The Sasquatch, also known as the Bigfoot in North America, is an ape-like creature that some people believe inhabits the forests of San Andreas in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online. Sasquatch is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid.
It was very likely introduced due to the popular myth in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which Rockstar Games confirmed to be fake.
Origin[]
The Myth in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
When the player got hungry, his stomach would rumble. Players started going onto Mount Chiliad to look for big foot (one particularly persistent rumour). Many players thought they could hear big foot not realizing it was their rumbling stomach.
Rumors of Sasquatch being found in Back o Beyond surfaced within four days[2] of the game's release, although no definitive proof of Sasquatch's existence was ever produced and Rockstar Games eventually confirmed that Sasquatch did not exist in the game.
Players wasted countless in-game hours searching for the non-existent creature in the woods to the point of triggering Carl's hungry state, which causes his health points to slowly decrease and stomatch rumble noises are played. The sound effect used for the stomatch rumbles was mistakenly assumed by players to be bigfoot roar sounds, assuming the creature was nearby, not realising the game was simply warning the player to purchase food.
The release of modifications made the search near-impossible, as anything considered "evidence" of his existence was most likely taken out of a modified version of the game. Sasquatch remains arguably the most popular myth of the GTA franchise. Possibly for this reason, Sasquatch was introduced in Grand Theft Auto V, taking place in a reimagined San Andreas in the HD Universe.
Rockstar North's Response[]
The search for Bigfoot, along with other myths, was mocked and referenced by Rockstar North developers in later games, particularly in the HD Universe titles.
With the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, introducing the in-game internet feature, the player can read a Liberty Tree online newspaper article titled "Urban Myths Run Wild" published after the events of the mission Tunnel of Death. The in-universe article claims that "rumors of dead pop stars, sasquatches, giant alligators, secret cities, invincible criminals, and dogs have all been causing wide spread disturbances in the minds of insane residents", an obvious reference to popular myths in the 3D Universe of the series such as secret areas behind game boundaries, Zombie Elvis and the existence of animals in normal gameplay.
History[]
Background[]
The sasquatch is said to be a beast inhabiting the Chiliad Mountain State Wilderness in Bone County, to the north of the Los Santos County border. The creature is featured in the Seal of the City of Los Santos.
Events of Grand Theft Auto V[]
Predator[]
The mission's objective is to hunt the O'Neil Brothers in the woods of Cassidy Creek using a rifle with thermal scope. At the lower right corner, one can see Sasquatch standing still. He will immediately disappear after he has been spotted. If Michael tries to shoot at it, nothing happens. This serves as an easter egg.
The Last One[]
The mission is dedicated entirely to Sasquatch. Franklin meets a hunter who says that he has been on a sasquatch's tail for eight years (GTA San Andreas had been released 9 years prior to GTA V). After searching the woods, the creature can be seen running. After a long chase, he will reach a dead end and will start cowering in fear. Upon shooting him, he will repeat the phrases "shoot me human" and "I'm the last of my kind" (this is a throwback to the sasquatch mission in Red Dead Redemption). Franklin concludes that the so-called Sasquatch is nothing more than a crazed man in a costume.
Golden Peyote[]
After the Freemode Events Update, the Sasquatch search was expanded upon.
If a player has completed the game 100%, including The Last One side-mission and has found all 27 Peyote Plants, golden Peyote plants will appear, one in a different location for each day of the week but only from 5:30 to 8:00 AM in the morning and only when there is snowy or foggy weather.
This special Peyote plant grants the player the ability to play as a Sasquatch. Sasquatch works almost identically to human characters, can drive any vehicles, can use any dropped weapons, and has increased strength.
The player needs to eat each of the golden Peyote plants in order from Sunday to Saturday.
They will be able to observe a dead animal nearby each time they "transform" and when eating the last plant on Saturday morning, the Sasquatch Hunter will be seen laying dead next to the player.
Growling at this point will cause a howl to sound from the distance, which the player needs to follow, starting a hunt of sorts that consists of following a trail of dead bodies. Eventually, the player will arrive at Thomson Scrapyard and growling will be disabled.
The very last body will be located next to a small shack nearby where the camera will then focus onto the top of one of the plane carcasses, whereupon a Beast will jump down, starting a fight with the player. If the player wins, the hallucination will end automatically and the Sasquatch and Beast characters will be unlocked in Director Mode.[3] [4] [5]
Events of Grand Theft Auto Online[]
Special Peyote[]
In The Diamond Casino & Resort update, seasonal Peyote plants were added to Grand Theft Auto Online. One of them, situated in Grapeseed at the base of Mount Chiliad, will transform the player into Sasquatch if consumed between 03:30 and 08:30 while the weather is foggy. Sasquatch has super strength and increased health, and it can swim and use weapons, but unlike in single player it cannot drive or use the Weapon Wheel. The police will also ignore the player, as they do during any other Peyote hallucination in Online.
Special Outfit[]
In The Criminal Enterprises update, a special Sasquatch outfit was added, which was awarded to the players who logged in on October 31 during the Halloween 2022 (Week 4) event.
Psychedelic Trips[]
Sasquatch is featured as a hallucination of the GTA Online Protagonist in the following missions added in the Los Santos Drug Wars update:
Due to these appearances, its face was also included in the main artwork of the DLC, as a hidden image formed by the clouds in the upper right corner.[6]
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- At the end of the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas game manual, the name "Big Foot" is listed in the special thanks section. Big Foot is the alias of a recurring Rockstar North contributor, first credited in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
- He appears on the city seal of Los Santos.
- In Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, one can get an achievement for killing a sasquatch called Six Years in the Making. This is a reference to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which was released six years before Red Dead Redemption. The French version translates it to No need to seek it anymore, CJ.
- In The Definitive Edition of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, players can get an achievement for spending 24 hours on foot in the countryside "looking for bigfoot", a reference to the popular myth. Additionally, the name of the achievement is 81 Years Too Late, a reference to Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, set 81 years before 1992.
- In GTA Online, a rare Animal Materials Crate can be purchased through the SecuroServ network for $21,000 containing a Sasquatch skin. It can be sold for $105,000.
- In GTA Online, a Sasquatch action figure and Beast action figure can be found facing each other at the Car Scrapyard in El Burro Heights, referencing the battle between Sasquatch and the Beast when eating the golden Peyote Plants.