Top 5 GTA villains that should have been around more

Many GTA villains are integral to the game’s overall plot, yet some of them lack the screentime to fully realize their potential.

As a result of this, some villains feel underdeveloped as far as antagonists go. Not all GTA villains suffer from this fate, but it is noticeable amongst those that do. For example, a character like Massimo Torini only shows up twice in GTA Liberty City Stories, which is a paltry amount compared to a villain like Officer Tenpenny.

Five GTA villains who could have been around more

#5 – Massimo Torini

It’s quite unfortunate when the main antagonist only shows up in two missions within an entire game. Unfortunately, Massimo Torini suffers exactly that. He never even speaks directly to Toni Cipriani, the main protagonist of GTA Liberty City Stories. As far as underdeveloped main protagonists go within the 3D era, Massimo Torini has no equal.

He’s a Sicilian mobster, which has a lot of potential regarding interesting storylines. The events of GTA Liberty City Stories are quite interesting, but it could have used more Massimo scenes to further flesh his character.

If he had more screentime, then GTA Liberty City Stories’ overall storyline could’ve been more engaging, as fans would have a reason to actually care about defeating the main antagonist.

#4 – Darko Brevic

Speaking of antagonists who barely show up, Darko Brevic only shows up once in GTA 4. However, unlike Massimo Torini, Darko plays an incredibly vital role in putting Niko in the unfortunate position he’s been in for the past few years.

As far as antagonists go, Darko’s involvement in selling out Niko and his comrades plays the largest role that any antagonist has done prior to the story. Despite all of that, Darko himself barely does much when seen in the story.

He’s apparently in Romania, only showing up in Liberty City after Niko helps the United Liberty Paper Contact, in which the latter has his contacts kidnap and smuggle Darko into the city. Given the context of the story, the only logical way to give Darko more screentime is if more pre-story cutscenes were shown to develop him and his connection to Niko’s squad.

#3 – Vinnie

Vinnie is an incredibly important character in GTA Advance, but his screentime is limited thanks to the simplistic style of the game (which makes sense given the system it’s on). However, his presence feels lackluster when comparing him to the other villains found throughout the GTA series.

It’s interesting that he would fake his own death, especially since his primary motive is greed. However, he isn’t seen as a villain until his eventual death scene, which is quite the gap to consider.

Vinnie does send some goons to clean up his tracks so Mike (the main protagonist) won’t find out that he’s still alive, but that’s really all Vinnie does in the game. Compared to other final antagonists, it makes GTA Advance feel incredibly minor in scope given all that happens between Vinnie and Mike.

#2 – T-Bone Mendez

Out of the three main members of the Loco Syndicate in the San Fierro storyline, T-Bone Mendez feels the most forgettable. He’s not as charismatic as Jizzy B, and he isn’t as prominent as Mike Toreno. As a result, there isn’t much substance to T-Bone’s character in GTA San Andreas.

He’s seen as the muscle of the group, but he doesn’t really do anything noteworthy in relation to that. He doesn’t protect Jizzy B when he gets killed, nor does he do anything else memorable.

T-Bone Mendez feels like the most forgettable tertiary villain in GTA San Andreas, which could be somewhat alleviated if he was given more screentime to show off how tough he is.

#1 – Big Smoke

Big Smoke is one of the most important villains in GTA San Andreas. Some fans would even consider him one of the most memorable characters in the entire series. Hence, some fans are surprised to hear that he only shows up once after his shocking betrayal, and that’s in the final mission of the game.

It’s a memorable last appearance, but that still leaves a significant portion of the game between the end of the first Los Santos storyline and his eventual demise. He does show up on the radio blabbering about his efforts to fight against drugs and he is indirectly spoken about at various points of GTA San Andreas’s storyline.

However, Big Smoke could have shown up more in cutscenes. Players see Ryder doing some work for Big Smoke’s San Fierro connections, so it wouldn’t be too illogical if he showed up somewhere else considering how important he is to the storyline.

Note: This article reflects the writer’s personal views.