Overrated and underrated characters

[Algonquin Assassin]

2 hours ago, Gtaman_92 said:

Dwayne Forge

Somehow I missed Dwayne. I agree though he's pretty underrated.

 

I like hanging out with him because I get the sense him and Niko have lived pretty similar lives. It was interesting that before he got into dealing that he wanted to be a cop. 

[Sunglasses]

On 9/5/2019 at 6:44 PM, SonOfLiberty said:

To be fair most people have probably never played CTW much like the top down GTAs. I have to admit sometimes I forget CTW is even part of the HD era and one could be forgiven for not rating him very highly because of the Anime presentation and the fact it's written dialogue making it harder to get a gauge of his personality.

 

I like to imagine if he was a spoken protagonist he'd have traits very similar to Niko with the cockiness of Luis (That's the impression he gave me). . 

I don't really think it's that hard to gauge what his actual personality is. He's a rich, snobby kid whose surrounded by idiots, making him the smart one. It's the situations he's put in that makes it easier to understand how he acts. 

Edited September 7, 2019 by LCLegend

[Evil empire]

Overrated:

 

Tommy Vercetti: He's for sure quite enjoyable to direct but when you see him acquire the skumhole shack which is by far the crappiest "safehouse" I've ever seen in a GTA and to make things even more ridiculous pay for it his "guy who doesn't take a sh*t from anyone" side definitely loses a lot of credibility. His Starfish Island mansion which is supposed to symbolize his wealth and power is just an empty nutshell filled with hallway mixed with a junkyard when you see the entry hall. He's supposed to be Vice City's kingpin at the end but can't even conquer the enemy territories some of his companies are inside of. Everytime he buys a company he personally does the job to make it profitable without anything in the scenario justifies it. Like I wrote in another topic the game would be more credible and immersive if there was a sequence explaining Tommy bought a certain quantity of drug the cops are going to confiscate and his only truck-driving employee is sick before he goes to sell the drug-filled Cherry poppers ice-cream. Tommy Vercetti suffers some serious inconsistencies that are rarely mentioned. You can always reply Tommy is a fictional character and Vice City was made very fastly the facts are here.

 

Cesar Vialpando: He doesn't have anything extraordinary that would make him a memorable character. He's just a random and easily forgettable character at least IMO.

 

Underrated:

 

Carl Johnson: CJ  undeniably doesn't have all the unidimensional consistency Claude shows for example but contrary to Tommy you never see him pay to get any crappy safehouse, he conquers the enemy territories where Tommy just waits for his enemies to attack his interests and the fact he oftenly performs menial tasks to make some companies profitable is more credible when you know he doesn't own most of the businesses he works for. So yes Carl Johnson lacks of consistency from time to time but he's certainly not worse than Tommy Vercetti on this point.

 

Mr Truth: by fr the most memorable GTA character I've ever seen and one of the best video games characters I've ever seen in my life, like Sheogorath in The Elder Scrolls franchise but still I don't see many persons who seem to enjoy this marvelous character as much as I do.

Edited September 17, 2019 by Evil empire

[Eugene H. Krabs]

Overrated: CJ, CJ, CJ, CJ, CJ, CJ, oh and CJ. And in case I didn't get my point across: CJ. If you didn't hear that the second time: CJ

 

Underrated: Huang Lee. Hardly anybody talks about him but he's one of my fave protagonists. His lines always get a laugh out of me

Edited September 17, 2019 by Eugene H. Krabs

[ThatBenGuy1998]

On 8/22/2019 at 4:20 PM, iiCriminnaaL 49 said:

I agree. The minor characters of GTA IV are indeed very well written and detailed.

 

I wish Mikhail's bodyguard had a slightly bigger role as well. I was surprised that he was the same hitman who ambushes Roman's wedding in the Deal ending.

