Community:GTA IV Gripes/Characters



This is the official Grand Theft Wiki GTA IV Gripes list.

For now, this page is open to everybody. If there is any abuse of this page it will be locked, and all submissions will have to go through the Discussion page.

The "Gripes" on this page are intended to warn new players of things they may not like about the game.

The "Rebuts" on this page are intended to explain to new players why some gripes may not be a "gripe" for all players.

Please do not repeat other people's gripes. Also, no silly/stupid/idiotic/explicit/racist gripes or rebuttals.

How To Gripe

  • Find the appropriate sub-page for your gripe.
  • Make sure your gripe hasn't already been mentioned.
  • Start a gripe with {{Gripe}}, then follow with your gripe.

How To Rebut Gripes

  • Rebuttals to gripes should be directly underneath the gripe.
  • Start your rebuttal with :{{Rebut}}, then follow with your rebuttal.
  • Rebuttals should address reasons it is not a valid gripe, and should not accuse the gripe of being "silly" or "stupid."



Gripe Rebut I think that Phil bell, Bernie crane, and Derrick mcreary (in the event that you spare him in blood brothers) should all be friends.

Gripe

Rebut I agree, I also thought Malc should be a friend in The Lost and Damned, and that even Adriana Lopez and Gay Tony should have been able to be taken out for activities in The Ballad of Gay Tony.


Gripe Rebut I want everybody whoever said that this game isn't "New York" to read this. There is a pedestrian that calls himself Big Murph, and if you provoke him to fight he says "You're fucking with the most feared man in Harlem." This is the only audio reference in the game that suggests that it is indeed New York. Gripe RebutYour an idiot,while L.C. is clearly based on New York,it is not New York,just like Los Santos is not LA,Vice City is not Miami,San Fierro is not San Francisco,so on and so forth.


Gripe RebutReturning characters are completely absent, such as Claude Speed, El Burro, 8-Ball or even Toni Cipriani. There is little explanation why Rockstar Games did not return older characters from the past GTA eras.

RebutThere is an Easter Egg that shows the previous protagonists along with "R.I.P."
Gripe

RebutWhere is the location to this easter egg?

RebutCheck the link above
RebutGo watch tv, apparently CJ is on there
Gripe

RebutPicture please?

RebutHe probably means San Andreas. Clips of CJ driving various cars around Los Santos Airport, like the Hotring Racer, appear in the TV program "I'm Rich".
Rebut Don't forget about the Truth's (GTA:SA) website, www.whatheydontwantyoutoknow.com
Rebut Well, IV is set over 20 years ahead of VC and SA, so everyone from those games is probably either elderly or deceased. Also, I think R* wanted to start fresh with IV, i.e. no ties to other storylines at all.
Rebut There is actually one returning character in GTA IV who was in the rest, he may not be seen but he is a character in their world...  Lazlow Jones, (known for Chatterbox FM, V Rock, Integrity 2.0 etc.

Gripe RebutPedestrian conversations are repetitive and are no where near as funny as they used to be.

RebutIsn't the game supposed to be more serious? I mean come on, the games based in poor, old, drug and crime filled New York. Nothing funny about that. But i do agree they aren't as funny as prior games but I understand why Rockstar did that.
Rebut "As long as ive got a face, youve got a place to sit" "Come sit on my knee cherry blossom" "Typical Male Asshole" Should i go on
RebutPedestrian conversations are extremely funnier than the past ones. In SA, the comedy level will literally dumb you down, whoever posted this gripe. GTA IV comedy from pedestrians is sophisticated. An example would be “I’m not going to fuck him if he has craps” from female groups.

Gripe RebutSome of the characters are downright painful and tedious. i.e. Brucie, Dwayne etc.

RebutThat's just opinion. I like Brucie's style in the game. Dwayne is very depressed though.

Gripe RebutEven after she died, you still have to go on a date with Kate.

RebutI think that was just a very bad glitch. or Niko Bellic's into necrophilia!
Gripe

RebutOr just another failure attempt of realism by R*.

Rebut It is not "just another failure attempt of realism", it was obviously a mistake in the programming and not R*'s fault.
Gripe

Rebut it is r* failt if there is a fault in the programming.

Rebut Every game has faults, smart one!

Gripe Rebut ***Rebut SPOILERS*** The girlfriends are just annoying. Michelle is alright up until you find out she's undercover, so then you loose one of two sane girlfriends. Then at the end of the game you loose Kate who's the other sane one. Either she gets killed or just won't pick up the phone and you basically never hear from her again. This leaves you with the three girls online, and they've all got severe issues. Kiki annoys me as she's a pretentious lawyer type who gets on your case about wearing nice clothes, Carmen is self absorbed and refers to herself in the third person, and Alex is the equivalent of dating Paris Hilton.

