Let's return to Liberty City, Vice City, and Los Santos and discuss how evil each GTA protagonist is. We'll expose their evilness through betrayal, moral degradation, ambition, and heartless choices in addition to heisting.
We'll see who's the GTA protagonist interested only in surviving, and others who enjoy chaos because they think it's thrilling and right. Which hero’s a saint? Which one’s a psychopath disguised as a hero? Let's find out.
GTA Protagonists Ranked by How Evil They Are – Mild to Worst
Here are the GTA protagonists ranked based on how evil they are from various sources and players' descriptions:
1. Niko Bellic (GTA IV) - Low-Mid
Niko Bellic was born into brutality: rejecting a life with an abusive father and growing up during the Yugoslav Wars, he joins the violence, infantry, tanks, and helicopters, witnessing unnecessary slaughter. Following an ambush in which twelve members of his unit are murdered, he goes away troubled, sure that they were betrayed.
He comes to Liberty City chasing a mix of fresh start and revenge, but instead ends up pulled into crime just to survive, everything from dirty jobs for mobsters to contract killings. Even in the middle of what happened to him, he felt bad, regretted what he had done, and wondered if he could have done it the other way.
He isn't entirely evil, as he still has a conscience, by hesitating sometimes when he's about to kill innocent ones. His war past doesn’t just justify the violence; it haunts him, shapes his moral code, and makes him question whether there’s such a thing as a clean break.
2. Carl “CJ” Johnson (GTA San Andreas) - Low-Mid
CJ comes back to Los Santos after being away in Liberty City when his mom is killed in a drive-by shooting. Los Santos became a dumpster fire in his absence: Grove Street Families are losing territory, rival gangs are pushing in, his brother Sweet’s trying to hold things together, but the hood’s fractured. CJ steps in not just for the gang, but for family, for community, and to figure out what really happened to his mom.
Even though CJ is doing a lot of serious criminal activities like stealing, drug dealing, and gang wars, those acts tend to come as reactions, defenses, or for survival, not because he’s chasing chaos. He is loyal and wants to protect his siblings, Kendl and Sweet. He helps his neighborhood, forms alliances when he can, and rebuilds Groove Street, but he is not perfect. When he is betrayed, he won't hesitate to strike harder, like when he was betrayed by Big Smoke and Ryder.
3. Tommy Vercetti (GTA Vice City) - Mild
Tommy Vercetti starts as a made man with the Forelli mafia in Liberty City, serving 15 years for killing eleven men in a setup ambush. When he gets released, Sonny Forelli sends him to Vice City to oversee a big drug deal, but things blow up, literally and figuratively.
The deal’s ambushed, the goods and money are gone, so Tommy has to claw his way through the city’s mess of crooked cops, rival gangs, double-crossers, and crooked real-estate fronts just to get even.
But Tommy isn’t just chaos for chaos’s sake. He builds his empire smart: taking over businesses, protection rings, picking alliances (and picking enemies), always keeping one eye on profit and power. He does kill without hesitation, especially when betrayed or threatened.
Sonny, Lance Vance, and Ricardo Diaz all end up dead in his rise. That said, he seems to hold to a code: loyalty (until it’s broken), respect (for some), style, order; he doesn’t just kill innocents at random just because he can. His evil is ruthless ambition, not random sadism.
4. Michael De Santa (GTA V) - Mid-High
Michael was once Michael Townley, a hardened bank robber, partner of Trevor, doing big scores. He faked his death via a deal with corrupt FIB agent Dave Norton so he could retire, relocate, and try to live a normal family life in Los Santos under witness protection. But that life cracks fast: his marriage is strained, his kids are dysfunctional, and he’s restless. When he gets dragged back into heists with Franklin and Trevor, all his old sins and secrets resurface.
What makes Michael more “evil in a calm way” is how he cheats, lies, and drags people down without necessarily erupting in violence for fun. He schemes, manipulates, betrays (Trevor especially), and justifies it under the banner of protecting his family, securing his legacy, or keeping up appearances.
His rage shows sometimes, like the tennis-instructor incident where he tears down a mansion, but often it's daily cruelty: verbal attacks, emotional neglect, secret deals behind backs. Despite this, Michael does have moments of regret, introspection (therapy, guilt over betrayals), and he tries to stay connected to his good side even if that struggle mostly fails.
5. Franklin Clinton (GTA V) - Mid-High
Franklin Clinton is one of the three protagonists in GTA V. Born and raised in South Los Santos, he grew up surrounded by gangs, poverty, and family loss. His mother died when he was young, his father was absent, and he got pulled into street hustling early.
He tries to do better: at first, he works as a repo man for Simeon Yetarian, pulling cars from those who can’t pay, hustling just enough to stay afloat, hoping for something bigger. That’s where Michael and Trevor pull him in with stories of big scores, respect, and escape from the grind.
Now, Franklin does a lot of illegal stuff: robberies, heists, working with shady people, violence, etc. But he is different, as he often does things out of necessity rather than wanting cruelty. He questions things, hesitates sometimes, and shows loyalty to people like Lamar and Michael. But the darker side is there, when the stakes are high, he’s ready to make hard choices. Like in the ending missions, kill or save your morality, and his, are tested.
6. Toni Cipriani (Liberty City Stories + others) - High
Toni “Antonio” Cipriani is the kind of protagonist who doesn’t just kill when cornered; he kills because it’s part of the plan, or ego, or just to send a message. He returns to Liberty City in Liberty City Stories after being exiled for taking out a made man on Salvatore Leone’s order.
From there, he dives deep into mob politics: working against rival families (Sindacco, Forelli, Sicilian Mafia), sabotaging, betraying, and killing for status. But it’s not always business only; Toni also does some grotesque deeds: when angered, he’s capable of over-the-top violence (e.g., using an axe to butcher Giovanni Casa and mutilate his body) just to show dominance.
What makes Toni disturbingly evil is how far he goes with little hesitation and often with little remorse. One of the worst? The mission Bringing the House Down, where he blows up Fort Staunton, causing massive destruction and affecting lots of innocent people, primarily to further Donald Love’s property schemes. He’s loyal to Salvatore, to the Leone family, but that loyalty is warped: used as justification for betrayal, excessive violence, and terror-style destruction.
7. Trevor Philips (GTA V) - Very High (Worst)
Trevor Philips is the epitome of chaos in GTA V. He was born in Canada and raised in a dysfunctional environment, shaped by violence. He’s a former military pilot turned psychotic criminal mastermind. He runs Trevor Philips Enterprises in Blaine County, dealing in meth, arms, and anarchy.
His character is a mixture of impulsive brutality, psychotic forces, and zero boundaries. Killing, torturing, lying, and betraying, he would go through almost anything; sometimes it is for gain, or sometimes he simply enjoys the travesty, or because he absolutely must, as his instability compels him to.
Trevor's actions are often excessive and unnecessary. His punishments have previously included the sodomization of his sports coach with a hockey stick, killing Johnny Klebitz, and torturing Mr. K. in the most horrific manner imaginable upon the orders of Steve Haines, while practically admitting that it was just for fun. Indeed, he is the most evil of all GTA protagonists!
His kill count is high, and his actions are driven by pure chaos and vendetta, rather than any meaningful strategy. Although his actions are too much, there are instances when Trevor acts truly loyal or affectionate toward individuals he considers close. This should inject a degree of complexity into his character.
That concludes our ranking of GTA protagonists by their level of evilness, bringing fun, chaos, and excitement in all GTA installments.
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