Characters are the persons driving the storyline of the Grand Theft Auto series. There are thirteen types of characters within the GTA series:
Playable Characters[]
Protagonists are the main characters in the GTA games and are the characters the player acts as. In the first three Grand Theft Auto games (Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 and Grand Theft Auto: London 1961), the player could choose the protagonist. From Grand Theft Auto 2 to Grand Theft Auto IV, the protagonist was a set character. In Grand Theft Auto V, there are three different protagonists. In Grand Theft Auto Online, the player plays as the GTA Online Protagonist, whose appearance can be customized.
Non-Playable Characters (NPCs)[]
- Antagonist
The Antagonist is the main enemy of the protagonist, who generally makes the life of the protagonist difficult. An example of an antagonist is Frank Tenpenny from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
- Main Characters
Main Characters are characters who play a significant role in the game, typically giving the protagonists missions or otherwise playing a large role in the game. Lance Vance, for example, was one of the main characters in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, although he did not give the protagonist (Tommy Vercetti) any missions.
- Supporting Characters
Supporting Characters are characters who do not play a large role in the Grand Theft Auto games but do have an impact on the storyline. For example, Earnest Kelly in GTA Vice City gave the protagonist (Tommy Vercetti) missions but was not a key character throughout the game. His role, however, becomes particularly important when Tommy attempts to give Sonny Forelli counterfeit money, provided by Kelly.
- Minor Characters
Minor Characters are characters who play a minor role in GTA games but who stand out from pedestrians (either by appearance or by name). An example is Curly Bob from Grand Theft Auto III, a bartender at Luigi's Sex Club 7 who appeared in one mission.
- Random Characters
Random Characters are minor characters that appear at random locations throughout the city, giving the protagonist missions. Random Characters have only appeared in the HD Universe games (except Grand Theft Auto Online).
- Pedestrians
Pedestrians are a category of characters which includes both pedestrians and motorists. These characters are generic characters who appear through the game walking, driving, shopping, eating, talking etc around the city. Pedestrians tend to have limited dialogue and play no important role in the games. It should also be noted that some minor characters have the same appearance as pedestrians, although they are not the same character.
- Street Criminals
Street Criminals are pedestrians that commit crimes such as stealing vehicles to causing shoot-outs featured in the series since Grand Theft Auto 2. They create a more replete environment in the city.
- Multiplayer Characters
Multiplayer Characters are characters who the player can play as whilst in multiplayer mode. Some multiplayer characters also appear during missions as minor characters, such as Mona Lott in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.
- Mentioned Characters
Mentioned Characters (also known as Unseen Characters) are characters mentioned during game dialogue or on promotional websites for GTA games but are not seen during the games themselves. An example being Moweesha, who is mentioned on the GTA: Vice City website. These also include people who appear on radio stations, except for DJs and hosts, such as Reed Tucker from GTA III's Chatterbox FM.
- Radio Personalities
Radio Personalities are characters who host radio stations or programmes in the GTA games. An example is Lazlow Jones, who has appeared as a DJ (for Chatterbox FM and V-Rock), a presenter (for Entertaining America on WCTR and Chatterbox on LCFR) and a radio intern (on V-Rock).
See also: Category:Radio DJs
- Fictional Characters
Fictional Characters are characters who are fictional within the GTA universe itself. An example is Derek the Dodo, the mascot of Ammu-Nation in the 3D Universe.
- Deleted Characters
Deleted Characters are characters who were set to appear in GTA games but were removed before the final version of the game. An example being Darkel and Curtly, both of whom were removed from GTA III.
See also: Category:Beta characters