Favourite GTA Antagonist.

[Algonquin Assassin 50,229]

Dimitri easily. To me he's the most unique antagonist in the series. Where others use power as a means of intimidation he uses deception and comes across as a genuine backstabbing snake. The fact he plays cat and mouse games makes him feel more like he doesn't have the balls to face Niko which makes the hunt even more intriguing.

 

I loved how R* made us think Faustin was the problem when it was really Dimitri being the puppet master all along pulling the strings.

[Ezz98 11]

Dimitri easily. To me he's the most unique antagonist in the series. Where others use power as a means of intimidation he uses deception and comes across as a genuine backstabbing snake. The fact he plays cat and mouse games makes him feel more like he doesn't have the balls to face Niko which makes the hunt even more intriguing.

 

I loved how R* made us think Faustin was the problem when it was really Dimitri being the puppet master all along pulling the strings.

 

Yeah I agree R* did catch me out with a surprise on that one because the first time I played I didn't expect it but Dimitri was always a rat anyway so I was less surprised about that than the Big Smoke/Ryder betrayal but I was younger when I first played SA so maybe that's why haha.

[jaljax 902]

Dimitri

[Lemoyne outlaw 2,650]

where is steve haines. he is the best. unlike the other antagonists. he isint afraid to fight. and he shot himself in the leg. that takes guts. plus he is one of the funniest antagonists.

[Ezz98 11]

where is steve haines. he is the best. unlike the other antagonists. he isint afraid to fight. and he shot himself in the leg. that takes guts. plus he is one of the funniest antagonists.

I was trying to keep it as main antagonists only and when it came to V that was abit hard considering there are like 3 but I agree Steve Haines was pretty funny not sure about him being the best though.

[RedDagger 27,663]

Merged similar threads.

[NumberNineLarge 37]

I'd say Big Smoke.

[Keano 673]

Quite a few to pick from such as Big Smoke, Lance Vance, Pulaski, Tenpenny, Dimitri, etc.

 

 

I'll go with a joint decision and say Big Smoke and Tenpenny. Smoke turning on The Grove still hurts no matter how many times I play San Andreas. Tenpenny is still so satisfying to kill (despite Samuel L. Jackson being one of my favorite actors - he really done well in playing a detestable character).

 

Ryder's turn hurts still but it was never made to be a big deal compared to Smoke - still think Ryder's turn was done late in development for whatever reason.

 

Gerry Martinez was a dick and I was so glad to kill him also. Vincenzo was actually likable to an extent but his death was satisfying.

Edited January 17, 2018 by Keano

[Sleepwalking 570]

Hey slick, it's me!

 

Devin Weston would be the best, at least I think he is still the funniest; however lack of screen time and character development; my vote goes to biggest douchebag ever DIMITRI.

[Jesucristo 31]

I don't know why Moderators deleted my comment but here we go again...

I think the best antagonist was Officer Tenpenny. Anyway 'GTA: San Andreas' was the best GTA ever. Dimitri Rascalov was a good antagonist too.

[DuduLima 1,296]

Frank Tempenny, not because he was voiced by the legendary Samuel L. Jackson, but because of the whole mess in GTA SA he made, of course Pulaski was there but ... man...

 

The way he was a key factor to advance the whole plot of the history, damn.

In all parts of SA, from Los Santos to Las Venturas and even in Whetstone/Angel Pine that guy was there.

How he was involved in the whole set-up incidents and riots, which happened in early 90's.

He was a nasty mothaf*cka, the final raid in Smoke factory and how he was only waiting for that happen to finish things and flee.

 

Man, people can like Catalina, Sonny or (to be more fair) Dimitri, all of these are epic and interesting antagonists, but how Tempenny was put and used in the plot made a diference for me.

Edited January 17, 2018 by DuduLima

[gooeyhole 3,848]

One thing I really liked about Dimitri and to an extent Tenpenny, was that they had their own sh*t going on. Dimitri had his hand in politics, other businesses, similar to Tenpenny who was focused on his rise to power as a CRASH "agent".

[Yinepi 1,487]

Hard to say. None of the Antogies outside of the story line missions/side missions really have an actual lasting impact. They don't really ever hunt you down and impede your game play. With the exception of Catalina that was involved in the Columbians attacking you on sight.

Edited January 24, 2018 by Yinepi

[Rumblebud 6,173]

-

Edited November 7, 2019 by Benny Guy

[Shadowfennekin 17,819]

Tenpenny was just an asshole to me, I never really cared that much for him. Apart from Samuel Jackson voicing him.... I probably wouldn't care for the character at all if he wasn't the VA.

