Lance Vance is the tritagonist turned secondary antagonist in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and the deuteragonist in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
He is voiced by Philip Michael Thomas, who played Ricardo Tubbs in the 1980s television-series Miami Vice.
History[]
Background[]
Lance is a cocaine dealer who worked in the cocaine trade with his brother, Victor Vance (the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories). Lance piloted the helicopter and Vic conducted the deals themselves. The two are the main members of the Vance Crime Family, with Vic as the boss.
Early Life[]
Lance Vance was born to a white mother, Janet Vance, and his father immigrated from the Dominican Republic.
He and his two brothers, Victor and Pete, grew up in poverty. Because their mother had a drug addiction, they were raised by their Aunt Enid who they, especially Lance, see as their sole maternal figure. Lance was often teased about his name in school, which he is still very sensitive about (when he works with Ricardo Diaz, he lies that his name is Quentin). During the mission Phnom Penh '86, Tommy Vercetti jokingly laughs at Lance, teasing "Vance? Your name's Lance Vance?!" and then "Lance Vance. Poor bastard." According to Vic, Lance got kicked out of the Boy Scouts in his youth. Vic always treated Lance like a little kid and Lance would get them both in trouble, patterns that continued well into their adult lives.
Events of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]
Joining Victor[]
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, set two years before the events of GTA Vice City, Lance is first mentioned by Vic (telling his sergeant, Jerry Martinez, that Pete is sick with asthma, and implying that Lance is sick in a psychological way, as well as messages from their Aunt Enid).
Lance arrives from his home and slowly ushers Vic into drug trafficking. They work with Bryan Forbes before discovering that he's an undercover cop with VCPD and the brothers take him hostage. Forbes often attempts escape and tries to trick the brothers, even leading them to a white supremacist gay bar called White Stallionz.
Working for The Mendez Cartel[]
Lance then suggests stealing a large shipment of drugs from Martinez. After Vic calls Martinez to mock him, Martinez reveals that he was allied with the Mendez Brothers, two powerful drug lords who are now out for the Vance's blood.
Lance also becomes addicted to his own cocaine, as does Vic's girlfriend Louise Cassidy-Williams, who both hide their habit from Vic. Lance often blames the missing drugs on their addict mother or a biker gang. Vic finds out and first accuses them of an affair, to which they respond that they only get high as friends and call him judgmental (a criticism Vic often receives).
Last Stand[]
When Louise is kidnapped and eventually killed by the Mendez brothers (with whom they'd briefly made peace before a second war), Lance shows little feeling for her and tries to console Vic by saying family is more important (namely, himself). He only becomes involved with the Mendez war after their hitmen destroy his car.
Shortly after Victor kills both Diego and Martinez, Lance arrives in a black and yellow Maverick supposedly coming to help him; however, as the battle has already ended, the brothers agree to lay low for a while and get out of town. Lance offers Victor twenty kilos of cocaine for a deal ahead; however, Victor denies his interests and says that he doesn't ever want to touch drugs again, and that he'll send some money to their sick brother, Pete, for the medical treatment required.
It is implied by a few unused lines from the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City introduction mission In The Beginning... that they stashed the twenty kilos of cocaine in a farm in Panama. It is unknown if this statement is still considered canon, although it is still implied during the final cutscene of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. [2][3][4]
Events of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City[]
The Drug Deal[]
In 1986, Lance flies Victor to a cocaine deal with Sonny Forelli's men when Victor is shot by a third party ambushing the deal. Lance, still in the helicopter, flies away unscathed.
Friendship with Tommy and revenge on Diaz[]
Lance meets Tommy Vercetti, the surviving Forelli mobster from the deal, when the latter kills Leo Teal, a cook/hitman who knew something about the deal. They agree to help each other get revenge, though Tommy is slowly beginning to accept Lance.
Lance on the surface appears cool and collected, but he is very impulsive. His quest for vengeance against Diaz, the boss who betrayed them in the first place, results in his capture and torture by Diaz's men, and he is only saved from death in the nick of time by Tommy, who had risked his own life to save Lance's fighting through a swarm of Diaz's men. Lance redeems himself by supplying the M4 Carbines to Tommy, which the two of them use to finish off Diaz and his Colombian gang.
