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{{infobox character|
{{infobox character|
|image = Mike_toreno.jpg
|image = MikeToreno-GTASA.jpg
|games = [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]
|game_1 = GTA San Andreas
|name = Mike Toreno
|name = Mike Toreno
|aka =  
|aka = Toreno
|gender = M
|status = Alive
|dob = April 18, 1947
|gender =
|pob = Utah,USA
|dob =  
|dod =
|pob = [[United States of America|United States]]
|home =  
|dod =  
|nationality = American
|home = [[Mike Toreno's Ranch|Ranch]] in [[Tierra Robada]]
|parents = N/A
|nationality = United States
|siblings = N/A
|family =  
|children = N/A
|affiliations = [[T-Bone Mendez]] <small>(until [[1992]])</small><br />[[Jizzy B.]] <small>(until [[1992]])</small><br />[[San Fierro Rifa]] <small>(until [[1992]])</small><br />[[Big Smoke]] <small>([[1992]])</small><br />[[Ryder]] <small>([[1992]])</small><br />[[Grove Street Families]] <small>([[1992]])</small><br />[[Carl Johnson]] <small>([[1992]])</small>
|other = N/A
|vehicles = [[Washington]]
|affiliations = [[Carl "CJ" Johnson]], [[Jizzy B]],
|businesses = Intelligence recollection<br />Assassination
|voiced by = [[James Woods]]
|voice = [[James Woods]]
}}
}}
{{also|''You may be looking for the [[Mike Toreno (mission)|mission]] of the same name.''}}
'''Michael "Mike" Toreno''' is a character in the [[Grand Theft Auto]] series who appears as a main character in [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]. An undercover government agent from a "government agency", most likely the CIA, who disguises himself as a drug dealer and one of the [[Gang Leaders|co-leaders]] of the [[Loco Syndicate]], more specifically, its leader de mysterio, he is voiced by [[James Woods]], who bears some resemblance to the character, and has featured in films such as ''[[:wp:Once Upon a Time in America|Once Upon a Time in America]]''.


==Character history==
{{spoiler}}
===The Loco Syndicate===
Toreno joined an unknown government agency sometime before 1992 and was later given the task of 'battling threats in Latin America' and moved to [[San Fierro]] in [[San Andreas in GTA III Era|San Andreas]]. After arriving in San Fierro he met and became business partners with [[Jizzy B.]], the owner of [[The Pleasure Domes Club]], and [[San Fierro Rifa]] [[Gang Leaders|leader]] [[T-Bone Mendez]], who together formed the [[Loco Syndicate]]. The three took control of an [[Yay Factory|abandoned factory]] in [[Doherty]] and the building was converted into a drug manufacturing plant. Toreno [[The Introduction|later made connections]] with [[Big Smoke|Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris]], a high ranking member of the [[Grove Street Families]] who was looking to make himself powerful in [[Los Santos in GTA III Era|Los Santos]], and made deals to sell drugs to him.


Toreno, Jizzy, and Mendez later meet [[Ryder|Lance "Ryder" Wilson]], Smoke's right hand man, at a [[Cluckin' Bell|fast-food restaurant]] in [[Angel Pine]] to further discuss the deal. Protagonist [[Carl Johnson|Carl "CJ" Johnson]], co-leader to the [[The Green Sabre|fallen]] Grove Street Families, and Mexican-American [[Varrios Los Aztecas]] leader [[Cesar Vialpando]], having heard of the deal, [[Photo Opportunity|spy on the meeting and photograph those involved]], later returning to Carl's [[Doherty Garage|garage]] to seek the help of blind Chinese-American [[San Fierro Triads]] leader [[Wu Zi Mu|Wu Zi "Woozie" Mu]] and his assistant in identifying those involved, with the exception of Ryder. The two, however, are unable to shed any light on Toreno.


