Is Steve Haines a good antagonist?

[The Dedito Gae]

I know the general concensus is that V antagonists are the worst in the series (except for Stretch, i don't agree with that sentiment) but Steve was ok as the baddie IMO, underused and he loses focus because of Devin Weston but i hated him since the first time i saw him, i found his show entertaining and his voice is really nerve shattering, reminds me a bit to Tenpenny (he's a corrupt law enforcer and made the protagonist his lap dog for the entirety of the game)

 

Anyone else thinks he's a good antagonist, if not, why?

Edited February 28, 2016 by Midnight Hitman

[Pedinhuh]

You might be alone there, pal.

[UshaB]

He actually has the physical attributes I would of liked one of our protaginists to have. That's probably what I like most about him. He also seems kinda like a badass, but his personality though, he's such an asshole. He played the Trio around a lot, but I would of liked to feel threatened by him though.

[Badman_]

I loved him as an antagonist because I hated him a lot (I mean, A LOT).

I felt a guilty pleasure when Trevor killed him...

[PhillBellic]

Midnight Hitman be like;

 

 

I strongly disliked him.

[The Dedito Gae]

You might be alone there, pal.

Story of my life.

:*C

Edited February 28, 2016 by Midnight Hitman

[Pedinhuh]

 

You might be alone there, pal.

Story of my life.

:*C

Don't be like that dude, we all find ourselves some in the end...

 

 

...Eventually

 

 

 

...Atleast I hope so

Edited February 28, 2016 by pedinhuh

[Totallycasual]

I like him about as much as i would like wiping my ass with sandpaper.

[ChiroVette]

I know the general concensus is that V antagonists are the worst in the series

 

Anyone else likes him as an antagonist, if not, why?

 

I think he's great. And don't confuse the small, vocal minority in this forum to mean that you are alone. V has awesome characters, protagonists, antagonists, and side characters. Some are obviously better than others, but most GTA fans agree with you about the vast majority of the characters being very good.

[Rhoda]

The problem I had with Haines initially is he irritated the absolute crap out of me, but then I realised that's exactly what villains are supposed to do - they're designed to rile you to the point you actively want to participate in their downfall. While I'm not a fan of his character per se, I can't deny that he is a good antagonist, at least in my eyes. I do however think he could have been a bit more subtle and have a little more to him. Dave was a little different in that he showed reluctance due to his and Michael's background. While he does technically fill the role of an antagonist, he is more empathetic and conscious of his decisions. You can tell there's struggle between his duty, his ethics and his moral code.

[shadowoperative]

I thought he was entertaining. I give him a 7 out of 10.

[The Dedito Gae]

...I do however think he could have been a bit more subtle and have a little more to him.

Almost all gta antagonists are like this, everyone worships Dimitri Rascalov like he was some kind of profound character with depth even though his betrayals just become a running gag in IV, they all are laying too thick in the fact they are assholes and Steve and Haines are no different from the rest, fans just cherrypick this side of V.

[Algonquin Assassin]

I think there's a difference with disliking/hating a character based on their actions compared to say disliking/hating them because you don't feel they're any good to begin and to me Haines is the latter (Like a lot of characters in GTA V).

 

He's a bit better than Weston, but I guess that isn't saying much. Overall I never found him to be a threat despite the fact he's supposed to be a corrupt FIB agent. If anything he reminds me of a douchebag high school bully.

 

4/10 easily. Below average.

[PhillBellic]

I think there's a difference with disliking/hating a character based on their actions compared to say disliking/hating them because you don't feel they're any good to begin and to me Haines is the latter (Like a lot of characters in GTA V).

 

He's a bit better than Weston, but I guess that isn't saying much. Overall I never found him to be a threat despite the fact he's supposed to be a corrupt FIB agent. If anything he reminds me of a douchebag high school bully.

 

4/10 easily. Below average.

It's almost like he never left that Mentality at all.

[Journey_95]

I thought he was pretty bad but still the best antagonist in V compared to the others (though that doesn't mean much).

 

He was never threatening, never really betrayed the protags in any way or did any real harm to them. Just seemed like an annoying douche for most of the time, same with Devin Weston (both were basically the same, pure jokes)

 

They could have done something more with his character but didn't and at the end he went out in a sh*tty way. So yes I think he had some potential but like with many V characters it was wasted.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Journey_95

[UshaB]

We all can't deny that Rockstar made it work that we all hated Stevey boy. It was why we hated him that I felt like, it wasn't very antagonizing.

Maybe it's alright for him to have that asshole personality, but I would of liked to tweak some of the actions he would of done. I would of left all the threatening actions to Wei Cheng and Madrazo, but we know how that turned out.

Edited February 28, 2016 by UshaB

[Dx2words]

He is a Good antagonist, the problem is that because in GTAV we have 3 protagonist there are a lot of antagonist, something that causes that none of them seems to be a great threat.

I believe that Steve Haines was a good antagonist, using his FIB power and corruptions to force a desperate Dave Norton to contact Michael to do some dirty work for him. Now if you compare him with the antagonist from GTAIV he is pure crap compared to Dimitri Rascalov, Billy Gray, Jimmy Pegoniro, and more dudes that i cant remember now.

