Grand Theft Auto is a fascinating franchise that went from some fun criminal-based games to some of the most defining games in all history. The best-selling game on the PS2, a game that has dominated the world for an entire decade without another entry in the franchise, the GTA games have always been successful.
Despite this, the variation in leads, from no personality or backstory to huge and complex ones, have varied wildly. GTA is known for some memorable characters, including ones voice acted by some of the biggest stars that Hollywood has to offer, but their intelligence is definitely something that has wavered over time.
6 Franklin Clinton (GTA V)
Franklin is young and inexperienced in some of what he seeks to achieve alongside the other, veteran criminals that lead GTA V. Nevertheless, he has garnered a lot of love from fans and that is simply because he just knows when to quit and is smart enough to actually have the option at the end of the game about which way to go, who to betray, or whether to stand and fight with his friends.
It is the choice between honor and the intelligence to know when to quit and give in that makes Franklin feel like an intelligent leading character. His intelligence makes a few notable appearances throughout the game as he helps Trevor and Michael out of sticky situations by catching on quickly to what needs to be done, even when it’s something that he has never seen or done before. Franklin is the definition of natural to the criminal underworld, and while he never seems eager to get deeper into it, he always manages to deal with whatever comes up.
5 Niko Bellic (GTA IV)
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Niko Bellic is a very different sort of player character from what fans were and are used to. They expect somebody out to make a quick buck or somebody that wishes to become a criminal for the rest of their lives in order to live a high-quality of lifestyle. The reality of Niko Bellic is something that fans were shocked by when GTA IV was originally released.
An Eastern European immigrant, Niko was a soldier in the Yugoslav wars, and he comes to America looking for one simple thing: revenge. Throughout the story of GTA IV, Niko is only in the criminal underworld with one thought, and this vengeance is something he manages to pursue through deceit and, while remaining calm, showing himself to be capable in every situation. Niko Bellic is one of the few characters in any Grand Theft Auto game that went in, got what he wanted, and got out.
4 Trevor Phillips (GTA V)
It is difficult to fight for Trevor as a particularly sane character. The three leading men in GTA V are definitely shown to be more exacting and intelligent than many of the characters from previous entries, but that doesn’t feel quite the right fit with Trevor somehow, as he is the wildcard and lunatic member of the trio.
Nevertheless, Trevor manages consistently to bring down whoever he is going up against. Trevor knows how to be a successful lunatic, which is a difficult thing to achieve in the criminal underworld. Many of the associates that Michael, Trevor, and Franklin deal with in GTA V feel insane, but Trevor outlasts them all and is always doggedly going after something. He is very intelligent; whatever way he chooses to use that intelligence aside, he always knows exactly what he is doing.
3 Victor Vance (GTA: Vice City Stories)
Victor Vance is one of the lesser-known main characters in a GTA game. Vice City Stories isn’t particularly well-remembered today, but Victor went from a man trying to join the army to a criminal all so that he could pay his brother’s medical bills. This admirable goal is part of what made him act intelligently throughout the game.
Victor proves over and over throughout Vice City Stories how capable he is, and while it is easy to imagine that the writers made him more resourceful so that he would have a better chance of helping his brother in this admirable situation, he still managed to become an underworld leader, and got away at the end with his money in a daring escape.
2 Michael De Santa (GTA V)
Whether the player makes an intelligent choice to sell out one of his friends at the end of GTA V with Franklin, Michael always made the choice to save his family and get out himself by selling out his companions prior to the events of the game itself. This choice is one of the choices that shows how intelligent he really is.
Despite getting bored and being a rather failing father figure to his children, Michael both cares about them and manages to achieve some incredible things while working as a criminal due to the way in which he capably handles himself at all times. He may seem to freak out in some situations, but he is merely an intelligent and capable man who isn’t afraid to run when the time is right to do just that.
1 Tommy Vercetti (GTA: Vice City)
Tommy is one of the more unique examples of a protagonist in a GTA game. Not looking for simply a way to make money, not in it with a nobler goal at hand, Tommy wanted to become a criminal underworld leader; he simply craved power, and whether that in itself is a mistake is not to be considered in light of the fact that he set out everything he wanted to achieve.
Undermining his own former boss after getting out of prison, Tommy set about taking over Vice City for himself when he was sent down there, and he did it so well that it took anybody an awfully long time to notice that he was the new kingpin of crime in the city. This is by far the most intelligent scheme concocted by any leading GTA character to date, making Tommy a notable example of how great a criminal can be.