Trivia / Grand Theft Auto V

• Accent Depundent: There's a jetski manufacturer named "Speedophile", a pun that only works with the British pronunciation of "pedophile".
• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • Trevor's initial backstory was that he grew up in the rural American backwoods. However, when Canadian actor Steven Ogg was hired to voice the character, the producers decided to work Ogg's thick Canadian accent into the character. As a result, Trevor's origins were changed and the character was now purported to have grown up "near the Canadian border". Trevor's Canadian origins are something of an in-joke throughout the game, as numerous characters express anti-Canadian sentiment.
  • Ogg also came up with the idea of Trevor trying and failing to jump over Denise's fence in "Fresh Meat", which Rockstar liked enough to implement in to the game proper. Many thought that the scene was actually a case of Throw It In!, before Ogg clarified what had actually happened.
• Actor-Shared Background: If this Vlad TV interview is to be believed, Slink Johnson does indeed have a lot of commonalities with his character Lamar, particularly their experience with carjacking and petty theft. Fellow GTA V actor Shawn Fonteno also had a rap sheet in real life as well, having been involved with the Crips in his early life much like Franklin was involved with the Families in this game.
• Adored by the Network: When Grand Theft Auto Online surpassed the game's single-player mode, Rockstar almost completely dropped their support of the latter in favor of the former with the ill-gotten gains update being the last one that had most of its content added to story mode in the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions while the next generation consoles had more extra content added to story mode if players had a Rockstar Social Club account and were returning from that generation. Later updates after this has their content almost exclusive to Online, but certain exceptions such as Lowriders adding the Machete to both V and Online while radio stations were still added to V all the way to The Diamond Casino Heist with music that was released after 2013 when the game took place timeline wise.
• Approval of God:
  • Shawn Fonteno, the former rapper and actor who played Franklin, reuploaded a parody video of his character being roasted by Kermit the Frog, showing his approval of the meme.
  • Slink Johnson (Lamar) watched a bunch of Lamar Roasts Franklin memes and clearly had a fun time sitting through every one of them. He even got in on the action by appearing on a "real life" version of the meme alongside Fonteno. His personal favorite is "Everybody Roasts Franklin". He also voiced his approval in an Instagram post.
• Author's Saving Throw: Grand Theft Auto IV's missions were criticized for being repetitive in their nature, a lot of them having Niko being told to chase and assassinate someone with little variation. Rockstar addressed this with a wide plethora of missions, particularly with the heists. The assassination missions proper were reduced to being optional but with high payouts, particularly with manipulating the stock market.
• Banned in China:
  • A mild example for eighth gen when the Australian branches of Target and Kmart^note Both owned by Wesfarmers (whose company policy bans R-Rated content anyway) and unrelated to the American chains aside from licensing the names both chose not to stock the game after an uproar caused by this petition, which claims that the game rewards players for committing acts of sexual violence against women (killing escorts after using their services, etc.)
  • The gambling elements of the GTA Online Diamond Casino and Resort update are, banned in Belgium, which is usually the first country to ban things that promote underage gambling like Loot Boxes. In other countries (e.g. Germany), players are not allowed to gamble any in-game currency bought with Shark Cards (the game has a system in place to tell the difference). This is also apparently the case in the Middle East: The casino minigames are all off limits to the players, and the private gambling area part of the penthouse is walled off, but everything else is available.
• Cast the Expert: Rockstar Games hired actual gang members to voice some of the side characters, and they often rewrote the dialogue when it seemed unrealistic. They also allowed Shawn Fonteno and Slink Johnson to improvise most of their lines, as they knew more than anyone how black gangbangers on the West Coast would talk in real life.
  • The Next-Gen version has a variation. All the new songs added to the game were handpicked by their respective DJs, instead of Rockstar themselves. Meaning that Cara picked the new songs for Non-Stop Pop, Loggins picked the new songs for Los Santos Rock Radio, DJ Pooh picked the new songs for West Coast Classics, etc.
  • Real gangbangers were also called upon to graffiti up memorials of fellow members who have died.
• Content Leak: In late December 2023 the source code for the PC version of GTA V leaked on the dark web. Said source archive appears to contain code for the single-player portion of the game and the associated mission logic, and is even compilable according to a Twitter user. Interestingly enough, the leaked sources also hint at what Rockstar could have done had they not turn GTA Online into a cash cow, i.e. code for the cancelled single-player DLC (most of which was later recycled as missions for GTA Online) and even an expansion set in Liberty City.
• Creator Backlash: While he initially enjoyed playing the character and obliging fan requests relating to him, Steven Ogg implied in a Cameo he sent to a fan in 2022 that he's since become disillusioned with being known as Trevor Phillips over the years, noting how he felt that the character was a "cartoon", and expressed annoyance that people were asking him to send messages to people while in-character rather than As Himself as an actor. As detailed in I Am Not Spock below, Ogg no longer wishes to reprise his role of Trevor in any capacity due to his negative experiences.
