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{{infobox character
{{infobox character|
 
|image =FrankTenpenny-GTASA.jpg
 
|game_1 = GTA San Andreas
|name = Frank Tenpenny
|name = Frank Tenpenny
|image = FrankTenpenny-GTASA.jpg
|aka = Officer Tenpenny<br />Tenpenny
|size = 160px
|status = Deceased
|games = [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]
|gender =
|aka = Officer Tenpenny
|dob =  
|gender = M
|pob =  
|pob = [[Los Santos]], [[State of San Andreas|San Andreas]]
|dod = 1992
|dod = [[1992]]
|home = [[Prickle Pine]], [[Las Venturas]], [[San Andreas in GTA III Era|San Andreas]]
|home = Los Santos, San Andreas
|nationality = United States
|nationality = [[United States of America|American]]
|family = Unnamed wife
|family = Unnamed wife
|affiliations = [[Los Santos Police Department]]<br>[[C.R.A.S.H.]]<br>[[Eddie Pulaski]]<br>[[Jimmy Hernandez]]<br>[[Grove Street Families]]<br>[[Ballas]]<br>[[Los Santos Vagos]]
|affiliations = [[LSPD in GTA III Era|Los Santos Police Department]]<br />[[C.R.A.S.H.]]<br />[[Eddie Pulaski]]<br />[[Ralph Pendelbury]]<br />[[Jimmy Hernandez]]<br />[[Ballas]]<br />[[Los Santos Vagos]]<br />[[Big Smoke]]<br />[[Carl Johnson]]<br />[[The Truth]]
|vehicles = [[Police Car]], [[Fire Truck]]
|vehicles = [[Police Car]]
|businesses = Leader of [[C.R.A.S.H.]] Community
|businesses =
|voice = [[Samuel L. Jackson]]
|voice = [[Samuel L. Jackson]]
}}
}}
'''Frank Tenpenny''' is a character in the [[3D Universe]] who appears as the central [[antagonist]] of [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]. He is the corrupt leader of the [[C.R.A.S.H.|Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums]] division of the [[LSPD in GTA III Era|Los Santos Police Department]]. He is voiced by [[Samuel L. Jackson]].
==Character history==
===Before GTA San Andreas===
Tenpenny sports a US Marines logo tattooed on one of his arms, which suggests he is a former Marine. During [[Catalyst|one of his visits to Grove Street to drop on nemesis Carl "CJ" Johnson]], he hints that he is married and his wife heavily abuses sherm. However, [[High Noon|much later at the end of his cover-up string]], he leaves "to get drunk and get laid", and sexual assault is amongst his primary criminal charges towards [[Riot (GTA SA)|the culmination of a series of felonies pressed against him]]. He eventually joined the [[LSPD in GTA III Era|Los Santos Police Department]]'s [[C.R.A.S.H.]] division - in real life, C.R.A.S.H. was formed in 1977 and is unique to Los Angeles.


'''Frank Tenpenny''' is a corrupt police officer of the [[Los Santos Police Department]] (LSPD) and the head of [[C.R.A.S.H.]], he serves as the main [[antagonist]] in [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]].
By [[1987]], Tenpenny was corrupt and had a shadowy influence over the [[Grove Street Families]], often personally intimidating high-ranking members like Carl and [[Big Smoke|Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris]] to do his bidding. Tenpenny refers to his work as a game of "percentages", and often purposely strengthening one gang, specifically speaking, the Ballas, so that they keep another from monopolizing the city. Officer [[Eddie Pulaski|Edward "Eddie" Pulaski]] joined him at an unknown point in time, likely after 1987 because Carl seems less familiar with him. In [[1992]], fellow Officer [[Ralph Pendelbury]] becomes wise to their corruption and first brings evidence against them to internal affairs. At the same time, Officer [[Jimmy Hernandez]] joined their C.R.A.S.H. team and was forced to [[The Introduction|kill Pendelbury on his first day with them]].


