Niko Bellic
Niko Bellic | |
---|---|
Grand Theft Auto character | |
First game | Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) |
Last appearance | Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony (2009) |
Created by | Rockstar North |
Voiced by | Michael Hollick |
Motion capture |
|
In-universe information | |
Fighting style | Krav Maga |
Family | Roman Bellic (cousin) |
Significant others |
|
Origin | Eastern Europe |
Niko Bellic is a fictional character and the
Within the game's storyline, Niko is an ex-soldier from
Niko's character received critical acclaim for his maturity, moral ambiguity, and personal growth, and has been called one of the best protagonists in the series. For his role, Hollick won Best Performance by a Human Male at the 2008 Spike Video Game Awards.
Conception and development
Writer
Niko's design underwent a few changes, but was finalised early in development.
Niko is voiced by Michael Hollick.[6] Hollick was paid about US$100,000 for his voice acting and motion-capture work over the course of about 15 months from 2006 to 2007. Hollick was paid about $1,050 a day for his work on the game, about 50% more than the standard Screen Actors Guild-negotiated rate for actors, although he claimed it was still a fraction of the income he would receive from a film or TV-show performance, and that he was upset about not getting residuals from game sales, putting the blame on the union for not securing such agreements.[7] Hollick told The New York Times that while he was a theatre student at Carnegie Mellon University he developed a talent for dialects.[7][8][9][10]
Russian actor
Niko's nationality is unspecified in the game and is subject to debate.[16] It was believed by some that he was Russian, Serbian, or Croatian.[17][18][19] Executive producer Sam Houser spoke on the matter, saying that Niko is "from that grey part of broken-down Eastern Europe", suggesting that Niko's nationality was left intentionally vague or to the interpretation of the player.[20] Following the game's release, several journalists referred to Niko as Serbian.[21][22][23][24] In the game, Niko occasionally makes statements in Serbo-Croatian[25] however it is suggested by his cousin Roman that Niko speaks the Serbian variety.[26]
Appearances
This section may be too long and excessively detailed. (September 2023) |
In Grand Theft Auto IV
Niko was born to Milica Bellic and an unnamed father in an unspecified country in
After the war, Niko experienced difficulty leading a normal life, and his brother was killed in action. Knowing only violence, Niko turned to the
Once in Liberty City in 2008, Niko quickly realises that Roman's stories of wealth and success were exaggerated. In reality, his cousin lives in a small, decrepit apartment in the Broker district,
After Niko kills Vlad as revenge for sleeping with Roman's long-time girlfriend Mallorie, he and Roman are kidnapped by Russian mobsters on orders of their boss Mikhail Faustin. Not bothered by Vlad's murder, Faustin releases them and later employs Niko as a hitman. Niko quickly discovers Faustin's true nature after being ordered to kill the son of powerful Russian crime lord Kenny Petrović. When Petrović threatens retaliation, Faustin's deputy Dimitri Rascalov convinces Niko to assassinate Faustin to make amends, but later betrays him by bringing him before Ray Bulgarin, revealed to be an old friend of Dimitri's, who demands what he is owed. With Little Jacob's help, Niko survives the ambush, but Dimitri and Bulgarin later retaliate by burning down Roman's apartment and cab depot.
Forced to move to the Bohan district and lay low for a while, Niko begins making new criminal contacts, including several drug dealers and the
After assisting Ray Boccino, a caporegime in the Pegorino Crime Family with an important diamond deal, Niko finally locates Florian, now the flamboyant homosexual Bernie Crane, only to discover he is not the traitor. He then sets off to find Darko, now revealed as the one who betrayed their unit, while continuing to work for the Italian Mafia in Liberty City, including the Pegorino and Gambetti families. While helping Patrick trade Don Giovanni Ancelotti's kidnapped daughter for the diamonds, Niko crosses paths with Bulgarin again, whose interference in the exchange results in the diamonds' loss.
During this time, Niko's conflict with Dimitri escalates as the former rescues Roman after he is kidnapped by Dimitri's men, thwarts his plot to blackmail Liberty City's deputy mayor, and disrupts his drug operations while working for the Mafia. Niko and Roman eventually secure the lifestyle they sought after the latter rebuilds his taxi company and buys a new apartment in Algonquin using insurance money from his formerly destroyed business.
