5 most tragic characters in the GTA Series

A few of the most tragic characters in the GTA Series (Image via Rockstar Games)
A few of the most tragic characters in the GTA Series (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA is one of the most popular open-world video games of all time. It has a particular place in every gamer's heart, whether it's the iconic sentence "Oh sh*t! Here we go again," from GTA San Andreas or the dramatic stories of GTA 4 and GTA 5.

Aside from the interesting tales, one of the reasons for its success is the roster of unforgettable characters.

Tragic backstories, bad decisions, unexpected betrayals, and deaths have resulted in some tear-jerking scenes. There are moments when a character must consider the implications of their choices and discover that not everything in the world of Grand Theft Auto is sunshine and rainbows.


5) Floyd Herbert

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Floyd Herbert is a minor character who appears in GTA 5. He had an uneventful childhood and tried to do nothing wrong, except steal a pencil in elementary school, which he has regretted ever since. Even though his girlfriend Debra has been cheating behind his back, he tries to live a normal life.

Trevor then breaks into his house, destroys his belongings, orders him around, and involves him in different crimes, which is completely against his nature. His cousin Wade doesn't find out that Floyd met a horrible death at the hands of Trevor.


4) Johnny Klebitz

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Jonathan "Johnny" Klebitz appears in Grand Theft Auto 4 and The Ballad of Gay Tony as a minor character. He also appears as a minor character in GTA 5 and as the protagonist in The Lost and Damned. He is well-known to anyone who has played the game.

He had a really bad life, some of his close friends (Jim and Jason) got killed, and after a civil war broke out in The Lost MC, he was forced to eliminate his former friends too. Johnny dies in a cutscene at the hands of Trevor, in a gruesome and undignified manner, after he tries to confront him.


3) Roman Bellic

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Roman Bellic is a deuteragonist and a friend in GTA 4 as well as a minor character in The Ballad Of Gay Tony, and The Lost and Damned. Roman is Niko Bellic's older cousin. One of the more frustrating consequences of Dimitri Rascalov's betrayals was Roman's death.

To make matters worse, Roman was a genuinely nice guy who never hurt anyone. He also learned about his wife's adultery, which he was powerless to stop. He was then shot just as he realized he had achieved the American dream.


2) Niko Bellic

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Niko Bellic is the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto 4 and appears in The Lost and Damned, and The Ballad of Gay Tony as a supporting character. Lester Crest and Patrick McReary both mentioned him in GTA 5.

He had a tragic past as his family was impoverished, and when he went to war, he lost nearly all of his comrades and companions because of a traitor.

He chooses to move to America with Roman and live the American dream with him until he discovers that Roman is lying. He doesn't plan on killing or being a criminal again, but sure enough, he gets sucked into it again and at the end of the game, he either loses his cousin and best friend or his girlfriend. Even if his girlfriend lives, she breaks up with him.


1) Phil Cassidy

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Phil Cassidy is the main character in Vice City Stories (VCS) and Vice City, as well as a minor character in Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto III. As a child, he had an abusive drunk father, an abusive brother-in-law who abused his sister Louise and her child, and later in VCS, he lost his sister Louise.

Three years later, in the Vice City event, he lost his best buddy, Victor Vance, in the game's intro. He also lost his left arm in 1986 after he was caught in the blast radius of a boomshine bomb during the events of GTA Vice City.


Grand Theft Auto's universe is full of betrayals, addictions, and unexpected deaths. Even though this is only a video game series, the amount of time people spend playing with these characters means that their misfortunes are always heartbreaking.

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Edited by Abu Amjad Khan
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