History VideoGame / GrandTheftAutoV

* ''The Cayo Perico Heist'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUIpeD0tA8g Teased]] on 20 November 2020. The heist stakes are higher than ever before, with the online protagonist setting their sights on an entire private island to fleece. The heist is the first that allows players to attempt completely solo, and much of the planning is done through a heavily armored submarine as a mobile base of operations.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gtav_box.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:In pursuit of the almighty dollar.]]

To date, there have been several DLC packs for the game, consisting of item packs that grant new vehicles, weapons, and clothes for ''Online'' players. Heists for Online Mode were also announced prior to release, [[ScheduleSlip but fans were left waiting for... quite a while.]] Thankfully, they were finally added on 10 March 2015. Unlike GTA IV, which had two major DLC-based missions released (later compiled for a physical release), there have (as of 2019) been no such releases for GTA V.

Together, [[TheyFightCrime They]] [[InvertedTrope Cause]] [[TheyFightCrime Crime]]. Players can switch between the three at any time once they meet the characters (with a few mission-related exceptions), and a major part of gameplay is heist missions in which all three characters take part. On the fly, the player can switch between, say, the guy taking hostages inside the store, the guy sniping cops outside, and the guy rappelling down the side of the building, while the game seamlessly takes over control of the character just vacated.

Together, [[TheyFightCrime They Cause Crime]]. Players can switch between the three at any time once they meet the characters (with a few mission-related exceptions), and a major part of gameplay is heist missions in which all three characters take part. On the fly, the player can switch between, say, the guy taking hostages inside the store, the guy sniping cops outside, and the guy rappelling down the side of the building, while the game seamlessly takes over control of the character just vacated.

* Trevor Philips, an ex-[[AcePilot military pilot]] permanently grounded due to his [[AxCrazy severe mental instability]]. Left without a job, he soon befriended Michael, which led them to be partners in crime. Unlike Michael, Trevor never retired, instead remaining a drug-abusing career criminal, living out of a trailer in the small desert town of Sandy Shores[[note]]Based on the real-life towns of Desert Shores and Salton City[[/note]] north of Los Santos, where he deals in drug-trafficking and gun-running. After he learns that Michael is alive and residing in the city nearby, he decides to track his old buddy down and partner up again.

A upgraded version with improved HD graphics and some other tweaks (such as a revised music selection on the radio stations) was released for [=PS4=] and Xbox One in 2014. The PC port of the game was released in April 2015 to critical acclaim.

* ''Ill-Gotten Gains Part 2'': Released 8 July 2015. The follow-up to ''Part 1'', this update adds in newer, slightly less expensive vehicles, clothing, & tattoos; a new single-shot break-action pistol and a pair of knuckledusters; and the ability to create jobs inside Fort Zancudo and Los Santos International Airport. It also added in The Lab FM to consoles, and, to signal its release, the Independence Day Special content. This is the final content update released for the Xbox 360 and [=PS3=] versions of the game[[note]]Technical limitations of the Xbox 360 and [=PS3=] were reached; however, the 7th-gen console versions still receive periodic cheat and bug fixes for ''Online'' so long as Microsoft and Sony still support their respective consoles' online services[[/note]] as well as the last update to add content to the single player game[[note]]However, ''Lowriders'' added the Machete and Machine Pistol, while the ''Doomsday Heist'' and ''After Hours'' added the Blonded 97.8 and LSUR radio stations respectively to the single player game[[/note]].

* ''The Diamond Casino Heist:'' To be released 12 December 2019. It's been a few months after the mess involving the Duggans, and with the family patriarch out of the way as part of a deal, his son has been running the show at the Diamond. The Chengs are not happy with the arrangement, and they want revenge. Now, those who helped the casino stay afloat must now rob it blind on the behalf of the vengeful Triad family, using an arcade as a central operating base for rehearsing and planning. With multiple avenues to approach, and a highly secure facility to break open, this job will be the crew's toughest one yet.

* ''The Diamond Casion Heist:'' To be released 12 December 2019. It's been a few months after the mess involving the Duggans, and with the family patriarch out of the way as part of a deal, his son has been running the show at the Diamond. The Chengs are not happy with the arrangemnt, and they want revenge. Now, those who helped the casino stay afloat must now rob it blind on the behalf of the vengeful Triad family, using an arcade as a central operating base for rehearsing and planning. With multiple avenues to approach, and a highly secure facility to break open, this job will be the crew's toughest one yet.

* ''The Diamond Casino and Resort'': Released 23 July 2019. This updates opens up a new version of the casino at the Vinewood Racetrack, allowing players to partake in various casino games such as blackjack, three card poker, roulette and slots as well as horse race betting. The update also adds in additional luxury properties and high-end vehicles, as well as a new string of missions. The eponymous casino is currently owned by the Triads, more specifically Tao Cheng: However, the recent renovation forced them to go to the Duggans, a cutthroat petrochemical conglomerate, and now they want the whole thing. With the player's penthouse and the staff's lives at stake, you'll have to prevent the hostile takeover by any means necessary.

* Social Club Gear: Adds in a new SMG and Sports Car. Requires a connection to the Rockstar Social Club, which is mandatory for the PC version.

* ''The Beach Bum Pack'': Added in a new pistol and a broken bottle melee weapon, beach-themed clothing and vehicles. Released 19 November 2013.
* The Christmas Update/Holiday Gifts: On Christmas Day, Los Santos was covered in snow--hope you've got an all-wheel-drive car. Also had Christmas themed masks and suits which, if not bought, disappeared after Christmas. Released, obviously, around Christmas Day 2013.

* ''The Valentine's Day Massacre Special'': Added in some spiffy new 1920's mob-styled suits, a classic 1920's limousine and a Tommy Gun, the Gusenberg Sweeper. Released on 13 February 2014 to celebrate Valentine's Day, but the ability to buy the clothes was removed on March 2nd. If you bought clothes from the pack before then, you keep them.

* ''The High Life Update'': Adds a new assault rifle called the Bullpup Rifle, a new motorcycle, two high-performance cars and a sports SUV. For ''Online'' players can now purchase two new properties, something people had been waiting a while for, as well as new apartments. Players also now have a "Mental State" which increases when killing civilians and cops -- this is to help keep separate [[{{Griefer}} players who kill others for the sake of pissing them off]], and players who want to simply explore. Released 13 May 2014.

* ''The Independence Day Special'': Released 1 July 2014. Made to celebrate the Fourth of July. Contains new America-themed clothes, a monster truck, a motorcycle, fireworks (and a launcher to go with them) and a musket. Like the Valentine's Day Massacre Pack, any clothes not bought in ''Online'' were removed in August.

* ''Ill-Gotten Gains Part 2'': Released 8 July 2015. The follow-up to ''Part 1'', this update adds in newer, slightly less expensive vehicles, clothing, & tattoos; a new single-shot break-action pistol and a pair of knuckledusters; and the ability to create jobs inside Fort Zancudo and Los Santos International Airport. It also added in The Lab FM to consoles, and, to signal its release, the Independence Day Special content. This is the last content update released for the Xbox 360 and [=PS3=] versions of the game[[note]]Technical limitations of the Xbox 360 and [=PS3=] were reached; however, the 7th-gen console versions still receive periodic cheat and bug fixes for ''Online'' so long as Microsoft and Sony still support their respective consoles' online services[[/note]] as well as the last update to consistently add content to the single player game[[note]]However, ''Lowriders'' added the Machete and Machine Pistol, while the ''Doomsday Heist'' and ''After Hours'' added the Blonded 97.8 and LSUR radio stations respectively to the single player game[[/note]].

* ''After Hours'': Released 24 July 2018. This update introduces nightclubs, which operate as a front for the online protagonist's various criminal enterprises, centralizing them into one location. Of course, a nightclub isn't without its [=DJs=], and players are able to recruit them from newly-introduced missions. Music featured in the nightclubs features musical talent from Solomun, Tale of Us, Dixon, and The Black Madonna; said artists music can also be heard on a new radio station, Los Santos Underground Radio (LSUR).

