Niko Bellic
Niko Bellic is a fictional character and the playable protagonist of Rockstar North's 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV, the sixth main installment in the Grand Theft Auto series developed by Rockstar Games. He also appears in the game's episodic content ' and ', both released in 2009. He was voiced by Michael Hollick.
Niko is a war veteran from Eastern Europe who, at his cousin's, Roman Bellic, insistence, moves to Liberty City, a fictional city based on New York City, to pursue the American Dream and start a new life alongside Roman. However, Niko has additional motivations to travel there, in particular to search for the man who betrayed his military unit in the war and exact revenge. Though he attempts to leave his violent past behind, Niko soon becomes entangled in a world of violence, crime, and corruption as he moves up in the criminal underworld of the city, doing work for various contacts in an attempt to earn enough money to secure a better lifestyle for himself and Roman, and find the traitor as soon as possible.
Nationality
Niko's nationality is never specified in the game, and has been a subject of some debate. Prior to the game's launch, it was believed by some that he was Russian, Serbian or Croatian. Executive producer Sam Houser spoke on the matter saying that Niko is "from that grey part of broken-down Eastern Europe", suggesting that Niko's nationality was left intentionally vague or to the interpretation of the player.Biography
Early life
Niko was born in 1978 to Milica Bellic and an unnamed father. Milica, who possesses a maternal and caring nature, regrets that her sons have been forced to endure such hardships as children, including their abusive, alcoholic father. Niko participated in an unnamed war as an infantryman, tank operator, and helicopter pilot, during which he witnessed numerous atrocities which traumatised him, leading to his cynical view on life. After his unit of fifteen men from his village were ambushed by the enemy, Niko escaped and concluded that the unit has been betrayed by one of their own soldiers. He learned that there are two other survivors, Florian Cravic and Darko Brevic, and vows to search for the traitor. After the war, Niko experienced difficulty leading a normal life, and his elder brother was killed in action. Knowing only violence, Niko turned to the Balkanic criminal underworld. Niko joined a smuggling and trafficking ring run by Russian criminal Ray Bulgarin. During one smuggling run into Italy, the boat that Niko was working on sank in the Adriatic Sea. Niko swam to safety, but Bulgarin accused him of escaping with the money. Niko joined the merchant navy to flee from Bulgarin, befriended the crew of the Platypus, and contemplated his cousin Roman's requests for him to come to Liberty City in the United States.Arrival in Liberty City
Once in Liberty City in 2008, Niko quickly realises that Roman's stories of success were exaggerated: he lives in a small, decrepit apartment and owes gambling debts across the city. Niko's military skills give him an advantage over the street thugs of Liberty City. Niko protects Roman from loan sharks, and soon begins making money and contacts that can help him locate Florian within the city. His professional and personal relationships expand over the course of the game.While working for Roman's taxi company and protecting him from loan sharks, Niko meets and befriends several Broker residents, including Yardie underboss Little Jacob and car entrepreneur Brucie Kibbutz. He is forced to work for Vlad Glebov, Roman's Russian loan shark, in order to pay off Roman's debts, but eventually kills him after learning he slept with Mallorie. In retaliation, Niko and Roman are kidnapped by Russian mobster on the orders of Mikhail Faustin and Dimitri Rascalov, but the former, not bothered by Vlad's murder, releases them and employs Niko as a hitman. Niko quickly discovers Faustin's true nature after being ordered to kill the son of Kenny Petrović, the most powerful Russian mobster in Liberty City. When Petrović threatens retaliation, Dimitri convinces Niko to assassinate Faustin to make amends, but soon betrays him and brings him before Ray Bulgarin, who demands what he is owed. In the ensuing shootout, Dimitri and Bulgarin escape, while Niko and Roman later witness their apartment and taxi company being burned down by Dimitri's men.
Search for the traitor and a better life
Forced to move to Bohan, Niko begins making new criminal contacts, including several drug dealears and the Irish mob, in an attempt to secure a better lifestyle for himself and Roman and locate Florian. In the process, he befriends Irish mobster Patrick McReary after helping him carry out a bank robbery, and discovers that his girlfriend Michelle is an undercover government agent actually named Karen, who entraps Niko into working for her agency, known only by its cover: the United Liberty Paper. Niko assassinates several known or suspected terrorists for the agency in exchange for clearing his criminal record and assistance in finding the man who betrayed his unit.With most of his employers eventually killed or arrested, Niko also works for Ray Boccino, a caporegime in the Pegorino Crime Family, helping him with a major diamond dealing scheme that goes awry. Nontheless, Boccino helps Niko locate Florian, now the homosexual Bernie Crane, only to discover he is not the traitor. Afterwards, Niko finds work for the Mafia families of Liberty City: he carries out jobs for the Gambetti Family in exchange for their help in tracking down Darko, having concluded that he was the traitor, and for the Pegorino Family, ultimately earning the respect of Don Jimmy Pegorino, who orders Niko to kill Boccino upon suspecting he was an infromant. During this time, Niko continues his conflict with Dimitri, rescuing Roman when he is kidnapped by Dimitri's men, and unintentionally disrupting his drug trade operations during his work for both the Pegorino and Gambetti families. He and Roman ultimately secure the lifestyle they sought after the latter rebuilds his taxi company and buys a new apartment in Algonquin using the insurance money from his formerly destroyed business. Roman also proposes to Mallorie, who accepts.
