Niko Bellic
Nikolai "Niko" Bellic is the protagonist (main character) of Grand Theft Auto IV. He has a strong Eastern European accent. Niko is of Serbian descent, and has previously fought in the Bosnian War (one of the reasons he came to Liberty City was to find Darko, a man who betrayed Niko's army unit during the war). He lived with his mother and brother--the latter of whom was killed during the breakout of the war in Bosnia. Combined with the death of several of his other friends in the Balkan conflict of the 1990's, Niko has become a cynical individual.
In the debut trailer he has a brief monologue:
- "Life is complicated; I killed people... smuggled people... sold people. Perhaps here, things will be different."
At 30 years old (as made evident by his "Love Meet" profile), he travels to Liberty City enticed by the promise of a new, glamorous life with women, money, and cars, as promised to Niko by his cousin Roman, only to be disappointed by his lies - at which point the player of GTA IV takes control.
Niko's fake resume claims his objective is to "rise to the top of my profession in Liberty City," that he has experience in criminal law with cases like manslaughter under his belt. He also claims that he deals with the emerging markets in the West Indies (especially 'Jamaica and Puerto Rico'). He also claims to have been the associate attorney at Mediterranean Shipping Enterprise, and an intern at a police force. His school is supposedly 'Bulford University' in the UK. He has supposedly been in the "Balkan Peace Force" and has extensive military training.
Niko was voiced by Michael Hollick.
See also