* ''Ill-Gotten Gains Part 2'': Released 8 July 2015. The follow-up to ''Part 1'', this update adds in newer, slightly less expensive vehicles, clothing, & tattoos; a new single-shot break-action pistol and a pair of knuckledusters; and the ability to create jobs inside Fort Zancudo and Los Santos International Airport. It also added in The Lab FM to consoles, and, to signal its release, the Independence Day Special content. This is the last content update released for the Xbox 360 and [=PS3=] versions of the game[[note]]Technical limitations of the Xbox 360 and [=PS3=] were reached; however, the 7th-gen console versions still receive periodic cheat and bug fixes for ''Online'' so long as Microsoft and Sony still support their respective consoles' online services[[/note]] as well as the last update to consistently add content to the single player game[[note]]However, ''Lowriders'' added the Machete and Machine Pistol and the ''Doomsday Heist'' added the Blonded 97.8 radio station to the single player game[[/note]].

* ''After Hours'': Released 24 July 2018. This update introduces nightclubs, which operate as a front for the online protagonist's various criminal enterprises, centralizing them into one location. Of course, a nightclub isn't without its [=DJs=], and players are able to recruit them from newly-introduced missions. Music featured in the nightclubs features musical talent from Solomun, Tale of Us, Dixon, and The Black Madonna.

* ''Diamond Casino and Resort'': Released 23 July 2019. This updates opens up a new version of the casino at the Vinewood Racetrack, allowing players to partake in various casino games such as blackjack, three card poker, roulette and slots as well as horse racing betting. The update also adds in additional luxury properties and high-end vehicles. The eponymous casino is owned by the Triads, and the player can undertake missions to prevent a hostile takeover of the casino by the Traids' Texan creditors.

* ''Diamond Casino and Resort'': Released 23 July 2019. This updates opens up a new version of the casino at the Vinewood Racetrack, allowing players to partake in various casino games such as blackjack, three card poker, roulette and slots as well as horse racing betting. The update also adds in additional luxury properties and high-end vehicles. The eponymous casino is owned by the Triads, and the player can undertake missions to prevent the casino from being hostility taken over by the Traids' Texan creditors.

* ''Diamond Casino and Resort'': Released 23 July 2019. This updates opens up a new version of the casino at the Vinewood Racetrack, allowing players to partake in various casino games such as blackjack, three card poker, roulette and slots as well as horse racing betting. The update also adds in additional luxury properties and high-end vehicles.

* ''Arena War'': Released 11th December 2018. This update adds the eponymous mode, inspired by Twisted Metal, a new property, and several new vehicles in the vein of the aforementioned series, the 2008 remake of Death Race, and Mad Max. Seven sub-modes exist, ranging from the standard Flag War, to the unusual, such as Hot Bomb, where you play a lethal version of Hot Potato.

