Is Steve Haines a good antagonist?

[Dee-account-with-1kbans]

Terrible. Absolutely terrible. First off, he's almost always vulnerable throughout the campaign. And he's not that much of a threat considering mike was absolutely wreck less the whole game and could've killed him at any point but for some reason, he decides to be his bitch. If mike really wanted the fib to get off his tail, killing Steve would've been one of his first resorts. Lastly, his death is so unsatisfying but that's another story. The ending is just a clusterf*ck of cheap writing and shoehorns, actually not even just the ending, but the whole game. What's the tone? Why are the characters pussies at some times and indestructible badasses during the other times? There's too much to be asked about this game. Gtav is R*s biggest screwup since SAs hot coffee. f*ck

[Badman_]

Some like, some don't, but we need to agree that the voice acting is great. The guy did a wonderful job... right?

[MyName'sJeff]

Terrible. Absolutely terrible. First off, he's almost always vulnerable throughout the campaign. And he's not that much of a threat considering mike was absolutely wreck less the whole game and could've killed him at any point but for some reason, he decides to be his bitch. If mike really wanted the fib to get off his tail, killing Steve would've been one of his first resorts. Lastly, his death is so unsatisfying but that's another story. The ending is just a clusterf*ck of cheap writing and shoehorns, actually not even just the ending, but the whole game. What's the tone? Why are the characters pussies at some times and indestructible badasses during the other times? There's too much to be asked about this game. Gtav is R*s biggest screwup since SAs hot coffee. f*ck

He decided to be "Haines bitch" because he was in the witness protection program due to betraying Trevor and knew that if Trevor was alive, the first thing he'd do is come look for him and possibly kill him. Haines used that to his advantage to make Michael do his dirty work because if he didn't, he'd tell Trevor to finish him off or do it himself, why would Haines make him work under him and not include a catch to it? But he didn't know that Trevor would squash the beef with Michael, with the sole purpose being to make as much money with him as possible to make up for the past. Haines was a manipulative corrupt agent who played around with Michael, period. He's not the typical willy nilly antagonist that is cheesy as f*ck going after his family, blackmailing him or kidnapping him or something like that, he wanted to control people and have power where he saw fit. Michael could have killed him at any time, yes, but so could have any other f*cker, this is irrelevant to the plot because Haines had a few friends here and there that would have found Michael and killed him for murdering Haines, he is an agent at the end of the day. Michael was bored of his current life, he wanted back in the game, so why in the world would he go against this by killing a government agent who was corrupt, and risk having a bounty on his head instead of robbing banks and sh*t which he wanted to do badly? Not to mention that he owed Trevor a lot for betraying him.

Edited March 6, 2016 by MyName'sJeff

[Official General]

 

Terrible. Absolutely terrible. First off, he's almost always vulnerable throughout the campaign. And he's not that much of a threat considering mike was absolutely wreck less the whole game and could've killed him at any point but for some reason, he decides to be his bitch. If mike really wanted the fib to get off his tail, killing Steve would've been one of his first resorts. Lastly, his death is so unsatisfying but that's another story. The ending is just a clusterf*ck of cheap writing and shoehorns, actually not even just the ending, but the whole game. What's the tone? Why are the characters pussies at some times and indestructible badasses during the other times? There's too much to be asked about this game. Gtav is R*s biggest screwup since SAs hot coffee. f*ck

 

He decided to be "Haines bitch" because he was in the witness protection program due to betraying Trevor and knew that if Trevor was alive, the first thing he'd do is come look for him and possibly kill him. Haines used that to his advantage to make Michael do his dirty work because if he didn't, he'd tell Trevor to finish him off or do it himself, why would Haines make him work under him and not include a catch to it? But he didn't know that Trevor would squash the beef with Michael, with the sole purpose being to make as much money with him as possible to make up for the past. Haines was a manipulative corrupt agent who played around with Michael, period. He's not the typical willy nilly antagonist that is cheesy as f*ck going after his family, blackmailing him or kidnapping him or something like that, he wanted to control people and have power where he saw fit. Michael could have killed him at any time, yes, but so could have any other f*cker, this is irrelevant to the plot because Haines had a few friends here and there that would have found Michael and killed him for murdering Haines, he is an agent at the end of the day. Michael was bored of his current life, he wanted back in the game, so why in the world would he go against this by killing a government agent who was corrupt, and risk having a bounty on his head instead of robbing banks and sh*t which he wanted to do badly? Not to mention that he owed Trevor a lot for betraying him.

@ MyNamesJeff

 

You can explain it in the most intricate detail all you want, it makes no difference. Bottom line for many people, whatever Rockstar were doing with the characters and plot in V just didn't work, it just wasn't entertaining, interesting, or intriguing enough to give it the praise previous GTAs got in this area.

