A number of recurring characters appear in the video game Grand Theft Auto III.
Crime film veterans such as Michael Madsen, Joe Pantoliano, Frank Vincent and Robert Loggia have all voiced major characters in many installments in the series along with Grand Theft Auto III.
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Claude is the silent protagonist and player character of Grand Theft Auto III (GTA III). He is left for dead after a bank heist with Catalina, resulting in his arrest by the police. Claude later escapes with 8-Ball when the Callahan Bridge is blown up.
Claude's name is never disclosed in the game. Although his name can be found deep within GTA III's data files,[1] it is not officially mentioned until Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Throughout the game, Claude is speechless (only making quiet sounds if he is injured or killed), and remained so during his brief cameo in San Andreas. This trait is referenced in GTA III, when Maria says on the Chatterbox radio show that she has a new man but "he don't talk too much."
Catalina is a notorious bank robber,[2] Claude's former girlfriend and the main antagonist in GTA III, who betrays him during a bank heist, shooting him and leaving him for dead, while she runs free with the profits along with a new partner in crime, Miguel. Her reason for dating Claude is simply "business,"[3] while her reason for shooting Claude is his lack of ambition.[4]
Catalina proceeds to cooperate with the Colombian Cartel, running a SPANK drug manufacturing and distribution business with Miguel. Claude discovers and overwhelms them at a construction site. Catalina shoots Miguel and escapes. Asuka arrives with Yakuza backup and takes over the site; she and Maria torture Miguel for information.
Catalina returns and kills Miguel and Asuka. She kidnaps Maria, leaving behind a ransom note. Claude does as instructed, but is fooled once again by Catalina, who instructs the Cartel to kill Claude. Despite overwhelming odds, Claude turns the tables by punching a Cartel goon and taking his gun, succeeding in escaping the Cartel compound and pursuing Catalina, who rides a helicopter towards the Cochrane Dam. Claude battles across the dam, and eventually succeeds in killing Catalina by shooting down the helicopter.
Prior to GTA III, Catalina and Claude are known to have been on the move, committing robberies in multiple states, including the south, and the southwest, among others.[2] In October 2001, the FBI discovers that both Catalina and Claude may have arrived at Liberty City.[2] Catalina is of Dominican and Colombian descent[2] and is a cousin of Cesar Vialpando, who is believed to be of Mexican descent and is a fellow associate of Carl Johnson in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Catalina later left C.J. for Claude and said that she was going to Liberty City.
Catalina was voiced by Cynthia Farrell.[5]
Maria Latore (also referred to as Maria La Torra by several sources) is Salvatore Leone's wife. She is introduced to Claude after Salvatore requests that Claude "look after her for the evening". Developing a liking for Claude, she saves his life by preventing him from entering a death trap set up by Salvatore and seeks help from an associate, Asuka Kasen, to flee to Staunton Island. She is a caller on Chatterbox FM, describing her feelings for Claude, but expresses doubt because Claude was seen as being uninterested to her, "always working and hanging out with the guys".
Maria is seen with Asuka briefly in cutscenes of missions. Maria is then kidnapped by the Cartel and held to ransom by Catalina, but is rescued by Claude by the end of the storyline. However, when the screen portraying Claude and Maria walking away fades to black Maria is still heard talking, until a gunshot is heard. Her fate is left ambiguous by Rockstar Games, who refuse to state whether the gunshot from Claude was to kill Maria or to simply silence her.
Maria was voiced by Debi Mazar.[5]
Asuka Kasen (Japanese: 加瀬明日香, Kasen Asuka) is a co-leader of the Liberty City Yakuza, who is called on by Maria to bring her and Claude to safety from the Leone family after Salvatore attempted to kill Claude. She provides further jobs for Claude, and introduces him to her brother, Kenji Kasen. She is also retconned in Liberty City Stories to have a deceased older brother, Kazuki Kasen. She also has a niece Yuka who is kidnapped but later rescued and returned to Asuka.
