Franklin Clinton

"You ain't got no respect! But I got respect for reality."

- Franklin Clinton to Harold "Stretch" Joseph

Franklin Clinton is one of the three main protagonists of Grand Theft Auto V. He is an ambitious gangster and up-and-coming bank robber, that has been taken under the wing of legendary thief Michael De Santa, along with Trevor Phillips.

Backgrond
Franklin was born in South Los Santos with hsi best friend Lamar Davis and his long time girl friend Tanisha Jackson. At some point in his young life his mother became addicted to crack cocaine, this addiction eventually led to her death. She left her house to Franklin and his aunt Denise. Around this time he and Lamar began the life of gang bangers, joining up with the infamous street gang known as "The Families". Franklin soon fell into dope dealing and started committing various crimes such as carjackings and small time robberies, usually accompanied by Lamar. Franklin's life of petty crime was short lived however and he was eventually arrested his childhood girlfriend Taniesha then left him and the gang behind because of the death of her brothers due to gang feuds. After he was released from prison he decided to give up his old life in the ghetto. Franklin eventually moved beyond the role of ghetto-based street dealer when he and Lamar began working for Armenian gangster and con man, Simeon Yetarian. Yetarian owns a car dealership which acts as a front for a loansharking and extortion business. Yetarian's dealership sells cars to people who can't afford them and when they default on the payments Franklin acts in the role of repo man and repossesses the cars.

Grand Theft Auto V
While recovering the a high end sports car sold to a young naive rich kid named Jimmy De Santa, Franklin is surprised by Jimmy's father Michael who reveals he had been hiding in the back seat and points a handgun to Franklin's head. Under orders from Michael, Franklin smashes the car through the window of Simeon's dealership, receiving a payment from Michael himself for doing what he called "a job well done." This however effectively ends his employment. After losing his job at the dealership, Franklin started working with Michael. Franklin helps Michael rescue Jimmy from his yacht, which was stolen with Jimmy on it during an attempted sale. Later, after Michael catches his wife post-coitus with her tennis coach, Michael and Franklin chase him to the deck of a Vinewood Hills house. Believing the house to belong to the tennis coach, Michael and Franklin use a pickup truck to pull the deck down, destroying the house. After returning to the De Santa residence, Mexican-American gang boss, Martin Madrazzo appears to reveal the house was his, and demands $2.5 million in damages from Michael. After sometime has pass, Michael contacts Franklin to enlist him on a high end jewlery store robbery, which Franklin accepts as he sees this as his first major opportunity to become a much more successful criminal. The robbery is a success and this effectively raises Franklin through the ranks in the criminal underworld while being under Michale's wing. However Michael's former best, and highly psychotic, friend, Trevor Phillips shows up on the scene after recognizing Michale's style of robbery on the television. Trevor's arrival puts a constant strain on Michael  and Franklin, with Franklin usually acting as the intermediary between the two former friends. However Franklin and Michael help Trevor eliminate his rival Elwood O'Neil and Elwood's brothers Walton and Wynn. Eventually the unlikely trio is forced to work for Steve Haines, a despicable and corrupt federal agent who works with Michael's former handler, Dave Norton. Franklin is used as a sniper to provide cover for Michale and Trevor as they go on several dangerous missions. He's also serves as the teams driver on many of the missions and heists they carry out due to his excellent skills behind the wheel. Soon after meting Haines Franklin and Lamar are intorduced to one Haine's asscociates, Devin Weston. Franklin and Lamar are tasked with stealing several high end cars around the city for Weston with the occasional help from Michale and Trevor, with the promise of a large pay check after all the cars are acqired. However Weston cheats Lamar Franklin and Trevor out of their money once he has al the cars on his list creating a lasting emnity between Franklin and Weston. Franklin is soon after visited by his Taneisha who has now fully left the gang life and is engaged to a doctor, she informs him that Lamar has been set up by former Families OG, "Stretch", who is secretly aligned with the Ballas. She begs him to save Lamar from an ambush because of the childhood bond she has with him and Franklin. Franklin then enlists the help of Michael and Trevor before the trio storm the Balla's ambush spot and save Lamar. After driving Lamar back to their neighborhood, Franklin is approached by Agent Haines who orders him to kill Trevor Phillips citing his unprdedictable and uncontollable nature. Michael then revruits Franklin as part of his team to rob the biggest gold depository in the country for their last job before retirement. The Heist goes down smoothly with Franklin acting as the team's security hacker and one of the driver's of the gold, howver the team is ambushed and forced to fight off a group of mercenary's that are tracking Trevor, before escaping with the loot. While relaxing at his lavish hillside house, Frankin is once more visited by Devin Weston, who orders Franklin to betray and kill Michael out of revenge for meddling with his businesses around the city. A disgusted Franklin orders Weston out of his house before he is left to make the decision of either killing one of his two friends or risking all their lives to go against Weston and Haines.

Strangers & Freaks side missions
As well as "reposessing" high end cars for Simeon, Franklin also briefly covered for a man known as JB who ran a tow-truck business. Along with JB's doped up girlfriend Tonya, Franklin towed various cars (sometimes illegally) which Franklin compared this business as "same shit but nicer cars". Franklin also assissted a pervy papparazzo called Beverly Felton untill he ripped of Franklin ultimately leading to Beverly's death.

Option A
If Franklin chooses to act on Haines's orders to kill Trevor, Franklin calls Trevor and sets up a meeting with him. After a brief moment Franklin pulls a gun on Trevor who becomes enraged at once again being betrayed by a friend and flees the scene in is truck. Franklin then calls Michael for help who shows up during the car chase and rams Trevor's truck into an oil tanker, gravely injuring Trevor and covering him in gasoline. At this point either Franklin or Michael shoots the gasoline which sets Trevor alight and eventually causes the tanker to explode which completelu incenerates Trevor. Franklin and Michael then depart the scene trying to justify to themsleves the murder of their friend.

Option B
Franklin calls a meeting with Michale in the desert after their big score, Michale arrives at first delighted at his retirement and that his daughter Tracy is now going to college, before he suddenly realizes franklin is there to assasinate him. Franklin chases after Michael after he flees on foot into an old power station. Franklin finally catches up to Michael on one of the walkways of the station's chimney where Franklin knocks Michale over the railing. Franklin at first attempts to catch him where at this point he can either attepmt to help Michael up or let him fall however Michael falls to his death regardless.

Option C
Franklin decides to not betray his two friends and instead wishes to come up with a plan to take out Haines and Weston. For this Franklin seeks the aid of the team's heist planner and expert hacker, Lester Crest, who hatches a plan to ambush both Haines's and Weston's hit squads. On advice from Lester Franklin calls Michael and Trevor and they all set up an ambush point at an abandoned refinery, where Lester uses his hacking skills to send all of the hitmen. Haine's sends a group of his corrupt FIB agents and Weston sends a squad of his personal mercenaries to the refinery where a massive shootout ensues bewtween all parties. With both hit squads terminated and the three portagonists still alive they decide to kill all their enemies in one move before they know the hit failed. Trevor sets out to kill Haines while Michael volunteers to kill Franklin's nemesis "Stretch" before sending Franklin to kill Traid leader Wei Cheng, who wants both Michael and Trevor dead in order to take over the drug trade in Trevor's territory. Franklin sets out and finds Wei Cheng where he promtly kills him and his enterouge. After killing Haines Trevor then kidnaps Devin Weston and then brings him to a deserted cliff where Michael and Franklin meet him. Franklin then tells Weston he should have paid him for the cars he risked his life to steal for him, before the three men execute Weston, Franklin then leaves the scene on good terms with his two friends.