Understanding the rivalry between GTA San Andreas' Grove Street Families & Ballas gang

Gangs play a crucial role in GTA San Andreas. There were several gangs in the game, and the storyline of GTA San Andreas heavily rotated around gang rivalry.

Rockstar did an amazing job in capturing the real-life elements of the world. This was not limited to its cities, regions and landmarks. The plot was based on numerous real-life events in Los Angeles in the early 1990s. GTA San Andreas grasped the dispute between real-life street gangs, the crack pestilence of the 1980s and early 1990s, the LAPD Rampart scandal and the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

This article will help players in understanding the rivalry between GTA San Andreas' Grove Street Families and the Ballas gang.

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GTA San Andreas: Understanding the rivalry between the two major gangs

Grove Street Families is an African-American street gang based on the Crips, a street gang in South Central LA. In GTA San Andreas, the GSF is led by Sweet, CJ's elder brother, while Ryder, Big Smoke and CJ are high ranking members. They are portrayed as more honorable than other gangs and are against hard drugs being sold on their turf.

On the other hand, Ballas are the largest and most powerful street gang in Los Santos. The gang is based on the Bloods, another African-American street gang in Los Angeles, California. They have a long-running, bitter and fierce rivalry with the Grove Street Families, similar to Crips and Bloods in real life.

Now, to learn what fueled this rivalry in GTA San Andreas, readers first have to understand each gang's attitude. The initial years of the war have not been explained in GTA San Andreas. Speculaiton is that it may have originated when drugs made their way to Los Santos.

The Ballas began earning money selling drugs, while GSF leader "Sweet" refused to sell drugs, making Grove Street vulnerable. After the death of Beverly Johnson, her son CJ came returned from Liberty City and moved back to Los Santos. The funeral was attacked by Ballas, but no one was hurt or killed. CJ and Ryder attempted to get rid of the drug dealers around their area and killed many Balla crack dealers.

This was the reason behind the gangs' rivalry in GTA San Andreas. Furthermore, Big Smoke and Ryder betrayed the old gang and joined hands with Ballas to help them supply drugs in GSF territory.