15 Most Savage Grand Theft Auto Villains

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I'm sure many of you out there have either heard of or have played one of the games in the long line of this unique series. The Grand Theft Auto series is a very special sequence of games. Each game has its own unique story, time frame, and location, and yet each one is extremely captivating in its own right. There is something exhilarating about being able to blow things up, beat someone to death with a crowbar, or just straight up steal someone's car and rendezvous around town for a while. While all that is fun and games, the real heart of the action comes from the story and characters of each game. The real stars, the ones we will always remember, are definitely the villains of each perspective game. Every game has someone different we have to deal with, some more obnoxious than others, and some are just totally fascinating and we wish that we could actually play those characters.

Today, we're going to look at the top 15 villains from the Grand Theft Auto series. Each individual villain is someone who is out for blood, out to get revenge, or just wants to murder and cause total destruction. Out of all the villains, some are definitely more deadly than others, and all of them have their place. If you're one of those hardcore players who has played through many of these games, then you will remember a lot of these faces in this article. Of course, among this list today are some villains that we just can't help but utterly hate. Let's dig in!

Steve Haines (GTA 5)

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Ah, good ol' Steve Haines. He's the ultimate douche bag and biggest lowlife in the FIB, the ultimate corrupt side of the law. He's not only extremely manipulative, but also enjoys causing sadistic pain and torture just to extract the information he's looking for, and whatever else suits his personal needs. You want to talk about corrupt? Look no further. While not a total super evil villain archetype, Steven Haines is just an outright jerk. A true sociopath and a narcissist, Steve will ultimately stop at nothing to get what he wants. The thing about Haines is that he is the total embodiment of the kind of character that nobody likes. He's just a guy that you really want to punch in the face for the things he says and does throughout the game.

Devin Weston (GTA 5)

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Devin is just your old, average evil billionaire villain. He's a man with a lot of power and money, and he has his hands in several big criminal organizations throughout the entire game. He primarily enlists the hero to help him steal several rare cars throughout the game for his own pleasure. However, somewhere along the way things end up turning south and he tries to have you killed, all because of a misunderstanding that happened with murdering his assistant by accident. Long story short, he's definitely much more dangerous than Steve Haines. When you look at all the villains throughout this series, he's definitely the more stereotypical super rich evil villain that likes to run things only to have them turn sour in the end.

Frank Tenpenny (GTA San Andreas)

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Here is another corrupt officer of the law, which seems to be an ongoing theme throughout the entire series of games. Just like some of the aforementioned villains, Frank just so happens to be the main antagonist of the game. His hands are in several different shenanigans throughout the game, and he is an extremely sadistic and violent person. Heartless and cold, he controls with an iron fist and is drunk off his own power. Not only does he force CJ to do things for him under the guise of control, but he's also responsible for CJ's mothers death. To make matters worse, he uses his police privileges to regularly terrorize and control other gangs, as if he is his own gang. To make things a little more interesting, the character in the game is actually voiced by Samuel L. Jackson!

Vladimir Glebov (GTA 4)

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Vlad is actually the first real villain you run into in Grand Theft Auto 4, and he keeps you busy through the first half of the game. Vlad ends up forcing Nikko (The Main Character) to pay off the debts that Roman (Cousin) had accrued over time. All in all, Vlad is just a total arrogant and cocky jerk who is manipulative like the other villains, and will gladly use and take advantage of individuals as long as he gets what he wants out of it in the end. Of course, he's not the most evil villain in the whole series but personally, I find him to be one of the most annoying. One of the many favorite parts of the game for us all is when Vlad finally gets what's coming to him: a bullet put right into his forehead. Good riddance!

Sonny Forelli (GTA Vice City)

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You may remember this guy from the good ol' days of Vice City. Sonny Forelli is an arrogant, mean crook to say the least. He betrayed Vercetti and caused him to serve time for 15 years. Prior to the timing of the game, Sonny actually ended up befriending and being a boss to long-time fellow mobster, Tommy Vercetti. It was shortly after this that he used Tommy as his personal hitman. However, due to Tommy's growing reputation and power within Liberty City and the crime groups around and in it, it was then that Sonny sought to remove his fellow mobster out of jealousy and bitterness. He's heavily involved in the illegal drug trade, gambling, the works. Standing as one of the main antagonists of Vice City, Sonny is the Don of the Forelli Mob Family who runs Vice City.

Don Percival (GTA 5)

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The thing going on with Don is that even though he's not a huge part of GTA 5, his very existence is very important to the game's story, considering he's the founder of the in-game company Merryweather Security. He's essentially one of those characters that plays an important bad guy role while not actually ever really being "on screen." He's too big of a hot shot to be meddling in physical drug trades and crime affairs directly. Percival begins to become very upset at Michael, as well as Trevor, for interfering with his business by stealing necessary cargo that his private military was guarding. It's all fun and games though, right? Oh, and once the game ends, you get a lovely threatening message from the guy thanking you, as well as warning you to never mess with him again!

Mikhail Faustin (GTA 4)

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Mikhail is pretty much the main bad guy in Grand Theft Auto 4. He was born and raised in the Russian Soviet Union, and at one point he served in the military for quite some time, where he ended up meeting Dimitri. Because of his excessive use of cocaine and alcohol, he's known to be increasingly violent to not only those around him, but his daughter and family as well. He ends up bringing on his own demise by calling for the death of Lenny Petrovic, Liberty City's most powerful Russian mob leader's son. This is simply due to him believing that Lenny had snitched on him. An all-out war breaks out between the two Russian crime factions, and after some time, Mikhail finally meets his end with a bullet, and he falls off the top of a building.

