Thoughts on Jerry Martinez?

[FlexiveFowl]

Jerry Martinez, the main antagonist of VCS isn't talked about or acknowledged much in the GTA community. He is a very underrated villain and I want to hear what you all think about him. Good villain/character or overall forgettable?

[Femme Fatale]

Eh, he was alright, but pretty forgettable. But not as forgettable as LCS and V's antagonists, of course.

[Grotti Vigilante]

A poorly written or badly unmemorable antagonist. He was alright when I played the game, but I never managed to pick up the reason why he screwed everyone over. What did he have against Vic that he had him kicked out of the military? What did he have against Phil to betray him? Why was he such a backstabber and a criminal while still being a goofy Sergeant who never took his position seriously? I cannot even begin to imagine him shouting down the ears of new recruits. He's not very well written at all, especially, as a main antagonist.  

[Lancerator]

he resembled a cool image as an antagonist, phsically, but very poor background

[muvdafucupouttahere]

Honestly, Jerry Martinez was just a watered-down version of Officer Tenpenny from GTA San Andreas, only less likable.

[Zello]

He was funny but made no sense as a antagonist probably the weakest in the series imo.

Edited January 13, 2019 by Zello

[Tao Cheng]

Wish he acted how he's depicted on his artwork.

Edited June 22, 2019 by Tao Cheng
Original post didn't make sense. Probably was too tired at the time.

[Wolff]

Was pretty lame yeah, narcissistic man of the law like Tenpenny but much more hollow. 

[hogei]

He is so hilarious.

 

There are some quotes i like in this game from him. 

 

Relax! You're so f*cking histrionic. It's like hanging out with a bitch on her period.

 

The thing is you work for Phil and Phil... Phil works for me. Which makes you my bitch's bitch. Figure that out.

 

 

Every time I play Last Stand, i always consistently grab him by the collar and throw, breaking his neck or letting him fall from the rooftop of the building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by hogei

[kobeni]

The mendez brothers should have been the main antagonists and martinez should have been killed early in the game.

Edited March 10, 2019 by YouSitTightBuddy

[JTap0]

On 11/21/2018 at 3:08 PM, Grotti Vigilante said:

A poorly written or badly unmemorable antagonist. He was alright when I played the game, but I never managed to pick up the reason why he screwed everyone over. What did he have against Vic that he had him kicked out of the military? What did he have against Phil to betray him? Why was he such a backstabber and a criminal while still being a goofy Sergeant who never took his position seriously? I cannot even begin to imagine him shouting down the ears of new recruits. He's not very well written at all, especially, as a main antagonist.  

Totally agree with that. I never did understand why he was screwing everyone over, especially Vic. 

[Shred_]

Weakest antagonist in the 3D universe. Should've gotten killed at the end of Act I and be replaced by Armando Mendez as the main villain.

[Femme Fatale]

2 hours ago, HotlineVice19603 said:

Weakest antagonist in the 3D universe.

Uh, no. Despite the fact that he's not memorable, the weakest antagonist is actually, uh...LCS' antagonist. He's so weak I couldn't even remember his name.  (Massimo or something like that.)

[Shred_]

21 hours ago, Femme Fatale said:

Uh, no. Despite the fact that he's not memorable, the weakest antagonist is actually, uh...LCS' antagonist. He's so weak I couldn't even remember his name.  (Massimo or something like that.)

I'm going to be terribly honest with this one. I forgot he existed... Vinnie should've been the main antagonist instead of that other Sicilian Joseph Stalin impersonator.

[iiCriminnaaL]

He was just forgettable. Still better than Masimo Torini (LCS' antagonist) and V's antagonists combined though.

 

The Mendez brothers were more believable antagonists than Martinez, since they were more intimidating and interesting. Similarly, that can be said about Vincenzo compared to Torini in LCS.

Edited April 2, 2019 by iiCriminnaaL 49

[tranceking26]

Started off okay, Hunter and all that, but ended up a pussy lol

 

Maybe the drugs got to his head.

[Sunglasses]

He's alright, but very hollow all things considered. Still love VCS and his presence, but the brothers should have been the main antagonists, not him.

[The Mysterious One]

On 11/21/2018 at 1:08 PM, Grotti Vigilante said:

A poorly written or badly unmemorable antagonist. He was alright when I played the game, but I never managed to pick up the reason why he screwed everyone over. What did he have against Vic that he had him kicked out of the military? What did he have against Phil to betray him? Why was he such a backstabber and a criminal while still being a goofy Sergeant who never took his position seriously? I cannot even begin to imagine him shouting down the ears of new recruits. He's not very well written at all, especially, as a main antagonist.  