Tenpenny claims that his approach to the job is about "percentages" and that his philosophy calls for overlooking some crime to achieve a greater good. It appears that he believes what he says, but in reality Tenpenny and his unit are corrupt to the core and terrorize gang leaders in a fashion much like a gang themselves, except with the power of law enforcement behind them. They can kill indiscriminately and are skimming the profits from the rival gangs. Tenpenny himself is a polluting influence, convincing good cops to aid him in his pursuits.
===Life with Carl Johnson===
Tenpenny, alongside Pulaski and Hernandez, is [[First Mission (GTA SA)|first seen arresting]] Carl in [[Ganton]], who has just returned to the [[Los Santos in GTA III Era|city]] for his [[Beverly Johnson|mother's]] funeral. The three then drive Carl around the city's poorer neighbourhoods in East Los Santos and hand him the gun that Hernandez had used to kill Pendelbury ten minutes previously, thus giving them leverage over him so they could frame him and use him for redemption. The three then throw him from their moving [[Police Car|police car]], leaving him in [[Jefferson, Los Santos|Jefferson]], a part of the city held by the [[Ballas]]. Tenpenny continues to work with Pulaski and Hernandez, all the while concealing his employment of Smoke and the latter's friend [[Ryder|Lance "Ryder" Wilson]], who he converted to the Ballas by luring them into an opportunity to gain money and power by selling crack cocaine, a drug which Grove Street Families leader [[Sweet| Sean "Sweet" Johnson]], Carl's brother, was strictly against.


==GTA San Andreas==
Tenpenny begins to pay occasional visits to [[Big Smoke's House|Smoke's house]] in [[Idlewood]] and meets Carl during his exit [[Running Dog|briefly]] but [[Wrong Side of the Tracks|later meets him again]] at Smoke's house where he reminds him he knows 'everything' about him and that he has his eye on him. Smoke, however, brushes these off by saying that Tenpenny won't leave him alone due to his connections with the Grove Street Families and has Carl help him kill [[Los Santos Vagos]] gangsters making a deal with the [[San Fierro Rifa]]. Carl is later intercepted by Tenpenny, alongside Pulaski and Hernandez, at [[Ryder's House|Ryder's house]] in [[Grove Street]] where he tells them of a [[Catalyst|train loaded with weapons]] coming into the city, which Carl and Ryder then attack, taking the weapons.
Tenpenny rides with [[Eddie Pulaski]] and a third C.R.A.S.H. member. Prior to the game's storyline, the third member is [[Ralph Pendelbury]], whom Tenpenny has killed in [[The Introduction]] for cooperating with internal affairs. Just prior to Pendlebury's murder, Tenpenny and Pulaski brief their newest recruit, [[Jimmy Hernandez]], in a scene reminiscent of the film ''Training Day''. They both order Hernandez to pull the trigger on Pendelbury, thereby initiating Hernandez into their distorted view of things.


===Relationship with CJ===
Tenpenny, after helping Smoke and Ryder, begins to put pressure on Carl to work for him and first uses his leverage to have Carl [[Burning Desire|kill]] a [[Los Santos Vagos]] 'cop-killing' gangster, which he does. Tenpenny, in exchange for Carl helping him with the Vago, gives him the [[Gray Imports|opportunity to disrupt]] a deal between the Ballas and [[Russian Mafia]], which Carl takes full advantage of. Carl then begins to work again towards the Grove Street Families but is later [[Cell Phone|called]] by [[Cesar Vialpando]], his [[Kendl Johnson|sister's]] boyfriend and the [[Varrios Los Aztecas]] [[Gang Leaders|leader]], with Carl joining him in an alleyway in [[Verdant Bluffs]] later that day. Carl then witnesses Tenpenny, Pulaski, Smoke and Ryder unveil the green [[Sabre]] used in the drive-by which killed Beverly. Carl then remembers [[Sweet]], who had gone to the [[Mulholland Intersection]] for a shoot-out against the [[Ballas]]. Sweet is shot during the shooting and the [[LSPD in GTA III Era|Los Santos Police Department]] arrests him after officers ambush the area.
Tenpenny has known [[protagonist]] [[Carl Johnson]] at least since [[Brian Johnson|Brian Johnson's]] death, and CJ recognizes Tenpenny and calls him by name from the very beginning of the game. Tenpenny likes to "step on" CJ on a regular basis to remind him who's in charge. Tenpenny is obviously seen to be a powerful influence on [[Los Santos]]' criminals, even warning CJ that "we could shit on you from such a height, you'll think God himself has crapped on you." He sees CJ as another tool in his dirty dealings. He and Pulaski extort several [[Grove Street Families]] members, including [[Melvin Harris|Big Smoke]] and [[Lance Wilson|Ryder]], but Tenpenny appears to take pleasure in exercising control over CJ specifically.&nbsp;He officially threatens CJ to do his work or he'll&nbsp;frame&nbsp;him for Officer Pendlebury's murder&nbsp;whom Tenpenny had killed ten minutes ago.&nbsp; &nbsp;