'''Mike Toreno''', voiced by James Woods, is an undercover agent from a "government agency" (most likely the CIA or NSA, since his later dialogue rules out the [[FBI]]) who disguises himself as a drug supplier for the [[Loco Syndicate]]. From the beginning, his presence doesn't quite fit, and the mere sight of him disturbs [[Carl Johnson|CJ]]. "Mike" is abducted by a gang of [[Da Nang Boys]], who steals one of the syndicate's drug vans with Toreno inside, but CJ and [[T-Bone Mendez]] locate the vehicle at the [[Easter Bay International Airport]]. Toreno gets furious when he sees CJ's unfamiliar face and threatens to shoot him. Once Mendez calls him off, Toreno orders all of them to open fire on the van and destroy it.
Looking for a way into the organisation to stop the flow of drugs to Los Santos, Carl begins to [[Jizzy (mission)|work]] for Jizzy, the negotiator. Carl and Mendez later set out to [[Mike Toreno (mission)|find Toreno after he was accidentally kidnapped]] by the [[Da Nang Boys]], who had stolen a van full of drugs, which Toreno happened to be in. Carl and Mendez eventually track him down to [[Easter Bay Airport]] and free him, although Toreno remains suspicious and almost kills Carl, being convinced by Mendez to spare him. The three then destroy the van, full with drugs, to destroy evidence before the [[San Fierro Police Department|police]] arrive.


Following the death of [[Jizzy B.]], CJ and his associates plan to ambush the Syndicate's drug buy. CJ buys them cover with a sniper rifle, but Toreno, in a helicopter, notices corpses on a roof and aborts his landing. Later, CJ tracks the chopper to another location and shoots it out of the sky; Toreno is presumed dead.
Toreno and Mendez, still suspicious of him, have him [[Outrider|protect a van full of drugs]] from the Da Nang Boys and their roadblocks on its way to their factory. Following the [[Ice Cold Killa|death]] of Jizzy, Toreno, unaware of Carl's involvement and the event itself, decides to meet with Mendez and Ryder at [[Pier 69]] but, arriving by [[Maverick|helicopter]], sees the dead bodies of the [[San Fierro Rifa]] and [[San Fierro Triads|Triad]] gangsters and escapes. Carl and Cesar, watching from a distant rooftop, then [[Pier 69 (mission)|attack the pier and kill Mendez]], before Carl gives chase to and kills Ryder. Knowing of his partners' deaths, Toreno goes to the [[San Fierro Police Department]] [[San Fierro Police Headquarters|headquarters]] but uses a decoy helicopter to allow him to escape unnoticed, with Carl taking the bait and [[Toreno's Last Flight|destroying the helicopter]].


However, Toreno was never on the helicopter, as he anticipated another attack like the one at [[Pier 69]] and used a decoy. After the Loco Syndicate plant was destroyed in [[San Fierro]], he went into hiding and using a digitally-distorted voice, calls CJ shortly afterward and orders him to travel to a secluded ranch in [[Tierra Robada]]. Toreno then gives CJ a series of assignments under duress: Toreno suggests that harm will come to [[Sean Johnson|Sweet]], who is now in prison, if CJ does not work for him. Toreno promises that Sweet will remain safe so long as Carl cooperates. Toreno was apparently only supplying cocaine to appease a government ally overseas; he has since abandoned dealing and is now focused on killing operatives from rival agencies, who are trying to undermine his shady operations.
Carl then [[Yay Ka-Boom-Boom|destroys the factory used by the gang]] and, assuming the syndicate leaders dead, settles back into life in San Fierro. Shortly after this, though, he receives a phone call from a distorted voice, telling him to go a [[Mike Toreno's Ranch|ranch]] in [[Tierra Robada]]. Carl, upon arriving, is told he must complete a [[Monster (mission)|race]] in a [[Monster Truck|monster truck]] across Tierra Robada. The unknown caller's man on the ground says that he will receive a [[Cell Phone|phone call]] and, upon returning to the ranch, Carl is surprised to meet Toreno, who he believes will kill him.


