Grand Theft Auto (series)/Headscratchers

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • GTA IV: How come when you're at either McReary's funeral, despite the fact the character is affiliated with the cops, when rival hoods come in to bust a cap the cops will target you also? Couldn't Francis tell them to back off or even aid you? Also how come Francis McReary's doesn't get involved in the immediate aftermath of Kate's death? He's the second-in-command of the New York, sorry, Liberty City Police Department and yet some Russian goons wack his sister and he can't do anything to help? It's not like getting vengeance on his sisters killer, the only other McReary he cared about, would get him in any trouble
    • With the funeral, I assume the rational for the cops coming for you too is that the new gun laws cause them to come after anyone discharging firearms, since they're not even supposed to have them. As to why Frankie doesn't do anything, that I don't really have an idea on.
    • Actually to make this more egregious the Commissioner of the Police is facing corruption charges so that makes Francis the Acting Commissioner, AKA the leader of the police Force is LC.
    • Well, Roman does mention during the car chase in the final mission that the entire city now wants Pegorino dead, so it's entirely possible Francis did target Pegorino, and Niko simply wanted to handle things himself.
    • In all honesty, who actually keeps Francis alive? Derek is a much more sympathetic character. I just couldn't bring myself to kill him
      • Honest to god, if killing Francis wasn't an option , this troper would never have finished the game, just kept killing him over and over until he got bored.. McReary's that much of a dick.
      • Derek is not only a snitch but he tries to hide it and gets you to kill off every one who knows it. I'll take a corrupt cop who I can use to lose heat over a man who might stab me in the back and kill me when his back is against the wall any day.
      • Yeah, killing a man for Derek who was begging for his life really made me dislike the guy. Even if he wasn't directly involved.
  • How come nobody ever locks their cars? I mean, it's one thing when the charcter jacks the car from someone already driving, as the keys are already inside. And starting a stationary car could be hand-waved as hotwiring, but the characters in every game since Grand Theft Auto III are clearly entering the car as if it was unlocked. This either means that the people are all incredibly stupid, or car companies don't install locks or alarms.
    • Actually, it's quite possible to come across locked vehicles in the Grand Theft Auto games. One of the main annoyances with doing the vigilante missions in GTA III was the fact that half the time the police cars at the Liberty City Police Station would be locked. The same went for the Paramedic mission. I've come across locked vehicles as late as GTA: San Andreas. I think it's mostly just done for ease of play. There are also car alarms in random or semi-random vehicles which will continue to go off for a little while down the street. These will attract police attention if you drive by a police officer, even if they didn't see you stealing the car in the first place.
    • In GTAIV, every parked car is locked. Though that won't slow Niko down much; he just bashes the window in when that happens.
    • Uh, the people are all incredibly stupid. Almost every single line in every game right from the first one on the PS 1 emphasises that the residents of the GTA-verse are morons.
  • What happened to all the AmmuNations in Liberty City between GTA 3 and 4? Given that GTA 4 is set in a parody version of conservative America, there should be more gun stores, not less.
    • Anti-gun laws being passed in Liberty City as part of the new war on crime and terrorism by the police department. They say as much on the internet news sites and the radio news.
      • There's also a passing reference to the "new mayor" having "a real hard-on for gun control" in one of the mission briefings.
      • Possibly based on NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also has a longstanding obsession of sorts with gun control?
        • Chinatown Wars brings back Ammunation, as a mail order group. And they celebrate with free SMGs for everyone
          • GTA IV is in a different canon than GTA III/Liberty City Stories, Vice City/Stories, and San Andreas.
  • Lance's motivations for betraying Tommy bug me. First of all, he's known Tommy long enough to know that he has issues with betrayal. Secondly, he's known him long enough to know that Tommy is completely fucking nuts. Thirdly. "You're treating me like a kid?" What the hell? That's all you got?
