Characters that had a lot of potential?

[The Chad Allen]

I think Trevor had loads of potential in my opinion. I feel like he should've be an antagonist tho because of how psychotic he is and not to mention they could've incorporated a meth maniac storyline. Trevor had the potential to be one of the most hated antagonist in gta history instead they made him a trailer park trash protagonist.

[Prasdana21]

1. If Rockstar wanted to kill Johnny K, they could use him as a secondary antagonist instead of Wei Cheng. Think about it, Johnny and The Lost kidnap Michael in the meat factory and Franklin has to rescue him. Then Franklin has to kill him in the last mission. First time ever that a playlable protagonist turns into an antagonist.

 

2. I always feel that Gay Tony is the real protagonist of TBOGT insteas of Luis. TBOGT actually needs to explore more about Armando, Henrique, Luis' mom, or even Northwood Dominican Drug Dealers. That way, I can feel Luis as the REAL protagonist of TBOGT.

 

3. I don't know if Rockstar did it purposely or not, but Gordon Sargent is well established for such a minor role. Did Rockstar plan to use him as a GTA protagonist? We never know.

[CaptainMental]

I think Trevor had loads of potential in my opinion. I feel like he should've be an antagonist tho because of how psychotic he is and not to mention they could've incorporated a meth maniac storyline. Trevor had the potential to be one of the most hated antagonist in gta history instead they made him a trailer park trash protagonist.

I dont know....Trevor is kind of sad and pathetic figure, at least as we got to know him. We are talking about someone who is severly mentally disturbed with no clear goals in life except to induce fear in other people. Trevor is not really interested in money or power, he just wants people to fear him.

He is also very lonely and sad and never seem to enjoy anything. We see Michael pay an interest in his family, in improving himself and he has passion about movies. Franklin has goals, getting out of the hood and out of the gangbanger lifestyle, many times we hear him comment on how worthless gang life is. Many times that we cut to Franklin we see him smiling as he polishes his car, stopping his motorbike looking at the sunset or trying to get his girlfriend back or just having a visit from her ending with a kiss. Both Michael and Franklin have people who cares about them. Trevor got nothing, Ron and Wade fears him. Whenever we cut to Trevor, he is either drunk or high, waking up in underwear, masturbating, chased by cops or killing/dismembering someone. Without a smile.

 

My point is, someone like Trevor is so chaotic that he has no goals and hence he wouldnt make a good antagonist in the way he is depicted now. Take away the chaotic character and instead changing it to someone more smart, long term planner with goals - and it wouldnt be Trevor anymore.

 

Off topic: It is evident in the story line that Trevor somewhat was useful to Michael as an accomplice but Michael didnt care at all about Trevor and finally Trevors madness was ultimately one of the strongest reasons for Michael to betray Brad and Trevor. Michael says it in a dialogue himself something like "the cannibalism, the madness, I couldnt take it anymore".

Edited October 23, 2016 by CaptainMental

[Algonquin Assassin]

CJ and Trevor could've been great protagonists. Unfortunately both of them are sh*t and should've been relegated to minor characters at best. CJ's too much of a pussy and Trevor feels like some character a 15 year old wrote for his high school media project.

[Rascalov]

Devin Weston had the potential to be a brilliant antagonist such a slimy & narcissistic prick, & whilst I liked the character & found him amusing I thought the writers could have made him more villainous.

 

 

 

 

[CaptainMental]

A bit off topic but why did Dave Norton strike a deal with Michael, a deal that was beyond what the FIB would accept? Did Michael pay him off or what?

[Maibatsu545]

Michael. After V trailer 1 I was expecting a cool, calm, collected professional thief ala Robert Deniro in Heat. What we got was an idiotic hillbilly with rage issues, and with an even more annoying family. I knew by the madrazzos house mission that this guy was a jackass.

 

@TheOtherRyan : Indeed...Trevor feels like a character straight out of a script written by some highschool kid who just saw Pulp Fiction for the first time and wanted to make a "totally badass" crime movie. Even more sad than that is the fact that in reality he was written by multiple adults over 30.

Edited October 24, 2016 by Maibatsu545

[Prasdana21]

Michael. After V trailer 1 I was expecting a cool, calm, collected professional thief ala Robert Deniro in Heat. What we got was an idiotic hillbilly with rage issues, and with an even more annoying family. I knew by the madrazzos house mission that this guy was a jackass.

 

@TheOtherRyan : Indeed...Trevor feels like a character straight out of a script written by some highschool kid who just saw Pulp Fiction for the first time and wanted to make a "totally badass" crime movie. Even more sad than that is the fact that in reality he was written by multiple adults over 30.