[[folder:''Grand Theft Auto Online'' Tropes]]
* AdventureFriendlyWorld: Online Los Santos has tons of crap to do at any time, and you can find yourself caught up in someone else's adventure at any time. Walk down a particular block and you'll find a squad of cops chasing another player, a shoot out between players, an impromptu drag race, or a heist in progress. If you choose, you can even play favorites--for example, involving yourself in a police chase by ramming the cops of the escapee's trail or screwing the other player over just for the hell of it.
** Rockstar themselves have said ''Online'' aims to revolutionize online multiplayer gaming the same way ''Grand Theft Auto III'' revolutionized single player games!
* AllBikersAreHellsAngels / BadassBiker: The ''Bikers'' DLC allows you to join or [[StartMyOwn start your own]] outlaw motorcycle club with up to 8 members (A club [[TheLeader President]], [[TheDragon Vice President]], [[TheEvilGenius Road Captain]], [[ArmsDealer Sgt-at-Arms]], [[TheBrute Enforcer]], [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and three others]], complete with [[PlayerHeadquarters clubhouse]], [[BlackMarket illicit businesses]], [[TheRival rival player clubs]], and additional [[CoolBike motorcycles]] and [[WallOfWeapons weapons]].
* AllegedlyFreeGame: People in favour of ''Online'' always point out how it's free, seemingly forgetting that it costs $60 in the first place since you can't get the game without also getting ''V''. Recent ''free'' updates that add stuff also come with a hefty price tag that are nigh impossible to get unless you're willing to spend a week MoneyGrinding, so the game essentially has had no features for years now for those unwilling to shell out real money.
* AlreadyMetEveryone: Familiar people show up for the "first" time in this story such as Lamar, Lester, Trevor, Simeon, etc.
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent[=/=]AnotherSideAnotherStory: The story of ''Online'' follows your [[HeroicMime silent]] custom character in events that happen a few months before the single-player storyline.
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: When leveling up, cosmetic items, such as [[VirtualPaperDoll various outfits]], [[NiceHat hats]], and haircuts will be unlocked.
* AntiFrustrationFeature:
** The Passive mode prevents other players from randomly gunning down the passive player whilst they're on foot. Doesn't work while in a car, and you can't return fire either. This was changed in the next-gen versions to be a complete ghost mode, making one completely untouchable by other players. However, damage from nearby exploding vehicles can still kill you, which players can use indirectly. You can also still come under attack from NPC characters and your only options are to run, or disable Passive Mode (which isn't instant and which has a cooldown before you can re-enable it)
** Zig-zagged with the Simeon vehicles, as while it is possible to force the list you've been given to refresh in case you can't find any of the cars on the list, you cannot 'deny' the request and as such may end up with a two-star Wanted rating because you're stealing a car Simeon wants, even if you have no intention of delivering it.
** The audio from the microphone chat can be completely muted, which is very useful if you don't want to hear 12-year-olds and living room background noise constantly.
** Any vehicle that you're in becomes invincible if your controller disconnects, as the game doesn't pause.
** In the Prison Break heist, the pilot has to evade a Lazer fighter jet using a Velum, one of the slower and more awkward planes to fly. To prevent the pilot's job from being impossible, the Lazer can't fire homing missiles.
** A small one, but any car you buy automatically comes insured. It's a small thing, but it can save a ton of frustration when you're taking your new vehicle for a spin and you happen to run into a player who's not hesitant about being a "bad sport".
** A new feature added for griefing is ghost mode. If you hold back from attacking somebody who's chasing you around and harassing you by repeatedly killing you then you get the option to become a "ghost" to them and them alone for a limited time, letting you get away. A nice feature for those who want the randomness of other players but still don't want to be killed by the same person.
** In the Gunrunning update, trailers that become detached from the Phantom Wedge during delivery missions will respawn right-side up after a short time instead of being marked destroyed. This is likely in response to criticisms of the Bikers update whereas any vehicle that got stuck would be considered destroyed after a short time.
** In free mode any weaponized vehicle will have a unique car icon in the map/mini-map that will show you what type of weaponized vehicle it is instead of not showing up at all. This makes it easier to tell where the threats from other players are and how heavy the vehicle's offensive is, such as a tank compared to a missile firing flying car.
** When doing any freemode job that requires taking a marked vehicle the game does not allow other players to lock onto it. Any other vehicle with a player in it can be targeted this way, but "cargo" vehicles with players in them are completely immune to it. It can't be understated how much this helps as it forces skillful aiming instead of just having the right toy to screw over another player, including a lot of aircraft that would otherwise easily catch up, preventing any random person in a Buzzard from making a vehicle warehouse impossible to stock in that session.
* AntiGrinding: Robbing stores too often causes the wanted level for each robbery to gradually rise. Likewise, after selling a stolen car to a mod shop, they won't accept any more for a period of time. You can also only export a Simeon vehicle once every 24 hours from the list he gives you.
** They quickly patched being able to immediately replay the same job request over and over after some players grinded their way to earning the most expensive apartment. To wit, executing the same job over and over automatically makes the same job harder each time you pull it off (for example, the ''Where Credit's Due'' mission- for each subsequent times you do the job, the game throws in gangsters to protect the car and subsequently increase their numbers, and then increase the aggressiveness of the police by having them come in larger numbers, move in on you faster, etc. Not playing the mission for a certain amount of time on the other gives a cooldown timer that resets the difficulty of the job.
* {{Aesop}}: Having your character smoke will damage your health a tiny bit, much like ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''.
* ArmorIsUseless: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with the armored version of the Karin Kuruma. Not only does the armor significantly improve its durability, but the armor even partially covers the windows, making [[CarFu ramming your enemies with it]] much more feasible.
** Played straight with body armor in Online, however. A basic Pistol can rip even Super Heavy Armor to shreds in no time.
* AscendedMeme: A "shed" was seen by fans in many pre-release screenshots and some trailers, prompting players to speculate what could be inside it. While it turns out it was actually a cable car station, the parachuting mission involving diving off it is called "The Shed".
** Carrying a tank by a cargo bob and using it as an improvised attack aircraft, as popularized by Creator/AchievementHunter, is used in one of the resupply missions of the Gunrunning DLC.
* AttackDrone: The drones launched by the Terrorbyte added in ''After Hours'' are armed with a stun gun and a self-destruct.
** Invoked with the RC Bandito added in ''Arena War''. This remote control vehicle is able to be equipped with the ability to deploy up to three mines of the player’s choosing, is able to self-destruct, and is also invisible to the radar.
* AwesomeButImpractical: The luxurious Swift Deluxe Helicopter and Luxor Deluxe Jets allow you to hang out with other players inside and drink champagne. Too bad that they cost incredible amounts of money, and are magnets for griefers everywhere. Fortunately, both vehicles were later added to the in-game internet in Story Mode, for those who want to enjoy the luxury without the threat of being blown up. You'd better hope you have it insured though!
** The megayachts from the ''Executives and Other Criminals'' update can fall under this too. Depending on customization, the price can range from $6,000,000 to nearly $10,000,000. However, they are nothing more than pieces of property that don't even come with a garage. Furthermore, the yacht is always out at sea, making it too far from stores or other conveniences.
*** However it does come with a respawning helicopter, which is a valuable transportation feature. You can also set them to attack anyone in an air vehicle near them and disable the use of weapons while on board. Its the only property where its 100% impossible to spawn camp, especially with proximity mines as the yacht doesn't even exist in the game until its owner does.
** While a lot of cars in the game can be this when you look at performance vs price, the cars that get the most attention are low riders. A well pimped out lowrider could run you the same or higher cost than a hypercar, but don't really boast many advantages over the common cars they are based off of, many of which can stolen for no cost to the player. The hydraulics system is useful for changing the clearance and center of G when going from roads to uneven terrain, that's about all they can do that other cars can't. They really exist to show off and boy do they.
** The Mobile Operations Center (MOC) that came with gunrunning. It's a gigantic semi hauling an absurdly huge trailer. While both are heavily armored, more so than the Insurgent, and the trailer can have turrets fitted, the trailer is so huge that turning corners without hitting another car, sign or anything else is impossible, several overhead things are slightly too short to pass under without having to abandon the trailer, such as the bridge frame leading to the Mount Chiliad tunnel. Granted since its required to do certain things, most notably modding weapons and doing special mission that greatly discount the other gun running DLC vehicles, its not entirely useless.
** The newly added Vigilante. The stupid thing is the WritingAroundTrademarks love child of the [[Film/Batman1989 1989 Batmobile]] and [[Film/BatmanBegins the Tumbler]] armed with machine guns and missiles. The car is powerful enough to send vehicles flying by running into them and it has a stupidly powerful rocket engine that recharges almost instantly and can blow cars away just by activating. However, the car ''isn't'' inherently bulletproof, thus the cops and anyone else can make short work of you, there is no horn, thus hitting the horn will trigger the rocket engine and the rocket engine is so powerful that, if you're not careful, could send you flying halfway across the city and into the ocean!
** The Criminal Enterprise Starter Set. For 40 real-life dollars, players can start off their criminal career on the right foot by automatically obtaining with a collection of locations, vehicles and gear along with a cool million totaling just over $10 million in-game dollars. Sounds cool, right? Well, when they call it a "starter set", they ''mean'' "starter set"; everything they give you is the cheapest you can obtain yet leave out a Hangar, warehouse and Facility, the vehicles are either average or the worst choice you can have, the weapons are unimpressive and the clothes and tattoos are most likely not your cup of coffee.
** The orbital cannon. Yes, it may be fun nuking people from orbit without any fear of retaliation. However, it costs $500,000 ''per shot'' ($750,000 if you're using automatic targeting). This thing will drain your money quickly if you go overboard with it.
* BeachEpisode: The free Beach Bum update, adding a number of beach-themed clothing, vehicles, and Jobs.
* BookEnds: In the heists update the titular heists start and end with a bank robbery, the second one is obviously far more dangerous but also pays out much better.
* BoomHeadshot: Killing an enemy with a head shot results in the player immediately gaining 25 reputation points.