Later in the game, Asuka can be seen torturing Miguel and instructing Claude to destroy Catalina's SPANK drug operation, as an act of revenge for the killing of her brother by an unknown Colombian Cartel assassin. She is eventually killed, on the construction site along with Miguel, by Catalina.
Police records in GTA III's official website indicated that Asuka had only arrived in the United States in 1991, ten years prior to GTA III. In the records, it is also revealed that Asuka assumed a leadership role in the Yakuza for her senior "torture, security and information retrieval" skills.
Asuka was voiced by Liana Pai.[5]
Donald Love is a media mogul and owner of Love Media, "the fastest growing US-run media conglomerate in the past five years". Operating from his apartment and office in south Bedford Point, Staunton Island, he primarily tasks Claude with jobs related to receiving a mysterious "package" delivered by plane. Following Claude's help in retrieving an authenticated secret package Love disappears, leaving only an empty box in his penthouse garden. Rockstar stated that Love's fate is ambiguous.
Love Media controls approximately "900 radio stations, 300 television stations, 4 networks, 3 satellites, (and) 10 senators", with the Love Media brand name, Love's announcements or related commercials are evident in certain radio stations, including Head Radio, Flashback 95.6, Double Cleff FM, and Chatterbox FM. Love Media also owns the Liberty Tree, Liberty City's local newspaper. Prior to arriving in the city in 2001, Love was residing in the Caribbean and lived on a private yacht.[6] Retcon in Liberty City Stories suggests Love was there to escape Colombian Cartel hostilities in Liberty City in 1998.
Donald Love is believed to have begun doing business in Liberty City from early-2001 onwards, and became a multi-billionaire.[7] This was done as a response to the return of Barry Harcross, a recently acquitted businessman and longtime rival of Donald Love, to the city.[8]
While little background information is known, Love is seen as a former apprentice of real estate mogul Avery Carrington, who appeared in Vice City as an associate of Tommy Vercetti.
Donald Love makes a third appearance in Liberty City Stories. Love is portrayed as a necrophiliac and possessing a fascination for human corpses, thus explaining his connection to the aforementioned "morgue party" in GTA III. However, Love had apparently operated in Liberty City in 1998 and already owns several radio stations and newspapers, contrary to what the aforementioned 2001 Liberty Tree article claims.
Donald Love was voiced by Kyle McLachlan.[5]
Salvatore Leone is the Don of the Leone family. According to GTA III's official website, Salvatore was originally from Palermo, Sicily and became Don of the family after a bloody power struggle in the mid-1980s.[9]
Salvatore is introduced to Claude when he called a meeting with Joey Leone, Toni Cipriani and Luigi Goterelli. Early missions instruct Claude to investigate the activities of Curly Bob, who appeared to be leaking information about the Leone family's activities to the Colombian Cartel and, if found guilty, to kill him. Claude is later tasked to destroy a tanker ship that is a drug factory for the Cartel.
Salvatore is portrayed as increasingly paranoid and suspicious of everyone around him. After Claude has destroyed the Colombian Cartel's SPANK factory ship, with the help of 8-Ball under his orders, he betrays and attempts to kill Claude with a trap, trying to establish a deal with the Colombian Cartel. Maria warns Claude of the car bomb and he avoids death. Maria reveals she had told Salvatore that she and Claude were an item which was another reason for Salvatore to kill him. Maria and Claude leave Portland with Asuka Kasen to go to Staunton Island, after which Salvatore is killed by Claude after leaving Luigi's club, as instructed by Asuka Kasen to prove that Claude has finally broken ties with the Leone family.
Salvatore has an unnamed brother, whom he claimed "the police associate Salvatore with."[9]
Salvatore Leone was voiced by Frank Vincent.[5]
8-Ball is a firearms and explosives specialist who owns three bomb shops in Liberty City. 8-Ball meets Claude shortly after the beginning of the game, when he and Claude escape from a police convoy. As a token of his appreciation, 8-Ball introduces Claude to Luigi Goterelli, an old friend of his, for work.