Dmitri gets my vote, he really gets under your skin and I was eagerly awaiting the chance to put a bullet in him. And doing so was so satisfying. I knew all along Roman would die if I did the deal, so I didn't do the deal.... ever, just like I never kill Dwayne. Never liked Kate so her dying isn't an issue, maybe Niko can hook up with that internet cafe girl now that she's gone.

 

And I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I loved Rocco despite me not liking TBoGT

[Femme Fatale 10,205]

Dimitri.

[Samwell 136]

Rocco was one of my favorite characters from tbogt he was just fun to hate

[iiCriminnaaL 4,345]

Between Tenpenny, Billy and Dimitri. I like how evil-ish and backstabbing Dimitri is, but he isn't that much compared to a badass like Billy, f*cks everyone who gets on his way, not caring about his close fellows, betraying his right hand-man, selling the gang that he's a leader of out. His voice actor would've helped a little as well.

 

When it comes to Tenpenny, yeah, I cannot imagine anyone to fit more as his voice actor aside from Samuel L. Jackson, but honestly, I didn't even know who Samuel was back when I first picked GTA San Andreas as a kid. Tenpenny's character just impressed me well, more so than Carl himself (who wasn't really someone special).

Edited January 14, 2019 by iiCriminnaaL 49

[topan_ 0]

Between Billy and Dimitri. Maybe Billy; I like how evil-ish and backstabbing Dimitri is, but he isn't that much compared to a badass like Billy, f*cks everyone who gets on his way, not caring about his close fellows, betraying his right hand-man, selling the gang that he's a leader of out. His voice actor would've shown him a little better too.

Agree 👍

[iiCriminnaaL 4,345]

Favorite to least fav:

1. Billy Grey
   Dimitri Rascalov
2. Frank Tenpenny
3. Sonny Forelli
4. Jerry Martinez
5. Catalina
6. Ray Bulgarin

Edited February 26, 2019 by iiCriminnaaL 49

[Haha365 902]

On 1/27/2018 at 11:20 PM, Am Shaegar said:

Tenpenny and Big Smoke are the best antagonists in the series. I voted the former, since I can only pick one, but both are equally good, original (for the series) and different from the repeatedly told mafia mob bosses turned into antagonist, I have seen getting rehashed since the series inception.

 

A very cool in-depth analysis on Big Smoke's character was uploaded on the YouTube -

and

 

Just watching these videos makes me further appreciate the team at Rockstar for making Smoke's character so much believable in bringing so many shades to his role than being stuck to one another generic, mafia mob boss turned bitter foe. How boring, and predictable. Yawn..

I also found them the most refreshing antagonists in the series. 

 

Outside of them I would have chosen Salvatore Leone. Only because that was my first GTA and I had mistakenly trusted him...

Edited October 9, 2018 by Haha365

[Grotti Vigilante 1,293]

For me, the best antagonist has to be Frank Tenpenny. Now I personally don't understand why Dimitri is held in such high regard since he doesn't pose much of a threat throughout GTA IV as far as I remember. Like he burns down your house and cab depot sure, and then he kidnaps Roman to get at Niko. After that though I don't recall him doing much else. We never really deal with him until the end of the game, which is common for a main antagonist of course, but we only do so because we find out where he is. If Niko was not asked to do the deal then I question whether he'd have dealt with Dimitri at all. Sooner or later I imagine he would've done, but he's not really present throughout the game. Yes, he does other things such as blackmail Bryce Dawkins and such, but he didn't do this as an act against Niko, rather Niko got involved by working with the people Dimitri was antagonising.

 

Tenpenny on the other hand is a constant threat because he has your personal freedom on the line. If you don't do his dirty work, he will frame you for a murder he and his cronies were responsible for, and then your brother's safety is on the line when he threatens you to stay away from him and Big Smoke. The fact throughout most of the game Tenpenny has too much power over you to take him out just allows him to contribute more to the game's storyline and give you more missions, along with a good enough reason for you not to say to yourself "why can't I just kill this guy here and now?". In fact, CJ only got the chance to deal with him because he was no longer under this thumb and had nothing to lose going after him and Smoke. I think that makes him a bigger threat than any other antagonist in the series since he has a constant presence throughout the game and has enough power over the protagonist to stay alive till the end.

 

On a different note though, I fail to see how Devin Weston could even be regarded as a main antagonist (according to GTA wiki). He is a nuisance rather than a threat, right up until the end where he sends Merryweather after Michael. That's it really, he didn't do a great deal to make him a main antagonist. He was a greedy bugger who didn't pay Michael, Trevor or Franklin for their work and tried to shut down Michael's film project with Solomon Richards. Ultimately he was motivated by money and not much else. He's an antagonist sure, but I doubt the main one. I'd say Haines gets that honour for the same reasons as Tenpenny. 