* BoringButPractical: The Up-N-Atomizer pistol. It's a short range weapon that deals low damage but high knockback, making it incredibly useful to save vehicles you managed to get stuck during sale missions. DownplayedTrope, because you can use it to have fun with the physics engine and troll players... But it's still mostly useful for the boring yet practical purpose of saving your cargo.
* BlackMarket: You can eventually become a member of the black market as either a CEO or as a Motorcycle Club President. The products that you can sell range from hard drugs, to counterfeit goods, to high-end cars. If done correctly, this can be quite lucrative.
* BribingYourWayToVictory[=/=]{{Microtransactions}}: In-game money can be purchased for real money. This is, however, somewhat balanced out: you still have to [[DoubleUnlock reach a certain level before you can purchase and use some items]].
* ButThouMust: In the mission "Diamonds are for Trevor", you ''have'' to make your escape with Trevor's boat, even when you could take a helicopter or any other faster, much better transport.
** The Heists are especially bad about this. Of note is "Series A Funding - Coke", where the goal is to storm a yacht and steal the cocaine onboard; the crew is split into two teams; two players attack the yacht by boat, two by helicopter. Despite both teams going to the same location, the mission won't progress if a member of the boat crew tries to take the helicopter, or vice versa.
** And in the Prison Break, the first guard the 'prisoner' and 'guard' players pass by will inexplicably become hostile even if both players are blending in perfectly, resulting in an immediate shoot-out. There is no way to sneak past him, so shooting first is pretty much the best option.
** Averted with several setups for heists that can be massively optimized by use of glitches and/or workarounds. In Pacific Standard- Signal, you are tasked with driving a bunch of Jetskis to an island, shooting a bunch of cops, rescuing a guy, and escaping on a boat. You can skip the Jetski part, and find helicopters that have spawn points around the city. Picking the guy up by helicopter is massively easier than using the boat.
*** Also, the finale of the Pacific Standard Job has been optimized to perfection. Usually, you need to break into a bank. Two of the four heist members have the ability to grab the money. This money is constantly decreasing as the people with the money get hurt. If one person does it, then the other members can protect him. Also, the game expects you to make your escape on bikes, which obviously offer little protection. If a player has the Armored Kuruma car in a specific garage, he can go get it mid-mission and then pick up the person who has all the money, who has stayed in the bank and is relatively safe from gunfire. Enjoy actually getting $1,250,000 to split between your guys, instead of far less.
* ButtMonkey: An entire ''faction'' gets this. The Lost must have fallen severely out of favor with the Plot Gods, because they are a constant and recurring target for various quest givers (Trevor especially).
* CaptureTheFlag: Added to the game sometime after release. In an update, players can make their own CTF missions with the Mission creator tool
* CashGate: Subverted. The game will keep telling you to get an apartment or garage, but it's possible to reach the highest level in the game without having one. It does make it difficult or impossible to get certain things, like cars you only can purchase through the Internet namely any high end or luxurious sports cars you can't merely steal off the streets and take to a mod shop to buy insurance.
* CharacterCustomization: Players can create their own character for play online. Options allows the player to determine their character's appearance based on who would've been that character's parents, including everyone from Story Mode (in addition to characters from previous ''GTA'' games, and even John Marston from ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption''), in addition to options for hairstyles, facial structure, and starting stats.
* CheckpointStarvation: The multiplayer missions. Some of them tend to be quite lengthy, and have all of them have no checkpoints at all. Do a mission where you must ambush a drug deal, go to the mountains, hack the computer, and then run to the other side of town to ambush more Mooks at the airfield? Failing will be quite devastating.
** This was later averted in heists, however.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Tolerated, if not flat out ''encouraged'' by the game mechanics. Some jobs allow the person who completes it to keep all the cash for themselves, players can rob each other for money, and can put a bounty on each other. Of course, you {{Troll}}, you can just do it just to piss people off, too. If you get too carried away, you will be labeled a "Bad Sport".
* CoolBike: The ''Bikers'' DLC gives you:
** Liberty City Cycles Avarus and Sanctus choppers.
** The Maibatsu Manchez, based on the 500cc KTM.
** The Nagasaki Chimera trike.
** A Nagasaki Street Blazer ATV.
** A ''{{Franchise/Tron}}''-based Nagasaki Shotaro.
** Pegassi gives us the Faggio Mod and Faggio Sport motor scooters, as well as its sports bikes known as the Esskey (based on the Ducati Scrambler) and the Vortex (based on the Ducati 1199 Panigale Streetfighter).
** Shitzu gives us its sports bikes known as the Defiler and Hakuchou Drag (returning from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned''), based on Suzuki's Bandit 1200 Streetfighter and Hayabusa, respectively.
** Western Motorcycle Company proudly presents: the Nightblade, Wolfsbane, Zombie Chopper (all returning from ''The Lost and Damned''), Zombie Bobber and Rat Bike, all respectively based on the Harley-Davidson models Night Rod Special, 1200 Custom, Fat Bob Custom, and KKF 14.
* CoolCar: Many of the fancier rides in the game such as the Infernus, Entity XF, Cheetah, Turismo, etc are these. Unlike single player, you unfortunately can't just steal them off the streets and take them to your garage or to LS Customs for modification. You have to save up your money and then purchase them off the ingame website ''[=LegendaryMotorSports.com=]''
* CoolestClubEver: The ''After Hours'' update allows the player to run their own nightclub and use it as a money laundering front for their other illicit businesses.
* ConspicuousConsumption: Online is ''built'' around this trope. From mega-yachts to gold jet-planes to high-rise offices to being able to store up to 167 [[CoolCar personal vehicles]], [[note]] 10 of these must be motorcycles [[/note]] players can expect to spend quite a bit of money.
** The [[KillSat orbital]] [[http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Orbital_Cannon cannon]] introduced in ''The Doomsday Heist'' update takes this UpToEleven - not only is it $900,000 just to install, but it also costs $500,000 ''just to fire'' (plus another $250,000 per shot for lock-on capability). [[BribingYourWayToVictory That's US$9.99 per shot.]]
* CooperativeMultiplayer: In addition to deathmatches and other standard multiplayer modes, you can plot your own heists, stick ups, and other missions with friends. Interestingly, the person who actually grabs the money is the one who decides the payout between the other members of your crew, so it's possible to take all of it for yourself and completely screw everyone else over.
* [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard The Cops Are Cheating Bastards]]: Though the cops of ''V'' were noticeably smarter and deadlier than previous games in the solo campaign, they're downright ''inhuman'' at times Online, likely for balance against numerous players. Their accuracy and damage are significantly higher, to the point where a cop armed with a shotgun can chip off a good ''75%'' of your health in a single hit from 4 or 5 city blocks away. Cops also spawn more rapidly and pursue the player more relentlessly. Couple that with the removal of an arrest system so [[OhCrap any wanted level = kill on sight]] and you've got some pretty bloodthirsty and bullshitty peacekeepers of Los Santos.
** You'll also find that civilians and store keepers are far more aggressive in Online than they are in story mode. If you hold up a store, there's a much greater chance that any civilians outside will start plugging away at you while you're holding the storekeeper at gunpoint, additionally you really don't want to turn your back on the storekeeper after the robbery is complete...
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Averted ''to all hell'' in later waves of Survival, where the enemies get military-grade weapons and tank plating for armor. While this can be (slightly) justified with the police, it gets a bit jarring when meth-addled hillbillies and common thugs have the same equipment.
* CrimeOfSelfDefense: Online has no code defining what counts as self defense. As such, you'll get a wanted level for fighting back against hostile [=NPC=]s or players, and if you destroy another player's personal vehicle, it doesn't matter if they pummeled you, shot you or blew you up, you'll invariably have to pay their insurance. This gets especially aggravating if explosions are the only consistent way of killing them if they're driving (i.e. driving an armored Kuruma or an Insurgent).
* CuttingTheKnot: Tired of everyone killing you when you get the high priority Simeon vehicle? Want no competition in destroying the target vehicles or planes? Want to survive a bounty placed on you for some easy xp, money, and an achievement? Just go into an invite-only session without inviting anyone else and enjoy not being gunned down by racist 12 year-olds.
* DiscOneNuke: The armored Kuruma car in GTA Online is a defensive form of this trope, and an ideal choice if you are getting tired with 12 year olds gunning you down. Unlocked during the very first heist mission string, it features armor plated body panels and windows that offer near-total protection from bullets, making nearly every mission vastly easier to complete because players can simply turtle inside the vehicle while shooting out of its window slits. While the $525,000 price tag is hefty, players who preordered the game and received a huge bonus cash grant were able to immediately afford it and a cheap safehouse to put it in. The Insurgent, which is like the armored Karuma, but with the ability to survive a few rockets, can be bought after unlocking it from a certain heist. An update made the Insurgent available to purchase right away without having to beat the heist and its price tag is around $600,000, which most have gotten by now thanks to the double cash events Rockstar periodically holds.
** Playing it a bit more straight are the DLC Weapons, like the Special Carbine, Bullpup Rifle, Heavy Shotgun, and the Homing Launcher. The Special Carbine is a Carbine Rifle that's a little bulkier, but you can get it from the start, and upgrading it is worthwhile for heists, the Bullpup is a basic Advanced Rifle that is not nearly as strong,The Heavy Shotgun is a straight upgrade to the already overpowered Assault Shotgun, which only has a better fire rate, and the Homing Launcher will [[Administrivia.RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment not be discussed here]], except to say, if nothing else, it can be bought at level 1, while the normal rocket launcher is locked at level 100.
* DisproportionateRetribution: It's rare for a game mode to have an objective that actually warrants the amount of force being employed (especially by the authorities). Criminals escaping via motorbike into the hills? ''Send fighter jets after them!''
** The Heists Update introduced a side activity in which Lester asks you to distract the police. You only need to drive into the area to get the cops after you. While this could be justified by you potentially disrupting a police operation, you'll eventually get helicopters and NOOSE sent after you.
* DoubleUnlock: You have to reach a certain level to unlock some items, and then you have to buy the item with in-game currency.
* EmoteAnimation: There's a handful of emotes, most of them [[IShallTauntYou used to gloat or offend someone]] like FlippingTheBird and saluting with a smug look on your character's face.
* EvilVersusOblivion: Th Doomsday Heist in a nutshell. You want to prevent WorldWarIII because your criminal empire wouldn't survive long AfterTheEnd with no client or resources. Without fuel, how would you enjoy your WeaponizedCar or jet plane?