 

I completely forgot about Michael, but yes, I think Rockstar can make something big for Michael as well. To be honest, I can't explained it, but there's something in Michael that isn't executed right. Is it because of the story? Is it because of Michael as well? I don't know, but Michael can be better than he is now.

[DimitriFaustin]

Well, here's my picks:

- I'd say Claude (III) and CJ had a lot of potential that was not capitalized on. CJ because he ended being too cliche with all the 90's gangster themes. Even though I will say Rockstar did make great effort

for the character to be more definitive and comparable to other personalities of that particular day in age, there still remains much to be desired. I will get a boatload of flak for this, but Claude deserved much

more than what he became in the final product. For starters, Rockstar should have in my honest opinion made him a speaking protagonist and gone with the character model used in:

* The "PS2" screenshots on the III website, which is also:

* The same character model in the bank robbery scene where he and a fellow accomplice are betrayed by Catalina and Miguel, and furthermore:

* Is also what you see in my avatar.

Honestly, I would have left the mute protagonists to the 2D games where such a role would've worked best (then again, it's all in the eye of the beholder). The dialogue and game script would've been improved

by boatloads.

- Martin Madrazo has a lot of potential that could've been taken advantage of - I honestly think that in a game set, say, two-three years prior to the events of V, he'd make a great protagonist.

My honourable mentions would be Toni Cipriani in Liberty City Stories, and many of the characters in San Andreas, IV, and V.

NOTE: Just thought I'd add here shortly that I understand why Rockstar chose to remain with a mute protagonist for III.

Edited October 24, 2016 by DimitriFaustin

[Shadowfennekin]

Martin Madrazo and Stretch.

Martin would have been a PERFECT antagonist for the characters instead of Devin f*cking Weston. But.... no, he ended up turning out to be a pussy after Trevor bit his ear off.

 

And Stretch would have been a great antagonist for Franklin, had they developed his hood life more and not get rid of it so quickly. Johnny too, the Lost would have been better villains than the O'neils and it would have stung less if say Trevor went to blow up the Lost instead cause the Chinese were working with them and Johnny dies during it. Then Terry and Clay come for Trevor later like the surviving O'neils did.

[Megumi]

Pegorino. He showed up very late in the story and then he's suddenly a possible final antagonist.

He should've been introduced a bit earlier when Niko was working with Ray in Algonquin.

[TheMack20]

If there's any character who had more potential than every other character of the whole GTA series, it would be Ryder from GTA San Andreas. The guy starts off as CJ's childhood friend (abeit Vitriolic Best Bud, as TV Tropes calls it) and then all of a sudden, he randomly becomes a traitor without any explanation. On top of that, CJ acts as if Ryder wasn't even there and just talks about Big Smoke selling him out and then he kills Ryder without so much of a conversation. After that, Ryder is forgotten as if there was never even a character named Ryder in the game to begin with. He was a main character that all of a sudden became a minor character no different from a random Balla the player kills in a mission. Ryder truly had all the potential to be one of the most memorable characters of not only GTA SA, but the GTA series period. It's a shame R* didn't just give him a much bigger role than what he got, especially compared to OG f*cking Loc OF ALL PEOPLE for crying the f*ck out loud!

[LeakyLine]

Pretty sure Ryder's betrayal was a late addition ^

[Jezus Holy Christ]

Catalina. If they hadn't made that SA:The Introduction movie, I think she would've been perfect as the San Andreas Stories' protagonist.

She was wild and badass, and that's enough.

 

P.S.: the whole GTA III was about reaching and killing her. How more decent can one character be?

Plus, she had the future head of GSF begging for his life to her.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Jezus Holy Christ

[Lemoyne outlaw]

chef. he seemed like a cool character but we hardly see him. we dont even know his real name, i wish we could have seen more of him. he was also pretty useful in a fight

 

oscar guzman. he only has one physical appearence. it would have been nice if we could have seen more of him. maybe do some missions with him when he is in person. he was also pretty funny.

 

mikhail faustin. he was a very interesting and funny character. i think he would have made a much better antagonist than dimitri. i would have liked to know more about him and why he got so angry all the time. and how he came to power. i really think there should have been a third dlc focusing more on the russian gangs and the backstory there. not to mention we dont know much about the petrovic gang either. it would have been nice to get more story between the two gangs.

 

 

big bear. he had plenty of potential. he is only seen twice. he starts off being a slave but then ends up being his own man again and wants to join back up with gsf. but he is never seen again. in the beta he was meant to have a bigger role. it makes me wonder why they cut his part of the story out.

 

 

mike toreno. he was a great character and we saw a good amount of him but there is still a lot we dont know about him. i would have liked to see toreno do stuff and not just tell carl what to do. in my opinion i think he would have made a better antagonist than tenpenny.