===Gang Association===
===Badlands and San Fierro===
While Tenpenny claims he is pitting the gangs against each other to wipe them all out, he is actually allied with the [[Ballas]], who (unlike the GSF) have no reservations against dealing crack cocaine. C.R.A.S.H. lets the Ballas flood the city with drugs, which turns many GSF members into addicts, effectively crushing their gang. Tenpenny also convinces Smoke to betray his gang in return for heading up the drug operation; in turn, Smoke convinces Ryder to defect also. Tenpenny and Pulaski personally oversee the Balla slaying of Carl and [[Sean  Johnson|Sweet Johnson's]] mother [[Beverly Johnson]]. Tenpenny anticipates that her death will bring CJ back to Los Santos, and accosts him less than a block from his home in [[Ganton]]. The C.R.A.S.H. team plants evidence on him linking him to Pendelbury's death (allowing Tenpenny to force CJ into doing whatever he sees fit). He warns CJ not to leave town and dumps him out of the squad car in Balla territory.
[[File:TheGreenSabre-GTASA5.png|right|200px|thumb|Frank Tenpenny and [[Eddie Pulaski]] telling [[Carl Johnson]] about the DA on [[Mount Chiliad in GTA III Era|Mount Chiliad]] during [[The Green Sabre]].]]
Sweet is taken 'upstate' by the police, but Carl, also present at the shooting, is taken by Tenpenny, Pulaski and Hernandez to [[Angel Pine]] in [[Whetstone]]. They have him [[Badlands|kill]] and then [[Camera|photograph]] an old police officer being protected by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] in a cabin on [[Mount Chiliad in GTA III Era|Mount Chiliad]], as he is about to turn states evidence against Tenpenny. Tenpenny then [[Body Harvest|meets Carl again]] when visiting [[The Truth]], an old friend of Tenpenny's who is selling him marijuana he intends to plant on a District Attorney. Tenpenny tells The Truth that Carl will be paying for the said weed, which is in part done when Carl steals a [[Combine Harvester]] from a rival farm.


Later, Tenpenny and Pulaski kidnap CJ following a large gang assault beneath the Mulholland Intersection (this ended with [[Sweet]] being shot and Carl and Sweet being arrested. Clearly, Tenpenny personally ensured that CJ would escape the law). They drive CJ miles away to Whetstone and dump him in the woods with orders to kill an FBI witness. He also tells CJ, who now knows of Big Smoke's involvement with C.R.A.S.H., not to kill Big Smoke, or the imprisoned Sweet will be put on a Balla cell block. Tenpenny and Pulaski surface every so often to lean on CJ and usually order him to plant evidence on or kill someone who threatens to expose the true nature of C.R.A.S.H.
Carl later [[Are You Going to San Fierro?|moves]] to [[San Fierro]] after [[Farewell, My Love...|winning]] a [[Doherty Garage|run down garage]] in [[Doherty]]. Shortly after arriving he is contacted by Tenpenny who has him go to the [[Vank Hoff Hotel]] in [[Financial]] to [[555 We Tip|take a DA's car]], while working as a valet, to put some of the marijuana he had Carl purchase from The Truth's farm in the trunk.Carl then [[Cell Phone|phones]] We Tip to inform the unit of the DA, who is threatening to expose Tenpenny and Pulaski. Officers from the [[San Fierro Police Department]] then turn up and arrest the DA for possessing the marijuana. Tenpenny and Pulaski then turn up at Carl's garage and have him follow a journalist on his [[Brown Streak Railroad|journey]] to Los Santos where he meets his informant. Carl then [[Snail Trail|kills the two]] to again protect Tenpenny and Pulaski.


With Big Smoke ruling Los Santos as its crack kingpin under C.R.A.S.H.'s control, Tenpenny's reach is expanding. Despite this, the FBI is becoming interested in the wave of drugs crippling the city. CJ finally outlives his usefulness to Tenpenny and Pulaski, who are becoming edgy and less tolerant of loose ends by the time CJ reaches [[Las Venturas]]. There they have him [[misappropriation|acquire an FBI dossier]]. After this he drives CJ out to the desert, where Tenpenny attacks Hernandez for cooperating with Internal Affairs and orders Carl to dig his own grave. He then leaves CJ and Hernandez for Pulaski to watch so he can "get drunk and get laid", so he is not present to see [[High Noon |CJ murder Pulaski]].
===End of C.R.A.S.H.===
[[File:HighNoon-GTASA.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Frank Tenpenny shortly after hitting [[Jimmy Hernandez]] with a [[Shovel|shovel]] during [[High Noon]].]]
Carl continues to enjoy life in [[San Fierro]] before moving out into [[Tierra Robada]] and [[Bone County]], and then settling into [[Las Venturas]]. He is [[Misappropriation|contacted again by Tenpenny and Pulaski]] from a house in [[Prickle Pine]]. Tenpenny informs Carl that despite their best efforts, the 'gig's nearly up'. Tenpenny tells Carl that keeping his badge is not important and that they are the same, trying to get out of the hole, so when someone steps on him he steps on Carl. He then tells Carl to go to [[Aldea Malvada]], a ghost town, to collect a dossier and kill the DEA and FBI agent, which he does. He later meets the two at [[Las Brujas]], another ghost town, where he hands the dossier to Pulaski while Hernandez holds him at gun point.