* ExcusePlot: Most game modes give a flimsy reason for teams of players murdering each other. Cops confiscated our weed? Start a massive shoot-out in the streets. Crooks made off with important evidence? Storm their HQ and kill every last one of them. The most blatant is probably Deathmatch, which just tells you to kill as many people as possible for their money.
* ExperiencePoints: Successfully completing missions, pulling off robberies, winning races, and other activities will earn you Reputation Points that allow your character to increase in rank and unlock better weapons, vehicles, and other purchasable items.
* {{Expy}}: The online character never speaks much like Claude from GTA 3.
* FakeBalance:
** The Heists Update added Adversary modes, [[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP]] game modes in which hunters with infinite lives try to eliminate runners or defenders, depending on the game mode. While the circumstances in each mode sound good on paper, either side will have a gross advantage over the other.
*** In [[TheChase Come Out To Play]], the hunters have to chase down the runners on motorcycles and wielding the sawed-off shotgun, while the runners have to reach a point while on foot, but have many good weapons at their disposal. Due to [[DamnYouMuscleMemory the mechanics of firing while on a motorcycle]] and [[ShortRangeShotgun the pathetic range of the shotguns]], the hunters have a hard time hitting the runners, let alone kill them, and due to the range and accuracy of the runners' weapons, they'll likely end up killing the hunters a great many times.
*** In [[HoldTheLine Siege Mentality]], the defenders are limited to a certain area, but have heavy weapons at their disposal. The attackers have, once again, sawed-off shotguns, but much greater mobility. However, depending on the map, the defenders would very well end up killing the attackers over and over from a relatively safe position.
*** In Hasta la Vista, [[NoItemUseForYou no one has weapons]]. The runners are on bicycles, running from hunters driving Hauler semis. The runners have a head start, but that doesn't matter, because the Haulers are actually faster, and the advanced mobility of the bikes barely makes a difference in that the hunters can simply steer to compensate.
** Online gives your character the ability to carry reserve armor vests and snacks to restore health. So of course, any armor you can buy may as well be [[ArmorIsUseless made out of papier-mache]], while enemies seem to have invisible full body suits that can protect them from anything that's not a headshot, point-blank shotgun blast or explosive.
*** Due to Online's very nature, it's rather safe to say that the game will never truly have "balance". There's always going to be something that is simply better. And there's always those [[{{Jerkass}} ass]][[{{Troll}} hats]] who in being so, ruin the game for others.
* GameBreakingBug
** In the days after launch, the overloaded Rockstar cloud servers began to break down and prevent players from accessing their created characters. Players were instead given an innocuous prompt to start a session with a new, generic character, not realizing that this would overwrite ''all previous online character data'' and reset their progress. Rockstar was forced to put out a PSA warning against the generic-character feature before patching the whole thing out.
** The servers themselves are a continuing problem; Rockstar released a large sum of money to all ''Online'' players as an apology for the server woes early in release, but they missed the original stated date by several weeks because they were worried the servers would nullify the deposits.
** The original update that added Online Mode caused a little-known bug for a number of unlucky players who found their single-player games utterly broken, with all mission hubs inaccessible and progress rendered impossible as a result. Additional updates have corrected this bug but those affected must still replay from the beginning to get their progress back.
** There's currently a [[http://www.reddit.com/r/GrandTheftAutoV/comments/1tk63e/brief_technical_analysis_of_the_hacks_currently/ money hack]] running rampant that allows players to attain ''billions'' of GTA dollars from store robberies and bounties. The hack is so easy to do that some players believe it to be a honey pot[[labelnote:*]]An intentionally obvious security flaw designed to trap unsuspecting hackers[[/labelnote]].
*** Rockstar responded and removed the ability to hack yourself or other players to multi-millionare[[BuffySpeak -dom]]. All hacked money was removed from players' bank accounts. Those who were hacking also had penalties applied while innocent players who just got the money were left alone.
** When the Capture the Flag game mode was first released, players discovered that hovering over the capture point in a helicopter with the objective in tow resulted in millions of experience points per hour. Rockstar responded by removing every CTF map containing a helicopter.
** Servers have issues with keeping some players in a session with other people. While this is usually just an annoyance in public lobbies, this issue become greater in missions, where all the enemies will likely tear apart lone players, and will likely cause some hairs to be torn out during Heists and Lamar missions, as these will be failed if there are less than 4 players in the session at one time.
** The servers [[AIIsACrapshoot are still not perfect, but cloud failures and unexpected failures are much less common]].
* GoodBadBugs: If you do not kill someone with the [[KillSat Orbital Cannon]]'s tracking shot, the fee is refunded and you can fire again. If a cheater is using a mod menu to grand himself GodMode, you can just spam the Orbital Cannon at them for free, destroying any vehicles they might be in and making them victims of RagdollPhysics until they leave.
* {{Griefer}}: With a name like ''Grand Theft Auto Online'', its to be expected that other players will try to wreck your shit for the lulz factor at any given moment. Obnoxious players in particular (preferably with a high bounty on their heads) will often patrol the streets of Los Santos in a Rhino Tank blowing up anything that ''moves'' land or sky. Unless you have an RPG, expect to get killed repeatedly even if you are just minding your own business and have no intention of trying to kill said griefer.
** For the lucky few who can afford the incredibly expensive ''Deluxe'' versions of the Luxor or Swift, they can expect griefers to be hot on their tail. The only way that the player can avoid having Griefers destroying their prized aircraft is to use Passive Mode or get the vehicles insured as quickly as possible.
** People in a chopper with rockets or a military jet (which has the benefit of better lock-on targeting) can be just as bad as their fellow trolls in tanks as they can more easily get away from your line of firing.
*** ''You'' can also be said griefer if you so choose though ironically repeating said behavior will likely put you in the "bad sport" lobby complete with a ''dunce cap''!
*** With the heists update, you can be a jerk and not give your fellow crew members their fair share of the score.
** And, sadly, the personal vehicle system also makes it harder to respond to somebody being a jerk, because if you destroy their vehicle while they're attacking you in it, then you risk having a penalty put on you that puts you in servers with other people who are much more likely to do horrible things for no reason.
** Hackers have become more and more rampant in Online as time has gone by, and the nature of the hacks used has also become more advanced and more malicious over time. Money hacks and invincibility are one thing, but spawning masses of objects into the world that can negatively affect performance to the point of crashing the game for other people is entirely another. It has technically reached a point where the advice by many honest senior players to new players is to launch a private friend-only or solo session and stay out of the public ones.
** When somebody with a vehicle warehouse is trying to sell a car the game makes it clear that to successfully profit from ruining their mission other players have to ''steal'' the car being sold and take it to a designated area, however other players will fuck with the seller by going after it with the intent of destroying it, which doesn't give payout.
** In general, the fastest money-making activities in the game are restricted to public free roam sessions, and attempting to do them results in the participating players getting marked on the map, opening the door wide open for military aircraft-delivered griefing. The only thing sellers have going for them, barring like-minded and equally-armed friends, is the fact that their delivery vehicles are extremely durable compared to their non-mission counterparts. For someone looking from the outside in, one might argue that the mechanic serves a similar purpose to games like ''VideoGame/EveOnline'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV'', or ''VideoGame/TheDivision''. However, attacking players get chump change for their efforts (in fact, if they're not in a military vehicle, they'd ''lose money'' destroying other players' cargo), so the implication is that griefing is encouraged by the developers only for griefing's sake ([[BribingYourWayToVictory or perhaps frustrating the victims into buying Shark Cards]]).
* GuideDangIt: The game is pretty good at telling you most things, however there are a few spots it does miss.
** The game relies on giving you various hints during the loading screens or when they are needed due to nearby events. This is normally ok, but sometimes the hints that it gives you could be more useful if they appeared before, such as information about [[RandomEncounter Armored Trucks]] or that high end vehicles you find on the street can't be made into personal vehicles and must be bought.
** On the prison break finale, the two players busting into the prison are expected to start a shootout as soon as they get off the bus. The game doesn't mention this, and the way the mission is set up heavily implies that you're ''supposed'' to be keeping the disguise up until you meet the target, rather than start firing as soon as you enter the prison. The only hint is one guard who, after you pass him, inexplicably [[{{Jerkass}} starts shooting at you for no noticeable reason]].
** On the Pacific Standard setup where you're tracking the locator, one player drives and the other uses an app on their phone that will point out the rough location of several mail trucks. The driver is supposed to take the tracker to these trucks so the tracker can take a picture of its licences plate. What the game doesn't mention is that, while using the tracker app, pressing the D-Pad directions will put an arrow up on their driver's screen pointing in that direction, allowing players to communicate the location without a mic.
* HackerCave: The Benefactor Terrorbyte is a mobile one for the PlayerCharacter. Inside, one can hack into any of their business computers and run a resupply run for that business. In addition, the player can run missions for [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Paige]].
* HelloInsertNameHere: Zig-zagged in a very strange way. The game lets you name your characters online, but after that, you'll probably never see said name again, unless you've created multiple characters and are in the character select screen- the parts of the game with voice acting will never mention your name, and in cases where names are shown, only the player's Social Club nickname ever comes up, not the name of the character that the player has designated.
* HeroicMime: Zigzagged. The multiplayer protagonist doesn't speak during the cutscenes, for obvious reasons. But they can "speak" during gameplay if the player talks through a mic, complete with generic mouth flaps.
* HoldTheLine: The Survival missions in ''Online'' require the players to hold off 10 increasingly difficult waves of computer-controlled enemies.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Whether they're shooting at you from a moving vehicle while your behind cover, or from a chopper about 200 feet in the air, the enemy NPC's WILL end you.
* ImprobablyCoolCar: Despite the in-game website claiming that only 10 were made, it is entirely possible for all 30 players in a lobby to drive around in their own Truffade Z-Type.
