Dimitri Rascalov (Russian: Дмитрий Раскалов) is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as the main antagonist in Grand Theft Auto IV. He is also mentioned in The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. Dimitri is a Russian mobster who had immigrated to Liberty City alongside Mikhail Faustin, and was a major and former partner to many people, including Mikhail, Ray Bulgarin, Niko Bellic, Jimmy Pegorino and Giovanni Ancelotti. Dimitri is known for betraying his friends and partners, showing disloyalty to almost everyone.
Background
Dimitri was born in 1969 in Russia and fought in the Soviet Army during the Cold War, and at some point in time he befriended Mikhail Faustin. They later spent time in a Siberian prison together, where Mikhail protected Dimitri from rape by other inmates. They have matching tattoos on the palms of their hands, which means that they are "brothers" for life. They began criminal activity in Russia, where they were both "selling hash to tourists in Red Square" and Dimitri was convicted of murder more than once.
In the mid 90s, he "exploited a loophole in the US immigration treaty" to move to Liberty City, as did Mikhail. Mikhail moved with his wife and young daughter. Dimitri was arrested in 1998 and 2000 for extortion and hijacking, respectively. In following years, Mikhail's addictions to alcohol and cocaine caused his anger and paranoia to spiral out of control. Dimitri abused painkillers, but remained calm. While Mikhail had taken to an extreme level of violence, even by organized crime standards, Dimitri favored reasoning with people to maximize profits (although he could still intimidate people if necessary, as seen in Do You Have Protection?), telling Mikhail time and time again that they had to "play by the rules."
Events of Grand Theft Auto IV
Meet with Niko Bellic
Dimitri first met Niko Bellic when he and his cousin Roman were kidnapped and interrogated by Andrei for killing Mikhail's employee Vlad Glebov. Dimitri wanted to have Niko and Roman killed, however Mikhail thought it better to have Niko begin working for them, Dimitri agreed. After Mikhail had shot Roman in the stomach Dimitri shows a kind gesture in having Roman's wounds stitched, he smugly tells Niko that the situation is "a problem for you and your cousin, not me," which foreshadows his betrayal. Later on, Mikhail orders Niko to kill Lenny Petrovic, the son of the country's most powerful Russian mobster Kenny Petrovic, because Mikhail has a vague, unfounded suspicion that Lenny is a snitch. Dimitri tries to reason with Mikhail, saying Lenny Petrovic is dating his cousin, but to no avail.
Betrayal
Later, Dimitri meets with Niko privately, claiming that Kenny Petrovic would spare them both if Niko were to kill Mikhail. It's possible that Dimitri lied, but Niko seems to have never gotten any trouble from Petrovic as promised. When Niko was supposed to collect his payment, Dimitri revealed that he was allied with Ray Bulgarin, who employed Niko as a human trafficker across the Adriatic Sea until he blamed him for a sinking ship. Niko escaped with the aid of his friend "Little" Jacob Hughes, but failed to kill Dimitri and Bulgarin—both would continue to pursue Niko from then on. The same day, his cousin Roman's apartment building and taxi depot were burned down.
Soon after betraying Niko, Dimitri became a major figure in the Russian Mafia and started his own cocaine importation operation. He was arrested but released for attempting to bring cocaine into Liberty City along with a business associate. After they went into hiding in Bohan, he discovered that Roman still frequented a gambling den in Broker. Dimitri was owed an unspecified amount of money from a Lost Brotherhood associate Ashley Butler and used this to his advantage, sending two henchmen to her place, and convincing Lost MC Vice President Johnny Klebitz, and a member of the Uptown Riders, Malc, to kidnap Roman to try to lure Niko to his death, but Niko successfully rescued his cousin and Johnny was left in the dark as to why he had to execute the kidnapping.
In the next month or so, Dimitri allied himself with Italian mob boss Giovanni Ancelotti, becoming their cocaine supplier and to profit from his family's rackets. The Pegorino Family learn of this affiliation and decide to steal a shipment of cocaine in Catch the Wave. His first action was to extort deputy mayor Bryce Dawkins to help them control several construction unions, blackmailing him with knowledge of his gay affair with Bernie Crane. Coincidentally, Niko was an old friend of Bernie's and stopped the blackmailers. He also tried to ambush Bernie and Niko by boat while they were having lunch. Niko then allied himself with Gambetti family boss Jon Gravelli and destroyed their shipment of cocaine.
Death
At the end of the game, Dimitri offered to sell the heroin from Jimmy Pegorino to a third party; Pegorino had Niko working for him at the time. Pegorino was made aware of their feud (which started when Rascalov sold Niko out to Ray Bulgarin, continued when he burned their Broker Safehouse down, and then finally crossed the line when Rascalov kidnapped Roman); but Pegorino still asked Niko to participate in the deal. The player is then given the choice of whether Niko will participate in the deal and be paid, or rebel and kill Dimitri. Dimitri is killed by Niko in either scenario.
