"Bulgarin" redirects here. For the Russian Mafia, see Bulgarin Crime Syndicate.
Ray Bulgarin: “Niko Bellic, how is it that whenever something is stolen from me, you are not far away?”
Niko Bellic: “I have never stole anything from you, Mr. Bulgarin.”
Ray Bulgarin: “These man, the big faggot and his Dominican bitch, they stole my diamonds. And you have been trying to rob the thieves to rob me. Kill them all!.”
— Ray Bulgarin to Niko Bellic during Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend.
Ray Bulgarin (Russian: Рэй Булгарин) is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series, appearing as a minor antagonist in Grand Theft Auto IV and the main antagonist of The Ballad of Gay Tony.
History
Background
Ray Bulgarin was born in 1958, and lived with a sister named Galina. As a child, he was in a wrestling academy, where his coach made him take steroids.
Bulgarin later emigrated to Liberty City and began his criminal life. In 1989 he was arrested for receiving an entire ship full of Albanian sex slaves and later deported. Some time after, he continued human trafficking across the Adriatic sea, where he also lived in a large mansion on the waterfront. At some point, he became friends with Dimitri Rascalov, a fellow criminal who operated out of Liberty City.
He employed Niko Bellic as a people trafficker, with Niko smuggling people into Italy from Eastern Europe, until one run in which the ship sank, in which Niko was forced to abandon it and its cargo in order to swim to safety. 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 spent seven months on the Platypus before escaping to Liberty City. At one point, some Diamonds belonging to Bulgarin were stolen by a cook onboard the ship.
Events of Grand Theft Auto IV and The Ballad of Gay Tony
"Ray Bulgarin. Tell me, where are the women?
In or before 2008, Bulgarin returns to Liberty City and moves into a house in Meadow Hills in Dukes with his sister. He meets up with his old friend Dimitri Rascalov who reveals that Niko Bellic was working for him by chance. Rascalov offers Niko to Bulgarin, who accepts without hesitation. Niko is then called to an abandoned warehouse in East Hook in order to collect payment for a previous assassination, but instead of receiving money, Bulgarin reveals himself, furious at Niko for the money he cost him, and orders him to be killed, but Niko manages to escape with the help of his friend Little Jacob.
Afterwards, Bulgarin begins attempting to expand his business interests, as he looks to buy the Liberty City Rampage hockey team from Marki Ashvilli, as well as the Maisonette 9 nightclub from Tony Prince. He hires Luis Lopez, a bouncer at the Maisonette 9, to assist him with the hockey team acquisition by first eliminating crooked NOOSE members who have information against Bulgarin, followed by killing the team owner in a hectic ambush.
Eventually, Bulgarin discovers that Tony and Luis had obtained the diamonds that were stolen from him by the cook after Luis and Tony originally failed to buy them from him. He meets Luis again and tells him to go to a rooftop in Little Italy to help his bodyguard Timur. At one point during his conversation with Luis, he fires an AK-47 into the ceiling at his sister, who is screaming in the room above them. When Luis gets to the rooftop, he calls Bulgarin, who leads Luis to a box containing the cook's severed head on it. Suddenly, a massive ambush of snipers, shooters, gunmen, and a helicopter appears, attempting to kill Luis, though he fights them off and manages to escape from the rooftop.
Later, Gracie Ancelotti, the daughter of Giovanni Ancelotti, the Don of the Ancelotti Crime Family is kidnapped and held for ransom by Niko Bellic at the request of Gerald McReary from the McReary Crime Family. As a result, in Luis and Tony, who eventually managed to obtain the diamonds are coerced by Giovanni to exchange them for her life. During the exchange, Bulgarin and his men arrive and attempt to kill Niko, but are once again unsuccessful. Niko and Luis both escape and the diamonds are grabbed by one of Bulgarin's men, but he ends up throwing them into a passing truck when confronted by Niko and his friend Patrick McReary.
Afterwards, Dimitri Rascalov, who is moving heroin, is killed by Niko, resulting in Bulgarin taking it for himself. Luis, deciding to kill Bulgarin before he can get a chance to kill him and Tony, destroys the heroin shipment and kills Bulgarin's men, including his bodyguard, Timur. Bulgarin boards a plane at Francis International Airport to flee the country, but Luis is able to jump aboard. Bulgarin pulls out a grenade and demands that Luis not kill him, but he does so anyway, which activates the grenade. The plane explodes in mid-air, but Luis jumps out of it and parachutes back to Liberty City.
Character
Murders Committed
Possible Murders
- Galina Bulgarin - Possibly murdered by Ray for aggravating him recurringly.
LCPD Database Record
- Believed to be operating in Europe on the Adriatic.
- Deported after being caught receiving a shipment of Albanian sex workers at the Liberty City Docks in late 80s.
Mission Appearances
Grand Theft Auto IV
The Ballad of Gay Tony
- Boulevard Baby
- Clocking Off (Post-mission phone call/If …Blog This! is done before this mission)
- ...Blog This! (Post-mission phone call)
- Going Deep (Boss)
- Dropping In (Boss)
- In the Crosshairs (Boss/Betrayal)
- Ladies Half Price (Voice)
- Departure Time (Killed)
Gallery
Trivia
- His surname (Bulgarin) comes from the Bulgarian word for a Bulgarian citizen (българин/bulgarian). Niko uses the Bulgarian pronunciation, while many of the other characters (including Ray himself) pronounce it with an U (as in Булгарин).
- If the player looks him up on the LCPD database on libertycitypolicedatabase.com before "Russian Revolution", he will be listed as Deceased.
- Bulgarin's appearance was altered between GTA IV and TBoGT. In GTA IV, he had lighter hair and harsher facial features such as higher cheekbones, bigger lips and smaller eyes. In TBoGT, he has darker hair instead and his skin is noticeably pale. His face is also more textured. Interestingly, in beta version of GTA IV his skin was paler than in the final version.
- His full name is often incorrectly stated to be "Rodislav". This fake name first appeared on Wikipedia's article List of Grand Theft Auto IV characters. This mistake has even spread to such external websites as IMDB.