Tying up loose ends
Eventually, the U.L.P. tracks down Darko and brings him into Liberty City for Niko to decide his fate. Having achieved closure on his past, Niko is summoned by Pegorino, who demands one final favour: to help with an extremely lucrative deal on heroin in collusion with Dimitri. Niko must either strike the deal with Dimitri, or exact revenge on him.Should Niko go through with the deal, Dimitri again betrays him and takes the heroin for himself, forcing Niko to kill the buyers and retrieve the money. At Roman's wedding, an assassin sent by Dimitri unintentionally kills Roman with a stray bullet. Aided by Little Jacob, a devastated and vengeful Niko kills Dimitri, who in turn killed Pegorino. Later, Niko is informed by Mallorie that she is pregnant with Roman's child, whom he vows to protect. Should Niko choose to exact revenge, he storms the Platypus and fights his way through Dimitri's men, ultimately killing him. At Roman's wedding, Pegorino, furious after Niko's betrayal, targets him in a drive-by shooting, but ends up accidentally killing Niko's new girlfriend, Patrick's sister Kate. Aided by Little Jacob and Roman, Niko kills Pegorino, who had been targeted by the Liberty City underworld. Later, Roman informs Niko that Mallorie is pregnant, and that if the baby is a girl, they will name her in Kate's memory. With all of his loose ends tied up, Niko muses on the American Dream and concludes that it is a hollow promise, which no one can truly achieve.
Later life
In Grand Theft Auto V, set in 2013, Niko is briefly mentioned by Patrick, who claims he has not heard of him since 2008. Lester Crest also briefly refers to "an Eastern European making moves in Liberty City" who "went quiet", implying Niko left his life of crime behind. An easter egg in the game mentions that Niko still works for Roman’s taxi company.Characteristics
Niko is portrayed as a very down-to-business person, and angers easily. He has a dry, sarcastic sense of humour, and often makes acerbic remarks. Though he regrets his past crimes, he feels that his soul is permanently tainted, and that killing is all he can do. Niko appears to be a more mature, empathetic, and sensible person than many of his acquaintances. His female acquaintances often point out that Niko has sophisticated manners and appears to be a very decent person. Many times he attempts to resolve conflicts between two parties without the use of violence.The most significant aspect of Niko's personality is his cynicism, which he gained in the war. Although generally he is a caring individual, Niko's realistic view of life allows him the ability to manipulate people. Niko's biggest weakness is his inability to let go of the past, and the desire for revenge is a driving force in many of his decisions. Despite his long involvement with criminal activity, Niko holds a somewhat sympathetic view of law enforcement, stating that cops are just people trying to survive. Near the end of the game, Niko expresses a desire to move on from his criminal past and get a fresh start. Niko has a distaste for drugs despite his frequent involvement in the drugs trade and regularly refuses offers of marijuana by Little Jacob.
Portrayal
Niko Bellic is voiced by Michael Hollick. Hollick was paid about $100,000 for his voice acting and motion-capture work over the course of about 15 months from 2006 to 2007. Hollick was paid about $1,050 a day for his work on the game, about 50% more than the standard Screen Actors Guild-negotiated rate for actors, although he claimed it was still a fraction of the income he would get from a film or TV-show performance, and that he was upset about not getting residuals from game sales, putting the blame on the union for not securing such agreements. Hollick told The New York Times that while he was a theater student at Carnegie Mellon University he developed a talent for dialects.Russian actor Vladimir Mashkov claims he was in discussions with Rockstar Games to voice the character and that the character's appearance is based on him, specifically from his role of the Tracker in the 2001 movie Behind Enemy Lines, but he ultimately turned down the offer. Rockstar Games have not commented on Mashkov's claims.
Other appearances
Niko plays a minor role in both of Grand Theft Auto IVs expansion packs, ' and ', which take place simultaneously with the storyline of the base game, from the perspective of Johnny Klebitz and Luis Lopez, respectively. He appears as an NPC in the missions that cross over with the base game.In The Lost and Damned, Niko appears in the missions "Buyer's Market", where he assists Johnny and Playboy X on a drug deal that goes awry, and "Collector's Item", where he oversees the diamond deal with the Jewish Mob alongside Johnny, which is ambushed by Luis. He also makes a cameo appearance in the first mission of the expansion, "Clean and Serene", walking down the streets of Alderney. Niko is indirectly mentioned by Brian Jeremy at the end of the mission "It's War" as a "Polak" guy who killed Jason Michaels, only for Billy Grey to reply "I think he was a Serb", and then dismiss the idea, claiming that Jason was killed by the Angels of Death.
In The Ballad of Gay Tony, Niko appears in the first mission, "I Luv LC", as one of the masked bank robbers holding Luis hostage during the heist of the Bank of Liberty. He appears again shortly after in that mission, almost running Luis over with his car on the pedestrian crossing. In "Not So Fast", Niko appears again alongside Johnny during the diamond deal which is ambushed by Luis. His final appearance is in "Ladies Half Price", where he and Patrick McReary attempt to exchange Gracie Ancelotti for the diamonds in Luis and Tony Prince's possession, only for the deal to be ambushed by Ray Bulgarin's men.
Niko is mentioned several times in Grand Theft Auto V, indirectly by Lester Crest and directly by Patrick. His LifeInvader profile also can be seen on Jimmy De Santa's laptop as an easter egg. In the "Collector's Edition" of Grand Theft Auto Online, players can choose what their character is to look like by selecting between different parents; Niko is one of the special parents available, meaning that players can select Niko so that their character has a level of resemblance to him.