Philosophically, Toreno is a highly cynical American imperialist. He primarily uses CJ as a courier, saboteur, and assassin. Though he knows of [[Frank Tenpenny|Tenpenny]] and [[Eddie Pulaski|Pulaski's]] dirty dealings as well as their hold over CJ, Toreno does not use his power to stop them. He tells CJ, "We have to make decisions, kid. You know, I try to set bad people on other bad people. And sometimes, I let good guys die." Toreno, like Tenpenny, seems to have gravitated toward committing heinous acts in the name of a greater good. He equates maintenance of the American socioeconomic system with the continued survival of the free world.
===Life in Tierra Robada and Bone County===
[[File:HighJack-GTASA.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Mike Toreno explaining his true identity to [[Carl Johnson]] at his [[Mike Toreno's Ranch|ranch]] in [[Tierra Robada]] during the mission [[Highjack]].]]
[[File:N.O.E.-GTASA.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Mike Toreno pointing to the locations from where he is being watched, during the mission [[N.O.E.]].]]
Toreno, however, has plans to use Carl to do his bidding and uses his connections to his advantage, telling Carl he could get his now incarcerated brother [[Sweet|Sean "Sweet" Johnson]] free from prison, in what is clearly an ironic turn of events. Toreno also tells Carl of his true identity, that of a government agent, and tells him that he is not a drug dealer but an agent 'battling threats in Latin America, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY' and that the operation has led to them making numerous allies that have helped 'immeasurably'. Toreno, for his first task, tells Carl to get Cesar and to [[Highjack|steal]] a [[Tanker|truck]] from a rival agency while it is being transported, saying they need the cargo, telling Carl not to reveal to Cesar the reason for the theft.


Toreno's assignments, which include dropping a payload by plane while avoiding radar detection and shooting down FBI choppers from a plateau, strike CJ as almost impossible.
The next time the two meet Toreno proves his statements of being an undercover agent by relaying the story of corrupt C.R.A.S.H. officers [[Frank Tenpenny]] and [[Eddie Pulaski|Edward "Eddie" Pulaski]], of the [[C.R.A.S.H.]] unit of the [[LSPD in GTA III Era|Los Santos Police Department]], murdering fellow officer [[Ralph Pendelbury]] to hide their crimes from Internal Affairs, a case that had not been solved. Toreno also explains that he tries to pit bad guys against bad guys but that sometimes good people get hurt or killed, stating that, to him, Sweet is 'collateral', before sending Carl to [[Las Brujas]], a ghost town. There, speaking through a speaker, Toreno tells him to go to the top of [[Arco del Oeste]] and light a flare, to give a signal to a plane carrying precious cargo. The plane, however, is ambushed by agency helicopters although Carl, having picked up a [[Rocket Launcher|rocket launcher]], destroys the them. The plane with the cargo flies to a small inlet near the abandoned [[Verdant Meadows]] airstrip, with Carl following and [[Interdiction|collecting the package, delivering it back to Las Brujas]].


Later, Toreno sends Carl to purchase the [[Verdant Meadows|Verdant Meadows Aircraft Graveyard]], a defunct landing strip in [[Bone County]], and use the facility to have CJ trained as a pilot. In one of the game's more bizarre missions, a container jet lands without warning at the airport and men in black suits and sunglasses empty out of it. CJ is hiding behind crates when Toreno appears out of nowhere and instructs him to sneak onboard and bomb the plane. While fighting the "agents" onboard, they utter strange phrases such as "Carbon-based buffoon!" and "You evolved from shrews!"
Toreno meets Carl at his ranch shortly afterwards and tells him that he had used Sweet to get Carl to do his work, saying he will not be released yet, although he states that he is being protected as he needs him alive just as much as Carl. Toreno then tells him that his actions are getting him noticed by other government agencies and that he needs him to [[Verdant Meadows (mission)|purchase the Verdant Meadows Airstrip]] and then [[Learning to Fly|learn how to fly]].


While Toreno initially treats Carl like street trash and enjoys bringing up Sweet's dire situation, his attitude changes as CJ proves his ability to get seemingly impossible jobs done. He begins to enjoy having CJ around, treating him like a sort of "war buddy" and displaying a certain degree of camaraderie. After CJ becomes a manager for rapper [[Madd Dogg]] and hasn't heard from Toreno in some time, Toreno hijacks the studio's sound system during a recording session and assigns Carl one last job. He personally drives CJ to [[Easter Basin]] to infiltrate an aircraft carrier and steal a [[Hydra]] (a V/STOL fighter jet). After he finds himself confronting enemy jets and bombing boats at the dam reservoir, CJ becomes fed up and wants nothing to do with Toreno; his fury is amplified when Toreno ditches the stolen jet and leaves CJ to deal with it.
After finishing his lessons, Carl is visited at the airstrip by Toreno, who appears from a hangar and tells Carl that he could have killed him in nine different ways, warning him to be more careful in future. He then explains that he is being watched by five people, pointing to the locations of three of them and saying the other two are by satellites. He also asks him to [[Rustler|fly]] to Angel Pine and deliver some supplies to his men, who will be dead by nightfall without them, but [[N.O.E.|tells him to fly the plane close to the ground to avoid appearing on the agencies' radar, which Carl manages to do and returns to the airstrip]].


