Hot Take: Luis Lopez was an underrated character

[jkim_1 150]

I thought he was easily the best representation of a true New Yorker. People also didnt like him because he would sound like a prick sometimes but being from New Jersey, people from this area are always pricks! I also like how they make him Dominican-American because many Latinos in this area are Dominican. His accent even sounds like a NY Latino; being half-Latino myself I think this is huge.... if his Spanish didnt sound right (kind of like how Nikos Serbian was too broken) it wouldnt make him as good of a character.... Luis also shows that blunt, no-nonsense attitude of an uptown NYer working in the more glamorous southern side of the borough.

 

Also remember his character was only 25 during the events of the game. Hes kind of still a younger guy doing big boy things. If people perceived him to be less mature than other protagonists, this would make sense.

 

I just wish they would have expanded on his family and background. There were always mentions of Luiss siblings but no pictures and obviously no appearances of them. I feel as if Johnny had more of a backstory than Luis.... Plus we actually get to see what happens to him five years later. It wouldve been nice to eventually see an older Luis possibly settling down in Alderney and being pulled back into the life of crime.

[slimeball supreme 8,679]

luis definitely had more backstory than johnny. we know he got in with the lost when he was a teen, we know he went to prison at one point, and we know he has a brother serving in the middle east who hates his guts, but that's about it. luis is much more worked out in that regard and if you just read up on the wiki page there are a sh*t ton of details and most of it is developed in dialogue and so on.

 

all in all you're right, luis is extremely underrated and in my opinion the better of the two DLC protagonists. not just for his accuracy (he and his surroundings are quite an interesting depiction of uptown manhattan dominicans and pretty accurate in a few places at that) but also for his personality, his genuine connection to both his family and the city itself, and i think there's a lot to him a lot of people just don't notice or care for. there are definitely problems with tbogt but i don't think many of them come from luis directly and i think you can say the same for the rest of the three stories anyway.

 

however i don't think we really need to see what happened afterwards. i think leaving that up to player interpretation works a lot better as it leaves up a lot of space for other people. after all, johnny's death in V has been seen as quite unfitting and 'out of the blue' to a lot of people (though personally im ambivalent)

[jkim_1 150]

Yeah, I definitely feel you on that one. And youre right about the dialogue between him, H, and Armando shedding more light into his background. The best is when they reminisce about how they liked staying in the Heights because every fall the college chicks would come through.... its actually so accurate, because Im from Paterson NJ where the racial demographics are nearly identical to uptown Manhattan and theres a college by us and me and the boys (mainly who were Dominican and Rican) used to go their parties (while I was a CC student), but I digress.

 

Its clear I like him more because I can relate to him more than other characters. Perhaps its the fact that many players cant relate to Luis that makes him seem unlikable; like I can totally see how people dont like him, but for the same reasons one can like a character they can hate them for that as well.

[iiCriminnaaL 49 154]

I don't know much about that, but I don't like him that much too.

 

When I first saw him in IV, I thought he would be more of a badass gangster, but I changed my mind on him when I played TBoGT. He is surely a gangster and all, but I don't like his personality that much. His dialogue and reacts aren't better than Niko's nor Johnny's.

 

But still, I don't hate him.

[jkim_1 150]

I don't know much about that, but I don't like him that much too.

 

When I first saw him in IV, I thought he would be more of a badass gangster, but I changed my mind on him when I played TBoGT. He is surely a gangster and all, but I don't like his personality that much. His dialogue and reacts aren't better than Niko's nor Johnny's.

 

But still, I don't hate him.

I get what you mean because he does come off as REALLY cold and somewhat rude. But theres a reason for that and it kind of fits the uptown New Yorker attitude. He also deals with a lot of subtle racism throughout the story (something I didnt notice as much until I played through it a few more times) so that could also be some explanation as well.

[The Rockstar Gamer 108 412]

He is at least better than Johnny.

 

1. Luis was extremely loyal to all his bosses while JK stabbed Bill and Ray at the back.

 

2. Luis had never hurt weak people like Roman Bellic.

 

3. Luis was One Man Army. He didn't have to request his brothers for help.

Edited May 17 by The Rockstar Gamer 108

[iiCriminnaaL 49 154]

He is at least better than Johnny.

 

1. Luis was extremely loyal to all his bosses while JK stabbed Bill and Ray at the back.

 

2. Luis had never hurt weak people like Roman Bellic.

 

3. Luis was One Man Army. He didn't have to request his brothers for help.

1. When did Johnny betray Billy? Billy betrayed him by setting him (and Jim) up and shouting against him. And Ray wasn't a friend of Johnny. He was just a mob Capo who offered Johnny to work with him in order to get a share of the diamond money, Johnny helped him to get the club rich and help Ashley. He stabbed him in the back for two things: 1. Two million dollars is better than a million. (still, I wouldn't get in the risk he got himself in if I were on his shoes). 2. He was pissed because Ray was screwing with Ashley and probably had slept with her.

 

2. Johnny was forced to do that in order to save Ashley and pay her debts. And however, Luis threw Tahir from Rotterdam tower, and scared Ahmed, which led him to fall to his death too. Both were poor guys who were helping the law on Yusuf, who was using drugs, ordering crimes, etc. It's understandable to Luis to kill them anyway, as much as how understandable is kidnapping Roman by Johnny. (Luis: Killed two guys, Johnny: Kidnapped a guy who later survived. Both were forced anyway, but kidnapping one guy who survives later is better than murdering two guys.)

 

3. Each one of the protagonists of the series is a one man army. Not something special.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• I don't know why would anyone think Luis is better than Johnny anyway, even if you considered him more of a good guy. It's GTA, it's all about bad guys and criminals. Either natural criminals or forced criminals. Johnny is a loyal vice president (later president) of an outlaw motorcycle club, and Luis is a bodyguard and friend of a nightclub's gay owner and his work is protecting him and paying his debts by doing favors to people.
• Johnny is loyal to his brothers in arms as much as Luis's loyalty to Armando and Henqirue, if not even more.

Anyway, either you find Luis better or Johnny, I respect your opinion. Everybody has his own opinions and views about everything after all.

Edited May 18 by Kane49

[ViceBoy69 431]

Always liked Luis i am a big fan of TBOGT i just wish it had been more connected to IV and Niko, i know it was a DLC but things are missing to lock the stories together.

For example the clubs Luis works at as far as Niko is concerned they dont exsist, yet Roman goes in to Masionette with Brucie, Then there is the crane Luis blows up as far as Niko is concerned its still standing, it doesnt make sense as Luis story starts as Niko does the bank raid, i think Rockstar made a mess of the games in this regard or is it just me ?

[The Rockstar Gamer 108 412]

@Kane

I mean that Luis was ONE MAN ARMY. I didn't say about his ex job. He was able to clear big battlefields at once. He didn't require any help from others.

Edited May 18 by The Rockstar Gamer 108

[MARKUS. 344]

More like R* didn't took the full potential out of him

[iiCriminnaaL 49 154]

@Kane

I mean that Luis was ONE MAN ARMY. I didn't say about his ex job. He was able to clear big battlefields at once. He didn't require any help from others.

Oh, I misunderstood.

 

Anyway, each one of the series' protagonists (if not each then most) is a one man army. Nothing special about Luis. But still, I don't consider him a bad protagonist.

Edited May 18 by Kane49