5 Grand Theft Auto Characters Who Could Return In GTA 6

The release date of "Grand Theft Auto VI" is finally drawing near, which means that fans of Rockstar Games' long-running prestige franchise will soon have plenty of new characters to obsess over. Of course, in "GTA VI," we will almost certainly revisit some of the familiar characters from previous installments in the series. After all, "GTA V" featured plenty of nods to characters who had already appeared in previous games.

SVG has all the info you need to know about "GTA VI," but that's not all — we can also make educated guesses about the content no one knows about quite yet, based on the history of the franchise. As it happens, it's a perfect time to start speculating on just which familiar characters will turn up on the streets and shady corners of Vice City this time around. To this end, we've taken a look at the franchise and determined the five GTA characters who are most likely to make a comeback in "GTA 6."

Patrick "Packie" McReary has made his presence not only welcome, but practically a requirement. After the young McReary family member made his debut in "Grand Theft Auto IV," he's turned up in "The Lost and Damned," "The Ballad of Gay Tony," "GTA V," and "GTA Online" in some capacity. As such, he's already an established presence, and out of all "GTA IV"-era characters, he's the one whose appearance in "GTA VI" would arguably make the most sense given his track record.

Packie is a career criminal who's known to move around quite a lot, as his appearances in the various GTA games prove. His profession as a gun for hire in various heists would make him a fairly obvious callback character, and since Niko Bellic himself seems like an unlikely guy to show up in Leonida, it would be natural for his Irish mobster friend to represent the Bellic era of GTA gaming.

As a character, Packie has plenty of potential, too. He puts up a notable hard man front, but several moments in "GTA IV" show what a sensitive soul he secretly is. As such, Packie is a character with plenty of room for development, and Leonida might just be the place for him to fully embrace whatever he's made of himself since his last major role in the franchise. After several turns as a cameo figure and a comparatively unimportant heist member, we'd say it's high time for Packie to step back into a brighter spotlight.

Sure, Tracey De Santa might be among the least likeable members of the De Santa family — which, honestly, is an achievement in itself. But with equal honesty, ask yourself who else in the cast of "Grand Theft Auto V" screams "Florida" (well, Leonida) more than her?

By head count alone, the De Santa family is far and away the most likely "GTA V" protagonist posse to make some sort of appearance in "GTA VI." Of them, Michael's probably not going to leave his cozy studio gig, "GTA Online" confirms that Amanda is still married to him, and Jimmy is out of the house and working as a glorified arcade janitor. Meanwhile, Tracey has also moved out from the De Santa household, but little is known of her, apart from her getting a whole T-shirt franchise through mysterious means that may or may not have something to do with dad's money.

Since Tracey is presumably a trust fund kid who's not around Los Santos anymore, she's liable to lounge around somewhere else, likely with dreams of fame. Since Liberty City's weather really doesn't seem like her jam, she might have relocated to Leonida. She would be a fun link to the previous game without having a guy like Michael suck up all the air from the room — and she's also a character with plenty of opportunity for expansion.

There's a possibility that Rockstar Studios has quietly retired Tommy Vercetti after the death of his voice actor, Ray Liotta. As such, any news of his potential presence in "Grand Theft Auto VI" should probably be taken with a grain of salt until it's confirmed. Even so, if we're talking about the character and not the behind-the-scenes events that may or may not influence his in-game fate, there's no other GTA protagonist whose presence in "GTA VI" would make more sense.

As the main character of "GTA: Vice City," Tommy is central to the setting of "GTA VI." Post-"Vice City" references indicate that he has been an extremely big shot in the area's criminal circles since the mid-1980s, potentially retaining an influential position into the 2000s. Since the character was born in the early 1950s, he would be an old man in "GTA VI," which would offer the game a delicious opportunity to bring back a former protagonist as a seasoned Leonida crime lord. Provided that the character is still on Rockstar's radar in any way, an elderly Tommy could feasibly play a sizable role in the "GTA VI" narrative — as a posthumous nod to Liotta, if nothing else.

Speaking of Grand Theft Auto protagonists whose fates are shrouded in secrecy, Carl "CJ" Johnson would like to have the floor. We know what he's up to in "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," and we definitely know that the game's ending puts him in a position that is fairly secure and extremely wealthy. What's more, CJ holds sway in multiple locations in the GTA universe, thanks to his various business interests. This potentially puts him in a similar elder statesman position as Tommy Vercetti — though CJ might be on far better terms with the law, thanks to his businesses giving him the opportunity to at least appear legitimate.

Near the end of "San Andreas," it's implied that CJ may embrace a globetrotting music industry big shot lifestyle thanks to his association with rapper Madd Dogg and the band Gurning Chimps. On top of that, he owns a casino and a number of other assets in various cities. While this is more than enough to offer CJ a chance to go fully legit, it also makes him prominent enough to potentially turn up in one capacity or another. 

CJ is born in 1968, which would mean that he's in his mid-to-late 50s during the events of "GTA VI." This puts him in prime position to turn up as a businessman or mogul character of some sort, thus finally providing fans with an update of his actions over the last few decades.

After the events of "Grand Theft Auto V," Trevor Philips has become a shadow and a boogeyman. The once omnipresent player character has all but disappeared into a sea of mentions and Easter eggs in "GTA Online." He seems to have vacated Sandy Shores, and may or may not be operating as a guru of some sort. Whatever he's doing, dialogue hints here and there confirm that he's definitely still just as unhinged as he was back in the day. 

That's actually a great thing for fans who miss the chaotic villain protagonist. After the events of "GTA V," Trevor remains a wild card and someone who will do whatever he pleases — but now with a bigger budget than ever before. That's the kind of chaos that virtually screams "Vice City." Trevor and Leonida seem like a match made in heaven, after all.

Of course, there's the small matter of whether Stephen Ogg would return to voice the character. The Trevor actor has presented a tragic idea for "GTA VI," proposing that his character would appear early on, only to be quickly killed off — just like Trevor himself does to "GTA IV: The Lost and Damned" protagonist Johnny Klebitz in "GTA V." As such, if Trevor does turn up, it might be the character's final and rather violent rodeo. Failing that, who knows? Ogg might agree to return in a larger capacity, or we might simply see Trevor skulking around in some sort of recurring background parody of the "Florida Man" trope.