Ray Bulgarin

Ray Bulgarin is a minor character in Grand Theft Auto IV and the main antagonist in The Ballad of Gay Tony.

Biography
Bulgarin is a Russian mobster who had immigrated to Liberty City in the 1980s, only to be deported after being arrested on human trafficking charges. At some point following his deportation he moved to the Mediterranean, where he lived in a large mansion overlooking the Adriatic Sea. He ran a smuggling operation from there, transporting both people and goods. He employed Niko Bellic, who smuggled people into Italy from Eastern Europe, until one run in which the ship sank, and Niko was forced to abandon ship. Bulgarin blamed Niko for this loss, and sought to hunt him down; Niko joined the merchant navy to escape Bulgarin's influence within Europe, and eventually escaped to Liberty City.

At some point, Bulgarin returned to America and met up with his old friend Dimitri Rascalov, who was at the time coincidentally an employer of Niko. Dimitri offered Niko to Bulgarin without hesitation, as a token of friendship; Niko escaped the ambush with the help of Little Jacob.

Bulgarin crossed paths with Luis Lopez and Anthony "Gay Tony" Prince, and hired Luis to assist him in acquiring Liberty City's professional hockey team, the Liberty City Rampage, but at some point they had a falling out. This lead to the demise of Marki Ashvilli, the hockey team owner and his private army when Luis was sent to eliminate them.

Finding out that The Cook was part of the diamond deal, he beheaded him, leaving his head in a box on a rooftop for Luis to find when he walked into an ambush Bulgarin had set up.

He later encounters both Niko and Luis for a final time when Niko and Luis are representing opposing parties (the McReary Family and the Ancelotti Family) in an hostage exchange. Gay Tony offered the McRearys a large quantity of diamonds in exchange for Don Ancelotti's daughter, Gracie, whom the McRearys had kidnapped. The exchange goes as planned for Gay Tony, Luis, and Gracie, however Bulgarin shows up and claims that the diamonds are in fact rightfully his, he orders his men to attack Niko and Patrick, though in the end neither sides get the diamonds.

Luis went after Ray's right hand, Timur, and the heroin left from Dimitri Rascalov; he destroyed the heroin and killed Timur, before heading after Rodislav, who was preparing to leave the city on his jet. With the help of Yusuf Amir, Luis managed to break into Ray's jet and face him after taking out several bodyguards. Despite threatening to destroy the aircraft with a grenade, Luis shot and killed him, causing him to drop the grenade and tearing off the cockpit. Luis escaped via parachute.

Trivia

 * Ray is depicted in The Ballad of Gay Tony to be residing in a house in Meadow Hills; he has a sister named Galina who is kept prisoner in a cage in the second floor of the house.
 * Ray is revealed in The Ballad of Gay Tony to be collecting celebrity memorabilia (notably sports and rock band memorabilia) as a hobby.
 * Ray has two cars, a black Marbelle which he drives on GTA IV and a dark blue Landstalker which he drives on The Ballad of Gay Tony.
 * Bulgarin's appearance has changed slightly from GTA IV to The Ballad of Gay Tony. In The Ballad of Gay Tony, his skin tone has changed to a more pale color and his hair color is much darker. More detail has also been added to his face and he wears a significantly different outfit.
 * Bulgarin either kills, or seriously injures his own sister, when he shot up through the floor at her with an AK-47 after she was continuously annoying him in the beginning cutscene to the mission In the Crosshairs.
 * Bulgarin translates to "from Bulgaria" or "native of Bulgaria" suggesting that is where Ray is from.
 * If you look closer, Ray is driving a black Esperanto in the mission Ladies Half Price.

Mission appearances

 * Grand Theft Auto IV
 * Russian Revolution
 * Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend


 * The Ballad of Gay Tony
 * Boulevard Baby
 * Dropping In... (Boss)
 * Going Deep (Boss)
 * In the Crosshairs (Boss)
 * Ladies Half Price
 * Departure Time (Killed)