Hot Take: Luis Lopez was an underrated character

[jkim_1 156]

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 9,103]

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_1 156]

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 2,653]

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_1 156]

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 108 433]

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, 2018 by The Rockstar Gamer 108

[iiCriminnaaL 49 2,653]

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, 2018 by Kane49

[ViceBoy69 472]

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 108 433]

@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, 2018 by The Rockstar Gamer 108

[MARKUS. 667]

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

[iiCriminnaaL 49 2,653]

@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, 2018 by Kane49

[simonp92 213]

On 5/17/2018 at 4:40 AM, The Rockstar Gamer 108 said:

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.

 

2. Luis punched a woman in the face... 

[iiCriminnaaL 49 2,653]

On 5/17/2018 at 6:12 AM, iiCriminnaaL 49 said:

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.

3. It's GTA. Protagonists are always bad guys and criminals. Loyalty is not always expected from them, except for their friends.

Edited August 26, 2018 by iiCriminnaaL 49

[$tr33t 15]

People dont like Luis that much cause he is always complaining, he is surrounded by morons like that narcissist tony and Armando,those morons he hangs with dont understand why he is always complaining, they dont understand that luis is pretty much always right. Luis seems to handle business well, just look how he manages tony's business's and the drug wars.He is the best business man. People dont like him cause he is looked like a pessimist and a "downer" , they dont like him cause he apparently just follows orders of a excentric gay in his late 40's (nothing against gays, but lots of people think that someone who follows orders of a gay, is a loser) not to mention that he is also sometimes a hypocrite. And also, Luis seems like a guy with a very cool 'vibe' , but his constant worry and complaining doesn't match his cool vibe according to a lot of people. Also, being a bodyguard doesnt seem like something gta players are interested in. But above all else, gta 4 was a serious game, and the gta 4 lovers didn't liked Luis and TBOGT cause they didn't seemed serious! Anyway, Luis is just missunderstood, no one gives the value he deserves, he is stuck with a bunch of idiots who think they are very smart, but luis is the one who always has to save them.I like Luis, as much as like Jonhy or any other gta protagonist.

[iiCriminnaaL 49 2,653]

15 minutes ago, Str33tD4wg said:

People dont like Luis that much cause he is always complaining, he is surrounded by morons like that narcissist tony and Armando,those morons he hangs with dont understand why he is always complaining, they dont understand that luis is pretty much always right. Luis seems to handle business well, just look how he manages tony's business's and the drug wars.He is the best business man. People dont like him cause he is looked like a pessimist and a "downer" , they dont like him cause he apparently just follows orders of a excentric gay in his late 40's (nothing against gays, but lots of people think that someone who follows orders of a gay, is a loser) not to mention that he is also sometimes a hypocrite. And also, Luis seems like a guy with a very cool 'vibe' , but his constant worry and complaining doesn't match his cool vibe according to a lot of people. Also, being a bodyguard doesnt seem like something gta players are interested in. But above all else, gta 4 was a serious game, and the gta 4 lovers didn't liked Luis and TBOGT cause they didn't seemed serious! Anyway, Luis is just missunderstood, no one gives the value he deserves, he is stuck with a bunch of idiots who think they are very smart, but luis is the one who always has to save them.I like Luis, as much as like Jonhy or any other gta protagonist.

That would make sense actually.

 

I would act like him if I was surrounded by people like Tony, Armando, and especially Mori.

[simonp92 213]

On 8/26/2018 at 3:30 PM, simonp92 said:

 

2. Luis punched a woman in the face... 

I forgot that also he headbutted Evan. 

 

[FadeAway 191]

I agree, OP. Luis was cool, handled business, and him and Tony had a good ''partnership'' in relation to business but looked out for each other too (Luis looked out for Tony more and put Tony in his place when he was being a jacka$$). Given that, with Tony and the club, he would also not take anything from anyone.  He has roots and also some of those roots that he's trying to get out of as well. He's loyal to his family and takes care of whatever business needs to be done. He's cool, calm and collected but also comes off as cold due to the sh*t he has to put up with too and his background.

 

In addition to that, TBOGT is an all-around badass game. My favorite HD expansion. He can do a Job (Club Management) and lots of activities in the game. 

[SmokesWithCigs 1,855]

I like the chemistry  between Luis and Tony. It's reminiscent  of Rosenberg  and tommy.

[TheSantader25 5,999]

Very chill and cool character. The best in the IV trilogy and definitely better than Niko. When I'm exploring an open world game I need to be comfortable and attached to the protagonist I'm playing with. Luis certainly did a better job at this than Niko. I like him better personally-wise as well since he fits the GTA franchise better. Definitely underrated. 

[SonOfLiberty 44,608]

Luis is ok, but unlike Niko and Johnny he has no goals or motivations for himself which to me makes him really boring and uninteresting. I know TBOGT isn't supposed to be "story driven" like GTA IV and TLAD, but it didn't need to be. I mean Jesus Christ Franklin's the most charismaticless protagonist ever written (of the ones who talk anyway) and even he eventually reaches his goal of getting out of the hood.

 

It just would've been nice if he had a side goal he was striving to achieve. Like I don't know maybe being shared partners with Tony in buying a stake in Maisonette 9 or setting up his own nightclub. As it stands though he's so dull and unessential any other character could replace him as Tony's bodyguard and it wouldn't alter the story in any way. You can't tell the stories of GTA IV and TLAD without Niko and Johnny.