Edited October 13, 2018 by Grotti Vigilante

[TheSantader25 7,231]

^Couldn't have said it better. 

[ThatBenGuy 2,937]

I’d say a two way tie between Dimitri Rascalov and Jimmy Pegorino. However, this is unfortunately an only one voting so I picked Dimitri. I personally think that both of them should be the co-main antagonists, especially if Devin Weston, Steve Haines, Stretch, and Wei Cheng are considered the four main antagonists altogether. The reason being is because the Revenge ending (which I view as canon), they’re both put in that basic spotlight as the two final bosses. I can understand why people think Billy Grey, Ryder, Big Smoke, and Frank Tenpenny are good antagonists, I just don’t really care for any of those four characters, but then again, I can see why people do. Only in my personal opinion, both of them still aren’t as bad as the four so-called main antagonists of GTA V. I personally think that Ray Bulgarin, Rocco Pelosi, Ray Boccino, Catalina, and Sonny Forelli are pretty good antagonists as well.

[Algonquin Assassin 50,229]

47 minutes ago, Grotti Vigilante said:

For me, the best antagonist has to be Frank Tenpenny. Now I personally don't understand why Dimitri is held in such high regard since he doesn't pose much of a threat throughout GTA IV as far as I remember. Like he burns down your house and cab depot sure, and then he kidnaps Roman to get at Niko. After that though I don't recall him doing much else. We never really deal with him until the end of the game, which is common for a main antagonist of course, but we only do so because we find out where he is. If Niko was not asked to do the deal then I question whether he'd have dealt with Dimitri at all. Sooner or later I imagine he would've done, but he's not really present throughout the game. Yes, he does other things such as blackmail Bryce Dawkins and such, but he didn't do this as an act against Niko, rather Niko got involved by working with the people Dimitri was antagonising.

The reason is pretty simple really. Unlike other antagonists who are presented as the "bad guys" off the bat GTA IV's story cleverly built up Dimitri into the antagonist role which made his betrayal feel way more personal.  He didn't need to be in Niko's face all the time as it showed he was nothing more than a manipulative, coward who would rather taunt Niko with the burning of Roman's apartment/taxi depot, organising Roman's kidnapping, the blackmail of Dawkins etc.The phone calls are also a nice touch.

 

IMO he's the most refreshing and unique antagonist in the series. He broke away from the cliche mob boss/corrupt law figure archetype of previous games.

[Grotti Vigilante 1,293]

13 minutes ago, xXxRyanxXx said:

The reason is pretty simple really. Unlike other antagonists who are presented as the "bad guys" off the bat GTA IV's story cleverly built up Dimitri into the antagonist role which made his betrayal feel way more personal.  He didn't need to be in Niko's face all the time as it showed he was nothing more than a manipulative, coward who would rather taunt Niko with the burning of Roman's apartment/taxi depot, organising Roman's kidnapping, the blackmail of Dawkins etc.

 

IMO he's the most refreshing and unique antagonist in the series. He broke away from the cliche mob boss/corrupt law figure archetype of previous games.

That's a fair point, he certainly is somewhat different in the regard of building up a personal betrayal, but one could argue Salvatore Leone did that first when he offered Claude to the Cartel after Maria said they were a thing. I suppose one could say though that Salvatore took that as an act of betrayal on Claude's part first even. He was probably convinced Claude betrayed him first. Who knows though, Salvatore at this point was paranoid beyond control.

 

Don't get me wrong either, I don't think Dimitri is a bad antagonist, in fact he's better than the likes of Jerry Martinez who didn't have any rationality behind his betrayal but rather just did it (at least Dimitri was genuinely convinced Niko stole from Bulgarin and believed that Niko was the bad guy), and I really wouldn't be surprised if someone said "who?" at the mention of Massimo Torini. I just didn't think he was as threatening as Tenpenny for reasons that Niko didn't really fear him and only didn't go after him because Roman asked him not to at the end of Hostile Negotiation.

Edited October 13, 2018 by Grotti Vigilante

[Algonquin Assassin 50,229]

26 minutes ago, Grotti Vigilante said:

That's a fair point, he certainly is somewhat different in the regard of building up a personal betrayal, but one could argue Salvatore Leone did that first when he offered Claude to the Cartel after Maria said they were a thing. I suppose one could say though that Salvatore took that as an act of betrayal on Claude's part first even. He was probably convinced Claude betrayed him first. Who knows though, Salvatore at this point was paranoid beyond control.