Upon [[A Home in the Hills|taking back Madd Dogg's mansion]], Tenpenny is eventually charged for racketeering, corruption, possession and use of narcotics and numerous sexual assaults. However, as all the prosecution's witnesses have either been killed by CJ or otherwise gone missing, Tenpenny is acquitted, which ignites a [[Los Santos Riots|riot]] in Los Santos reminiscent of the [[Wikipedia:1992 Los Angeles riots|1992 Los Angeles riots]]
Tenpenny exits the police car and gets a shovel from the boot before hitting Hernandez over the head. Hernandez falls to the ground and is hit again by a furious Tenpenny as Hernandez had been giving information to internal affairs. Tenpenny, however, is likely to have known about this, since Carl was in San Fierro as he did not mention Hernandez when talking about the [[555 We Tip|DA]] and [[Snail Trail|journalist]], only stating that he and Pulaski were the targets. Tenpenny then hands the shovel to Carl and, thinking that Hernandez was dead, leaves 'to get drunk and get laid'. Tenpenny leaves and Carl digs a grave, although he escapes his intended fate with help from Hernandez, who is shot and killed by Pulaski. Carl then chases Pulaski and kills him, ending C.R.A.S.H. and its men.


[[File:FrankTenpenny-Artwork.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Artwork of Frank Tenpenny from GTA San Andreas. This artwork is also on the PC Version's disc cover and loadup screen.]]
===Trial and final days===
[[File:EndoftheLine-GTASA5.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Frank Tenpenny shortly before his death as [[Carl Johnson]], [[Sweet]], [[Kendl Johnson]] and [[Cesar Vialpando]] during [[End of the Line]].]]
Tenpenny, shortly after returning to Los Santos, is [[Vertical Bird|arrested and put on trial for racketeering, corruption, narcotics and sexual assault]]. Pulaski, who had been killed by Carl, was also charged in absentia. However, while Sweet [[Home Coming|is later released on parole]], the case against Tenpenny and Pulaski is dismissed by the DA's office due to a lack of evidence. The outcome causes [[Riot (GTA SA)|riots]] across the poorer neighbourhoods of Los Santos, which were hardest hit by Tenpenny and Pulaski's actions. Tenpenny continues with his work in the LSPD despite the riots and begins to recruit young officers into his circle. Carl and Sweet, despite the chaos, continue to re-establish the Grove Street Families and then decide to take on Smoke. Carl breaks into [[Big Smoke's Crack Palace|Smoke's drugs manufacturing factory]] where he [[End of the Line|confronts and kills Smoke]].


Tenpenny seeks to escape Los Santos and the riot by plane (supposedly fleeing [[State of San Andreas|San Andreas]]) with a suitcase full of drug money. Tenpenny emerges just as CJ has killed Big Smoke and tells him he has new recruits in the force who are ready for him to "open their eyes" to his way of thinking. Tenpenny starts a fire in Big Smoke's Crack Palace downstairs, hoping to kill CJ in the blast, then flees in a fire truck. Carl's brother, Sweet, however, hangs on to the firetruck's ladder; CJ catches him in his car and continues the chase.
Carl, showing remorse for having to kill Smoke, is interrupted by Tenpenny who holds him at gun point. Carl is then forced to fill a briefcase with Smoke's drug money before throwing it back to Tenpenny. Carl, however, distracts him by calling out Sweet's name and Tenpenny quickly turns around, allowing Carl to move before Tenpenny turns back and fires his [[SPAS-12|shotgun]]. Tenpenny quickly works his way back through the factory but shoots the machinery in the factory with his shotgun, causing them to catch fire, in an attempt to kill Carl. Tenpenny escapes by climbing into the cabin of a [[Firetruck|firetruck]] he had previously obtained and drives away. However, Sweet runs after him, jumps from a [[Greenwood|car]] and grabs hold of the truck's ladder while Carl escapes the building.