[watersgta3]

Definitely Ryder. He was one of the main characters of GTA San Andreas and then all of a sudden, turned into a minor character after his spontaneous betrayal and is pretty much forgotten after he gets killed off. Ryder was a wasted character who had ALL the potential.

 

Honorable mentions: B-Dup, Big Bear, Emmet

Edited November 25, 2016 by watersgta3

[ClaudeTommyCJ69]

CJ and Trevor could've been great protagonists. Unfortunately both of them are sh*t and should've been relegated to minor characters at best. CJ's too much of a pussy and Trevor feels like some character a 15 year old wrote for his high school media project.

CJ's a pussy? thats why he killed trained marines and stole a fighter jet an cleared a military base full of marines on his own

Martin Madrazo and Stretch.

Martin would have been a PERFECT antagonist for the characters instead of Devin f*cking Weston. But.... no, he ended up turning out to be a pussy after Trevor bit his ear off.

 

And Stretch would have been a great antagonist for Franklin, had they developed his hood life more and not get rid of it so quickly. Johnny too, the Lost would have been better villains than the O'neils and it would have stung less if say Trevor went to blow up the Lost instead cause the Chinese were working with them and Johnny dies during it. Then Terry and Clay come for Trevor later like the surviving O'neils did.

[Pedinhuh]

8-Ball.

 

Some people here don't even realise who he is, but in LC he was the closest thing Claude has of a friend, was arrested before the beggining of the game and after they both escape their prison van, he sets Claude up with a contact inside the mafia so he could work, and in one mission, he gets inside a ship full of Colombians, with bullets firing everywhere, plants a goddamn bomb and escapes while the whole she bang blows up behind him!

 

We saw more of him in GTA Advance, but in my honest opinion he should have seen his story in a proper 3D game, maybe even as a main character.

[universetwisters]

8-Ball.

 

Some people here don't even realise who he is, but in LC he was the closest thing Claude has of a friend, was arrested before the beggining of the game and after they both escape their prison van, he sets Claude up with a contact inside the mafia so he could work, and in one mission, he gets inside a ship full of Colombians, with bullets firing everywhere, plants a goddamn bomb and escapes while the whole she bang blows up behind him!

 

We saw more of him in GTA Advance, but in my honest opinion he should have seen his story in a proper 3D game, maybe even as a main character.

 

And maybe he was the one who made the car bomb to kill Claude with?

[Lancerator]

ryder.

 

he was a shermhead and a buster, but he was very cool with the og crew (sweet, smoke n cj) - he kept it loyal and made a powerful role as a gun supplier for the gang as well as his charisma, his betrayal was nosense (a lot of people agrees) and could've ever played a bigger role than just being forgotten after kay-kay boom boom mission

 

he was just put away like a sh*tload of characters from sa just like bdup big bear and emmet turning him into a minor character

 

there could be just a cutscene for his death like they did with big smoke but no

 

 

8-Ball.

Some people here don't even realise who he is, but in LC he was the closest thing Claude has of a friend, was arrested before the beggining of the game and after they both escape their prison van, he sets Claude up with a contact inside the mafia so he could work, and in one mission, he gets inside a ship full of Colombians, with bullets firing everywhere, plants a goddamn bomb and escapes while the whole she bang blows up behind him!

We saw more of him in GTA Advance, but in my honest opinion he should have seen his story in a proper 3D game, maybe even as a main character.

And maybe he was the one who made the car bomb to kill Claude with?

 

 

lol that's ironic if u think about it u mean the mission when claude has to fight a lot of explosive psychos?

 

ot; what about officer pendelbury?

Edited December 2, 2016 by Still Madd

[CaptainMental]

 

 

 

 

 

8-Ball.

 

Some people here don't even realise who he is, but in LC he was the closest thing Claude has of a friend, was arrested before the beggining of the game and after they both escape their prison van, he sets Claude up with a contact inside the mafia so he could work, and in one mission, he gets inside a ship full of Colombians, with bullets firing everywhere, plants a goddamn bomb and escapes while the whole she bang blows up behind him!

 

We saw more of him in GTA Advance, but in my honest opinion he should have seen his story in a proper 3D game, maybe even as a main character.

 

And maybe he was the one who made the car bomb to kill Claude with?

 

 

lol that's ironic if u think about it u mean the mission when claude has to fight a lot of explosive psychos?