RebutNiko wasn't meant to like them. As Niko has said to Roman in a phone call, he only dates his online girlfriends to give him something to do.
RebutDespite her vainness (is that even a word?) and sheer lack of anything even remotely resembling intelligence, Alex turned out to be my favorite and the only one I have any interest in what she has to say.

Gripe Rebut Of all the characters, Carl 'CJ' Johnson is the only one considered dead??Carl is the only one considered canon??why

RebutAll of the characters are considered canon, but all are dead.
But not Claude, He got frozen until around 2013 Right?
The GTA III era is completely non-canon now, it has been written off, GTA has restarted, Liberty City follows the history stated in GTA IV, Vice City and San Andreas still exist but we haven't seen what they look like yet. But they will have new history and everything that goes down will tie into GTA IV. P.S. That Chinatown Wars game is shit and totally non-canon too.
Rebut Claude from GTA 3 is not Claude Speed from GTA 2. If you don’t believe, then you’re a little bit slow. I mean, were on the Grand Theft Wiki, LOOK IT UP!

Gripe RebutNiko spends all his time complaining about his life and tells Roman that there's no such thing as a clean start, yet when Dwayne complains about his past, Niko tells him to shut up and have fun!

RebutRoman had and still has many money problems when he came to America in 1993. So does Niko. There is no such thing as a clean start when you have money problems. Dwayne just came out of prison. He has nothing except the clothes on his back. He has a clean start because he has no problems at all.

Gripe Rebut Out of all the GTA main characters, Niko feels the most out of place with the type of game GTA IV is. Claude, Tommy, and Carl all feel right when stealing cars, killing people, and blowing up police cars. When Niko does it....it feels sorta wierd. His "cutscene" personality doesn't fit with the things he does during missions, like killing friends or innocents. I think a game with Playboy X's character (not his background story, just his character) would match the story better.

Rebut That makes Niko different. He probably had the worst past of all the protagonists. He watched his best friends get murdered and had to hide the truth of his Aunt's death from Roman. After something like that, I don't think I'd be happy to kill either. Besides, you can choose who you want to kill half of the time.
Rebut I don't see how his behaviour in the missions is all that inconsistent with his character. Most of the people he has to kill (per mission objectives) are less than innocent. When he does turn on a friend/ally or kill an innocent it's almost universally because he has no choice.
Rebut Outside of mission events, how consistent his behaviour is with his character depends on how you play the game, really. Me, I don't usually go on random rampages when I'm playing seriously, and when I do I don't save the game, so I guess you could say my Niko Bellic is suffering from split personality disorder. :P
Rebut Niko, as a character, isn't exactly a mindless psychopath, but he's... disturbed, due to the horrible things he's seen (and done). All that said, you can choose how ruthless he is in the storyline as well, to a degree, with the 'let character live or die' scenarios. Anyway, I guess I agree that Niko's character is somewhat consistent with randomly murdering people in the street, but I'm willing to accept that as a compromise.
Gripe

Rebut "consistent"? you mean inconsistent, right? And Niko does kill a lot of innocents. Or at least "relative" innocents. A lawyer who wants to bust a corrupt cop is relativily innocent. A guy who owns your friend some money is relativily innocent. But he kills them anyway because someone asks him to.

Rebut Yes, I meant inconsistent, sorry.
Rebut Victor feels less out of place, in my opinion.
       Gripe

Rebut   I absolutely agree. It's annoying to listen to Niko's constant ersatz-philosophy, then watch him head off to kill someone just because someone who he doesn't even like asked him to. In many cases, there is no compelling reason for why Niko does something, especially in the later stages of the game, when he doesn't have money troubles. All GTA3-era characters were were openly unrealistic, more resembling action movie characters than real people (even CJ somehow worked as a sort of comic-character straight guy in a surreal environment). In GTA IV, R* tries to give us a sense of (pseudo-)realism that simply doesn't fit with the genre. You can't have an ethical character kill 100 innocent bystanders every week and be friends with GTA's crazy, hilariously-clichéd game world.

Gripe

Rebut what about Darko? A major theme of the game is revenge and Niko wants revenge on the person who betrayed him. He becomes more determined to find "that special someone" in the later stages of the game because he doesnt have money troubles and has friends in high places (like Ray Boccino who helped him find Florian). He would not have found him if he had not killed people for Boccino.