I can’t believe I’m not saying this until now but yes, I agree that Faustin’s bodyguard should’ve had a slightly bigger role as well in addition to the characters I listed earlier. Also, as a matter of fact, I completely forgot about him up until you said something about him nearly a month ago. I’m also glad you brought him up. TBH, I think it would’ve been pretty cool if instead of being the wedding hitman in the Deal ending, he had a role LONG before, being sorta like to Mikhail Faustin as Anthony Corrado was to Jimmy Pegorino (i.e., snitching to the feds about the crime boss and being killed by Niko because of it).

[Max.pain]

unerrated:jacob, this guy is one of the best gta characters and criminals ever, it’s always fun to hang out with him.

hernandez:for some reason that guy was never talked even though we’ce seen him almost in the whole game

Edited September 18, 2019 by Max.pain

[jaylen pizarro]

overrated: cj trevor lance vance 

underrated gerald mcreary joseph o toole mitch baker

Edited April 23, 2020 by jaylen pizarro

[VictorVance1239]

I think Debra is pretty underrated. We don't know much about her but she comes off pretty badass in her brief appearances.  I actually wouldn't have minded playing as her in some sort of DLC story. 

 

 

[watersgta3]

On 9/4/2019 at 8:52 AM, Copcaller said:

 Cj (kind of)- lot of people don't appreciate his character arc imo but the memes as amusing as they are can be a bit annoying sometimes. Also ridiculous how people get mad at him for killing some random construction ( lol) foreman who sexually harassed his sister yet don't mind Tommy or Toni killing Innocents. 

The construction workers didn't sexually harass his sister. They just simply said she looked like a hooker, something even Sweet pointed out. It wasn't like they actually tried to rape her.

[El Penguin Bobo]

Plus, she did look like a hooker. It's not an insult when it's the truth.

[watersgta3]

I don't think any of you fools even understand the true meaning of "overrated" and "underrated".

 

Overrated - Held at a higher regard beyond what is deserved.

 

Underrated - Underestimated to the extent, value, or unimportance of.

 

"Underrated" does not mean "getting more hate"! You're confusing it with "overhated"! CJ is neither one of the two. He has his overrated tendencies and underrated tendencies, but he isn't either of them, and neither is Tommy. They're both in-between. Also, how the f*ck could Niko be considered "underrated" when he's one of the most beloved protagonists of the whole series?

 

Here's my list:

 

Overrated

- Catalina (GTA SA version): People often praise her for being "different from the other females" and her "chemistry" with CJ, but in all honesty, she really isn't that much more special than most of the popular female villains in other sources, and they mostly forget that CJ never liked her to begin with (a bitch threatening CJ by telling him she'll cut off his testicles and force-feed them to him and constantly keep telling him she doesn't love him and changing her mind every second? Yeah real chemistry indeed (sarcasm)). Plus there are actually folks who want her to appear more in San Andreas even though she only had a supporting role that was too small for her to have any more importance to the storyline. I mean I can understand if folks wanted her to appear more in GTA 3 since she's the main antagonist in that game, but what would her role be if she appeared in more missions in GTA San Andreas? Waiting for an answer.

 

- Lance Vance: Don't get me wrong. I like Lance as a character too, but he gets a little too much praise by a lot of fans who like his cool attitude in the game, and these same fans even justify his betrayal on Tommy by saying that Tommy treated him like sh*t. Since when? Tommy has treated Lance fairly and has carried him in their missions. He only berated Lance twice, and that was because Lance was being a lazy moron who kept screwing things up. Also, I find it hilarious how folks get pissed at Tommy for the way he treated Lance even though they say absolutely nothing to Vic even though he treated Lance the exact same way.

 

- Claude: So many fans have praised this character for being a badass, taciturn killer as if he even had a personality of his own to begin with. Even the description of the back of the case explains the summary in second person. Nobody was praising this character until his name was discovered in GTA San Andreas.

 

- Trevor Philips: Look, I like how entertaining he can be most of the time, but there are so many fans that praise him as if he was some special soldier. He's just typically a grown adult version of Eric Cartman from South Park and isn't all that deep.

