Bernie Crane

"The haters are trying to kill me... I can't stand it. I won't stand it... it's not fair. I'm just being me!"

- Bernie Crane

Bernie Crane, formerly Florian Cravic (Serbian: Флоријан Кравић), is a character in Grand Theft Auto series who appears as a key main character in GTA IV, and an unseen character that can be heard in The Lost and Damned. He was tracked down by Niko Bellic with help from Ray Boccino. He is one of three survivors of Niko's fifteen man unit, the others being Niko himself and Darko Brevic.

Life up to 2008
Florian was born in 1978, in the same village that both Niko Bellic and Roman Bellic grew up in. In his adolescence he fought in the Yugoslav wars with Niko Bellic, was a childhood friend of Roman Bellic, and was deeply in the closet as a homosexual despite telling people he wanted to be a wrestler and a shepherd. He once worked in an abattoir, which he is ashamed of. Thus he was much less feminine than he became in later years, including having a more masculine voice (which is heard in Weekend at Florian's, when he becomes very angry). In his last days in the war as a teenager, he joined Niko, Darko Brevic, and twelve other soldiers on a mission into enemy territory. Darko had secretly sold information to their enemies, and all twelve were killed with the exception of Niko, Darko and Florian.

As early as 2001, Florian moved to Liberty City, where he changed his name to Bernie Crane (shunning "Florian Cravic" as if it were a split personality) and felt comfortable being an outward homosexual. At a foam party at the famous gay-club Hercules (opened in 1998 by "Gay" Tony Prince), he met Deputy Mayor Bryce Dawkins, who he started dating afterwards. In 2003 and 2004, he was arrested for soliciting sex and holding ecstasy. He may have been dating Bryce at this time, as he ordered the LCPD not to harrass Bernie in any way.

GTA IV
In 2008, Niko Bellic traveled to the US to track down Cravic. After much work for many crime syndicates, mobster Ray Boccino pointed Bellic in the direction of Talbot Daniels, an associate of Cravic's. With Roman's help, Niko forced Talbot to direct him to Cravic's residence. When finally arriving, Niko and Roman broke into his apartment, and held Cravic at gun point. Bernie insisted that he is innocent and Niko is convinced, vowing to track down Darko Brevic.

Bernie later asks Niko to help him, as he is constantly harrassed over his sexuality by everyone from common skinheads to Bryce's many blackmailers (Dimitri Rascalov, a major Russian mobster and coincidentally a mortal enemy of Niko's, and to a lesser extent Thomas Stubbs III, another politician who bugged Bryce's Infernus successfully without them knowing). Niko eliminates all of these problems, and Bernie eventually gives him the Infernus, both of them unbeknownst it was bugged. Bernie is seen one more time in person at Roman's Wedding (it doesn't matter which choice the player makes, he appears in both), and throws confetti over Roman and Mallorie. He screams whether it is Kate McReary or Roman Bellic who gets killed during the shootout.

LCPD Database record
Surname: Crane

First Name: Bernie

Age: 30

Place of Birth: Unknown

Affiliations: N/A

Criminal Record:
 * 2003 - Loitering: Prostitution Solicitation (Age 25)
 * 2004 - Possession Controlled Substance: Ecstasy (Age 26)

Notes:
 * AKA Florian Cravic.
 * Involved in the gay nightclub scene.
 * Currently resides in Middle Park West.
 * Order from Mayor's office not to arrest or harass in any way.

Mission appearances

 * GTA IV
 * Museum Piece (Mentioned)
 * Weekend at Florian's
 * Hating the Haters (Boss)
 * Union Drive (Boss)
 * Buoys Ahoy (Boss)
 * That Special Someone (Voice)
 * Mr. and Mrs. Bellic


 * The Lost and Damned
 * Knowing Me, Knowing You (Voice)

Trivia

 * When on a motorcycle with Bernie, he wears a unique pink helmet.
 * Occasionally, he will refer to Niko as "Niks" (pronounced "Neeks").
 * Similar to Niko, Bernie has a scar on his left eyebrow.
 * Bernie has a painting of "The Creation of Adam" on the wall of his apartment, only instead of Adam, Bernie's face has been painted over it.
 * Bernie's favorite radio stations are K109 The Studio and IF99 - International Funk. He also sings "Golden" by Jill Scott as heard in the bugged car, which is heard on The Vibe 98.8.
 * The only occasion when Bernie prefers his old name, Florian Cravic, is when having sex, according to Talbot Daniels.
 * When Bernie is hit, his voice is that of a generic female voice, similar to Evan Moss and the salesman from Perseus.
 * Bernie has a picture of Luis Lopez and Tony Prince next to his bed. They can be seen in Weekend at Florian's.
 * Bernie has a picture of a stripping police officer in his house with the caption "To protect and serve" underneath it, further addressing his homosexuality.
 * In I Luv LC when Luis talking with Dessie, Armando and Henrique, an unidentified man in a brownish suit walks out of Maisonette 9 with Tony. Tony escorts him to his car and pats him on the back, suggesting they're good friends and/or business partners. Some believe it is Bernie Crane, others say he resembles Phil Bell or Eduard Borodin, the businessman who was killed in Paper Trail. Additionally, a photo of him and Tony seated at a table appears in The Celebinator's blog, with the man's face blocked by a cartoon astronaut's helmet.
 * Bernie did not always sound so flamboyant, and used to talk in a more normal voice. This is seen in Weekend at Florian's, when he becomes enraged at Darko's name.
 * It is implied that Bernie is attracted to Luis, as he mentions that "if he played for our team, I would totally be a catcher" in a phone call to the bugged Infernus, following Knowing Me, Knowing You in TLAD.
 * Niko pronounces Bernie's surname as Kravić (pronounced Kravitch) like in Serbian, but Talbot Daniels pronounces his surname as Cravic (pronounced Kravik).
 * Kravić or krava, is Serbian for cow.
 * All Bernie's missions are somehow releted to sports cars:
 * In Hating the Haters Niko can use Bernie's silver Comet to get to the park.
 * In Union Drive Niko can use Bernie's Turismo to chase Dimitri's Super GT.
 * After Buoys Ahoy Bernie will call and give to Niko his Infernus.
 * Bernie uses the female pedestrian animations
 * Judging by Bernie's comments during Hating the Haters, he might be attracted to Niko.

Gallery
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