Gripe Rebut A minor nitpick, but I wanted to mention it. During the shootouts in most missions, Niko screams vicious obscenities at his opponents even though, in most cases, he has no logical reason to be enraged at them. During the shootout in the Majestic hotel to take out the diamond dealers, for example, they're just obstacles in the way of a job that needs to be done, nothing more. It seems more than a bit out of character that Niko screams something like "AAAARRRRRGGGHHH, MOTHERFUCKERS!" at people he's only shooting at because he's being paid to, because it's at odds with his supposedly calm and collected personality. I could understand if he only did so while fighting the goons working for Rascalov, for example, because they represent someone he despises, but the fact is that he gets this worked up while fighting anyone. It's also a bit of a awkward jolt for me compared to what I'm thinking. (I'm usually thinking things like "target down" and "nade out" during a shootout. Yes, I play too many tactical shooters. >_>)

Rebut I don't know about you, but "Motherfucker" would probably be the kindest thing I'd say to the guy who just shot me in any of my limbs or lower torso.
RebutI call my friends motherfucker all the time.That's not even close to the stuff an aggravated criminal would say in a shootout.
Gripe

RebutWhat he says isn't my point, it's the way he says it. What kind of professional hired gun is all "RAARRRGH I'LL CUT YOUR FUCKING HEADS OFF!" during a shootout with people he doesn't even know, what could possibly be the source for that much rage? It just doesn't feel right.

RebutNiko has had a terrible life:He's killed his friends,he's seen most of the things he loved die in his arms, he was in A WAR for Kifflom's sake! He saw 13 (or so) of his friends die in a ditch just because his drug addled friend wanted $1000. When he's in massive fire fights, he probably thinks of the war. It would be like a living flash back. Let's say your best friend set you on fire and threw you off a cliff. Are you just gonna say "Oh,well it's okay,buddy.I guess everything's gonna fall into place. Ooh,a butterfly! Let's all have Macaroni Salad. "Or will you get surgery, By a gun, shoot him in the balls and kill him? I pick Number 2! Just the very fact that you made this gripe makes me question if you're inbred. Telling a hard earned war veteran to stay calm in a gun fight is like telling Dick Cheney to say "That's HOT!" and Telling Paris Hilton to show off a wicked, yellow, underbite and eat people. NIKO AIN'T A HIPPIE!!
Rebut Guy makes a good point.
RebutThank you.I thought It was pretty good myself.:)
Rebut I pretty much considered all of his trash talking as away to psyche himself up considering he'd say things like how he had nothing to lose when (at the time) he did (i.e. Roman)

Gripe RebutSince when do homeless tramps are even allowed to drive vehicles?

RebutSince GTA:VCS, so if GTA IV was set in 2009 (hypothetically) I would say about 25 years or so.
Gripe

RebutIn real life, homeless bums are'nt allowed to drive vehicels, especially in night times. I though their driver's license got revoked, so why are they still driving? Just another bad realism maybe?

RebutJust because they are homeless doesn't mean they get their licenses revoked. Haven't you heard of someone living in their car before?
Gripe

Rebut Like living in burnt out/abandoned vehicles?

Rebut Like the only thing people have left/are able to afford is a car.
Gripe

RebutNot really true. If a person becomes homeless, he/she will lose everything, and that means no house, cars towed away, become jobless, even lose a wife. GTA IV has no realism whatsoever when it comes to homeless people driving cars, ESPECIALLY when they lost everything.

Rebut Still not entirely true. A person can own a car that is paid off completely like a used car they bought from a private owner and that can happen before a person becomes homeless. So just because you're homeless doesn't mean you can't live an a car you officially own. Now getting the gas to power said car is another matter but can come down to stealing gas or getting enough money to drive it if possible.
Gripe

RebutIf you have ever seen a homeless bum, then you should know that they're not allowed to drive. That's illegal. Peds in real-life can easily identify the bums by looking at their dirty, old, rotten clothes, and that their appearance that the bum has poor hygiene. Their driver's license DO get revoked after getting fired from the job, no house bills or car bills to pay, and that means no home and no car. Being a homeless person would NOT allow them to drive, since they'll likely get arrested for driving without a license (and thus being homeless). Like I said, GTA IV has no realism when it comes to homeless people driving with no driver's license, and the same goes for real-life. Dude your gona be homeless someday,because your a moron!

Rebut Where did you hear that? I have seen many homeless people in my life, and many of them lived in the backseat of their car. Taking away one's driver's license just because they lost their home would be depriving them of their rights, and thus unconstitutional. Now I have seen tramps driving sports cars in-game, which does seem odd. I car-jacked one once, and he said something long the lines of "Aw man, I just stole this car!", so theft is plausible for that situation.