 

Don't get me wrong either, I don't think Dimitri is a bad antagonist, in fact he's better than the likes of Jerry Martinez who didn't have any rationality behind his betrayal but rather just did it (at least Dimitri was genuinely convinced Niko stole from Bulgarin and believed that Niko was the bad guy), and I really wouldn't be surprised if someone said "who?" at the mention of Massimo Torini. I just didn't think he was as threatening as Tenpenny for reasons that Niko didn't really fear him and only didn't go after him because Roman asked him not to at the end of Hostile Negotiation.

Like I said Dimiri's more a manipulative, coward type. He was a puppeteer pulling the strings and when he saw no use for Niko anymore that's when he decided to turn on him. Personally I think the game does a great job of keeping him in touch without becoming too overbearing.

 

I actually got tired of seeing Tenpenny and Pulaski so when it came time to killing them I lost all motivation. I love how Dimitri's savoured until the right moment. I still get a buzz from killing him 10 years later.

[Grotti Vigilante 1,293]

1 minute ago, xXxRyanxXx said:

Like I said Dimiri's more a manipulative, coward type. He was a puppeteer pulling the strings and when he saw no use for Niko anymore that's when he decided to turn on him. Personally I think the game does a great job of keeping him in touch without becoming too overbearing.

 

I actually got tired of seeing Tenpenny and Pulaski so when it came time to killing them I lost all motivation. I love how Dimitri's savoured until the right moment. I still get a buzz from killing him 10 years later.

To each their own tastes. I'm always just satisfied when I complete a GTA game regardless of the antagonists.

[ThatBenGuy 2,937]

49 minutes ago, xXxRyanxXx said:

The reason is pretty simple really. Unlike other antagonists who are presented as the "bad guys" off the bat GTA IV's story cleverly built up Dimitri into the antagonist role which made his betrayal feel way more personal.  He didn't need to be in Niko's face all the time as it showed he was nothing more than a manipulative, coward who would rather taunt Niko with the burning of Roman's apartment/taxi depot, organising Roman's kidnapping, the blackmail of Dawkins etc.The phone calls are also a nice touch.

 

IMO he's the most refreshing and unique antagonist in the series. He broke away from the cliche mob boss/corrupt law figure archetype of previous games.

I agree completely and I view Jimmy Pegorino as the exact same way as Dimitri Rascalov as well. I’m sure most gamers would’ve had no idea either one of them was going to be a traitor. I’m sure once Jimmy Pegorino was introduced, most gamers probably wouldn’t have guessed he’d be secretly allied with Dimitri either. Also, a way of how GTA V (in my opinion) failed with their four “main antagonists” is that at least it made more sense with Frank Tenpenny and Big Smoke being the co-main antagonists of GTA SA and Jimmy Pegorino and Dimitri Rascalov being the co-main antagonists of GTA IV because at least both sets of co-main antagonists actually KNEW each other! In GTA V, Steve and Devin were the only two who actually did. With that being said, Stretch and Wei Cheng being main antagonists kinda came out of nowhere, apart from the fact that one had a beef with Franklin and the other with Trevor. Otherwise, those two characters were just too insufficiently significant to me.

Edited October 13, 2018 by ThatBenGuy

[Algonquin Assassin 50,229]

8 minutes ago, ThatBenGuy said:

I agree completely and I view Jimmy Pegorino as the exact same way as Dimitri Rascalov as well. I’m sure most gamers would’ve had no idea either one of them was going to be a traitor. I’m sure once Jimmy Pegorino was introduced, most gamers probably wouldn’t have guessed he’d be secretly allied with Dimitri either. Also, a way of how GTA V (in my opinion) failed with their four “main antagonists” is that at least it made more sense with Frank Tenpenny and Big Smoke being the co-main antagonists of GTA SA and Jimmy Pegorino and Dimitri Rascalov being the co-main antagonists of GTA IV because at least both sets of co-main antagonists actually KNEW each other! In GTA V, Steve and Devin were the only two who actually did. With that being said, Stretch and Wei Cheng being main antagonists kinda came out of nowhere, apart from the fact that one had a beef with Franklin and the other with Trevor.

Admittedly I don't think Pegorino's as strong though. He's introduced far too late into the story and I would've preferred Bulgarin to have been in his place since the Bulgarin/Dimitri relationship never really goes anywhere after the diamonds go missing.

 

Pegorino feels like a weird substitute for some reason. He's definitely not as bad as Stretch or Wei Cheng, but I would've been more satisfied with Bulgain as a co-antagonist with Dimitri in the final part of the story.