Although the Grand Theft Auto franchise puts the core focus on the playable protagonists, they're actually not always the characters who fans remember the most. It's also not even the main villains who manage to stand out. Instead, it's the slew of supporting characters throughout each installment.
Due to the off-beat humor that the series is known for, these characters can typically be among the funniest in the entire franchise. That makes them memorable regardless of how they impact the plot. Some can be crucial to the story, others are just comic relief, and a handful fall somewhere in the middle.
OG Loc
Jeffrey Cross grew up on Grove Street and first appears in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Though never physically tough enough to join the Grove Street Families, he loved the lifestyle. He went on to start a rap career as OG Loc and gained street cred while in prison.
OG Loc stole Madd Dogg's rhymes to become a star but was chased down and gave them back. While he wasn't a good person, Loc was memorable and had some funny moments. He didn't show up again but his gold record is in Franklin's house in GTA V and he has a star on the Vinewood Walk of Fame.
Brucie Kibbutz
Sometimes, you remember a character because of how obnoxious they are. Brucie's first appearance in Grand Theft Auto IV quickly vaulted him up the ranks as the most annoying character in the history of the franchise. The testosterone-fueled fitness entrepreneur was a lot for people to take in.
Niko Bellic, like the players holding the controller, didn't like him as much as Roman did. Over the years, Brucie returned in The Ballad of Gay Tony and seems to hide his true sexuality in order to appear masculine. He became the spokesperson for Bull Shark Testosterone and still does well from a business standpoint.
Lazlow Jones
In many ways, Lazlow Jones could be considered the voice of Grand Theft Auto. He has been part of the series since Grand Theft Auto III as a radio host for the Chatterbox FM station. Since then, he has continued to show up in nearly every iteration of the game.
Depending on the year where each game takes place, Jones can be found as everything from an intern to a shock jock to having his own network. The character is vain, insecure, and often creepy. Jones eventually actually physically appeared in the series and the real life Jones helps write and produce the games.
Wade Hebert
As a gamer, you simply can't help but feel bad for Wade Hebert. He's a dim-witted character who gets used and treated poorly by Trevor Phillips. Trevor basically tricked Wade into believing that he needed his help to be saved and then abuses him going forward.
Earned or not, Wade is loyal to Trevor and pops up several times throughout Grand Theft Auto V. He can often be found at the Vanilla Unicorn strip club and when Trevor wants to keep him busy and out of the loop, he distracts the guy with non-stop lap dances.
Umberto Robina
Having a character voiced by iconic actor Danny Trejo is cool enough but also basing that character's appearance on Trejo is even better. That's the case with Umberto Robina, who appeared in both Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Vice City Stories.
Umberto was right at home in the '80s due to his desire to showcase his masculinity at every turn and his admiration of women everywhere. The leader of the Cubans ran a café and as much of a man's man as he wanted to seem, he wasn't afraid to display his emotions when Papi was on the verge of death.
Big Smoke
Although this list isn't going to include any of the series' top antagonists like Officer Frank Tenpenny, Big Smoke is something of an exception. He spent the majority of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as a member of the Grove Street Families and friend to CJ.
However, it was later revealed that he not only turned on the gang but became a high-ranking criminal of his own. Although he is a villain, Big Smoke makes the list since most of his time was as a side character and he has some memorable moments, including the meme-worthy order at the Cluckin' Bell.
Roman Bellic
While the reviews for Grand Theft Auto IV were extremely positive, there are some fans who found parts of it to be annoying. That thought process was mostly centered around the character of Roman Bellic, cousin to protagonist Niko, and the person who brought him to America.
As the player would attempt to just have fun away from missions, they'd get bombarded with phone calls from Roman asking to hang out. As irritating as it was, Roman was genuinely a nice but dim-witted guy who Niko cared about. He worked as comedic relief in the series' most serious game.
Lamar Davis
Along the same lines as Big Smoke, Lamar Davis is mostly memorable for an iconic scene that has been the subject of memes online. However, he stands out because nearly every time he appears on screen, he's hilarious and is arguably the series' funniest character.
Lamar is a loyal friend to Franklin and plays well off of Franklin's personality. He was similar to Ryder from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas but never turned on his buddy as Ryder did. He's just a good dude who was as entertaining as they came.
Tony Prince
Tony Prince was such a good side character that he even had a game named after him. In Grand Theft Auto IV, Tony is a nightclub owner and entrepreneur who runs both Hercules and Maisonette 9. Eventually, he ends up as a key part of The Ballad of Gay Tony.
Unlike most characters in the Grand Theft Auto universe, Tony is pretty likable and actually a decent person. He got the opportunity to run down more scummy characters like Lazlow and that was great to see. Tony was always a blast on screen and someone fans loved seeing.
Ken Rosenberg
The thing that makes Ken Rosenberg such a great side character is how many different sides of him players got to see. First, there was his time as a slimy lawyer in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, when he was at Tommy Vercetti's side and helped him quite often.
He did have a pretty serious addiction to cocaine but he was otherwise reliable. He surprised many by reappearing in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and working for Madd Dogg, who was being managed by CJ at the time. Regardless of whatever shortcomings he may have had, he was a loyal guy.