Toreno shows up unannounced yet again in [[Home Coming]] and tells Carl that he has one more mission that needs to get done. Upon hearing this, CJ snaps and holds a gun to Toreno's face, but Toreno responds by saying that CJ is "embarrassing" himself. He then tells him that the "mission" is simply to pick up Sweet following his early release from prison. Toreno makes no further appearances in the game.
Carl returns to the airstrip a short time later and witnesses a large plane landing, thinking that they are Toreno's men. Toreno, however, appears and tells him that they from a rival agency who are planning to give land mines and money to various 'militaristic dictators' in an attempt to help the overseas situation and in return for arms contracts, with Toreno claiming that the deals could start chaos in the Middle East and Latin America. Toreno admits that he is doing the same thing, but by cherry picking the dictators so they can control them. Toreno then explains that his boss has given Carl permission to [[Stowaway|sneak on board as the plane is taking off, kill those inside and blow up the plane]], a mission that Carl completes before [[Parachute|parachuting]] to safety.


[[James Woods]] provided the voice for Toreno and bears a resemblance to the character also.
===Final meetings with Carl Johnson===
[[File:HomeComing-GTASA.jpg|left|thumb|250px|[[Carl Johnson]] pointing a gun at Mike Toreno while inside [[Madd Dogg|Madd Dogg's]] [[Madd Dogg's Crib|mansion]] in [[Mulholland]] during the mission [[Home Coming]].]]
Toreno then disappears from Carl's life and Carl continues his life of crime with the [[San Fierro Triads|Triads]] in [[Las Venturas]], pulling off a [[Caligula's Palace|casino]] [[Breaking the Bank at Caligula's|heist]], and [[Misappropriation|meeting up with Tenpenny and Pulaski]], with Carl [[High Noon|killing Pulaski]]. Carl, after being asked by rapper [[Madd Dogg]], who he had saved from [[Madd Dogg (mission)|suicide]], re-takes his [[Madd Dogg's Mansion|mansion]] and while there, gets a message from Toreno asking him to go outside.


There are some rumors that Mike Toreno is the [[U.L. Paper]] boss in GTA IV because he has a similar appearance and his name is never disclosed.
The two drive to a small beach in [[Red County]] where Toreno explains that he can arrange for Sweet to be released from prison, if Carl pulls off one last mission. Toreno then explains that he wants him to 'steal a [[Hydra|military jet]] off an [[LHD-069|amphibious assault ship]] and use it to destroy a flotilla of spy ships'. Carl agrees to do it, for Sweet, but tells Toreno that he is not confident, [[Vertical Bird|although he once again proves his value by pulling the mission off]]. After destroying the spy ships in [[Sherman Dam]], Carl asks what he wants to do with the military jet, with Toreno disclaiming responsbility and shrugging his shoulders off the stolen jet.


Toreno appears in Carl's life one final time at Madd Dogg's mansion. Carl, frustrated by his last experience, pulls a gun and points it towards Toreno, who talks Carl out of shooting him and asks him to do one more thing, to answer his phone, which then begins to ring. Carl then realizes that Sweet, who is on the other end, has just been released and is waiting in [[Pershing Square]]. Aware that Toreno has kept his promise, Carl asks him what he is to do, with Toreno telling him to [[Home Coming|pick up his brother]].


==GTA San Andreas Mission Appearances==
==Personality==
* [[Photo Opportunity]]
Philosophically, Toreno is a highly cynical [[United States of America|American]] imperialist who primarily uses Carl as a courier, saboteur and assassin. Despite knowing of the crimes committed by Tenpenny and Pulaski, as well as their hold over Carl, who they could implicate in the murder of [[Ralph Pendelbury]], he does nothing to stop them, later explaining that while he tries to pit bad guys against bad guys, sometimes good guys are hurt or die. Toreno, similar to Tenpenny, gravitates towards committing heinous crimes in the name of a greater good, but contrary to Tenpenny, equates the maintenance of the American socio-economic system with the continued survival of the free world.
* [[Jizzy (Mission)|Jizzy]] (Photo)
* [[Mike Toreno (Mission)|Mike Toreno]]
* [[Outrider]]
* [[Monster]] (Voice; Boss)
* [[Highjack]] (Boss)
* [[Interdiction]] (Boss)
* [[Verdant Meadows (mission)|Verdant Meadows]] (Boss)
* [[N.O.E.]] (Boss)
* [[Stowaway]] (Boss)
* [[Vertical Bird]]
* [[Home Coming]]