  • A smaller scale example with Ned Luke. Michael's signature line "You forget a thousand things everyday. Make sure this is one of them." was assumed to be his favorite line, but Ned confirmed on his TikTok that he actually hated it because of the way it was written.
• Dawson Casting:
  • Shawn Fonteno was 42 years old when he played the role of Franklin, who is 25 during the events of the game. By comparison, Steven Ogg, who plays Trevor, is five years younger than Fonteno, and only slightly younger than his character Trevor.
  • Lamar Davis, who is also 25, is played by Slink Johnson, who was 40 at the time of the game's release.
  • Danny Tamberelli (aged 31) and Michal Sinnott (aged 36) were a over a decade older than Jimmy (aged 20) and Tracey (aged 22) respectively.
• Defictionalization: In collaboration with West Coast Customs, Rockstar has created a real Bravado Banshee - the GTA equivalent of a Dodge Viper.
• Development Gag:
  • After paying a visit to Martin Madrazo for a job, Trevor thinks that Michael brought him to a big fancy house to case it so they can rob it and its homeowner later, which Michael repeatedly tells him that they weren't there to do that. A cut heist (see What Could Have Been below) called "The Sharmoota Job" had Michael and Trevor disguised as clowns or mimes to rob said house during a party.
  • Before the mission Cadia Libre, Michael texts Franklin saying that he was going to Martin Madrazo's house to discuss a job and Martin wanted Franklin in on it but Michael convinced him to use Trevor instead. A pre-release screenshot of the mission showed Franklin on a dirtbike chasing the plane, suggesting he was going to be in the mission before being replaced during development with Trevor.
  • One Diamond Casino and Resort mission has Ms. Baker sarcastically noting that it "only took five years" for the casino to open. Players who dug through the game files found unused dialog that suggested the Casino was intended to be available right from the start of the game, along with the Maze Bank (which, in turn, was made available via the Arena Wars update).
• Dub Name Change: In the Polish version Stretch's nickname was translated to Długas (Longy), likely because of the potential loanword connotations with stretch wrap.
• Dueling Games:
  • With Saints Row IV, which came out a month before. Despite Saints selling well and getting positive reviews, GTA completely trounced it, both in reception and sales.
  • Saints Row still got a good one over by releasing the "GAT V" DLC on the same day as the console release, making a stand for PC gamers by offering it for free on that day. (Also eventually by having the expansion and the bundled next gen port out before GTA reached the PC).
  • One year later, the Next-Gen port of GTA V competed with Far Cry 4 as both are open-world games being released on the same day.
  • 2021 saw Rockstar butting heads with the aforementioned Saints Row franchise again, this time with GTA V getting an Updated Re-release for ninth generation consoles less than half a year after Saints Row: The Third got its own re-release.
• Dummied Out: Princess Robot Bubblegum and its voice actors are credited in the 7th Gen version of the game, even though the actual content would only become available a full year later on the 8th Gen Updated Re-release of the game.
  • Radio playlists that include songs never added into the game, as well as files for an entire cut radio station, can be found in the game's files.
• Dyeing for Your Art:
  • Ned Luke put on 25 pounds to help get into character for Michael.
  • Steven Ogg would sometimes strip down to his underwear to get more in character while recording Trevor's lines.
• Edited for Syndication: Just like how the online component for Red Dead Redemption II locks out the poker mini-game for players from countries with strict gambling regulations, the gambling functions for GTA Online's Diamond Casino are also locked out for those same players.
• Lying Creator
  • Shortly after the game's announcement, Rockstar stated that like in Grand Theft Auto IV, you would not be able to purchase property. That element has since been confirmed. Although, this was most likely done so Rockstar wouldn't spoil any gameplay until they were ready to announce it.
  • After specifically stating that Packie McReary wouldn't be in the game, who should appear? Packie.
  • Before Grand Theft Auto V was originally released on the PS3 and Xbox 360, Rockstar specifically said that it would not be released on next-gen consoles. Come E3 2014, and GTA V was announced for both consoles, with many improvements, additions, and enhancements.
• I Am Not Spock: Steven Ogg has grown tired of being associated with Trevor and fans pestering him to berate them or say various things relating to the GTA universe while in character. Because of this, he declined to return for follow-up stories in Online and the Fooliganz were created to take his place.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Throughout the game, Michael frequently expresses hatred of yoga instructors, in part because his wife is cheating on him with some of them. It's funny once you consider that Ned Luke, Michael's voice actor, is currently married to a yoga instructor.
• Meme Acknowledgement: Shawn Fonteno (Franklin) and Slink Johnson (Lamar) eventually got together to recreate the memetic "Lamar Roasts Franklin" scene in live action. Rockstar themselves would homage the scene in The Contract Update in Grand Theft Auto Online.
• Multi-Disc Work: GTA V had two discs on Xbox 360. The PC version, which was a port of the PS4/Xbox One versions, had seven.
