List of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas characters

Throughout the various missions and cut scenes in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, set in 1992, a number of recurring characters appear. Prominent characters are listed here.

Many characters were voiced by crime film veterans, such as Samuel L. Jackson of Pulp Fiction fame, James Woods (Once Upon a Time in America, Casino), Frank Vincent (Casino, GoodFellas) and Peter Fonda (Easy Rider). Prominent West Coast rappers, such as MC Eiht, Ice T, Frost and The Game provided voice work for minor characters in the game as well.

Major characters

Carl Johnson

File:GTA-SA-Group1.jpg

A screenshot including some of the major characters in the game. From left to right: Sweet, Big Smoke, Ryder and CJ

Introduced in: Introduction; airport cut scene

Carl Johnson is the protagonist, anti-hero and player-controlled character in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. He is voiced by Young Maylay.

The game's storyline revolves around Carl's return to San Andreas after five years in Liberty City because his mother was killed in a drive-by shooting. CJ decides early on that he intends to remain on the west coast rather than return after his mother's funeral, and the game's storyline focuses on his attempts to rebuild the life he left behind five years before. Carl helps restore his old gang, the Grove Street Families, to prominence. He also works on several independent business ventures and gains new friends and associates. As the protagonist, Carl is forced to deal with the major dramatic events of the plot, including his brother Sweet's arrest and incarceration, the betrayal of his childhood friends Big Smoke and Ryder, and the destruction wrought on his neighborhood and gang by drugs.

Following the death of his brother, Brian, Carl escaped the pressures of street gang life by moving to Liberty City five years prior to the start of the game, where he worked with Joey Leone in the car theft business. During The Introduction—a short machinima video released with the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack—he is seen mugging a passerby in the street and then hijacking a car.

In 1992, Carl's mother is killed in a drive-by shooting. He returns to Los Santos for the funeral and is immediately confronted by members of C.R.A.S.H. (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums), Officers Frank Tenpenny, Eddie Pulaski and Jimmy Hernandez, a group of police officers involved in corrupt dealings. Throughout the game, C.R.A.S.H. forces Carl to work for them because if he does not, they have the power to bring harm to him and his loved ones. At the very beginning of the game, they tell Carl that they intend to frame him for the murder of police officer Ralph Pendlebury, whom C.R.A.S.H. killed to prevent him from exposing their illegal activities.

Early in the game, Carl aids Sweet and the rest of the senior members in reviving the GSF by ridding parts of the neighborhood of crack dealers, acquiring weapons, and regaining lost gang territory. This revival ends, however, after Carl learns that his friends Ryder and Big Smoke, senior GSF members, have betrayed the gang. As CJ discovers the betrayal, Sweet is ambushed by rival Ballas gang members and wounded. CJ arrives to fight them off and likely saves his brothers life, but they are arrested by the police after the battle. Outside the view of the storyline, Sweet is put on trial and convicted of multiple felonies, for which he receives a life sentence. CJ, however, is released by C.R.A.S.H. into a rural area to continue to perform jobs for the team. The GSF, along with Cesar's Aztecas, fall out of prominence. Consequently, their rivals, the Ballas and Los Santos Vagos, are able to take over all of Los Santos.

After a brief stay in the Badlands, Carl and his remaining associates (his sister Kendl, Cesar and hippie The Truth) head north for San Fierro, where they establish a vehicle chop shop and dealership. CJ also works for the local Triads and infiltrates and destroys San Andreas' largest drug cartel, the Loco Syndicate. After Carl, Cesar, and a number of Triad members ambush a meeting between Ryder, who is representing Big Smoke, and the Loco Syndicate, Carl gains revenge on his former friend by killing him.

After gaining access to Las Venturas and the surrounding desert area, CJ goes to work for undercover government agent Mike Toreno. He then moves into Venturas and works to put the Triad-funded casino on top by eliminating the competition. CJ saves rapper Madd Dogg's life by interrupting his suicide attempt (CJ apparently feels guilty for his part in ruining Dogg's career). He also kills Eddie Pulaski and, after completing another mission for Toreno, is rewarded with Sweet's early release from prison.

CJ wants Sweet to join him in building a new life. Since being exiled from Los Santos, Carl has left gangbanging and the hood behind in favor of larger business ventures and more lavish accommodations, and he wants Sweet to share in his newfound prosperity. However, Sweet's priorities are different: he wants to remain on Grove Street, get rid of the crack dealers and addicts all over the streets, and reestablish the Grove Street Families as a force in Los Santos. CJ is initially reluctant to return to the life he left behind, but Sweet eventually convinces him to go along with the plan.

With Carl and Sweet's work underway, Frank Tenpenny is finally put on trial for numerous felonies, but the charges are dropped for lack of evidence because all the witnesses who could have testified against him are either missing or dead. Most of the jobs Tenpenny forces CJ to do throughout the game involve killing or discrediting people involved in the case against him. Los Santos erupts into a massive, city-wide riot following the news. In the chaos, CJ finally confronts and kills Big Smoke in his crack palace and then pursues Tenpenny, who is mortally wounded when he crashes in front of the Johnson House. CJ prepares to shoot Tenpenny with his Desert Eagle, but Sweet, concerned with leaving evidence when Tenpenny would simply die from his injuries, stops him. Tenpenny's death wraps up all the loose ends in Carl's life. The riot then breaks up.

At the conclusion of the game, Madd Dogg visits the Johnson house and announces that he's received a gold record for his new album. Everyone inside discusses how they must now shift their focus to maintaining the gang and their business ventures and otherwise keep a low profile. CJ then gets up and leaves the house. Kendl then asks where he's going, and he says, "Fittin' to hit the block, see what's happening," and the game's main storyline ends.

CJ is portrayed as being highly successful at the end of the game. He has executed a major heist, holds a partnership in a Las Venturas casino, is a successful rapper's manager, owns businesses and real estate throughout San Andreas, is a licensed pilot, owns a car garage in San Fierro, and is a leading member of Los Santos' most powerful gang.

Officer Frank Tenpenny

Introduced in: Introduction; police arrest cut scene

Dies in: "End of the Line"

File:GTA-SA-GROUP2.jpg

A screenshot including some major characters of the game. From left to right: Sweet, CJ, Cesar, Kendl and Officer Frank Tenpenny.

Officer Frank Tenpenny is a corrupt officer of Los Santos Police Department (LSPD) and a member of C.R.A.S.H.. He serves as the main antagonist of the game.

At the start of the game where CJ is arrested, Tenpenny says to CJ, "Well, well, well, Carl, glad to be back? You haven't forgotten about us, have you?" Carl replies with, "Hell no, Officer Tenpenny, I was just wondering what took you all so long." 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 abandon their ideals and assist in his pursuits. He shows a callous unconcern for the people surrounding him, particularly those like Carl whom he has power over. He sees such people as tools and eliminates all of those who either outlive their usefulness to him or get in his way. Tenpenny exhibits megalomania and considers himself above the law. He believes that because he does good work, he is entitled to enrich himself at the city's expense.

Tenpenny rides with 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 Pendelbury's murder, Tenpenny and Pulaski brief their newest recruit, Officer 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.

Tenpenny has known CJ at least since Brian Johnson's death, and CJ recognizes Officer 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 has a great deal of power over and influence on Los Santos' criminals, and he warns CJ early in the game 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 GSF members, including Smoke and Ryder, but Tenpenny appears to take pleasure in exercising control over CJ specifically.

