Why I believe 'Bubba' is the canon protagonist name.

[Anywhere USA]

I've insisted on this before and I've gotten sh*t for it even when providing evidence, so let my state my case all in one place.

There's two ways to find the answer, easy and hard.

 

1. Easy Way: Rockstar straight up namedropped Bubba when mentioning 2D era characters they originally wanted to bring back for 3, alongside Brother Marcus and El Burro. It's in a magazine article. Case closed.

 

2. Complicated Way

We know our main character is canonically a boy. Several characters especially in the back half of the game specifically call you male(I'm guessing the female option came late in development), and El Burro sleeps with you and is potrayed as a homosexual(and also just listen to that cutscene). That eliminates half the options off the bat.

 

Second of all, I think the canon protagonist should be in every version, not just one or two, right? Everyone seems to agree Claude Speed is the GTA 2 protagonists name under this logic since that's the only option in 3/4 versions. That eliminates the 16 GBC exclusive options, the 4 characters only in the PC version.

Now again there's two options. I used the Rockstar Classics version to eliminate 2 of them, just leaving Travis and Bubba. Travis is based on a movie character and is more of an easteregg, therefore Bubba. But I know that's a bit shaky and also between the Demos and multiple variants of Rockstar Classics I can't actually find a screenshot of the 'two guys, one girl' version I remember so maybe I made that up.

But the wiki recently added the Japanese version. 2 new characters and 2 returnees. Bubba and Ulrika, and Ulrika is a girl not in the PS1 version. So again it has to be Bubba.

 

It's Bubba, I don't think it can be anyone else. He's Male, he's White(which is implied at a couple points), he looks like the kind of guy who'd be native to Liberty City where we know the main characters mother lives thanks to one of the pager calls(fat white guy, NYC family, ties to a mob family from the beginning, actually kind of reminds me of Toni). It can't be any of the girls, probably isn't any of the one offs, Kivlov and Travis are missing from certain versions, former is a bit too foreign to fit what we know and the latter is a movie ref. And again, he's namedropped in a magazine as a GTA 1 character they wanted to return, if he exists then it's him as none of the protagonists have roles elsewhere.

 

You can also use some of this logic to narrow down GTA London, but there doesn't seem to be nearly as much debate there due to the cover art very clearly depicting Rodney Morash multiple times. It's obviously him.

 

The GTA 1 protagonist is Bubba, a white guy from Liberty City originally involved in the Seragliano/Vercotti Crime Family's war against the Sonetti Crime Family, helping them take territory and deal with smaller biker gangs until eventually killing Sonetti. This forces him to skip town ending up in Coastal San Andreas with a lot of talent and a need for cash. He works for the Chinese and Hispanics as they hold an uneasy peace and battle the up and coming Yakuza. He helps the Chinese quash an internal civil war, helps the Hispanics deal with some Italians, and runs afoul of a killer named Bryson several times before eventually killing him. He then seemingly goes with El Burro to Vice City for drug stuff before getting blackmailed by a crooked cop named Samuel Deever, forced to betray his old boss, and eventually being bailed out by Brother Marcus and the Jamacans who gets him out of the game once they blow up Deever. (Oh and he may or may not murder both the first lady and the president)

 

The GTA London Protagonist is named Rodney Morash. He's a former Battersea Mod who ends up taking up some work for an up and coming gang lead by Cartwright and the Krisp Twins, ultimately joining full time a few years later when they're the dominant gang in the city at war with the Mods. Morash rises in the ranks, but has a falling out with the Krisp Twins after they force him to kill Cartwright under false pretenses and eventually turn on him. Rodney survives, badly injures both of the twins, and scares them bad enough they skip town. (Oh and he keeps accidentally stealing James Bonds car and has to save the world from this psychotic German guy)

 

 

Edited November 30, 2024 by Anywhere USA

[GTACartel.com]

Good work, detective!

[Mastadi]

Let's not forget, Bubba was the winner of several Mr. Liberty City titles in a row, only having to drop out of the competition because of his criminal life...

 

I mean,

He's soooo dreamy!

[cant remember]

Can Travis still be the GTA1 guy in my headcanon? I choose him for a couple reasons:

 

- He's the one that's selected by default on the PC/PSX versions

- I remember a pager somewhere the character is referred to as T

- I never picked Bubba because I thought he looked way too unathletic to be the GTA1 guy

[GTACartel.com]

That's true, there is a pager message "HELLO T!" in Mandarin Mayhem which might suggest Trevor.

[nuebohemio]

My explanation is that it's Ulryka.

• Analyzing her official images, she looks like a man with a wig
• The T could refer to a trans person.
• Divine could be a drag queen, so Ulryka wouldn't be the only LGBT character on the list.
• In GTA Vice City Stories, there's even a reference to a gender reassignment several times: Reni Wassulmaier.

In the Spanish community there is a theory suggested by user RezKarkov that GTA 1 missions are isolated crimes, that is: while in one part of the city a robbery is committed, in another part a car is crashed, in another part an illicit business is done, etc. The protagonists of the game are the accused, this is supported by the game's promotional images that suggest something similar to the movie The Usual Suspects, anyone can be guilty.

 

btw, Katie appears as CJ's girlfriend in the 3D universe, the similarities are enough to consider them as the same character in 2 different universes. So your point 1 is half ruled out.

[nuebohemio]

On 7/24/2025 at 1:29 PM, HeistPlanner said:

Interesting take on Ulrika, but I’m not sure the “T” being a trans hint holds up. GTA's always been provocative, but subtle transgender representation in the late 90s seems like a stretch, especially for a pixel character with no voice lines or dialogue.

Also, the idea that GTA 1 missions are isolated crimes by different people is cool and kinda fits the chaotic tone of the game, but it clashes with how progression works. The mission structure implies continuity - like you're earning the trust of different factions in each city, not random one-offs.

As for Katie and CJ's Katie being the same - maybe in spirit, but that’s probably just Rockstar reusing names. Unless they drop an official confirmation, I’d be cautious with that connection.

Still, fun theories overall. That’s why this thread’s been such a good read.

 

I have two things to refute about that, the first is that if there is a progression in the story, we agree on that, but that doesn't make the characters less protagonists or canonical, gta is based in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) movie without protagonist, and gta movie (1977), besides RPG games were already a thing at that time, I think part of the joke of the eligible characters is that they don't have a defined race, age or gender, that is made so that people discuss and make their theories. If you are a criminal, you don't want the police to know your name, your sex, or your skin color. A female criminal with a masculine facade is a good method. Why are Bubba, Travis, Troy, or Kivlov criminals? Because they look dangerous? Because Ulryka look like a mother and a grieving woman? Again, let's remember the GTA 1 promo: it's a crime.

 

As for trans people, let me prove you wrong. The creators of Rockstar were always cinephiles, so films like Pink Flamingos (1972) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) must have passed them by.

 

The evidence in the post is specifically based on saying that Bubba appears in many versions, including the Japanese versions, but if we get down to it, they must have put Ulryka in for a reason.

 

Katie has the same pigtails, the same color of clothes, apparently the same personality because she led a healthy life, in my opinion they are the same character in two different universes.