 

Underrated

- El Burro - He only appeared in phone calls and is only seen in person in the artworks. I like his lines and felt he should've had more importance in the story.

 

- Ryder: It's a shame how this character gets treated like a minor character after his haphazard betrayal and how folks make him an unimportant character even though he's a GSF member, as opposed to Big Smoke, who fans constantly over-sympathize with. Ryder, on the other hand, was a realistic portrayal of the urban '90s gangsters who had the charisma and attitude that blended well with the game's theme, and his and Carl's relationship was highly underrated and more complex than anyone CJ had with IMO. A great character with wasted potential.

 

- Vic Vance: While I do believe that his personality needs improvements, Vic definitely deserves some credit for being one of the few badasses who is actually far more scrupulous than every other character in the series. I felt he was more human than even CJ, and he never killed anyone who didn't deserve it (hell if you ask me, Vic went way easier on Marty than CJ did on the construction worker). So I do think that Vic, while not a perfect protagonist, still should be thrown in discussion with the other protagonists. The fact that he even conceded his own flaws at the end should definitely be enough to give him more credit as a protagonist, because while he has been hypocritical in the past, he's at least honest of his bad deeds and never claims or treats himself as a saint, and that's why I feel he should be mentioned more.

 

- The Mendez brothers: They were IMO the much better antagonists of the game, and I liked their interactions with the Vance brothers. I do feel that there should be more fans talking about these two, especially since they're in a game that's underrated itself.

 

Fairly rated

Everyone else not listed. They were either unlikable, bland, or get the perfect amount of love and/or hate.

Edited April 26, 2020 by watersgta3

[Copcaller]

2 hours ago, watersgta3 said:

The construction workers didn't sexually harass his sister. They just simply said she looked like a hooker, something even Sweet pointed out. It wasn't like they actually tried to rape her.

If you haven't noticed sweet is a bit hypocritical he criticizes Kendal for dating outside her race but dates or at least f*cks with a Filipina. Of course said Filipina is also wearing a tight black cocktail style dress. Also you don't have to touch someone to sexually harass them implying that person look likes a hooker and making sexually lewd comments to them is sexual harassment. 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Copcaller

[GhettoJesus]

It is a pretty tough list to make.

Overrated:

-Tommy Vercetti: I feel like he is pretty undeveloped. I know Ray Liotta was difficult to work with but I think he has few lines compared to what a main character should have. He is a cool character, I agree. But not that cool.

-Cesar: He is super bland.

-Trevor: He is not funny, he has no developed personality. Truly the worst.

 

Underrated:

-El Burro

-Phil Cassidy

-Phil Bell

-Dave Norton

[iiCriminnaaL]

2 hours ago, Copcaller said:

If you haven't noticed sweet is a bit hypocritical he criticizes Kendal for dating outside her race but dates or at least f*cks with a Filipina. Of course said Filipina is also wearing a tight black cocktail style dress. Also you don't have to touch someone to sexually harass them implying that person look likes a hooker and making sexually lewd comments to them is sexual harassment. 

 

 

Actually, there was an unused dialogue suggesting that his girlfriend is also African-American, given her accent in the voice lines. I think that was just an oversight from the developers.

 

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by iiCriminnaaL 49

[Copcaller]

39 minutes ago, iiCriminnaaL 49 said:

Actually, there was an unused dialogue suggesting that his girlfriend is also African-American, given her accent in the voice lines. I think that was just an oversight from the developers.

 

 

They shouldn't have cut it would have made him less hypocritical 

[Algonquin Assassin]

4 hours ago, watersgta3 said:

Also, how the f*ck could Niko be considered "underrated" when he's one of the most beloved protagonists of the whole series?

