List of characters in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Encyclopedia
Throughout the various missions and cutscene
s in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
, set in 1992, a number of recurring characters appear. Prominent characters are listed here.
Many characters were voiced by crime film veterans, such as Samuel L. Jackson
(Pulp Fiction
), James Woods
(Once Upon a Time in America
, Casino
), Frank Vincent
(Goodfellas
, Casino
) and Peter Fonda
(Easy Rider
). Prominent West Coast rappers, such as MC Eiht
, Ice T
, Frost and The Game
provided voice work for minor characters in the game as well.
Carl "CJ" Johnson (March 13, 1968 -
The game's storyline revolves around Carl's return to San Andreas after five years in Liberty City because his mother was killed. CJ decides early on that he intends to remain on the west coast rather than return after his mother's funeral, and the game's storyline focuses on his attempts to rebuild the life he left behind five years before. Carl helps restore his old gang, the Grove Street Families, to prominence. He also works on several independent business ventures and gains new friends and associates. As the protagonist, Carl is forced to deal with the major dramatic events of the plot, including his brother Sweet's arrest and incarceration, the betrayal of his childhood friends Big Smoke and Ryder, and the destruction wrought on his neighborhood and gang by drugs.
Following the death of his brother, Brian, Carl escaped the pressures of street gang life by moving to Liberty City
five years prior to the start of the game, where he worked with Joey Leone in the car theft business. During The Introduction—a short machinima
video released with the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack
—he is seen mugging
a passerby in the street and then hijacking a car.
In 1992, Carl's mother is killed in a drive-by shooting. He returns to Los Santos for the funeral and is immediately confronted by members of C.R.A.S.H.
(Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums), Officers Frank Tenpenny, Eddie Pulaski and Jimmy Hernandez, a group of police officers involved in corrupt dealings. Throughout the game, C.R.A.S.H. forces Carl to work for them because if he does not, they have the power to bring harm to him and his loved ones. At the very beginning of the game, they tell Carl that they intend to frame him for the murder of police officer Ralph Pendlebury, whom C.R.A.S.H. killed to prevent him from exposing their illegal activities.
Early in the game, Carl aids Sweet and the rest of the senior members in reviving the GSF by ridding parts of the neighborhood of crack dealers, acquiring weapons, and regaining lost gang territory. This revival ends, however, after Carl learns that his friends Ryder and Big Smoke, senior GSF members, have betrayed the gang. As CJ discovers the betrayal, Sweet is ambushed by rival Ballas gang members and wounded. CJ arrives to fight them off and likely saves his brothers life, but they are arrested by the police after the battle. Outside the view of the storyline, Sweet is put on trial and convicted of multiple felonies, for which he receives a life sentence. CJ, however, is released by C.R.A.S.H. into a rural area to continue to perform jobs for the team. The GSF, along with Cesar's Aztecas, fall out of prominence. Consequently, their rivals, the Ballas and Los Santos Vagos, are able to take over all of Los Santos.
After a brief stay in the Badlands, Carl and his remaining associates (his sister Kendl, Cesar and hippie The Truth) head north for San Fierro, where they establish a vehicle chop shop
and dealership. CJ also works for the local Triads and infiltrates and destroys San Andreas' largest drug cartel, the Loco Syndicate. After Carl, Cesar, and a number of Triad members ambush a meeting between Ryder, who is representing Big Smoke, and the Loco Syndicate, Carl gains revenge on his former friend by killing him.
After gaining access to Las Venturas and the surrounding desert
area, CJ goes to work for undercover government agent Mike Toreno. He then moves into Venturas and works to put the Triad-funded casino
on top by eliminating the competition. CJ saves rapper Madd Dogg's life by interrupting his suicide
attempt (CJ apparently feels guilty for his part in ruining Dogg's career). He also kills Eddie Pulaski and, after completing another mission for Toreno, is rewarded with Sweet's early release from prison.
CJ wants Sweet to join him in building a new life. Since being exiled from Los Santos, Carl has left gangbanging and the hood behind in favor of larger business ventures and more lavish accommodations, and he wants Sweet to share in his newfound prosperity. However, Sweet's priorities are different: he wants to remain on Grove Street, get rid of the crack dealers and addicts all over the streets, and reestablish the Grove Street Families as a force in Los Santos. CJ is initially reluctant to return to the life he left behind, but Sweet eventually convinces him to go along with the plan.
With Carl and Sweet's work underway, Frank Tenpenny is finally put on trial for numerous felonies, but the charges are dropped for lack of evidence because all the witnesses who could have testified against him are either missing or dead. Most of the jobs Tenpenny forces CJ to do throughout the game involve killing or discrediting people involved in the case against him. Los Santos erupts into a massive, city-wide riot following the news. In the chaos, CJ finally confronts and kills Big Smoke in his crack palace and then pursues Tenpenny, who is mortally wounded when he crashes in front of the Johnson House. CJ prepares to shoot Tenpenny with his Desert Eagle
, but Sweet, concerned with leaving evidence when Tenpenny would simply die from his injuries, stops him. Tenpenny's death wraps up all the loose ends in Carl's life. The riot then breaks up.
At the conclusion of the game, Madd Dogg visits the Johnson house and announces that he's received a gold record for his new album. Everyone inside discusses how they must now shift their focus to maintaining the gang and their business ventures and otherwise keep a low profile. CJ then gets up and leaves the house. Kendl then asks where he's going, and he says, "Fittin' to hit the block, see what's happening," and the game's main storyline ends.
CJ is portrayed as being highly successful at the end of the game. He has executed a major heist, holds a partnership in a Las Venturas casino, is a successful rapper's manager, owns businesses and real estate throughout San Andreas, is a licensed pilot, owns a car garage in San Fierro, and is a leading member of Los Santos' most powerful gang. At about 24 years old, CJ is one of the youngest protagonists in the Grand Theft Auto
series.
Killed in: "End of the Line"
Sergeant Frank Tenpenny (May 23, 1948–1992) is a corrupt officer of Los Santos Police Department (LSPD) and a member of C.R.A.S.H.
He serves as the main antagonist
of the game. His henchmen are Officer Pulaski and Hernandez. Tenpenny is the only antagonist in the series not to be killed directly by the protagonist.
At the start of the game where CJ is arrested, Tenpenny says to CJ, "Welcome home Carl, glad to be back? You haven't forgotten about us, have you boy?" Carl replies with, "Hell no, Officer Tenpenny, I was just wondering what took y'all so long."
Tenpenny claims that his approach to the job is about "percentages" and that his philosophy calls for overlooking some crime to achieve a greater good. It appears that he believes what he says, but in reality Tenpenny and his unit are corrupt to the core and terrorize gang leaders in a fashion much like a gang themselves, except with the power of law enforcement behind them. They can kill indiscriminately and are skimming the profits from the rival gangs. Tenpenny himself is a polluting influence, convincing good cops to abandon their ideals and assist in his pursuits. He shows a callous unconcern for the people surrounding him, particularly those like Carl whom he has power over. He sees such people as tools and eliminates all of those who either outlive their usefulness to him or get in his way. Tenpenny exhibits megalomania
and considers himself above the law. He believes that because he does good work, he is entitled to enrich himself at the city's expense.
Tenpenny rides with Pulaski and a third C.R.A.S.H. member. Prior to the game's storyline, the third member is Ralph Pendelbury, whom Tenpenny has killed in The Introduction for cooperating with internal affairs
. Just prior to Pendelbury's murder, Tenpenny and Pulaski brief their newest recruit, Officer Jimmy Hernandez. They both order Hernandez to pull the trigger on Pendelbury, thereby initiating Hernandez into their distorted view of things.
Tenpenny has known CJ at least since Brian Johnson's death. Tenpenny likes to "step on" CJ on a regular basis to remind him who's in charge. Tenpenny has a great deal of power over and influence on Los Santos' criminals, and he warns CJ early in the game that "we could shit on you from such a height, you'll think God himself has crapped on you." He sees CJ as another tool in his dirty dealings. He and Pulaski extort several GSF members, including Smoke and Ryder.
While Tenpenny claims he is pitting the gangs against each other to wipe them all out, he is actually allied with the Ballas, who (unlike the GSF) have no reservations against dealing crack cocaine
. C.R.A.S.H. lets the Ballas flood the city with drugs, which turns many GSF members into addicts, effectively crushing their gang. Tenpenny also convinces Smoke to betray his gang in return for heading up the drug operation. Tenpenny and Pulaski were involved with the drive-by that killed Beverly Johnson, CJ's mother. When CJ returns for the funeral, C.R.A.S.H. frames him for Pendelbury's murder and threatens to arrest him if he does not do work for Tenpenny.
Later, Tenpenny and Pulaski kidnap CJ following a large gang assault beneath the Mulholland Intersection. Sweet, wounded in the battle, is arrested and later convicted for several felonies. Tenpenny ensures that CJ would not be arrested to keep him available to perform C.R.A.S.H.'s dirty work. They drive CJ miles away to Whetstone and dump him in the woods with orders to kill an FBI
witness. He also tells CJ, who now knows of Big Smoke's involvement with C.R.A.S.H., not to kill Big Smoke, or Sweet will be put on a Ballas cell block. Tenpenny and Pulaski surface every so often to lean on CJ and usually order him to kill or discredit someone who threatens to expose the true nature of C.R.A.S.H.
With Big Smoke ruling Los Santos as its crack kingpin under C.R.A.S.H.'s control, Tenpenny's reach is expanding. Despite this, the FBI is starting to investigate the wave of drugs crippling the city. CJ finally outlives his usefulness to Tenpenny and Pulaski, who are becoming edgy and less tolerant of loose ends by the time CJ reaches Las Venturas. They drive CJ out to the desert, where Tenpenny hits Hernandez in the head with a shovel because Hernandez has reported them to Internal Affairs. He drives off, leaving CJ to dig Hernandez's grave under Pulaski's gunpoint. CJ escapes because Hernandez was not quite dead.
Tenpenny is eventually charged for racketeering
, corruption
, possession and use of narcotic
s and numerous sexual assault
s. However, as all the prosecution's witnesses have either been killed by CJ or otherwise gone missing, Tenpenny is acquitted, which ignites a riot in Los Santos.
Just after CJ kills Big Smoke, Tenpenny shows up with a suitcase full of drug money and armed with a shotgun. He plans to flee the city by plane with the help of some new recruits in the force who are ready for him to "open their eyes" to his way of thinking. He then leads CJ and Sweet on a chase through the city until, in the last cut scene of the storyline, the fire engine breaks through and runs off an overpass and lands in a wreck right in the heart of Grove Street. A bloodied and broken Tenpenny crawls out calling for backup. Realizing no one is coming, he curses everyone, including the police force. He then dies from his injuries (making him the first antagonist not to be killed directly by the protagonist). CJ and the rest of his crew examine the body, and CJ moves in with his pistol to "make sure it's over". Sweet stops him, saying that there's no need to leave any evidence. "Just a cop killed in a traffic accident" says Sweet. As the others walk away from Tenpenny, Carl approaches him slowly, taps his dead body with his foot, and says sarcastically, "See you around... officer".
Officer Frank Tenpenny was voiced by Samuel L. Jackson
.
GamePro
ranked him the 35th most diabolical video game villain of all time, stating that "You gotta respect a guy who takes a stand and says, "No, man. We can't all just get along."". In 2010 IGN ranked Officer Tenpenny 87th in "Top 100 Videogames Villans" saying that there is "just something truly sinister about San Andreas' Officer Frank Tenpenny".
Killed in: "End of the Line"
Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris (June 18, 1958–1992) begins his role in the game as a senior member of the Grove Street Families. He is overweight, which provides some comic relief
early in the game. He later becomes the story's secondary antagonist as he betrays the GSF to become Los Santos's biggest drug kingpin in league with the Ballas and Vagos. Early in the storyline, there are several signs of Big Smoke's disloyalty to the gang: he has moved out of Grove Street to live in a new home in Idlewood (Ballas territory), and there is suspicion that he paid for the house with drug money, despite his insistence that it was money from his aunt.
The missions Smoke performs with CJ are generally tangential to the operations of the gang, despite Smoke's assertions to the contrary. He gets involved in conflicts with non-native gangs, including the Russian mob and the San Fierro Rifas. Furthermore, Officer Tenpenny and his underlings show up at Big Smoke's house during the beginning of several missions, suggesting familiarity, although Big Smoke claims each time that they are attempting to extract information from him.
In The Introduction, Smoke tries to convince Sweet to allow the GSF to sell hard drugs, saying that the Ballas have gotten rich and powerful due to drug sales, while the GSF have lost power. Sweet refuses on the grounds that he does not want to enrich himself at the expense of his neighborhood. Meanwhile, Smoke easily convinces Ryder to his side during a private meeting. Their true nature is revealed in the game when CJ witnesses them meeting with the Ballas and C.R.A.S.H. in a garage with the green Sabre used in the assassination of Beverly Johnson. When CJ wants to know what Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski did to cause Smoke's betrayal, Eddie says, "Smoke? Smoke does exactly what he is told! He learned that lesson a long time ago!".
With the prospect of power, money, and fame in the drug business too great for Big Smoke to resist, he establishes a drug delivery venture with the Loco Syndicate in San Fierro with the help of the Ballas. Smoke runs drug factories in both Los Santos and San Fierro. The final mission CJ undertakes in San Fierro requires him to destroy the main factory there.
After CJ is exiled from Los Santos, Smoke also becomes the manager of OG Loc and opens an orphanage in Los Santos. Smoke cultivates an image as someone who made it out of the ghetto with hard work and wants to give back to his old neighborhood in the form of philanthropy
. Ironically, he publicly pronounces his desire to "keep the street clean of drugs". The media reports this version of events and does not appear to question where his money has come from.
At the height of his power, Smoke lives in a large, heavily fortified crack den, referred to as a "crack fortress", deep in Ballas territory. He lives in luxury and has the full protection of the Ballas and Vagos, who have unrivaled control of the streets. However, as time progresses, Smoke becomes increasingly paranoid and stops leaving his home because he believes someone will try to take over his business. As Smoke's influence expands, his old gang erodes, and many Grove Street foot soldiers become addicted to crack and no longer care about fighting to defend their territory.
In the final mission of the game, Carl enters Big Smoke's crack palace amid a citywide riot to confront Big Smoke for the first time since CJ left Los Santos. He finds Smoke wearing an armored vest, smoking crack, and playing video games. Even while staring down CJ's gun, Smoke refuses to admit wrongdoing and proclaims: "I made it, CJ, I'm a success, I can't be touched!". In a moment of pity, CJ asks, "What happened to you, man?" to which Smoke replies, "Man, what the fuck do you care?" The lights go out, and CJ kills his former friend in a gun battle.
As he dies, Smoke explains that he betrayed the gang because he finally saw an opportunity to become rich and famous, and took it without caring about the consequences; Smoke says that because of his greedy nature, he had no choice in the matter. With his dying breath, Big Smoke boasts, "Everyone´s gonna remember my name, Big Smoke!"
In earlier previews of San Andreas, Big Smoke was seen wearing a white basketball jersey with no hat; his design was changed in the final version. However, a statue of Smoke in his "crack palace" has him wearing the outfit he sported in the previews. Big Smoke's car was a black Perennial station wagon that he decided to keep in mint condition, at least until it was blown up in a Ballas drive-by shooting during the opening mission of the game. He then switches to a light blue Glendale sedan in which CJ chauffeurs him around in several missions.
Melvin Harris was voiced by Clifton Powell
.
Killed in: "Pier 69"
Lance "Ryder" Wilson (November 19, 1967–1992), strongly resembling Eazy E by wearing a baseball hat and jheri curl, is a senior member of the Grove Street Families, who lives in a home neighboring the Johnson House and smokes large quantities of marijuana laced with PCP
. Ryder acts as a tertiary antagonist in the game. In an effort to supply the GSF with new firearms and weapons, Ryder calls in CJ to help steal some weaponry from several locations, including the home of a heavily-armed war veteran (Colonel Fuhrberger), a forcibly stopped ammunition train and a National Guard
weapons depot.
Ryder has delusions of grandeur and a possible Napoleon complex
stemming from his small stature. He fancies himself a "genius" and claims that he didn't finish school because he was "too intelligent" and not because of his involvement with the GSF. In The Introduction, Big Smoke approaches him with an offer to betray the Grove Street Families in order to break into the drug trade. After little convincing, Ryder accepts.
When CJ returns and begins his rise in the Grove Street Families, Ryder becomes increasingly jealous even though he's already aligned with the Ballas. Cesar takes CJ to witness both Smoke and Ryder emerging from a garage and talking to Officer Tenpenny; a "Green Sabre" car that is involved in the slaying of CJ's mother is inside. It is implied that both Smoke and Ryder were involved in the hit.
After betraying CJ and accelerating the fall of the GSF in Los Santos, Ryder aids Big Smoke in establishing a drug trade with the Loco Syndicate and thus flooding Los Santos with crack cocaine. He later appears in San Fierro. Ryder, T-Bone Mendez and the Ballas meet for a deal. After CJ and Cesar, along with a squad of Triads, riddle T-Bone with bullets on the pier, Ryder runs away and engages Carl in a speedboat chase, which ends in his death. (Alternatively, as he swims to the speedboat, he is killed by CJ's sniper rifle.)
In an occurrence of foreshadowing
, CJ tells Ryder during an early mission, "One day, you're gonna wish you hadn't pissed me off." It was later revealed by Cesar Vialpando that Ryder tried to have sex with Kendl.
Ryder owns a maroon Coupe Utility
(an El Camino
look-alike referred to in-game as a "Picador") with a license plate reading "SHERM", a slang term for PCP (CJ calls Ryder "sherm-head" throughout the game). Throughout the game, Ryder has a habit of calling CJ a "buster". CJ also mentions that Ryder has been dealing drugs since he was 10, and once beat up a teacher for wearing purple (Ballas colours).
Ryder was voiced by MC Eiht
. "Hood Took Me Under
", a song produced by Compton's Most Wanted
, including member MC Eiht, is featured on Radio Los Santos and the San Andreas game soundtrack.