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. Tenpenny and Pulaski were involved with the drive-by that killed Beverly Johnson, CJ's mother. When CJ returns for the funeral, C.R.A.S.H. frames him for Pendelbury's murder and threatens to arrest him if he does not do work for Tenpenny.

Later, Tenpenny and Pulaski kidnap CJ following a large gang assault beneath the Mulholland Intersection. Sweet, wounded in the battle, is arrested and later convicted for several felonies. Tenpenny ensures that CJ would not be arrested to keep him available to perform C.R.A.S.H.'s dirty work. 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 Sweet will be put on a Ballas cell block. Tenpenny and Pulaski surface every so often to lean on CJ and usually order him to kill or discredit someone who threatens to expose the true nature of C.R.A.S.H.

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 starting to investigate 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. They drive CJ out to the desert, where Tenpenny hits Hernandez in the head with a shovel because Hernandez has reported them to Internal Affairs. He drives off, leaving CJ to dig Hernandez's grave under Pulaski's gunpoint.

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 riot in Los Santos reminiscent of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Just after CJ kills Big Smoke, Tenpenny shows up with a suitcase full of drug money and armed with a shotgun. He plans to flee the city by plane with the help of some new recruits in the force who are ready for him to "open their eyes" to his way of thinking. He then leads CJ and Sweet on a chase through the city until, in the last cut scene of the storyline, the fire engine breaks through and runs off an overpass and 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 everyone, including the police force. He then dies from his injuries. CJ and the rest of his crew examine the body, and CJ moves in with his pistol to "make sure it's over". Sweet stops him, saying that there's no need to leave any evidence. "Just a cop killed in a traffic accident" says Sweet. Tenpenny is the only antagonist in the series not to be killed by the protagonist.

Officer Frank Tenpenny was voiced by Samuel L. Jackson.

GamePro ranked him the 35th most diabolical video game villain of all time, stating that "You gotta respect a guy who takes a stand and says, "No, man. We can't all just get along.""

Melvin Harris

Introduced in: "Big Smoke"

Killed by CJ in: "End of the Line"

Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris begins his role in the game as a senior member of the Grove Street Families. He is overweight, which provides some comic relief early in the game. He later becomes the story's secondary antagonist as he betrays the GSF to become Los Santos's biggest drug kingpin in league with the Ballas and Vagos. Early in the storyline, there are several signs of Big Smoke's disloyalty to the gang: he has moved out of Grove Street to live in a new home in Idlewood (Ballas territory), and there is suspicion that he paid for the house with drug money, despite his insistence that it was money from his aunt.

Before he openly betrays the GSF, there are indications that Smoke's heart is no longer with the gang. For instance, in the mission "Drive Thru", The gang gets some food at a fast food restraunt when they are attacked by a Ballas car, Smoke sits in the back seat eating his food (and everyone else's). The missions Smoke performs with CJ are generally tangential to the operations of the gang, despite Smoke's assertions to the contrary. He gets involved in conflicts with non-native gangs, including the Russian mob and the San Fierro Rifas. Furthermore, Officer Tenpenny and his underlings show up at Big Smoke's house during the beginning of several missions, suggesting familiarity, although Big Smoke claims each time that they are attempting to extract information from him.

In The Introduction, Smoke tries to convince Sweet to allow the GSF sell hard drugs, saying that the Ballas have gotten rich and powerful due to drug sales, while the GSF have lost power. Sweet refuses on the grounds that he doesn't want to enrich himself at the expense of his neighborhood. Meanwhile, Smoke easily convinces Ryder to his side during a private meeting. Their true nature is revealed in the game when CJ witnesses them meeting with the Ballas and C.R.A.S.H. in a garage with the green Sabre used in the assassination of Beverly Johnson. When CJ wants to know what Tenpenny and Pulaski did to cause Smoke's betrayal, Pulaski says, "Smoke does what he's told! He learned that lesson a long time ago."

With the prospect of power, money, and fame in the drug business too great for Big Smoke to resist, he establishes a drug delivery venture with the Loco Syndicate in San Fierro with the help of the Ballas. Smoke runs drug factories in both Los Santos and San Fierro. The final mission CJ undertakes in San Fierro requires him to destroy the main factory there.

After CJ is exiled from Los Santos, Smoke also becomes the manager of OG Loc and opens an orphanage in Los Santos. Smoke cultivates an image as someone who made it out of the ghetto with hard work and wants to give back to his old neighborhood in the form of philanthropy. Ironically, he publicly pronounces his desire to "keep the street clean of drugs". The media reports this version of events and does not appear to question where his money has come from.

At the height of his power, Smoke lives in a large, heavily fortified crack den, referred to as a "crack fortress", deep in Ballas territory. He lives in luxury and has the full protection of the Ballas and Vagos, who have unrivaled control of the streets. However, as time progresses, Smoke becomes increasingly paranoid and stops leaving his home because he believes someone will try to take over his business. As Smoke's influence expands, his old gang erodes, and many Grove Street foot soldiers become addicted to crack and no longer care about fighting to defend their territory.

In the final mission of the game, Carl enters Big Smoke's crack palace amid a citywide riot to confront Big Smoke for the first time since CJ left Los Santos. He finds Smoke wearing an armored vest, smoking crack, and playing videogames. Even while staring down CJ's gun, Smoke refuses to admit wrongdoing and proclaims: "I made it, CJ, I'm a success, I can't be touched!". In a moment of pity, CJ asks, "What happened to you, man?" to which Smoke replies, "What the fuck do you care?" The lights go out, and CJ kills his former friend in a gun battle.

As he dies, Smoke explains that he betrayed the gang because he finally saw an opportunity to become rich and famous, and took it without caring about the consequences; Smoke says that because of his greedy nature, he had no choice in the matter. With his dying breath, Big Smoke boasts, "Everyone will remember my name, Big Smoke!"

In earlier previews of San Andreas, Big Smoke was seen wearing a white basketball jersey with no hat; his design was changed in the final version. However, a statue of Smoke in his "crack palace" has him wearing the outfit he sported in the previews. Big Smoke's car was a black Perennial station wagon that he decided to keep in mint condition, at least until it was blown up in a Ballas drive-by shooting during the opening mission of the game. He then switches to a light blue Glendale sedan in which CJ chauffeurs him around in several missions.

Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris was voiced by Clifton Powell.

Sean "Sweet" Johnson

Introduced in: Introduction; airport cut scene (on the phone) / "Sweet & Kendl" (in person)

Sean "Sweet" Johnson is CJ's older brother. He lives in a single floor home just next to the Johnson House. Sweet also has an unnamed girlfriend, who only appears in one mission. Sweet blames CJ for the murder of their little brother Brian, which prompts Carl to leave Los Santos. Compared to CJ, Smoke and Ryder, Sweet's approach to gangbanging is more philosophical and socially conscious.

Throughout the storyline, Sweet remains dedicated to his family, gang, and neighborhood. He refuses to allow the spread of drugs into the area, which causes his top lieutenant, Big Smoke, to turn on him. Several times, including in The Introduction, Sweet says that he is a gangbanger "for the hood", which stands in opposition to Smoke, who is out for money, and Ryder, who wants personal renown. Although Sweet never defines exactly what he means by being in it for the hood, his actions suggest that he views the gang as a means for people in his neighborhood to support themselves given the lack of legitimate opportunities they would otherwise receive. He also uses the gang to improve the quality of life in Ganton, particularly when he drives out the crack addicts and drug dealers later in the game and refuses to move out of Grove Street, even as CJ has gotten rich and acquired much more lavish accommodations.