At the last cut scene of the "End of the Line" mission, Tenpenny's fire engine runs off an overpass, where it lands in a wreck right in the heart of [[Grove Street]]. A bloodied and broken Tenpenny crawls out calling for backup. Realizing no one is coming, he curses the police force, claiming that with "fifty of me", Los Santos would be saved, before dying from his injuries. CJ and the rest of his crew examine the body to make sure he's finished, but Sweet makes sure no one touches him so officials will blame a traffic accident for his death. Before they walk away from the body, [[The Truth]] tells CJ that he "beat the system" after Truth had been trying for 30 years. CJ then leans over, points his fingers at Tenpenny's body and smugly says, "See you around, ''officer''." Tenpenny's corpse is reported on the radio to have been mutilated and stripped by the homeless, before officials found it once the riots had ended.
Carl then hops into Smoke's [[Feltzer|car]] and begins chasing Tenpenny. After some time, Carl positions his car under Sweet, allowing him to let go and fall into the car. The two then begin to follow Tenpenny and the firetruck through the poorer neighborhoods of the city, killing the pursuing police officers. Tenpenny continues to drive the truck, but when approaching the bridge from [[East Los Santos in GTA III Era|East Los Santos]] to Ganton, loses control and the truck goes off the bridge and lands in [[Grove Street]]. Sweet and Carl drive to the scene and are met by Kendl, Cesar and The Truth. The five witness Tenpenny climbing out of the cabin and attempt to call for back up, which due to the riots is not forth coming. Tenpenny tells the five that "fifty of me and this town would be okay" before dying. Carl pulls out a gun and threatens to shoot him, to confirm Tenpenny's death but is stopped by Sweet, saying that the police will not investigate them as Tenpenny died in a traffic accident. According to a [[West Coast Talk Radio]] news update, Tenpenny's body is mutilated and stripped by the homeless. His body was discovered by officials after the end of the riots in Los Santos.


==Mission appearances==
==Mission appearances==
;GTA San Andreas
;GTA San Andreas
*[[First Mission (GTA SA)|First Mission]]
*[[The Introduction]]
*[[First Mission (GTA SA)|In The Beginning...]]
*[[Running Dog]]
*[[Running Dog]]
*[[Wrong Side of the Tracks]]
*[[Wrong Side of the Tracks]]
*[[Catalyst]]
*[[Catalyst]]
*[[Madd Dogg's Rhymes]] <small>('''Post-mission phone call''')</small>
*[[Burning Desire]] <small>(Boss)</small>
*[[Burning Desire]] <small>(Boss)</small>
*[[Gray Imports]] <small>(Boss)</small>
*[[Gray Imports]] <small>(Boss)</small>
*[[The Green Sabre]]
*[[The Green Sabre]]
*[[Badlands]] <small>(Boss)</small>
*[[Badlands]] <small>('''Unseen Boss''')</small>
*[[Body Harvest]]
*[[Body Harvest]]
*[[555 We Tip]] <small>(Voice/Boss)</small>
*[[555 We Tip]] <small>('''Unseen Boss: In-mission phone call''')</small>
*[[Snail Trail]] <small>(Boss)</small>
*[[Snail Trail]] <small>(Boss)</small>
*[[Misappropriation]] <small>(Boss)</small>
*[[Misappropriation]] <small>(Boss)</small>
*[[High Noon]] <small>(Boss)</small>
*[[High Noon]] <small>(Boss: '''Pre-mission phone call''' + '''In-mission appearance''')</small>
*[[End of the Line]] <small>(Died)</small>
*[[End of the Line]] <small>(Death)</small>


==Trivia==
==Murders committed==
*In an [http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;338891934;pp;1 article] on PC World, Tenpenny was voted as #35 of the top 47 "most diabolical videogame villains of all time." In Game Informer, Tenpenny was voted #2 Best Villain.
;GTA San Andreas
*[[wp:Rafael Pérez (police officer)|Rafael Pérez]], a real-life corrupt C.R.A.S.H. officer accused of drug trafficking, a bank robbery, and even murdering rapper Notorious B.I.G., may have inspired Tenpenny and his exploits. The two even look alike. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mack_(police_officer) David Mack], his accomplice also in C.R.A.S.H., also looks similar to Tenpenny.
*[[Ralph Pendelbury]] - <small>(Frank and [[Eddie Pulaski]] beat Ralph half to death, and then under threat of death, order [[Jimmy Hernandez]] to finish him off by shooting him)</small>
*Frank Tenpenny was voiced by mega-actor [[Samuel L. Jackson]].
*[[Beverly Johnson]] - <small>(C.R.A.S.H, [[Big Smoke]], [[Ryder]], and the [[Ballas]] worked together in an attempt to destroy [[Grove Street Families]], so a drive-by was ordered to murder GSF OG [[Sean Johnson|Sean "Sweet" Johnson]] but his mother was killed by accident)</small>
*Tenpenny was the ''only'' main antagonist not to be killed by the protagonist.
*[[Los Santos Vagos|Los Santos Vagos Member]] - <small> (orders Carl to [[Burning Desire|kill him]] because he is "another gangbanging, drug-pushing, cop-killing bitch")</small>
*His surname has a play on the name "ten penny" meaning ten cents.
*[[Badlands|A witness]] - <small>(orders Carl to kill a witness that has information for the [[FBI]] on C.R.A.S.H)</small>
*According to the mission '[[Catalyst]]', Tenpenny has a wife who is a drug addict.
*[[Snail Trail|Journalist]] - <small>(orders Carl to kill a journalist who is aware of C.R.A.S.H's illegal doings)</small>
*[[Misappropriation|Unnamed agent]] - <small>(orders Carl to murder him and retrieve a dossier)</small>


