It should have been Michael, A Los Santos Vago fro East LS, and a biker from AOD
EXACTLY! Something along these lines. The three niches of the GTA universe are satisfied: The high-class and decidant mobster/organized robber style, the home boi gangbanga urban gang style, and the gritty and brutal back-country biker gang.
The mistake of GTA V was forcing them all to work together. Trevor and Michael hated each other. The whole f*cking game was a Tommy Wiseau style "fuk u mikul u betray me" up until the LAST scene, LITERALLY THE LAST MOMENT when Trevor says "we're killing Weston together, this action makes us best friends again." Franklin was presented in his trailers your ol' "Grove Street Gangsta". How many missions did he go "banging"? Two? Three? How much was Chop used or Lamar seen? How big of a feel did we get from da "hood"? Franklin transformed into Michael, but the game didn't present itself like that. "Look, he's wearing his green hoodies and ballcaps! He's riding a green motorcycle! That's some 'gangsta sh*t, homie'!" But wait. Franklin lived in Vinewood Hills. He used professional grade weapons with multiple attachments (really disappointed in the lack of 'rag-tag street' guns in this game.)
It would have been much more interesting if the protagonists were working against each other, like how Luis was working against Johnny and Niko, but didn't do it on a personal basis, their stories just aligned all Pulp Fiction style. Michael and Franklin could have been like Johnny and Niko. Friends and business partners on the surface, but they unknowingly (or possibly even knowingly) worked against each other. Niko kills Jason, not because it's personal, just because it's business. The same reason Johnny kidnaps Roman.
Consider this proposition for a DLC, set before or after the events of V.
Three characters. An Chinese Mobster from Vice City, a LS born and reared Balla, and a Lost MC prospect from Liberty.
The mobster could tie in all the f*cking story gaps with big-wigs like Madrazzo and the Chinese crime boss. We could see why these people were assholes, and maybe even get to kill them. Just like how Luis killed Bulgarian, bringing justice to an asshole against our original Niko. Give him the nice cars, and some real professional weapons. And hey, maybe integrate some melee combat that DOESN'T SUCK? Give him martial arts skills, keep his violence less away from mass shootouts that accompany dumb, low-tier gangs, and have him go shove some other mobster's foot up his own ass for disrespecting the boss.
The Balla could keep us in the "hood" environment most of the game. It would be very interesting to try to turn our perspectives. Since 2004, it's been "f*ck the Ballas!" Why? Let's try "f*ck the families!" Since Grove Street is "no more", I don't think you'd be pissing off those "cj teh bestitst grov4lyfe" fanboys too much. Give him the rag-tag urban weapons; pipebombs, automatic pistols, sawn-offs, etc. You can throw him into some good urban shootouts.
The last is a Prospect from the Lost MC. A gang just totally SHAT all over. I've made many threads and replies on this. A ton of people bought and loved TLaD. They formed many MCs on the social club in response. And then what? The AoD are completely forgotten about, the Lost are reduced to "dumb mook shooting gallery" status, and Johnny, Terry, and Clay
There were TWO, TWO f*ckING CHOPPERS, in addition to like six rice rockets. And, you can't even wear a leather jacket in GTA:O without gay motherf*cking racing stripes.
So much potential was lost with the Lost. This is southern California. Hells Angels and Mongols are always laying waste to one another. This is San Andreas, the BIRTHPLACE of the AoD. How have they magically disappeared? Can we see a war between The Lost and the AoD? It'd make Blaine County a lot more alive, an area only present in a couple Trevor missions. The Prospect could be given a whole new array of TLaD style choppers. Some back-country hunting rifles and molotovs, and maybe get some f*cking insight as to why
Maybe we could lay waste to TP Enterprises, piss of Trevor royally. It'd be fun to stick it to such an unlikable character.
They could all integrate. The mobster could contract the Balla to do some grunt dirty work against Madrazo, but then Madrazo hires the biker to kill some Ballas. I don't know, if the friend dynamic wasn't so forced, I could see this working. It'd be a much better and diverse game than the wreck GTA V was.