8-Ball can be seen with both hands bandaged, leaving Claude to do most of the intensive work, such as driving and shooting, when 8-Ball accompanies him. 8-Ball is believed to have sustained scaldings from hot fat poured onto his hands during a scuffle with the police in a raid at his home, before he was arrested.[10] However, in Grand Theft Auto Advance it is said that 8-Ball was ambushed with the game's protagonist, Mike, by the Colombian Cartel, who were using flamethrowers, resulting in the burning of 8-Ball's hands.
Toni Cipriani is a member of the Leone family, working as a caporegime for Salvatore Leone. Early missions with Cipriani are primarily focused on extorting protection money from a Triad-controlled laundromat, by destroying several of the business's delivery trucks. Coupled with a Triad attack during the transportation of the Leone family's high-ranked members to one of Don Salvatore's meetings, a full-blown war between the Leone family and the Liberty City Triads occurred, and Claude was now an enemy to the Triads. The war led to the destruction of the Triad Fish Factory, with Toni instructing Claude to deliver a garbage truck armed with a bomb to the factory.
Toni lives with his mother, Momma Cipriani, and is frequently seen in his family-run restaurant, Cipriani's Ristorante, providing jobs for Claude. The constant nagging from his mother about him not being able to match up to his father and failing to meet her expectations caused him to call the local chat radio station, Chatterbox FM, and complain about his mother's constant bickering.
Toni Cipriani was voiced by Michael Madsen.[5]
Joseph Leone is the son of Salvatore Leone. Known for his lack of ambition, Joey works as a mechanic with criminal side-dealings in Portland. In cut scenes he is constantly seen restoring a dune buggy, and spending time with his favourite prostitute, Misty. Joey's tasks intended for Claude include theft, assassinations and body disposal.
In the process, Joey introduces the family's caporegime, Toni Cipriani, allowing Claude to perform further jobs with the Leone family. Joey is also mentioned in San Andreas when Carl Johnson meets Salvatore Leone in Las Venturas, stating that he had the pleasure of working with Joey while residing in Liberty City. Joey is referenced again in Liberty City Stories when Salvatore Leone states that he was not as involved in the family.
Joey is also believed to have been responsible for the killing of several high-ranking Forelli family members, which in turn results in a small war between the Leone family and the Forelli family.
Joey Leone was voiced by Michael Rappaport.[5]
Luigi Goterelli is a co-manager (along with Mickey Hamfists) of a night club called "Sex Club 7" in the Red Light District of Portland Island, and is linked to the Leone family of the Liberty City Mafia. He uses this club as a base for his prostitution business. He is Claude's first boss in Liberty City, and gives him mundane jobs such as driving his girls around and chasing down minor gangsters who mess with his operation.
Luigi Goterelli was voiced by Joe Pantoliano.[5]
Raymond Machowski is a corrupt police detective in the Liberty City Police Department who works as an insider for the Liberty City Yakuza. He is introduced to Claude while receiving a payment from Asuka.
Machowski is depicted as very cautious, willing to silence associates who attempt to expose any crime committed by him or his partners, including Leon McAffrey. By the end of his presence in Liberty City, the FBI has begun investigating Machowski's links with the Yakuza, forcing Machowski to flee the city and escape to Vice City. In the process of working for Machowski, Claude is introduced to Donald Love, after helping to dispose of embarrassing photographs of Love at a "morgue party".
Machowski makes a second appearance in Liberty City Stories, as a partner of Leon McAffrey. The game reveals that Machowski is a clean police officer and initially uncomfortable working for criminals and taking bribes.
Ray Machowski was voiced by Robert Loggia.[5]
Kenji Kasen (Japanese: 加瀬健治, Kasen Kenji) is a co-leader of the Liberty City Yakuza (alternatively known as the waka gashira, as mentioned by Donald Love), who highly respects honor and is also the brother of Asuka Kasen. Kenji operates a casino in Downtown Staunton Island, where he provides jobs for Claude. He is killed later in the game, during a meeting at a multi-storey car park, by the player. Claude is asked by Donald Love to assassinate Kenji while posing as a Colombian Cartel member, in an effort to drive down local real estate prices with a gang war between the Yakuza and the Cartel.
