Avery Duggan

"You're going to sell us your casino."

- Avery Duggan to Tao Cheng.

Avery Duggan is a character in Grand Theft Auto Online, introduced in the The Diamond Casino & Resort update as the main antagonist.

Background
Avery is from a corrupt family of Texan petrochemical magnates who seeks to buy The Diamond Casino & Resort, but first he wishes to see it destroyed because doing so will significantly reduce the property value and enable him to purchase everything at rock bottom prices.

He is a wealthy businessman, who is described as having multiple investments all over the world. In San Andreas, his investments are primarily in oil and natural gas and he has a reputation for being extremely ruthless in order to get what he wants.

It is stated that he actually helped bail the casino's owners out of debt during construction because they were struggling financially. However, he now wants the entire business for himself, seeing it as a waste of money and wanting to demolish the casino and redevelop the land for other means.

He has a nephew named Thornton Duggan who appears to be his direct successor to the family business. The two of them struggle to get along because Thornton is often appalled by the extent of his uncle's ruthlessness.

Events of GTA Online
In 2019, Avery Duggan and his associates begin causing trouble for the newly opened Diamond Casino & Resort in Los Santos, seeking a hostile takeover of the business. The protagonist is contacted by both the casino's new manager, Agatha Baker, and the casino's owner, Tao Cheng, for help in attempting to make peace with Avery and thwart his attempts to force them into bankruptcy.

In the mission Casino - House Keeping, Avery pays several thugs to assault casino patrons and vandalize casino property, which in turn hurts business. The protagonist puts a stop to this and earns a ton of gratitude from Tao and Ms. Baker.

In the mission Casino - Strong Arm Tactics, Tao agrees to meet with Avery and his nephew Thornton, but is so high on drugs when he gets there that the talks quickly go sour. Having lost his patience, Avery orders his henchmen to kill Tao, the protagonist, and Tao Cheng's Translator, but the three escape and make a getaway to the Pacific Bluffs Country Club to plan their next move.

Tao, now furious, decides to hire the protagonist to foil Avery's plans by any means necessary. In the mission Casino - Play to Win, the protagonist destroys most of Avery's assets in the oil and gas industries. This prompts him to retaliate in the mission Casino - Bad Beat, when his henchmen show up to the casino armed to the teeth and with attack helicopters. Thornton Duggan falls out with his uncle at this point and arrives at the casino shortly before Avery's mercenaries to warn everyone of the impending attack. After a grisly struggle, the attack is repelled by the protagonist.

Eventually, the casino's debts get called in and Ms. Baker has no choice but to admit that they must shut down even though the business had barely begun. Suddenly, Thornton shows up again and makes everyone an offer. He proposes to save the casino by buying it out at full price from Tao which will result in a transfer of ownership. However, there is a catch. Thornton admits he won't have that kind of money to spend unless somebody kills his uncle, which will result in Thornton receiving his full inheritance.

Once again, everybody turns to the protagonist for help, so in the mission Casino - Cashing Out, Avery's ranch is attacked. When the battle starts going poorly for his henchmen, Avery calls in a rescue helicopter to evacuate him out of the area. The protagonist gives case and shoots down the helicopter on orders from Tao, killing Avery.

In the aftermath, Tao and his translator get their money from Thornton and board a jet heading "west." As the proud new owner of the Diamond Casino & Resort, Thornton happily expresses his gratitude to the protagonist and his new employees for making all of this possible. He decides that the casino will remain the way it is with no significant changes, but tells Ms. Baker that he expects to see twice the profit the casino already makes.

Trivia

 * Avery Duggan is the third major antagonist of GTA Online, after Avon Hertz and Cliffford.
 * Personality-wise, he shares a couple of similarities with Avon. Namely a lack of regard for law and order or human life. This is seen in the mission "Casino - Bad Beat", when his henchmen attack the Diamond Casino & Resort while civilians are present and resort to shooting anyone who gets in the way of their objective, which is to sabotage the building.
 * Most of his "so-called" henchmen appear to be members of The Professionals gang.
 * In the mission "Casino - Bad Beat", one of his henchmen appears on the casino's roof wearing Ballistic Equipment. This is an indication that Avery might be very well connected in the private security sector because military-grade body armor is not something meant for civilians to gain access to.