I agree with everything you said. Even with that said, I was kind of hoping for there to be some kind of character development to show a more serious side to him than what was presented. Even when seeing him in the final mission, he didn't really show a rather sinister side to him. He still seemed like a laid-back and goofy type. The only time we saw any semblance of seriousness was when Vic confronted him about being screwed over during a phone call, only for Martinez to tell him that he screwed them both.

[gtafaninwest]

His baffoonish personality is a mask of his dark demeanor. 

Edited July 6, 2019 by gtafaninwest

[iiCriminnaaL]

12 hours ago, gtafaninwest said:

His baffoonish personality is a mask of his dark demeanor. 

Could be, but I believe he could've been toned down a little. He barely took anything seriously.

 

The Mendez brothers on the other hand are the ones who I consider to be the main threat.

[Jeansowaty]

Not really the best because he's more of a bully than an antagonist imo (he didn't have a real motive to go against Vic). This is kinda the exact same case with Tenpenny from SA. I do like it very much though that Vic has the balls to be the one cruising around him, The Mugshot Longshot is one dark mission when you take into account what Vic does just to frame Martinez. And the way he finishes him off by spitting on his corpse is so satisfying. More protagonists should be like this regarding the antagonist.

[Shauny7488]

He was fine at first, then he does nothing for most of the game, only to pop up again at the end like im supposed to care who he is lol

Edited August 5, 2019 by Shauny7488

[Limefong]

6/10 antagonist. He seems like an underrated antagonist for me.

Edited July 12, 2020 by Limefong

[VenusianDream]

I saw Martinez as the perfect contrast to Vic, although the two of them are alot similar than they'd care to admit. Vic is cautious, serious, and has a moral code in regards to how he robs and kills people. Jerry is unpredictable, silly, and doesn't care about who lives or dies so long as he gets his money and coke. Vic pretends as if he's beyond being a criminal, while Jerry embraces it. As stated in the very first cutscene, both Vic and Jerry are trying to get rich for different reasons and both end up in the drug game as a result. Sure Vic doesn't wanna sell drugs, but he continues to do so anyways and becomes quite good at it, even better than Jerry. One thing I like about Jerry is that he points out Vic's hypocrisy on being a criminal, much like the GTA Community does. He saw through his hypocrisy from the very beginning and probably got him kicked out of the army for that reason, because he knew Vic would go down that path eventually as drug dealing was the fastest and most profitable way to make money at the time.

 

Martinez is careless and goofy and is a rather comical antagonist compared to the others in the series, but behind all the jokes and satire hides a more darker and calculating side of him that doesn't get shown enough in the game. He reminds me of Dimitri in a way, their betrayals and rat-like behavior make us hate them more than the main antagonists themselves. I realized that Martinez doesn't have any associates nor does he lead any gangs. He instead uses his military connections and mostly works for himself, while screwing over everyone else and making life hell for the Vance brothers. This independence makes him stand out from all the other antagonists, who are usually in charge of a gang or has a lot of influence on the street. 

 

Overall I'd rate Martinez a 7/10. He's light-hearted, funny, unique, and very dislikeable. He would've been a much better character if he had more screentime and backstory.

Edited July 25, 2020 by VenusianDream

[SanFierroTriad]

I personally thought Jerry was forgettable, maybe I didn't give him enough attention, but then again he was hardly in the game after Phase 1. Only to show up at the end, as someone had mentioned. Also as others mentioned, I didn't get why he hated Vic so much? Maybe I missed something, I haven't played the story in a while. Like what was the point of getting him kicked out of the military? 

[VenusianDream]

4 hours ago, DJToni said:

Also as others mentioned, I didn't get why he hated Vic so much? Maybe I missed something, I haven't played the story in a while. Like what was the point of getting him kicked out of the military? 

There was never any real explanation. Martinez is like a proto-Dimitri, he screws over everyone that he works with. I think he set Vic up mostly because of Vic's attitude towards working for him despite agreeing to do so. Vic is a criminal that joined the army in an attempt to go legit. He's a hypocrite who pretends to be an upstanding citizen when the reality is that he's no better than Jerry. Perhaps he thought that getting him kicked out of the army would show Vic for what he really is, and give him a massive "f*ck you" to his wishy-washy moral code. You either sell drugs and kill people, or you don't. There's no in-between, and Martinez probably disliked Vic for trying to be the in-between.