Betrayal[]
After Lance and Tommy overthrow Diaz, Lance constantly complains about being treated like a little kid (such as after Cop Land) and becomes irritated by Tommy's attitude and dominance in the gang. The only instance Tommy shouts at Lance is during the cut scene of the mission Bar Brawl for his mistake. Tommy never told Lance to not establish himself while Tommy built his empire, but all Lance did was complain and expect everything to be handed to him on a silver platter. Shortly before Sonny Forelli's arrival, Tommy declares the Vercetti business as "his operation", implying that he views the criminal enterprise as a sole proprietorship rather than a partnership, as he did all the hard work in purchasing and establishing his assets and raising his gang while Lance just complained.
Eventually, Lance betrays Tommy for Sonny, revealing that the cash payment was counterfeit, which prompts Sonny to invade the Vercetti Estate with a large number of gunmen.
Death & Legacy[]
- Lance: "No one to cover your ass now, eh Tommy?"
- Tommy: "You're going down, you backstabbing prick!"
- Lance: "Oh, you think so?"
- —Tommy and Lance about to fight against each other
In the ensuing gunfight, Tommy confronts and kills Lance on the roof of the mansion. Having killed the remaining Forelli henchmen in the process, Tommy proceeds to kill Sonny and cement his power in Vice City once and for all.
Lance can be seen as an action figure in Zero RC along with Tommy, James Earl Cash, and Piggsy, the latter two from Manhunt, in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, circa 1992. A billboard depicting a character using his model (with the face model of Cam Jones) can be found around the state. His character art can also be seen on the Jack of Spades card while playing Poker in Las Venturas.
In a PC World article, Lance was voted as #17 of the top 47 "most diabolical videogame villains of all time."
Character[]
Personality[]
Lance is a carefree, cheerful, yet extremely short-tempered, loud-mouthed, and egotistical person. He is depicted as being lazy and self-centered, and frequently brags to and provokes his enemy, often while referring to himself in the third-person.
Because of his poor upbringing and failures during his childhood, Lance developed a sense of insecurity, resulting in a selfish desire to become rich and powerful to prove that he has "changed" from his incompetent younger self, and will not care about the ways in which this could be achieved. Lance shows no hesitation in entering the drug business, as he could earn "big money for doing absolutely nothing." Despite the game's depiction of Lance as being unreliable, he's not entirely stupid, as Lance is capable of striking business deals and plans by himself, but he would often let his emotions get ahead of him and foil his own plans.
Due to his selfishness, Lance usually refuses to help others unless his interests are at stake, and is also rarely willing to do the work himself unless he is motivated to do so for personal reasons. Despite this (or in spite of), Lance will often claim the credit for things he had no part in.
Throughout his life, Lance's temperamental attitude often put his life at risk, forcing his brother Vic to save him on multiple occasions. Despite this, and Vic's dismissive attitude towards Lance's antics, Lance deeply cared for Vic and Aunt Enid for their familial bonds. When Vic was killed two years later, Lance became so fixated with avenging his brother that he decided to attack Ricardo Diaz by himself, despite the carefully devised plan he and Tommy Vercetti had come up with earlier. Despite Lance’s shortcomings and incompetence at times, he is shown to be fearless, eagerly fighting alongside his brother or his partner in crime and coming out on top most of the time against very powerful criminal organisations such as the Mendez Cartel or the Diaz Cartel.
Lance is also deeply materialistic, as he is often seen spending money earned from the drug trade on luxury items and living a lavish lifestyle, such as his favorite car the Infernus and three different fancy suits he purchased abroad before the final mission of GTA Vice City Stories. In fact, a running gag of the series often involves Lance's Infernus being destroyed by someone, which results in him chasing down those responsible.
Ultimately, it was Lance himself who was his own worst enemy. Despite managing to avenge his brother and earning the respect of Tommy, who accepts him as an equal partner in his new drug empire, Lance chose to betray him to Sonny Forelli because of "business", and that he "had enough" of being dismissed and looked down upon since his childhood. Perhaps it is poetic irony that, before his demise, Lance taunted Tommy that he has "no one to cover (his) ass now", despite Lance himself being the one who was left alone by his own careless ambitions.
