven back to Grove Street itself and a few surrounding neighborhoods. After Grove Street leader Sean &quot;Sweet&quot; Johnson was gunned down and arrested they briefly controlled the entirety of what had been Grove Street territory. The Ballas then cemented their control over the area by distributing crack cocaine through the area. However, following the release of Sweet from prison and the return of Carl Johnson, the Grove Street Families won back their territory. That same year the Crack Palace operated by Big Smoke is destroyed and Smoke is killed, causing the Ballas to lose a lot of influence on the streets.

The Ballas have three members that walk and drive around their territories. The first member wears a black skullcap, a purple Prolaps jacket, beige khaki pants, sunglasses and black and white sneakers. The second member is overweight, wears a purple bandana, black overcoat, black jeans and white shoes. The last member wears a purple bandana, white T-shirt, purple shorts, knee high white socks and black flipflops. They carry weapons such as Micro-SMGs, 9mm, and in some missons, shotguns and Tec-9s. They are occasionally seen smoking marijuana and drinking malt liquor.

Sets
There are four known sets of Ballas:
 * The Front Yard Ballas
 * The Rollin' Heights Ballas
 * The Kilo Tray Ballas
 * The Temple Drive Ballas

All Ballas are recognizable by their mainly purple attire, which is the identifying color for the gang.

Gang Cars
Although they are seen with Voodoos in some missions, the Ballas only have two Gang Cars, the Tahoma and the Majestic. The Tahoma is a lowrider and sometimes appears with Hydraulics. On one very important occasion the Ballas use a green Sabre to murder Beverly Johnson. The Ballas' default radio station is Bounce FM.

Trivia

 * This may be a play on ball less or ballers since they are pronounced the same way.
 * The slang term "Balla" means someone who earns plenty of money, buys expensive items, and likes to show off.
 * In "The Introduction" there is a scene where Ballas gangstas are in an alley near Grove Street smoking weed, discussing Grove St.'s weakening and that they'll become the top gang in Los Santos. One of them pulls out a bag of crack and says that "this shit changes everybody, even OG's wanna slice of this!". The members have very different facial appearances(while wearing similar clothing seen in the game) than Ballas in the game.
 * One of the aforementioned Ballas members that wears the white tee and holds the crack bag looks very similar to the in-game Grove St. member that wears the green jersey and black hat. The GSF member's facial appearance also slightly changes in mission cutscenes looking exactly like the mentioned Balla member. This could mean that either he was switched at the last minute to GSF during game development or that he's implied as a snake and contributed to Sweet falling into a trap and causing GSF to fall out.
 * They may be recruited by using the Recruit Anyone code. However, if the players starts a gang war, the recruited Ballas gang members will instantly attack the player.
 * Their rivalry with GSF is based on the rivalry of gangs the Bloods and Crips, the gangs which the Ballas and GSF are based on.
 * After the mission Doberman is done, the Ballas gang members always attack the player immediately if get close to them.
 * In one time they are known as the dancin' Ballas.
 * When CJ wears a full green attire representing the Grove Street (as said by Sweet after the completion of Nines and AKs "Go get yourself some family colors".) Ballas gang members on the area will immediately attack CJ when seen and would comment on his green attire.
 * They are rarely seen doing a drive-by chase with the cops, along with Grove Street.
 * The Ballas were originally going to be called The Flats.
 * The beta Ballas dressed different than they did in the final version.
 * The member in the white tee and purple khaki shorts originally did not wear a bandana on his head and his shirt was tucked into his shorts. Also he did not wear a cross chain.
 * The member with the dark blue jacket and purple bandana looked more like the GSF member with the green bandana and sweater except the outfit was purple, the shoes were different and he wore another bandana covering his face.
 * The member in the purple windbreaker, sunglasses, and black beanie originally wore a purple flannel shirt and gray khaki pants. He also had more noticable facial hair.
 * The beta Ballas also appeared to act more violent towards CJ and GSF. In a picture below, some Ballas members appear to damage the car by kicking it while others attempt to pull CJ and a GSF member out the car.
 * Sometimes, a group of Ballas might walk up to you and ask you what gang you're representing. You can reply positively by proudly saying you're from the Grove Street Families or you can negatively reply and say you're not in a gang. Either response will get you attacked moments later and any Balla in the area will run towards you shooting or trying to beat you up.

Mission Appearances

 * Introduction
 * Sweet & Kendl
 * Tagging Up Turf
 * Cleaning the Hood
 * Drive-Thru
 * Drive-By
 * Catalyst
 * House Party
 * Doberman
 * Los Sepulcros
 * The Green Sabre
 * Pier 69
 * Home Coming
 * Beat Down on B Dup
 * Grove 4 Life
 * End of the Line

Gallery
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