After his initial return to Los Santos, CJ aids Sweet in restoring the GSF to its former glory. Sweet starts to put aside old grudges and decides CJ has earned his chance to redeem himself. However, despite CJ almost singlehandedly putting the GSF back on the map, Smoke and Ryder have already betrayed the gang. During a meeting between the different sets of Families gangs, the police suddenly raid the hotel where the meeting is taking place. CJ rescues his brother and they escape, but shortly afterward, Sweet is lured into a Ballas ambush beneath a highway intersection. His wounds leave him unable to defend himself as CJ arrives and fights back at the attackers, but the police surround and arrest them both as the Ballas clear out. Sweet is sent to prison on a life term, while Carl is released to perform jobs for Tenpenny.

Later, Carl encounters Mike Toreno, a government agent, who uses threats of bringing harm to Sweet to force CJ to work for him. So long as CJ cooperates, Sweet will be protected and, Toreno promises, eventually released. If CJ missteps or refuses to work for Toreno, Sweet will be forced to face hostile inmates alone.

Toreno eventually has Sweet released as promised. Carl comes to pick him up and take him to live at Madd Dogg's mansion, but Sweet will have none of it. He insists on being driven back to Grove Street. CJ, who knows that Ballas control the streets now and that Grove Street OGs have abandoned gangbanging for drugs, wants to leave the hood behind and share his newfound success with Sweet. Sweet accuses CJ of running away from "what's real" and says that he sounds "just like Smoke".

Sweet's prodding finally gets to CJ, and slowly but surely, the two rebuild the GSF's dominance in the neighborhood again. At first, it seems futile; the drug dealers are legion and all of Sweet's men have been reduced to addicts. Sweet almost gives in to crack himself, but CJ stops him at the last moment. With CJ's help, the GSF drive the Ballas back and expose Big Smoke's secret location.

After Smoke's death and the fiery destruction of his drug palace, Officer Tenpenny flees from the scene in a fire truck. Sweet is outraged and refuses to let Tenpenny escape justice again; he jumps onto the truck's ladder and is carried away with the speeding vehicle. CJ must race after them with his convertible under the ladder to keep Sweet from falling to his death; after a hazardous trip through the hills and valleys of Los Santos, the swinging ladder finally hangs over the car and Sweet drops safely into the passenger side. After a long chase, Tenpenny loses control, crashes, and dies. Following the Los Santos riots and the removal of Big Smoke and Tenpenny's influence, Sweet's mission to restore the GSF to prominence is complete.

Sweet owns a light blue Greenwood sedan, bearing "GROVE4L" (Grove for life) number plates and is extensively used, and wrecked in several Los Santos missions, even blowing up at one point after crashing through a billboard and a fuel tanker. Also, when Sweet has to buy a car again, he buys an identical car. (saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it").In earlier previews of San Andreas, Sweet was seen wearing a black t-shirt over a white one, and a skullcap; his design was changed in the final version (however, Sweet in his old attire design can be seen on hung pictures in the Johnson house).

Sean "Sweet" Johnson was voiced by Faizon Love.

Cesar Vialpando

Introduced in: "Cesar Vialpando"

Cesar Vialpando is Kendl's boyfriend and the leader of the Varrios Los Aztecas. CJ is initially cold toward Cesar, but they later become close friends. Passionate about cars, Cesar is a skilled mechanic and driver.

At the beginning of the game, Sweet expresses his disapproval, on racial grounds, of Kendl and Cesar's relationship and sends Carl to follow them. After CJ wins a lowrider contest, Cesar offers his friendship, and Carl begins to warm to him. Cesar informs Carl of Smoke and Ryder's betrayal by bringing him to witness a meeting with C.R.A.S.H. Upon seeing this, Carl realizes that Sweet's plan to attack the Ballas has likely been compromised, so Carl races to his brother's aid. Although he saves Sweet's life, Carl is arrested and forced into exile, along with Cesar and Kendl. With their former allies incarcerated, missing, or responsible for betraying them, Cesar and Carl form a quick alliance and friendship. Cesar works to discern information about the organizations responsible for the San Andreas drug trade, while Carl concentrates on making money to help them get back on their feet. Cesar sends Carl to work with his cousin Catalina.

After arriving in San Fierro, Cesar works with CJ and Kendl on their garage and auto dealership businesses. Cesar uses his mechanical and driving skills to obtain several sports cars for this purpose. Contemporaneously, he continues to gather intelligence and, along with Carl, puts a plan in motion to attack the people who double crossed them. With help from Wu Zi Mu and his Triad organization, Cesar and Carl kill Ryder and T-Bone Mendez and topple the Loco Syndicate, one of Big Smoke's largest suppliers.

Afterward, Cesar aids CJ in one mission for Mike Toreno and then does not appear again until the group returns to Los Santos. There, in "Los Desperados", one of the final missions, Cesar resolves the loose ends surrounding his character. With CJ's help, he gains revenge on the Vagos and reclaims his house and gang territory. He also tells CJ he wants to propose to Kendl. Cesar drives a Red Savanna, with the number plate, VLA4L( Varrios Los Aztecas for life).

Cesar Vialpando was voiced by Clifton Collins, Jr., who first broke into mainstream cinema in 1997 with a performance as gang thug Cesar in the film 187.

Wu Zi Mu ("Woozie")

Introduced in: "Wu Zi Mu"

File:GTA SA-GROUP3.png

A screenshot including some of the major characters in the game. From left to right: Woozie, Cesar and CJ.

Wu Zi Mu (Chinese: 武災幕), known to his friends as "Woozie", is the blind leader of the Mountain Cloud Boys Triads, based in San Fierro's Chinatown and in Las Venturas, where he owns the newly opened Four Dragons Casino. In Las Venturas, Woozie and Carl plan and execute a robbery at Caligula's Casino.

Woozie is nicknamed the "Lucky Mole" (Chinese: 幸運的鼴鼠) because he is blessed with good fortune, most notably from his capability to compete in a car race and beating Carl in a round of video games, all despite his blindness. There are, however, humorous occasions when he runs into walls, as well as indications that his cohorts manipulate the outcome of games played with Woozie so that he will always win. For example, Woozie always beats his underlings at blackjack, despite the fact he can't read the cards. In the one game he plays against Carl, Woozie keeps asking for cards until he finally stands with 47, and then blames Carl for being "bad luck". Another time, while practicing putting, his henchmen move the target cup into the path of Woozie's ball and out of the path of CJ's. Strangely, Woozie is an accurate shooter. He is also incapable undertaking a mission that requires swimming, since his other working senses are ineffective underwater. He is able to swim if, in the course of a mission, the player leads him into water.

Though Woozie can become brutal and foul-mouthed when angry, he is by all accounts a peaceful and, within the realm of criminals, honorable man. He is one whom power has not tainted, and as such, Woozie remains a faithful and trustworthy friend, accomplice, and informant to Carl to the end of the game. Six years later in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, it is indicated that Woozie's casino venture in Las Venturas is a huge success, and by this time the Four Dragons is the location of many entertainment venues, concerts and important events. Woozie's fate is unknown at the time.

Woozie was voiced by James Yaegashi.

Supporting characters

Lance "Ryder" Wilson

Introduced in: "Sweet & Kendl"

Killed in: "Pier 69"

Lance "Ryder" Wilson is a senior member of the Grove Street Families, who lives in a home neighboring the Johnson House and smokes large quantities of marijuana laced with PCP. In an effort to supply the GSF with new firearms and weapons, Ryder calls in CJ to help steal some weaponry from several locations, including the home of a heavily-armed war veteran (Colonel Fuhrberger), a forcibly stopped ammunition train and a National Guard weapons depot.

