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| “ | War is where the young and stupid are tricked by the old and bitter into killing each other. | „ |
| ~ Niko Bellic |
Niko Bellic (in Serbian: Нико Белић) is a main character from the HD open-world Grand Theft Auto franchise, appearing as the main protagonist of Grand Theft Auto IV, a supporting character in its two extensions Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned and Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony, and is mentioned by both Lester Crest and Packie McReary in Grand Theft Auto V.
Although having committed many villainous deeds, Niko is shown to be very protective and nice towards his family and friends, and is one of the kindest GTA protagonists. Aside from his "jobs", he displays a nicer behavior, helping poor NPC's for instance.
He was voiced by Michael Hollick.
Description
Appearance in Grand Theft Auto IV
Niko is a quite tall caucasian male in his thirties. He has dark-brown hairs, brown eyes, and a tiny bear. He usually sports a stern, emotionless look. Also, Niko has a scar running through his left brow. He most likely got the scar during the war, but this is just implied. Despite having an average build, Niko is quite strong and several characters call him through the story "big man" or "big guy".
His casual outfit is a brown jacket, dark-grey trousers, and brown shoes. However the player has access to several outfits as he/she progress: a medical outfit (which Niko use to kill Anthony Corrado), an expensive suit (which Niko use during official events such as the Roman's wedding), an outfit from the "Statue of Happiness" or even Claude's outfit (from the hero of Grand Theft Auto III). He also can wear a balaclava (from the bank robbery).
Personality and behavior
At first, Niko appears to be humble, but a very cold assassin, who take most orders without the slightest redundancy. He is almost emotionless, only expressing anger whenever he faces his enemies. Despite his coldness, he can be friendly and a loving individual (such as with Kate). He is incredibly protective towards his relatives, especially his cousin Roman, whom he saved his life more than one time during the storyline. He frequently enters in a terrible anger whenever his cousin or close friends are threatened by somebody (usually criminals), and once this happens, he becomes a reckless, determined and merciless killer. Unlike most GTA's protagonists, Niko is not greedy by nature, and do not seek money.
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. However, Packie knows his feelings and often show compassion, as well as Kate. Additionally, one of his main traits is his cynicism and nihilism, which he acquired from the Yugoslavian war. He dislikes politics and the greedy mannerisms of Roman (saying for instance "capitalism is a dirty business" after saving the latter from the Albanians), as well as the American society, which he finds hypocritical and extremely materialistic. However, he does not wish to return to Serbia due to the extreme state of disrepair of his home country.
Deep down, Niko is an insecure and confused man who just seek affection from his relative and peace in his life, as he just wants "Roman back" if the latter die after the Deal. He has absolutely any fear as he is willing to confront dozens of armed henchmen to save Roman or fighting highly trained NOOSE's agents to defend the crew during the robbery. In fact, he is a very wrathful man, and is willing to kill those he considers as traitorous betrayers, threats, arrogant dimwits (such as Vlad Glebov), or anyone who stand in his way, including "innocent" police officers; there are a few characters, however, that the player can spare but also kill as well, like Darko Brevic. He doesn't like to liar but is sometimes willing to keep the truth for himself, even if such attitude, unfortunately, lead to hypocrisy, which he ironically finds repulsive.
Niko's businesslike and pragmatic manner usually leads him to behave more maturely and cautiously than his acquaintances, although with acquaintances like Brucie Kibbutz, Bernie Crane and Roman, this is no surprise. He has an apparent distaste for illicit drugs, much like Carl Johnson. He frequently turns down Little Jacob's offers for marijuana and warns Packie about his cocaine habit. He also finds it distasteful to traffic in cocaine and particularly heroin, although this may be due to the heavy jail sentences they attract as much as any moral qualms. He is skeptical of American mainstream culture, which he sees as "shallow" and "hypocritical" and has trouble relating to Roman's fascination with the country. However, the reasons that being in America is far better than back in Serbia due to the country's instability and misery.
He is usually never emotionally disturbed by anyone besides figures from his past, such as Darko Brevic. If Niko kills Brevic, Niko will hesitate for a moment before unloading 12 shots (one for every member of Niko's army unit who was killed) into Brevic's body uncontrollably, even after Brevic's death after about the sixth shot. The only other figure that has visibly disturbed Niko is Eddie Low, who Niko is understandably creeped out by. This can even horrify the player to an extent, such as when Low makes scornful comments about all of the people he has murdered in gruesome ways or Low's clinginess towards Niko for being his "friend". During his encounters with Low, Niko's eyebrows are raised and his mouth is open in disbelief. Otherwise, Niko's face is usually very serious.