Ricardo Diaz (GTA Vice City)

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Diaz is one bad dude, and he is the drug baron of Liberty City. He is extremely short-tempered, quick to get violent, and he holds a magnum revolver as his go-to. He is a total avid gun collector and an extremely dangerous individual. He wreaks total havoc in Grand Theft Auto Vice City. He has his own drug cartel, and is essentially a criminal mastermind who loves to steal from other criminal families and organizations. He just likes to make things messy. It was Ricardo who had Lance Vance's brother killed. He himself is an actual convicted murderer of at least 18 people. Fun fact: In the beta version of Vice City, his original name was Fernando, but was later changed to Ricardo for the final release of the game.

Dimitri Rascalov (GTA 4)

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Don't be fooled by his younger, less intimidating features. He serves as one of the main antagonists of the game. Dimitri is the head of the Russian Mafia in Grand Theft Auto 4, and will gladly torture, extort, cause severe pain, or do whatever he needs to do to get information. Did I mention he's quite good at what he does? He is a tricky one, and he often partners up with several different mob groups. He then later betrays each one, all while making several attempts to kill off Niko for good. Irony is funny; Dimitri is actually later on killed in the game by Niko himself. It seems that after all those attempts to try to take his life, he was the one who wound up dead.

Salvatore Leone (GTA 3, GTA Liberty City Stories, GTA San Andreas)

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Salvatore's primary role is employing the main character of Grand Theft Auto 3 throughout several missions to engage the Triads, and other enemy criminal organizations. Later on in the story when you first meet Salvatore, you pretty much just do nothing for him but his dirty work. After all, that's pretty much all you ever do in these games. Now, he may be old and all, but he is the Don of a mob within the game. He's not a super bad villain in comparison to the other villains on the list, but he does appear in several other games in the series, such as Liberty City Stores and San Andreas. I wish Grand Theft Auto would have more of the same villains appear throughout their games. However, the only problem is that many of them end up getting killed as you progress in the games.

James "Jimmy" Pegorino (GTA 4)

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For being the other main antagonist of Grand Theft Auto 4, Jimmy is sure looked down upon by the other crime organizations within Liberty City. Being an evil mob boss, he has his own problems with other crime families within the city. He ends up killing Niko's girlfriend by gunning several random people down. Once you reach the end of the game, you will get the ultimate chance to either reap revenge on him or show him mercy. Whatever option you end up choosing determines if he lives or dies and how the game actually ends up ending. Most of us just love to choose the revenge option, just so we can see Niko put a bullet into his annoying skull.

Wei Cheng (GTA 5)

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Wei Cheng stands tall as the leader of the Liberty City Triads, who all have their hands deep in gun running and the meth trade. He is much more level-headed and calmer than his other villainous counterparts throughout the series. His son Tao also plays an important role within the story arc of the game. His main interest in the game is assassinating Trevor for severely disrupting his plans of expanding his triad empire. He is definitely one of the more agile villains that actually think things out strategically rather than acting right away on pure violent instinct. That gives him an edge to his personality. Again, he is another villain that, depending on the actual ending you choose throughout the story, either lives or dies. The ending that features his death also includes his son's death as well.

Kazuki Kasen (GTA Liberty City Stories)

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After marrying his wife Toshiko, just so he could become the highest member and leader of the Yakuza, Kazuki Kasen sought out to increase his gang's standing in the city. In order to keep up with the other gangs and criminal organizations, the Yakuza had purchased a casino. It isn't until later on in the game, when Toni Cipriani destroys much of his casino, killing many of his men and challenging Kasen himself to a sword duel, that Kasen ends up perishing from the sword duel. Upon learning of his demise, Toshiko, Kazuki's wife, ends up taking her own life out of grief. This then causes Kazuki's siblings to take over his position in the Yakuza. Fun fact: The voice actor of Kasen has appeared on the hit television series Law & Order.

Big Smoke (GTA San Andreas)

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Big Smoke is the most powerful criminal in the entire Los Santos area, or at least he becomes this as the game progresses. Big Smoke, or otherwise known as Melvin Harris, was one of the highest-ranking members of the Grove Street Families at one point. After several different affairs with other crime investigations, he begins to build his crime reputation more and more throughout Los Santos. His biggest desire is to be remembered after his death. After reaching the end of the line campaign, Smoke ultimately meets his demise by Carl in a shoot-out. Before his death, he expresses his remorse for the things he has done and explains how he got caught up in the money and power he obtained through his affairs with several crime organizations.

Catalina (GTA 3)

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You might remember Catalina from Grand Theft Auto 3; you know, the one that works alongside the Cartel. She actually ends up hooking up with Claude and later on is engaged in several different bank robberies before she ends up settling in Liberty City. It wasn't until she moved to Liberty City full-time that she continued to work with the Cartel and become a full-time criminal. However, this was all long after she ended up betraying Claude. What more could you expect though? Catalina is involved in the Cartel for a reason. She's absolutely psychotic, extremely violent, and has deserved her name on this list for many good reasons. She's the type to never once be hesitant about shooting any civilians or police that happen to get in her way.