;Deleted murder
*[[Officer Carver]] - <small> (had Carl kill him in a deleted mission to protect Poncho)</small>


==Trivia==
*PC World ranked Frank Tenpenny the thirty-fifth most diabolical video game villains of all time.[http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;338891934;pp;1].
*Game Informer named Frank Tenpenny the second best video game villain.
*Tenpenny could be based on [[:wp:Los Angeles Police Department|Los Angeles Police Department]] officer [[:wp:Rafael Pérez (police officer)|Rafael Pérez]], who was the centre of the [[:wp:Rampart Scandal|Rampart Scandal]], as a member of C.R.A.S.H..
*Tenpenny is similar in appearance to [[:wp:David Mack (police officer)|David Mack]], another officer involved in the Rampart Scandal.
*In the mission [[Misappropriation]], it is revealed he has a residence in [[Prickle Pine]]. This is a reference to many real-life LAPD officers in the 1980s and 1990s, who mainly resided outside the city. The LSPD (of which he is a high-ranking member) is based on the LAPD.




==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:FrankTenpenny-GTASA-artwork.jpg|Concept artwork of Frank Tenpenny from GTA San Andreas
</gallery>


{{Grove Street Families}}
{{Navboxes
{{GTA San Andreas Characters}}
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[[Category:Characters|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Characters|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Characters in GTA San Andreas|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Characters in GTA San Andreas|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Characters in 3D Universe|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Antagonists|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Antagonists|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Bosses|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Bosses|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Deceased Characters|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Deceased Characters|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Police Officers|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Police Officers|Tenpenny, Frank]]
[[Category:Accidental Deaths|Tenpenny, Frank]]

Latest revision as of 16:06, 1 December 2022

Character
Frank Tenpenny
{{{caption}}}
{{{caption}}}
Appearances GTA San Andreas
Full Name Frank Tenpenny
Aliases Officer Tenpenny
Tenpenny
Status

Deceased

Date of Death 1992
Nationality American
Home Prickle Pine, Las Venturas, San Andreas
Family Unnamed wife
Main Affiliations Los Santos Police Department
C.R.A.S.H.
Eddie Pulaski
Ralph Pendelbury
Jimmy Hernandez
Ballas
Los Santos Vagos
Big Smoke
Carl Johnson
The Truth
Vehicles Police Car
Voiced by Samuel L. Jackson
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Frank Tenpenny is a character in the 3D Universe who appears as the central antagonist of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. He is the corrupt leader of the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums division of the Los Santos Police Department. He is voiced by Samuel L. Jackson.

Character history

Before GTA San Andreas

Tenpenny sports a US Marines logo tattooed on one of his arms, which suggests he is a former Marine. During one of his visits to Grove Street to drop on nemesis Carl "CJ" Johnson, he hints that he is married and his wife heavily abuses sherm. However, much later at the end of his cover-up string, he leaves "to get drunk and get laid", and sexual assault is amongst his primary criminal charges towards the culmination of a series of felonies pressed against him. He eventually joined the Los Santos Police Department's C.R.A.S.H. division - in real life, C.R.A.S.H. was formed in 1977 and is unique to Los Angeles.

By 1987, Tenpenny was corrupt and had a shadowy influence over the Grove Street Families, often personally intimidating high-ranking members like Carl and Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris to do his bidding. Tenpenny refers to his work as a game of "percentages", and often purposely strengthening one gang, specifically speaking, the Ballas, so that they keep another from monopolizing the city. Officer Edward "Eddie" Pulaski joined him at an unknown point in time, likely after 1987 because Carl seems less familiar with him. In 1992, fellow Officer Ralph Pendelbury becomes wise to their corruption and first brings evidence against them to internal affairs. At the same time, Officer Jimmy Hernandez joined their C.R.A.S.H. team and was forced to kill Pendelbury on his first day with them.