GTA III's official website hinted that Kenji is considerably inferior in leadership skills to Asuka, as "many cite his 'funny way of speaking' as seriously undermining his authority." Kenji moved to the United States in 1996, five years after Asuka.
Kenji was voiced by Les Mau.[5]
Miguel is a Colombian Cartel member and Catalina's partner after Claude, frequently seen with Catalina while running the SPANK drug business in Liberty City. During a mission in which Donald Love requests Claude retrieve a package from the airport, the package is found stolen by the Colombian Cartel and is being handed over to Catalina and Miguel. Claude eventually tracks them down, resulting in Miguel handing over the package and Catalina shooting Miguel, leaving him at the mercy of Asuka, who wrongly believes that he is responsible for the killing of her brother. Miguel is then tortured into revealing information about Catalina's operations, and is soon seen motionless and stabbed in the torso by a pole, killed by Catalina while she killed Asuka and kidnapped Maria.
Miguel was voiced by Al Espinosa.[5]
The Oriental Gentleman is a minor but key character in the game's storyline, who is also an accomplice of Donald Love. Shortly before GTA III, he was arrested, after arriving in Liberty City on a private airplane from an "unknown departure point somewhere in east Asia", for "failing to satisfy the INS that he had a valid reason for entering the country" and having no proper travel documents. As a result, he was to be delivered to a high security penitentiary before he is deported later in October 2001.[11]
Early in GTA III's storyline, the Oriental Gentleman boarded a police convoy to prison, along with Claude and 8-Ball, only to be abducted by Colombian Cartel members as the convoy crossed the Callahan Bridge, unintentionally allowing Claude and 8-Ball to escape. He was later held captive by the Cartel in an attempt to extort money from Love. Under orders from Love, Claude rescues the Oriental Gentleman.
The Oriental Gentleman is then tasked by Love to authenticate a mysterious delivery retrieved by Claude. He is also seen, in one cutscene, joining Love for T'ai chi.
Martin Chonks is the owner of the Bitchin' Dog Food company. His need for money causes him to perform various illegal activities, which leads him to call Claude. The tasks involve transporting various people to the Bitchin' Dog Food factory, where Marty turns them into dog food. He is killed in the mission "Her Lover" after his wife's lover shoots him with a shotgun.[12]
Marty Chonks was voiced by Chris Phillips.
Momma Cipriani is the unseen co-owner of Cipriani's Ristorante. She is the mother of Toni Cipriani and is known to frequently nag her son about him not meeting up to her late husband's capabilities.
Momma was voiced by Sondra James.[5]
El Burro (Spanish for "The Donkey") is the leader of the Puerto Rican gang the Diablos who assigns Claude jobs from Portland Island, operating from a pay phone located in the Hepburn Heights housing projects. He is a native of San Andreas[13]. El Burro is believed to be running a pornography magazine publishing business, based on his phone calls and the magazines stacked in the player's Portland safe house upon completion of all of El Burro's missions. He is never seen in person during the game, although a game art of him was created, and used in publications and the game's interface.
El Burro was voiced by Chris Phillips.
King Courtney is the leader of the Jamaican Yardies who assigns Claude jobs from Staunton Island, operating from a payphone located near Liberty Campus. The primary focus of his jobs are mostly related to attacks against rival gangs. The final job involved Claude being lured into a trap, where Catalina has dispatched vans of "SPANK-ed up madmen" suicide bombers to kill Claude. King Courtney is likely to be part of the plan as well, because after Claude completes the mission, the Yardies try to kill Claude when he enters their turf in Newport. He is never seen in person in GTAIII.