 

GTA V is more focused on the Michael/Trevor conflict and the guy in the middle Franklin, is focused on that and develops the story around that....not like many of the GTA games in the past that are more like uuuuhhhh I must kill this really bad dude so I can live normally and happily

[Dr. Robotnik]

I think there's a difference with disliking/hating a character based on their actions compared to say disliking/hating them because you don't feel they're any good to begin and to me Haines is the latter (Like a lot of characters in GTA V).

 

He's a bit better than Weston, but I guess that isn't saying much. Overall I never found him to be a threat despite the fact he's supposed to be a corrupt FIB agent. If anything he reminds me of a douchebag high school bully.

 

I have to wonder if that's not true to life to a certain extent though, that people who let power corrupt them are just asshole kids in adult bodies.

 

Regardless, I honestly liked Steve Haines as an antagonist and thought he was the best out of all of them...for his first two or three missions, after which he just kind of turned into a hapless, constantly strung out joke. I thought he was at his best in By the Book (one of the odd times where the game's social commentary really meshes with its story), where he seemed genuinely sinister and darkly humorous.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Dr. Robotnik

[Piggsy pls]

He could have been a much better antagonist, but as it stands he is the best out of the antagonists in the game, if only because he's really the only one I actively disliked. Mainly because of how cold he is towards Mr. K in By The Book.

 

I said something like this in the "Improve V's story" thread, but I would have made his missions more centered around taking out gangs and gang leaders, I mean even his TV show kinda implies he focuses on tracking gangs. Also I would have demoted Devin to supporting antagonist and made Haines the one to try and kill M's family. Give us more of an incentive to kill him other than the fact that he's a dick.

 

One thing that must be said, his actor is brilliant, haha. Especially in The Wrap Up. "UN-f*ckING-ORTHODOX?"

[Dr. Robotnik]

Yeah, Robert Bogue doesn't get as much credit as he should.

[Flachbau]

He comes off with a very arrogant attitude every time you see him in game, which made me dislike him more. The irritating type of antagonist. They did a decent job on him.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Alchemist

[CaptainBicycle]

He was definitely the best antagonist in V. Which leaves him as a decent antagonist for video game standards, and a subpar one for GTA standards. His voice acting is great, I really hated him, and he started out completely sinister and controlling of our protags. He just... farted out when Devin showed up. Had he been done well, he would have been on the level of the other GTA villains. Madrazo would've been better, but at least we would have no reason to complain.

[bloatedsack]

I don't remember much, but I know that Steve Haines was a good antangonsit because I still hate his attitude, Devin Weston was the worst thing ever and Martin Madrazo had a good scary vibe.

 

I don't remember anything about Franklin because his story was boring and the people around him, except Lamar, boring and uninteresting. Hashtagblacklivesmatter but not Franklin's f*cking friends who all suck.

 

Again, except Lamar. He's fresh.

 

I remember even less since GTAIV, it's been like what 8 years? I don't remember much of anybody except one of the first Russian guys you meet in the bar. And the spooky Russian guy that I can infer is Rascalov, but I only remember him because no one stops talking about him.

 

Right? I dunno. Whateve.

 

R. Whatever.

[cp1dell]

The problem I had with Haines initially is he irritated the absolute crap out of me, but then I realised that's exactly what villains are supposed to do - they're designed to rile you to the point you actively want to participate in his downfall. While I'm not a fan of his character per se, I can't deny that he is a good antagonist, at least in my eyes. I do however think he could have been a bit more subtle and have a little more to him.

This. Haines' actor did a very good job playing the character he did, same with Devin - even though this is mostly about Steve Haines. They were both very unlikeable and while they weren't some big, bad threat lurking in the shadows that people seem to want from an antagonist again and again, they were good especially since this time around you're forced to work alongside them for a majority of the game.

 

Don't know about the other antagonists though. Steve and Devin are the main antagonists in the same way Michael is practically the main protagonist, considering the game mostly revolves around his story arc and is more fleshed out compared to Franklin's and Trevor's.

[Cheatz/Trickz]

Haines is underused, and due to the poor writing isn't established as a real threat. Devin too, but at least he finally did something completely out of order by sending Merryweather after Michael, making it personal.

[josephene123]

Nah, for me, as I've said with Devin a few times, Haines was annoying in a way which made me hate the writers of the game, rather than the character himself.

 

It was kind of a "Rockstar, why did you think making me spend half of the game working alongside this guy would be fun or intense?". He wasn't threatening, he wasn't intimidating, he wasn't funny (to me), and things never escalated with him.

[Pink Pineapple]

He was more of a douche than an antagonist.

[combustion]

He could be a great antagonist, but R* screwed him over. The writing is to blame. As he is now, no.

 

If the game focused more on his storyline and improved it, he would the best GTA antagonist ever.

[DaWiesel]

They did a pretty good job with him, since he isn't the main antagonist. He actually has more appearances in V than Dimitri in IV, and that's quite impressive considering that V's story is much shorter. So he definitely isn't underused. I actually liked him more as an antagonist than Devin Weston, who was a really annoying douche bag.

Edited February 28, 2016 by DaWiesel

[Fuzzknuckles]

People actually like Stretch as an antagonist? Wow. Just... wow.