Ryder has delusions of grandeur and a possible Napoleon complex stemming from his small stature. He fancies himself a "genius" and claims that he didn't finish school because he was "too intelligent" and not because of his involvement with the GSF. In The Introduction, Big Smoke approaches him with an offer to betray the Grove Street Families in order to break into the drug trade. After little convincing, Ryder accepts.

When CJ returns and begins his rise in the Grove Street Families, Ryder becomes increasingly jealous even though he's already aligned with the Ballas. Cesar takes CJ to witness both Smoke and Ryder emerging from a garage and talking to Officer Tenpenny; a "Green Sabre" car that is involved in the slaying of CJ's mother is inside. It is implied that both Smoke and Ryder were involved in the hit.

After betraying CJ and accelerating the fall of the GSF in Los Santos, Ryder aids Big Smoke in establishing a drug trade with the Loco Syndicate and thus flooding Los Santos with crack cocaine. He later appears in San Fierro. Ryder, T-Bone Mendez and the Ballas meet for a deal. After CJ and Cesar, along with a horde of Triads, riddle T-Bone with bullets on the pier, Ryder runs away and engages Carl in a speedboat chase, which ends in Ryder's death. Alternatively, the player can have CJ shoot Ryder from the pier as he attempts to swim away to steal the boat.

In an occurrence of foreshadowing, CJ tells Ryder during an early mission, "One day, you'll wish you hadn't pissed me off." It was later revealed by Cesar Vialpando that Ryder tried to have sex with Kendl.

Ryder owns a maroon Coupe Utility (an El Camino look-alike referred to in-game as a "Picador") with a license plate reading "SHERM", a slang term for PCP (CJ calls Ryder "sherm-head" throughout the game). Throughout the game, Ryder has a habit of calling CJ a "buster". CJ also mentions that Ryder has been dealing drugs since he was 10, and once beat up a teacher for wearing purple (Ballas colors)

Lance "Ryder" Wilson was voiced by MC Eiht. "Hood Took Me Under", a song produced by Compton's Most Wanted, including member MC Eiht, is featured on Radio Los Santos and the San Andreas game soundtrack. It is rather obvious that Ryder is based on the deceased Compton rapper Eazy-E.

Officer Edward Pulaski

Introduced in: Introduction; police arrest cut scene

Killed in: "High Noon"

Officer Eddie Pulaski is Frank Tenpenny's henchman, which makes him a secondary antagonist. Pulaski, fully indoctrinated into Tenpenny's approach to police work, has a high level of deluded trust in the man and considers him a close friend. However, Tenpenny measures people only by how useful they are to him, and Pulaski is useful so long as he helped Tenpenny cover his back. In "The Introduction" Pulaski calls Tenpenny "pal", to which Tenpenny says, "Pal? I'm your superior officer and don't you forget that shit!" Pulaski also shares Tenpenny's belief that CJ and people like him are at best useful idiots and at worst less than human.

Pulaski is a violent and trigger-happy thug. While Tenpenny is depicted as a megalomaniac who lacks a conscience, Pulaski is merely a degenerate, ignorant thrill seeker. There is little to suggest that Pulaski ever thinks for himself or has insight into the events surrounding him. He is a racist and joins his partner in calling Officer Hernandez racial slurs. During Hernandez's initiation in The Introduction, Pulaski joins Tenpenny in forcing the idealistic recruit to shoot Officer Pendelberry, their former partner (and would-be informant).

Pulaski assists Tenpenny in helping the Ballas run drugs into Los Santos. He is also present when the hit on CJ and Sweet Johnson's mother is called. Hernandez, who suffers constant harassment by his C.R.A.S.H. "partners", reports Tenpenny and Pulaski to Internal Affairs. All three drive out to the desert ghost town of Las Brujas during the mission "High Noon" to collect the evidence the FBI compiled on them from CJ. Tenpenny hits Hernandez in the back of the head with a shovel the second he leaves the car, saying he sold them out. Tenpenny drives off, leaving Pulaski to hold CJ at gunpoint and force him to dig Hernandez's (and subsequently his own) grave. CJ tries to reason with Pulaski and convince him that Tenpenny will kill him too in order to silence the last person who knows about his corruption, but Pulaski refuses to listen. Hernandez suddenly springs to life and tackles Pulaski, who fatally shoots him. When CJ chases after him, Pulaski spews vile statements about CJ's mother and sister. Enraged, CJ runs Pulaski's car off the road and mortally wounds him. In his final moments, CJ asks "any last requests?". Pulaski asks CJ if he could have sex with his sister, and Carl, angry and disgusted, finishes Pulaski with a stomp to the head. Pulaski drives a White Buffalo, reading Pulaski on the number plates, and is only seen in one mission.

Officer Eddie Pulaski was voiced by Chris Penn.

Michael Toreno

Introduced in: "Photo Opportunity"

Mike Toreno is an undercover agent from a "government agency" who disguises himself as a drug dealer for the Loco Syndicate. From the beginning, his presence doesn't quite fit, and the mere sight of him disturbs CJ. In his first appearance, Mike is abducted by the Da Nang Boys, who steal one of the Syndicate's drug vans with Toreno inside, but CJ and T-Bone Mendez locate the vehicle at the San Fierro airstrip. Toreno is furious when he sees CJ's unfamiliar face and threatens to shoot him. Once Mendez calls him off, Toreno orders all of them to open fire on the van and destroy it, thus removing the evidence.

Following the death of Jizzy, CJ and his associates plan to ambush the Syndicate's meeting with Big Smoke's Cartel. CJ buys them cover with a sniper rifle, but Toreno, in a helicopter, notices the corpses on a roof and aborts his landing. Later, CJ tracks the chopper to another location and shoots it out of the sky; Toreno is presumed dead.

However, Toreno, at first using a digitally-distorted voice, calls CJ shortly afterward and orders him to travel to his secluded ranch in Tierra Robada. Toreno then gives CJ a series of assignments under duress: Toreno suggests that harm will come to Sweet, who is now in prison, if CJ does not work for him. Toreno promises that if Carl cooperates, Sweet will remain safe and may eventually be released. Toreno was apparently only supplying cocaine to appease a government ally overseas; he has since abandoned dealing and is now focused on killing operatives from rival agencies "with confused social agendas", who are trying to undermine his shady operations.

Philosophically, Toreno is a highly cynical American imperialist. He primarily uses CJ as a courier, saboteur, and assassin. Though he knows of Tenpenny and Pulaski's dirty dealings as well as their hold over CJ, Toreno does not use his power to stop them. He tells CJ, "We have to make decisions, kid. You know, I try to set bad people on other bad people. And sometimes, I let good guys die." Toreno seems to have gravitated toward committing heinous acts in the name of a greater good, much like Tenpenny.

Toreno's assignments, which include dropping a payload by plane while avoiding radar detection and shooting down black Government choppers from a plateau, strike CJ as almost impossible. At one point, Toreno sends Carl to purchase the Verdant Meadows Airfield, a defunct landing strip in the desert, and use the facility to have CJ trained as a pilot. Later, a container jet lands without warning at the airport and men in black suits and sunglasses empty out of it. CJ is hiding behind crates when Toreno appears out of nowhere and instructs him to sneak onboard and bomb the plane. While fighting the agents onboard, they utter phrases such as "Carbon-based buffoon!" and "You evolved from shrews!"