- Deal: Dimitri was to collect heroin and sell it to a third party, who would in turn pay Niko and Phil Bell. Dimitri betrays Niko as expected and leaves he and Phil trapped in the compound, while Niko and Phil must fight their way to the money and escape the compound (If the Price is Right). The very next day Niko's cousin Roman was getting married, and Dimitri sent a hitman to kill Niko (Mr and Mrs Bellic). He accidentally killed Roman in the struggle, after which Niko swore revenge on Dimitri more than ever. After Niko and Little Jacob find Dimitri and Pegorino at an Alderney Casino, Dimitri betrays and kills Pegorino to claim all the profit for himself. Niko finally kills Dimitri on Happiness Island (A Revenger's Tragedy).
- Revenge: Ignoring Pegorino's orders, and following a tip given to him by Roman in a phone call with him recently, Niko immediately confronts and kills Dimitri on the Platypus tanker ship, ironically the same ship that brought Niko to Liberty City (A Dish Served Cold). As a result, Pegorino loses most of his money, power and influence, and personally attempts to kill Niko at his cousin Roman Bellic's wedding.. He accidentally kills their family friend Kate McReary, after which Niko swears revenge (Mr and Mrs Bellic). He tracks Pegorino to exactly the same casino and kills him on Happiness Island (Out of Commission).
LCPD Database record
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Murders commited
- Jimmy Pegorino - Murdered to claim the profit from the heroin sale all for himself. (Only in Deal ending)
Mission appearances
- GTA IV
- Crime and Punishment
- Do You Have Protection?
- Final Destination
- Rigged to Blow
- The Master and the Molotov (Boss)
- Russian Revolution (Boss, Betrayal)
- Roman's Sorrow (Post-mission phone call)
- Hostile Negotiation (Post-mission phone call)
- Union Drive (Post-mission phone call)
- Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend (Post-mission phone call)
Deal Ending
- If the Price is Right (Voice)
- A Revenger's Tragedy (Killed)
Revenge Ending
- A Dish Served Cold (Killed)
- The Lost And Damned
- Roman's Holiday (Mentioned)
The Ballad of Gay Tony
- Departure Time (Mentioned)
Trivia
- "Dimitri" is not the typical spelling of the name, it is normally "Dmitri" or "Dmitry." However, the spelling "Dimitri" is still correct as it uses the spelling used by the Slavic Church.
- Dimitri's surname, Rascalov, is a Russianized version of the word "rascal." Much like his first name, "Rascalov" is also incorrect as a Cyrillic transliteration would use the letter K rather than the letter C.
- During the shootout in A Revenger's Tragedy, Dimitri has 100% body armor as well as 200% health, allowing him to sustain about three times as much damage as a standard enemy. He is also armed with a Carbine Rifle. If the Revenge path is chosen, he will not have the extra health and will only have an SMG.
- Like many other characters, Dimitri features distinctive models for cutscenes and in-game sequences. However, Dimitri's in-game model is inconsistent with that of the cutscenes in that his tie has been fused with his shirt and textured to match its color, when cutscenes depict his tie in pink and capable of swinging in motion. Despite these differences, the shape of the "fused" tie can still be seen on Dimitri's in-game model, particularly during "A Dish Served Cold." After Niko has executed Dimitri in this mission however, the tie does not appear on Dimitri's corpse. The frame of his glasses is also different: Black in cutscenes and yellow in-game.
- Dimitri's cousin was a girlfriend of Lenny Petrovic before his death. This is probably the reason why Dimitri could make a deal with Kenny Petrovic after Mikhail Faustin's hit.
- As the story progresses, a Weazel News report on the radio will say that Russian businessman Dimitri Rascalov was held by police but released without charges, though this event has nothing to do with the story. Although it does show that the police suspect him, or know what he's up to.
- If the Revenge option is taken, Dimitri is the one of two antagonists not to be killed in the final mission. The other being Vinnie in Grand Theft Auto: Advance.
- Dimitri, like Massimo Torini and Ray Bulgarin, is one of the three antagonists in the entire GTA series who is not seen in the introduction cutscene for their respective game.
- Dimitri Rascalov is similar to Big Smoke from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Jerry Martinez in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, as they all started out as associates of the main protagonist, betrayed the main protagonist, disappeared for a long time, then reappeared at the end of the game where they met their deaths. This trait of not physically appearing between the betrayal mission and the death mission is also a part of Billy Grey (from TLAD)'s character.
- Dimitri seems to have become very powerful after taking control of Faustin's gang as he has managed to set up numerous drug operations in Charge Island and Alderney and has become a serious problem for various powerful criminals and politicians, such as Jon Gravelli, Bobby Jefferson and Bryce Dawkins.
- Dimitri was probably born or lived in Moscow, as he refers to "selling hash to tourists at Red Square" during Do You Have Protection?
- Dimitri is the only main antagonist in the GTA IV era not to reappear in one of its DLCs.
- In Departure Time in TBoGT, Timur will sometimes mention that "Rascalov is dead" while driving to Funland. This proves that Dimitri was killed by Niko prior to this mission.
- Dimitri and Ray Bulgarin are the only GTA IV era main antagonists who are affiliated with each other. Ray was also his only friend and partner who he did not betray.
- Like most characters in the game, Dimitri will don a unique helmet when riding alongside the protagonist on a motorbike. His helmet is green, with two white stripes along the temples.
- His favorite radio station is Vladivostok FM as he'll respond positively when it's turned on during Do You Have Protection?.
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