Who is who in the cast, how the three-protagonist structure works and which characters carry over into GTA Online.
Who are the three protagonists of GTA 5?+
Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton and Trevor Philips. The story switches between them, and each has a unique special ability.
Which characters are in this database?+
The main cast, antagonists, stranger and freak characters, and the key GTA Online contacts, each with their role and voice actor.
Do characters from GTA 5 appear in GTA Online?+
Yes. Lamar, Lester, Trevor, Franklin and others give jobs or appear in updates across GTA Online.
How does switching between Michael, Franklin and Trevor work?+
GTA 5 lets you swap between the three leads almost any time you are not in a mission, using the character wheel. Each one has his own home, cars, weapons, money and a special ability: Michael slows time in gunfights, Franklin slows time while driving and Trevor takes less damage and deals more while his ability is active.
The story hands you missions for whichever character is involved, and some missions let you switch between two or three of them mid-mission. Outside missions, the switch also drops you into a short scene of whatever that character was up to, which is where a lot of the game's humor lives.
Who are the Strangers and Freaks?+
They are the side characters marked with a question mark on the map, each with a short chain of missions for a specific protagonist. Barry the legalization activist, Beverly the paparazzo, Dom the base jumper, Maude the bail bondswoman, Nigel and Mrs. Thornhill the obsessed fans, Omega the alien hunter and the Epsilon Program's Cris Formage are all in this database.
Their missions range from silly to genuinely long, and several unlock collectible hunts or activities covered elsewhere on this site. Some are required for 100% completion, which each character page notes.
Which GTA 5 characters appear in GTA Online?+
Plenty. Lester plans the heists and sells the classic heist prep. Lamar hands out early jobs and later runs the Lowrider missions. Simeon and Gerald are among the first contacts a new player meets. Trevor runs the Series A Funding heist, Ron turns up in the Smuggler's Run hangar missions, Franklin and Lamar return in The Contract, and Martin Madrazo hands out contact missions.
GTA Online also adds its own cast: Pavel, Agatha Baker, English Dave, Miguel Madrazo, Georgina Cheng, Avon Hertz and others. Those characters are in this database too, marked with their GTA Online role.
Are the voice actors real people or the real names of the characters?+
The voice actor listed on each page is the real person who performed the role, such as Ned Luke as Michael, Shawn Fonteno as Franklin and Steven Ogg as Trevor. Rockstar's main cast also did motion capture for their characters, which is why the performances feel so specific.
Where a page says the voice actor is not disclosed, Rockstar has not credited the role publicly and the name is left blank rather than guessed.
How much of the story do the character pages give away?+
The pages describe each character's role, affiliation and personality and the part of the story they belong to, but they stop short of the big reveals. Brad's fate, the details of Michael's deal and the three endings are left for you to play.
If you have finished the game and want the full picture, the mission pages in the story missions database cover the plot in order, still with the ending choices handled carefully.