While Toreno initially treats Carl like street trash and enjoys bringing up Sweet's dire situation, his attitude changes as CJ proves his ability to get seemingly impossible jobs done. He begins to enjoy having CJ around, treating him like a sort of "war buddy" and displaying a certain degree of camaraderie. After CJ becomes a manager for rapper Madd Dogg and hasn't heard from Toreno in some time, Toreno hijacks the studio's sound system during a recording session and assigns Carl one last job. He personally drives CJ to Easter Bay to infiltrate an aircraft carrier and steal a V/STOL fighter jet. After he finds himself confronting enemy jets and bombing boats at the dam reservoir, CJ becomes fed up and wants nothing to do with Toreno; his fury is amplified when Toreno ditches the stolen jet and leaves CJ to deal with it.

Toreno shows up unannounced yet again in Madd Dogg's mansion and tells Carl that he has one more mission that needs to get done. Upon hearing this, CJ snaps and holds a gun to Toreno's face, but Toreno responds by calmly saying that CJ is "embarrassing" himself. He then tells him that the "mission" is simply to pick up Sweet following his early release from prison. Toreno makes no further appearances in the game. Toreno drives a Brown Washington with the number plate reading OMEGA.

Mike Toreno was voiced by James Woods.

Officer James Hernandez

Introduced in: Introduction; police arrest cut scene

Killed in: "High Noon"

Officer Jimmy Hernandez is the newest member of C.R.A.S.H. He is the rookie officer, and is given little, if any, respect from Tenpenny and Pulaski; he is assigned the task of fetching meat for their barbecue, and is subject to racial slurs. Unlike his other two counterparts, he doesn't share their corrupt view of how the law should be handled. They both try to convince Hernandez through the genre of their daily work such as shooting a dying cop both Tenpenny and Pulaski beat down to keep from talking.

In The Introduction prequel film, Tenpenny berates him for describing a moral quandary involved with a domestic dispute case. Hernandez describes his difficulty deciding whether to take the abusive husband to jail, leaving the children with their drug-abusing mother, or let the husband go unpunished for beating his wife. Tenpenny says that if Hernandez can't handle that case, he won't be able to handle the "drug dealers, gang bangers and psychotics" that Tenpenny deals with on a daily basis. After a lecture about the need to "do what it takes" in maintaining the bigger picture, Tenpenny orders Hernandez out of the car.

After he finally realizes that things have been taken too far with Tenpenny's multiple acts of conspiracy, he decides to report all of C.R.A.S.H.'s crimes of corruption up to the point where he was working with them. He is later knocked unconscious with a shovel and left to die during "High Noon" for selling out Tenpenny and Pulaski, and almost ends up buried in Bone County by Pulaski. However, he recovers from the shovel attack and subsequently saves CJ's life by lunging at Pulaski (who was holding CJ at gunpoint), who then viciously shoots him in the chest killing him.

Officer Hernandez was voiced by Armando Riesco.

Kendl Johnson

Introduced in: "Sweet & Kendl"

Kendl Johnson is CJ and Sweet's sister. She is also Cesar Vialpando's girlfriend. She wears green clothing to indicate her affiliation with the Grove Street Families, although she appears to have little tolerance for the gang and once referred to the "Grove 4 Life" philosophy as "bullshit." After learning about Big Smoke and Ryder's betrayal, CJ requests that Cesar bring Kendl to safety by fleeing from Los Santos. Later in the storyline, Cesar pondered proposing to Kendl, but the question of whether Kendl accepted or not remains unanswered. It is assumed they did get engaged.

Kendl is depicted as intelligent and pragmatic, which suggests that although her brothers turned to crime as a last resort to support themselves, Kendl could become successful within the bounds of the law. She possesses entrepreneurial talents, strong willpower, creativity, and a sense of leadership. She has little tolerance for whining or complaining, which causes CJ and others to regard her as a bit bossy.

Kendl Johnson was voiced by Yo-Yo.

Jeffrey "OG Loc" Cross

Introduced in: "OG Loc"

Jeffrey Cross is Carl's friend and neighbor who pursues a rapping career in the mold of 1990s West Coast gangsta rappers. Although he is not a member of the GSF, he assumes a "gangsta" nickname, OG Loc, and commits minor crimes such as joyriding specifically to get sent to jail and therefore improve his street credibility. However, Loc's rapping is terrible and even his friends find it unbearable to listen to.

In The Introduction, Sweet tells Loc to abandon his fantasies about being a gangster and instead to enter college and make something of himself, and in-game dialogue suggests that Smoke also believes that Jeffrey is more suited to go to college. However, he refuses, saying that rapping is his true calling. The game suggests that while in prison, Loc was molested by fellow inmate Freddy, as mentioned in an exchange between the two when CJ and Loc pursue and kill him. After being paroled, Loc is given a job as a janitor (which he refers to as a "Hygiene Technician") at the local Burger Shot.

While working at the restaurant, OG Loc asks CJ to aid him in jumpstarting his music career by stealing some music equipment from a beach party and a rhyme book from Los Santos hip-hop star Madd Dogg. Loc also has CJ derail Madd Dogg's career further by killing his manager, who, Loc believes, was using his influence to keep Loc's career from taking off. Shortly afterwards, Loc quits his job, having decided that he'd rather violate his parole and return to jail than work at a job that "ain't gangsta". However, as CJ's actions send Madd Dogg into decline and depression, Loc is afforded the opportunity to rise to stardom. After CJ's friends betray him and he is exiled from Los Santos, Loc becomes a mainstream success with help from his agent, Big Smoke.

Later in the game, after CJ saves Madd Dogg's life and is rewarded with a position as his manager in Las Venturas, the two pursue OG Loc to reclaim Dogg's rhyme book. After a lengthy chase, the two men corner Loc, who agrees to give up rap and leave them alone from then on.

It is a running gag that his name "Oh-gee Loc" frequently is mispronounced; radio talk show host Lazlow calls him "Oglock", music DJSage talks about "Oge Loke", and his rival Madd Dogg rues the day that his number one position was taken over by "Loc OG". Katie Zhan, one of CJ's girlfriends calls him "OG Joke."

Jeffrey "O.G. Loc" Cross was voiced by Jonathan Anderson.

Madd Dogg

Introduced in: "Madd Dogg", although he may be heard on WCTR and Radio Los Santos beforehand.

Madd Dogg is one of Los Santos' most well-known rappers. Shortly after CJ's arrival in Los Santos, Madd Dogg was at the height of his career, having just released his own line of clothing, as well as numerous other merchandises. Madd Dogg's career suffers a decline after CJ steals his rhyme book and kills his manager, in an effort to jumpstart OG Loc's music career.

Madd Dogg experiences a period of depression, during which he gambles away his mansion in Vinewood to a Vagos drug kingpin and skips a concert in Venturas to gamble the rest of his money away. In a bid to commit suicide, Madd Dogg appears on the ledge of a casino, drunk, and threatens to jump to his death. With people in the crowd below taking bets to whether or not he will actually jump, CJ saves him at the last minute by catching his falling body with a pickup truck.

CJ then takes Madd Dogg to rehab. After getting out, Madd Dogg, grateful, makes CJ his new manager. Carl makes up for his part in ruining Dogg's career by seizing his mansion back and restoring his name in the rap industry. CJ and Madd Dogg pursue OG Loc to reclaim Dogg's rhyme book and frighten Loc into giving up rap and leaving them alone. At game's end, Madd Dogg's comeback results in a gold record.