 

On 8/18/2019 at 3:56 PM, SonOfLiberty said:

Niko (Ok I'm breaking my NPC list here, but I forgot to mention it above): Not in regards to his "character" which is obviously brilliant and he deserves his place as the best protagonist in the series, but more his voice acting. Maybe it's not so much Niko here and more Michael Hollick. His "fake" accent didn't bother me nor did it ruin Niko's character once I knew all the facts yet even after a decade I still see people downgrading Niko like he's a terrible character JUST because R* didn't use a Serbian for the voice work.

His voice acting definitely is. People make it seem like because Michael Hollick mispronounced a couple of words when he spoke in Serbian that it somehow ruins the rest of his character. Also it makes my eyes roll when people make it seem like he's a constant "whiner" about killing people and that it creates ludonarrative dissonance or some other sh*t. 

 

Clearly Niko deserves the praise he gets, but it doesn't stop people trying to downplay aspects of him because they don't like he's more regarded than their favourite protagonists. It's just sad. 

[Officer Ronson]

4 hours ago, Copcaller said:

If you haven't noticed sweet is a bit hypocritical he criticizes Kendal for dating outside her race but dates or at least f*cks with a Filipina. Of course said Filipina is also wearing a tight black cocktail style dress. Also you don't have to touch someone to sexually harass them implying that person look likes a hooker and making sexually lewd comments to them is sexual harassment. 

 

 

A filipina hooker? The name's model is literally called bfyri (black female young rich)

[iiCriminnaaL]

14 minutes ago, SonOfLiberty said:

His voice acting definitely is. People make it seem like because Michael Hollick mispronounced a couple of words when he spoke in Serbian that it somehow ruins the rest of his character. Also it makes my eyes roll when people make it seem like he's a constant "whiner" about killing people and that it creates ludonarrative dissonance or some other sh*t. 

 

I never got this neither, lol. The only thing that might be close to "whining" is him complaining about Roman wasting his money on gambling, and it's not like he has been going through this all the way through Roman's missions. I'd even say that this was more refreshing than just saving Roman without a serious word given to him.

 

Another situation might be his phone call with Faustin after Rigged To Blow, which was fair enough too, as this time it wasn't just a regular assassination he is used to, since it involved explosives.

Edited April 26, 2020 by iiCriminnaaL 49

[Algonquin Assassin]

12 minutes ago, iiCriminnaaL 49 said:

I never got this neither, lol. The only thing that might be close to "whining" is him complaining about Roman wasting his money on gambling, and it's not like he has been going through this all the way through Roman's missions. I'd even say that this was more refreshing than just saving Roman without a serious word given to him.

 

 

I don't blame him though.  He's the one doing all the work risking his life trying to kept them afloat and Roman's blowing all their money on gambling. A few stern words doesn't hurt anyone every now and then. 

 

 

12 minutes ago, iiCriminnaaL 49 said:

Another situation might be his phone call with Faustin after Rigged To Blow, which was fair enough too, as this time it wasn't just a regular assassination he is used to, since it involved explosives.

 

I think he was caught more by surprise than anything as Faustin didn't tell him the truck was full of explosives until he got to it.  It just seemed like an unappreciative gesture to me than complaining as such.

[Pedriko]

Overrated: Ryder

 Underrated: Cesar

[iiCriminnaaL]

Just now, SonOfLiberty said:

I don't blame him though.  He's the one doing all the work risking his life trying to kept them afloat and Roman's blowing all their money on gambling. A few stern words doesn't hurt anyone every now and then. 

 

I agree. I wasn't blaming him too, as it's both reasonable and refreshing for the story.

 

1 minute ago, SonOfLiberty said:

I think he was caught more by surprise than anything as Faustin didn't tell him the truck was full of explosives until he got to it. 

Probably, as he didn't have a problem bombing a car of an Ancelotti capo later on.

