Did Niko have respect for the Commission?

[Retro_Causality]

in the end he says to Pegorino

 

The Commission - the Old Families - I know some of those guys. And they thought you were a fat f*cking joke! A joke!

 

Did Niko have respect for Cosa Nostra? 

[DOUGL4S1]

Except for his friends and family, Niko just respects whoever pays him well and doesn't put a shotgun to his face.

[billiejoearmstrong8]

I doubt it, he was just saying that to taunt Pegorino. He said this (referring to the Pegorinos) with disgust in a phone call with ULP when he asked him to work for Jon Gravelli: "I'm already working for a mafia family. They are scum". To me this sounds like he has that opinion of mafia families in general. He knows they're all scumbags, and knows that he himself is also a scumbag for working for them. 

Edited August 14, 2021 by billiejoearmstrong8

[Be-Deliver]

I doubt Niko has any respect nor disdain towards The Commission. He just works for whoever is paying him, and that statement he said to Pegorino was nothing more than taunting him for that botched drive-by at the wedding.

[SanFierroTriad]

Niko seemed to get along with Gravelli and Phil Bell, but could've just been their personalities and not their mafia connections.

[billiejoearmstrong8]

19 hours ago, SanFierroTriad said:

Niko seemed to get along with Gravelli and Phil Bell, but could've just been their personalities and not their mafia connections.

 

I agree, I think he had respect for some individual people who happened to be in the mafia but pretty much zero respect for the mafia as an organisation. Like, when he meets Gravelli he clearly doesn't come in with any preconceived respect for him/his organisation, but instead only warms to him after finding him personable and because he respects his honesty. He has disdain for organised crime in general, only having dealings with it because he "has to" and not because of any admiration for it or ambition to climb the ranks in it. And seems to have a somewhere between neutral and disdainful attitude to those involved with it unless he happens to get along with them well.

Edited August 15, 2021 by billiejoearmstrong8

[Americana]

In my opinion, in Niko's eyes, every criminal organization was a mess and those who belonged to such organizations were schmucks.

[SanFierroTriad]

On 8/14/2021 at 12:39 PM, billiejoearmstrong8 said:

 

I agree, I think he had respect for some individual people who happened to be in the mafia but pretty much zero respect for the mafia as an organisation. Like, when he meets Gravelli he clearly doesn't come in with any preconceived respect for him/his organisation, but instead only warms to him after finding him personable and because he respects his honesty. He has disdain for organised crime in general, only having dealings with it because he "has to" and not because of any admiration for it or ambition to climb the ranks in it. And seems to have a somewhere between neutral and disdainful attitude to those involved with it unless he happens to get along with them well.

Exactly. I don't think he cared much for the commission as a whole, but certain characters he definitely had respect for. I can't imagine Niko working for Phil/Gravelli long-term though, maybe odd jobs here and there if the money is worth his time.

[CynicalMexican]

I will say this: Niko isn't stupid enough to badmouth the hand that is feeding him.

[santosvagos]

He had some respect for Jon Gravelli. Just look at how Niko interacted with Peg, he considered Peg as an assholeas Peg  but Jon was different.

[Mindshower]

Niko took pride for lack of a better word in his free-lance employment status. When Gravelli is telling him about his issues, Niko makes a joke about Gravelli bleeding the city dry for 60 years coming to an end. He also said something about drug dealers and gangsters moving onto Roman's parents farm or something, I might be mixing things up. Don't think he likes them too much. 

[billiejoearmstrong8]

3 hours ago, Mindshower said:

Niko took pride for lack of a better word in his free-lance employment status. When Gravelli is telling him about his issues, Niko makes a joke about Gravelli bleeding the city dry for 60 years coming to an end. He also said something about drug dealers and gangsters moving onto Roman's parents farm or something, I might be mixing things up. Don't think he likes them too much. 

 

Or Niko openly chuckling at Elizabeta freaking out as her drug dealing empire goes to sh*t and she's about to get busted. Definitely some hypocrisy from Niko with this as well since he spends his time working for these people and doing the same bad things as them. He does recognise that it makes him a scumbag but at the same time tells himself his reasons for it are somehow justified. Interesting part of his character and makes for an interesting dynamic between him and the people he works for.

[Mindshower]

1 minute ago, billiejoearmstrong8 said:

 

Or Niko openly chuckling at Elizabeta freaking out as her drug dealing empire goes to sh*t and she's about to get busted. Definitely some hypocrisy from Niko with this as well since he spends his time working for these people and doing the same bad things as them. He does recognise that it makes him a scumbag but at the same time tells himself his reasons for it are somehow justified. Interesting part of his character and makes for an interesting dynamic between him and the people he works for.

Hypocrisy is one of the key themes of the story, people who use it to critique the structure of the plot missed the point. That is why the Darko line about the price Niko charges to kill someone cuts so deeply. This also intersects with the foreign policy of 2000s America, Niko going across the world to settle a score that brings nothing back and only further caves in his soul - it sounds familiar? No wonder the game ends with Niko spitting on the "American Dream."

[CynicalMexican]

16 hours ago, billiejoearmstrong8 said:

 

Or Niko openly chuckling at Elizabeta freaking out as her drug dealing empire goes to sh*t and she's about to get busted. Definitely some hypocrisy from Niko with this as well since he spends his time working for these people and doing the same bad things as them. He does recognise that it makes him a scumbag but at the same time tells himself his reasons for it are somehow justified. Interesting part of his character and makes for an interesting dynamic between him and the people he works for.

 

I always wished Elizabeta was worked in as an antagonist.

[Payne]

Nah. He cares about Roman, aside from that I don’t feel so.

[kobeni]

On 8/14/2021 at 9:14 AM, Retro_Causality said:

in the end he says to Pegorino

 

The Commission - the Old Families - I know some of those guys. And they thought you were a fat f*cking joke! A joke!

 

Did Niko have respect for Cosa Nostra? 

If they line his pockets, then yes.

 

The quote was based on his interactions with Jon Gravelli, who was basically the godfather of the Italian mob in LC. To him the Pegorinos are nothing but wannabe mafioso, an opinion which is upheld by other factions such as the Pavanos. Him saying that was to rub salt in the wound before killing Jimmy.

Edited August 27, 2021 by DownInThePMs