Antagonist

Antagonists, or simply enemies, are the main villains and the opposite of the protagonist of the Grand Theft Auto games. The antagonist of a Grand Theft Auto game is usually a person that has betrayed or hurt the protagonist on a personal and social level, and spends the game moving against the protagonist in multiple ways. In this list the main antagonist is listed first for each game.

Description of most antagonists
In the GTA games, the main antagonist is sometimes introduced at the very beginning of the game (i.e. Frank Tenpenny), often as an ally or friend (Catalina, Sonny Forelli). Sometimes, the antagonist is the main reason that the protagonist visits the area that the game is set in (and the reason the game takes place; a perfect example of this is Darko Brevic). In most GTA games, the antagonist usually fakes a friendship or business relationship with the protagonist then eventually reveal their true intentions for the protagonist and betrays them later on, and becomes their main enemy (Lance Vance, Big Smoke, Dimitri Rascalov). This often occurs when he/she abruptly opens fire on the protagonist. The main character always hunts down and eliminates the main antagonist eventually, usually in a major battle at the end of the game.

There are both main and secondary antagonists of the game; the main antagonist is generally the one who causes the most drama to the game's story and ultimately commits the crimes that causes the most emotional anger in the protagonist. Secondary antagonists are characters who end up playing muchly the same role, but to a lesser degree. Often, the secondary and primary antagonists have some sort of affiliation with each other (Sonny Forelli and Lance Vance, Frank Tenpenny and Big Smoke, Devin Weston and Steve Haines)

Antagonists usually have a gang behind them for protection. The protagonist will battle the antagonist's group and sometimes take over their gang. In every GTA game, the main antagonist dies (in every case but one by the protagonist's hand) and is sometimes joined by the secondary antagonist at the end of the game in a final battle, which wraps up the main storyline.

Trivia

 * Ray Boccino, Rocco Pelosi and Ray Bulgarin are antagonists that are killed by another protagonist:
 * Ray Boccino was the rival of Johnny Klebitz and was killed by Niko Bellic.
 * Rocco Pelosi was the rival of Luis Lopez and was killed by Michael De Santa.
 * Ray Bulgarin was the rival of Niko Bellic and was killed by Luis Lopez, although Bulgarin was an enemy of both Niko and Luis.
 * Lance Vance and Salvatore Leone are also deuteragonists in other games.
 * Furthermore, Lance Vance is also the tritagonist in the same game where he is an antagonist.
 * In Grand Theft Auto IV, The Lost and Damned and Grand Theft Auto V, the protagonist can betray a major antagonist, instead of the other way around (as Niko can betray Jimmy Pegorino in the Revenge ending, Johnny betrayed Ray Boccino, and Franklin can betray Devin Weston by picking option C). Also, in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Carl Johnson betrays Jizzy B., a minor and quinary antagonist.
 * Grand Theft Auto V is the first game in the series where the antagonists are not killed, although this is only if the player chooses Ending A or Ending B.
 * If the player chooses Ending C, this is the first time all of the major antagonists are killed in the same mission.