5 features associated with pedestrians in the GTA series

Pedestrians are an integral, yet often overlooked feature of the GTA series that have their own sub-features associated with them.

They exist as more than just mindless AI that roams the streets of a GTA game to make it feel more lively. There are often several features attached to them, with some being well-known, such as them dropping money when killed, and others more niche, such as older GTA titles having them drop white chalk outlines after despawning.

Either way, pedestrians serve an important role in the GTA series thanks to these features. While the growth of these features associated with them is fascinating, this article will solely focus on five random features associated with pedestrians as opposed to anything too specific.

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Five little known features of pedestrians in the GTA series

#5 - Clumping

An example of vehicle clumping in GTA 4 (Image via GTA Wiki)

Clumping is a feature most commonly associated with earlier GTA titles where clumps of the same pedestrian and vehicle will spawn. Due to the size of most modern GTA games they try to be as efficient with their resources, so they will spawn the same pedestrian over and over again in some areas even if alternative pedestrians could spawn instead.

#4 - Calling the cops

This feature is unique to the pedestrians found in the HD universe, as earlier titles never had pedestrians call the police or anybody else for that matter. However, in a game like GTA 5, pedestrians can record events as they happen and even call the cops, which gives the player an automatic Wanted Level.

#3 - Using a prostitute's services

A prostitute in GTA 5 (Image via NY Daily News)

Prostitutes count as pedestrians within the GTA series, so it's only natural that this feature will be included. In the early GTA games, players would be able to pick up a prostitute, go somewhere secluded, and then utilize their services to heal. Some games even allow players to heal past the maximum amount of health this way.

The later titles started to incorporate more animations rather than just generic vehicle shaking, with some NPCs having the ability to pick up prostitutes in GTA 5.

#2 - Leaves white chalk outline when they're killed

A chalk outline in GTA Vice City (Image via Vice City: Multiplayer)

This feature is an old feature that was present in the 3D games except in GTA San Andreas. In these versions of GTA, pedestrians will eventually despawn when they're killed. Interestingly enough, they will leave a generic white outline before they fully despawn.

It's not a useful feature in the slightest, but it was an interesting feature associated with pedestrians in the earlier GTA titles.

#1 - Drops money when killed

Money is a valuable resource in the GTA series (Image via GTA Wiki)

This is one of the most famous pedestrian features in the GTA series. The amount of money these characters can drop varies from game to game, with some games like GTA 4 not requiring the player to kill them in order to obtain their money.

If a player needs money, they can always resort to killing pedestrians, as they spawn nearly everywhere in the city. It's worth noting that not every pedestrian drops money.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the opinion of the writer.