Niko Bellic

File:Niko Bellic.jpg

Niko Bellic

Niko Bellic (Serbian: Нико Белић, Niko Belić) is the main protagonist and playable character in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. He is a 30 year old former soldier who moved to Liberty City to escape his troubled past and pursue the "American Dream." Niko was persuaded to move by his cousin Roman, who claimed to be living a life of luxury, with beautiful women, sports cars and lots of money. It soon becomes apparent, however, that he runs a failing taxi business, has mounting debts and various criminals from Liberty City's underworld have put a price on his head. Aware of Niko's violent past, Roman had lied to convince his cousin to move to the city, knowing that Niko would fight against his pursuers, and eventually be the one to turn his lies into a reality. Niko, however, also has other, underlying motivations for moving to Liberty City, which are revealed as the story unfolds. His native tongue is Serbian.

Biography

It is not specified in the game which country in Eastern Europe Niko is from, although based on his past history as described in the game and other related publications, he is most likely from Serbia or is an ethnic Serb from another country, since he speaks Serbian. Niko's father was an alcoholic who abused him and his mother and brother (who died in the war). Niko's mother, Milica, who had a maternal and caring nature, regretted that a decent person like Niko was forced to grow up in such a harsh environment, since he grew up during the difficult times of the Yugoslav Wars, in which he participated as an angry youth, motivated by ill-founded nationalism. Niko witnessed and committed numerous atrocities during the war, which led to his cynical perspective on life, with certain degrees of regret, depression and emotional detachment. A defining moment in the war for Niko was when his army unit of fifteen young men were ambushed by the enemy. Niko barely escaped and most of his friends were killed in front of him. He later discovers that two other members of the unit also survived, and concludes that one of these two betrayed the army unit for money. Niko later vows to track down the culprit, motivated not solely by revenge, but a need for closure and to move on with his own life. Despite this, Niko possesses certain skills which were acquired during his early army training, such as close quarter combat, shooting and swimming.

When the war ended, Niko had difficulty finding work and continuing a normal life. His cousin, Roman, moved to America to start a new life in Liberty City. Niko, knowing only violence, turned to the Eastern European criminal underworld for the next ten years, while at the same time trying to track down the two other men who survived the ambush. At some point during this time, he was briefly imprisoned. After he was released, Niko joined a human trafficking ring run by Russian criminal Rodislav Bulgarin. Eventually, Niko discovered that Florian Cravic, one of the two survivors of the ambush, was also living in Liberty City.

During one smuggling run into Italy, the boat that Niko was working on was attacked and sank into the Adriatic Sea. Niko managed to swim to safety, but everything else was lost. Bulgarin, needing someone to blame, accused Niko of sinking the boat and escaping with the money on board. Niko denied this, but Bulgarin refused to believe him and he was too powerful to argue with, so Niko joined the merchant navy in order to flee from Bulgarin. He spent the next seven months at sea, befriending the crew of the Platypus and contemplating Roman's request for him to come to America. Roman had been asking Niko to come to Liberty City to share his lavish life of a mansion, cars, money and women, which Niko desired, but his eventual taking Roman up on his invitation was primarily motivated by needing to locate Cravic and evade Bulgarin's wrath.

Upon arriving in Liberty City, Niko realizes that Roman's tales of success were embellished; he actually lives in a tiny apartment, runs a small taxi depot and owes gambling debts across the city to several powerful criminals. Niko's hardened past proves useful for his cousin, and Niko soon ends up protecting Roman and himself from the loan sharks that keep harassing him. Roman soon introduces Niko to friends and enemies alike, all of whom offer work which Niko accepts, giving him access to money and contacts that can help him locate "that special someone". Starting from Roman, Niko's relationships keep expanding over the course of the game.

Initially, Niko worked with his cousin in Broker, helping him to remove the threat of loan sharks and expanding his taxi business. After killing Vladimir Glebov, a Russian with influential friends, Niko later found work with a powerful Russian mafiya don, Mikhail Faustin, and his erstwhile assistant, Dimitri Rascalov. Faustin later ordered Niko to murder the son of rival don Kenny Petrovic on a whim, and in order to spare himself and his cousin from the wrath of Petrovic, Niko was coerced into killing Faustin by Rascalov. Rascalov would then reveal himself to be an associate of Bulgarin, who was now based in Liberty City, and Niko and Roman were forced to flee Broker after their apartment and taxi depot was firebombed.

Niko moved to Bohan, where he made contact with various drug dealers, including Elizabeta Torres and Playboy X. He forged further contacts with Irish crime family the McRrearys, dejected former criminal Dwayne Forge and Ray Boccino, a caporegime in the Pegorino Family. Through the latter, Niko was able to gain further entry into the world of the Liberty City Commission, working for would-be Don Jimmy Pegorino. Thanks to this vast network of contacts, Niko was able to move into a penthouse apartment in the centre of Algonquin and enjoyed a high standard of living; he was still frustrated by his failure to find the culprit behind the attack on his former unit.

Eventually, Niko tracks down Florian Cravic, only to discover he has become a flamboyant homosexual secretly dating the Deputy Mayor of Liberty City, Bryce Dawkins, also intent on forgetting the past; Niko then concludes that Darko Brevic was the man responsible for the atrocity. Thanks to his work for a shady government agency, United Liberty Paper, Niko was later rewarded by having Brevic flown specifically to Liberty City, where he would finally be able to confront him.