In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, a billboard just outside Toni Cipriani's apartment in Portland, Liberty City, advertises release of digitally remastered Madd Dogg's album Still Madd in 1998.

Madd Dogg was voiced by Ice T.

Catalina

Introduced in: "First Date"

Catalina is Cesar Vialpando's cousin who lives in a secluded cabin in the rural Fern Ridge area. She is almost completely insane, extremely violent, and exhibits strong misandric tendencies. After CJ is displaced to the Badlands, Cesar suggests that he seek out Catalina for work. Her list of dead husbands in the past and the graves near her hideout is very similar to that of Serial Killer Belle Gunness

The second CJ meets Catalina, he dislikes her. She is impatient, insulting, obnoxious and never admits wrongdoing. Catalina insists they go on a crime spree in the countryside, robbing several businesses. While this is going on, Catalina decides by herself that she is CJ's new girlfriend and threatens to kill him if he does not go along with it.

At the beginning of the third heist, Catalina puts CJ through an extreme off-screen BDSM session. CJ voices his disinterest, fear, and lack of comfort, but Catalina proceeds undeterred. As a result, CJ is even more put off by how crazy Catalina is, but what she calls his "lack of passion" just makes Catalina erupt in anger at random. CJ is more interested in getting some quick cash to get back on his feet than dating Catalina, though he does try to make it work.

However, no matter what CJ says or does, Catalina continues to berate him and call him a failure. In one mission cut scene, she threatens to kill anyone who messes with her, especially CJ, simply because she's in a bad mood. She eventually "breaks up" with CJ and finds herself a new boyfriend, Claude, the silent protagonist from Grand Theft Auto III. Catalina and Claude leave together for Liberty City, setting up the events of GTA III.

Catalina is a dangerous psychopath: she is homicidal and appears to suffer from a persecution complex, which might date back to her stepfather. "You were slow and stupid," she says, "like a big fat brat that eats chocolate while his father gives nothing to his stepdaughter but stale bread!"

After Catalina and Claude's departure, Catalina attempts but fails to get to CJ by making phone calls to him. After the last mission of the game, Catalina calls in the middle of having sex with Claude and therefore forces CJ to listen. He says, "Catalina! You sick! Get help!" She responds by saying, "And you, Carl, you are jealous!".

Catalina was voiced by Cynthia Farrell.

See also: GTA III rendition

The Truth

Introduced in: "Body Harvest", although he may be heard on WCTR beforehand.

The Truth is an aging hippie who initially lives in the mountains on the outskirts of San Fierro and previously owned a marijuana farm. The Truth contacts CJ while he is in exile in the Badlands and tells him to meet him at a roadside motel. When CJ arrives, he finds Tenpenny smoking Truth's marijuana from a bong. The Truth asks for CJ's help in the theft of a combine harvester from a ranch belonging to survivalists.

The Truth supplies Tenpenny with free drugs because of an erroneous belief that the crooked officer would shield him from prosecution in exchange. However, Truth pays for his misplaced faith when Tenpenny calls in a raid on his farm. The Truth is forced to destroy his crops before the authorities arrive. He supplies CJ with a flamethrower to burn the plants and an RPG-7 (which he intended to convert into a lamp) to shoot down a police helicopter. The Truth travels with CJ to San Fierro and introduces him to a couple of mechanics, who then go to work at CJ's garage.

After CJ purchases an abandoned airfield on the outskirts of Las Venturas, Truth appears without warning at the airfield. He somehow knows Mike Toreno's identity and is appalled at what CJ is doing for him. The Truth wants to help CJ redeem himself, this time by stealing covert technology. He drives CJ out to the Area 69 military base, where he steals an experimental jetpack known as "The Black Project" from the bowels of the complex. The Truth returns later, this time to have CJ to use the jetpack to nab a containment unit being transported by a heavily guarded military train. CJ succeeds and takes the canister back to his airstrip, where it is revealed to contain "green goo" of unknown origin. The Truth goes ecstatic, proclaiming, "They will call this 'Year Zero!'" before running off again without any explanation.

Truth plays a background role afterward, visiting Madd Dogg's mansion to visit CJ and his associates. He last appears standing over Officer Tenpenny's corpse along with the rest of the characters, commenting that CJ has "beat the system" and is his "total inspiration".

At first glance, Truth is a stoner and crazed conspiracy theorist. At one point, he makes CJ park his vehicle at random locations and waits for black vans to drive by, telling him to "think about a yellow rubber duck" and "picture a pink golfball in your mind". He also mentions the 23 theory. However the more he talks, the more his bizarre theories are in synch with what CJ knows about Mike Toreno. The Truth is apparently well aware of conspiracies surrounding the government and aliens, which causes CJ to wonder whether he's really crazy after all.

The Truth owns an environmentally-friendly hippie van dubbed "The Mothership", whose engine is "held together by a macrame hammock", and runs on "15-year-old cooking oil". He is also acquainted with many characters from past games, such as Dwayne and Jethro from Vice City, as well as Kent Paul and Maccer. He heavily smokes marijuana and does countless psychedelic drugs, like LSD, magic mushrooms, mescaline, PMA, and peyote; the latter was consumed before The Truth, Kent Paul, Maccer and the rest of the Gurning Chimps camped out in the desert, where they "faced the inner light, and communed with The Lizard King!" Paul and Maccer (minus the rest of their band) find themselves hung over and stranded in the desert, while The Truth wakes up in Los Santos inside a Japanese bathhouse.

When the Truth contacts CJ for help to flee to San Fierro, he ends the phone call muttering "Whoa man I don't know you, prank caller, prank caller!", a reference to the film Pulp Fiction, where Lance (a drug dealer) speaks the same line.

The Truth was voiced by Peter Fonda.

Jizzy B.

Introduced in: "Photo Opportunity", although he may be heard on WCTR beforehand.

Killed in: "Ice Cold Killa"

Jizzy B. is the biggest pimp in San Fierro and owns a club called "The Pleasure Domes", which is housed in an old war-era fortress beneath Battery Point. It is an adult entertainment place, where Jizzy surrounds himself with prostitutes, whom he abuses. He is one of the members of the Loco Syndicate, which is manufacturing and supplying drugs to Los Santos.

Jizzy B was voiced by Charlie Murphy.

Ken Rosenberg

Introduced in: "Don Peyote"

Ken "Rosie" Rosenberg serves as the middle man for Leone, the Forelli and the Sindacco Mafia families in Las Venturas, where he manages the Caligula's Palace casino. Highly paranoid and insecure, Ken fears that one of the families will kill him and place the blame on the other organizations. Ken's companions are Maccer, Kent Paul (who occasionally refers to Ken as "Rosie" in the game) and a parrot named Tony; he also provides CJ with a few jobs in Las Venturas. After CJ helps him fake his death and escape Las Venturas, he begins working for Madd Dogg, along with Maccer and Kent Paul.

In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, he was Tommy Vercetti's lawyer. This was referenced in one mission, when Rosenberg (already high on cocaine) says to CJ: "...just like old times, huh, Tommy?", to which CJ replies "Who the fuck is Tommy?". In The Introduction, Ken leaves drug rehab and phones Tommy, who refuses to take the call. Despite completing rehab for his cocaine use, Ken again begins abusing the drug later in the storyline. Ken is also disbarred from the law, which forces him to find another job and leads to his assignment as the manager of Caligula's Palace.

Ken Rosenberg was voiced by Bill Fichtner.