Sean "Sweet" Johnson is CJ's older brother. He lives in a single floor home just next to the Johnson House. Sweet also has an unnamed girlfriend, who only appears in one mission. Sweet blames CJ for the murder of their little brother Brian, which prompts Carl to leave Los Santos. Compared to CJ, Smoke and Ryder, Sweet's approach to gangbanging is more philosophical and socially conscious.
Throughout the storyline, Sweet remains dedicated to his family, gang, and neighborhood. He refuses to allow the spread of drugs into the area, which causes his top lieutenant, Big Smoke, to turn on him. Several times, including in The Introduction, Sweet says that he is a gangbanger "for the hood", which stands in opposition to Smoke, who is out for money, and Ryder, who wants personal renown. Although Sweet never defines exactly what he means by being in it for the hood, his actions suggest that he views the gang as a means for people in his neighborhood to support themselves given the lack of legitimate opportunities they would otherwise receive. He also uses the gang to improve the quality of life in Ganton, particularly when he drives out the crack addicts and drug dealers later in the game and refuses to move out of Grove Street, even as CJ has gotten rich and acquired much more lavish accommodations.
After his initial return to Los Santos, CJ aids Sweet in restoring the GSF to its former glory. Sweet starts to put aside old grudges and decides CJ has earned his chance to redeem himself. However, despite CJ almost singlehandedly putting the GSF back on the map, Smoke and Ryder have already betrayed the gang. During a meeting between the different sets of Families gangs, the police suddenly raid the hotel where the meeting is taking place. CJ rescues his brother and they escape, but shortly afterward, Sweet is lured into a Ballas ambush beneath a highway intersection. His wounds leave him unable to defend himself as CJ arrives and fights back at the attackers, but the police surround and arrest them both as the Ballas clear out. Sweet is sent to prison on a life term, while Carl is released to perform jobs for Tenpenny.
Later, Carl encounters Mike Toreno, a government agent, who uses threats of bringing harm to Sweet to force CJ to work for him. So long as CJ cooperates, Sweet will be protected and, Toreno promises, eventually released. If CJ missteps or refuses to work for Toreno, Sweet will be forced to face hostile inmates alone.
Toreno eventually has Sweet released as promised. Carl comes to pick him up and take him to live at Madd Dogg's mansion, but Sweet will have none of it. He insists on being driven back to Grove Street. CJ, who knows that Ballas control the streets now and that Grove Street OGs have abandoned gangbanging for drugs, wants to leave the hood behind and share his newfound success with Sweet. Sweet accuses CJ of running away from "what's real" and says that he sounds "just like Smoke".
Sweet's prodding finally gets to CJ, and slowly but surely, the two rebuild the GSF's dominance in the neighborhood again. At first, it seems futile; the drug dealers are legion and many of Sweet's men have been reduced to addicts. Sweet almost gives in to crack himself, but CJ stops him at the last moment. With CJ's help, the GSF drive the Ballas back and expose Big Smoke's secret location.
After Smoke's death and the fiery destruction of his drug palace, Officer Tenpenny flees from the scene in a fire truck. Sweet is outraged and refuses to let Tenpenny escape justice again; he jumps onto the truck's ladder and is carried away with the speeding vehicle. CJ must race after them with his convertible under the ladder to keep Sweet from falling to his death; after a hazardous trip through the hills and valleys of Los Santos, the swinging ladder finally hangs over the car and Sweet drops safely into the passenger side. After a long chase, Tenpenny loses control, crashes, and dies. Following the Los Santos riots and the removal of Big Smoke and Tenpenny's influence, Sweet's mission to restore the GSF to prominence is complete.
Sweet owns a light blue Greenwood sedan, bearing "GROVE4L" (Grove for life) number plates and is extensively used, and wrecked in several Los Santos missions, even blowing up at one point after crashing through a billboard and a fuel tanker. Also, when Sweet has to buy a car again, he buys an identical car. (saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it"). In earlier previews of San Andreas, Sweet was seen wearing a black t-shirt over a white one, and a skullcap; his design was changed in the final version (however, Sweet in his old attire design can be seen on hung pictures in the Johnson house).
Sean "Sweet" Johnson was voiced by Faizon Love
.
Cesar Vialpando (March 26, 1970 is Kendl's Mexican boyfriend
and the leader of the Varrios Los Aztecas. CJ is initially cold toward Cesar, but they later become close friends. Passionate about cars, Cesar is a skilled mechanic and driver. At the beginning of the game, Sweet expresses his disapproval, on racial grounds, of Kendl and Cesar's relationship and sends Carl to follow them. After CJ wins a lowrider contest, Cesar offers his friendship, and Carl begins to warm to him. Cesar informs Carl of Smoke and Ryder's betrayal by bringing him to witness a meeting with C.R.A.S.H. Upon seeing this, Carl realizes that Sweet's plan to attack the Ballas has likely been compromised, so Carl races to his brother's aid. Although he saves Sweet's life, Carl is arrested and forced into exile, along with Cesar and Kendl. With their former allies incarcerated, dead, missing, or responsible for betraying them, Cesar and Carl form a quick alliance and friendship. Cesar works to discern information about the organizations responsible for the San Andreas drug trade, while Carl concentrates on making money to help them get back on their feet. Cesar sends Carl to work with his cousin Catalina.
After arriving in San Fierro, Cesar works with CJ and Kendl on their garage and auto dealership businesses. Cesar uses his mechanical and driving skills to obtain several sports cars for this purpose. Contemporaneously, he continues to gather intelligence and, along with Carl, puts a plan in motion to attack the people who double crossed them. With help from Wu Zi Mu and his Triad organization, Cesar and Carl kill Ryder and T-Bone Mendez and topple the Loco Syndicate, one of Big Smoke's largest suppliers.
Afterward, Cesar aids CJ in one mission for Mike Toreno and then does not appear again until the group returns to Los Santos. There, in "Los Desperados", one of the final missions, Cesar resolves the loose ends surrounding his character. With CJ's help, he gains revenge on the Vagos and reclaims his house and gang territory. He also tells CJ he wants to propose to Kendl. Cesar drives a Red Savanna, with the number plate, VLA4L( Varrios Los Aztecas for life).
Cesar Vialpando was voiced by Clifton Collins, Jr.
, who first broke into mainstream cinema in 1997 with a performance as gang thug Cesar in the film 187
.
Wu Zi Mu (January 16, 1954) (Chinese
: 武災幕), known to his friends as "Woozie", is the leader of the Mountain Cloud Boys Triads, based in San Fierro's Chinatown and in Las Venturas, where he owns the newly opened Four Dragons Casino. In Las Venturas, Woozie and Carl plan and execute a robbery at Caligula's Casino. He is blind in the sense that he cannot use his eyes to see, but all of his other senses are abnormally high, referenced to by his bodyguard, "Guppy."
Woozie is nicknamed the "Lucky Mole" (Chinese
: 幸運的鼴鼠) because he is blessed with good fortune, most notably from his capability to compete in a car race and beating Carl in a round of video games, all despite his blindness. There are, however, humorous occasions when he runs into walls, as well as indications that his cohorts manipulate the outcome of games played with Woozie so that he will always win. For example, Woozie always beats his underlings at blackjack
, despite the fact he can't read the cards. In the one game he plays against Carl, Woozie keeps asking for cards until he finally stands with 47, and then blames Carl for being "bad luck". Another time, while practicing putting
, his henchmen move the target cup into the path of Woozie's ball and out of the path of CJ's. Strangely, Woozie is an accurate shooter. He is also incapable of undertaking a mission that requires swimming, since his other working senses are ineffective underwater. Strangely enough, he is, however, able to swim if in the course of a mission, the player leads him into water.
Though Woozie can become brutal and foul-mouthed when angry, he is by all accounts a peaceful and, within the realm of criminals, honorable man. He is one whom power has not tainted, and as such, Woozie remains a faithful and trustworthy friend, accomplice, and informant to Carl to the end of the game. Six years later in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, it is indicated that Woozie's casino venture in Las Venturas is a huge success, and by this time the Four Dragons is the location of many entertainment venues, concerts and important events. Woozie's fate is unknown at the time.
Woozie was voiced by James Yaegashi.
Killed in: "High Noon"
Officer Eddie Pulaski (December 22, 1965–1992) is Frank Tenpenny's henchman
, which makes him a secondary antagonist. Pulaski, fully indoctrinated into Tenpenny's approach to police work, has a high level of deluded trust in the man and considers him a close friend. However, Tenpenny measures people only by how useful they are to him, and Pulaski is useful so long as he helped Tenpenny cover his back. In "The Introduction" Pulaski calls Tenpenny "pal", to which Tenpenny says, "Pal? I'm your superior officer and don't you forget that shit!" Pulaski also shares Tenpenny's belief that CJ and people like him are at best useful idiots and at worst less than human.
Pulaski is a violent and trigger-happy thug. While Tenpenny is depicted as a megalomaniac who lacks a conscience, Pulaski is merely a degenerate, ignorant thrill seeker. There is little to suggest that Pulaski ever thinks for himself or has insight into the events surrounding him. He is a racist and joins his partner in calling Officer Hernandez racial slurs. During Hernandez's initiation in The Introduction, Pulaski joins Tenpenny in forcing the idealistic recruit to shoot Officer Pendelbury, their former partner (and would-be informant).
Pulaski assists Tenpenny in helping the Ballas run drugs into Los Santos. He is also present when the hit on CJ and Sweet Johnson's mother is called. Hernandez, who suffers constant harassment by his C.R.A.S.H. "partners", reports Tenpenny and Pulaski to Internal Affairs. All three drive out to the desert ghost town of Las Brujas during the mission "High Noon" to collect the evidence the FBI compiled on them from CJ. Tenpenny hits Hernandez in the back of the head with a shovel the second he leaves the car, saying he sold them out. Tenpenny drives off, leaving Pulaski to hold CJ at gunpoint and force him to dig Hernandez's (and subsequently his own) grave. CJ tries to reason with Pulaski and convince him that Tenpenny will kill him too in order to silence the last person who knows about his corruption, but Pulaski refuses to listen. Hernandez suddenly springs to life and tackles Pulaski, who fatally shoots him. When CJ chases after him, Pulaski spews vile statements about CJ's mother and sister. Enraged, CJ runs Pulaski's car off the road and mortally wounds him. In his final moments, CJ asks "any last requests?". Pulaski asks CJ "Can I fuck your sister?", to which CJ retorts "You're an asshole to the end" and kills him by a stomp to the head.
Officer Eddie Pulaski was voiced by Chris Penn
.
Mike Toreno is an undercover agent from a "government agency" who disguises himself as a drug dealer for the Loco Syndicate. From the beginning, his presence doesn't quite fit, and the mere sight of him disturbs CJ. In his first appearance, Mike is abducted by the Da Nang Boys, who steal one of the Syndicate's drug vans with Toreno inside, but CJ and T-Bone Mendez locate the vehicle at the San Fierro airstrip. Toreno is furious when he sees CJ's unfamiliar face and threatens to shoot him. Once Mendez calls him off, Toreno orders all of them to open fire on the van and destroy it, thus removing the evidence.
Following the death of Jizzy, CJ and his associates plan to ambush the Syndicate's meeting with Big Smoke's Cartel. CJ buys them cover with a sniper rifle, but Toreno, in a helicopter, notices the corpses on a roof and aborts his landing. Later, CJ tracks the chopper to another location and shoots it out of the sky; Toreno is presumed dead.
However, Toreno, at first using a digitally-distorted voice, calls CJ shortly afterward and orders him to travel to his secluded ranch in Tierra Robada. Toreno then gives CJ a series of assignments under duress: Toreno suggests that harm will come to Sweet, who is now in prison, if CJ does not work for him. Toreno promises that if Carl cooperates, Sweet will remain safe and may eventually be released. Toreno was apparently only supplying cocaine
to appease a government ally overseas; he has since abandoned dealing and is now focused on killing operatives from rival agencies "with confused social agendas", who are trying to undermine his shady operations.
Philosophically, Toreno is a highly cynical American imperialist. He primarily uses CJ as a courier, saboteur, and assassin. Though he knows of Tenpenny and Pulaski's dirty dealings as well as their hold over CJ, Toreno does not use his power to stop them. He tells CJ, "We have to make decisions, kid. You know, I try to set bad people on other bad people. And sometimes, I let good guys die." Toreno seems to have gravitated toward committing heinous acts in the name of a greater good, much like Tenpenny. However, unlike Tenpenny, Toreno is not corrupted by power and does what he thinks is right regardless of his own personal gain.
Toreno's assignments, which include dropping a payload by plane while avoiding radar detection and shooting down black Government choppers from a plateau
, strike CJ as almost impossible. At one point, Toreno sends Carl to purchase the Verdant Meadows Airfield, a defunct landing strip in the desert, and use the facility to have CJ trained as a pilot.
While Toreno initially treats Carl like street trash and enjoys bringing up Sweet's dire situation, his attitude changes as CJ proves his ability to get seemingly impossible jobs done. He begins to enjoy having CJ around, treating him like a sort of "war buddy" and displaying a certain degree of camaraderie and affection. After CJ becomes a manager for rapper Madd Dogg and hasn't heard from Toreno in some time, Toreno hijacks the studio's sound system during a recording session and assigns CJ one last job. Toreno personally drives CJ to Easter Bay to infiltrate an aircraft carrier
and steal a V/STOL
fighter jet
. After he finds himself confronting enemy jets and bombing boats at the dam reservoir, CJ becomes fed up with Toreno, his fury is amplified when Toreno ditches the stolen jet and leaves CJ to deal with it.
Toreno shows up unannounced yet again in Madd Dogg's mansion and tells CJ that he has one more mission that needs to get done. Upon hearing this, CJ snaps and holds a gun to Toreno's face, but Toreno responds by calmly saying that CJ is "embarrassing" himself. He then tells him that the "mission" is simply to pick up Sweet following his early release from prison. Toreno makes no further appearances in the game. Toreno drives a Brown Washington with the number plate reading OMEGA. This could be a huge reference to the James Cameron film, "True Lies", in which the lead character, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, works for the "Omega Sector" agency.
Mike Toreno was voiced by James Woods
.
Killed in: "High Noon"
Officer Jimmy Hernandez is the newest member of C.R.A.S.H. He is the rookie officer, and is given little, if any, respect from Tenpenny and Pulaski; he is assigned the task of fetching meat for their barbecue, and is subject to racial slurs. Unlike his other two counterparts, he doesn't share their corrupt view of how the law should be handled. They both try to convince Hernandez through the genre of their daily work such as shooting a dying cop both Tenpenny and Pulaski beat down to keep from talking.
In The Introduction prequel film, Tenpenny berates him for describing a moral quandary involved with a domestic dispute case. Hernandez describes his difficulty deciding whether to take the abusive husband to jail, leaving the children with their drug-abusing mother, or let the husband go unpunished for beating his wife. Tenpenny says that if Hernandez can't handle that case, he won't be able to handle the "drug dealers, gang bangers and psychotics" that Tenpenny deals with on a daily basis. After a lecture about the need to "do what it takes" in maintaining the bigger picture, Tenpenny orders Hernandez out of the car.
After he finally realizes that things have been taken too far with Tenpenny's multiple acts of conspiracy, he decides to report all of C.R.A.S.H.'s crimes of corruption up to the point where he was working with them. He is later knocked unconscious with a shovel and left to die during "High Noon" for selling out Tenpenny and Pulaski, and almost ends up buried in Bone County by Pulaski. However, he recovers from the shovel attack and subsequently saves CJ's life by lunging at Pulaski (who was holding CJ at gunpoint), who then viciously shoots him in the chest killing him. He considers himself a good cop, different from Tenpenny and Pulaski.
Officer Hernandez was voiced by Armando Riesco
.
Kendl Johnson (April 1, 1971) is CJ and Sweet's sister. She is also Cesar Vialpando's girlfriend. She wears green clothing to indicate her affiliation with the Grove Street Families, although she once referred to the "Grove 4 Life" philosophy as "bullshit." After learning about Big Smoke and Ryder's betrayal, CJ requests that Cesar bring Kendl to safety by fleeing from Los Santos. Later in the storyline, Cesar pondered proposing to Kendl, but the question of whether Kendl accepted or not remains unanswered. It is assumed they did get engaged.
Kendl is the one to convince CJ that a surprised payoff for a race, a gas station, was a positive venture. Later, CJ refers to her as the 'Moms of the family', which Cesar agrees with.
Kendl Johnson was voiced by Yo-Yo
.
Jeffrey Cross (July 25, 1968) is Carl's friend and neighbor who pursues a rapping career in the mold of 1990s West Coast
gangsta rappers. He is a part time member of the GSF, although he assumes a "gangsta" nickname, OG Loc, and commits minor crimes such as joyriding
specifically to get sent to jail and therefore improve his street credibility. However, Loc's rapping is terrible and even his friends find it unbearable to listen to.
In The Introduction, Sweet tells Loc to abandon his fantasies about being a gangster and instead to enter college and make something of himself, and in-game dialogue suggests that Smoke also believes that Jeffrey is more suited to go to college. However, he refuses, saying that rapping is his true calling. The game suggests that while in prison, Loc was molested
by fellow inmate Freddy, as mentioned in an exchange between the two when CJ and Loc pursue and kill him, when Loc yells "You stole my rhymes!" to Freddy, Loc could possibly mean "You stole my virginity!". After being paroled, Loc is given a job as a janitor (which he refers to as a "Hygiene Technician") at the local Burger Shot. The term Hygiene Technician refers to the 90s habit of giving minor (and relatively unimportant) positions in businesses an important sounding name.
While working at the restaurant, OG Loc asks CJ to aid him in jumpstarting his music career by stealing some music equipment from a beach party and a rhyme book from Los Santos hip-hop star Madd Dogg. Loc also has CJ derail Madd Dogg's career further by killing his manager, who, Loc believes, was using his influence to keep Loc's career from taking off. Shortly afterwards, Loc quits his job, having decided that he'd rather violate his parole and return to jail than work at a job that "ain't gangsta". However, as CJ's actions send Madd Dogg into decline and depression, Loc is afforded the opportunity to rise to stardom. After CJ's friends betray him and he is exiled from Los Santos, Loc becomes a mainstream success with help from his agent, Big Smoke.