• No Communities Were Harmed: The game's locale plays this straight in regards to Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, but it was inadvertently subverted due to the Edinburgh-based Rockstar North's Patriotic Fervor for Scotland. A councillor from Hawick was far from happy that a district in the game shared its name with the town.
• Official Fan-Submitted Content:
  • If Rockstar Games approves of a player-created race or deathmatch map made with their Level Editor, it will become "Rockstar Verified" and easily accessible in-game to everyone playing Online. Additionally, they regularly feature videos and crews made by members of the Social Club community on their website.
  • A fan-made patch by a modder going under the pseudonym t0st which cut down on loading times in the PC version of GTA Online was incorporated by Rockstar in a March 2021 title update. Besides being mentioned on their official support page, t0st also received a $10,000 cash reward for his findings.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: It was believed for a long time that Trevor tripping over the fence he hops over in "Fresh Meat" was an accident, and that Franklin bursting out laughing at the event was actually Shawn Fonteno corpsing, resulting in Steven Ogg improvising Trevor getting angry at Franklin in response. Ogg clarified that this wasn't the case at a Comic Con London panel in 2018, as the work with the motion-capture equipment made it next to impossible to improvise much of anything, much less falling down.
• Promoted Fanboy: Hannibal Buress has said in the past that he's a big GTA fan, and even did a bit about IV in his stand-up; ironically, he got his cameo on FlyLo FM from Flying Lotus himself being a big fan of Hannibal's comedy.
• Revival by Commercialization: Any song featured in trailers.
  • "Radio Ga Ga" by Queen was already highly popular, but after the Michael trailer it surged in popularity, with most of the comments for it on YouTube being related to this game.
  • "Hood Gone Love It" by Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar. Its views on YouTube tripled in less than a week after being featured in the Franklin trailer.
  • Any song featured on the in-game radio stations count. Find any one of the songs from any of the stations on YouTube, guaranteed you will find someone, sometimes the top comment, saying they first heard it on GTA.
• Role Reprise:
  • Nearly every character who appeared in GTA IV or its episodes were voiced by their original voice actor. The only exception is Al Di Napoli.
  • The voice actors for Cris Formage, Jack Howitzer, and Fernando Martinez, who all appeared in GTA San Andreas, reprise their roles for GTA V.
  • Agent ULP was initially reprised by Milton James in the single player game; however, in the Doomsday Heist update, Agent ULP is voiced by Jeff Steitzer, due to James suffering a stroke and subsequently dying from its complications.
• Schedule Slip:
  • The original version of the game was slated for a Spring 2013 release, before being delayed to September 17 of the same year.
  • The 9th generation re-releases were initially planned to release in late 2021, before being delayed to March 2022.
• Star-Making Role: Following his acclaimed performance as Trevor, Steven Ogg landed roles in Better Call Saul and The Walking Dead.
• Screwed by the Lawyers: In the original Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, the menus for the Lucky Pluckers restaurant actually show stickers for the real life drinks Sprite, Fanta, and Barq's. In the enhanced versions of the game, these were only able to be seen in the Little Seoul branch of the restaurant before a later patch removed them entirely. This was likely done in order for Rockstar to avoid a lawsuit by those brands.
• Throw It In!:
  • In a more serious example, Madrazo's actor Alfredo Huereca miscalculated his swing with a soft bat during the mission Marriage Counselling and managed to hit Ned Luke in the elbow with the wooden part of it. This take is used in the final version of the game, making Michael's reaction real.
  • Much of Franklin and Lamar's dialogue in the game was heavily improvised by both Shawn Fonteno and Slink Johnson, particularly with their slang since they were dissatisfied with Rockstar's use of the word "mate" in place of the N-word.
  • In the mission "Did Somebody Say Yoga?", Michael's line "Nama-go fuck yourself." to Fabien was improvised by Ned Luke, who also cited it as one of his favorite lines.
• Technology Marches On: Michael and the Online Protagonist's iFruits were changed in the Updated Re-release to match the latest iPhone hardware and software.
• Urban Legend of Zelda: For a while, there persisted a rumor that there was never meant to be a Golden Ending, instead Ending C would end with the death of Franklin. This rumor was never substantiated, however.
• Vaporware: In a way. A single-player DLC was teased for a while after the game launched, but eventually just disappeared. Some leaked details from 2014 involved something named "Clifford" which at the tile many believed to be a new city - the Doomsday Heist would later use the name for an A.I. It is commonly believed that this DLC (and any other potential single-player DLC) were simply scrapped and converted to Online content.
• Wag the Director: Rockstar really wanted to avoid using the n-word and tried to use "mate" as an alternative in the dialogue. However, Shawn Fonteno and Slink Johnson, who played Franklin and Lamar, pointed out that real gangsters really do make liberal use of the n-word and kept using it during recording sessions so that there were no sanitized alternatives that could be used.
• What Could Have Been: For a game this big, there are many examples. Most can be found here.
• You Sound Familiar: Robert Bogue, voice of Corrupt Cop Steve Haines, previously voiced Troy the Hercules doorman in Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony.

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