Dave Norton



David "Dave" Norton is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series, appearing as a central character and deuteragonist to Michael De Santa in Grand Theft Auto V.

Norton is a corrupt FIB agent, working under Steve Haines.

Background
Little is known about Dave's background, other than he began working for the Federal Investigation Bureau at an unknown point in time. At another unknown point in time, Dave married an unnamed woman, though they have since divorced. According to Lester Crest, Dave's career with the FIB had been "unremarkable" until 2004, when he discovered the whereabouts of bank robber Michael Townley in Ludendorff, North Yankton. Dave made a deal with Michael to surrender his accomplice Trevor Philips to the FIB, whilst Michael would fake his death after being "shot" by Dave, in turn boosting Dave's career for taking down the "most wanted man in America".

Prologue
In 2004, during the events of "Prologue," Dave ambushes the heist team as they make their escape. Using a sniper rifle, he attempts to shoot Trevor Philips but accidentally shoots Brad Snider instead, and feigns a shot at Michael. Trevor manages to escape and Brad later dies, and Norton allows Michael to provide information to the Bureau in exchange for a new identity, a pension and a relocation to Los Santos. To aid this, Brad is buried in Michael's grave.

Post-Prologue
Some time later, Dave intercepts a letter to Brad who is believed by the public to be incarcerated. The letter is unnamed but was sent from Sandy Shores, and Norton deduces that it was written by Trevor. Assuming Brad's identity, Norton begins corresponding with Trevor as a means to keep track of him.

For the next nine years Michael has been living in Los Santos under the surname De Santa, with Dave keeping in contact with him. Norton arrives at Michael's mansion after Michael and his protege, Franklin Clinton, robbed a jewel store, warning the former that this act will attract Trevor.

Working with Michael
As a result of the Vangelico's store robbery, Norton's boss, Steve Haines, starts looking into Norton's old case files and, upon learning of the deal he made with Michael and seeing this as an opportunity, uses his position as Norton's superior to coerce him into persuading Michael, Franklin and Trevor to work for the FIB in their battle against the International Affairs Agency to secure more government funding. Norton begrudgingly accepts and goes off alone to explain the situation to Michael. After convincing him that him helping is the only way to keep both of them out of jail, Norton has Michael infiltrate an IAA controlled morgue in order to ascertain the status of Ferdinand Kerimov, providing assistance along the way. After discerning that Kerimov is alive and is currently being tortured by IAA agents at their headquarters, Norton, along with Haines and fellow corrupt agent Andreas Sanchez, force Michael, Franklin, and, to Michael's fury, Trevor to perform a mid-air extraction of him. However, despite rescuing him, Haines immediately starts torturing Kerimov, bringing Trevor in to do the physical stuff while Michael, under Norton's escort, head out to assassinate Tahir Javan, a suspected Azerbaijani terrorist. However, a complication occurs when, upon situating themselves outside Tahir's house, they discover that he's throwing a lavish party, forcing Norton to make several calls to Haines in order to get a better description of him in order for Michael to make the shot without hitting the wrong target. Norton is then forced to accompany Haines while he briefs the trio about their assignments, starting with the robbery of a armored Securicar containing funds the IAA collected from perpetuating the drug trade.

Upon discovering that Michael and Trevor are hiding out at Trevor's trailer in Sandy Shores (due to Trevor attacking Mexican cartel kingpin Martin Madrazo and kidnapping his wife after a job went south) Haines and Norton arrive at the meth lab used as the base for Trevor's drug and arms-smuggling business to inform them of their next assignment: providing funds for them to supply the resources necessary to stage a raid on Humane Lab and Research, an IAA controlled research lab when Haines claims they're developing a nerve toxin that they intend to use in a staged terrorist attack on a major city in order to increase their funding, leaving them to get in contact with Franklin and Lester Crest so they can plan, steal the necessary equipment, and execute the robbery of the Blaine County Savings Bank, a front used by the Blaine County police to store the money they extorted from the local weed farms and meth labs. However, upon arriving at a dock used as the staging area for the raid, Haines is furious that the trio didn't get the extra manpower necessary to help with the heist (a fact he forgot about as Norton claimed that he intended to have Sanchez inform them of this) forcing him and Norton to join Michael for the infiltration while Franklin and Trevor are on vehicle duty. The raid is ultimately successful, but Haines is forced to shoot himself in the leg in order to, in Norton's words, make himself look like a double agent. As he waits for Haines to return, Norton gets a call from Michael stating that Trevor has finally deduced what went down during the Ludendorff job and is on his way to his 'grave' to try and get him to calm down.