{{GTA San Andreas Characters}}
==Trivia==
[[File:MikeToreno'sRanch-GTASA-frontexterior.jpg|thumb|right|Mike Toreno's Ranch in [[Tierra Robada]].]]
[[File:MikeToreno'scar-GTASA.jpg|thumb|right|The back of Mike Toreno's Washington, showing the OMEGA number plate.]]
*In missions, the number plate on Toreno's [[Washington]] says "OMEGA", although the Washington parked at his ranch always has a random plate number.
*Toreno is likely a CIA agent, although this is not confirmed, as the CIA have been connected to cocaine trafficking between Latin American paramilitaries and gangs in [[:wp:Los Angeles|Los Angeles]], the city [[Los Santos in GTA III Era|Los Santos]] is based on.
*The texture ID for Toreno's in-game model is misspelled as 'Torino'. This is either how his name was originally spelt, or a typo. However, in-game pronunciation for his name almost unanimously sounds like 'Torino'.
 
==Mission appearances==
;GTA San Andreas
*[[The Introduction]]
*[[Photo Opportunity]]
*[[Jizzy (mission)|Jizzy]] <small>'''(Photographic Appearance)'''</small>
*[[Mike Toreno (mission)|Mike Toreno]]
*[[Outrider]] <small>'''(Pseudo Boss, Co-Boss)'''</small>
*[[Monster (mission)|Monster]] <small>'''(Unseen Boss: Pre-mission Phone Call + In-mission Voice Appearance)'''</small>
*[[Highjack]] <small>'''(Boss: Pre-mission Phone Call + In-mission Appearance)'''</small>
*[[Interdiction]] <small>'''(Boss: Pre-mission Phone Call + In-mission Appearance)'''</small>
*[[Verdant Meadows (mission)|Verdant Meadows]] <small>'''(Boss)'''</small>
*[[Learning to Fly]] <small>'''(Unseen Boss: In-mission Phone Call)'''</small>
*[[N.O.E.]] <small>'''(Boss)'''</small>
*[[Stowaway]] <small>'''(Boss)'''</small>
*[[Vertical Bird]] <small>'''(Boss)'''</small>
*[[Home Coming]] <small>'''(Boss, Pseudo Boss, Co-Boss)'''</small>
 
{{Navboxes
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[[Category:Characters|Toreno, Mike]]
[[Category:Characters|Toreno, Mike]]
[[Category:Characters in GTA San Andreas|Toreno, Mike]]
[[Category:Characters in GTA San Andreas|Toreno, Mike]]
[[Category:Characters in 3D Universe|Toreno, Mike]]
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[[Category:Gang Leaders|Toreno, Mike]]
[[Category:Gangsters|Toreno, Mike]]
[[Category:Gangsters|Toreno, Mike]]

Latest revision as of 10:49, 11 June 2021

Character
Mike Toreno
{{{caption}}}
{{{caption}}}
Appearances GTA San Andreas
Full Name Mike Toreno
Aliases Toreno
Status

Alive

Place of Birth United States
Nationality American
Home Ranch in Tierra Robada
Main Affiliations T-Bone Mendez (until 1992)
Jizzy B. (until 1992)
San Fierro Rifa (until 1992)
Big Smoke (1992)
Ryder (1992)
Grove Street Families (1992)
Carl Johnson (1992)
Vehicles Washington
Businesses Intelligence recollection
Assassination
Voiced by James Woods
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You may be looking for the mission of the same name.

Michael "Mike" Toreno is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as a main character in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. An undercover government agent from a "government agency", most likely the CIA, who disguises himself as a drug dealer and one of the co-leaders of the Loco Syndicate, more specifically, its leader de mysterio, he is voiced by James Woods, who bears some resemblance to the character, and has featured in films such as Once Upon a Time in America.

Character history

Spoiler Warning: Plot and/or ending details are in the text which follows.