    • Lance is emotionally unstable and doesn't always think things through- remember when he went after Diaz? He was jealous of Tommy hogging the spotlight... and was offered a bigger paycheck.
    • Why? Because every game/movie/book has to feature a standard double-cross plot twist, and there is no honour amongst thieves.
  • Okay, let me get this straight: Liberty City is on lockdown. All the bridges between the islands have been closed because of fear of a terrorist attack. Why are the docks and airport open? If it's bad enough to shut the whole city down, why are they letting people in?
    • Because The Government in Grand Theft Auto is stupid. The whole point is that it doesn't make any sense.
  • In Ballad, how did the diamonds end up in Flushing Meadows park? When we last see them, in Niko's storyline, they get pitched into the back of a dump truck halfway across town. Why would they be dropped off again? It's not like they're in as location where they could have casually fallen off the back. And for that matter What about Rocco and the Ancellottis? They're still royally pissed at you and Tony and AFAIK, none of the main characters kills them.
    • If you call Rocco after the end of the game, you find out that he's left town for an unspecified amount of time, probably after seeing/hearing about all the crazy stuff that Luis did. Also, the reason the Acellottis wanted either Tony or Luis dead was because Ray Bulgarin was going to sic the Russian mafia on the Acellottis. No Bulgarin and no Russian mob means there's no real reason to kill Tony and Luis, especially not when they rescued Gracie. Also, as for the diamonds being carried off to the dump by a truck, it's been retconed by T Bo GT. The original news reports in GTAIV says that they were found at the dump, while the new ones in T Bo GT have been re-written to what happens on screen; they were found by a hobo in the park trash. How they ended up there though is a question....Maybe Niko and Packie liked Ray Bocchino's style, and tried to hide diamonds in the trash again for later pick-up, but they were a bit too slow on the uptake.
      • Luis shoots a made man in the face during the mission when you defend La Maisonette. It seems odd for the Ancellottis to let that go. Although, letting it slide out of fear of Luis does sound like a pretty satisfying ending.
        • As it was pointed out they saved Gracie. That would override killing a made man, especially since said man backed the losing horse (Bulgarian). They figured they didn't really lose anything that they couldn't replace and had nothing to gain from taking it out on Luis and Tony, so they left them alone.
  • Why do only criminals and the government have guns if the verses Walmarts ("Same place I buy my pants") still sell guns?
    • Better question: Why do only criminals and the government have guns if there are weapons laying around EVERYWHERE?
    • It isn't only criminals that have guns. I've attacked random people, and found some of them to be carrying a pistol (in San Andreas at least).
    • GTA 4 does this better. Sometimes if you start a gunfight in the streets like say randomly shooting a civilian, other civilians walking by may pull out a pistol and start shooting you. Other areas you might actually get a pretty well armed response. Went to a diner, shot the waitress, walked out and there were men in suits with shotguns and rifles trying to kill me. Of course calling 911 is always nice for a laugh.
    • It's justified in GTAIV by in-game dialogue explaining that there's major gun control in Liberty City - hence only back-alley gunshops. There's a chance that like the real NYC, it's not totally impossible to get a license to carry a gun either. Maybe some of the smartly-dressed "vigilantes" that occasionally unload on Niko aren't crooks, but wealthy/influential people who are able to get a carry permit?
  • Aside from the obvious answer, why is there so much pre-Safe Harbor swearing on Liberty City's radio and television stations in Grand Theft Auto IV? Why haven't they all been fined to hell and back by whatever FCC Expy Liberty City has? It would just be more appropriate in my mind that Rockstar's exaggeratedly conservative Eagle Land would put every TV station on a seven second delay for for showing a rerun of the D*ck van D*ke Show.
  • The entire plot of San Andreas Just Bugs Me, since it all happens because Tenpenny and Pulaski frame you for the murder of a cop. The entire plot, which includes Carl actually murdering dozens of cops, all to escape being framed for murdering one.