As their work against the IAA progresses, Haines becomes increasingly paranoid at the prospect of failing to cover his tracks. Haines and Norton coerce Michael and Franklin into breaking into the FIB Headquarters to eliminate incriminating files against Haines, promising to 'clear' Michael's record and release them from their indenture servitude toward them, should they succeed. After the raid, Michael calls Norton to make him honor his end of the deal, but Norton refuses to comply, having found out about Michael's complicity in Trevor's recent attacks against Merryweather Security, and demands that he meet him, Haines and Sanchez at the Kortz Center to discuss where they stand. Upon Michael's arrival, Haines, scared that the FIB have deduced that he backed the raid against them, betrays Michael and Norton and attempts to have Andreas Sanchez arrest them, but he is interrupted when they are all surrounded by a crew of IAA agents, a rival FIB team run by Sanchez and a battalion of Merryweather soldiers. Haines kills Sanchez and leaves Michael and Norton to die, but they manage to shoot their way out with Trevor's help. After clearing their way to escape, Dave takes a car and drives off and escapes. Norton is later called by a furious Michael, and he states that, by convincing the FIB that Sanchez was the party responsible for their recent actions and that he, Haines, and Michael's crew were forced to be complicit, he can get Haines under control for the time being.

Dave later meets with Haines, who wants to have all three protagonists killed, but Dave manages to dissuade him from having Michael and Franklin killed, but he insists that Trevor must die. Dave and Haines meet with Franklin, who is ordered by Haines to kill Trevor, while Haines' associate Devin Weston tells Franklin to assassinate Michael.

Ending
Option C= If Franklin chooses to alert both Michael and Trevor, the trio will kill all of their major enemies: Haines, Weston, Wei Cheng and Stretch. Although Trevor suggests killing Dave, Michael convinces Trevor to spare him so that no one comes after them later. After the mission, Dave emails Trevor and Michael. He informs Trevor that he wrote all the letters and emails from Brad. He assures Trevor that his secrets are safe, but warns him to stop causing trouble and to never contact him again. He asks Michael to stay out of trouble and also informs him that he has replaced Haines as host of The Underbelly Of Paradise. He later phones Michael and asks about his family, before informing him that his work is "good" and that he has had a few "lucky breaks". Both men tell each other to look after themselves and part on good terms. Option A=

If Franklin chooses to kill Trevor, he phones Haines after the mission to inform him of Trevor's death. During the phone call, Haines claims that Norton is close to being discharged without his pension. Option B=

If Franklin chooses to kill Michael, Dave emails Trevor informing him that he wrote all the letters and emails from Brad. He assures Trevor that his secrets are safe, but warns him to stop causing trouble and to never contact him again.

Personality
Norton is a corrupt FIB agent, though not to the extent of his boss Steve Haines. Unlike Haines, he is portrayed as a reasonable and polite man, preferring to solve problems amicably instead of using violence. However, he is more than capable of breaking the law if it means maintaining or advancing his career.

Characters killed by Dave

 * Brad Snider - killed while aiming at Trevor.
 * Several unnamed FIB, IAA, and Merryweather personnel

Prominent Appearances in Missions

 * Grand Theft Auto V
 * Prologue
 * Complications (Post-mission phone call)
 * Mr. Philips
 * Fame or Shame (Post-mission phone call)
 * Dead Man Walking (Boss)
 * Three's Company (Boss)
 * By The Book
 * Blitz Play
 * Paleto Score Setup
 * Monkey Business
 * Bury the Hatchet (Phone call, only if started by Michael)
 * Cleaning out the Bureau
 * The Bureau Raid (Post-mission phone call)
 * The Wrap Up (Boss)
 * Lamar Down
 * The Time's Come (Option B/Post-mission e-mail)
 * The Third Way (Option C/Post-mission phone call)

Trivia

 * His favorite radio station is Los Santos Rock Radio, discovered in the mission, Three's Company, after Dave and Michael talk to Steve and Sanchez.
 * His name at one point during development was "Calvin North".
 * In the Xbox 360/PS3 version of Prologue, Dave wears sunglasses at Michael's funeral. In the enhanced version, he wears a ski hat instead, similar to what he was wearing when he shot Brad.
 * In his concept art, Norton has a thick goatee. In the game, however, he has light stubble instead. His concept art also depicts him driving a blue second generation Oracle instead of the FIB Buffalo depicted in the illustration.
 * Unlike all the other deuteragonists, Dave doesn't appear in The Third Way (Lester "gives" the mission, Lamar helps in the shootout at the foundry and Trevor contacts Ron while driving to his assigned location). Though he is mentioned briefly by Trevor as a person to assassinate, this idea is dismissed by Michael.

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