Francis McReary

Type	CHARACTER
Francis McReary
Appears in	Grand Theft Auto IV
Voiced by	Thomas Lyons
Biographical information
Full name	Francis McReary
Also known as	Officer McReary Frankie
Nationality	Irish-American
Date of birth	1963 (Age 45)
Place of birth	Dukes, Liberty City
Date of death	2008 (Player's Choice)
Home	Liberty City
Family	Maureen McReary (mother) Mr. McReary (father) Kate McReary (sister) Patrick McReary (brother) Gerald McReary (brother) Derrick McReary (brother)
Main affiliation	LCPD Manny Escuela (formerly) Niko Bellic
Vehicle(s)	Black Landstalker
Physical description
Gender	Male

Francis "Frankie" McReary (Irish: Proinsias Mac Ruairi) is a 45-year old corrupt Deputy Police Commissioner, and the second oldest member of the McReary clan.

Biography

Francis and his brothers grew up in an Irish Catholic home. He is looked down upon by his brothers, who consider him a hypocrite for his police career; Patrick McReary remarks that "[Francis is] just as crooked as we are — moreso"; Francis affords his brothers similar disdain for their open criminality. He initially wanted to become a priest, but as his brother Patrick recalls, he had to abandon that ambition after being caught cheating on his final test to be a priest; he also had a selfish tendency to take money from the donation plate as an altar boy.

Francis tells Niko that his philosophy to cleaning up the streets of Liberty City is "one percent at a time" — assassinate small-time crooks and drug dealers one by one, to "improve" the city without involving the legal system. This may be mere self-justification on Francis' part — the tasks he sets for Niko are overwhelmingly focused on covering up his own misdeeds. Francis is implied to have illicit tastes, which go unspecified but which may be related to drugs and/or prostitution, as he orders the assassination of a drug-dealing pimp who is implied to be personally inconveniencing him.

It seems he has the same philosophy as Frank Tenpenny, thinking if a necessary number of people do like him, the community would improve.

Events of Grand Theft Auto IV

Francis first meets Niko Bellic during a publicity spot with Manny Escuela. Later in the game, he calls Niko and arranges a meeting at Castle Gardens, where he reveals that he knows of Niko's criminal activity in Liberty City; Niko agrees to work for Francis in exchange for his turning a blind eye to Niko's other crimes.

Francis first orders the death of a blackmailer who possesses incriminating photographs, and then the death of Tom Goldberg, a lawyer who has evidence against Francis. He has Niko kill a drug-dealer and pimp in the East Holland projects, and then the dealer's accomplice, who is threatening to talk to the police about McReary.

Blood Brothers

After Francis' brother Derrick returns from Ireland, Derrick intends to expose Francis' corruption out of spite, something Francis could not accept as he intends to become the Commissioner of the LCPD. He orders Niko to kill Derrick during a meeting he has arranged with his brother. Niko either chooses to follow Francis' orders, or goes against them and spares Derrick's life by killing Francis instead. Either choice will end Niko's career with Francis, although Niko can choose to exploit Francis' guilt in future if he survives. Killing Derrick also allows the player to gain ability of using Francis' to put down any wanted level against him for the duration of the story and once you finish the story mode you wont have this ability anymore.

Mission appearances

GTA IV

• Street Sweeper
• Call and Collect (Boss)
• Final Interview (Boss)
• Holland Nights (Boss)
• Lure (Boss)
• Harbouring a Grudge (Post-mission phone call)
• Blood Brothers (Boss/Can be Killed)
• Undertaker (Only if spared in Blood Brothers)

Wanted level reduction

If Francis is spared in Blood Brothers, the player can call him and have him clear their Wanted level. Although this can be done multiple times, the wait required between calls is thus far undetermined — calling too soon after the last successful call will merely redirect to Francis' answering machine. Once the player finishes the story missions, Francis' ability will not be available because most contacts on Niko's cell phone are deleted at the end of the game.

Trivia

• If Niko kills Francis, his gravestone in Colony Island (after the mission Undertaker) reads: "Here Lies Francis McReary, Brave, Honest, Shot Dead", the same as Derrick's in Steinway.
• Francis drives a black Landstalker, seen in the beginning cutscene of Blood Brothers.
• As Francis is an LCPD officer, his record is not listed in the LCPD Database.
• In the mission I'll Take Her..., Gerald McReary says that he and Francis were never real close, but that "he'll miss him" (if Francis is dead).
• Sometimes if Niko starts getting chased by police with Packie, he will often shout "Look! Frankie's Boys!".
• Francis can be seen on the homepage for Libertycitypolice.com.
• In a preview, it was shown that Francis had blonde hair, which was changed.
• In Blood Brothers, while he has been acquainted with Derrick, Niko can call him twice to increase his payout, to $20,000, if he kills Derrick.
• Francis is one of 4 former employers that can be killed or spared in GTA IV. (The others being Playboy X, Dwayne Forge and Derrick McReary)