[Copcaller]

1 hour ago, Officer Ronson said:

A filipina hooker? The name's model is literally called bfyri (black female young rich)

Must have been the brightness on my TV she always looked super fair skinned to me 

[iiCriminnaaL]

51 minutes ago, Copcaller said:

Must have been the brightness on my TV she always looked super fair skinned to me 

Her skin's color is quite similar to that of Ryder.

[Niobium]

overrated: trevor

 

underrated: johnny

 

enough said

[Copcaller]

9 hours ago, watersgta3 said:

Ryder: It's a shame how this character gets treated like a minor character after his haphazard betrayal and how folks make him an unimportant character even though he's a GSF member, as opposed to Big Smoke, who fans constantly over-sympathize with. Ryder, on the other hand, was a realistic portrayal of the urban '90s gangsters who had the charisma and attitude that blended well with the game's theme, and his and Carl's relationship was highly underrated and more complex than anyone CJ had with IMO. A great character with wasted potential.

Defintely agree with this game desperately needed a dough boy, mad Max, o dog style character. Big bear was implied to be one but we saw how that went.

[Naughtius Maximus]

Overrated

• Tommy Vercetti: Smart, cunning, tough-as-nails... Tommy is pretty much of a good protagonist. The reason I believe he's overrated is that he suffers from Walter White treatment. Despite having cool personality traits, Tommy V. is a character with many moralistic flaws - He frequently comes around as a pompous, self-interested, egoistical douche. It doesn't matter because die-hard Vercetti fans view him to be always righteous on his selfish ways.
• Carl "CJ" Johnson: The problem is that San Andreas was an enormous game more than CJ could chew. CJ is supposed to be an "everyman" archetype because he is the main subject of many-chaptered plot devices. He returns to his hometown and gangbangs with his old crew at one point, the other time he raids a secret government facility to steal some sci-fi tech sh*t. This huge story-wise burden makes CJ an inconsistent protagonist, also in terms of personality (already mentioned a couple of time by others in the forum). While certain not a bad protagonist, CJ is inconsistent and mostly lacks character development for which I think he is overrated.
• Trevor Philips: Half-baked comic relief and idolized loose cannon amongst graphic violence lovers. I mean he could be a pretty decent protagonist unless his background was just about mommy issues and best friend who abandoned him for a quiet life.
• Luis Fernando Lopez: I won't deny that the guy has some kind of a working backstory, and he's not that bad of a protagonist some people claim him to be. However, he's mostly a stuck-up douche who secretly (and sometimes openly) belittles every other character and has an undying habit of sticking at everyhole. I'm just saying he's pretty overrated compared to other protagonists.
• Yusuf Amir: Right-rated for being a comic relief, but overrated for pretty much everything else.
• Brucie Kibbutz: I mean, I like Brucie but I sometimes think that he's way overrated.
• Lamar Davis: I don't get why there is so much love for him. He's a good comic relief but honestly, GTA V is full of comic reliefs - which doesn't make him unique.