Rebut Don't you get it? It's not a failed attempt of realism, but an actual mistake by the game engine, since they just generate a ped to take the driver slot of the cars, and since at night is when almost only bums and hobos appear at night in more industrialized districts, they take up driver slots in the cars (like when I was playing the other day and I saw a hobo driving a Turismo). I know it's an engine mistake, and I find it pretty weird for a Mafia member driving a hobo in a Stretch, but no game can be perfect.

Rebut When do homeless drive??? Lol in vice city they do but not IV.

Gripe RebutNiko is a Serbian. In a few missions he spoke serbian and that's not a serbian accent. Neither is Roman's or Florian's or Darko's.

RebutThis is an issue concerning voice actors. R* hired American voice actors, not Serbian. The voice actor's nationality has nothing to do with R* establishing that Niko is Serbian, since its their fictional character and they wrote his backstory.
Gripe

Rebut But couldn't R* hire Serbian voice actors for Serbian protagonists. They could've easily hired a Serbian voice actor.

Rebut Don't want to get into a nationality war but R* gave vague description of their supposed ethnicity but it's regarded as somewhere in former Yugoslavia, that out of the way the accent can be ambiguous since the actual country Niko, Roman et al are truly from is left just as ambiguous (or even made-up).
     Gripe

Rebut I understand that it might be hard to find good voice actors fluent in Serbian and English, but it annoys the crap out of me every time the Serb Roman calls his cousin Bellik, or they mention PetroviK, CraviK and so on. Is it too much to ask that those American voice actors at least learn the most basic rules of pronounciation for the names of their characters? Has Roman forgotten his own name?


Gripe RebutI think Phil Bell should have been one of the friends. He was always straight with Niko, and I think he has more of a backstory than a "malicious bitch" of an ex-wife.

Rebut In either endings it's impossible for Phil to be Niko's friend.After you complete "A Dish Served Cold" Phil says he didn't trust Dmitri either but he couldn't be seen with him cause the Pregorinos were falling apart,I think he also left town.I don't have a reason for the Deal story but regardless Niko only worked for the Mafia to find Darko Brevic,also in either ending Jimmy dies so its likely Phil took over even though he's 99 percent Irish.
Gripe

RebutWhy is Roman older if he looks way younger than Niko? That I kinda slowed down the realism for me. And if both Bellic cousins are Serbian how come Roman never speaks it?

Rebut Roman does speak a few words of Serbian in some dialogs during the game so that is not entirely true. Plus do you know what Roman is doing every second of his life? The answer... no. So so how do we compleatly know that he doesent speak serbian? Also Roman came to america to help forget his past and a dialog early in the game has roman saying to niko: "Watch yourself cousin, i compleatly forgotton our language yet".
Rebut I think you mean he HASN'T completely forgotten our language. Also, if you watch the opening cutscene, Niko says "Good to see you, cousin" in Serbian, causing Roman to get confused. He then says cabbages and tells Niko that he can speak English. This explains why he mostly talks English, because there's no need to talk in Serbian.
Rebut This is entirely within the normal range of willing suspension of disbelief. Yes, it would be more realistic if the Bellics spoke Serbian with each other, or with Bernie. But how much fun would it be to constantly stare at the subtitles while playing?

Gripe RebutHow come during the car ride after Roman's apartment was burned down Roman was megapissed while Niko was feeling all sorry and apologetic. Then, when they get to Bohan, Roman's all optimistic about the new apartment while Niko's the one who's pissed off. It's kinda weird how the two switched roles that quickly.

Rebut That's just the way Roman is, at first he was frightened, scared, and depressed, so Niko was being apoligetic, and slightly comforting, though when Roman finally tryed looking on the bright side at the new apartment, Niko realized Roman was fine, and decided to express how he was really feeling. They're two very complex characters haha.

Gripe Rebut Kiki is just an annoying character in the game. Everytime I finished on a date I spend about 2 hours (IN-GAME)doing silly stuf and then I get a text from her saying 'Niko I need you' and other crap. And after that I spend another 2 hours and she does it again and again. JUST LEAVE ME ALONE AND LET ME SPEND A FEW DAYS WITHOUT YOU.

Rebut If I was you I would either put the phone to sleep or just dump her (she isnt useful a whole lot anyway)
Gripe

Rebut i felt little jacob was like jar jar binks up until he becomes a friend

Rebut Go to your phone, select kiki then select breakup or something then she will never bother you again until you find her on the internet again
Rebut You can also kill her, but that’s complicated.