    • They do eventually drop that angle, and then Tenpenny's leverage becomes the threat of having Sweet killed in prison, which is somewhat more plausible.
    • The game doesn't count what you do outside the story as canon. It also assumes you're avoiding shoot outs with the police. The only time you are forced to kill cops within a mission while you're still being framed for killing that cop (that I remember) is in the mission where the SWAT team shows up at that hotel, and not long after that is when Sweet is arrested (thus giving Tenpenny a better angle).
  • In the San Andreas mission that introduces Toreno, why oh WHY is Carl (A career criminal) carrying accurate id?
    • Because he's not a career criminal, or at least not a professional. Or does everyone forget the whole "only just came back to San Andreas and is reluctantly being a criminal in order to save his brother, his city, and bring down C.R.A.S.H." part of the story?
      • While I was stabbing an old lady to death for the 5 bucks in her purse, CJ screamed "PAY ME, BITCH! IMA CAREER CRIMINAL!!
      • I believe industry professionals refer to that as a 'joke'.
    • Though YMMV on whether or not he's a career criminal hes not reluctantly being one. During those five years in Liberty City he was stealing cars with Joey Leone and was still a criminal. And by the time you meet Toreno you've already been committing crimes in San Fiero. And I always figured he need the ID for beer or something like that.
    • Or to prove to his buddies that he is certified to drive.
  • What happened to Vic after Vice City Stories? Was he killed? Did he decide to rejoin the army? Did he retire from the drug-running buisness and settled down a private island? What happened to him?
    • Days before the release of Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar confirmed that the man killed in Vice City's opening cutscene was indeed Vic Vance.
  • What happens to Woozee? He makes an appearance in the intro to the mission where you retake Madd Dogg's mansion and then never appears for the rest of the game.
    • Woozie is too busy with the Four Dragons Casino and the San Fierro Triads to come down at the end of the game. Same with Zero being too busy with his RC shop.
  • Wish they explained how Toreno survived the helicopter nonsense. If even just 'Me? Not on the copter, fool'.
    • It is more so implied that Toreno had used that helicopter as a decoy. Of course it could be just lazy writing on R*'s part or they figured it didn't need explaining.
      • Considering how many times the player uses decoys or acts as a decoy in missions in GTA, it's interesting to see one used on YOU.
  • Wish they explained Woozie's who 'Matt Murdock' shtick.
    • Explain what? Its made perfectly clear that its a combination of dumb luck and his men rigging everything for him that he is able to do anything. On the one mission he goes to fight with you, he runs face first into a wall and can't shoot the broad side of a barn. The only unexplained instance is how he's able to compete in a car race, but he is shown walking around with two girls before and after the mission. Maybe they rode with him, and helped him?
  • It would have been a lot more logical if Tenpenny said something about going back to Grove Street at the end; this would explain why he crashed in Grove. Not just 'Because it was cool'. And as long as 'we're' being pedantic, Tommy really is an ass to Ken in SA...
    • A better explanation would be that Tenpenny is taking random turns to shake CJ and Sweet, and it's just chance that he's above Grove Street when he loses control.
  • Why doesn't Dwayne Forge in GTA IV care at all when you kill Playboy X?
    • He does care. He just accepts that it had to be done for his own sake, and blames himself for not finding a way to stop the confrontation before it comes to that.
  • GTA: SA and OG Loc. The SA game stresses loyalty to your friends above all else. OG Loc is the most loyal in the entire game. He's treated like absolute garbage for much of the game for no clear reason whatsoever.
    • You are joking right? OG Loc betrayed you for Smoke as soon as possible. Laundering the drug money Smoke made with Tenpenny's help
  • Niko and Packie go to a lot of trouble to stage a jailbreak for Aiden O'Malley, to cover up their assassination of him. Packie's logic is that if it's an obvious "hit," Derrick will be the prime suspect. So...why don't they take any pains to hide, or better yet destroy, the body?
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