Ballas

GANG Ballas
Games:	GTA San Andreas
Locations:	East Los Santos Idlewood Jefferson Willowfield Glen Park Verona Beach
Leader:	Unknown
Type:	Afro-American Street Gang
Enemies:	Grove Street Families Varrios Los Aztecas Los Santos Vagos
Affiliations:	Los Santos Vagos San Fierro Rifa Loco Syndicate Russian Mafia C.R.A.S.H. B-Dup Big Smoke Ryder Alan Crawford
Colors:	Purple
Vehicles:	Tahoma Majestic Voodoo (missions only)
Weapons:	Pistol Micro-SMG Tec-9 (missions only) Baseball Bat (Gang war/missions only) Pump Action Shotgun (gang war/missions only) AK-47 (gang war/missions only) MP5 (gang war/missions only) M4 (End of the Line mission only)
Businesses:	Drug dealing/manufacturing Gun-running/Arms dealing Prostitution Protection
Fronts:	Big Smoke's Crack Palace Idlewood Crack House B Dup's home in Glen Park
Members:	Kane (Deceased) Little Weasel (Deceased)

The Ballas are the Grove Street Families primary enemy and most influential gang in Los Santos, having been around since the 1970s. In the beginning of the game they are the most powerful and influential street gang in Los Santos. They are involved in drug dealing/manufacturing (especially the crack cocaine trade), gang-banging, gang warfare, prostitution, gun running/arms dealing, street violence, vandalism, and degeneracy.

The Ballas are rivals with Grove Street Families and the Varrios Los Aztecas, and have ties with the San Fierro Rifa, and the Loco Syndicate for narcotics, and the Russian Mafia for weapons. Their relationship with the Los Santos Vagos is largley "hit-or-miss" and presumably rocky; this is becuase the Ballas and Vagos are natural enemies on the streets (and will act with hostility upon spotting each-other), but briefly collaborate for mutual interest in the drugs trade - especially in relation to Big Smoke's crack empire. The Ballas also collaborate with CRASH, primarily for street intelligence. In addition, the Ballas are hired by Big Smoke to act as protection and security for his crack empire. Unlike the GSF, the Ballas have no reservations about making money by selling drugs; the spread of crack cocaine into the Grove Street community is part of their strategy to wipe the GSF out.

The Ballas briefly control the streets of Los Santos alongside the Vagos after Grove Street leader Sean "Sweet" Johnson is gunned down and arrested. They control the influence of the Families by using crack cocaine to turn GSF members into hopeless addicts totally dependent on them. However, following the release of Sweet from prison and the return of Carl Johnson, the Grove Street Families dominate the Ballas. The Ballas' Crack Palace is heavily demolished by Officer Frank Tenpenny, resulting in significantly reduced influence by the Ballas in Los Santos.

Description

The Ballas are a black/Afro-american street gang that are easily identifiable by their purple gang color. The color is thought to denote respect on the streets; but could also be a reference to the ancient Roman upper-class. They can be found walking and driving around their territory - often seen smoking marijuana, drinking malt liquor and talking in groups. Like the other gangs, the Ballas will often flash their gang hand-signs as a form of representation. They also mark their territory with graffiti; however, Balla graffiti can also be found all over the city - suggesting an attempt to expand their influence out of South Central Los Santos. Upon spotting a Grove Street, Vago, or Azteca gang member (especially Grove) - they will often react with hostility - usually resulting in a street-fight or a firefight/shoot-out.

On the streets, the Ballas are either unarmed or carry the 9mm pistol or the micro-SMG sub-machine gun. In missions and the gang-war mini-game, they are more heavily armed with AK-47 assault rifles, baseball bat's, MP5 sub-machine guns, Tec-9 sub-machine guns, and Pump Action Shotgun's. During the final mission, End of the Line - the Ballas are also equipped with the M4 assault rifle.

As with the other gangs in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the Ballas have three different skins that walk and drive around their territory. These include:

• The first member is slightly overweight, wears a dark blue chore jacket, dark blue khakis, white sneakers, and a purple bandana.
• The second member wears a purple ProLaps jacket, a black beanie, beige khakis, shades, and black/white sneakers.
• The third member wears purple khaki shorts, a baggy white T-shirt, sandals with knee high white socks, and a purple bandana.

Sets

There are four known sets of Ballas:

• The Front Yard Ballas (FYB)
• The Rollin' Heights Ballas (RHB)
• The Kilo Tray Ballas (KTB)
• The Temple Drive Ballas (TDB)

All Balla sets are allied and all fall and operate under the "Ballas" card while sharing similar traditions. Likewise, all sets wear purple and are all sworn enemies of the Grove Street Families. The difference between the sets primarily rely on territorial differences aswell as a few differences in objectives and business. For example, the Front Yard Ballas are the most influential set when it comes to drugs (especially crack cocaine) - and are considered to be some of Los Santos' most notorious drug dealers. Likewise, it is the Front Yard Ballas that are mainly responsible for the weakening of the Grove Street Families through the distribution of crack cocaine into their territory (primarily from their crack house in Idlewood). On the other hand, the Rollin' Heights Ballas and the Kilo Tray Ballas are more focused on gang warfare. While the Front Yard Ballas weaken the Grove Street Families with crack cocaine, the other Balla sets commence gang wars and perform hit-and-run tactics such as drive-by shootings to finish them off.

Gang Cars

Although they are seen with Voodoos in some missions, the Ballas only have two Gang Cars, the Tahoma and the Majestic. The Tahoma is a lowrider and sometimes appears with Hydraulics. On one very important occasion the Ballas use a green Sabre to try and murder Sweet in a drive-by shooting at the Johnson House, however, Sweet was not home and instead they end up killing his mother Beverly Johnson. The Ballas' favourite and default radio station is Bounce FM.

Mission Appearances

• Introduction
• Sweet & Kendl
• Tagging Up Turf
• Cleaning the Hood
• Drive-Thru
• Drive-By
• Catalyst
• House Party
• Doberman
• Los Sepulcros
• The Green Sabre
• Pier 69
• Home Coming
• Beat Down on B Dup
• Grove 4 Life
• End of the Line

Trivia

• The Ballas were originally going to be called the "Flats". It is unknown why Rockstar changed this.
• The Ballas originally looked different in the beta version of the game.
• An additional three different Balla skins can be seen in The Introduction video.
• The rivalry between the Ballas and the Grove Street Families is loosely based off of the rivarly between the Bloods and the Crips in Los Angeles. Violence between the two gangs hit a peak during the early 1990's - largely due to the crack cocaine epidemic. A situation mirrored in early 1990's Los Santos.
• Their name is a play on the slang term "baller"; meaning a street thug that has made it big-time.
• Ballas means "Bullets" in Portuguese and Spanish.
• When involved in road accidents Ballas members can be heard saying some of the following:
  • "Awww man"
  • "You broke it, you fix it"
  • "Hey this is my momma's car man"
  • "This ain't even my car man"
  • "You hit the damn car"

Gallery

Ballas graffiti at the Skate Park. The graffiti for the Temple Drive subsection of the Ballas. The graffiti for the Rolling Heights subsection of the Ballas. The graffiti used for the Kilo Tray subsection of the Ballas. The graffiti used for the Front Yard subsection of the Ballas. Ballas members, as seen in "The Introduction"

GTA III Era gangs

Grove Street Families

Ballas