Russian influence in Niko character

[MAN IN THE DARK]

So i was thinking. It's obvious, that then R* created that character, they took inspiration for Niko Bellic from Russian movies about gangsters. So there is a lot of russian traits in the character, even if he is serbian.

 

Brother 2

Blind Man's Bluff

Bumer

 

I guess the main reason why they didn't want to make him Russian, is because the protagongist need it to be experienced with the war.

But even with this, there is a lot of russian in him. Heh, even Sasha from "Behind The enemy lines" played by Russian actor.

Or this one as example.

 

His accent sound very russian. Why i'm so in to this idea. Well it's because for me it's easier to understand Niko character. He even can wear Russian hat with a star or buy russian clothes. He works half of the game for the Russian mafia and a lot of characters in this game call him Russian, even if he denies it.

I'm sure Rockstars didn't wanted to be him only serbian so they took a lot of inspiration from russian movies. Michael Hollic did good. I think nobody from the actors gives a sh*t about that he is american, since they all wearing mo-cap costumes.

[universetwisters]

 

I guess the main reason why they didn't want to make him Russian, is because the protagongist need it to be experienced with the war.

 

 

Rockstar could've put Niko in the 1980s Soviet-Afghanistan war, or they could've made up a war, like what they did with America & Australia.

 

 

He even can wear Russian hat with a star or buy russian clothes

 

A majority of my clothes come from China. Doesn't mean I'm Chinese, though.

 

 

He works half of the game for the Russian mafia

 

He also worked for the Italian and Irish mob, and he wasn't Italian or Irish.

[MichaelTn21]

Bellic means penis in armenian

[RoadRunner71]

 

I guess the main reason why they didn't want to make him Russian, is because the protagongist need it to be experienced with the war.

 

 

Rockstar could've put Niko in the 1980s Soviet-Afghanistan war, or they could've made up a war, like what they did with America & Australia.

He would be too old, the war ended in 1989. If he was Russian he could have fought in Chechenia, both in the Russian or in the Chechen side (first war 1994-1996 or second war 1999-2009). If he had fought in the Chechen side that could have been an excuse for Niko to hate the Russian mobsters, but that would had probably added too much controversy to the game.

 

 

He even can wear Russian hat with a star or buy russian clothes

 

The former Yugoslavia was communist. And also what Universetwisters has said.

 

 

Bellic means penis in armenian

 

Lol, isn't Dick an American name?

[MAN IN THE DARK]

QUOTE (MichaelTn21 @ Wednesday, May 29 2013, 04:55) Bellic means penis in armenian

On Rusian Belli means White. At least he is not Niko Hlick. Wich is on Russian.

Edited May 24, 2016 by MAN IN THE DARK

[Majestic81]

Yep i always felt there was a russian feeling in Niko.

[universetwisters]

Lol, isn't Dick an American name?

It's a nickname for "Richard", like how "Phil" is a nickname for "Philip".

[CCPD]

Considering there aren't much Serbian action movies and plenty of Russian ones, no wonder they drew so much reference from them. As to Russian cloths and mafia employers, it's because he lived with his cousin in an area where a lot of Russian immigrants live.

[Akaviri]

He works half of the game for the Russian mafia

 

He also worked for the Italian and Irish mob, and he wasn't Italian or Irish.

It actually made sense for the Irish mafia, though. If you do a bit of background research on the gang the McReary Family is based on (the Westies), you'll notice that they had a strange phase of leadership under a Serbian criminal. I always thought this was an awesome reference hidden in the game, something they could have capitalized greatly on. It's a shame GTA IV wasn't done justice; they had such a great premise to work with but were distracted by creating this new HD era, and weren't able to really flesh out the gameplay.

 

Niko should have seized control of the McReary family, maybe at the respects of Gerald following his imprisonment. I feel like Niko failed to show much ambition whatsoever in pursuing a criminal empire, he was basically a hired goon from start to finish. Maybe he developed into a more effective killing machine, a high-payed professional, but he was still a lackey. I wish I could've helped rewrite his storyline, or the game in general. I feel like it fell far short of its potential.

 

Back on topic, a lot of people assumed Niko was Russian around the time of the first trailer release. They could've made him Russian, but Serbian works a lot better. There was some gruesome genocide and civil war going on in Bosnia during the 90s. It's not unusual for a Serb to work for Russian organizations - they aren't as exclusive as the Italian mafia when it comes to ethnicity.