Eventually, the ULP locates Darko and brings him to Liberty City for Niko to decide his fate. Having achieved closure on his past, Niko is summoned by Don Jimmy Pegorino for one final favour: to help with an extremely lucrative deal on heroin in collusion with Dimitri. After learning where Dimitri is, however, Niko is left to choose between exacting revenge on him or going through with the deal.[39]
The former scenario sees Niko successfully killing Dimitri and his men,[40] only for Pegorino, enraged at losing out on a substantial profit, to try and exact revenge on him at Roman and Mallorie's wedding. Pegorino performs a drive-by attack on Niko, but accidentally kills Patrick's sister Kate, whom Niko had been dating.[41] Little Jacob and Roman help Niko find and kill Pegorino, who by this point was targeted by most of the Liberty City underworld.[42] If Niko instead agrees to work with Dimitri again, the latter betrays him by keeping the heroin for himself,[43] and sending a hitman to murder him at Roman and Mallorie's wedding. Niko survives the attempt on his life, but the hitman accidentally kills Roman with a stray bullet.[41] With Little Jacob's help, the vengeful and devastated Niko tracks down and kills Dimitri, who in turn murdered Pegorino.[44]
Depending on the ending chosen, Niko is later informed by Mallorie or Roman that the former is pregnant. He either vows to protect the child and become a father figure for them, or is told by Roman that the couple have decided to name their child in Kate's memory, should it be a girl. Either way, the game ends with Niko musing on the American Dream and concluding that it is a hollow promise, which no one can truly achieve.
Niko plays a minor role in both of Grand Theft Auto IV's expansion packs, in the missions that cross over with the base game.
In other games
Niko is mentioned several times in Grand Theft Auto V (2013), indirectly by Lester Crest, who, when planning a jewellery store robbery alongside protagonist Michael De Santa, considers "an Eastern European guy making moves in Liberty City" as a possible accomplice, before dismissing the idea, claiming that he "went quiet". If selected as a crew member for "The Paleto Score", Patrick McReary will talk about the bank heist he, Niko, his brother Derrick, and accomplice Michael Keane carried out in Liberty City, mentioning how the latter two are dead and that Niko is probably dead as well, as he has not heard from him in the past five years. As an Easter egg in the game, players can view Niko's LifeInvader profile, which reveals that he is still working for Roman's taxi company. Niko's latest message to his cousin is wishing him a happy birthday.[46]
In the "Collector's Edition" of Grand Theft Auto Online, players can choose what their character is to look like by selecting between different parents; Niko is one of the special parents available, meaning that players can select Niko so that their character has a level of resemblance to him.[47][48]
Reception
Niko received positive reactions from critics.
Niko was voted as the 14th top character of the 2000s decade by readers of
References
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Нет, таких слов в моём лексиконе, „не мой уровень", не было никогда в жизни. Мне, прям, сейчас аж стыдно. Дело в том, что это была странная такая, полуаферистическая вещь. Я очень рад, что эта игра собрала за месяц полмиллиарда долларов – это идёт разговор о GTA IV. То есть это самая продаваемая игра в мире. И они использовали мой образ из картины Джона Мура под названием „В тылу врага". Вот, им понравилось такое. Я очень старался, собирал по кусочкам этот бомжеватый вид. И мне не сказали тогда, что это такое. Может быть, я озвучил бы. Не знаю. Ну, это интересно, часть профессии, но не особенно меня это увлекает. <…> Я даже не знал, что это, я не принял это всерьёз.
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He's a Russian immigrant with a life of crime and several problems at home.
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Niko is a war-scarred Serbian...
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An ex-soldier comes to America from Croatia, seeking revenge for a wartime betrayal.
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He's from that gray part of broken-down Eastern Europe, a war-torn area -Sam Houser
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We know he was party to a war-crime atrocity and victim of a double-cross that led to the slaughter of all but three members of his paramilitary unit.
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In Grand Theft Auto V, players can find Jimmy de Santa looking at Niko's LifeInvader page. While being an Easter egg, it shows that Niko is alive by 2013. [...] Posts on his account can be seen, such as wishing Roman a happy birthday and a picture of Chinatown.
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