Life with Carl Johnson

Tenpenny, alongside Pulaski and Hernandez, is first seen arresting Carl in Ganton, who has just returned to the city for his mother's funeral. The three then drive Carl around the city's poorer neighbourhoods in East Los Santos and hand him the gun that Hernandez had used to kill Pendelbury ten minutes previously, thus giving them leverage over him so they could frame him and use him for redemption. The three then throw him from their moving police car, leaving him in Jefferson, a part of the city held by the Ballas. Tenpenny continues to work with Pulaski and Hernandez, all the while concealing his employment of Smoke and the latter's friend Lance "Ryder" Wilson, who he converted to the Ballas by luring them into an opportunity to gain money and power by selling crack cocaine, a drug which Grove Street Families leader Sean "Sweet" Johnson, Carl's brother, was strictly against.

Tenpenny begins to pay occasional visits to Smoke's house in Idlewood and meets Carl during his exit briefly but later meets him again at Smoke's house where he reminds him he knows 'everything' about him and that he has his eye on him. Smoke, however, brushes these off by saying that Tenpenny won't leave him alone due to his connections with the Grove Street Families and has Carl help him kill Los Santos Vagos gangsters making a deal with the San Fierro Rifa. Carl is later intercepted by Tenpenny, alongside Pulaski and Hernandez, at Ryder's house in Grove Street where he tells them of a train loaded with weapons coming into the city, which Carl and Ryder then attack, taking the weapons.

Tenpenny, after helping Smoke and Ryder, begins to put pressure on Carl to work for him and first uses his leverage to have Carl kill a Los Santos Vagos 'cop-killing' gangster, which he does. Tenpenny, in exchange for Carl helping him with the Vago, gives him the opportunity to disrupt a deal between the Ballas and Russian Mafia, which Carl takes full advantage of. Carl then begins to work again towards the Grove Street Families but is later called by Cesar Vialpando, his sister's boyfriend and the Varrios Los Aztecas leader, with Carl joining him in an alleyway in Verdant Bluffs later that day. Carl then witnesses Tenpenny, Pulaski, Smoke and Ryder unveil the green Sabre used in the drive-by which killed Beverly. Carl then remembers Sweet, who had gone to the Mulholland Intersection for a shoot-out against the Ballas. Sweet is shot during the shooting and the Los Santos Police Department arrests him after officers ambush the area.

Badlands and San Fierro

Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski telling Carl Johnson about the DA on Mount Chiliad during The Green Sabre.

Sweet is taken 'upstate' by the police, but Carl, also present at the shooting, is taken by Tenpenny, Pulaski and Hernandez to Angel Pine in Whetstone. They have him kill and then photograph an old police officer being protected by the FBI in a cabin on Mount Chiliad, as he is about to turn states evidence against Tenpenny. Tenpenny then meets Carl again when visiting The Truth, an old friend of Tenpenny's who is selling him marijuana he intends to plant on a District Attorney. Tenpenny tells The Truth that Carl will be paying for the said weed, which is in part done when Carl steals a Combine Harvester from a rival farm.

Carl later moves to San Fierro after winning a run down garage in Doherty. Shortly after arriving he is contacted by Tenpenny who has him go to the Vank Hoff Hotel in Financial to take a DA's car, while working as a valet, to put some of the marijuana he had Carl purchase from The Truth's farm in the trunk.Carl then phones We Tip to inform the unit of the DA, who is threatening to expose Tenpenny and Pulaski. Officers from the San Fierro Police Department then turn up and arrest the DA for possessing the marijuana. Tenpenny and Pulaski then turn up at Carl's garage and have him follow a journalist on his journey to Los Santos where he meets his informant. Carl then kills the two to again protect Tenpenny and Pulaski.

End of C.R.A.S.H.

Frank Tenpenny shortly after hitting Jimmy Hernandez with a shovel during High Noon.

Carl continues to enjoy life in San Fierro before moving out into Tierra Robada and Bone County, and then settling into Las Venturas. He is contacted again by Tenpenny and Pulaski from a house in Prickle Pine. Tenpenny informs Carl that despite their best efforts, the 'gig's nearly up'. Tenpenny tells Carl that keeping his badge is not important and that they are the same, trying to get out of the hole, so when someone steps on him he steps on Carl. He then tells Carl to go to Aldea Malvada, a ghost town, to collect a dossier and kill the DEA and FBI agent, which he does. He later meets the two at Las Brujas, another ghost town, where he hands the dossier to Pulaski while Hernandez holds him at gun point.

