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10 Roman Lies To Him

The game starts out with Niko arriving in Liberty City to start a new life. His cousin Roman convinced him to come by, claiming that he had forged a successful life in the American metropolis. Upon entering Roman’s apartment, Niko realizes it was all a farce. Roman owned a cab company, but he was hardly rolling in the dough. This upsets Niko, but really: what other choice did the protagonist have? In his home country all he did was work for criminals. Regardless of whether or not his cousin was rich, moving to Liberty City was probably the only option.

9 Meeting Vlad

Vladimir Glebov is the first villain players come across in the game. Compared to what Niko faces later in the story, he’s small fry. Their paths crossing is a bad omen signaling that Niko won’t be able to live an honest life in Liberty City after all. His cousin owes Vlad money, and Niko is forced to work for the Russian gangster. Eventually, Niko hunts him down after Roman discovers his girlfriend had an affair with him so that he would forgive Roman’s debts.

8 Constantly Forced To Make Tough Decisions

This was the first GTA to let players make important decisions regarding the plot. Usually, these involved the option of whether or not to ice someone or choosing one of two people to assassinate. While most characters fall into a moral grey area, the decision is rarely an easy one.

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The character often chooses between money and loyalty, or between cold-blooded revenge and making peace with one’s self in a different way. Sometimes, the decision hurts people close to him, and the worst part is no matter what choice he makes, someone he cares for will lose their life.

7 Betrayed By Dimitri

Dimitri Rascalov seemed like a friendly face at first. He helps out Niko when the character is forced to work for Mikhail Faustin, his unhinged friend and colleague. However, after Faustin is killed, Dimitri’s true intentions come to light: he simply wanted his best friend out of the picture and used Niko to get the job done. Once that was settled, he turned Niko over to an old Acquaintance who had wanted the character’s head on a platter for years. Niko escaped, but made a serious enemy who would hunt him down for the rest of the game.

6 Accused Of Stealing From An Employer

Ray Bulgarin employed Niko in the past in the human trafficking trade. Niko left the trade after a ship he was on sank, along with everyone else on board. Niko was the only survivor, and Bulgarin accused him of stealing. This false finger-pointing was the impetus to him leaving the organized crime world and coming the Liberty City. The two eventually meet again during the course of the game. Niko’s dark criminal past can’t help but make one feel like he deserved much of his misfortune.

5 Karen Daniels

While in Liberty City, Niko meets a nice young woman named Michelle. Roman’s girlfriend Mallorie introduces the two and they start going out. Things seem fairly serious until she reveals her true identity. Not only is she an undercover agent for the International Affairs Agency, but her real name is Karen Daniels. Then again, she might be so deep undercover that not even Karen is her true name. It clearly pained Karen to betray Niko, but it didn’t make it sting any less for the protagonist.

4 He Was A Veteran of The Yugoslav Wars

Niko is a veteran of the Yugoslav Wars, a ten-year conflict in the Balkans from 1991 to 2001 between the republics that made up Yugoslavia. Like most wars, it is too complicated to sum up in a pop culture article, but it was filled with heinous crimes and ethnic cleansing, with a total death toll totaling more than one hundred thousand people.

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After being a part of that conflict, it’s easier to understand where Niko gets his grim outlook on life. Few people would come out of such a violent period in their country’s history normal and well-adjusted.

3 Betrayed By His Comrade In The War

As much as Niko wants a normal life, one of his reasons for coming to Liberty City was vengeance. While in the army, his unit was ambushed. Other than him, only two other people survived. He knows one of the other survivors betrayed the unit, and he came to find him. By the end of the game, he finally tracks down Darko Brevic. As if such a deadly betrayal couldn’t get any worse, Brevic confesses that he gave away the information for a measly thousand dollars. The lives of fifteen men exchanged for some drug money.

2 His Aunt Is Murdered

Roman’s mother paid for her son to go to the US and start a new life. Niko didn’t have the same fortune, and stayed in his native land. One day during the war, Niko found his aunt dead at the hands of unknown assailants. Niko never revealed the truth to Roman, instead saying she succumbed to a fire. Little else is known about her, but she raised Niko together with Roman, making the tragedy akin to losing a mother. Niko may be a bad dude, but his entire life marred with woe even from youth.

1 Either His Girlfriend Or Cousin Dies

Before the end, Niko must choose whether to deal with the traitorous Dimitri, or take him out. If he chooses the former, Roman will later be killed. Choosing the latter will have Kate losing her life. Before making his choice, Niko consults with both Kate and Roman. Kate’s advice leads to her getting iced, and Roman’s advice leads to his demise. It’s almost like they sign their own death warrants. Niko arguably deserves punishment for his actions, but this was cruel and unusual.

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