Grand Theft Wiki

Climax

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


A Climax is the point in a text with the highest amount of tension. In Grand Theft Auto games, the climax is usually the final mission, or a group of missions towards the end of the game. A climax consists of the player battling a large force of a rival gang and/or mafia members, followed by the player killing the game's antagonist. In most cases, the weather of the climax depends on the player's timing, but in a few cases the weather is predetermined by the game. Some examples are End of the Line in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and The Sicilian Gambit in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.

There are two possible endings in Grand Theft Auto IV, each with it's own climax. in the "Deal" ending, antagonist Dimitri Rascalov is seen killing Jimmy Pegorino, who Niko planned to kill himself anyway, and is killed himself by the player later in the mission. In the "Revenge" ending, Dimitri is killed two missions prior to the ending, and Pegorino becomes the antagonist after killing Kate McReary in the penultimate mission. Pegorino is killed by the player in the final mission.

Climaxes usually span across several parts of the in-game world during some sort of chase, but finally end in a confrontation between the protagonist and antagonist.

Similar to a climax is a mission that involves a climactic battle of some sort, but earlier in the game, before the actual climax. In these missions, the player usually kills a secondary antagonist. The protagonist may have had plans to kill the main antagonist but been unsuccessful. Some examples are Pier 69 in GTA San Andreas, where CJ kills secondary antagonist Ryder and minor antagonist T-Bone Mendez, and the mission High Noon where he chases and kills major secondary antagonist Eddie Pulaski. Another example is Light My Pyre in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, where Victor Vance kills antagonist Armando Mendez in his own home.

List of Notable Climaxes

GTA III
GTA Vice City
GTA San Andreas

*Note - The Whole Climax doesn't take place in Grove Street, it spans across almost all of Los Santos, but it ultimately ends with Tenpenny's death at Grove Street, where it started. Also note that this is the only final mission that ends with protagonist not killing the main game antagonist.

GTA Liberty City Stories
GTA Vice City Stories
GTA IV

Deal

*Note - In the beginning of the mission, the goal is to kill both Rascalov and Pegorino. Rascalov, however, betrays and kills Pegorino during the mission, and the new goal is to kill Rascalov.

Revenge

The Lost and Damned

*Note - Similar to End of the Line in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the climax spans across Liberty City.

The Ballad of Gay Tony

*Note - The mission takes place on an abandoned carnival in Firefly Island to the airport. Then, to Ray's private jet and skydive to Meadows Park.

GTA Chinatown Wars

*Note: That the main part of this mission takes place at the Charge Island desanilitation plant.

GTA V

*Note: All three endings take place in various locations around the state of San Andreas.


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