 

In the original PS3 GTA III there are no explosive psychos. What universetwisters is referring to is when Claude gets a message by Maria that a luxurous sports car that mafia boss Salvatore ordered Claude to pick up has been rigged with a bomb to kill Claude. Since 8-Ball was the one connecting Claude with the mafia it is quite likely 8-Ball who rigged the sports car with a bomb for Salvatore. Question is if 8-Ball knew who the bomb was meant to kill? That we will never know, the storyline does not give anything away and Claude can throughout the whole game visit 8-Balls bomb shop and have bombs rigged on cars.

 

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

Edited December 3, 2016 by CaptainMental

[Jezus Holy Christ]

UT is obviously talking about "Last Requests".

Anyway, 8-Ball's involvement with that bomb was never mentioned throughout the game. We still could go to his garage in Portland so he wasn't involved, we can say.

[Osho]

ryder. 02

- he kept it loyal and made a powerful role as a gun supplier for the gang as well as his charisma, his betrayal was nosense (a lot of people agrees) and could've ever played a bigger role than just being forgotten after kay-kay boom boom mission

I disagree. Ryder wasn't loyal at all. Its pure common sense for anyone to realise this simple fact after playing the story. I don't know why a certain *Ryder loyalists* are trying to mislead and tell the whole world that he was loyal and ..charismatic? yea, that's why the coward got so scared by the pizza store manager

Oh, sh*t! RUN!

The more I read such responses even after so many years the more convinced I'm that SA's story is actually more complex and deep than GTA IV that had very little by way of plot and barely any story to tell.

Let me explain further..

- Ryder's character makes complete sense. You need to do some research about the time and place the game was set in order to understand his character as a gangster addicted to PCP and how that made many others drug addicts like him to be used by officers like Tenpenny to expand the crack business. I do agree that his screen presence should have lasted a bit longer. Still its fleshed out good enough to care about his role in the amazing storyline.

- Ryder was working with Tenpenny and Ballas the whole time, so its a blatant lie and totally false to say that he was loyal to CJ or the Hood.

- Ryder's was not supplying the guns for the Hood but it was all for Tenpenny. Hint: CJ asks Ryder where those vans came from.

[Jezus Holy Christ]

Co-signing Osho, I must say that I agree with him and don't think Ryder's part of the story was nonsense. It was sad, indeed. It was f*cking bad to see someone you used to work with and you was so close to you, betraying you. It was depressing that you had to kill him but it did make sense.

Things don't always go the way we want them.

[watersgta3]

Co-signing Osho, I must say that I agree with him and don't think Ryder's part of the story was nonsense. It was sad, indeed. It was f*cking bad to see someone you used to work with and you was so close to you, betraying you. It was depressing that you had to kill him but it did make sense.

Things don't always go the way we want them.

His betrayal made no sense. The Introduction aside, his betrayal was done in a desultory manner. He was pretty much forgotten and killed off at the middle of the story like a minor character. He was a character with wasted potential. At least Smoke's betrayal was executed rather well and, although predictable, somewhat surprising.

[Jimmy]

CJ & Trevor were both annoying idiots in their own ways. Too much self obsessed and lacking a general prospect of certain respect and caring attitude towards others. They could have been good antagonists in my opinion. They were way too much of a waste for being the leads.

[Niko'sCousin11]

The Petrovics

Jermaine

Stretch

Oscar Guzman

Was hoping to see JB in the game hopefully helping Frank but na.

[Crossbones]

Stretch

Kenny Petrovic

Johnny K (In Gta V)

[Algonquin Assassin]

Wow. Now I remember why Osho was a colossal troll. San Andreas story more complex and GTA IV has little plot to tell? LMAO.

 

Anyway just to add onto my older post I think Franklin was definitely wasted potential as far as protagonists go. Before GTA Vs release I had high hopes that he was going to be interesting, but unfortunately hes not in the slightest. Just a generic gangsta trying to make something of himself that prettty much every hood movie has portrayed over the last 30 years except he has a back story as thin as a piece of paper.

 

The game certainly tries early on to build a student/mentor relationship between him and Michael, but it comes to a screeching halt when he becomes the middle man half way through the story. Thats one of the drawbacks to having multiple protagonists IMO. Rarely are they all developed equally.

 

To be honest when I think of this subject you could write a huge list of GTA V characters that would comfortably fit the bill because despite the excellent dialogue for the most part most characters are treated like revolving doors with little bearing on their significance to in game events. You could take them out and it wouldnt change things that much.

 

Madrazo for example was set up perfectly as a secondary antagonist, but he ends up being a laughing stock. After Michael paid him back he wasnt needed anymore. They shouldve written him where it wasnt just money being motivation. Vlad for instance was/is a great example of an early antagonist who got under the skin and didnt overstay his welcome.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Algonquin Assassin

[Coops95]

Kent Paul and Maccer.