See also: GTA: Vice City rendition

Salvatore Leone

Introduced in: "Freefall"

Don Salvatore Leone is the Don of the Leone family of the Liberty City Mafia. He eliminated the influence of the other families, the Sindacco family and the Forelli family, in Las Venturas, with the help of CJ, in order for Salvatore to assume a larger share of Caligula's Palace in Las Venturas. However, he is betrayed when CJ and the San Fierro Triads stage an elaborate heist and rob Caligula's Casino for millions of dollars, prompting an irate phone call to CJ shortly after the mission. This event is believed to have led to his much noted paranoia in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (GTA:LCS) and GTA III, and his eventual assassination in the latter.

In addition, it was during San Andreas that Salvatore was introduced to Maria, who worked as a waitress in Caligula's Palace at the time.

Salvatore Leone was voiced by Frank Vincent.

See also: GTA III rendition & GTA: Liberty City Stories rendition

Minor characters

Old Reece

Introduced in: "Ryder"

Old Reece is a local barber, seen at "Old Reece's Hair Facial Studio" in Idlewood Los Santos. He has known the Johnson family for a long time, evident by his casual attitude toward Carl among some of the things he says. He is also suggested to have Alzheimer's disease, since Ryder makes mention about Reece having "popped his membrane years ago".

Emmet

Introduced in: "Nines and AKs"

Emmet is a gun dealer in Los Santos and a member of the Seville Boulevard Families. He provides weapons for the GSF and knows the Johnson family. Sweet and Big Smoke stopped going to Emmet once the Family sets split up, but CJ convinced them to start buying from him again shortly after he returned to San Andreas. Emmet seems to have bad eyesight and possible mental health issues, as he was unable to recognize CJ (thinking he was CJ's deceased brother Brian) and seems to be unaware of many events around him. Only pistols can be obtained from Emmet, but later on, Ryder gets an AK-47 from him which the player uses for a short time.

Emmet was voiced by Eugene Jeter Jr.

Mark "B-Dup" Wayne

Introduced in: "Cleaning the Hood"

Killed in: "Beat down on B-Dup"

B-Dup has apparently drifted away from gang banging with the Grove Street Families and now sells drugs. CJ and Ryder attempt to recruit B-Dup for a mission near the beginning of the game, but they are angrily turned down. B-Dup has also "enslaved" crack addict (and former GSF member) Barry "Big Bear" Thorne, forcing him to do chores around the apartment in exchange for drugs.

Later, in "Beat Down on B-Dup", B-Dup was threatened by CJ and Sweet into revealing Smoke's location. He doesn't answer the two because of not knowing of his location but informs them that only Smoke's lieutenants know of his location. When B-Dup calls Bear to kill CJ and Sweet, he was punched down by Bear, who was tired of doing chores for him and goes with CJ and Sweet. After the mission he is killed by the Grove Street Families.

Mark "B Dup" Wayne was voiced by The Game.

Barry "Big Bear" Thorne

Introduced in: "Cleaning the Hood"

Big Bear was formerly a respected member of the Grove Street Families. Sometime after CJ left and the Ballas started dealing coke, he has apparently drifted away from the gang and is now a lowly drug addict. He is living from fix-to-fix and is basically B-Dup's indentured servant, taking insults and cleaning his toilet. "Big Bear" has a cadaverous appearance and is unable to stop shaking because at the time he was under the influence of crack.

Big Bear appears in only two mission cut scenes. In the first, he is introduced to the audience as an example of what crack has done to the neighborhood. In the second, Big Bear becomes tired of being controlled by crack and Big Bear stands up for himself and punches B-Dup out. Big Bear then makes a deal with CJ and Sweet that he will return to Grove Street Families. Sweet takes him away saying he's going to "get [the] old Bear back". As such, Big Bear is a physical example of the Grove Street Families fighting back against the drug pushers.

Barry "Big Bear" Thorne was voiced by Big Boi.

Denise Robinson

Introduced in: "Burning Desire"

Denise Robinson is one of two storyline girlfriends in San Andreas. She is the first girlfriend CJ gets in the game after he rescues her from a burning house fire in the mission "Burning Desire". When CJ goes out with Denise, she likes to stay local and to do drive-bys on the way. She says that she had three kids but put them up for adoption. Denise is aligned with the Grove Street Families but does not wear green. She does a shout out on Radio Los Santos in which she says that she is "desperate" for CJ's attention. She is also a playable character in the multiplayer on Xbox and PS2. Denise drives a Green Hustler whose number plate reads Homegirl.

Denise Robinson was voiced by Heather Alicia Simms.

Claude

Main article: Claude (Grand Theft Auto)

Introduced in: "Wu Zi Mu"

Claude, the mute protagonist of Grand Theft Auto III, appears briefly in two missions, first in the background as CJ and Cesar meet Wu Zi Mu for a street race, and secondly as Catalina's next boyfriend after CJ, whom Catalina is not hesitant to boast about after she breaks up with CJ. After losing in a car race with CJ, Claude and Catalina leave San Andreas for Liberty City to start robbing banks, where Claude's exploits in GTA III take place some nine years later, Catalina then also ends up betraying Claude.

Later, CJ receives several phone calls from Catalina, two of which references a person named "Claude." This shows that the main character of GTA III is in fact called "Claude". Claude maintains his silence in San Andreas, to which Carl Johnson references, referring to him as a "mute" and a "snake without a tongue."

See also: GTA III rendition, as the protagonist of GTA III.

T-Bone Mendez

Introduced in: "Photo Opportunity"

Killed in: "Pier 69"

T-Bone Mendez is the final member of the Loco Syndicate along with Mike Toreno, Jizzy, and Ryder. He is also the leader of the San Fierro Rifa gang. T-Bone acts as the Loco Syndicate's muscle and is very distrustful of people. He viciously beats a man in The Introduction because he suspects that the man is a snitch. T-Bone is killed in the mission "Pier 69" when both CJ and Cesar Vialpando riddle him with bullets until his body falls into the bay. T-Bone drives a Brown ZR-350.

T-Bone Mendez was voiced by Kid Frost. "La Raza", a rap song produced by Frost, is featured in the playlist of Radio Los Santos and the game's soundtrack.

Kent Paul

Introduced in: "Don Peyote"

Kent Paul is a record producer who was featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Once an informal information broker in Vice City ("informal" in that Tommy Vercetti roughed him up whenever he wanted information), Kent Paul had returned to England. There, he became record producer extraordinaire, bringing a new English band, the Gurning Chimps (led by Maccer), to San Andreas for publicity. Unfortunately, after he and the band partied with The Truth out in the desert outside Las Venturas, he finds himself stranded with only Maccer remaining.

Rescued by CJ, who was sent to retrieve them, Paul heads to Las Venturas to meet his old acquaintance, Ken Rosenberg or "Rosie," as he calls him (the two were acquainted in GTA: Vice City). Paul risks Salvatore Leone's displeasure when he hangs both him and Maccer out the window of Caligula's Palace casino. CJ manages to save Paul, Rosenberg and Maccer from a sticky end at the hands of Salvatore by faking their deaths and allowing them to escape Venturas. Later, Paul starts producing for Madd Dogg's record label at CJ's request after Madd Dogg's career is back on track.

Kent Paul is somehow affiliated with The Truth, who he and Maccer were taking peyote with in the desert. Kent Paul is a generally more morose and jaded person than he was 6 years ago and constantly finds himself wondering why he is paired with Maccer.

Kent Paul was voiced by Danny Dyer.