Later in the game, after CJ saves Madd Dogg's life and is rewarded with a position as his manager in Las Venturas, the two pursue OG Loc to reclaim Dogg's rhyme book. After a lengthy chase, the two men corner Loc, who agrees to give up rap and leave them alone from then on.
It is a running gag
that his name, "Oh-gee Loc", is frequently mispronounced; radio talk show host Lazlow
calls him "Oglock", music DJ Sage talks about "Oge Loke", and his rival Madd Dogg rues the day that his number one position was taken over by "Loc OG". Katie Zhan, one of CJ's girlfriends, calls him "OG Joke."
OG Loc is a reference to many of the rap artists in the late '80's and early '90's who rap tough and acts tough, but have no serious "street cred", like Vannila Ice.
OG Loc can also be heard on Radio Los Santos.
Jeffrey "OG Loc" Cross was voiced by Jonathan Anderson.
Madd Dogg (March 27, 1958) is one of Los Santos' most well-known rappers. Shortly after CJ's arrival in Los Santos, Madd Dogg was at the height of his career, having just released his own line of clothing and numerous other merchandise. Madd Dogg's career suffers a decline after CJ steals his rhyme book, shoots many of his employees and drowns his manager, all in an effort to jumpstart OG Loc's music career.
Madd Dogg experiences a period of depression, during which he gambles away his mansion in Vinewood to a Vagos drug kingpin and skips a concert in Venturas to gamble the rest of his money away. In a bid to commit suicide, Madd Dogg appears on the ledge of a casino, drunk, and threatens to jump to his death. With people in the crowd below taking bets to whether or not he will actually jump, CJ saves him at the last minute by catching his falling body with a pickup truck.
CJ then takes Madd Dogg to rehab. After getting out, Madd Dogg, grateful, makes CJ his new manager. Carl makes up for his part in ruining Dogg's career by seizing his mansion back and restoring his name in the rap industry. CJ and Madd Dogg pursue OG Loc in hovercraft and go-karts. They frighten Loc into giving the rhyme book back and leaving them alone. At game's end, Madd Dogg's comeback results in a gold record.
In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
, a billboard
just outside Toni Cipriani's apartment in Portland, Liberty City
, advertises release of digitally remastered Madd Dogg's album Still Madd in 1998.
Madd Dogg was voiced by Ice T
.
Catalina (July 18, 1967–2001) is Cesar Vialpando's cousin who lives in a secluded cabin in the rural Fern Ridge area. She is almost completely insane, extremely violent, and exhibits strong misandric
tendencies. After CJ is displaced to the Badlands, Cesar suggests that he seek out Catalina for work. Her list of dead husbands in the past and the graves near her hideout is very similar to that of Serial Killer Belle Gunness
The second CJ meets Catalina, he dislikes her. She is impatient, insulting, obnoxious and never admits wrongdoing. Catalina insists they go on a crime spree in the countryside, robbing several businesses. While this is going on, Catalina decides by herself that she is CJ's new girlfriend and threatens to kill him if he does not go along with it.
At the beginning of the third heist, Catalina puts CJ through an extreme off-screen BDSM
session. CJ voices his disinterest, fear, and lack of comfort, but Catalina proceeds undeterred. As a result, CJ is even more put off by how crazy Catalina is, but what she calls his "lack of passion" just makes Catalina erupt in anger at random. CJ is more interested in getting some quick cash to get back on his feet than dating Catalina, though he does try to make it work.
However, no matter what CJ says or does, Catalina continues to berate him and call him a failure. In one mission cut scene, she threatens to kill anyone who messes with her, especially CJ, simply because she's in a bad mood. She eventually "breaks up" with CJ and finds herself a new boyfriend, Claude, the silent protagonist from Grand Theft Auto III
. Catalina and her new boyfriend leave together for Liberty City, setting up the events of GTA III
in which she betrays and is killed by Claude.
Catalina is a dangerous psychopath: she is homicidal and appears to suffer from a persecution complex, which might date back to her stepfather. "You were slow and stupid," she says, "like a big fat brat that eats chocolate while his father gives nothing to his stepdaughter but stale bread!"
After Catalina and Claude's departure, Catalina attempts but fails to get to CJ by making phone calls to him. After the last mission of the game, Catalina calls in the middle of having sex with Claude and therefore forces CJ to listen. He says, "Catalina! You sick! Get help!" She responds by saying, "And you, Carl, you are jealous!". She also breaks up with CJ and says "asshole".
Catalina was voiced by Cynthia Farrell.
The Truth is an aging hippie
who initially lives in the mountains on the outskirts of San Fierro and previously owned a marijuana farm. The Truth contacts CJ while he is in exile in the Badlands and tells him to meet him at a roadside motel. When CJ arrives, he finds Tenpenny smoking Truth's marijuana from a bong
. The Truth asks for CJ's help in the theft of a combine harvester
from a ranch belonging to survivalists
.
The Truth supplies Tenpenny with free drugs because of an erroneous belief that the crooked officer would shield him from prosecution in exchange. However, Truth pays for his misplaced faith when Tenpenny calls in a raid on his farm. The Truth is forced to destroy his crops before the authorities arrive. He supplies CJ with a flamethrower to burn the plants and an RPG-7
(which he intended to convert into a lamp) to shoot down a police helicopter. The Truth travels with CJ to San Fierro and introduces him to a couple of mechanics, who then go to work at CJ's garage.
After CJ purchases an abandoned airfield on the outskirts of Las Venturas, Truth appears without warning at the airfield. He somehow knows Mike Toreno's identity and is appalled at what CJ is doing for him. The Truth wants to help CJ redeem himself, this time by stealing covert technology. He drives CJ out to the Area 69 military base, where he steals an experimental jetpack known as "The Black Project" from the bowels of the complex. The Truth returns later, this time to have CJ to use the jetpack to nab a containment unit being transported by a heavily guarded military train. CJ succeeds and takes the canister back to his airstrip, where it is revealed to contain "green goo" of unknown origin. The Truth becomes ecstatic, proclaiming; "They will call this 'Year Zero!'" before running off again without any explanation.
Truth plays a background role afterward, visiting Madd Dogg's mansion to visit CJ and his associates. He last appears standing over Officer Tenpenny's corpse along with the rest of the characters, commenting that CJ has "beat the system" and is his "total inspiration".
At first glance, Truth is a stoner and crazed conspiracy theorist
. At one point, he makes CJ park his vehicle at random locations and waits for black vans to drive by, telling him to "think about a yellow rubber duck" and "picture a pink golfball in your mind". He also mentions the 23 theory
. However the more he talks, the more his bizarre theories are in synch with what CJ knows about Mike Toreno. The Truth is apparently well aware of conspiracies surrounding the government and aliens, which causes CJ to wonder whether he's really crazy after all.
The Truth owns an environmentally-friendly hippie van dubbed "The Mothership", whose engine is "held together by a macrame
hammock", and runs on "15-year-old cooking oil". He is also acquainted with many characters from past games, such as Dwayne and Jethro from Vice City
, as well as Kent Paul and Maccer. He heavily smokes marijuana and does countless psychedelic drug
s, like LSD
, magic mushrooms
, mescaline
, PMA, and peyote
; the latter was consumed before The Truth, Kent Paul, Maccer and the rest of the Gurning Chimps camped out in the desert, where they "faced the inner light
, and communed with "The Lizard King
!" (This is referred to in the introduction to the mission where Carl finds Paul and Maccer.) Paul and Maccer (minus the rest of their band) find themselves hung over and stranded in the desert, while The Truth wakes up in Los Santos inside a Japanese bathhouse.
When the Truth contacts CJ for help to flee to San Fierro, he ends the phone call muttering "Whoa man I don't know you, prank caller, prank caller!", a reference to the film Pulp Fiction
, where Lance (a drug dealer) speaks the same line.
The Truth was voiced by Peter Fonda
.
Killed in: "Ice Cold Killa"
Jizzy B. is the biggest pimp in San Fierro and owns a club called "The Pleasure Domes", based on the Golden Gate Circa, which is housed in an old war-era fortress beneath Battery Point. It is an adult entertainment place, where Jizzy surrounds himself with prostitutes, whom he abuses. He is one of the members of the Loco Syndicate, which is manufacturing and supplying drugs to Los Santos.Initially Cj works for him but afterhand he kills him as he was a member of the Loco Syndicates.
Jizzy was the "number cruncher" guy for the Loco Syndicate. He's the one who set up the meeting and runs the operation, but was dissatisfied and the cut he was getting and was trying to get a higher share when he was killed by CJ.
Jizzy B. was voiced by Charlie Murphy
.
Killed in: "Pier 69"
T-Bone Mendez is a member of the Loco Syndicate along with Mike Toreno, Jizzy, and Ryder. He is also the leader of the San Fierro Rifa gang. T-Bone acts as the Loco Syndicate's muscle and is very distrustful of people. He viciously beats a man in The Introduction because he suspects that the man is a snitch. T-Bone is killed in the mission "Pier 69" when both CJ and Vialpando riddle him with bullets until his body falls into the bay. T-Bone drives a Brown ZR-350.
T-Bone Mendez was voiced by Kid Frost
. "La Raza
", a rap song produced by Frost, is featured in the playlist of Radio Los Santos and the game's soundtrack.
Kent Paul is a record producer who was featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
. Once an informal information broker in Vice City
("informal" in that Tommy Vercetti roughed him up whenever he wanted information), Kent Paul had returned to England. There, he became record producer extraordinaire, bringing a new English band, the Gurning Chimps (led by Maccer), to San Andreas for publicity. Unfortunately, after he and the band partied with The Truth out in the desert outside Las Venturas, he finds himself stranded with only Maccer remaining.
Rescued by CJ, who was sent to retrieve them, Paul heads to Las Venturas to meet his old acquaintance, Ken Rosenberg or "Rosie," as he calls him (the two were acquainted in GTA: Vice City). Salvatore decides to hang Kent Paul and Maccer out the casino window, with Ken Rosenberg providing the ballast. CJ misleads Leone, allowing him to save the lives of Ken, Maccer and Paul. Later, Paul starts producing for Madd Dogg's record label at CJ's request after Madd Dogg's career is back on track.
Kent Paul is somehow affiliated with The Truth, who he and Maccer were taking peyote
in the desert. Kent Paul is a generally more tempermental and selfish person than he was 6 years ago and constantly finds himself wondering why he is paired with Maccer.
Kent Paul was voiced by Danny Dyer
.
Maccer is a Salford native, lead singer of the Gurning Chimps band and Kent Paul's partner. He, along with the rest of the band, had been purchased by Kent Paul, and had set off to the United States for a tour. However, after a camp-out in the Las Venturas desert with The Truth, Maccer finds the rest of his band missing, with only Kent Paul left in his company. The whereabouts of the other Gurning Chimps members remains unknown for the rest of the game. However, it is implied that the members would be found five months later, to which Maccer denies had happened, claiming that they were "on a break." The Gurning Chimps is suggested to remain active by Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, which takes place in 1998 — Head Radio DJ Michael Hunt indicates Maccer vomited on his shoes when he was backstage at his band's concerts.
Maccer has uncontrollable sexual tendencies; namely, he masturbates
chronically and often at highly inappropriate times and places. This is shown in the opening cut scenes of missions "Cut Throat Business" (where he is told to think of Margaret Thatcher
to stop masturbating, but starts masturbating to the thought of her) and during a conversation between Sweet and CJ in "Riot".
Of minor note, Maccer has indicated that he was born in Salford in 1965. He has also been involved in the Epsilon Program, which he claimed helped him "cleaned up his act."
Maccer was voiced by Shaun Ryder
of the Happy Mondays
.
Zero is an electronics expert, forced virgin and hobbyist who manages an electronics shop in San Fierro owned by CJ. His archenemy is Berkley, the owner of Berkley RC, who swore revenge on Zero after losing to him in a science fair. Using Zero's equipment, Carl aids Zero in disrupting Berkley's business operations and ultimately beating Berkley in a miniature "war game", forcing Berkley to leave San Fierro for good. He eagerly joins in on C.J.'s plans, even helping to sweep up the shop.
Zero can be seen providing electronic equipment for a number of jobs, as well as providing physical assistance in the Caligula's Casino heist. He cannot resist bragging of the planned job to Berkley, which puts the characters at risk. After all escape safely, C.J. punishes Zero with a punch to the face, and was stopped by Woozie before CJ can do any more bodily harm to Zero.
Zero was voiced by David Cross
.
Guppy is one of Woozie's high ranking Mountain Cloud Boys Triad members and assistant to Woozie. Additionally, he assists CJ in the preparation and execution of the Caligula's Casino heist and also assists in a Triad mission to retake Madd Dogg's mansion from the Vagos gang.
Ken Rosenberg serves as the middle man for Leone, the Forelli and the Sindacco Mafia families in Las Venturas, where he manages the Caligula's Palace casino. Although a "Middle Man", he feels more like "Caught in between the fire" because none of the three mob families trust each other, including him, which makes him highly paranoid and insecure, Ken fears that one of the families will kill him and place the blame on the other organizations. Ken's companions are Maccer, Kent Paul (who occasionally refers to Ken as "Rosie" in the game) and a parrot named Tony; he also provides CJ with a few jobs in Las Venturas. This revolves around a criminal organization that has made moves against Ken's group. After CJ helps him fake his death and escape Las Venturas, he begins working for Madd Dogg, along with Maccer and Kent Paul.
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
, he was Tommy Vercetti's lawyer. This was referenced in one mission, when Rosenberg (already high on cocaine
) says to CJ: "...just like old times, huh, Tommy?", to which CJ replies "Who the fuck is Tommy?". In The Introduction, Ken leaves drug rehab and calls Tommy, who refuses to take the call. Despite completing rehab for his cocaine use, Ken again begins abusing the drug later in the storyline. Ken is also disbarred
from the law, which forces him to find another job and leads to his assignment as the manager of Caligula's Palace.
Ken Rosenberg was voiced by Bill Fichtner.
Don Salvatore Leone is the Don of the Leone family of the Liberty City Mafia. He eliminated the influence of the other families, the Sindacco family and the Forelli family, in Las Venturas, with the help of CJ, in order for Salvatore to assume a larger share of Caligula's Palace in Las Venturas. However, he is betrayed when CJ and the San Fierro Triads stage an elaborate heist and rob Caligula's Casino for millions of dollars, prompting an irate phone call to CJ shortly after the mission. This event is believed to have led to his much noted paranoia in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
(GTA: LCS) and GTA III, and his eventual assassination in the latter. Salvatore promised to make CJ "dead, you all dead" but nothing came of his threat, probably because he didn't want to make a bad situation worse by letting people know how easy it was that he got robbed, which means he has strong vanity, which is also true in GTA III, when he ordered the death of Claude after learning he and Maria were an item.
In addition, it was during San Andreas that Salvatore was introduced to Maria, who worked as a waitress in Caligula's Palace at the time.
Salvatore Leone was voiced by Frank Vincent
.
See also: GTA III rendition & GTA: Liberty City Stories rendition
Mark 'B-Dup' Wayne was once a member of the Grove Street Families. Before the game timeline, B-Dup has apparently drifted away from gang banging with the Grove Street Families and now sells drugs. CJ and Ryder attempt to recruit B-Dup for a mission near the beginning of the game, but they are angrily turned down. B-Dup has also enslaved crack addict (and former GSF member) Barry "Big Bear" Thorne, forcing him to do chores around the apartment in exchange for drugs.
After returning to Los Santos, CJ and Sweet threatened B-Dup into revealing Smoke's location. He doesn't answer the two because of not knowing of his location but informs them that only Smoke's lieutenants know of his location. When B-Dup calls Bear to kill CJ and Sweet, he was punched by Bear, who was tired of doing chores for him and goes with CJ and Sweet.
Mark "B Dup" Wayne was voiced by The Game
.
Big Bear was formerly a respected member of the Grove Street Families. Sometime after CJ left and the Ballas started dealing coke, he has apparently drifted away from the gang and is now a lowly drug addict. He is living from fix-to-fix and is basically B-Dup's indentured servant
, taking insults and cleaning his toilet. "Big Bear" has a cadaverous appearance and is unable to stop shaking because at the time he was under the influence of crack. Big Bear appears in only two mission cut scenes. In the first, he is introduced to the audience as an example of what crack has done to the neighborhood. In the second, Big Bear becomes tired of being controlled by crack and stands up for himself by punching B-Dup and joining CJ and Sweet. Big Bear then makes a deal with CJ and Sweet that he will return to Grove Street Families. Sweet takes him away saying he's going to "get [the] old Bear back". As such, Big Bear is a physical example of the Grove Street Families fighting back against the drug pushers.
Barry "Big Bear" Thorne was voiced by Big Boy
Claude, the mute protagonist of Grand Theft Auto III
, appears briefly
in two missions, first in the background as CJ and C for a street race, and secondly as Catalina's next boyfriend after CJ, whom Catalina is not hesitant to boast about after she breaks up with CJ. After losing in a car race with CJ, Claude and Catalina leave San Andreas for Liberty City
to start robbing banks, where Claude's exploits in GTA III
take place some nine years later, Catalina then also ends up betraying Claude.
Later, CJ receives several phone calls from Catalina, two of which references a person named "Claude." This shows that the main character of GTA III is in fact called "Claude". Claude maintains his silence in San Andreas, to which Carl Johnson references, referring to him as a "mute
asshole" and a "fucking snake without a tongue", possibly as an in-joke
as the character never speaks.
Ran Fa Li is the leader of the Red Gecko Tong and Shuk Foo Triad gangs. CJ first meets him in Woozie's betting shop and volunteers to help him both retrieve a package from the Easter Bay airport and help him escape from San Fierro by luring the Da Nang Boys away from Chinatown. He later becomes a shareholder in the Four Dragons Casino with Carl and Woozie later in the game.
Su Xi Mu is the right hand man of Ran Fa Li who also acts as his translator. He only appears in Woozie's San Fierro missions helping Carl and Woozie understand Ran Fa Li.
Su Xi Mu was voiced by Richard Chang.
