Niko Bellic

"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 Grand Theft Auto 's franchise, appearing as the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto IV, a supporting character/unseen antagonist in its extension The Lost and Damned, a secondary antagonist in its extension The ballad of Gay Tony, and is mentionned by both Lester Crest and Packie in GTA 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 most kind GTA's protagonist. Aside his "jobs", he displays a nicer behavior, helping poor NPC's for instance.

He was voiced by Michael Hollick.

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 sport a stern, emotionless look.

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 bataclava (from the bank robbery).

Personality and behavior
Niko is very caring and protective towards his family and loved ones, particularly his cousin Roman, whom Niko constantly has to worry about due to his gambling habit. Roman has an indiscrete nature of frequently getting the pair into trouble. He is withdrawn among strangers, but has good manners, and shows a softer side with love interests like Kate McReary and Michelle.

That said, the horrors of war, both witnessed and perpetrated by Niko, have given him a great sense of guilt, and an ambivalence about the value of human life — he warns away pursuers and expresses regret over his past violence, but also feels that killing is all that he can do, readily taking on jobs which necessarily involve murder. Niko is prone to violence after being angered and he has an explosive temper when he is betrayed, manipulated, or his loyalty is questioned, but he is also quick to help the defenseless and unfortunate, even those he merely meets in passing; he apparently possesses a sense of idealism which was wounded by his wartime experiences.

Unfortunately, such a split attitude leads to hypocrisy — Niko, for example, appears to genuinely sympathize with the McReary's grief over the demise of one of their brothers (either Derrick McReary or Francis McReary), despite having secretly committed that murder himself. This makes it highly possible that Niko is a pessimist.

Niko's bitterness at the murder of his friends during the war has consumed him, and he is unable to let it go, taking on several highly dangerous jobs merely to enable his quest for vengeance. Several of his friends, most notably Roman, urge him to find a new reason to live, and there are many morality choices for Niko to emphasize his trait.

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, he reasons that being in America is far better than back in Serbia due to the country's instability and misery.

Niko also exhibits dislike for American conservative politicians, whom he considers to be hypocrites. An example is Bryce Dawkins, whom Niko says is a "bullshitter" for giving homophobic speeches and preaching about family values to gain political power when he himself is bisexual. However, a conversation between Niko and Kiki Jenkins reveals he considers himself neither liberal nor conservative, and that the war gave him a highly cynical view of politicians in general.

Niko has a certain degree of pity for other people, even random strangers, and feels obliged to help others who cannot help themselves. Most missions involve Niko doing jobs for money, particularly one occasion. After meeting a troubled young girl, Marnie Allen, he even gives her some of his own money multiple times to help her out. He is also surprisingly calm when speaking to authority figures, even those as powerful as Francis McReary, who he simply asks for more money from, much to the disappointment and frustration of McReary.

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 comments about all 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 (on the rocks) in the mission One Last Thing, while talking to Jimmy Pegorino, but this is understandable considering what he had just been through. Niko does seem to 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.

Skills/Power

 * 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 allow him to outrun most of 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 swim for too long.
 * Speed: although not the fastest character from the Grand Theft Auto 's franchise, he's still faster than most of 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 Auto 's franchise, Niko has a significant amount of strenght, superior to most of 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 not flawless, 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: he's 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 guns of the game and can defeat countless of armed thugs or even highly trained forces such as NOOSE's teams with slight efforts.
 * Commandment: Niko has an intense charisma which allow 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's 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 doesn't 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.

Villainous Side
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.

And, obviously like any protagonist in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, the player has the choice and abillity to kill thousands and hundreds of innocent people, making Niko a brutal killer.

Before his arrival

 * 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 Yougoslavian's war, albeit this is not at all confirmed.

During Free Roam
All of these crimes are non-canonic 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.
 * Can do illegal races for Brucie Kibbutz.

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's 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 More Love, he killed Jason Michaels under Faustin's orders.
 * In the mission Shadow, he followed a dealer to his apartment, then killed him and his backup.
 * In the mission Rigged to Blow, he destroyed Kenny Petrovic's garage.
 * In the mission Search and Delete, he killed Lyle Rivas.
 * In the mission Final Interview, he killed Tom Goldberg for blackmailing Francis McReary.
 * He killed every United Liberty Paper Contact's foes.
 * Along Packie, he smuggled and tortured 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 his bodyguards.
 * In the mission Tunnel of Death, he killed Aiden O'Malley.
 * In the mission Dining Out, he killed Kim Young-Guk.
 * In the mission Three Leaf Clovers, he successfully, alongside Packie and his brothers, robbed the Liberty City's Bank and managed to gun down every cops who tried to stop the crew from fleeing, wipping an entire NOOSE's team in the process.
 * This is one of his worst crime as he did not only robbed 250,000$ for his own selfish gain, but also killed countless policemen and wipped an entire NOOSE's team (albeit he only did this by pure necessity and not malice). The player has also the choice to kill a few hostages before leaving the bank, including Luis Fernando Lopez.
 * In the mission Flat Lines, disguised as a male nurse, he killed Antonny Corrado for betraying Jimmy Pegorino.

Family

 * Roman Bellic - cousin; status under 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 man
 * Patrick "Packie" McReary - one of the main leaders from the McReary crime family
 * Dwayne Johnson - status under player's choice.
 * Bryce Dawkins
 * Hossan

Allies

 * United Liberty Contact Paper †
 * Badman - Jacob's brother and co-leader of the Yardies
 * McReary's family
 * Francis McReary - corrupt police officer and vigilante; status under player's choice.
 * Packie
 * Derrick McReary - former irish activist; status under player's choice.
 * Kate McReary - love interest; status under player's choice.
 * Phil Bell
 * IAA
 * Johnny Klebitz † - leader from the LOST, ally by proxy (killed by Trevor Phillips)

Main

 * Dimitri Rascalov † - leader of the Rascalov's mafia
 * 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 mafia
 * 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 mafia †
 * Jewish mafia †
 * Jason †
 * Jason's friends from the LOST †
 * Jim †
 * Luis Lopez
 * Tom Goldberg †
 * LCPD
 * NOOSE (GTA 's actual SWAT equivalent)

Trivia

 * Niko had a childhood crush on a girl from his village, named Mila Tadic. Roman will confirm this during friend activities.
 * He may be 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.