Darko Brevic

"You ruined me, you f--k!"

- Niko Bellic to Darko

"A thousand..."

- Darko reveals for how much he sold his squad during the war.

Darko Brevic is a central character and one of the main antagonists of Grand Theft Auto IV.

He is one of three survivors of the Fifteen Man Squad, the others being Niko Bellic and Florian Cravic.

Before GTA IV
Darko was a fellow soldier alongside Niko Bellic and Florian Cravic during the Yugoslav wars, and eventually sold out his squad to enemy forces for $1,000 to help pay for his heroin addiction.

Niko would spend the next decade hunting down Florian and Darko to discover who betrayed the squad, and to exact revenge. After the betrayal, Darko fled to Bucharest, Romania.

Niko moves to Liberty City to find Florian, who in the intervening years changed his name to Bernie Crane. Niko discovers, however, that Florian is innocent, and begins to look for Darko.

Events of GTA IV
One of Niko's contacts at the United Liberty Paperorganization eventually arranges Darko's kidnapping, and leaves him on the tarmac of Francis International Airport, at Niko's mercy; Niko arrives at the airport with Roman, and interrogates Darko.

Darko reminds Niko that their squad were no angels themselves, stating that Goran (another member of their squad) was responsible for the deaths of some of Darko's own friends and neighbours, and tells Niko the reason he betrayed the group. Niko is horrified that he and his friends were sold out over such a paltry sum of money; in response, Darko asks how much Niko has charged for all the murders he has committed. Darko also calls him a hypocrite; he falls to his knees and says that Niko would be doing him a favor by killing him. He breaks down in tears, and Roman attempts to coax Niko away, observing that Darko "doesn't look like he enjoys life too much."

Fate
The player can then decide whether or not to kill Darko. If Darko is allowed to live, Niko will feel a little better, knowing that the greater punishment is leaving Darko alive to suffer from his drug addiction. As Niko walks away, Darko runs away screaming, never to be seen again in the game. It is then unknown what happens to him after this. Roman, Florian and the United Liberty Paper Contact congratulate Niko on finally letting go of his desire for revenge.

Should the player choose to kill Darko, Niko will shoot him twelve times, one shot for each of his lost friends. Darko thanks Niko as he dies, and Niko walks away feeling, as he later says to Roman, "empty".

Personality
Darko's background is mostly unknown, but it is implied that, like Niko and most of Serbian teenagers, Darko witnessed many atrocities during the Yougoslavian war, which led him to a sinister path.

Indeed, Darko is very self-centered and has no qualms about betraying his comrades in arms, even if this had catastrophic repercussions. This could mean that Darko had not friends and is not very sociable, perhaps he hated his own fellows or rather didn't care about them at all. He has no hobbies (aside drugging himself), and unlike many antagonists from Grand Theft Auto, is not motivated by greed or vengence; instead, he rather appears as an amoral man. He is extremely pessimist, and have no loved one's nor passions, or even life's goals. He is willing to do everything in order to get drugs, even if those made him weak and turned him into "a junkie", as Niko stated during their confrontation. Such nihilism led Darko to dark thoughts, and he wants Niko to end his miserable life, being thankful towards the player if the latter chooses to killed him.

Trivia

 * Darko was voiced by Michael Medeiros.
 * If Niko kicks Darko in the groin numerous times, Darko's hands will quickly show then will stay tied behind his back.
 * If the player executes Darko with a Combat Pistol, which only holds 9 bullets, Niko will still fire 12 shots without reloading.
 * If the player lets Darko live, he runs away. If followed, he runs about the airport forever without running out of breath or stopping. Crashing into or shooting him will instantly change the conversation between Niko and Roman to the conversation used when Niko kills Darko, as seen in this video.
 * If the player hits Darko, Roman will beat him up and even kill him, as seen in this video. The game then will act as if Niko killed Darko.
 * If the player chooses to execute Darko, once he is fully dead his hands arms will separate as if his hands were never cuffed.
 * If Darko runs into a body of water, his arms will become free allowing him to swim, however, once he returns to land, he will once again be handcuffed.
 * Darko Brevic may be a reference to Darko Milanič.
 * Unlike most spared characters, Darko will not appear in a Random Encounter.