Underrated

• Johnny Klebitz: He was a soft-hearted tough guy who tried to maintain his and friends' place as part of a love letter to a failing brotherhood in TLAD. His inner conflicts had made him a well-developed protagonist, IMO. It's a shame that GTA V came around and took a sh*t on his legacy with the snap of a finger.
• Huang Lee: He lacks top-notch qualities, and way less developed compared to some other GTA protagonists but goddamn, he is the unspoken king of witty sarcasm. Huang sometimes reminds me of a Chinese version of Tommy V: Throughout the story, Huang thinks that he's the smartest in the room because he's stuck between a bunch of self-indulged morons.
• Billy Grey: A very very underrated antagonist, I'll tell you that much. He is a selfish buttplug who is hell-bent on getting whatever he wants... and a top master of manipulation. 
• Jim Fitzgerald: I'd say he's underrated. As far as the close companions concern, Jim is the only one I can recall for being more mature, hardened and level-head than the protagonist. Being tool of a different approach for the sidekick character, I think Jim Fitz deserves more love and respect.
• Gonzalez: I am talking about VCS version of him. He is a sly f*cker who does everything in his power to stay ahead of the competition... and his own employer. If we could see a little bit more of him, that'd be fine.
• "Big" Mitch Baker: Caricutarization of a typical tough-guy biker, but I think his dialogue with Tommy makes him more desirable for respect.
• Mikhail Faustin: I'd consider him a darker and more tragic version of Tony Montana. Plus, I think his downfall serves an eye-opening moment for Niko during his journey for American dream. 
• Mike Toreno: Actually one of the most memorable San Andreas characters for me. Toreno's dialogues are top-quality and sometimes unintentionally comedy-golden. "This history. It's all lies. It says Hitler killed himself and that we nuked Japan. And people believe this sh*t. Jesus..."
• Packie McReary: A drunken, coke-headed aloof coming from a broken home, always has good stories to tell. I saw people who gave Packie the love he deserved but sometimes I get the impression that he's less appreciated compared to Niko's other inner circle such as Roman, Little Jacob and Brucie.
• Phil Bell: He was given a good character development in spite of short screen time.
• Gordon Sargent: He seems like a competent small-time thug who accepted his place in the criminal food chain. I wish we could see more of him.
• U.L Paper Guy, Wade Heston and Dave Norton: Authority figures whose relationship with the protagonist is just more than "You're gonna run errands for me or I will put you in jail because I'm a classical asshole bent cop.". For that, I believe their characters stay more unique and they deserve more love.

[Niobium]

overrated: niko bellic (alright let me explain...)

 

it's not that he isn't a well-written character with lots of depth and personality. he is! but unfortunately, people tend to overlook other protagonists in favor of niko. people will say that niko is the greatest GTA protagonist of all time, but will overlook johnny, vic, tommy, and others. it's rare that i see GTA machinimas of johnny and luis anymore. it seems like the video makers all moved on to GTA V, and will only make videos of "niko's adventures in los santos" and not johnny or luis. and even when these video makers were still making videos of IV, niko was usually the star of the video, and johnny and luis were just relegated to sidekicks. i dunno.

 

underrated: niko bellic (alright let me explain!!!)

 

i just think it's idiotic to call niko a whiny hypocrite. like, what did he even whine about in IV? killing people? niko never whined about killing people. he may not be happy with how his life turned out, but he is still willing to do the job if it pays the bills. also, i never understood this "disconnect" between niko and the player. as if niko needs a reason for me to be killing lots of cops in free roam and throwing soda cans at people! this is grand theft auto people. jesus....

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Niobium

[MyNameIsNotImportantBro]

6 minutes ago, Niobium said:

overrated: niko bellic

 

6 minutes ago, Niobium said:

underrated: niko bellic

[Niobium]

1 minute ago, OmarMohammed said:

 

i guess they cancel each other out when you think about it

 

[watersgta3]

25 minutes ago, Niobium said:

overrated: niko bellic (alright let me explain...)

 

it's not that he isn't a well-written character with lots of depth and personality. he is! but unfortunately, people tend to overlook other protagonists in favor of niko. people will say that niko is the greatest GTA protagonist of all time, but will overlook johnny, vic, tommy, and others. it's rare that i see GTA machinimas of johnny and luis anymore. it seems like the video makers all moved on to GTA V, and will only make videos of "niko's adventures in los santos" and not johnny or luis. and even when these video makers were still making videos of IV, niko was usually the star of the video, and johnny and luis were just relegated to sidekicks. i dunno.

 

underrated: niko bellic (alright let me explain!!!)

 

i just think it's idiotic to call niko a whiny hypocrite. like, what did he even whine about in IV? killing people? niko never whined about killing people. he may not be happy with how his life turned out, but he is still willing to do the job if it pays the bills. also, i never understood this "disconnect" between niko and the player. as if niko needs a reason for me to be killing lots of cops in free roam and throwing soda cans at people! this is grand theft auto people. jesus....

 

So Niko's in-between then.