Dwayne (previously spelled as Dwaine) and Jethro (born 1971), both pot smokers, are close associates who previously lived in Vice City
, where they owned a boating business until it was purchased by Tommy Vercetti. This is referenced when The Truth says "...there's these two guys I know—used to work on marine engines, 'til the mob bought their business over in Vice." At the time of their introduction in San Andreas, Jethro is working at the Xoomer Gas Station in San Fierro, while Dwayne runs a hot dog van business nearby. The Truth convinces CJ to take on both men; they soon become highly trusted employees.
Dwaine was voiced by Navid Khonsari; Jethro was voiced by John Zurhellen.
Dies in: "The Meat Business"
Johnny Sindacco is a high-ranking member of the Sindacco family of the Mafia. He is the son of Paulie Sindacco who is later killed by Toni Cipriani in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
His organization has turf in Liberty City and Las Venturas. When CJ first arrives in Las Venturas to Woozie's newly opened casino, Johnny has been caught smashing up some of the slot machines. As Woozie's men are about to "get rid of" Johnny, CJ intervenes and has Johnny tied to the hood of a car stomach down, facing the front windscreen. CJ then drives the car around the city dangerously in order to scare Johnny into telling him which Mafia family he's with.
Having been traumatized by the experience, Johnny spends time recovering in the hospital. At one point, some Forelli thugs highjack Johnny's ambulance in order to kill him. As CJ is helping Ken Rosenberg to prevent a war between the Leones
, the Forellis, and the Sindacco family, CJ highjacks the ambulance back from the Forelli thugs and drives Johnny back to safety. However, when CJ later accompanies Ken to a meeting with Johnny, Johnny recognizes CJ, and having not fully recovered from his trauma, dies from a shock-induced heart attack.
Johnny Sindacco was voiced by Casey Siemaszko
.
Old Reece is a local barber, seen at "Old Reece's Hair Facial Studio" in Idlewood Los Santos. He has known the Johnson family for a long time, evident by his casual attitude toward Carl among some of the things he says. He is also suggested to have Alzheimer's disease
, since Ryder makes mention about Reece having "popped his membrane years ago". Although never really discussed, Old Reece makes a reference to Carl's father, whom is totally unknown, but thought to have run out on them years ago, or have neglected the family.
Emmet is a gun dealer in Los Santos and a member of the Seville Boulevard Families. He provides weapons for the GSF and knows the Johnson family. Sweet and Big Smoke stopped going to Emmet once the Family sets split up, but CJ convinced them to start buying from him again shortly after he returned to San Andreas. Emmet seems to have bad eyesight and possible mental health
issues, as he was unable to recognize CJ (thinking he was CJ's deceased brother Brian) and seems to be unaware of many events around him. Only pistols can be obtained from Emmet, but later on, Ryder gets an AK-47
from him which the player uses for a short time.
Emmet was voiced by Eugene Jeter Jr.
Can be killed: when dating CJ
Denise Robinson is one of two storyline girlfriends in San Andreas. She is the first girlfriend CJ gets in the game after he rescues her from a burning house fire in the mission "Burning Desire". When CJ goes out with Denise, she likes to stay local and to do drive-bys on the way. She says that she had three kids but put them up for adoption. Denise is aligned with the Grove Street Families but does not wear green. She does a shout out on Radio Los Santos in which she says that she is "desperate" for CJ's attention, but the player can still hear it before they have meet Denise or after Denise has dumped him or was killed. She is also a playable character in the multiplayer on Xbox
and PS2. Denise drives a Green Hustler whose number plate reads Homegirl.
Denise Robinson was voiced by Heather Alicia Simms.
Killed in: "The Da Nang Thang"
Little Lion is a high-ranking member of the Mountain Cloud Boys who first meets Carl in Woozie's betting shop and informs him of his boss's blindness. He is later tasked to fly a helicopter around the Da Nang Boys' ship with Guppy shooting a minigun, but Carl instead shows up in Guppy's place and accompanies him during the mission. During the attack, the helicopter is shot down by a rocket launcher and Little Lion is killed on impact, while CJ manages to escape.
Wounded (possibly killed) in: "Los Desperados"
Hazer is a high ranking member of the Varrios Los Aztecas and a loyal friend of Cesar Vialpando. He first meets Carl shortly after he meets Cesar and threatens him after witnessing CJ separate Cesar and Kendl as they kiss. He doesn't appear again until the end of the game when he, Cesar, Carl, and fellow Aztecas retake their hood; before this occurs, he apologizes to CJ for his initial confrontation earlier in the game and assures him that they are cool. During the attack, Hazer is shot by a Vagos member and is severely wounded, and after the battle, he is taken to the hospital by Ceaser and the other Aztecas. Whether or not he lived is unknown.
CJ and Madd Dogg meet Jimmy Silverman after chasing OG Loc through Los Santos in an attempt to recover Madd Dogg's rhymes. OG Loc flees into an apartment, followed by CJ and Madd Dogg, where they meet Silverman, who offers to sue OG Loc for them.
Jimmy Silverman was voiced by James Madden.
Marco Forelli is the Don of the Forelli Family during the events of the game and is also the brother of Sonny, Franco, and Mike as well as being the cousin of Giorgio. While Salvatore Leone is vsiting Caligula's Casino in Las Venturas, Forelli plans to assassinate him and sends Forelli hitmen to carry out the task, but Leone learns of this plan and sends Carl Johnson to kill them. After doing so, Salvatore orders a hit on Marco, which is, again, carried out by CJ after he flies to Liberty City and ambushes Marco's Bistro, during which he kills many Forelli Family members and eventually Marco himself.
Although his name is Marco Forelli, he is not called so in the game and is only referred to as Forelli.
Freddy is the former homosexual
cellmate of Jeffrey "OG Loc" Cross, and a member of the Los Santos Vagos. The game suggests that while in prison, Freddy engaged in homosexual activities with OG Loc and also stole his "rhymes" (though Freddy claims ignorance as to what this accusation meant: he implies that the only reason Loc wanted him dead was to cover up the activities they engaged in together.) Freddy is killed by CJ when a motorcycle chase ends in an ambush. Freddy is referred to by OG Loc as a Cholo
, suggesting he is of Mexican descent.
Tony is a talking parrot
that serves as a companion of Ken Rosenberg. The bird's role in the game is considerably trivial, appearing only a few times as a minor comic relief
as Ken nervously resides in Las Venturas. The parrot utters, among others, Mafia slang terms and foul language, as well as a quotation from Tony Montana
in the 1983 Scarface film
Maria Latore (also referred to as Maria La Torra by several sources, including the voice-over credits in the San Andreas game manual) is a waitress in the Caligula's Palace casino. Appearing briefly during Don Salvatore Leone's presence in Las Venturas, she would be seen beginning to establish a closer relationship with Don, which explains the origins of her ties with him in GTA III and GTA:LCS. At the end of Grand Theft Auto III, she is heard talking after the screen goes black until the sound of a gunshot, her fate is unknown.
Maria La Torra was voiced by Debi Mazar
.
Can be killed in: When dating with CJ
Millie Perkins is a card dealer
at the mob-run Caligula's Palace casino. She becomes CJ's second (story-line) girlfriend when CJ seduces her in order to get her keycard to facilitate his robbery of Caligula's Palace. The player can skip the seduction by simply killing Millie, though like all the girlfriends, she is very resistant to injury.
Millie is fond of BDSM
, which can be utilized by the player to speed seduction. She drives a Pink Club and her number plate reads SPANK.
Millie Perkins was voiced by Orfeh
.
"Katie Zhan" is one of Carl Johnson's optional girlfriends. She is a Nurse who also spends her spare time at the Karate Dojo in San Fierro, San Andreas. Due to her health-conscious image, she eats at diners but avoids fast food restaurants. She is also homophobic and doesn't like it when the player drives by the Queens neighborhood, a gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered district. Katie also likes the shoreline, and her mood improves when the player drives by the area. She is also fascinated by automobile accidents and is easily aroused by reckless driving.
Katie is voiced by China Chow
.
Beverly Johnson (1938–1992) was Carl's, Sweet's, Kendl's, and Brian's mom. She is shot in a drive by when bullets pierce the walls of her house. Her death was the reason Carl returned to Los Santos from Liberty City. Only seen on a photograph in the mission: "Big Smoke".
.
game boxart in Zero RC shop.
Cutscene
A cutscene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, strengthen the main character's development, introduces enemy characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues...
s in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open world action video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall...
, set in 1992, a number of recurring characters appear. Prominent characters are listed here.
Many characters were voiced by crime film veterans, such as Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
(Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
), James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
(Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 Italian epic crime film co-written and directed by Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The story chronicles the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence in New York City's world of organized crime...
, Casino
Casino (film)
Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
), Frank Vincent
Frank Vincent
Frank Vincent is an American actor, musician, author and entrepreneur. He is a favorite performer of director Martin Scorsese, having played important roles in three of Scorsese's most acclaimed films: Raging Bull , Goodfellas and Casino . He often plays a gangster and works both in features and...
(Goodfellas
Goodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
, Casino
Casino (film)
Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
) and Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
(Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
). Prominent West Coast rappers, such as MC Eiht
MC Eiht
Aaron Tyler , better known by his stage name MC Eiht, is an American rapper. His stage name was partly inspired by the numeral in KRS-One's name. He chose Eiht for its links to "hood culture", including 8Ball and .38 caliber firearms...
, Ice T
Ice T
Tracy Marrow , better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American musician and actor.He was born in Newark, New Jersey and moved to the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles when he was in the 7th grade. After graduating from high school he served in the United States Army for four years...
, Frost and The Game
The Game (rapper)
Jayceon Terrell Taylor , better known by his stage name Game, formerly The Game, is an American rapper and actor. As a member of G-Unit, he rose to fame in 2005 with the success of his debut album, The Documentary, which earned him two Grammy Award nominations...
provided voice work for minor characters in the game as well.
Carl "CJ" Johnson
Introduced in: Introduction; airport cut sceneCarl "CJ" Johnson (March 13, 1968 -
The game's storyline revolves around Carl's return to San Andreas after five years in Liberty City because his mother was killed. CJ decides early on that he intends to remain on the west coast rather than return after his mother's funeral, and the game's storyline focuses on his attempts to rebuild the life he left behind five years before. Carl helps restore his old gang, the Grove Street Families, to prominence. He also works on several independent business ventures and gains new friends and associates. As the protagonist, Carl is forced to deal with the major dramatic events of the plot, including his brother Sweet's arrest and incarceration, the betrayal of his childhood friends Big Smoke and Ryder, and the destruction wrought on his neighborhood and gang by drugs.
Following the death of his brother, Brian, Carl escaped the pressures of street gang life by moving to Liberty City
Liberty City (Grand Theft Auto)
Liberty City is a fictional city in Rockstar Games' video games series Grand Theft Auto, based primarily on several major cities including New York City...
five years prior to the start of the game, where he worked with Joey Leone in the car theft business. During The Introduction—a short machinima
Machinima
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
video released with the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2004 action video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. It was released as a three-disc album on November 23, 2004 through Interscope Records. The first two discs featured the songs for the soundtrack and the third disc is a...
—he is seen mugging
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
a passerby in the street and then hijacking a car.
In 1992, Carl's mother is killed in a drive-by shooting. He returns to Los Santos for the funeral and is immediately confronted by members of C.R.A.S.H.
Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums
Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, usually known by the acronym C.R.A.S.H., was an elite, but controversial special operations unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. It was established by then-chief Daryl Gates to combat the rising problem of gangs in Los Angeles, California...
(Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums), Officers Frank Tenpenny, Eddie Pulaski and Jimmy Hernandez, a group of police officers involved in corrupt dealings. Throughout the game, C.R.A.S.H. forces Carl to work for them because if he does not, they have the power to bring harm to him and his loved ones. At the very beginning of the game, they tell Carl that they intend to frame him for the murder of police officer Ralph Pendlebury, whom C.R.A.S.H. killed to prevent him from exposing their illegal activities.
Early in the game, Carl aids Sweet and the rest of the senior members in reviving the GSF by ridding parts of the neighborhood of crack dealers, acquiring weapons, and regaining lost gang territory. This revival ends, however, after Carl learns that his friends Ryder and Big Smoke, senior GSF members, have betrayed the gang. As CJ discovers the betrayal, Sweet is ambushed by rival Ballas gang members and wounded. CJ arrives to fight them off and likely saves his brothers life, but they are arrested by the police after the battle. Outside the view of the storyline, Sweet is put on trial and convicted of multiple felonies, for which he receives a life sentence. CJ, however, is released by C.R.A.S.H. into a rural area to continue to perform jobs for the team. The GSF, along with Cesar's Aztecas, fall out of prominence. Consequently, their rivals, the Ballas and Los Santos Vagos, are able to take over all of Los Santos.
After a brief stay in the Badlands, Carl and his remaining associates (his sister Kendl, Cesar and hippie The Truth) head north for San Fierro, where they establish a vehicle chop shop
Chop shop
In motor vehicle theft, a chop shop is a location or business which disassembles stolen automobiles for the purpose of selling them as parts. It may also be used to refer to a location or business that is involved with the selling of stolen or fraudulent goods in general, an example of the latter...
and dealership. CJ also works for the local Triads and infiltrates and destroys San Andreas' largest drug cartel, the Loco Syndicate. After Carl, Cesar, and a number of Triad members ambush a meeting between Ryder, who is representing Big Smoke, and the Loco Syndicate, Carl gains revenge on his former friend by killing him.
After gaining access to Las Venturas and the surrounding desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
area, CJ goes to work for undercover government agent Mike Toreno. He then moves into Venturas and works to put the Triad-funded casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
on top by eliminating the competition. CJ saves rapper Madd Dogg's life by interrupting his suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
attempt (CJ apparently feels guilty for his part in ruining Dogg's career). He also kills Eddie Pulaski and, after completing another mission for Toreno, is rewarded with Sweet's early release from prison.
CJ wants Sweet to join him in building a new life. Since being exiled from Los Santos, Carl has left gangbanging and the hood behind in favor of larger business ventures and more lavish accommodations, and he wants Sweet to share in his newfound prosperity. However, Sweet's priorities are different: he wants to remain on Grove Street, get rid of the crack dealers and addicts all over the streets, and reestablish the Grove Street Families as a force in Los Santos. CJ is initially reluctant to return to the life he left behind, but Sweet eventually convinces him to go along with the plan.
With Carl and Sweet's work underway, Frank Tenpenny is finally put on trial for numerous felonies, but the charges are dropped for lack of evidence because all the witnesses who could have testified against him are either missing or dead. Most of the jobs Tenpenny forces CJ to do throughout the game involve killing or discrediting people involved in the case against him. Los Santos erupts into a massive, city-wide riot following the news. In the chaos, CJ finally confronts and kills Big Smoke in his crack palace and then pursues Tenpenny, who is mortally wounded when he crashes in front of the Johnson House. CJ prepares to shoot Tenpenny with his Desert Eagle
Desert Eagle
The Desert Eagle is a large-framed gas-operated semi-automatic pistol designed by Magnum Research in the U.S. and by IMI in Israel; the pistol is manufactured primarily in Israel by IMI...
, but Sweet, concerned with leaving evidence when Tenpenny would simply die from his injuries, stops him. Tenpenny's death wraps up all the loose ends in Carl's life. The riot then breaks up.
At the conclusion of the game, Madd Dogg visits the Johnson house and announces that he's received a gold record for his new album. Everyone inside discusses how they must now shift their focus to maintaining the gang and their business ventures and otherwise keep a low profile. CJ then gets up and leaves the house. Kendl then asks where he's going, and he says, "Fittin' to hit the block, see what's happening," and the game's main storyline ends.
CJ is portrayed as being highly successful at the end of the game. He has executed a major heist, holds a partnership in a Las Venturas casino, is a successful rapper's manager, owns businesses and real estate throughout San Andreas, is a licensed pilot, owns a car garage in San Fierro, and is a leading member of Los Santos' most powerful gang. At about 24 years old, CJ is one of the youngest protagonists in the Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto (series)
Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
series.
Sergeant Frank Tenpenny
Introduced In: Introduction; taxi arrest cut sceneKilled in: "End of the Line"
Sergeant Frank Tenpenny (May 23, 1948–1992) is a corrupt officer of Los Santos Police Department (LSPD) and a member of C.R.A.S.H.
Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums
Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, usually known by the acronym C.R.A.S.H., was an elite, but controversial special operations unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. It was established by then-chief Daryl Gates to combat the rising problem of gangs in Los Angeles, California...
He serves as the main antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
of the game. His henchmen are Officer Pulaski and Hernandez. Tenpenny is the only antagonist in the series not to be killed directly by the protagonist.
At the start of the game where CJ is arrested, Tenpenny says to CJ, "Welcome home Carl, glad to be back? You haven't forgotten about us, have you boy?" Carl replies with, "Hell no, Officer Tenpenny, I was just wondering what took y'all so long."
Tenpenny claims that his approach to the job is about "percentages" and that his philosophy calls for overlooking some crime to achieve a greater good. It appears that he believes what he says, but in reality Tenpenny and his unit are corrupt to the core and terrorize gang leaders in a fashion much like a gang themselves, except with the power of law enforcement behind them. They can kill indiscriminately and are skimming the profits from the rival gangs. Tenpenny himself is a polluting influence, convincing good cops to abandon their ideals and assist in his pursuits. He shows a callous unconcern for the people surrounding him, particularly those like Carl whom he has power over. He sees such people as tools and eliminates all of those who either outlive their usefulness to him or get in his way. Tenpenny exhibits megalomania
Megalomania
Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
and considers himself above the law. He believes that because he does good work, he is entitled to enrich himself at the city's expense.
Tenpenny rides with Pulaski and a third C.R.A.S.H. member. Prior to the game's storyline, the third member is Ralph Pendelbury, whom Tenpenny has killed in The Introduction for cooperating with internal affairs
Internal affairs (law enforcement)
The internal affairs division of a law enforcement agency investigates incidents and plausible suspicions of lawbreaking and professional misconduct attributed to officers on the force...
. Just prior to Pendelbury's murder, Tenpenny and Pulaski brief their newest recruit, Officer Jimmy Hernandez. They both order Hernandez to pull the trigger on Pendelbury, thereby initiating Hernandez into their distorted view of things.