The Loco Syndicate

Toreno joined an unknown government agency sometime before 1992 and was later given the task of 'battling threats in Latin America' and moved to San Fierro in San Andreas. After arriving in San Fierro he met and became business partners with Jizzy B., the owner of The Pleasure Domes Club, and San Fierro Rifa leader T-Bone Mendez, who together formed the Loco Syndicate. The three took control of an abandoned factory in Doherty and the building was converted into a drug manufacturing plant. Toreno later made connections with Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris, a high ranking member of the Grove Street Families who was looking to make himself powerful in Los Santos, and made deals to sell drugs to him.

Toreno, Jizzy, and Mendez later meet Lance "Ryder" Wilson, Smoke's right hand man, at a fast-food restaurant in Angel Pine to further discuss the deal. Protagonist Carl "CJ" Johnson, co-leader to the fallen Grove Street Families, and Mexican-American Varrios Los Aztecas leader Cesar Vialpando, having heard of the deal, spy on the meeting and photograph those involved, later returning to Carl's garage to seek the help of blind Chinese-American San Fierro Triads leader Wu Zi "Woozie" Mu and his assistant in identifying those involved, with the exception of Ryder. The two, however, are unable to shed any light on Toreno.

Looking for a way into the organisation to stop the flow of drugs to Los Santos, Carl begins to work for Jizzy, the negotiator. Carl and Mendez later set out to find Toreno after he was accidentally kidnapped by the Da Nang Boys, who had stolen a van full of drugs, which Toreno happened to be in. Carl and Mendez eventually track him down to Easter Bay Airport and free him, although Toreno remains suspicious and almost kills Carl, being convinced by Mendez to spare him. The three then destroy the van, full with drugs, to destroy evidence before the police arrive.

Toreno and Mendez, still suspicious of him, have him protect a van full of drugs from the Da Nang Boys and their roadblocks on its way to their factory. Following the death of Jizzy, Toreno, unaware of Carl's involvement and the event itself, decides to meet with Mendez and Ryder at Pier 69 but, arriving by helicopter, sees the dead bodies of the San Fierro Rifa and Triad gangsters and escapes. Carl and Cesar, watching from a distant rooftop, then attack the pier and kill Mendez, before Carl gives chase to and kills Ryder. Knowing of his partners' deaths, Toreno goes to the San Fierro Police Department headquarters but uses a decoy helicopter to allow him to escape unnoticed, with Carl taking the bait and destroying the helicopter.

Carl then destroys the factory used by the gang and, assuming the syndicate leaders dead, settles back into life in San Fierro. Shortly after this, though, he receives a phone call from a distorted voice, telling him to go a ranch in Tierra Robada. Carl, upon arriving, is told he must complete a race in a monster truck across Tierra Robada. The unknown caller's man on the ground says that he will receive a phone call and, upon returning to the ranch, Carl is surprised to meet Toreno, who he believes will kill him.

Life in Tierra Robada and Bone County

Mike Toreno explaining his true identity to Carl Johnson at his ranch in Tierra Robada during the mission Highjack.
Mike Toreno pointing to the locations from where he is being watched, during the mission N.O.E..

Toreno, however, has plans to use Carl to do his bidding and uses his connections to his advantage, telling Carl he could get his now incarcerated brother Sean "Sweet" Johnson free from prison, in what is clearly an ironic turn of events. Toreno also tells Carl of his true identity, that of a government agent, and tells him that he is not a drug dealer but an agent 'battling threats in Latin America, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY' and that the operation has led to them making numerous allies that have helped 'immeasurably'. Toreno, for his first task, tells Carl to get Cesar and to steal a truck from a rival agency while it is being transported, saying they need the cargo, telling Carl not to reveal to Cesar the reason for the theft.

The next time the two meet Toreno proves his statements of being an undercover agent by relaying the story of corrupt C.R.A.S.H. officers Frank Tenpenny and Edward "Eddie" Pulaski, of the C.R.A.S.H. unit of the Los Santos Police Department, murdering fellow officer Ralph Pendelbury to hide their crimes from Internal Affairs, a case that had not been solved. Toreno also explains that he tries to pit bad guys against bad guys but that sometimes good people get hurt or killed, stating that, to him, Sweet is 'collateral', before sending Carl to Las Brujas, a ghost town. There, speaking through a speaker, Toreno tells him to go to the top of Arco del Oeste and light a flare, to give a signal to a plane carrying precious cargo. The plane, however, is ambushed by agency helicopters although Carl, having picked up a rocket launcher, destroys the them. The plane with the cargo flies to a small inlet near the abandoned Verdant Meadows airstrip, with Carl following and collecting the package, delivering it back to Las Brujas.

