Steve Haines

"I guess you getting involved with a clapped out old agent who's been living off old glories was your first mistake. You're my boy now, amigo. My career depends on this, and that's very important to me. So seeing as we're all boys now, that makes it important to you."

- Steve Haines

Steven "Steve" Haines is a highly decorated yet infamously corrupt federal agent of the FIB. He serves as one of the two main antagonists of Grand Theft Auto V.

He was voiced by Robert Bogue.

Events of GTA V
Haines is a corrupt and morally repugnant federal agent who is also the host of a reality T.V. show that explores (and exploits) the poorer, crime-ridden streets of Los Santos. He is also in a rivalry with the IAA (based on the real life C.I.A.).

He is the handler and boss of fellow agent Dave Norton, who is responsible for faking the death of infamous bank robber, Michael Townley, and providing him with his new identity of Michael De Santa. Haines proceeds to use Michael and his new crew (consisting of the psychopathic Trevor Phillips and up-and-coming criminal Franklin Clinton) for numerous jobs in an attempt to further his career and position of power, all unbeknownst to and unsanctioned by his agency. One mission he recruits the gang for includes having Phillips brutally torture a seemingly innocent man just for the sake of doing so, as the man was willing to divulge information about Haines's target from the start of the interrogation, before ordering Phillips to murder the man simply for "outliving his usefulness" (Trevor however does not carry out the order, unbeknownst to Steve).

After Haines uses Michael and his gang several times in exploits against his rivals in the I.A.A. suspicion is cast on him by the I.A.A. as well as his own agency. As a result of the pressure and investigation into him, he attempts get rid of loose ends by betraying Michael and have him arrested in a sting operation. However the sting was actually a trap for Haines himself, and after a tense standoff a shootout ensues between several different agency and mercenary groups there for either Haines or Michael. Haines is wounded but manages to escape the chaos only after murdering his partner who seemingly informed on him to his superiors because of Steve's illegal activities.

Haines later resurfaces after the investigation into him goes away due to lack of evidence and witnesses. He approaches Michael and Trevor's partner, Franklin, ordering him to murder Trevor out of fear that Trevor's actions would bring further heat and attention to Haines, as Dave Norton was able to convince him that Michael could at least be controlled and kept quiet. However, corrupt business tycoon Devin Weston also orders Franklin to kill one of his partners in crime as well; this time said partner is Michael, because of Michael's refusal to go along with Weston's plans. Franklin is then forced by the two villains to make a life and death decision between his two friends or fighting the odds and going after Weston and Haines.

Ending
In the end if Franklin decides to go against Haines and Weston, he calls Michael and Trevor who then set a trap for both Haines' and Weston's men who are all killed by the trio or by each other in a massive shootout. The three men then decide to act against their foes quickly to catch them off guard while they think they have won. The three of them then have a loose ends list comprising of Haines, Weston, Triad leader Wei Cheng and OG-turned-Ballas member Harold "Stretch" Joseph. Trevor decides to track down and kill Haines because of his extreme distaste for him and the things he has had him do under his orders. With the help of the crew's operation planner and expert hacker, Lester Crest, Trevor is able to track Agent Haines down to an amusement park on the park's Ferris Wheel, where he is in the process of filming an episode for his television show. Trevor keeps his distance so not to alert his target, unloads his sniper rifle, and shoots Haines directly in the head in front of his own cameraman, killing the corrupt agent instantly.

Trevor can also use a RPG by shooting it at where Steve and his camera man are sitting, violently killing them both in the resulting explosion.

Alternatively if the player, as Franklin, decides to kill either Michael or Trevor, his final fate is not shown and it is assumed he survives the events of the game. If the player choose to kill Trevor, Franklin calls Haines and informs him that he's done as requested. Franklin also asks Haines to persuade Devin Weston not to go after him for sparing Michael. Haines tells Franklin that he'll handle Weston, who's in a precarious position because Merryweather has lost its licence to operate in the country, but also tells him never to contact him again.