Tenpenny has known CJ at least since Brian Johnson's death. Tenpenny likes to "step on" CJ on a regular basis to remind him who's in charge. Tenpenny has a great deal of power over and influence on Los Santos' criminals, and he warns CJ early in the game that "we could shit on you from such a height, you'll think God himself has crapped on you." He sees CJ as another tool in his dirty dealings. He and Pulaski extort several GSF members, including Smoke and Ryder.
While Tenpenny claims he is pitting the gangs against each other to wipe them all out, he is actually allied with the Ballas, who (unlike the GSF) have no reservations against dealing crack cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. C.R.A.S.H. lets the Ballas flood the city with drugs, which turns many GSF members into addicts, effectively crushing their gang. Tenpenny also convinces Smoke to betray his gang in return for heading up the drug operation. Tenpenny and Pulaski were involved with the drive-by that killed Beverly Johnson, CJ's mother. When CJ returns for the funeral, C.R.A.S.H. frames him for Pendelbury's murder and threatens to arrest him if he does not do work for Tenpenny.
Later, Tenpenny and Pulaski kidnap CJ following a large gang assault beneath the Mulholland Intersection. Sweet, wounded in the battle, is arrested and later convicted for several felonies. Tenpenny ensures that CJ would not be arrested to keep him available to perform C.R.A.S.H.'s dirty work. They drive CJ miles away to Whetstone and dump him in the woods with orders to kill an FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
witness. He also tells CJ, who now knows of Big Smoke's involvement with C.R.A.S.H., not to kill Big Smoke, or Sweet will be put on a Ballas cell block. Tenpenny and Pulaski surface every so often to lean on CJ and usually order him to kill or discredit someone who threatens to expose the true nature of C.R.A.S.H.
With Big Smoke ruling Los Santos as its crack kingpin under C.R.A.S.H.'s control, Tenpenny's reach is expanding. Despite this, the FBI is starting to investigate the wave of drugs crippling the city. CJ finally outlives his usefulness to Tenpenny and Pulaski, who are becoming edgy and less tolerant of loose ends by the time CJ reaches Las Venturas. They drive CJ out to the desert, where Tenpenny hits Hernandez in the head with a shovel because Hernandez has reported them to Internal Affairs. He drives off, leaving CJ to dig Hernandez's grave under Pulaski's gunpoint. CJ escapes because Hernandez was not quite dead.
Tenpenny is eventually charged for racketeering
Racket (crime)
A racket is an illegal business, usually run as part of organized crime. Engaging in a racket is called racketeering.Several forms of racket exist. The best-known is the protection racket, in which criminals demand money from businesses in exchange for the service of "protection" against crimes...
, corruption
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
, possession and use of narcotic
Narcotic
The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
s and numerous sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
s. However, as all the prosecution's witnesses have either been killed by CJ or otherwise gone missing, Tenpenny is acquitted, which ignites a riot in Los Santos.
Just after CJ kills Big Smoke, Tenpenny shows up with a suitcase full of drug money and armed with a shotgun. He plans to flee the city by plane with the help of some new recruits in the force who are ready for him to "open their eyes" to his way of thinking. He then leads CJ and Sweet on a chase through the city until, in the last cut scene of the storyline, the fire engine breaks through and runs off an overpass and lands in a wreck right in the heart of Grove Street. A bloodied and broken Tenpenny crawls out calling for backup. Realizing no one is coming, he curses everyone, including the police force. He then dies from his injuries (making him the first antagonist not to be killed directly by the protagonist). CJ and the rest of his crew examine the body, and CJ moves in with his pistol to "make sure it's over". Sweet stops him, saying that there's no need to leave any evidence. "Just a cop killed in a traffic accident" says Sweet. As the others walk away from Tenpenny, Carl approaches him slowly, taps his dead body with his foot, and says sarcastically, "See you around... officer".
Officer Frank Tenpenny was voiced by Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
.
GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
ranked him the 35th most diabolical video game villain of all time, stating that "You gotta respect a guy who takes a stand and says, "No, man. We can't all just get along."". In 2010 IGN ranked Officer Tenpenny 87th in "Top 100 Videogames Villans" saying that there is "just something truly sinister about San Andreas' Officer Frank Tenpenny".
Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris
Introduced in: "Big Smoke"Killed in: "End of the Line"
Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris (June 18, 1958–1992) begins his role in the game as a senior member of the Grove Street Families. He is overweight, which provides some comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
early in the game. He later becomes the story's secondary antagonist as he betrays the GSF to become Los Santos's biggest drug kingpin in league with the Ballas and Vagos. Early in the storyline, there are several signs of Big Smoke's disloyalty to the gang: he has moved out of Grove Street to live in a new home in Idlewood (Ballas territory), and there is suspicion that he paid for the house with drug money, despite his insistence that it was money from his aunt.
The missions Smoke performs with CJ are generally tangential to the operations of the gang, despite Smoke's assertions to the contrary. He gets involved in conflicts with non-native gangs, including the Russian mob and the San Fierro Rifas. Furthermore, Officer Tenpenny and his underlings show up at Big Smoke's house during the beginning of several missions, suggesting familiarity, although Big Smoke claims each time that they are attempting to extract information from him.
In The Introduction, Smoke tries to convince Sweet to allow the GSF to sell hard drugs, saying that the Ballas have gotten rich and powerful due to drug sales, while the GSF have lost power. Sweet refuses on the grounds that he does not want to enrich himself at the expense of his neighborhood. Meanwhile, Smoke easily convinces Ryder to his side during a private meeting. Their true nature is revealed in the game when CJ witnesses them meeting with the Ballas and C.R.A.S.H. in a garage with the green Sabre used in the assassination of Beverly Johnson. When CJ wants to know what Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski did to cause Smoke's betrayal, Eddie says, "Smoke? Smoke does exactly what he is told! He learned that lesson a long time ago!".
With the prospect of power, money, and fame in the drug business too great for Big Smoke to resist, he establishes a drug delivery venture with the Loco Syndicate in San Fierro with the help of the Ballas. Smoke runs drug factories in both Los Santos and San Fierro. The final mission CJ undertakes in San Fierro requires him to destroy the main factory there.
After CJ is exiled from Los Santos, Smoke also becomes the manager of OG Loc and opens an orphanage in Los Santos. Smoke cultivates an image as someone who made it out of the ghetto with hard work and wants to give back to his old neighborhood in the form of philanthropy
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
. Ironically, he publicly pronounces his desire to "keep the street clean of drugs". The media reports this version of events and does not appear to question where his money has come from.
At the height of his power, Smoke lives in a large, heavily fortified crack den, referred to as a "crack fortress", deep in Ballas territory. He lives in luxury and has the full protection of the Ballas and Vagos, who have unrivaled control of the streets. However, as time progresses, Smoke becomes increasingly paranoid and stops leaving his home because he believes someone will try to take over his business. As Smoke's influence expands, his old gang erodes, and many Grove Street foot soldiers become addicted to crack and no longer care about fighting to defend their territory.
In the final mission of the game, Carl enters Big Smoke's crack palace amid a citywide riot to confront Big Smoke for the first time since CJ left Los Santos. He finds Smoke wearing an armored vest, smoking crack, and playing video games. Even while staring down CJ's gun, Smoke refuses to admit wrongdoing and proclaims: "I made it, CJ, I'm a success, I can't be touched!". In a moment of pity, CJ asks, "What happened to you, man?" to which Smoke replies, "Man, what the fuck do you care?" The lights go out, and CJ kills his former friend in a gun battle.
As he dies, Smoke explains that he betrayed the gang because he finally saw an opportunity to become rich and famous, and took it without caring about the consequences; Smoke says that because of his greedy nature, he had no choice in the matter. With his dying breath, Big Smoke boasts, "Everyone´s gonna remember my name, Big Smoke!"
In earlier previews of San Andreas, Big Smoke was seen wearing a white basketball jersey with no hat; his design was changed in the final version. However, a statue of Smoke in his "crack palace" has him wearing the outfit he sported in the previews. Big Smoke's car was a black Perennial station wagon that he decided to keep in mint condition, at least until it was blown up in a Ballas drive-by shooting during the opening mission of the game. He then switches to a light blue Glendale sedan in which CJ chauffeurs him around in several missions.
Melvin Harris was voiced by Clifton Powell
Clifton Powell
-Movie career:Powell is known for playing the role of Pinky in the 2000 comedy film, Next Friday and its 2002 sequel, Friday After Next. Powell stars also in the Indie thriller Chain Letter.In 2009 he played "Bowman" in the film Just Another Day...
.
Lance "Ryder" Wilson
Introduced in: "Sweet & Kendl"Killed in: "Pier 69"
Lance "Ryder" Wilson (November 19, 1967–1992), strongly resembling Eazy E by wearing a baseball hat and jheri curl, is a senior member of the Grove Street Families, who lives in a home neighboring the Johnson House and smokes large quantities of marijuana laced with PCP
Phencyclidine
Phencyclidine , commonly initialized as PCP and known colloquially as angel dust, is a recreational dissociative drug...
. Ryder acts as a tertiary antagonist in the game. In an effort to supply the GSF with new firearms and weapons, Ryder calls in CJ to help steal some weaponry from several locations, including the home of a heavily-armed war veteran (Colonel Fuhrberger), a forcibly stopped ammunition train and a National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
weapons depot.
Ryder has delusions of grandeur and a possible Napoleon complex
Napoleon complex
Napoleon complex is an informal term describing an alleged type of inferiority complex which is said to affect some people, especially men, who are short in stature. The term is also used more generally to describe people who are driven by a perceived handicap to overcompensate in other aspects of...
stemming from his small stature. He fancies himself a "genius" and claims that he didn't finish school because he was "too intelligent" and not because of his involvement with the GSF. In The Introduction, Big Smoke approaches him with an offer to betray the Grove Street Families in order to break into the drug trade. After little convincing, Ryder accepts.
When CJ returns and begins his rise in the Grove Street Families, Ryder becomes increasingly jealous even though he's already aligned with the Ballas. Cesar takes CJ to witness both Smoke and Ryder emerging from a garage and talking to Officer Tenpenny; a "Green Sabre" car that is involved in the slaying of CJ's mother is inside. It is implied that both Smoke and Ryder were involved in the hit.
After betraying CJ and accelerating the fall of the GSF in Los Santos, Ryder aids Big Smoke in establishing a drug trade with the Loco Syndicate and thus flooding Los Santos with crack cocaine. He later appears in San Fierro. Ryder, T-Bone Mendez and the Ballas meet for a deal. After CJ and Cesar, along with a squad of Triads, riddle T-Bone with bullets on the pier, Ryder runs away and engages Carl in a speedboat chase, which ends in his death. (Alternatively, as he swims to the speedboat, he is killed by CJ's sniper rifle.)
In an occurrence of foreshadowing
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing or adumbrating is a literary device in which an author indistinctly suggests certain plot developments that might come later in the story.-Repetitive designation and Chekhov's gun:...
, CJ tells Ryder during an early mission, "One day, you're gonna wish you hadn't pissed me off." It was later revealed by Cesar Vialpando that Ryder tried to have sex with Kendl.
Ryder owns a maroon Coupe Utility
Coupé utility
The coupé utility automobile body style, also known colloquially as the ute in Australia and New Zealand, combines a two-door "coupé" cabin with an integral cargo bed behind the cabin—using a light-duty passenger vehicle-derived platform....
(an El Camino
Chevrolet El Camino
The Chevrolet El Camino is a coupe utility vehicle produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1959–1960 model years in response to the success of its rival, Ford Ranchero. Production resumed for the 1964–1977 model years based on the Chevelle platform, and continued for the...
look-alike referred to in-game as a "Picador") with a license plate reading "SHERM", a slang term for PCP (CJ calls Ryder "sherm-head" throughout the game). Throughout the game, Ryder has a habit of calling CJ a "buster". CJ also mentions that Ryder has been dealing drugs since he was 10, and once beat up a teacher for wearing purple (Ballas colours).
Ryder was voiced by MC Eiht
MC Eiht
Aaron Tyler , better known by his stage name MC Eiht, is an American rapper. His stage name was partly inspired by the numeral in KRS-One's name. He chose Eiht for its links to "hood culture", including 8Ball and .38 caliber firearms...
. "Hood Took Me Under
Hood Took Me Under
"Hood Took Me Under" is one of the most popular singles by the group Compton's Most Wanted and was released in their album, Music to Driveby. The song was featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in the fictional radio station, Radio Los Santos...
", a song produced by Compton's Most Wanted
Compton's Most Wanted
Compton's Most Wanted is an American gangsta rap group and one of the pioneers of the West Coast Hip Hop scene still performing today on independent labels. The leader of the group was MC Eiht.-Biography:...
, including member MC Eiht, is featured on Radio Los Santos and the San Andreas game soundtrack.
Sean "Sweet" Johnson
Introduced in: Introduction; airport cut scene (on the phone) / "Sweet & Kendl" (in person)Sean "Sweet" Johnson is CJ's older brother. He lives in a single floor home just next to the Johnson House. Sweet also has an unnamed girlfriend, who only appears in one mission. Sweet blames CJ for the murder of their little brother Brian, which prompts Carl to leave Los Santos. Compared to CJ, Smoke and Ryder, Sweet's approach to gangbanging is more philosophical and socially conscious.
Throughout the storyline, Sweet remains dedicated to his family, gang, and neighborhood. He refuses to allow the spread of drugs into the area, which causes his top lieutenant, Big Smoke, to turn on him. Several times, including in The Introduction, Sweet says that he is a gangbanger "for the hood", which stands in opposition to Smoke, who is out for money, and Ryder, who wants personal renown. Although Sweet never defines exactly what he means by being in it for the hood, his actions suggest that he views the gang as a means for people in his neighborhood to support themselves given the lack of legitimate opportunities they would otherwise receive. He also uses the gang to improve the quality of life in Ganton, particularly when he drives out the crack addicts and drug dealers later in the game and refuses to move out of Grove Street, even as CJ has gotten rich and acquired much more lavish accommodations.
After his initial return to Los Santos, CJ aids Sweet in restoring the GSF to its former glory. Sweet starts to put aside old grudges and decides CJ has earned his chance to redeem himself. However, despite CJ almost singlehandedly putting the GSF back on the map, Smoke and Ryder have already betrayed the gang. During a meeting between the different sets of Families gangs, the police suddenly raid the hotel where the meeting is taking place. CJ rescues his brother and they escape, but shortly afterward, Sweet is lured into a Ballas ambush beneath a highway intersection. His wounds leave him unable to defend himself as CJ arrives and fights back at the attackers, but the police surround and arrest them both as the Ballas clear out. Sweet is sent to prison on a life term, while Carl is released to perform jobs for Tenpenny.
Later, Carl encounters Mike Toreno, a government agent, who uses threats of bringing harm to Sweet to force CJ to work for him. So long as CJ cooperates, Sweet will be protected and, Toreno promises, eventually released. If CJ missteps or refuses to work for Toreno, Sweet will be forced to face hostile inmates alone.
Toreno eventually has Sweet released as promised. Carl comes to pick him up and take him to live at Madd Dogg's mansion, but Sweet will have none of it. He insists on being driven back to Grove Street. CJ, who knows that Ballas control the streets now and that Grove Street OGs have abandoned gangbanging for drugs, wants to leave the hood behind and share his newfound success with Sweet. Sweet accuses CJ of running away from "what's real" and says that he sounds "just like Smoke".
Sweet's prodding finally gets to CJ, and slowly but surely, the two rebuild the GSF's dominance in the neighborhood again. At first, it seems futile; the drug dealers are legion and many of Sweet's men have been reduced to addicts. Sweet almost gives in to crack himself, but CJ stops him at the last moment. With CJ's help, the GSF drive the Ballas back and expose Big Smoke's secret location.
After Smoke's death and the fiery destruction of his drug palace, Officer Tenpenny flees from the scene in a fire truck. Sweet is outraged and refuses to let Tenpenny escape justice again; he jumps onto the truck's ladder and is carried away with the speeding vehicle. CJ must race after them with his convertible under the ladder to keep Sweet from falling to his death; after a hazardous trip through the hills and valleys of Los Santos, the swinging ladder finally hangs over the car and Sweet drops safely into the passenger side. After a long chase, Tenpenny loses control, crashes, and dies. Following the Los Santos riots and the removal of Big Smoke and Tenpenny's influence, Sweet's mission to restore the GSF to prominence is complete.
Sweet owns a light blue Greenwood sedan, bearing "GROVE4L" (Grove for life) number plates and is extensively used, and wrecked in several Los Santos missions, even blowing up at one point after crashing through a billboard and a fuel tanker. Also, when Sweet has to buy a car again, he buys an identical car. (saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it"). In earlier previews of San Andreas, Sweet was seen wearing a black t-shirt over a white one, and a skullcap; his design was changed in the final version (however, Sweet in his old attire design can be seen on hung pictures in the Johnson house).
Sean "Sweet" Johnson was voiced by Faizon Love
Faizon Love
Faizon Andre Love is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for roles in the films Friday, Elf, Made, and Couples Retreat.-Life and career:...
.
Cesar Vialpando
Introduced in: "Cesar Vialpando"Cesar Vialpando (March 26, 1970 is Kendl's Mexican boyfriend
Boyfriend
A boyfriend is a person's regular male companion in a romantic or sexual relationship, although normally not in long-term committed relationships, where other titles A boyfriend is a person's regular male companion in a romantic or sexual relationship, although normally not in long-term committed...
and the leader of the Varrios Los Aztecas. CJ is initially cold toward Cesar, but they later become close friends. Passionate about cars, Cesar is a skilled mechanic and driver. At the beginning of the game, Sweet expresses his disapproval, on racial grounds, of Kendl and Cesar's relationship and sends Carl to follow them. After CJ wins a lowrider contest, Cesar offers his friendship, and Carl begins to warm to him. Cesar informs Carl of Smoke and Ryder's betrayal by bringing him to witness a meeting with C.R.A.S.H. Upon seeing this, Carl realizes that Sweet's plan to attack the Ballas has likely been compromised, so Carl races to his brother's aid. Although he saves Sweet's life, Carl is arrested and forced into exile, along with Cesar and Kendl. With their former allies incarcerated, dead, missing, or responsible for betraying them, Cesar and Carl form a quick alliance and friendship. Cesar works to discern information about the organizations responsible for the San Andreas drug trade, while Carl concentrates on making money to help them get back on their feet. Cesar sends Carl to work with his cousin Catalina.