See also: GTA: Vice City rendition

Maccer

Introduced in: "Don Peyote", although he may be heard on WCTR beforehand.

Maccer is a Salford native, lead singer of the Gurning Chimps band and Kent Paul's partner. He, along with the rest of the band, had been purchased by Kent Paul, and had set off to the United States for a tour. However, after a camp-out in the Las Venturas desert with The Truth, Maccer finds the rest of his band missing, with only Kent Paul left in his company. The whereabouts of the other Gurning Chimps members remains unknown for the rest of the game. However, it is implied that the members would be found five months later, to which Maccer denies had happened, claiming that they were "on a break." The Gurning Chimps is suggested to remain active by Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, which takes place in 1998 — Head Radio DJ Michael Hunt indicates Maccer vomited on his shoes when he was backstage at his band's concerts.

Maccer has uncontrollable sexual tendencies; namely, he masturbates chronically and often at highly inappropriate times and places. This is shown in the opening cut scenes of missions "Cut Throat Business" (where he is told to think of Margaret Thatcher to stop masturbating, but starts masturbating to the thought of her) and during a conversation between Sweet and CJ in "Riot".

Of minor note, Maccer has indicated that he was born in Salford in 1965. He has also been involved in the Epsilon Program, which he claimed helped him "cleaned up his act."

Maccer was voiced by Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays.

James Zero

Introduced in: "Wear Flowers in Your Hair", although he may be heard on WCTR beforehand.

Zero(real name James) is a 28 year old electronics expert, forced virgin and hobbyist who manages an electronics shop in San Fierro owned by CJ. His archenemy is Berkley, the owner of Berkley RC, who swore revenge on Zero after losing to him in a science fair. Using Zero's equipment, Carl aids Zero in disrupting Berkley's business operations and ultimately beating Berkley in a miniature "war game", forcing Berkley to leave San Fierro for good.

Later on, Zero can be seen providing electronic equipment for a number of jobs, as well as providing assistance in the Caligula's Casino heist. At the end of the heist, Carl discovers Zero had bragged to Berkley about the heist beforehand, which had nearly put the heist in jeopardy, as there were many complications during the heist, to which Zero had shouted "Curse/Damn you, Berkley!" on the walkie-talkie. After the heist Zero is not seen again if his missions have been completed.

Zero was voiced by David Cross.

Guppy

Introduced in: "Jizzy"

Killed in: "A Home in the Hills"

Guppy is one of Woozie's high ranking Mountain Cloud Boys Triad members and assistant to Woozie. Additionally, he assists CJ in the preparation and execution of the Caligula's Casino heist. He is eventually killed when he, Carl, and some Triads retake Madd Dogg's mansion after he is shot in the head by a Vagos member.

Guppy was voiced by Richard Chang.

Dwayne and Jethro

Introduced in: "Wear Flowers in Your Hair"

Dwayne (previously spelled as Dwaine) and Jethro are close associates who previously lived in Vice City, where they owned a boating business until it was purchased by Tommy Vercetti. This is referenced when The Truth says "...there's these two guys I know—used to work on marine engines, 'til the mob bought their business over in Vice." At the time of their introduction in San Andreas, Jethro is working at the Xoomer Gas Station in San Fierro, while Dwayne runs a hot dog van business nearby. Both men accepted the job to once again become mechanics and help out at CJ's garage. They are known to smoke marijuana and are closely linked to The Truth.

Dwaine was voiced by Navid Khonsari; Jethro was voiced by John Zurhellen.

See also: GTA: Vice City rendition

Johnny Sindacco

Introduced in: "Fender Ketchup"

Dies in: "The Meat Business"

Johnny Sindacco is a high-ranking member of the Sindacco family of the Mafia and son of Paulie Sindacco (who is unnamed in this game, but is implied to assume an honorable and top ranking position in the organization, circa 1992).^[1] His organization has turf in Liberty City and Las Venturas. When CJ first arrives in Las Venturas to Woozie's newly opened casino, Johnny has been caught smashing up some of the slot machines. As Woozie's men are about to "get rid of" Johnny, CJ intervenes and has Johnny tied to the hood of a car stomach down, facing the front windscreen. CJ then drives the car around the city dangerously in order to scare Johnny into telling him which Mafia family he's with.

Having been traumatized by the experience, Johnny spends time recovering in the hospital. At one point, some Forelli thugs highjack Johnny's ambulance in order to kill him. As CJ is helping Ken Rosenberg to prevent a war between the Leones, the Forellis, and the Sindacco family, CJ highjacks the ambulance back from the Forelli thugs and drives Johnny back to safety. However, when CJ later accompanies Ken to a meeting with Johnny, Johnny recognizes CJ, and having not fully recovered from his trauma, dies from a shock-induced heart attack.

Johnny Sindacco was voiced by Casey Siemaszko.

Jimmy Silverman

Introduced in: "Cut Throat Business"

CJ and Madd Dogg meet Jimmy Silverman after chasing OG Loc through Los Santos in an attempt to recover Madd Dogg's rhymes. OG Loc flees into an apartment, followed by CJ and Madd Dogg, where they meet Silverman, who offers to sue OG Loc for them.

Jimmy Silverman was voiced by Gary Yudman.

Freddy

Introduced/Killed in: "OG Loc"

Freddy is a former cellmate of Jeffrey "OG Loc" Cross,and a member of the Los Santos Vagos.The game suggests that while in prison, Freddy engaged in homosexual activities with OG Loc and also stole his "rhymes" (though Freddy claims ignorance as to what this accusation meant: he implies that the only reason Loc wanted him dead was to cover up the activities they engaged in together.) Freddy is killed by CJ after a motorcycle chase. Freddy is referred to by OG Loc as a Cholo,suggesting he is of Mexican descent.

Tony

Introduced in: "Intensive Care"

Tony is a talking parrot that serves as a companion of Ken Rosenberg. The bird's role in the game is considerably trivial, appearing only a few times as a minor comic relief as Ken nervously resides in Las Venturas. The parrot utters, among others, Mafia slang terms and foul language, as well as a quote from Tony Montana in the 1983 Scarface film (the parrot also shares the same first name as Montana).

Maria Latore

Introduced in: "Freefall"

Maria Latore (also referred to as Maria La Torra by several sources, including the voice-over credits in the San Andreas game manual) is a waitress in the Caligula's Palace casino. Appearing briefly during Don Salvatore Leone's presence in Las Venturas, she would be seen beginning to establish a closer relationship with the Don, which explains the origins of her ties with him in GTA III and GTA:LCS.

Maria La Torra was voiced by Debi Mazar.

See also: GTA III rendition & GTA: Liberty City Stories rendition

Millie Perkins

Introduced in: "Key to Her Heart"

Can be killed in: "First Date"

Millie Perkins is a card dealer at the mob-run Caligula's Palace casino. She becomes CJ's second (story-line) girlfriend when CJ seduces her in order to get her keycard to facilitate his robbery of Caligula's Palace. Millie is fond of BDSM. Millie drives a Pink Club and her number plate reads SPANK.

Millie Perkins was voiced by Orfeh.

Candy Suxxx

Although Candy does not appear in the game, she can be heard on the "Crazy Cock" ad and can also be seen in Las Venturas on a billboard of one of the casinos resembling The Mint Las Vegas hotel & casino billboard.

References

she also appears on a poster in few safe house.

See also

• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack, for radio disc jockeys and personalities.

External links

• GTASanAn.com listing of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas characters
• Characters in GTA San Andreas article on Grand Theft Wiki