* KarmaMeter: The High Life update introduced a stat called "Mental State", which starts at 0% and works its way up whenever a player kills other players, [=NPC=]s or blows up cars. Harming other players causes it to raise the most. Staying out of conflict and/or playing anything outside of Free Mode empties it.
* LevelEditor: A relatively simplistic one, called the "Content Creator", was launched soon after the game, allowing players to create their own deathmatches, races, and Capture missions, some of which may be "Rockstar Verified".
* TheLoad: In Heists, the person who got "Bronze" rank usually ended up as this. It pretty much always goes automatically to whoever used your team life, and aside from that, it goes to the person who accomplished the least related to the task or did the worst job at it (reached the destination slowest, killed the fewest targets, took the most damage). Depending on your group, though, this can often just be a bad luck run, and ''someone'' always has to take the role, so it's zigzagged from the player's perspective, while the game sees it as being played straight.
* {{Macguffin}}: Any game mode involving a "package" that has to be captured or protected. What the actual package is (money, drugs, evidence, etc.) is completely interchangeable and exists to give both sides something to fight over.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Because damage sustained by the player character takes a while to fully disappear, the player can be casually walking around Los Santos with gaping holes in their face and major organs.
* MundaneUtility: There really isn't anything stopping you from using a supped up hypercar to reduce your commute time.
** With the addition of Sercuroserv [=CEOs=] its far from uncommon to see people using their Ceo abilities to call in Buzzard attack helicopters, and then using them run various errands faster.
*** Or if they're rich enough, buying an Akula gunship helicopter and using its stealth mode to simply get around without appearing on a potential {{Griefer}}'s minimap.
** Some players will only go shopping in their choice of armored car, or better yet with a Securoserv protection detail in a turreted limo guarding the door.
** The hydra is a fighter jet the player can own, which already makes it a must-have. However with its fast speed and VTOL capabilities its not uncommon to see people use them to pick up groceries at the convenience store and then rob said convenience store.
** Have to get through a hilly windy road? There is nothing better for that than the Ruiner 2000 with its parachute and jump functions.
** The APC is the most heavily armored and one the most heavily armed vehicles in the game. Its also both amphibious and a personal vehicle making it a great choice for going mudding or getting to your yacht without having to switch to a boat.
** The Mobile Operations center is essentially a mobile fortress that's hauled by a trailer. You can use it quickly lose your wanted level by just entering the trailer. Or you can use the built-in closet to throw together an outfit on the fly.
*** If you want to forgo practicality, you could install a living quarters on one and just use it to hang out with friends in it.
* NGOSuperpower: Securoserv is this in all their glory. They perform numerous dirty deeds for their clients from assassinations, to running illicit contraband, to bribing the police. No task is too small or too against the law.
* NippleAndDimed: Just like in the main game, you can visit the Vanilla Unicorn. Unlike the main game, the girls keep their tops on during private dances.[[note]]This has been changed in the Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC versions. 360 and Playstation 3 versions still play this trope straight.[[/note]] A female protagonist will also shower with a bikini top on, which is odd considering due to camera angles you only ever see a character's back when showering.
** Bizarrely, ''Online'' does still contain nudity; if you go to the Playboy mansion lookalike, you can encounter a woman wearing nothing but her bikini bottoms.
*** For a while at least, there was a glitch a player could do to make their female character appear topless!
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Helping the police take down another player will invariably end up with them turning their guns towards you.
* NoHarmRequirement: The first and the last heist require half of the crew to keep the people in a bank foyer down without killing them, while the other half gets the money. Failing to do so, or killing one of them will fail the mission in the first heist and spawn N.O.O.S.E. teams in the last heist. You will however need to kill armed guards in the last mission.
* NonIndicativeName: Most mission names are appropriate and often have a nice pun to them, but a few have no apparent relation to what's going on. Rooftop Rumble, for instance, has nothing at all to do with rooftops.
* NotTheIntendedUse: Muggers can be hired, for $1000, to mug a specific player, causing the mugger to steal a portion of the cash they have on hand, rather than deposited at a bank, by the mugger running up and attacking the player. However this has the extra effect of basically ragdolling the player, presumably to keep retribution from being swift and effective from the mugged party, and also causes the mugger to steal any vehicle the target player may have been in. Considering the closest a player gets to knocking somebody over is killing them, muggers are a solution to keeping their target alive.
** The longer a mission goes on, the more money and RP it gives out upon completion. This was made to keep shorter games and longer game from paying out differently, so 2 short games would basically pay out as much as 1 longer one, but people who know the mechanics may intentionally stall at some points to reach the time goal to increase the rewarded payout. [[note]] it's roughly 3 minutes from the first tier to the second tier of payouts. [[/note]]
** The VIP/Bodyguard system can be used to have fun with your fellow Organization members, as it allows for launches due to friendly fire being off by default.
** While they are usually miniscule amounts, the bounties NPC characters rarely call on the player are basically free money if you prefer to play alone, since they can only be claimed by other players.
* ObviousBeta: How many players feel about ''Online'', since there are several {{Game Breaking Bug}}s and exploits that still haven't been patched, several GameBreaker vehicles and weapons that still haven't been balanced, and the pervasive use of mods that can easily give one GodMode with virtually zero repercussions. Most speculate that this constant rebalancing and bug-fixing is the #1 reason why heists, the most-anticipated feature of ''Online'', were MIA over a year after ''Online'''s unveiling.
* OptionalSexualEncounter: Like in single-player, you can pick up hookers. Unlike in single player, they have a strange habit of running screaming from your car after you're done. You can also get the numbers from the girls at the Vanilla Unicorn once you've gotten an apartment, but they'll only answer if you've got a particularly high end apartment. [[spoiler:And then {{subverted}}; turns out they're just there to give you a free private dance with constant touching.]]
* PoliceAreUseless: Zig-zagged. In some missions where the police are explicity involved, they can do a very good job of shooting you dead or trapping you, but in all the rest they're entirely absent.
* PoliceBrutality: Entirely possible depending on who's playing as a cop in most game modes. Since the cops are basically just palette-swapped versions of the crooks, it's likely to see police cause as much wanton destruction and death as the crooks themselves.
** Also, the police in Online never attempt to arrest someone with a wanted level, and will always shoot to kill.
** They will also kill civilians on a regular basis. If a large grouping of cops either kills or loses their target(s), they will mill about for a while in the area. There is a good chance that a pedestrian will then bump into one accidentally and be promptly slaughtered. this gets even more horrifying if one or more civilians nearby has a gun, as they will try to defend the victim from the cops, with predictable results usually.
*** Also, there's a good chance that this will lead to a spiral in a populated area, such as the downtown streets. Get a bunch of police together in one tight intersection, wait for the chance civilian bumping into a police officer, and then watch as the police open fire, cause nearby civilians to panic, speed away and hit a police officer in their panic, get ruthlessly gunned down, and the cycle continues.
* PowerCreep: Applies to many vehicles added in the various updates, as well as some weapons to a degree. The High Life update introduced the Pegassi Zentorno, a supercar outclassing every other one in general performance which led many players flocking to its ownership overnight, all until a bit over a year after, when the Progen T20 became the best all-around supercar. It even happened with some Muscles and Sport Classics - the Lampadati Casco, a late 1950s sports coupe introduced with the Heists outclasses most other Sport Classics, including a Miura-based 1960s supercar; and the Coquette Black Fin, which beats out modern Muscles and even Supercars!
** The DLC weapons aren't really that balanced for being available from Rank 1, ''especially'' the Homing Launcher, which can basically replace the RPG. The rest of the guns aren't too bad, but they do often replace or remove the need for more conventional weapons earned by leveling, with the only weapon class not having a straight-up replacement within the DLC weaponry being sniper rifles.
** The Doomsday heist, as well as gunrunners before it but not to the same degree, introduced the personal flying vehicle with homing missiles. The Deluxo isn't the fastest aerial attack vehicle, it can only hold 30 missiles, and it's expensive, but it's a '''personal vehicle''', meaning if you harass somebody in it and they destroy it they have to pay 10'000 for the insurance and get a bad player mark. Every other vehicle of this type cannot be personal and so cannot give you a penalty for blasting it out of the sky for launching missiles at you, but this one is more annoying for that sole reason.
*** The Oppressor Mk 2 is the same but even worse, with the ability to prevent homing missiles from connecting with it by throwing them off course and being faster while still being free flying unlike mk. 1
** Another way this has worked out is the migration of more content into the free world. While that's what people wanted, there are now a lot of high paying missions that it only takes one failure to prevent the payout for, while you often have to pay to get them going. With the above mentioned flying homing missile shooters as well as them respawning while your payload won't respawn. While there still are options to make money without resorting to free mode, the fact that most business content added in is only in free mode has made it so it only takes one obnoxious jerk in a room to ruin buissness for everybody else.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: It's more profitable to tackle missions as a team than alone. Not only are they easier to accomplish, you get twenty percent more EXP for completing them as a team, and you get even ''more'' for doing them with members of your Crew. Of course, just watch out for that "Disorder" mentioned above.
* PowerLimiter: The game prevents players from simply stealing high-end vehicles off the street by preventing them from driving the vehicles into garages with the in-universe explanation that such vehicles are tagged and easily traceable. Instead, players will have to pay millions of in-game currency obtained either by playing missions or purchasing cash cards with real-world money. Also, stealing cars can result in a bounty being placed on the player's head and end up targeted by other players looking to make a quick buck.
* PresentDayPast: GTA Online's story takes place a few months before GTA V's single-player campaign, cementing it in early 2013. Despite that, many content updates contain cars based on ones that appeared after that (such as the Vapid FMJ which is heavily based on the 2017 Ford GT), current to the real-life present.