After arriving in San Fierro, Cesar works with CJ and Kendl on their garage and auto dealership businesses. Cesar uses his mechanical and driving skills to obtain several sports cars for this purpose. Contemporaneously, he continues to gather intelligence and, along with Carl, puts a plan in motion to attack the people who double crossed them. With help from Wu Zi Mu and his Triad organization, Cesar and Carl kill Ryder and T-Bone Mendez and topple the Loco Syndicate, one of Big Smoke's largest suppliers.
Afterward, Cesar aids CJ in one mission for Mike Toreno and then does not appear again until the group returns to Los Santos. There, in "Los Desperados", one of the final missions, Cesar resolves the loose ends surrounding his character. With CJ's help, he gains revenge on the Vagos and reclaims his house and gang territory. He also tells CJ he wants to propose to Kendl. Cesar drives a Red Savanna, with the number plate, VLA4L( Varrios Los Aztecas for life).
Cesar Vialpando was voiced by Clifton Collins, Jr.
Clifton Collins, Jr.
Clifton Craig Collins, Jr. is an American actor.-Life and career:Clifton Craig Collins, Jr. was born in Los Angeles, of half Mexican descent and the grandson of actor Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez. He has sometimes been credited as Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez to honor his grandfather...
, who first broke into mainstream cinema in 1997 with a performance as gang thug Cesar in the film 187
One Eight Seven
Music from the Motion Picture 187 is the soundtrack to the 1997 film, One Eight Seven. It was released on July 29, 1997 through Atlantic Records and unlike films like Dangerous Minds and The Substitute that dealt with similar subject matter, this soundtrack did not receive an Urban music...
.
Wu Zi Mu ("Woozie")
Introduced in: "Wu Zi Mu"Wu Zi Mu (January 16, 1954) (Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 武災幕), known to his friends as "Woozie", is the leader of the Mountain Cloud Boys Triads, based in San Fierro's Chinatown and in Las Venturas, where he owns the newly opened Four Dragons Casino. In Las Venturas, Woozie and Carl plan and execute a robbery at Caligula's Casino. He is blind in the sense that he cannot use his eyes to see, but all of his other senses are abnormally high, referenced to by his bodyguard, "Guppy."
Woozie is nicknamed the "Lucky Mole" (Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 幸運的鼴鼠) because he is blessed with good fortune, most notably from his capability to compete in a car race and beating Carl in a round of video games, all despite his blindness. There are, however, humorous occasions when he runs into walls, as well as indications that his cohorts manipulate the outcome of games played with Woozie so that he will always win. For example, Woozie always beats his underlings at blackjack
Blackjack
Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
, despite the fact he can't read the cards. In the one game he plays against Carl, Woozie keeps asking for cards until he finally stands with 47, and then blames Carl for being "bad luck". Another time, while practicing putting
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, his henchmen move the target cup into the path of Woozie's ball and out of the path of CJ's. Strangely, Woozie is an accurate shooter. He is also incapable of undertaking a mission that requires swimming, since his other working senses are ineffective underwater. Strangely enough, he is, however, able to swim if in the course of a mission, the player leads him into water.
Though Woozie can become brutal and foul-mouthed when angry, he is by all accounts a peaceful and, within the realm of criminals, honorable man. He is one whom power has not tainted, and as such, Woozie remains a faithful and trustworthy friend, accomplice, and informant to Carl to the end of the game. Six years later in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, it is indicated that Woozie's casino venture in Las Venturas is a huge success, and by this time the Four Dragons is the location of many entertainment venues, concerts and important events. Woozie's fate is unknown at the time.
Woozie was voiced by James Yaegashi.
Officer Edward Pulaski
Introduced in: Introduction; police arrest cut sceneKilled in: "High Noon"
Officer Eddie Pulaski (December 22, 1965–1992) is Frank Tenpenny's henchman
Henchman
Henchman referred originally to one who attended on a horse for his employer, that is, a horse groom. Hence, like constable and marshal, also originally stable staff, henchman became the title of a subordinate official in a royal court or noble household...
, which makes him a secondary antagonist. Pulaski, fully indoctrinated into Tenpenny's approach to police work, has a high level of deluded trust in the man and considers him a close friend. However, Tenpenny measures people only by how useful they are to him, and Pulaski is useful so long as he helped Tenpenny cover his back. In "The Introduction" Pulaski calls Tenpenny "pal", to which Tenpenny says, "Pal? I'm your superior officer and don't you forget that shit!" Pulaski also shares Tenpenny's belief that CJ and people like him are at best useful idiots and at worst less than human.
Pulaski is a violent and trigger-happy thug. While Tenpenny is depicted as a megalomaniac who lacks a conscience, Pulaski is merely a degenerate, ignorant thrill seeker. There is little to suggest that Pulaski ever thinks for himself or has insight into the events surrounding him. He is a racist and joins his partner in calling Officer Hernandez racial slurs. During Hernandez's initiation in The Introduction, Pulaski joins Tenpenny in forcing the idealistic recruit to shoot Officer Pendelbury, their former partner (and would-be informant).
Pulaski assists Tenpenny in helping the Ballas run drugs into Los Santos. He is also present when the hit on CJ and Sweet Johnson's mother is called. Hernandez, who suffers constant harassment by his C.R.A.S.H. "partners", reports Tenpenny and Pulaski to Internal Affairs. All three drive out to the desert ghost town of Las Brujas during the mission "High Noon" to collect the evidence the FBI compiled on them from CJ. Tenpenny hits Hernandez in the back of the head with a shovel the second he leaves the car, saying he sold them out. Tenpenny drives off, leaving Pulaski to hold CJ at gunpoint and force him to dig Hernandez's (and subsequently his own) grave. CJ tries to reason with Pulaski and convince him that Tenpenny will kill him too in order to silence the last person who knows about his corruption, but Pulaski refuses to listen. Hernandez suddenly springs to life and tackles Pulaski, who fatally shoots him. When CJ chases after him, Pulaski spews vile statements about CJ's mother and sister. Enraged, CJ runs Pulaski's car off the road and mortally wounds him. In his final moments, CJ asks "any last requests?". Pulaski asks CJ "Can I fuck your sister?", to which CJ retorts "You're an asshole to the end" and kills him by a stomp to the head.
Officer Eddie Pulaski was voiced by Chris Penn
Chris Penn
Christopher Shannon "Chris" Penn was an American film and television actor known for his roles in such films as The Wild Life, Reservoir Dogs, Footloose, Rush Hour, True Romance, All the Right Moves and Pale Rider.-Early life:Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest son of Leo Penn,...
.
Michael Toreno
Introduced in: "Photo Opportunity"Mike Toreno is an undercover agent from a "government agency" who disguises himself as a drug dealer for the Loco Syndicate. From the beginning, his presence doesn't quite fit, and the mere sight of him disturbs CJ. In his first appearance, Mike is abducted by the Da Nang Boys, who steal one of the Syndicate's drug vans with Toreno inside, but CJ and T-Bone Mendez locate the vehicle at the San Fierro airstrip. Toreno is furious when he sees CJ's unfamiliar face and threatens to shoot him. Once Mendez calls him off, Toreno orders all of them to open fire on the van and destroy it, thus removing the evidence.
Following the death of Jizzy, CJ and his associates plan to ambush the Syndicate's meeting with Big Smoke's Cartel. CJ buys them cover with a sniper rifle, but Toreno, in a helicopter, notices the corpses on a roof and aborts his landing. Later, CJ tracks the chopper to another location and shoots it out of the sky; Toreno is presumed dead.
However, Toreno, at first using a digitally-distorted voice, calls CJ shortly afterward and orders him to travel to his secluded ranch in Tierra Robada. Toreno then gives CJ a series of assignments under duress: Toreno suggests that harm will come to Sweet, who is now in prison, if CJ does not work for him. Toreno promises that if Carl cooperates, Sweet will remain safe and may eventually be released. Toreno was apparently only supplying cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
to appease a government ally overseas; he has since abandoned dealing and is now focused on killing operatives from rival agencies "with confused social agendas", who are trying to undermine his shady operations.
Philosophically, Toreno is a highly cynical American imperialist. He primarily uses CJ as a courier, saboteur, and assassin. Though he knows of Tenpenny and Pulaski's dirty dealings as well as their hold over CJ, Toreno does not use his power to stop them. He tells CJ, "We have to make decisions, kid. You know, I try to set bad people on other bad people. And sometimes, I let good guys die." Toreno seems to have gravitated toward committing heinous acts in the name of a greater good, much like Tenpenny. However, unlike Tenpenny, Toreno is not corrupted by power and does what he thinks is right regardless of his own personal gain.
Toreno's assignments, which include dropping a payload by plane while avoiding radar detection and shooting down black Government choppers from a plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
, strike CJ as almost impossible. At one point, Toreno sends Carl to purchase the Verdant Meadows Airfield, a defunct landing strip in the desert, and use the facility to have CJ trained as a pilot.
While Toreno initially treats Carl like street trash and enjoys bringing up Sweet's dire situation, his attitude changes as CJ proves his ability to get seemingly impossible jobs done. He begins to enjoy having CJ around, treating him like a sort of "war buddy" and displaying a certain degree of camaraderie and affection. After CJ becomes a manager for rapper Madd Dogg and hasn't heard from Toreno in some time, Toreno hijacks the studio's sound system during a recording session and assigns CJ one last job. Toreno personally drives CJ to Easter Bay to infiltrate an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
and steal a V/STOL
V/STOL
Vertical and/or short take-off and landing is a term used to describe aircraft that are able to take-off or land vertically or on short runways. Vertical takeoff and landing describes craft which do not require runways at all...
fighter jet
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
. After he finds himself confronting enemy jets and bombing boats at the dam reservoir, CJ becomes fed up with Toreno, his fury is amplified when Toreno ditches the stolen jet and leaves CJ to deal with it.
Toreno shows up unannounced yet again in Madd Dogg's mansion and tells CJ that he has one more mission that needs to get done. Upon hearing this, CJ snaps and holds a gun to Toreno's face, but Toreno responds by calmly saying that CJ is "embarrassing" himself. He then tells him that the "mission" is simply to pick up Sweet following his early release from prison. Toreno makes no further appearances in the game. Toreno drives a Brown Washington with the number plate reading OMEGA. This could be a huge reference to the James Cameron film, "True Lies", in which the lead character, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, works for the "Omega Sector" agency.
Mike Toreno was voiced by James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
.
Officer Jimmy Hernandez
Introduced in: Introduction; police arrest cut sceneKilled in: "High Noon"
Officer Jimmy Hernandez is the newest member of C.R.A.S.H. He is the rookie officer, and is given little, if any, respect from Tenpenny and Pulaski; he is assigned the task of fetching meat for their barbecue, and is subject to racial slurs. Unlike his other two counterparts, he doesn't share their corrupt view of how the law should be handled. They both try to convince Hernandez through the genre of their daily work such as shooting a dying cop both Tenpenny and Pulaski beat down to keep from talking.
In The Introduction prequel film, Tenpenny berates him for describing a moral quandary involved with a domestic dispute case. Hernandez describes his difficulty deciding whether to take the abusive husband to jail, leaving the children with their drug-abusing mother, or let the husband go unpunished for beating his wife. Tenpenny says that if Hernandez can't handle that case, he won't be able to handle the "drug dealers, gang bangers and psychotics" that Tenpenny deals with on a daily basis. After a lecture about the need to "do what it takes" in maintaining the bigger picture, Tenpenny orders Hernandez out of the car.
After he finally realizes that things have been taken too far with Tenpenny's multiple acts of conspiracy, he decides to report all of C.R.A.S.H.'s crimes of corruption up to the point where he was working with them. He is later knocked unconscious with a shovel and left to die during "High Noon" for selling out Tenpenny and Pulaski, and almost ends up buried in Bone County by Pulaski. However, he recovers from the shovel attack and subsequently saves CJ's life by lunging at Pulaski (who was holding CJ at gunpoint), who then viciously shoots him in the chest killing him. He considers himself a good cop, different from Tenpenny and Pulaski.
Officer Hernandez was voiced by Armando Riesco
Armando Riesco
Armando Riesco is a Puerto Rican film and television actor and voice artist.-Biography:Riesco was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico to Cuban immigrants who resettled there. He was raised in San Juan where he attended Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola. Riesco then attended Northwestern University...
.
Kendl Johnson
Introduced in: "Sweet & Kendl"Kendl Johnson (April 1, 1971) is CJ and Sweet's sister. She is also Cesar Vialpando's girlfriend. She wears green clothing to indicate her affiliation with the Grove Street Families, although she once referred to the "Grove 4 Life" philosophy as "bullshit." After learning about Big Smoke and Ryder's betrayal, CJ requests that Cesar bring Kendl to safety by fleeing from Los Santos. Later in the storyline, Cesar pondered proposing to Kendl, but the question of whether Kendl accepted or not remains unanswered. It is assumed they did get engaged.
Kendl is the one to convince CJ that a surprised payoff for a race, a gas station, was a positive venture. Later, CJ refers to her as the 'Moms of the family', which Cesar agrees with.
Kendl Johnson was voiced by Yo-Yo
Yo-Yo (rapper)
Yo-Yo is a Grammy-nominated American hardcore rapper and actress. Much of her music has advocated female empowerment, denouncing the frequent sexism found in hip-hop music. She is the protege of gangsta rapper Ice Cube...
.
Jeffrey "OG Loc" Cross
Introduced in: "OG Loc"Jeffrey Cross (July 25, 1968) is Carl's friend and neighbor who pursues a rapping career in the mold of 1990s West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
gangsta rappers. He is a part time member of the GSF, although he assumes a "gangsta" nickname, OG Loc, and commits minor crimes such as joyriding
Joyride (crime)
To joyride is to drive around in a stolen car, boat, or other vehicle with no particular goal, a ride taken solely for pleasure.In English law, joyriding is not considered to be theft, because the intention to "permanently deprive" the owner of the vehicle cannot be proven...
specifically to get sent to jail and therefore improve his street credibility. However, Loc's rapping is terrible and even his friends find it unbearable to listen to.
In The Introduction, Sweet tells Loc to abandon his fantasies about being a gangster and instead to enter college and make something of himself, and in-game dialogue suggests that Smoke also believes that Jeffrey is more suited to go to college. However, he refuses, saying that rapping is his true calling. The game suggests that while in prison, Loc was molested
Prison rape
Prison rape commonly refers to the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff.In 2001, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 140,000 inmates had been raped while incarcerated. and there is a significant variation in the rates of prison rape by race...
by fellow inmate Freddy, as mentioned in an exchange between the two when CJ and Loc pursue and kill him, when Loc yells "You stole my rhymes!" to Freddy, Loc could possibly mean "You stole my virginity!". After being paroled, Loc is given a job as a janitor (which he refers to as a "Hygiene Technician") at the local Burger Shot. The term Hygiene Technician refers to the 90s habit of giving minor (and relatively unimportant) positions in businesses an important sounding name.
While working at the restaurant, OG Loc asks CJ to aid him in jumpstarting his music career by stealing some music equipment from a beach party and a rhyme book from Los Santos hip-hop star Madd Dogg. Loc also has CJ derail Madd Dogg's career further by killing his manager, who, Loc believes, was using his influence to keep Loc's career from taking off. Shortly afterwards, Loc quits his job, having decided that he'd rather violate his parole and return to jail than work at a job that "ain't gangsta". However, as CJ's actions send Madd Dogg into decline and depression, Loc is afforded the opportunity to rise to stardom. After CJ's friends betray him and he is exiled from Los Santos, Loc becomes a mainstream success with help from his agent, Big Smoke.
Later in the game, after CJ saves Madd Dogg's life and is rewarded with a position as his manager in Las Venturas, the two pursue OG Loc to reclaim Dogg's rhyme book. After a lengthy chase, the two men corner Loc, who agrees to give up rap and leave them alone from then on.
It is a running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
that his name, "Oh-gee Loc", is frequently mispronounced; radio talk show host Lazlow
Lazlow
Lazlow Jones, is an American writer, producer, director and talk show host based in New York City. He was the host of Technofile, a radio show syndicated on more than 100 radio stations in America and as well as Sirius XM Satellite Radio...
calls him "Oglock", music DJ Sage talks about "Oge Loke", and his rival Madd Dogg rues the day that his number one position was taken over by "Loc OG". Katie Zhan, one of CJ's girlfriends, calls him "OG Joke."
OG Loc is a reference to many of the rap artists in the late '80's and early '90's who rap tough and acts tough, but have no serious "street cred", like Vannila Ice.
OG Loc can also be heard on Radio Los Santos.
Jeffrey "OG Loc" Cross was voiced by Jonathan Anderson.
Madd Dogg
Introduced in: "Madd Dogg", although he may be heard on WCTR and Radio Los Santos beforehand.Madd Dogg (March 27, 1958) is one of Los Santos' most well-known rappers. Shortly after CJ's arrival in Los Santos, Madd Dogg was at the height of his career, having just released his own line of clothing and numerous other merchandise. Madd Dogg's career suffers a decline after CJ steals his rhyme book, shoots many of his employees and drowns his manager, all in an effort to jumpstart OG Loc's music career.
Madd Dogg experiences a period of depression, during which he gambles away his mansion in Vinewood to a Vagos drug kingpin and skips a concert in Venturas to gamble the rest of his money away. In a bid to commit suicide, Madd Dogg appears on the ledge of a casino, drunk, and threatens to jump to his death. With people in the crowd below taking bets to whether or not he will actually jump, CJ saves him at the last minute by catching his falling body with a pickup truck.
CJ then takes Madd Dogg to rehab. After getting out, Madd Dogg, grateful, makes CJ his new manager. Carl makes up for his part in ruining Dogg's career by seizing his mansion back and restoring his name in the rap industry. CJ and Madd Dogg pursue OG Loc in hovercraft and go-karts. They frighten Loc into giving the rhyme book back and leaving them alone. At game's end, Madd Dogg's comeback results in a gold record.
In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is a 2005 sandbox-style action video game developed by Rockstar North and Rockstar Leeds. It is the ninth game in the Grand Theft Auto series...