Toreno meets Carl at his ranch shortly afterwards and tells him that he had used Sweet to get Carl to do his work, saying he will not be released yet, although he states that he is being protected as he needs him alive just as much as Carl. Toreno then tells him that his actions are getting him noticed by other government agencies and that he needs him to purchase the Verdant Meadows Airstrip and then learn how to fly.

After finishing his lessons, Carl is visited at the airstrip by Toreno, who appears from a hangar and tells Carl that he could have killed him in nine different ways, warning him to be more careful in future. He then explains that he is being watched by five people, pointing to the locations of three of them and saying the other two are by satellites. He also asks him to fly to Angel Pine and deliver some supplies to his men, who will be dead by nightfall without them, but tells him to fly the plane close to the ground to avoid appearing on the agencies' radar, which Carl manages to do and returns to the airstrip.

Carl returns to the airstrip a short time later and witnesses a large plane landing, thinking that they are Toreno's men. Toreno, however, appears and tells him that they from a rival agency who are planning to give land mines and money to various 'militaristic dictators' in an attempt to help the overseas situation and in return for arms contracts, with Toreno claiming that the deals could start chaos in the Middle East and Latin America. Toreno admits that he is doing the same thing, but by cherry picking the dictators so they can control them. Toreno then explains that his boss has given Carl permission to sneak on board as the plane is taking off, kill those inside and blow up the plane, a mission that Carl completes before parachuting to safety.

Final meetings with Carl Johnson

Carl Johnson pointing a gun at Mike Toreno while inside Madd Dogg's mansion in Mulholland during the mission Home Coming.

Toreno then disappears from Carl's life and Carl continues his life of crime with the Triads in Las Venturas, pulling off a casino heist, and meeting up with Tenpenny and Pulaski, with Carl killing Pulaski. Carl, after being asked by rapper Madd Dogg, who he had saved from suicide, re-takes his mansion and while there, gets a message from Toreno asking him to go outside.

The two drive to a small beach in Red County where Toreno explains that he can arrange for Sweet to be released from prison, if Carl pulls off one last mission. Toreno then explains that he wants him to 'steal a military jet off an amphibious assault ship and use it to destroy a flotilla of spy ships'. Carl agrees to do it, for Sweet, but tells Toreno that he is not confident, although he once again proves his value by pulling the mission off. After destroying the spy ships in Sherman Dam, Carl asks what he wants to do with the military jet, with Toreno disclaiming responsbility and shrugging his shoulders off the stolen jet.

Toreno appears in Carl's life one final time at Madd Dogg's mansion. Carl, frustrated by his last experience, pulls a gun and points it towards Toreno, who talks Carl out of shooting him and asks him to do one more thing, to answer his phone, which then begins to ring. Carl then realizes that Sweet, who is on the other end, has just been released and is waiting in Pershing Square. Aware that Toreno has kept his promise, Carl asks him what he is to do, with Toreno telling him to pick up his brother.

Personality

Philosophically, Toreno is a highly cynical American imperialist who primarily uses Carl as a courier, saboteur and assassin. Despite knowing of the crimes committed by Tenpenny and Pulaski, as well as their hold over Carl, who they could implicate in the murder of Ralph Pendelbury, he does nothing to stop them, later explaining that while he tries to pit bad guys against bad guys, sometimes good guys are hurt or die. Toreno, similar to Tenpenny, gravitates towards committing heinous crimes in the name of a greater good, but contrary to Tenpenny, equates the maintenance of the American socio-economic system with the continued survival of the free world.

Trivia

Mike Toreno's Ranch in Tierra Robada.
The back of Mike Toreno's Washington, showing the OMEGA number plate.
  • In missions, the number plate on Toreno's Washington says "OMEGA", although the Washington parked at his ranch always has a random plate number.
  • Toreno is likely a CIA agent, although this is not confirmed, as the CIA have been connected to cocaine trafficking between Latin American paramilitaries and gangs in Los Angeles, the city Los Santos is based on.
  • The texture ID for Toreno's in-game model is misspelled as 'Torino'. This is either how his name was originally spelt, or a typo. However, in-game pronunciation for his name almost unanimously sounds like 'Torino'.

Mission appearances

GTA San Andreas
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