** With every title update GTA Online's setting and story descend into [[AnachronismStew anachronism]] as more modern vehicles and weapons being released and characters discussing or referencing contemporary issues and events [[note]] in one MOC mission, Agent 14 explicitly mentions that 'it's 2017' [[/note]] Either that, or as some fans suggest, Online's timeline moves with the real world while GTA V's timeline is stuck in 2013.
* PressXToDie: Your character menu in ''GTA Online'' has an extra option which is not present in the character menus for either of the three main protagonists: "Commit Suicide".
* PrisonersDilemma: A subtle one but interrupting freemode events tends to be one with skewed punishments. A lot freemode events where you destroy cargo don't pay out that well, roughly 20'000 at most, whereas payout for the delivery player tends to be much more, such as 200'000 in some cases. While the other players don't see that money, all players playing in a more trusting, less hostile fashion also means when the other players want to do similar events, if nobody bothers them then they get more money than destroying the shipment and in turn having other people try and destroy theirs and succeeding would. It can be divided up as: if all players don't ruin each other's work earns them 10X payout on their own ventures, ruining somebody else's venture and successfully running your own earns you 11X, and ruining somebody else's and having yours ruined is 1X, and not ruining somebody else's and having yours is 0X.
* PurelyAestheticGender: ZigZagged. The only things your character's sex affects are their animations, clothes available to them (recent updates tend to add unisex clothes, though) and some dialogue. There are no male prostitutes or strippers either, however, and prostitutes don't have unique animations for female characters, so every female PlayerCharacter is seemingly turned on by somone performing a jerking motion above their crotch.
* RealityEnsues:
** Some guy won't stop killing you? Simply call the Police, and they'll take him down for you.
** The reason why Trevor sends you to rob the Ballas during ''Series A Funding''? Earlier, he found a bunch of ''public'' photos on Snapmatic featuring [[StupidCrooks the Ballas posing with weapons and lots of drugs]]. Even worse, he implies that the images were also ''[[EpicFail geotagged]]''.
* RespawningEnemies: For the most part, as per series tradition, only cops (and if you're in Fort Zancudo, soldiers) will respawn to pursue the player when killed...unless, of course, you're playing missions such as "Dry Docking" or "Stocks and Scares". For whatever reason, almost any mission that takes place on Elysian Island will put you up against infinitely respawning Merryweather mercenaries. Have fun trying to open a safe with them breathing down your neck.
* RiceBurner: Many vehicles you are tasked with retrieving in the Import/Export missions have... less than tasteful modifications applied to them.
** Of course, players themselves can invoke this trope as well. You want a chrome Adder with pink dollar rims and green neon? There is absolutely nothing stopping you.
* SchmuckBait:
** The high-priority vehicles. Woe betide the newbie who picks one up, goes through all the trouble of losing the cops, and pays all the money to repair/respray it, only to be gunned down the second they leave the Pay 'n' Spray and have it swiped from underneath them.
*** If you know that someone is lying in wait to kill you and steal the high priority vehicle, however, the schmuck status can be inverted by placing an ignition bomb on the vehicle so that if you get gunned down after exiting Los Santos Customs, you'll get the last laugh when they blow themselves up.
** Custom deathmatches with titles such as "100000 RP + $$$ + Rank Up". The titles promise easy and quick RP and money. However, once you play them, you'll find that these deathmatches are rigged so that the creator always wins. Everyone spawns in an enclosed area armed with only melee weapons, but there is a tank, helicopter, or stash of guns in some hidden area that only the creator knows how to get to. The creator will then proceed to rush to his hidden weaponry and continuously spawn kill you.
** The game tells you to press the chat key and sing in the shower to earn extra RP. Yes, it does give you RP- a measly 50RP. But you also broadcast your (probably terrible on purpose) singing to everyone on the server. The severity of the repercussions depends on whether you're in a public server, a crew-only or friend-only session, or alone, at that time.
** With some careful placement, its possible to open a car's door place a proximity mine inside it, and shut the door with no one being any the wiser. If you see a special vehicle, or worse a target vehicle,[[note]]neither of which cost the owner/thief a dime if they blow it up[[/note]] from the ''Import/Export'' update just sitting in the road, there is a good chance it has proxy bomb in it.
* ShaggyDogStory: For Trevor at least, [[spoiler: the Series A Funding heist turns out to be entirely pointless, as the drug deal at the end (with all of the product that he's just paid the four of you to get for him) is actually a sting operation by the DOA, and Trevor is forced on the run with nothing but an Impotent Rage figure as consolation]].
* SilentSnarker: In cutscenes for missions and heists the player characters sometimes react this way to the eccentricities of characters like Lamar and Lester.
* SinisterSurveillance: The Terrorbyte fulfills this with the player scanner. This allows users to see a wide array of stats from another scanned player from their weapon accuracy to their favorite vehicle to the number of sex acts that they have purchased.
* SmugglingWithDolls: One scene for one of the heists has the players deliver a tuck of action figures with cocaine inside them to... surprise! Trevor; one of the main anti-heroes from the campaign. [[{{PsychopathicManChild}} Naturally]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7RsVC_yYDo&feature=youtu.be&t=477 he plays with them.]]
* SoLastSeason: Plenty of vanilla game content or content from earlier updates gets obsoleted or at the very least downplayed in its usefulness by later additions. The Rhino tank was once a fearless death machine, later becoming far more impractical due to better ways to blow up others such as spawnable Hydra jets. Various armed vehicles become supplanted by weaponized vehicles added in the Gunrunning update, which are not only more powerful (a flying bike that can shoot rockets, a muscle car able to shoot rockets and dual miniguns without the need of a second gunner, etc) but can be actually owned and called like any personal vehicle unlike the earlier Pegasus vehicles. The Annihilator helicopter is a cross-game example even, once fearless in GTA IV multiplayer but not even useful at the beginning of GTA Online's life, not armed with any rockets and more cumbersome handling, unlike the Buzzard.
* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: In the meta sense; virtually every character in the single-player story, and especially the three protagonists, are deconstructions of the standard ''GTA'' game protagonist. The online protagonist, however, is the standard ''GTA'' protagonist played ''completely straight''.
* {{Spoonerism}}: The update named "Cunning Stunts" is just begging you to do this
* TakeThat:
** In previous games people have commented on the absurdity of pulling out a large weapon out of nowhere (usually a RPG). The heists update has one of the characters say, "You know [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall in those games where someone pulls out a rocket launcher]] and people say 'Where is he keeping that, that's so unrealistic!'. I say you haven't spent enough time in the US judicial system."
** One of the decal options for the Sultan RS plasters [[ShowWithinAShow Princess Robot Bubblegum]]'s eponymous character [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/gtawiki/images/0/00/SultanRS-CustomizationOptions-GTAO-front.png/revision/latest?cb=20160213154723 all over the vehicle]]. The Sentinel Classic has [[https://s2.postimg.org/rdmgqwh61/20171214202759_1.jpg a similar customization option]], humorously named "2D Relationship". As [[TheWikiRule the GTA wiki]] states, this is a jab at the real life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itasha itasha]] subculture in Japan.
* ThirdPersonSeductress: If you play a female character in Online mode, you can modify her appearance and [[VirtualPaperDoll apparel]] to your heart's content. And yes, you can also make your character {{Stripperific}} too.
* TimeSkip: The recent ''Gunrunner'' and ''Smuggler's Run'' updates seem to take place after the events of the single-player game. On one gunrunning mission, Agent 14 mentions that it is now 2017. And on the ''Smuggler's Run'' introduction, Ron states that Trevor had gone "Vinewood" on him and left the business to him to run.
** ContinuitySnarl: Owing to ''GTA Online'''s non-linear progression. Agent 14 doesn't give a definitive answer as to whether he and the player already met (the player may have bought a bunker before ever doing any heists) and the player can still do contact missions and the Series A heist for Trevor despite him "going Vinewood".
* TookALevelInJerkass: It seems that, before the single-player story, everyone in the LSPD had terribly itchy trigger fingers. For one, they'll always shoot at a player with a wanted level, even if the player in question only has one star. Also, they see [[CrimeOfSelfDefense defending yourself against someone shooting or punching you]] or [[UngratefulBastard helping them bring down a gunslinging maniac]] as crimes.
* TrickBullet: As of the ''Gunrunning'' update, the player can employ an R&D team to research a handful of different ammunition types for certain guns. These range from the [[AwesomeButImpractical borderline useless]] [[EveryBulletIsATracer tracer rounds]] to the [[{{BFG}} heavy sniper]]-exclusive [[StuffBlowingUp explosive rounds]].
* {{Troll}}: You can be an uber dick to other players if you so choose given the name of the game. i.e grab a random car off the streets or one of your fancy rides (that has insurance for obvious reasons), drive to the nearest LS Customs, order an ignition bomb, park it outside the entrance to said mod shop to where its ''impossible'' to enter it without moving the blocking vehicle and wait for an unsuspecting player to try and move it out the way.
** Another popular method of trolling is to join high paying missions, such as Rooftop Rumble, pick up the package that needs to be delivered, kill the other players by running them over, and then refuse to deliver the package.
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Unless avoiding the cops is specifically part of the challenge, the police will never be alerted during missions. This is especially glaring in Rooftop Rumble, in which you'll get into a large shoot out right down the block from a police station.
* VideogameCrueltyPunishment: Killing two hostages in Online during the Pacific Standard Job will cause the tellers to raise the alarm and call NOOSE!
* VillainHasAPoint: During a setup mission in ''Series A Funding'', Trevor tells the Online Protagonists [[AnAesop to be careful on what they post online and make sure their settings are secure.]] After all, a bunch of public photos featuring the Ballas posing with weapons and drugs along with said photos apparently being ''geotagged'' were how Trevor found a target to rob.
* VisionaryVillain: [[spoiler:Cris Formage. You can rip him off in single player mode, but the first time you die in Online mode, you are confronted with Formage floating down from Heaven to meet you and tell you about passive mode. Maybe [[ChurchOfHappyology the Epsilon Program]] isn't such a scam after all...]]
* WeaponizedCar: Starting with the Import/Export update, the storage and customization of weaponized vehicles have been possible with the vehicle warehouse.
** The Gunrunning update has added further to this with weaponized vehicles available as personal vehicles.
* ZergRush: The Entourage PVP mode. 1 VIP in heavy armour and armed to the teeth, 1 to 5 bodyguards armed to the teeth, 2 to 6 assassins with barely adequate weapons. The VIP is able to tank massive damage but cannot run, and has to reach the evacuation point in 10 minutes, the bodyguards have only three VideogameLives and must protect the VIP, the assassins respawn forever, and must kill the VIP.
[[/folder]]