[Journey_95]

Some like, some don't, but we need to agree that the voice acting is great. The guy did a wonderful job... right?

Can't deny that. Also at least he is better than Devin Weston who is basically a sh*ttier version of Steve Haines (if that was possible). Seriously, the worst GTA antagonists ever

[CaptainBicycle]

 

Terrible. Absolutely terrible. First off, he's almost always vulnerable throughout the campaign. And he's not that much of a threat considering mike was absolutely wreck less the whole game and could've killed him at any point but for some reason, he decides to be his bitch. If mike really wanted the fib to get off his tail, killing Steve would've been one of his first resorts. Lastly, his death is so unsatisfying but that's another story. The ending is just a clusterf*ck of cheap writing and shoehorns, actually not even just the ending, but the whole game. What's the tone? Why are the characters pussies at some times and indestructible badasses during the other times? There's too much to be asked about this game. Gtav is R*s biggest screwup since SAs hot coffee. f*ck

 

He decided to be "Haines bitch" because he was in the witness protection program due to betraying Trevor and knew that if Trevor was alive, the first thing he'd do is come look for him and possibly kill him. Haines used that to his advantage to make Michael do his dirty work because if he didn't, he'd tell Trevor to finish him off or do it himself, why would Haines make him work under him and not include a catch to it? But he didn't know that Trevor would squash the beef with Michael, with the sole purpose being to make as much money with him as possible to make up for the past. Haines was a manipulative corrupt agent who played around with Michael, period. He's not the typical willy nilly antagonist that is cheesy as f*ck going after his family, blackmailing him or kidnapping him or something like that, he wanted to control people and have power where he saw fit. Michael could have killed him at any time, yes, but so could have any other f*cker, this is irrelevant to the plot because Haines had a few friends here and there that would have found Michael and killed him for murdering Haines, he is an agent at the end of the day. Michael was bored of his current life, he wanted back in the game, so why in the world would he go against this by killing a government agent who was corrupt, and risk having a bounty on his head instead of robbing banks and sh*t which he wanted to do badly? Not to mention that he owed Trevor a lot for betraying him.How in the world is what Haines does not blackmailing Michael? The only reason Michael works for Haines is to avoid going to prison. And really, Michael doesn't owe Trevor. He's just going with the flow because a) he didn't want to raise suspicion and b) because Trevor is a crazy psychopath who could and would kill him any day. This last point might be more subjective, but I never saw Michael as wanting to get back in the game, except for the UD. During the game he either works to pay someone back (Madrazo), to get something he wants (Devin) or under blackmail (Haines, Caida Libre). Edited March 6, 2016 by CaptainBicycle

[jatiger13]

 

Having loads of money early on isn't the pursuit of the almighty dollar. Getting paid really easily isn't the pursuit of the almighty dollar. That's just getting paid for doing work. The real pursuit of these almighty dollars is in the sh*t these guys go through in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

 

They are constantly chasing the dollar, they are constantly in pursuit of it and at the end, right at the end, they get a sh*tload of it. The end.

 

Why are you saying anything about having loads of money early on and getting paid really easily? You can plan and execute heists that don't end up going as planned. Maybe you fail. Maybe the place you're robbing has less money than you expected. Maybe you get a big payload and it gets stolen from you by a rival crew.

 

"The pursuit of the almighty dollar" makes it seem like you're going after money for yourself. GTA V doesn't really feel like that. It feels more like doing things you're forced to do to get other people off your back. Sure, doing so may involve going after money, but to call that "the pursuit of the almighty dollar" is misleading.

So, what this boils down to is that you seem to have an issue with how Rockstar/TakeTwo marketed the game.

 

If I go to a store, for example Gamestop, I can't see the words "the pursuit of the almighty dollar" anywhere. It certainly isn't on the game packaging. So really, your issue is with the marketing promising things that YOU FEEL that the game didn't deliver. That's not the games fault.

That's the marketing department, which I believe TakeTwo is responsible for.

[LazlowsucksiloveslutS]

Steve Haines couldn't stand up to officers Tenpenny and Pulaski. These guys are legendary. Steve Haines was as one dimensional as all other GTA V characters, I didn't even think he was antagonist or a bad guy, perhaps because he never posed a real threat to any of the protagonists, I certainly didn't see him as dangerous or bad ass - Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski - now they're an entirely different story.

[Fuzzknuckles]

 

If I go to a store, for example Gamestop, I can't see the words "the pursuit of the almighty dollar" anywhere.

