What i love about Niko Bellic a.k.a being sympathetic, while still being criminal "bad guy"

[KonradGM]

It is not a surprise that NB is probably the most appreciated protagonist in the entire GTA series, maybe being rivaled only by tony vercetti, but it wasn't until my latest IV play trough that i realized what makes this character special and great in GTA at least for me, English was my second language so knowing it as good as i know it now helped me a lot

 

What i love about Niko is how he is sympathetic, but he isn't a good guy per say. Now being a good guy in GTA games is funny word since technically we are criminals so on those basis we can't be the "good guy" but with Niko it just makes me feel the feelings no other gta games achieved. You see i like Niko the most out of all protagonists, but i feel the stuff he does can be the most despicable out of all of them.

Niko cares about his family and close ones, and he has good heart or at least some good in him, considering how he is willing to spare life, and helps people in need. But the most shocking aspect of him is also his empathy to MOST of human life and hypocricity. Like i don't know if i am alone but the way niko kills people easly for money, or how he is prone to lying to people to avoid the truth is somewhat despicable, and it is the most evident with Katy McReary. Now Nniko got mad at michelle for being a spy on him, but what he does to katy? He kills one of her brothers, and then hides that aspect of it from the woman he wants to spend his life with, and the way he attends the funeral, and talks with her, there is this certain grim aspects to it.

 

And of course the darko scene, after commuting a lot of crimes simply for profit, killing family members of other people for profit, he is faced with someone who he could become, to have this sudden realization of what his life became and what he did is just magnificent aspects of story telling. When you think about it, both endings fit Niko's life, kind of semi poetic justice for his crimes that he committed.

And it is so great, because he isn't like this completely bad guy, you feel for him you want him to be happy, but he is still criminal, he still does a lot of bad things, and this contrast of wanting to have better life but still doing terrible things is just working SO GREAT in the story

 

And this is exactly why i LOVE Niko bellic, because Rockstar managed to create a great protagonist with a lot of heart that is also able to be criminal and fit into the GTA world. Maybe i am alone with those reasoning but i will always love Niko for what he is, being able to not be the t"typical gta" bad guy, while also not being a good guy.

 

Now this is i think the first time i did post like this where i try to post both my opinion and 'semi' analysis of something gta related, if you guys like this i might do similar things for other GTA's

 

What are your opinions on the matter? Love to hear them

[iwillr0k]

Yeah, Niko still is one of my favorites!

I never really liked Tommy that much tbh... He is just a cold killer you know? But wasnt that the vibe in 80's Miami?

Niko on the other hand just seems like a guy that wants a normal life. He had some bad luck, but it's trying to do is best.

[Algonquin Assassin]

When you think about it all GTA protagonists are heinous pieces of crap in some way or another with some of the things they do, but what makes Niko stand out to me compared to 3D era protagonists in particular is he's presented to have more than just one dimension.

 

IMO people misinterpret his "hypocrisy" as some kind of flaw in the writing that he "complains" about killing yet does it anyway, but it's not. It's etched into his personality and it's a driving force for his character as a springboard for the confrontation with Darko. I've always felt that Darko was/is meant to be a symbolic representation of Niko's inner self and what he'd become if he didn't let go. It's no coincidence the two share a striking resemblance also.

 

He's not really a good guy as such that he reads the bible and attends church on Sundays, but I believe he has good intentions just caught up with the wrong kind.

[ViceOfLiberty]

IMO, Niko is a more in depth re imagining of Claude. I would like to think that Claude didn't necessarily agree with everything he was told to do, but as someone with no chance of ever making a legit buck or surviving in LC on the other side of life, he did what he had to do, regardless. He just kinda kept out of all the BS and did his dirt and moved on. Niko is like that too.

[AuSsIeThUnDeR36]

Upon arriving in Liberty City, Niko realises not all is as it seems. Roman promised all dees great tings lyke Stephany whu syuk lyke vacuum, cars, women, parties. Thouse wild emails were not true. Niko promised to himself that he would not kill in dees country and soon he is back to his old ways, at the same time he helps those who are in need eg the random encounter missions. Niko is constantly torn between trying to be a good person and make an honest living but his cousin Roman is continuously pulling him in the wrong direction because of his gambling and being in debt. He quickly learns that he cannot escape the past and must deal with this and make a choice.

Niko Bellic = best written character in the gta series.

 

 

You read dees in Niko's voice too, I know dees.

[KonradGM]

When you think about it all GTA protagonists are heinous pieces of crap in some way or another with some of the things they do, but what makes Niko stand out to me compared to 3D era protagonists in particular is he's presented to have more than just one dimension.

 

IMO people misinterpret his "hypocrisy" as some kind of flaw in the writing that he "complains" about killing yet does it anyway, but it's not. It's etched into his personality and it's a driving force for his character as a springboard for the confrontation with Darko. I've always felt that Darko was/is meant to be a symbolic representation of Niko's inner self and what he'd become if he didn't let go. It's no coincidence the two share a striking resemblance also.

 

He's not really a good guy as such that he reads the bible and attends church on Sundays, but I believe he has good intentions just caught up with the wrong kind.

I agree completely especially with Darko, i too always felt that confrontation with him was meant to be symbolic representation of what he'd become if he didn't let go of his current lifestyle, well sayed.