Appearance[]
In GTA Vice City, he is always seen wearing a white soiree suit with a purple shirt. His artwork shows him wearing a light-purple suit. In GTA Vice City Stories, his outfit changes from a red shirt with jeans to a double breasted cyan suit.
During the mission Snitch Hitch in GTA Vice City Stories, Lance is seen ordering three suits (pink, blue and white) from the phone, before Victor throws it away, in which Lance tells the person on the other phone he'll talk to them later. The pink suit appears in his GTA Vice City artwork, the white appears is worn in GTA Vice City, and the blue is worn after From Zero to Hero in GTA Vice City Stories.
Lance's Guide Book Bio[]
Lance is a well-dressed 32-year-old transient, just recently arrived to Vice City with his brother who got popped during Sonny Forelli's drug deal that went bad while under Tommy Vercetti's supervision. Now fighting alongside Tommy, Lance will stop at nothing to avenge his brother's death, no matter who steps up to the plate.
VCBI Crime Tree Record[]
- LANCE VANCE
- LANCE VANCE
- Recently arrived in town with his brother.
- Asks a lot of questions.
- Trained helicopter pilot.
- Believed to be in narcotics trade.
- Hard mouthing off in a lot of nightclubs.
- Believed to get aggressive or needy when he drinks. Possibly emotionally insecure.
Murders Committed[]
- Ricardo Diaz - Murdered by him and Tommy to exact revenge for Vic's death.
Missions Appearances[]
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City[]
- In The Beginning...
- Back Alley Brawl
- Guardian Angels
- Phnom Penh '86
- Supply & Demand
- Death Row
- Rub Out (Boss)
- Shakedown (Boss)
- Bar Brawl (Boss)
- Cop Land (Boss)
- Hit the Courier
- Cap the Collector (Post-mission phone call)
- Keep Your Friends Close... (Betrayal/Killed)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]
- Truck Stop (Post-mission pager message)
- Jive Drive
- The Audition (Boss)
- Money for Nothing
- Robbing the Cradle or Havana Good Time (Post-mission pager message)
- Caught as an Act (Boss)
- Leap and Bound
- The Bum Deal
- Snitch Hitch (Boss)
- From Zero to Hero (Boss)
- Brawn of the Dead (Boss)
- Blitzkrieg (Boss)
- The Mugshot Longshot
- Hostile Takeover (Post-mission pager message)
- Turn on, Tune in, Bug out (Boss)
- Home's on the Range (Post-mission pager message)
- Taking the Fall (Boss)
- White Lies (Boss)
- Where it Hurts Most (Boss)
- Steal the Deal
- Burning Bridges
- Blitzkrieg Strikes Again (Boss)
- Domo Arigato Domestoboto
- Lost and Found (Boss)
- Light My Pyre (Boss)
- Last Stand
Gallery[]
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City[]
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
Trivia[]
- Lance's favorite radio station is Fever 105, as it is the default radio station in his Infernus.
- Being a deuteragonist, tritagonist and antagonist to be related to a protagonist, he holds the following distinctions:
- As deuteragonist, he is one of three deuteragonists to be related to a protagonist, the other two being Sweet Johnson and Roman Bellic.
- As tritagonist, he is one of two tritagonists to be related to a protagonist, the other being Jimmy De Santa.
- As antagonist, he is one of two antagonists to be related to a protagonist, the other being Wu Lee.
- Lance also holds the distinction of being the tritagonist and the antagonist with the highest number of appearances (if counting his total number of appearances across GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories).
References[]
- ↑ Lance is said to be 32 years old in 1986 in the BradyGames guide officially endorsed by Rockstar Games.
- ↑ Lance Vance:“...I been making moves. I got hold of 20 keys man.Victor Vance:“Are you crazy? Get rid of it.Lance Vance:“No. All we need to do is sit on it, it's hidden out of sight, out of town man. We lay low and then sell it.— Lance Vance in Last Stand (in the final cutscene of the game), foreshadowing the deal in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
- ↑ “Okay, so. They're brothers, okay. One operates the uh, the business, and the other one does the flying. Now they operate out of Mexico, no, no, no, wait... They own a farm in Panama...— Ken Rosenberg's unused dialogue from In The Beginning...
- ↑
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