5 GTA characters who betrayed the protagonists

The GTA franchise has always spawned amazing storylines. Over the years, the GTA titles' storylines have only gotten better, with some of them gaining legendary status.

Set in the underbelly of major cities, GTA lets players emulate life as an outlaw and hustle their way to the top. As one would expect from a game that is all about gangster life, GTA has some terrible betrayals that leave players shocked.

The most iconic betrayal from the GTA universe will probably be Big Smoke and Ryder's betrayal of CJ in GTA San Andreas, which went on to be one of the defining moments of the game. Apart from this, almost every major GTA protagonist has been betrayed at least once.

Here is a list of five of the most iconic moments from the GTA universe where the protagonist is betrayed.

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5 of the most terrible betrayals GTA protagonists had to face

5) Franklin/Michael

The latest title in the GTA series offers players a choice in missions at crucial junctures. These choices will determine the player's next objective.

To make things interesting, GTA 5 offers players the option of betraying their fellow protagonists. The mission, called "The Time's Come," has Franklin killing Michael, and "Something Sensible" offers the option of Franklin and Michael killing Trevor.

4) Catalina/Claude

The betrayal of Claude by Catalina is the most significant incident in GTA 3, as it sets the wheel in motion. The betrayal is so severe that players are instantly reminded of it the moment Catalina appears in GTA San Andreas.

3) Lance Vance/Tommy Vercetti

This sudden turn of events sure caught most players off guard. Usually, in GTA, the antagonist betrays the protagonist early on in the game after which the latter swears vengeance.

However, GTA Vice City punches players with Lance Vance's betrayal of Tommy Vercetti at the very last mission of the game, called "Keep Your Friends Close..."

2) OG Loc/CJ

GTA San Andreas by far has one of the best storylines from the franchise and has some of the most terrible betrayals as well. While people bring up Big Smoke and Ryder while talking about the betrayals in the game, OG Loc is often overlooked.

OG asked CJ to help build his practically non-existent street cred and jeopardize the rap career of Madd Dogg. Not only did CJ get nothing out of this entire ordeal, but OG Loc also acted in an ungrateful manner with CJ.

1) Big Smoke and Ryder/CJ

This is the first example that comes to mind when someone talks about betrayals in the GTA series. Big Smoke and Ryder showed their true colors in 'The Green Sabre,' and this mission single-handedly established the latter as the secondary antagonist of the game, which was something nobody saw coming.

While some people claim to have seen many early signs of Big Smoke's betrayal, Ryder caught players off guard as he joined hands with him.