5 GTA Characters Who Deserved Better Endings

Every game in the "Grand Theft Auto" series is a sprawling saga of underworld villains, white collar criminals, crooked lawmen, and anyone else seeking their own twisted version of The American Dream and committing horrific crimes to achieve their goals. Some characters appear in multiple games, while others are one-and-done, even if they don't die during their debut title.

Over the decades, there have been some "Grand Theft Auto" characters who didn't get a proper ending. The so-called '3D Universe' of titles, from "GTA III" through to "Vice City Stories," is effectively over, thanks to the dawn of the current "HD Era," which began with "GTA IV," offering a fresh start for the series. Sadly, that means characters from the 3D era who didn't get a satisfactory ending are unlikely to pop up again in the upcoming "Grand Theft Auto VI." Still, there's always a chance that Rockstar Games could reverse course and allow stories from the old games to continue in the modern era.

Here, we're looking at five characters who deserved better endings. Some of them were killed off unceremoniously, while others just disappeared from the story after their mission chain was complete. In any case, they should have received more dramatic send-offs than what they ultimately got. Oh, and beware of spoilers from across the "GTA" series.

"Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" begins with protagonist Tommy Vercetti barely surviving a classic drug-deal-gone-wrong that gets ambushed by the cops. He and Lance Vance barely escape with their lives, and it's revealed that the would-be seller was Vance's brother, who is unnamed through the whole game.

The PSP prequel title, "Vice City Stories," tells the story of Vic Vance and also introduces another Vance brother, Pete, who never makes an onscreen appearance. Seems like a perfect loophole to allow for Vic to have survived, right? Nope. Rockstar confirmed in an interview that it was Vic who was killed in the intro to "Vice City," at least insofar as interviews can be taken as canon.

The death of Vic Vance calls to mind another late "GTA" protagonist, Johnny Klebitz from "The Lost and Damned," who kicked his drug habit and rode off into the sunset, only to reappear in "GTA V." A strung-out, hollowed-out shell of his former self, Johnny is brutally killed off by new protagonist Trevor Phillips in an unforgettable character-establishing moment. A common theme across Rockstar's history of games is that you can't live the life of a "GTA" character and then just walk away. The past always catches up with you. Johnny tried to get clean and go straight, and it didn't work out. Apparently, the same sad fate befell Vic Vance decades earlier.

During the opening hours of "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," one of protagonist CJ's trusted allies is Ryder, a member of the Grove Street Families gang. He's most notable for smoking a particularly strong marijuana strain he calls "water" and for constantly calling CJ a "buster."

However, during a relatively early twist, it's revealed that Ryder and Big Smoke are traitors, they killed CJ's mother before the events of the game, and they've been working with the cops and the rival gang, the Ballas, to take over the city of Los Santos. Naturally, CJ doesn't take too kindly to this and ultimately takes down Ryder during the mission "Pier 69." 

Curiously, Ryder's dialogue during this mission is nondescript, and there's no fallout or acknowledgement of Ryder's death from Big Smoke. Later on, Smoke is mentioned as being the traitor, with no reference made to Ryder. This has led to speculation from fans that Ryder being a traitor was a late addition to the game. Perhaps he was supposed to disappear from the narrative entirely after the initial Los Santos portion of the adventure, and then someone got the idea of bringing him back as a minor boss. In any event, Ryder's characterization feels truncated and unfinished, which is a shame for a character who was so instantly memorable in the early game.

In "Grand Theft Auto III," after being marked for death by the Italian mob, protagonist Claude flees the Portland region for Staunton Island, where his main ally is Asuka, a big boss in the Japanese Yakuza. Unfortunately, she's killed off (or perhaps just knocked out) during the endgame by the main villainess of the story, Catalina, who kidnaps Maria, thus setting up the grand finale.

It's an underwhelming ending for the character, who isn't even killed onscreen. And Claude, being a silent protagonist, doesn't mourn her or offer any final words of eulogy. Claude winds up taking a mission to kill Asuka's brother, Kenji, framing the Colombian Cartel for the crime, and then working with Asuka against said Cartel. She never learns the truth. Her story feels like one that was half-written with no ending, so they decided to just kill her off with absolutely no fanfare or dramatic payoff in order to race towards the ending.

As a woman leading the Yakuza in Liberty City, there was a lot of room to further develop Asuka's character, but her only other appearance in the whole series was in the little-known "Grand Theft Auto Advance" for, you guessed it, Game Boy Advance, where she serves as an ally to protagonist Mike during his misadventures in Liberty City, which took place a year before the events of "GTA III."

Now we come to the only character on this list from the "HD" era of "Grand Theft Auto." Martin Madrazo was introduced in "Grand Theft Auto V" as a villain of sorts, a wealthy businessman and cartel kingpin. When Michael gets on his bad side after destroying his house (long story), the whole trio of protagonists find themselves in debt to the ruthless criminal mastermind.

Alas, once Michael and his pals have satisfied their debt to Madrazo, he all but disappears from the story. Even the awkward/absurd love story between Trevor and Madrazo's wife ends with a whimper instead of a bang. You'd think the trio would team up to take down Madrazo and take over his criminal business empire, but nope, they just agree to let bygones be bygones and move on with their lives. Perhaps he was supposed to return in supposed single-player DLC for "GTA V" that was never produced in lieu of more expansions for "GTA Online."

Speaking of which, Madrazo returned in "Grand Theft Auto Online" as a mission giver, but there's little in the way of meaningful storytelling in "GTA Online," so his role could have been played by any character. However, given his prominence in both "GTA V" the online game, I'd say there's a high chance we'll see Madrazo in "Grand Theft Auto VI." But will he get the bullet in the head he deserves, or will he evade righteous retribution yet again?

Finally, we come to one of the most popular and mysterious characters in the history of "GTA," Donald Love. A media mogul with political and criminal connections, Donald Love is the most prominent public figure featured in "Grand Theft Auto III," but we also don't get a lot of context for his relationship with the rest of the city. He's mysterious and doesn't see Claude as an equal but a tool to send on missions. In the end, Love leaves the game with his buddy, who is only ever identified as "the old oriental gentleman."

In terms of narrative, "GTA III" is both the first-released and chronologically final entry in the 3D Universe of games, which allowed for Love's subsequent appearances to flesh out his backstory a bit. In "Vice City," he appears as a young disciple to Avery Carrington, a real estate magnate played by Burt Reynolds, though Love has no lines during his brief cameo. His final proper appearance was in "Liberty City Stories," where he plays a large role in the story and we get to learn the true extent of his depravity. Over the course of the game, Love is revealed to be a cannibal who will hire a madman to destroy an entire neighborhood to manipulate the real estate market.

With that in mind, here's a totally unrelated fact: Donald Love is inspired by Donald Trump, a real estate businessman known for burying his first wife on his golf course and racking up no fewer than 34 felony convictions. I know the 3D Universe is a separate continuity from the modern HD games, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Donald Love popped up again in "GTA VI" as President of the United States.