Personality
As stated above, Haines is a corrupt FIB agent, who does not hesitate when it comes to breaking the law and Bureau procedure and policy if there is an opportunity to further advance his career. Haines first appears to be pleasant and charming on his TV show, but when Michael meets him in person, he is shown to be selfish, arrogant and overly confident in dialogue, thinking solely about his career and going as far as curiously asking Michael if he has ever heard of Haines or his show and sounding highly displeased at the end when Michael makes it clear he has never heard of Haines and/or his show. His true colors are shown, however, when Michael begins to jokingly mock Haines and his partners over their rogue activities. Steve plays along and even compliments Michael on his quick wit at first; however, his temperament quickly changes when he grabs Michael by the throat and threatens to strangle him to death if he continues to disrespect him, thus showing that Haines is in reality an intimidating and egotistical sociopath who has little respect or tolerance for others, only looking to achieve his own goals and whose entire motivation revolves around how he can better his career and image. He has a sadistic sense of humor and easily loses his temper - almost choking Michael to death for making a few wisecracking jokes at his expense, which also extends to his own attempts at wisecracks. However, due to his snide and arrogant personality, most of them fall flat. Despite these traits, Dave Norton tries to assure Michael that they are not that different and that Haines and Norton are less corrupt than some divisions in the FIB, but over time it is shown that even Norton has so much control over Haines, as the rest of the protagonists.

Haines is shown to be despised by almost everyone he comes into contact with (most noticeably by Michael and Trevor, who both share a deep hatred towards Haines). Despite this, he claims a personal friendship with Devin Weston (it is implied that it was Weston's influence that brought Haines to his current position in the FIB). Haines has no qualms with torturing and/or killing suspects or people he sees as standing in the way of his career. This is shown when he has Trevor Phillips brutally torture a seemingly innocent man for information on another possible terror suspect, before casually ordering Phillips to murder the man when he is of no further use to Haines. Also the man was more than willing to reveal the information to Steve, who preferred to torture the man first and after finishing with the torture session, Haines happily left to play racquetball. This implies that Haines is a sadist and truly enjoys the suffering of others.

Haines is an opportunistic person who he uses Michael De Santa, Trevor Philips and Franklin Clinton to do his dirty work and ends up betraying them when not having any further use of them and is also willing to sacrifice others to save his own skin which is evident when he attempts to have Dave Norton and Michael De Santa arrested to deflect blame for all the criminal activities they participated in. Haines claims several times that he is a patriot and would do anything for his country, but when planning to raid the IAA compound and steal an experimental neurotoxin that was going to be released by the IAA in a metropolitan area in order to receive funds from the government, Haines is shown not willing to get his hands dirty and preferring to stay behind and leaving the protagonists to do the job themselves, implying Haines' spineless nature and confirming it in The Third Way; when if Trevor shoots Haines' cameraman and runs over to Haines, Haines will be in a crouching position with his hands over his head.

Trivia

 * He was voiced by Robert Bogue, whom he resembles. Robert Bogue also voiced Troy in Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony, as well as Red Harlow in Red Dead Revolver.
 * Similarly to Michael De Santa, his family, Lester Crest, and Dave Norton, Steve Haines is likely from the Midwestern United States and lived there prior to moving to Los Santos, San Andreas. In real life, California (which San Andreas is based on) as well as Florida are common hotspots for people from the Midwest as well as Northeast and Canada.
 * Haines is similar to Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption antagonist Edgar Ross and Alonzo Harris from Training Day. They are corrupt federal agents that blackmail the protagonists into doing their dirty work, and eventually betray the protagonist by setting them up to be killed. Unlike in Redemption, Haines' plot to have the protagonist he betrayed murdered can fail or succeed based on the player's choices.
 * Haines has been shot twice in the leg: first at the IAA compound when he shoots himself in the leg and second at the Kortz Center when he is shot in the leg by a FIB operative.
 * Haines along with Andreas Sanchez, Molly Schultz, Frank Tenpenny, Eddie Pulaski, and Sergeant Jerry Martinez are the only antagonists who are corrupt law enforcement officials. Haines and Sanchez are corrupt FIB agents, Tenpenny and Pulaski are corrupt police officers, Schultz is a corrupt lawyer and Martinez is a corrupt soldier.
 * Despite serving as one of the two main antagonists in the storyline, Haines is the secondary main antagonist since he is only outranked by Devin Weston. This is most likely because Haines considered Weston a friend throughout the entire game, while Weston secretly told Franklin that he has no friendship with Haines and has the power to destroy his career.
 * Despite this, Haines is The Heavy because he drives the plot of the story and appears the most out of all the antagonists in the game, which makes Weston the Big Bad and the one behind the plot.