Niko would later be presented with the chance to complete a heroin deal with bitter enemy Dimitri Rascalov, on behalf of Pegorino, and here Niko either attempts to complete the deal, only to be betrayed, upon which point he must shoot his way to the money, or instead Niko goes straight to the boat where Rascalov is hiding and kills him the and there. If the first path is chosen, Roman is murdered by a hitman sent by Rascalov; if the second path is chosen, Kate McRreary, Niko's love interest, is murdered by an enraged Pegorino. Following these various endings, Niko either tracks down and kills Rascalov, or chases and murders Pegorino, aided by the contacts he has built up throughout his time in the city. With all of his loose ends tied up, Niko muses on the American Dream and concludes that it is a hollow promise, which no one can achieve.

During the game it is shown that Niko's view of American culture is one of confusion and mild disgust. The rampant materialism annoys him and he has trouble relating to Roman's fascination with the country. Also, after working for so many criminals, the cynicism he developed in Eastern Europe is merely reinforced in Liberty City.

Personality

Niko is portrayed as a very down-to-business person, and is very protective when it comes to his family and loved ones, especially Roman, despite the fact that Roman often gets him into trouble. During the game, many of his female acquaintances often point out that Niko has sophisticated manners and appears to be a very decent person. Niko also maintains a no-nonsense attitude, and at many times throughout the game attempts to resolve conflicts between two parties without the use of violence. However, he is shown to get angry easily when he is met with irrationally, is falsely blamed or cheated - a trait that might have been aggravated by his past experiences during the war, and he is often quite sarcastic. However, he is also portrayed as a caring figure; the player can have Niko help various random people on the streets who are having problems, and Niko also consoles the family of a friend after one of their family members dies. He appears to be a more mature and sensible person than many of his acquaintances; for example, Niko criticizes his friend Packie when Packie jokes over the death of his own brother, and brings people down to reality in a flat-out way, e.g. during a chase sequence, when an acquaintance makes a trivial comment about the ride, Niko responds by saying "We're not on a sight-seeing cruise!" Also, Niko possesses an ability to manipulate people into giving him his own way — for instance, when Francis McReary is trying to get him to assassinate someone threatening to expose him, Niko simply refuses unless he is paid for his services - when McReary tells him that the target sells drugs to kids, he responds "the world is full of bad people, Mr. McReary."

The most significant aspect of Niko's personality is his cynicism, which he gained in the war. He criticizes his acquaintances for expecting him to have fun amidst his troubled situation. Niko's biggest weakness is his inability to let go of the past - which causes him much aggression when the issue of finding his betrayers comes up; Niko is criticized by many of his friends and most notably Roman, for this weakness. Despite that, Niko holds on firm to his belief that one of the main reasons he is in America is to resolve and put closure to his past. Niko also has a prominent distaste for drugs— he regularly refuses Little Jacob's offers of marijuana, frequently detests of Brucie's steroid use, and occasionally expresses disgust for the heroin he deals with.

Role in Games

Grand Theft Auto IV

Niko is the main protagonist and playable character in Grand Theft Auto IV, with the player following his experiences upon arriving, and settling in Liberty City.

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned

Niko makes several, non-playable appearances in the Grand Theft Auto IV expansion pack, The Lost and Damned. Niko meets the game’s protagonist, Johnny Klebitz, twice during the game much like in his main story along with a cameo in the game’s intro. Niko was also responsible for many of the events that provide the storyline of The Lost and Damned. Among these events were the killing of Lost member Jason Michaels, on the orders of Mikhail Faustin, which lead to The Lost’s leader, Billy Grey, to mistake it as an attack by The Angels of Death, provoking the gang war between them. Later, when Niko works for Ray Boccino, he assassinates the treasurer of The Lost, Jim Fitzgerald, after Johnny steals Ray’s money during a diamond trade. This event acts as part of a chain of events that leads to the break up of The Lost.

Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony

Niko is expected to make an appearance in the second expansion pack, The Ballad of Gay Tony.

Characterization

Niko Bellic is voiced by Michael Hollick. Hollick was paid about $100,000 for his voice acting and motion-capture work over the course of about 15 months from 2006 to 2008. Hollick was paid about $1,050 a day for his work on the game, about 50% more than the standard Screen Actors Guild-negotiated rate for actors, although he claimed it was still a fraction of the income he would get from a movie or TV-show performance, and that he was upset about not getting residuals from game sales, putting the blame on the union for not securing such agreements. Hollick told The New York Times that while he was a theater student at Carnegie Mellon University he developed a talent for dialects.

Reception

Niko's character has been well received by critics. GameTrailers commented "The first likable GTA protagonist. You want him to win, and cracking a sense of humour makes him an all round nice guy". IGN comments "...Niko's struggles with his ruthless nature never inhibit the gameplay, but instead enhance the emotional gravity of a brilliant storyline. The more absurd the action becomes, the greater we feel the very real pathos of Niko Bellic..." Eurogamer says "[Niko] himself is quickly sympathetic - his moral latitude is rooted in horrible war stories, but he's warm-hearted - and imposing.."

See also

• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Grand Theft Auto (series)
• List of characters in Grand Theft Auto IV