, a billboard
Billboard (advertising)
A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure , typically found in high traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers...
just outside Toni Cipriani's apartment in Portland, Liberty City
Liberty City (Grand Theft Auto)
Liberty City is a fictional city in Rockstar Games' video games series Grand Theft Auto, based primarily on several major cities including New York City...
, advertises release of digitally remastered Madd Dogg's album Still Madd in 1998.
Madd Dogg was voiced by Ice T
Ice T
Tracy Marrow , better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American musician and actor.He was born in Newark, New Jersey and moved to the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles when he was in the 7th grade. After graduating from high school he served in the United States Army for four years...
.
Catalina
Introduced in: "First Date"Catalina (July 18, 1967–2001) is Cesar Vialpando's cousin who lives in a secluded cabin in the rural Fern Ridge area. She is almost completely insane, extremely violent, and exhibits strong misandric
Misandry
Misandry is the hatred or dislike of men or boys.Misandry comes from Greek misos and anēr, andros . Misandry is the antonym of philandry, the fondness towards men, love, or admiration of them...
tendencies. After CJ is displaced to the Badlands, Cesar suggests that he seek out Catalina for work. Her list of dead husbands in the past and the graves near her hideout is very similar to that of Serial Killer Belle Gunness
Belle Gunness
Belle Sorenson Gunness was a Norwegian-American serial killer....
The second CJ meets Catalina, he dislikes her. She is impatient, insulting, obnoxious and never admits wrongdoing. Catalina insists they go on a crime spree in the countryside, robbing several businesses. While this is going on, Catalina decides by herself that she is CJ's new girlfriend and threatens to kill him if he does not go along with it.
At the beginning of the third heist, Catalina puts CJ through an extreme off-screen BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
session. CJ voices his disinterest, fear, and lack of comfort, but Catalina proceeds undeterred. As a result, CJ is even more put off by how crazy Catalina is, but what she calls his "lack of passion" just makes Catalina erupt in anger at random. CJ is more interested in getting some quick cash to get back on his feet than dating Catalina, though he does try to make it work.
However, no matter what CJ says or does, Catalina continues to berate him and call him a failure. In one mission cut scene, she threatens to kill anyone who messes with her, especially CJ, simply because she's in a bad mood. She eventually "breaks up" with CJ and finds herself a new boyfriend, Claude, the silent protagonist from Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 open world action computer and video game developed by DMA Design in the United Kingdom, and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first 3D title in the Grand Theft Auto series. It was released in October 2001 for the PlayStation 2, May 2002 for Microsoft Windows,...
. Catalina and her new boyfriend leave together for Liberty City, setting up the events of GTA III
Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 open world action computer and video game developed by DMA Design in the United Kingdom, and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first 3D title in the Grand Theft Auto series. It was released in October 2001 for the PlayStation 2, May 2002 for Microsoft Windows,...
in which she betrays and is killed by Claude.
Catalina is a dangerous psychopath: she is homicidal and appears to suffer from a persecution complex, which might date back to her stepfather. "You were slow and stupid," she says, "like a big fat brat that eats chocolate while his father gives nothing to his stepdaughter but stale bread!"
After Catalina and Claude's departure, Catalina attempts but fails to get to CJ by making phone calls to him. After the last mission of the game, Catalina calls in the middle of having sex with Claude and therefore forces CJ to listen. He says, "Catalina! You sick! Get help!" She responds by saying, "And you, Carl, you are jealous!". She also breaks up with CJ and says "asshole".
Catalina was voiced by Cynthia Farrell.
The Truth
Introduced in: "Body Harvest", although he may be heard on WCTR beforehand.The Truth is an aging hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
who initially lives in the mountains on the outskirts of San Fierro and previously owned a marijuana farm. The Truth contacts CJ while he is in exile in the Badlands and tells him to meet him at a roadside motel. When CJ arrives, he finds Tenpenny smoking Truth's marijuana from a bong
Bong
A bong is a filtration device/apparatus generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco,or other herbal substances.In construction and function a bong is similar to a hookah, except smaller and more portable...
. The Truth asks for CJ's help in the theft of a combine harvester
Combine harvester
The combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from the fact that it combines three separate operations, reaping, threshing, and winnowing, into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn ,...
from a ranch belonging to survivalists
Survivalism
Survivalism is a movement of individuals or groups who are actively preparing for future possible disruptions in local, regional, national, or international social or political order...
.
The Truth supplies Tenpenny with free drugs because of an erroneous belief that the crooked officer would shield him from prosecution in exchange. However, Truth pays for his misplaced faith when Tenpenny calls in a raid on his farm. The Truth is forced to destroy his crops before the authorities arrive. He supplies CJ with a flamethrower to burn the plants and an RPG-7
RPG-7
The RPG-7 is a widely-produced, portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and now manufactured by the Bazalt company...
(which he intended to convert into a lamp) to shoot down a police helicopter. The Truth travels with CJ to San Fierro and introduces him to a couple of mechanics, who then go to work at CJ's garage.
After CJ purchases an abandoned airfield on the outskirts of Las Venturas, Truth appears without warning at the airfield. He somehow knows Mike Toreno's identity and is appalled at what CJ is doing for him. The Truth wants to help CJ redeem himself, this time by stealing covert technology. He drives CJ out to the Area 69 military base, where he steals an experimental jetpack known as "The Black Project" from the bowels of the complex. The Truth returns later, this time to have CJ to use the jetpack to nab a containment unit being transported by a heavily guarded military train. CJ succeeds and takes the canister back to his airstrip, where it is revealed to contain "green goo" of unknown origin. The Truth becomes ecstatic, proclaiming; "They will call this 'Year Zero!'" before running off again without any explanation.
Truth plays a background role afterward, visiting Madd Dogg's mansion to visit CJ and his associates. He last appears standing over Officer Tenpenny's corpse along with the rest of the characters, commenting that CJ has "beat the system" and is his "total inspiration".
At first glance, Truth is a stoner and crazed conspiracy theorist
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
. At one point, he makes CJ park his vehicle at random locations and waits for black vans to drive by, telling him to "think about a yellow rubber duck" and "picture a pink golfball in your mind". He also mentions the 23 theory
23 (numerology)
The 23 enigma refers to the belief that most incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23, some modification of the number 23, or a number related to the number 23.-Origins:...
. However the more he talks, the more his bizarre theories are in synch with what CJ knows about Mike Toreno. The Truth is apparently well aware of conspiracies surrounding the government and aliens, which causes CJ to wonder whether he's really crazy after all.
The Truth owns an environmentally-friendly hippie van dubbed "The Mothership", whose engine is "held together by a macrame
Macramé
Macramé or macrame is a form of textile-making using knotting rather than weaving or knitting. Its primary knots are the square knot and forms of "hitching": full hitch and double half hitches...
hammock", and runs on "15-year-old cooking oil". He is also acquainted with many characters from past games, such as Dwayne and Jethro from Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 open world action computer and video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the second 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise and sixth original title overall...
, as well as Kent Paul and Maccer. He heavily smokes marijuana and does countless psychedelic drug
Psychedelic drug
A psychedelic substance is a psychoactive drug whose primary action is to alter cognition and perception. Psychedelics are part of a wider class of psychoactive drugs known as hallucinogens, a class that also includes related substances such as dissociatives and deliriants...
s, like LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
, magic mushrooms
Psychedelic mushroom
Psilocybin mushrooms are fungi that contain the psychoactive compounds psilocybin and psilocin. There are multiple colloquial terms for psilocybin mushrooms, the most common being shrooms or magic mushrooms....
, mescaline
Mescaline
Mescaline or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class used mainly as an entheogen....
, PMA, and peyote
Peyote
Lophophora williamsii , better known by its common name Peyote , is a small, spineless cactus with psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline.It is native to southwestern Texas and Mexico...
; the latter was consumed before The Truth, Kent Paul, Maccer and the rest of the Gurning Chimps camped out in the desert, where they "faced the inner light
Inner light
Inner Light is a concept which many Quakers, members of the Religious Society of Friends, use to express their conscience, faith and beliefs. Each Quaker has a different idea of what they mean by "inner light", and this also varies internationally between Yearly Meetings, but the idea is often...
, and communed with "The Lizard King
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
!" (This is referred to in the introduction to the mission where Carl finds Paul and Maccer.) Paul and Maccer (minus the rest of their band) find themselves hung over and stranded in the desert, while The Truth wakes up in Los Santos inside a Japanese bathhouse.
When the Truth contacts CJ for help to flee to San Fierro, he ends the phone call muttering "Whoa man I don't know you, prank caller, prank caller!", a reference to the film Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
, where Lance (a drug dealer) speaks the same line.
The Truth was voiced by Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
.
Jizzy B.
Introduced in: "Photo Opportunity", although he may be heard on WCTR beforehand.Killed in: "Ice Cold Killa"
Jizzy B. is the biggest pimp in San Fierro and owns a club called "The Pleasure Domes", based on the Golden Gate Circa, which is housed in an old war-era fortress beneath Battery Point. It is an adult entertainment place, where Jizzy surrounds himself with prostitutes, whom he abuses. He is one of the members of the Loco Syndicate, which is manufacturing and supplying drugs to Los Santos.Initially Cj works for him but afterhand he kills him as he was a member of the Loco Syndicates.
Jizzy was the "number cruncher" guy for the Loco Syndicate. He's the one who set up the meeting and runs the operation, but was dissatisfied and the cut he was getting and was trying to get a higher share when he was killed by CJ.
Jizzy B. was voiced by Charlie Murphy
Charlie Murphy
Charles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy is an American actor, comedian, and writer notable as being a cast member and writer on the Comedy Central sketch-comedy series Chappelle's Show...
.
T-Bone Mendez
Introduced in: "Photo Opportunity"Killed in: "Pier 69"
T-Bone Mendez is a member of the Loco Syndicate along with Mike Toreno, Jizzy, and Ryder. He is also the leader of the San Fierro Rifa gang. T-Bone acts as the Loco Syndicate's muscle and is very distrustful of people. He viciously beats a man in The Introduction because he suspects that the man is a snitch. T-Bone is killed in the mission "Pier 69" when both CJ and Vialpando riddle him with bullets until his body falls into the bay. T-Bone drives a Brown ZR-350.
T-Bone Mendez was voiced by Kid Frost
Kid Frost
Arturo Molina Jr. , better known as Frost , is a Mexican American hip hop artist.-Early life:...
. "La Raza
La Raza (song)
"La Raza" is a popular song recorded by the Mexican-American rapper Kid Frost and featured on the album Hispanic Causing Panic. "La Raza", which is Spanish for "the race" or more symbolically "the people", is featured on the soundtrack to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on West Coast hip...
", a rap song produced by Frost, is featured in the playlist of Radio Los Santos and the game's soundtrack.
Kent Paul
Introduced in: "Don Peyote"Kent Paul is a record producer who was featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 open world action computer and video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the second 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise and sixth original title overall...
. Once an informal information broker in Vice City
Vice City
Vice City is a fictional city in the Grand Theft Auto series, based on Miami, Florida. Two versions of the city have appeared in different generations of the series: The Grand Theft Auto rendition is geographically very similar to Miami...
("informal" in that Tommy Vercetti roughed him up whenever he wanted information), Kent Paul had returned to England. There, he became record producer extraordinaire, bringing a new English band, the Gurning Chimps (led by Maccer), to San Andreas for publicity. Unfortunately, after he and the band partied with The Truth out in the desert outside Las Venturas, he finds himself stranded with only Maccer remaining.
Rescued by CJ, who was sent to retrieve them, Paul heads to Las Venturas to meet his old acquaintance, Ken Rosenberg or "Rosie," as he calls him (the two were acquainted in GTA: Vice City). Salvatore decides to hang Kent Paul and Maccer out the casino window, with Ken Rosenberg providing the ballast. CJ misleads Leone, allowing him to save the lives of Ken, Maccer and Paul. Later, Paul starts producing for Madd Dogg's record label at CJ's request after Madd Dogg's career is back on track.
Kent Paul is somehow affiliated with The Truth, who he and Maccer were taking peyote
Peyote
Lophophora williamsii , better known by its common name Peyote , is a small, spineless cactus with psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline.It is native to southwestern Texas and Mexico...
in the desert. Kent Paul is a generally more tempermental and selfish person than he was 6 years ago and constantly finds himself wondering why he is paired with Maccer.
Kent Paul was voiced by Danny Dyer
Danny Dyer
Danny Dyer is an English actor, media personality, and chairman of Greenwich Borough, a non-League football team.-Biography:Daniel John Dyer was born in Custom House, an area of East London, to Antony and Christine Dyer...
.
Maccer
Introduced in: "Don Peyote", although he may be heard on WCTR beforehand.Maccer is a Salford native, lead singer of the Gurning Chimps band and Kent Paul's partner. He, along with the rest of the band, had been purchased by Kent Paul, and had set off to the United States for a tour. However, after a camp-out in the Las Venturas desert with The Truth, Maccer finds the rest of his band missing, with only Kent Paul left in his company. The whereabouts of the other Gurning Chimps members remains unknown for the rest of the game. However, it is implied that the members would be found five months later, to which Maccer denies had happened, claiming that they were "on a break." The Gurning Chimps is suggested to remain active by Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, which takes place in 1998 — Head Radio DJ Michael Hunt indicates Maccer vomited on his shoes when he was backstage at his band's concerts.
Maccer has uncontrollable sexual tendencies; namely, he masturbates
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
chronically and often at highly inappropriate times and places. This is shown in the opening cut scenes of missions "Cut Throat Business" (where he is told to think of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
to stop masturbating, but starts masturbating to the thought of her) and during a conversation between Sweet and CJ in "Riot".
Of minor note, Maccer has indicated that he was born in Salford in 1965. He has also been involved in the Epsilon Program, which he claimed helped him "cleaned up his act."
Maccer was voiced by Shaun Ryder
Shaun Ryder
Shaun William Ryder, aka X, is an English musician, occasional newspaper columnist, actor, author, singer-songwriter and television personality, best known as lead singer for Happy Mondays and Black Grape – and more recently as the runner-up of the 2010 version of the British TV Show I'm a...
of the Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
.
Zero
Introduced in: "Wear Flowers in Your Hair", although he may be heard on WCTR beforehand.Zero is an electronics expert, forced virgin and hobbyist who manages an electronics shop in San Fierro owned by CJ. His archenemy is Berkley, the owner of Berkley RC, who swore revenge on Zero after losing to him in a science fair. Using Zero's equipment, Carl aids Zero in disrupting Berkley's business operations and ultimately beating Berkley in a miniature "war game", forcing Berkley to leave San Fierro for good. He eagerly joins in on C.J.'s plans, even helping to sweep up the shop.
Zero can be seen providing electronic equipment for a number of jobs, as well as providing physical assistance in the Caligula's Casino heist. He cannot resist bragging of the planned job to Berkley, which puts the characters at risk. After all escape safely, C.J. punishes Zero with a punch to the face, and was stopped by Woozie before CJ can do any more bodily harm to Zero.
Zero was voiced by David Cross
David Cross
David Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...
.
Guppy
Introduced in: "Jizzy"Guppy is one of Woozie's high ranking Mountain Cloud Boys Triad members and assistant to Woozie. Additionally, he assists CJ in the preparation and execution of the Caligula's Casino heist and also assists in a Triad mission to retake Madd Dogg's mansion from the Vagos gang.
Ken Rosenberg
Introduced in: "Don Peyote"Ken Rosenberg serves as the middle man for Leone, the Forelli and the Sindacco Mafia families in Las Venturas, where he manages the Caligula's Palace casino. Although a "Middle Man", he feels more like "Caught in between the fire" because none of the three mob families trust each other, including him, which makes him highly paranoid and insecure, Ken fears that one of the families will kill him and place the blame on the other organizations. Ken's companions are Maccer, Kent Paul (who occasionally refers to Ken as "Rosie" in the game) and a parrot named Tony; he also provides CJ with a few jobs in Las Venturas. This revolves around a criminal organization that has made moves against Ken's group. After CJ helps him fake his death and escape Las Venturas, he begins working for Madd Dogg, along with Maccer and Kent Paul.
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 open world action computer and video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the second 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise and sixth original title overall...
, he was Tommy Vercetti's lawyer. This was referenced in one mission, when Rosenberg (already high on cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
) says to CJ: "...just like old times, huh, Tommy?", to which CJ replies "Who the fuck is Tommy?". In The Introduction, Ken leaves drug rehab and calls Tommy, who refuses to take the call. Despite completing rehab for his cocaine use, Ken again begins abusing the drug later in the storyline. Ken is also disbarred
Disbarment
Disbarment is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking his or her law license or admission to practice law...
from the law, which forces him to find another job and leads to his assignment as the manager of Caligula's Palace.
Ken Rosenberg was voiced by Bill Fichtner.
Salvatore Leone
Introduced in: "Freefall"Don Salvatore Leone is the Don of the Leone family of the Liberty City Mafia. He eliminated the influence of the other families, the Sindacco family and the Forelli family, in Las Venturas, with the help of CJ, in order for Salvatore to assume a larger share of Caligula's Palace in Las Venturas. However, he is betrayed when CJ and the San Fierro Triads stage an elaborate heist and rob Caligula's Casino for millions of dollars, prompting an irate phone call to CJ shortly after the mission. This event is believed to have led to his much noted paranoia in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is a 2005 sandbox-style action video game developed by Rockstar North and Rockstar Leeds. It is the ninth game in the Grand Theft Auto series...
(GTA: LCS) and GTA III, and his eventual assassination in the latter. Salvatore promised to make CJ "dead, you all dead" but nothing came of his threat, probably because he didn't want to make a bad situation worse by letting people know how easy it was that he got robbed, which means he has strong vanity, which is also true in GTA III, when he ordered the death of Claude after learning he and Maria were an item.
In addition, it was during San Andreas that Salvatore was introduced to Maria, who worked as a waitress in Caligula's Palace at the time.
Salvatore Leone was voiced by Frank Vincent
Frank Vincent
Frank Vincent is an American actor, musician, author and entrepreneur. He is a favorite performer of director Martin Scorsese, having played important roles in three of Scorsese's most acclaimed films: Raging Bull , Goodfellas and Casino . He often plays a gangster and works both in features and...