Niko almost always refuses alcohol when it is offered to him (he asks for water in the mission Ivan The Not So Terrible) except for the mission The Holland Play where Playboy X pours him a glass. Niko goes to drink it, but changes his mind and puts the glass on a table. There is a scene where Niko does drink a glass of vodka in the mission One Last Thing while talking to Jimmy Pegorino, but this is understandable considering what he had just been through. Niko may enjoy a drink, but knows the time and place for it. He refuses alcohol outright in instances where he needs to keep a sharp mind, such as during missions.
Without player control, he never hurt women while carjacking them. In addition, he may be a sadomasochist, as Alexandra Chilton comment that Niko did "kinky" things with her (if Niko dated her). However, it is never stated that Niko is a rapist.
Abilities
- Military Training: Niko spent years in the army, and therefore has a very high level of military training as well as an excellent body condition.
- Survival skills: his military training allow him to survive in the most hostile environment, including urban areas, which is very useful in the concreted Liberty City and its large buildings.
- Nigh-infinite stamina: Niko is one of the few characters, alongside Luis Fernando Lopez and Johnny Klebitz, who can indefinitely run, no matter what weapon he's carrying. This allows him to outrun most of the enemies as well as most cops who are in bad physical condition. Niko can also swim for several in-game hours (i.e. several real-life minutes), although he'll drown if he swims for too long.
- Speed: although not the fastest character from the Grand Theft Auto franchise, he's still faster than most of the characters (including Johnny Klebitz).
- Durability: he has a high level of tolerance for pain and therefore can sustain several shots before dying.
- Strenght: although not the strongest character from the Grand Theft Autos franchise, Niko has a significant amount of strength, superior to most of the characters.
- Reflexes of steal: he has fast reflexes. For instance, he manages to dodge Eddie Low's hit when the latter tried to slay him. However, his reflexes are flawed, as Andrei successfully manages to knock out both Niko and Roman. (Although Andrei is the only character to have successfully did this.)
- Deadly hand-to-hand fighter: Niko is shown to be a formidable fighter.
- Enhanced equilibrium: Niko has an enhanced equilibrium, which allow him to stay in place and aiming even if getting shot. Only a few selected characters in the GTA IV-era (including very few NPC encountered during the game and the others protagonists Luis Lopez and Johnny Klebitz) have this ability.
- Marksmanship: Niko is a deadly shooter. He knows how to use every gun of the game and can defeat countless armed thugs or even highly trained forces such as NOOSE's teams with slight efforts.
- Commandment: Niko has an intense charisma which allows him to command his allies even in the worst of cases. For instance, he convinces the team during the Liberty City Bank's robbing to go into the subway in order to lose the police. However, he is not a control freak, and often refer to his bosses or allies.
- Enhanced driving/piloting skills: he can drive every kind of vehicles, boats and even helicopters, and also do drive-by while doing so.
- Persuasion, deception and manipulation: even if he does not like this (unlike his nemesis Dimitri), Niko is a master manipulator and can trick his enemies in order to kill them easily. An instance is when he kills Francis/Derrick, and then hide the truth to Packie (and the McReary's family).
- Robbing skills: during the robbery, he was a precise, very efficient and cold-blooded raider.
- Fearlessness: Niko has pretty much fear of nobody. The only person he fears could be the serial killer Eddie Low.
Crimes
Although it is one of the less ruthless protagonists (of course, when compared with Tommy Vercetti), you can still classify as a villain by the fact that he has direct connections with mafias and criminal gangs, telling the optional murders and human trafficking he once performed. Also, Niko is one of the most lethal GTA's protagonists (aside Claude Speed), as he wiped out two entire criminal factions and killed countless goons.
And, obviously, like any protagonist in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, the player has the choice and ability to kill thousands and hundreds of innocent people, making Niko a brutal killer.
Before the events of GTA IV
- He worked under Ray Bulgarin's orders as an illegal smuggler, involving in human trafficking.
- It is implied by Darko that Niko and his paramilitary crew might have committed some war crimes during the Yugoslavian war, albeit this is not confirmed.
During free roam
All of these villainous crimes are non-canonical and only up to the player choice:
- Punching and abusing people.
- Gunning down people.
- Car-jacking people, stealing parked cars and cars in luxury galleries.
- Driving recklessly, crushing people.
- Vandalize cars or buildings.
- Exploding gas cylinders.
- Robbing shops.
- Can assassinate people for The Fixer.
- Can deal drugs for Little Jacob.