 

There's also the possibility that Martinez never set Vic up, as that was never explained either. Maybe Sargent Peppah found the drugs under his bed before Martinez could get it? In the cutscene he's watching a Candy Suxxx film and doesn't seem like he's gonna pick up the stuff anytime soon. Vic tells him where it is, and Martinez comments on it being a childish decision to hide it there. He views Vic as a naive idiot that can easily be manipulated. He doesn't really hate Vic until he and Lance steals his coke.

Edited July 27, 2020 by VenusianDream

[Grotti Vigilante]

23 hours ago, VenusianDream said:

There was never any real explanation. Martinez is like a proto-Dimitri, he screws over everyone that he works with. I think he set Vic up mostly because of Vic's attitude towards working for him despite agreeing to do so. Vic is a criminal that joined the army in an attempt to go legit. He's a hypocrite who pretends to be an upstanding citizen when the reality is that he's no better than Jerry. Perhaps he thought that getting him kicked out of the army would show Vic for what he really is, and give him a massive "f*ck you" to his wishy-washy moral code. You either sell drugs and kill people, or you don't. There's no in-between, and Martinez probably disliked Vic for trying to be the in-between.

 

There's also the possibility that Martinez never set Vic up, as that was never explained either. Maybe Sargent Peppah found the drugs under his bed before Martinez could get it? In the cutscene he's watching a Candy Suxxx film and doesn't seem like he's gonna pick up the stuff anytime soon. Vic tells him where it is, and Martinez comments on it being a childish decision to hide it there. He views Vic as a naive idiot that can easily be manipulated. He doesn't really hate Vic until he and Lance steals his coke.

I don't believe the theory that he didn't set Vic up, because upon reviewing the mission Truck Stop, he says "I didn't screw you over for fun, I was saving myself, and you would do the same, and don't pretend otherwise". Having said that it does seem to prove he did at least somewhat see Vic as a hypocrite, but he's still not a particularly strong antagonist. Why did he still screw over Phil in Marked Men? He was saying all that "would I screw you over?" and he ends up doing so. He wants Phil to trust him but then proves he's not very trustworthy at all. I suppose he does call Vic out on his hypocrisy, but I still never quite understood how he could just screw people over like that. Even Dimitri has motives to become the most powerful criminal, and it seemed he truly believed Niko owed Bulgarian money, though that may just well have been a cover story. More than that I still can't imagine how Martinez managed to become the shouting king of the NCO's in the US Army even though he doesn't take this position seriously.

Edited July 28, 2020 by Grotti Vigilante

[Niobium]

i agree that his motives for betraying vic are not very clear, but he is such a jerk that he makes me actually want to actually defeat him. so he's a lot better than massimo or GTA V's antagonists.

Edited July 28, 2020 by Niobium

[Lancerator]

The events that led him to turn on Vic could have been better wrapped up, I mean there were supposed to be a ton of Corporals when Vic arrived on Fort Baxter, why not just employ other soldier or a whole posse? It made feel Victor like a notorious soldier when there aren't any hints that made him look like a distinguished fella'. Maybe prolong Vic's stay in the army and not by just 3 goofy missions.

 

He was potrayed as someone to clap later on the middle or nearly the ending of the storyline like Mikhail Faustin when Niko overachieved him.

 

Like, kill Jerry during the middle or before the ending of the story and take out both the Mendez brothers at the ending mission. 

 

A good inflection point would have been From Zero to Hero, thereafter the Mendez brothers could have taken his place and be potrayed as the most fearful antagonists after Dimitri. 

 

Edited July 29, 2020 by Lancerator

[iiCriminnaaL]

39 minutes ago, Lancerator said:

The events that led him to turn on Vic could have been better wrapped up, I mean there were supposed to be a ton of Corporals when Vic arrived on Fort Baxter, why not just employ other soldier or a whole posse? It made feel Victor like a notorious soldier when there aren't any hints that made him look like a distinguished fella'. Maybe prolong Vic's stay in the army and not by just 3 goofy missions.

 

He was potrayed as someone to clap later on the middle or nearly the ending of the storyline like Mikhail Faustin when Niko overachieved him.

 

Like, kill Jerry during the middle or before the ending of the story and take out both the Mendez brothers at the ending mission. 

 

A good inflection point would have been From Zero to Hero, thereafter the Mendez brothers could have taken his place and be potrayed as the most fearful antagonists after Dimitri. 

 

Technically speaking, the Mendez brothers were already portrayed as potential main antagonists. The way they were introduced, their betrayal, the kidnapping of Lance and Louise along with the latter's death on their hands, and the final showdowns with both Armando and Diego made them feel more of primary antagonists than Martinez. Just making his death occur earlier would've made it "official".

Edited July 29, 2020 by iiCriminnaaL 49