 

I think it's more reference to this, the official GTA V announcement:

 

http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/19471/grand-theft-auto-v-official-announcement.html

 

 

 

A bold new direction in open-world freedom, storytelling, mission-based gameplay and online multiplayer, Grand Theft Auto V focuses on the pursuit of the almighty dollar in a re-imagined, present day Southern California.

 

If you're taking it literally, as in you're pursuing money for the entire game, the reward would obviously be the money you make at the end of the game. And throughout the game, of course, because let's be clear, while some heists do have a restricted or "missing" pay out, you do plenty of other things to make money throughout the game, if you so choose to. Like Bail Bonds, S&F stuff, whatever... all those little missions all contribute to the characters pursuit of the almighty dollar.

 

I think many may have got massively hung up on this single line and have taken it to be the unofficial tagline of GTA V. You can even Google "what's the tagline for GTA V" and get sent to a thread here, in which people claim that to be the tagline.

[Sonny_Black]

Steve Haines couldn't stand up to officers Tenpenny and Pulaski. These guys are legendary. Steve Haines was as one dimensional as all other GTA V characters, I didn't even think he was antagonist or a bad guy, perhaps because he never posed a real threat to any of the protagonists, I certainly didn't see him as dangerous or bad ass - Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski - now they're an entirely different story.

 

C.J was like a BIG pile of horse sh*t for Tenpenny and Pulaski, these f*cking guys were like 'the biggest asshole corrupt cops of Los Santos, even of all San Andreas; true f*cking mother f*ckers

 

"Now get this straight, Carl. We own you. You're ours. We could take a sh*t on you from such a height, you'd think God himself has crapped on you."

―Frank Tenpenny

Edited March 7, 2016 by yeahmantiptap

[Captain Arthur]

Steve Haines

 

good antagonist

D03S n0T cOmp0ote

 

Like someone here said, he's more of a douche. He never really clicked with me as a good antagonist. I dunno why though.Probably the hair and stupid shirts.

[PhillBellic]

 

Steve Haines

 

good antagonist

D03S n0T cOmp0ote

 

Like someone here said, he's more of a douche. He never really clicked with me as a good antagonist. I dunno why though.Probably the hair and stupid shirts.

 

His High School Bully Persona also didn't help make him more menacing or threatening, in my opinion.

[Official General]

 

 

Steve Haines

 

good antagonist

 

D03S n0T cOmp0ote

 

Like someone here said, he's more of a douche. He never really clicked with me as a good antagonist. I dunno why though.Probably the hair and stupid shirts.

 

His High School Bully Persona also didn't help make him more menacing or threatening, in my opinion.

I agree Phil.

 

And Trevor's constant jokes about threatening to rape his male or sexually assault subordinates got old fast on top of being very distasteful in humour. His whole persona was just straight up dumb, a train wreck guaranteed to happen.

[PhillBellic]

 

 

 

Steve Haines

good antagonist

D03S n0T cOmp0ote

 

Like someone here said, he's more of a douche. He never really clicked with me as a good antagonist. I dunno why though.Probably the hair and stupid shirts.

His High School Bully Persona also didn't help make him more menacing or threatening, in my opinion.

I agree Phil.

 

And Trevor's constant jokes about threatening to rape his male or sexually assault subordinates got old fast on top of being very distasteful in humour. His whole persona was just straight up dumb, a train wreck guaranteed to happen.

 

I have two L's in my name.

 

OT: The bit where Steve twists Michael's Arm? What next, giving M a Wet Willie as well?

[Rhoda]

To me, they're hallmarks of a schoolyard bully and done deliberately by means of humiliation. They're juvenile but they're overpowering. The protagonists all must be exhausted at some points we see them, and to be overpowered by something so childish and simple? It's a status thing. Yeah, you could punch somebody but these techniques aren't necessarily meant to hurt someone - they're to ground them and stun them in a "I can't believe you did that" kind of way. It's like a slap to the face.

[ChiroVette]

To me, they're hallmarks of a schoolyard bully and done deliberately by means of humiliation. They're juvenile but they're overpowering. The protagonists all must be exhausted at some points we see them, and to be overpowered by something so childish and simple? It's a status thing. Yeah, you could punch somebody but these techniques aren't necessarily meant to hurt someone - they're to ground them and stun them in a "I can't believe you did that" kind of way. It's like a slap to the face.

 

Exactly! These guys like Haines and his crew were caricatures of egotistical, narcissistic government thugs. They served their purpose well. This is what makes Haines such a great antagonist, his ability to play the obnoxious but powerful G-Man with the full support of his position and allies to back him up, and willing to go to whatever lengths are necessary to protect his job and become more powerful in his agency.

 

This is one of the beautiful things about GTA V's awesome story, all the government intrigue and the blurred lines between G-Man and thug.