Tenpenny exits the police car and gets a shovel from the boot before hitting Hernandez over the head. Hernandez falls to the ground and is hit again by a furious Tenpenny as Hernandez had been giving information to internal affairs. Tenpenny, however, is likely to have known about this, since Carl was in San Fierro as he did not mention Hernandez when talking about the DA and journalist, only stating that he and Pulaski were the targets. Tenpenny then hands the shovel to Carl and, thinking that Hernandez was dead, leaves 'to get drunk and get laid'. Tenpenny leaves and Carl digs a grave, although he escapes his intended fate with help from Hernandez, who is shot and killed by Pulaski. Carl then chases Pulaski and kills him, ending C.R.A.S.H. and its men.

Trial and final days

Frank Tenpenny shortly before his death as Carl Johnson, Sweet, Kendl Johnson and Cesar Vialpando during End of the Line.

Tenpenny, shortly after returning to Los Santos, is arrested and put on trial for racketeering, corruption, narcotics and sexual assault. Pulaski, who had been killed by Carl, was also charged in absentia. However, while Sweet is later released on parole, the case against Tenpenny and Pulaski is dismissed by the DA's office due to a lack of evidence. The outcome causes riots across the poorer neighbourhoods of Los Santos, which were hardest hit by Tenpenny and Pulaski's actions. Tenpenny continues with his work in the LSPD despite the riots and begins to recruit young officers into his circle. Carl and Sweet, despite the chaos, continue to re-establish the Grove Street Families and then decide to take on Smoke. Carl breaks into Smoke's drugs manufacturing factory where he confronts and kills Smoke.

Carl, showing remorse for having to kill Smoke, is interrupted by Tenpenny who holds him at gun point. Carl is then forced to fill a briefcase with Smoke's drug money before throwing it back to Tenpenny. Carl, however, distracts him by calling out Sweet's name and Tenpenny quickly turns around, allowing Carl to move before Tenpenny turns back and fires his shotgun. Tenpenny quickly works his way back through the factory but shoots the machinery in the factory with his shotgun, causing them to catch fire, in an attempt to kill Carl. Tenpenny escapes by climbing into the cabin of a firetruck he had previously obtained and drives away. However, Sweet runs after him, jumps from a car and grabs hold of the truck's ladder while Carl escapes the building.

Carl then hops into Smoke's car and begins chasing Tenpenny. After some time, Carl positions his car under Sweet, allowing him to let go and fall into the car. The two then begin to follow Tenpenny and the firetruck through the poorer neighborhoods of the city, killing the pursuing police officers. Tenpenny continues to drive the truck, but when approaching the bridge from East Los Santos to Ganton, loses control and the truck goes off the bridge and lands in Grove Street. Sweet and Carl drive to the scene and are met by Kendl, Cesar and The Truth. The five witness Tenpenny climbing out of the cabin and attempt to call for back up, which due to the riots is not forth coming. Tenpenny tells the five that "fifty of me and this town would be okay" before dying. Carl pulls out a gun and threatens to shoot him, to confirm Tenpenny's death but is stopped by Sweet, saying that the police will not investigate them as Tenpenny died in a traffic accident. According to a West Coast Talk Radio news update, Tenpenny's body is mutilated and stripped by the homeless. His body was discovered by officials after the end of the riots in Los Santos.

Mission appearances

GTA San Andreas

Murders committed

GTA San Andreas
Deleted murder
  • Officer Carver - (had Carl kill him in a deleted mission to protect Poncho)

Trivia

  • PC World ranked Frank Tenpenny the thirty-fifth most diabolical video game villains of all time.[1].
  • Game Informer named Frank Tenpenny the second best video game villain.
  • Tenpenny could be based on Los Angeles Police Department officer Rafael Pérez, who was the centre of the Rampart Scandal, as a member of C.R.A.S.H..
  • Tenpenny is similar in appearance to David Mack, another officer involved in the Rampart Scandal.
  • In the mission Misappropriation, it is revealed he has a residence in Prickle Pine. This is a reference to many real-life LAPD officers in the 1980s and 1990s, who mainly resided outside the city. The LSPD (of which he is a high-ranking member) is based on the LAPD.


Gallery

  • Concept artwork of Frank Tenpenny from GTA San Andreas

    Concept artwork of Frank Tenpenny from GTA San Andreas

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