Protagonist: Difference between revisions

{{wikipedia}} The '''protagonist''' is the main character of a story, and the main playable character in the [[Grand Theft Auto]] games.  

Traditionally, a protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. Alternatively, the phrase denotes a primary advocate of or proponent for a cause or movement. The main character can be a hero or a villain in a story - it is just the character with the lead role. In literature, the protagonist is characterized by his/her ability to change or evolve.  

It should be pointed out that the protagonist is not always the hero of the story, as implied in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' games. They may commit crimes of some sort, (which the protagonists of the GTA games certainly do) but he/she is still considered the lead character, and is known to help out his/her friends, allies or close associates.

The protagonists between [[Grand Theft Auto III]] and [[Grand Theft Auto IV]] share similar qualities. All protagonists are new to town, either returning after a long time gone (such as [[Carl Johnson]] and [[Toni Cipriani]]) or have never been to the city before (such as [[Claude]], [[Tommy Vercetti]], [[Mike]], [[Victor Vance]] and [[Niko Bellic]]). The protagonists usually start with nothing, with minimal influence and reputation, having to do odd jobs around for various small-timers, gaining friends and allies (like [[Asuka Kasen]], [[Avery Carrington]], [[Wu Zi Mu]], and [[Little Jacob]]) before moving up the social and ecomonical ladder, attempting to rise through the criminal underworld, although their motives for doing so vary in each game. They eventually start establishing a name for themselves in the town, doing real jobs, making bigger and more powerful friends and business partners, and cutting real deals as their prominence, respect, money, and reputation begins to grow, until they end the game on top of the city, or at least with some powerful business and/or friends.

The opposite of a protagonist is an '''[[antagonist]]''', which is the main person working against the protagonist and his actions. Again, this can be a villain or a hero, though usually a villain.  

The main antagonists of the Grand Theft Auto games are usually introduced very early in the story, usually the the protagonist's friend or acquaintance until a major, personal betrayal with gunfire (like [[Catalina]], [[Sonny Forelli]], [[Frank Tenpenny]], [[Jerry Martinez]] and [[Dimitri Rascalov]]) and are usually seen, heard, or mentioned throughout the game, moving against the protagonists' plans or goals, until they are finally confronted in some big event by the protagonist at the end of the game. An abnormal antagonist is [[Massimo Torini]]; he makes the least amount of appearances than all the other [[antagonist|antagonists]] in the other [[GTA|games]] (only 2).