King Courtney was voiced by Walter Mudu.[5]
D-Ice is the leader of the Red Jacks gang who assigns Claude jobs from Shoreside Vale, operating from a payphone located in the Wichita Gardens housing projects. Several of its missions involved attacks and fights against a rival gang, the Purple Nines, which appeared to be supplied with SPANK and are pushing the drug onto the streets. Claude eventually reduced the Purple Nines to only a few members at the time of the final battle between Claude with D-Ice's brother and the last of the Purple Nines. Although he is never seen in the game, on the last mission he is said to be in prison for an unknown charge.
D-Ice was voiced by Walter Mudu.[5]
Mickey Hamfists is a bodyguard for Luigi Goterelli, and the co-manager of Sex Club 7. Mickey always checks Luigi's visitors for him, and will deliver a written letter to them at times. He is also an enforcer for the Leone family and attends all of the "made" ceremonies. Nevertheless, "police records" from the official GTA III website described him as "a moron." Mickey also has prior convictions for assault, racketeering, and multiple involvements with narcotics. Mickey Hamfists was voiced by Chris Tardio
Misty is a woman who works for Luigi Goterelli at Sex Club 7, and is Joey Leone's "regular girl". On two occasions, Claude is asked by Luigi to drive her from one place to another, and told to "keep (his) eyes on the road and off Misty." She lives at an apartment complex in Hepburn Heights.
Misty was voiced by Kim Gurney.[5]
Mike 'Lips' Forelli is a high-ranking member of the Forelli family who shows up briefly, when Joey Leone sends Claude to kill him, in an effort to teach the Forelli family a lesson for not repaying debts. Mike is eating at Marco's Bistro in Saint Mark's when Claude steals his car and fits it with a bomb. Mike leaves the restaurant and enters the car, only to be killed in the explosion. The outcome of this mission sparks a war between the Leone and Forelli families. He is the brother of Sonny, Marco, and Franco and the cousin of Giorgio, all of whom were killed before the game's events.
Curly Bob is the bartender at Luigi's Sex Club 7, who is seen informing on the Leone family for the Colombian Cartel in exchange for SPANK. Under orders by Salvatore, Curly is to be killed if Claude witnesses him leaking information to the Cartel. This occurs at Portland Harbor after he is seen explaining the Leone's activities to Catalina and Miguel, in exchange for SPANK.
Curly Bob was voiced by Hunter Platin.[5]
Leon McAffrey is a corrupt policeman who attempts to turn states evidence for an undisclosed crime in exchange for an honorable discharge.[14] McAffrey is under armed protection when Claude arrives to burn his apartment. With his safehouse ablaze, McAffrey flees in his car, but Claude manages to kill him.
McAffrey reappears in Liberty City Stories with a larger role as an aide to Toni Cipriani.
Philip Cassidy is a one armed ex-soldier who runs a heavy arms business in the barracks in the north of Staunton Island. It is suggested that Phil may have lost his left arm in Nicaragua as after helping him fend off the Colombian Cartel from the barracks, Phil states that he would "still have [his] arm" if Claude had "teamed up with [Phil] in Nicaragua". However, Phil actually loses his arm in a moonshine explosion in 1986, as seen in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Phil's last name, "Cassidy", only appears in GTA III's instruction manual map of Liberty City. Since his first appearance in GTA III, Phil has been repeatedly associated with the sale of heavy armaments, with his role and background expanded.
Phil Cassidy was voiced by Hunter Platin.
Darkel is a character dropped during the development of Grand Theft Auto III. Little is known about the character, except that he was to be a revolutionary street urchin who vowed to bring down the city's economy. One mission involved stealing an ice cream van, using it to attract pedestrians, then blowing it up.[15] This mission was given by El Burro in the final version of the game, to kill a group of gang members. Darkel was also originally expected to give out Rampage-esque missions.[16]
Darkel had his voice recorded for this part by Bill Fiore,[5] but was never used in game. However, the character remains listed in GTA III's manual's credits, as well as having a character texture retained in the game's data files.[17]
Curtly is the second known character to be deleted during game development, who was to be voiced by Curtis McClarin.[5]
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