To date, there have been several DLC packs for the game, consisting of item packs that grant new vehicles, weapons, and clothes for ''Online'' players. Heists for Online Mode were also announced prior to release, [[ScheduleSlip but fans were left waiting for... quite a while.]] Thankfully, they were finally added on 10 March 2015. Unlike GTA IV, which had two major DLC-based missions released (later compiled for a physical release), there have (as of 2018) been no such releases for GTA V.

** Playing it a bit more straight are the DLC Weapons, like the Special Carbine, Bullpup Rifle, Heavy Shotgun, and the Homing Launcher. The Special Carbine is a Carbine Rifle that's a little bulkier, but you can get it from the start, and upgrading it is worthwhile for heists, the Bullpup is a basic Advanced Rifle that is not nearly as strong,The Heavy Shotgun is a straight upgrade to the already overpowered Assault Shotgun, which only has a better fire rate, and the Homing Launcher will [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement not be discussed here]], except to say, if nothing else, it can be bought at level 1, while the normal rocket launcher is locked at level 100.

[[quoteright:276:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GTA_V_box_art_tv_tropes_1852.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:276:In pursuit of the almighty dollar.]]

* CheckpointStarvation: The multiplayer missions. Some of them tend to be quite lengthy, and have all of them have no checkpoints at all. Do a mission where you must ambush a drug deal, go to the mountains, hack the computer, and then run to the other side of town to ambush more Mooks at the airfield? Failing will be quite devestating.

** Shitzu gives us its sports bikes known as the Defiler and Hakuchou Drag (returning from GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned), based on Suzuki's Bandit 1200 Streetfighter and Hayabusa, respectively.

* Trevor Philips, an ex-[[AcePilot military pilot]] permanently grounded due to his [[AxCrazy severe mental instability]]. Left without a job, he soon befriended Michael, which led them to be partners in crime. Unlike Michael, Trevor never retired, instead remaining a drug-abusing career criminal, living out in a trailer in the small desert town of Sandy Shores[[note]]Based on the real-life towns of Desert Shores and Salton City[[/note]] north of Los Santos, running a "company" that deals in drug-trafficking and gun-running. After he learns that Michael is alive and residing in the city nearby, he decides to track his old buddy down and partner up again.