During the Storyline
- In the mission Bull in a China Shop, he smashed a shop window and retrieve Vlad's money from a "poor" Chinese shopkeeper.
- In the mission Clean Getaway, he stole a car that belonged to Vlad.
- In the mission Do You Have Protection?, he threated Joseph Kaplan at a sex shop, then reclaimed the money and go to the gun along Dimitri Rascalov shop to receive a gun after leaving or killing Joseph.
- In the mission No Love Lost, he assassinated Jason Michaels under Faustin's orders.
- In the mission Shadow, he followed a dealer to his apartment, then massacred him and his backup.
- In the mission Rigged to Blow, he destroyed Kenny Petrovic's garage.
- In the mission Search and Delete, he whacked Lyle Rivas under Brucie's order.
- In the mission Final Interview, he killed Tom Goldberg for blackmailing Francis McReary.
- Along Packie, he kidnapped Gracie Ancoletti, then sent this by phone to her father so he was forced to surrender to their blackmail.
- In the mission Late Checkout, he killed Isaac Roth and all of his bodyguards. However the player has the choice to spare the elderly mobster.
- In the mission Tunnel of Death, he murdered Aiden O'Malley.
- In the mission Dining Out, he killed Kim Young-Guk.
- In the mission Three Leaf Clover, he successfully, alongside Packie and his brothers, robbed the Liberty City's Bank and managed to slaughter every cop who tried to stop the crew from fleeing, wiping an entire NOOSE's team in the process.
- This is possibly his worst crime as he did not only robbed a million (he later received $200000), but also killed countless policemen (albeit he only did this by pure necessity and not malice also the player can let Packie and Derrick kills the cops instead). The player has also the choice to kill a few hostages before leaving the bank, including Luis Fernando Lopez.
- In the mission Flatliine, disguised as a doctor, he murdered Antonny Corrado for betraying Jimmy Pegorino.
Relationships
Allies/Family
Family
- Roman Bellic - cousin; status dependant upon player's choice.
- Mallorie Bardas-Bellic - Roman's spouse.
- Niko's father †
- Niko's mother
- Unknown brother †
Friends
- Little Jacob - co-leader of the Yardies
- The Yardies
- Brucie Kibbutz - self-made bodybuilder
- Patrick "Packie" McReary - one of the main leaders from the McReary crime family
- Dwayne Forge - status dependant upon player's choice.
- Bryce Dawkins
- Hossan
Others allies
- United Liberty Contact Paper † (murdered in GTA V)
- Real Badman - Jacob's brother and co-leader of the Yardies
- McReary's family
- Francis McReary - corrupt police officer and "vigilante"; status dependant upon player's choice.
- Packie
- Derrick McReary - former irish activist; status dependant upon player's choice.
- Kate McReary - love interest; status dependant upon player's choice.
- Phil Bell
- IAA (CIA)
- Elizabeta Torres (imprisoned)
- Johnny Klebitz † - leader from the LOST, ally by proxy (killed by Trevor Phillips)
Enemies
Main
- Dimitri Rascalov † - leader of the Rascalov's crime syndicate
- Rascalov's mafia †
- Jimmy Pegorino † - don of the Pegorino's family
- Pegorino's mafia †
- Darko Brevic †
Secondary
- Vlad Glebov † - Faustin's lieutenant
- Mikhail Faustin † - leader of the Faustin's crime syndicate
- Trey Stewart aka Playboy X (determinant)
- Stewart's goons †
- Clarence Little (determinant)
- Little's goons †
- Ray Boccino † - Pegorino's caporegime
- Boccino's goons †
- Eddie Low † - serial killer
- Ray Bulgarin † - leader of the Bulgarin's mafia, former Niko's employer
- Bulgarin's crime syndicate †
- Jewish mafia †
- Jason †
- Jason's friends from the LOST †
- Jim †
- Luis Lopez
- Tom Goldberg †
- LCPD Determiant
- National Office Of Security Enforcement (SWAT)
- Eddie Low - serial killer, status dependant upon player's choice
- Many gangsters, hitmen and others criminals facing the player during the assassination missions.
Trivia
- He is the first protagonist from the HD era.
- Niko had a childhood crush on a girl from his village, named Mila Tadic. Roman will confirm this during friend activities.
- He is about 5'11 and 180 lbs.
- Similarly to Roman Bellic, Dimitri Rascalov, Mikhail Faustin, and Vlad Glebov, he likes listening to traditional Eastern European music.
- Niko's last name is actually pronounced 'Bellich' (Belić) which most of the characters and Niko himself pronounce wrong.