.
See also: GTA III rendition & GTA: Liberty City Stories rendition
Mark "B Dup" Wayne
Introduced in: "Cleaning the Hood"Mark 'B-Dup' Wayne was once a member of the Grove Street Families. Before the game timeline, B-Dup has apparently drifted away from gang banging with the Grove Street Families and now sells drugs. CJ and Ryder attempt to recruit B-Dup for a mission near the beginning of the game, but they are angrily turned down. B-Dup has also enslaved crack addict (and former GSF member) Barry "Big Bear" Thorne, forcing him to do chores around the apartment in exchange for drugs.
After returning to Los Santos, CJ and Sweet threatened B-Dup into revealing Smoke's location. He doesn't answer the two because of not knowing of his location but informs them that only Smoke's lieutenants know of his location. When B-Dup calls Bear to kill CJ and Sweet, he was punched by Bear, who was tired of doing chores for him and goes with CJ and Sweet.
Mark "B Dup" Wayne was voiced by The Game
The Game (rapper)
Jayceon Terrell Taylor , better known by his stage name Game, formerly The Game, is an American rapper and actor. As a member of G-Unit, he rose to fame in 2005 with the success of his debut album, The Documentary, which earned him two Grammy Award nominations...
.
Barry "Big Bear" Thorne
Introduced in: "Cleaning the Hood"Big Bear was formerly a respected member of the Grove Street Families. Sometime after CJ left and the Ballas started dealing coke, he has apparently drifted away from the gang and is now a lowly drug addict. He is living from fix-to-fix and is basically B-Dup's indentured servant
Indentured servant
Indentured servitude refers to the historical practice of contracting to work for a fixed period of time, typically three to seven years, in exchange for transportation, food, clothing, lodging and other necessities during the term of indenture. Usually the father made the arrangements and signed...
, taking insults and cleaning his toilet. "Big Bear" has a cadaverous appearance and is unable to stop shaking because at the time he was under the influence of crack. Big Bear appears in only two mission cut scenes. In the first, he is introduced to the audience as an example of what crack has done to the neighborhood. In the second, Big Bear becomes tired of being controlled by crack and stands up for himself by punching B-Dup and joining CJ and Sweet. Big Bear then makes a deal with CJ and Sweet that he will return to Grove Street Families. Sweet takes him away saying he's going to "get [the] old Bear back". As such, Big Bear is a physical example of the Grove Street Families fighting back against the drug pushers.
Barry "Big Bear" Thorne was voiced by Big Boy
Big Boy (radio host)
Big Boy is a radio host currently heard on Los Angeles Rhythmic contemporary station KPWR in the mornings from 5 to 10, as well as numerous radio stations across the United States...
Claude
Introduced in: "Wu Zi Mu"Claude, the mute protagonist of Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 open world action computer and video game developed by DMA Design in the United Kingdom, and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first 3D title in the Grand Theft Auto series. It was released in October 2001 for the PlayStation 2, May 2002 for Microsoft Windows,...
, appears briefly
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in two missions, first in the background as CJ and C for a street race, and secondly as Catalina's next boyfriend after CJ, whom Catalina is not hesitant to boast about after she breaks up with CJ. After losing in a car race with CJ, Claude and Catalina leave San Andreas for Liberty City
Liberty City (Grand Theft Auto)
Liberty City is a fictional city in Rockstar Games' video games series Grand Theft Auto, based primarily on several major cities including New York City...
to start robbing banks, where Claude's exploits in GTA III
Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 open world action computer and video game developed by DMA Design in the United Kingdom, and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first 3D title in the Grand Theft Auto series. It was released in October 2001 for the PlayStation 2, May 2002 for Microsoft Windows,...
take place some nine years later, Catalina then also ends up betraying Claude.
Later, CJ receives several phone calls from Catalina, two of which references a person named "Claude." This shows that the main character of GTA III is in fact called "Claude". Claude maintains his silence in San Andreas, to which Carl Johnson references, referring to him as a "mute
Speech disorder
Speech disorders or speech impediments are a type of communication disorders where 'normal' speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute.-Classification:...
asshole" and a "fucking snake without a tongue", possibly as an in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
as the character never speaks.
Ran Fa Li
Introduced in: "Ran Fa Li"Ran Fa Li is the leader of the Red Gecko Tong and Shuk Foo Triad gangs. CJ first meets him in Woozie's betting shop and volunteers to help him both retrieve a package from the Easter Bay airport and help him escape from San Fierro by luring the Da Nang Boys away from Chinatown. He later becomes a shareholder in the Four Dragons Casino with Carl and Woozie later in the game.
Su Xi Mu
Introduced in: "Ran Fa Li"Su Xi Mu is the right hand man of Ran Fa Li who also acts as his translator. He only appears in Woozie's San Fierro missions helping Carl and Woozie understand Ran Fa Li.
Su Xi Mu was voiced by Richard Chang.
Dwayne and Jethro
Both introduced in: "Wear Flowers in Your Hair"Dwayne (previously spelled as Dwaine) and Jethro (born 1971), both pot smokers, are close associates who previously lived in Vice City
Vice City
Vice City is a fictional city in the Grand Theft Auto series, based on Miami, Florida. Two versions of the city have appeared in different generations of the series: The Grand Theft Auto rendition is geographically very similar to Miami...
, where they owned a boating business until it was purchased by Tommy Vercetti. This is referenced when The Truth says "...there's these two guys I know—used to work on marine engines, 'til the mob bought their business over in Vice." At the time of their introduction in San Andreas, Jethro is working at the Xoomer Gas Station in San Fierro, while Dwayne runs a hot dog van business nearby. The Truth convinces CJ to take on both men; they soon become highly trusted employees.
Dwaine was voiced by Navid Khonsari; Jethro was voiced by John Zurhellen.
Johnny Sindacco
Introduced in: "Fender Ketchup"Dies in: "The Meat Business"
Johnny Sindacco is a high-ranking member of the Sindacco family of the Mafia. He is the son of Paulie Sindacco who is later killed by Toni Cipriani in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is a 2005 sandbox-style action video game developed by Rockstar North and Rockstar Leeds. It is the ninth game in the Grand Theft Auto series...
His organization has turf in Liberty City and Las Venturas. When CJ first arrives in Las Venturas to Woozie's newly opened casino, Johnny has been caught smashing up some of the slot machines. As Woozie's men are about to "get rid of" Johnny, CJ intervenes and has Johnny tied to the hood of a car stomach down, facing the front windscreen. CJ then drives the car around the city dangerously in order to scare Johnny into telling him which Mafia family he's with.
Having been traumatized by the experience, Johnny spends time recovering in the hospital. At one point, some Forelli thugs highjack Johnny's ambulance in order to kill him. As CJ is helping Ken Rosenberg to prevent a war between the Leones
The Leone crime family
The Leone mafia family is a fictional mafia family in the Grand Theft Auto entertainment franchise. The family is controlled by Salvatore Leone from at least 1992 to 2001, who got his position as head of the family during a mob war in the 1980s, when his unknown-named brother was killed...
, the Forellis, and the Sindacco family, CJ highjacks the ambulance back from the Forelli thugs and drives Johnny back to safety. However, when CJ later accompanies Ken to a meeting with Johnny, Johnny recognizes CJ, and having not fully recovered from his trauma, dies from a shock-induced heart attack.
Johnny Sindacco was voiced by Casey Siemaszko
Casey Siemaszko
Casey Siemaszko is an American actor and the brother of actress Nina Siemaszko. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 17, 1961 to a Polish American father, a fighter in the Polish Underground who survived the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and an English mother.Siemaszko's best known film...
.
Old Reece
Introduced in: "Ryder"Old Reece is a local barber, seen at "Old Reece's Hair Facial Studio" in Idlewood Los Santos. He has known the Johnson family for a long time, evident by his casual attitude toward Carl among some of the things he says. He is also suggested to have Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, since Ryder makes mention about Reece having "popped his membrane years ago". Although never really discussed, Old Reece makes a reference to Carl's father, whom is totally unknown, but thought to have run out on them years ago, or have neglected the family.
Emmet
Introduced in: "Nines and AK's"Emmet is a gun dealer in Los Santos and a member of the Seville Boulevard Families. He provides weapons for the GSF and knows the Johnson family. Sweet and Big Smoke stopped going to Emmet once the Family sets split up, but CJ convinced them to start buying from him again shortly after he returned to San Andreas. Emmet seems to have bad eyesight and possible mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
issues, as he was unable to recognize CJ (thinking he was CJ's deceased brother Brian) and seems to be unaware of many events around him. Only pistols can be obtained from Emmet, but later on, Ryder gets an AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
from him which the player uses for a short time.
Emmet was voiced by Eugene Jeter Jr.
Denise Robinson
Introduced in: "Burning Desire"Can be killed: when dating CJ
Denise Robinson is one of two storyline girlfriends in San Andreas. She is the first girlfriend CJ gets in the game after he rescues her from a burning house fire in the mission "Burning Desire". When CJ goes out with Denise, she likes to stay local and to do drive-bys on the way. She says that she had three kids but put them up for adoption. Denise is aligned with the Grove Street Families but does not wear green. She does a shout out on Radio Los Santos in which she says that she is "desperate" for CJ's attention, but the player can still hear it before they have meet Denise or after Denise has dumped him or was killed. She is also a playable character in the multiplayer on Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
and PS2. Denise drives a Green Hustler whose number plate reads Homegirl.
Denise Robinson was voiced by Heather Alicia Simms.
Little Lion
Introduced in: "Mountain Cloud Boys"Killed in: "The Da Nang Thang"
Little Lion is a high-ranking member of the Mountain Cloud Boys who first meets Carl in Woozie's betting shop and informs him of his boss's blindness. He is later tasked to fly a helicopter around the Da Nang Boys' ship with Guppy shooting a minigun, but Carl instead shows up in Guppy's place and accompanies him during the mission. During the attack, the helicopter is shot down by a rocket launcher and Little Lion is killed on impact, while CJ manages to escape.
Hazer
Introduced in: "Cesar Vialpando"Wounded (possibly killed) in: "Los Desperados"
Hazer is a high ranking member of the Varrios Los Aztecas and a loyal friend of Cesar Vialpando. He first meets Carl shortly after he meets Cesar and threatens him after witnessing CJ separate Cesar and Kendl as they kiss. He doesn't appear again until the end of the game when he, Cesar, Carl, and fellow Aztecas retake their hood; before this occurs, he apologizes to CJ for his initial confrontation earlier in the game and assures him that they are cool. During the attack, Hazer is shot by a Vagos member and is severely wounded, and after the battle, he is taken to the hospital by Ceaser and the other Aztecas. Whether or not he lived is unknown.
Jimmy Silverman
Introduced in: "Cut Throat Business"CJ and Madd Dogg meet Jimmy Silverman after chasing OG Loc through Los Santos in an attempt to recover Madd Dogg's rhymes. OG Loc flees into an apartment, followed by CJ and Madd Dogg, where they meet Silverman, who offers to sue OG Loc for them.
Jimmy Silverman was voiced by James Madden.
Marco Forelli
Introduced/Killed in: "Saint Mark's Bistro"Marco Forelli is the Don of the Forelli Family during the events of the game and is also the brother of Sonny, Franco, and Mike as well as being the cousin of Giorgio. While Salvatore Leone is vsiting Caligula's Casino in Las Venturas, Forelli plans to assassinate him and sends Forelli hitmen to carry out the task, but Leone learns of this plan and sends Carl Johnson to kill them. After doing so, Salvatore orders a hit on Marco, which is, again, carried out by CJ after he flies to Liberty City and ambushes Marco's Bistro, during which he kills many Forelli Family members and eventually Marco himself.
Although his name is Marco Forelli, he is not called so in the game and is only referred to as Forelli.
Freddy
Introduced/killed in: "OG Loc"Freddy is the former homosexual
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
cellmate of Jeffrey "OG Loc" Cross, and a member of the Los Santos Vagos. The game suggests that while in prison, Freddy engaged in homosexual activities with OG Loc and also stole his "rhymes" (though Freddy claims ignorance as to what this accusation meant: he implies that the only reason Loc wanted him dead was to cover up the activities they engaged in together.) Freddy is killed by CJ when a motorcycle chase ends in an ambush. Freddy is referred to by OG Loc as a Cholo
Cholo
Cholo is an ethnic slur created by Hispanic criollos in the 16th century, and it has been applied to individuals of mixed or pure American Indian ancestry, or other racially mixed origin. The precise usage of "cholo" has varied widely in different times and places...
, suggesting he is of Mexican descent.
Tony
Introduced in: "Intensive Care"Tony is a talking parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
that serves as a companion of Ken Rosenberg. The bird's role in the game is considerably trivial, appearing only a few times as a minor comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
as Ken nervously resides in Las Venturas. The parrot utters, among others, Mafia slang terms and foul language, as well as a quotation from Tony Montana
Tony Montana
Antonio Raimundo "Tony" Montana is a fictional character from the 1983 film Scarface. He is portrayed by Al Pacino in the movie, and is voiced by André Sogliuzzo in the 2006 video game Scarface: The World Is Yours. Tony Montana has become a cultural icon and is one of the most famous movie...
in the 1983 Scarface film
Scarface (1983 film)
Scarface is a 1983 American epic crime drama movie directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, produced by Martin Bregman and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana...
Maria Latore
Introduced in: "Freefall"Maria Latore (also referred to as Maria La Torra by several sources, including the voice-over credits in the San Andreas game manual) is a waitress in the Caligula's Palace casino. Appearing briefly during Don Salvatore Leone's presence in Las Venturas, she would be seen beginning to establish a closer relationship with Don, which explains the origins of her ties with him in GTA III and GTA:LCS. At the end of Grand Theft Auto III, she is heard talking after the screen goes black until the sound of a gunshot, her fate is unknown.
Maria La Torra was voiced by Debi Mazar
Debi Mazar
Deborah "Debi" Mazar is an American actress, perhaps best known for her Jersey Girl-type roles; as sharp-tongued women in independent films; and for her recurring role as press agent Shauna Roberts on the HBO series Entourage.-Early life:...
.
- See also: GTA III rendition & GTA: Liberty City Stories rendition
Millie Perkins
Introduced in: "Key to Her Heart"Can be killed in: When dating with CJ
Millie Perkins is a card dealer
Croupier
A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos.-Origin of the word:...
at the mob-run Caligula's Palace casino. She becomes CJ's second (story-line) girlfriend when CJ seduces her in order to get her keycard to facilitate his robbery of Caligula's Palace. The player can skip the seduction by simply killing Millie, though like all the girlfriends, she is very resistant to injury.
Millie is fond of BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
, which can be utilized by the player to speed seduction. She drives a Pink Club and her number plate reads SPANK.
Millie Perkins was voiced by Orfeh
Orfeh
Orfeh is an American singer, songwriter and Tony-nominated actress from New York City.-Biography:Orfeh, born and raised in Manhattan, began her career straight out of high school. She attended the famous LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, and got a record deal right after her graduation...
.
Katie Zhan
Introduced in: San Fierro"Katie Zhan" is one of Carl Johnson's optional girlfriends. She is a Nurse who also spends her spare time at the Karate Dojo in San Fierro, San Andreas. Due to her health-conscious image, she eats at diners but avoids fast food restaurants. She is also homophobic and doesn't like it when the player drives by the Queens neighborhood, a gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered district. Katie also likes the shoreline, and her mood improves when the player drives by the area. She is also fascinated by automobile accidents and is easily aroused by reckless driving.
Katie is voiced by China Chow
China Chow
China Chow is a British actress and model.-Personal life:Chow was born in London, England to restaurateur Michael Chow and late model/designer Tina Chow. She is of Chinese, Japanese, German, and Scottish ancestry. Chow has a brother who is three years younger. Her aunt is actress and one-time Bond...
.
Beverly Johnson
Mentioned in: The Introduction; "Big Smoke"; "Sweet & Kendl"; "Drive-Thru"; "Nines & AK's"; "High Noon"Beverly Johnson (1938–1992) was Carl's, Sweet's, Kendl's, and Brian's mom. She is shot in a drive by when bullets pierce the walls of her house. Her death was the reason Carl returned to Los Santos from Liberty City. Only seen on a photograph in the mission: "Big Smoke".
Tony
Tony is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who is mentioned in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Tony was a member of the Grove Street Families who, by 1992, had been killed. He is buried in the cemetery in Los Santos and is mentioned by Sweet Johnson during the mission "Sweet & Kendl".Little Devil
Little Devil is a character mentioned in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Little Devil was once a member of the Grove Street Families who, by 1992, had been dead. He is buried in the cemetery in Los Santos and is mentioned by Sweet Johnson during the mission "Sweet & Kendl".Big Devil
Big Devil is a character in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas who is mentioned during the mission "Sweet & Kendl". Big Devil was a former member of the Grove Street Families who, by 1992, had been dead. He is buried in the cemetery in Los Santos and is mentioned by Sweet Johnson near the very beginning of the game, when Carl came back to attend his mother's funeral.Candy Suxxx
Candy Suxxx can be seen on posters in some of the safehouses and on one of the casinos, resembling Sassy Sally.Avery Carrington
Avery Carrington appears in San Andreas on one of the casinos resembling Vegas VicVegas Vic
Vegas Vic is the unofficial, yet most widely used name for the Las Vegas, Nevada neon sign that resembles a cowboy that was erected on the exterior of The Pioneer Club in Las Vegas in 1951. The sign was a departure in graphic design from typeface based neon signs, to a friendly and welcoming human...
.
Lance Vance
Lance Vance can be seen on the Grand Theft Auto: Vice CityGrand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 open world action computer and video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the second 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise and sixth original title overall...
game boxart in Zero RC shop.
Love Fist
Love Fist can be seen on one of the billboards in Los Santos as well as during the "Key To Her Heart" mission in Las Venturas on a poster serving as a cover to the heist plan.See also
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrackGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrackThe soundtrack of the computer and video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which is set in 1992 in the fictional U.S. West Coast state of San Andreas, required that the game's radio stations reflect the music tastes of the time and area, in addition to covering current events in the state of San...
, for radio disc jockeyDisc jockeyA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
s and personalities.