Dimitri Rascalov

"You know if there is one thing I've learned, it's that we must obey the rules of the game. We can pick the game Niko Bellic, but we cannot change the rules."

- Dimitri Rascalov to Niko Bellic. "But you messed up, and left a lot of bad debt. You left a good friend of mine out of pocket, big time."

- Dimitri's betrayal.

Dimitri Rascalov (June 7, 1969 - April 2008) is the main antagonist of the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV, and is also an unseen antagonist in the DLC The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.

He first appeared out as the right-hand man to Russian mobster Mikhail Faustin, but would betray him by requesting protagonist Niko Bellic into killing him before going on to affiliate himself with fellow Russian crime lord Ray Bulgarin; ultimately betraying Niko as well.

Since then, Dimitri became the leader of the Russian Mafia. He became a newly established Russian Crime Boss of Liberty City who additionally forged multiple partnerships with mob bosses including Kenny Petrović, Giovanni Ancelotti, and Jimmy Pegorino.

Synopsis
Dimitri was born in 1969 in Soviet Union - now Russia. He fought in the Soviet Army during the Cold war. At one point, he met and befriended Mikhail Faustin, possibly because the two had the project to found a Bratva (the name of a russian mafia). As such, they both spent time in the same Siberian prison and Dimitri was defended by Mikhail from others inmates, notably rapists. They became shills and "brothers for life". Eventually, they became criminals after their release from jails, and spent their time selling "hash to tourists in Red Square". Dimitri was apparently convicted of murder multiple times, although he certainly did this with the help of his accomplice Faustin.

Around 1995, they "exploited a loophole in the U.S. immigration treaty" and moved with their family to Hove Beach, a poor neighbor from Liberty City, where a russian diaspora settled. Mikhail became a respected and major mobster, who would extort various shops accross the city, but Dimitri has been relegated to the background, as Faustin's right-hand and treasurer of his Bravta. According to LCPD's computers, Dimitri was arrested in 1998 for extortion and busted again in 2000 for hihacking.

Over the years, Dimitri noticed Mikhail's to alcohol and cocaine that got him extremely paranoid and abusive towards his wife, Ilyena and Dimitri, while the latter abused painkillers, yet remained much more calm and thoughtful than Mikhail, gradually taking the leadership of the gang. Furthermore, Dimitri preferred to "play by the rules", which was becoming really difficult due to Mikhail's constant lashing-out and his addiction and attitude not making him or Dimitri very popular among the wackjobs and gangsters and mobsters of Liberty City. This brought Dimitri to became more and more distant towards Faustin.

Storyline
Dimitri first met Niko Bellic and his cousin, Roman, in 2008 when they are kidnapped (by Andrei) and tortured for killing Mikhail's employee, Vlad Glebov. He is shown to be working with Mikhail himself as his always-calm assistant. Since then, Niko would be doing favors for them, with one job that Dimitri against doing being killing the son of Kenny Petrovic, a major Russian Crime boss in Liberty City who sought vengeance on Mikhail after he found out what Niko did in Mikhail's name. As such, the remnants of their old friendships completely shattered.

Later on, Dimitri meets Niko secretly on a pier and orders him to kill his own boss so that Petrovic would spare the both of them. While doing so, Mikhail tries to warn Niko about Dimitri's backstabbing nature, but fails and is killed by Niko. It is proven true when he finally betrays Niko and is shown working for his old enemy, Ray Bulgarin. After Niko escapes the ambush at a warehouse where Niko was meant to recieve payment for the hit (helped by "Little" Jacob Hughes), Dimitri would try to turn his life into a living hell by burning down his cousin Roman's apartment and taxi depot.

In The Lost and Damned DLC, he was owed an unspecified amount of money by Johnny Klebitz's girlfriend Ashley, so now Johnny (working for the Lost Motorcycle Club) had to kidnap Roman so that Dimitri would leave her alone. After that, Roman was brought before minions of Dimitri to be held hostage until Niko's arrival. However, Niko saves Roman from Dimitri, then sworn to find him and cut off his head to reminds him "what a lying, treacherous scumbug looks like".

He eventually became the top Supplier of Cocaine for the Ancelotti family, and has one of his boats stolen by the Pegorino family. Later, he discovered that deputy mayor Bryce Dawkins, a happily-married man, was actually a homosexual and extorted him. He blackmailed him and his secret boyfriend Florian Cravic (now named Bruce Cranes), but Niko saved them from Dimitri's henchmen.

Ending
Near the end of GTA IV, Dimitri is allied with Jimmy Pegorino during a heroin deal, and Jimmy asks Niko if he could join in on it, the reward being $250,000. While Roman encourages Niko to put his vengeance aside and go through with the deal, Niko's girlfriend Kate McReary tells Niko that he shouldn't sacrifice his principles for money. Niko can then choose to go through with the deal or betray Pegorino and exact revenge on Dimitri.

Deal
If the player goes through with the Deal, Dimitri is to deliver the heroin to a third party while Niko and Phil Bell go to the buyer's compound to retrieve the money from them. Dimitri betrays Niko again by killing the buyer's representatives and taking the heroin for himself. Niko and Phil fight their way through the compound, but retrieve the money regardless. After this, Niko cuts his ties with Pegorino, and Kate refuses to attend Roman's wedding. Later at the said wedding, Dimitri sends a hitman to kill Niko, but Roman is shot and killed during the struggle.

Enraged, Niko and his friend "Little" Jacob Hughes follow Pegorino's men to an abandoned casino, where Dimitri and Pegorino are hiding. Inside, Niko witnesses Dimitri kill Pegorino, saying he "didn't work this hard to share the spoils of a victory". He then flees to Hapiness Island in a chopper, with Niko and Jacob pursuing in another. There, Niko mortally wounds Dimitri, and watches as he dies in front of the Statue of Happiness, criticizing his traitorous nature.

Revenge
If the player decides to exact Revenge, Niko tracks down Dimitri at the cargo ship Platypus, the ship that brought Niko to Liberty City. There, he shoots his way into the cargo hold and corners Dimitri there. After killing his remaining men, Niko backs Dimitri into a corner.

As Dimitri begs for his life, his pleas fall on deaf ears as Niko executes him. Later, Niko and Kate attend Roman's wedding, where an angry Pegorino, enraged at Niko's betrayal and the collapse of his business, unloads an assault rifle and kills Kate McReary in a drive-by shooting. Then, Niko, Little Jacob and Roman follow Pegorino's men to an abandoned casino, where Pegorino is hiding. Pegorino flees to Happiness Island in a boat, with Niko, Jacob and Roman pursuing in a chopper. There, Niko kills Pegorino in front of the Statue of Happiness.

Appearance
Dimitri appears as a rather slender man in his late thirties. He has a very pale skin, possibly due to his treatment. He has a square cut make of blond, short hairs, and wears black rectangular glasses. He has two green eyes. He also has tattoos in the palms of his hands. Whenever he plots, he sports an evil smile; otherwise, he has a stern look which he only looses at the end of the game when he faces his death.

His standard outfit, as shown above, is a white shirt under a rotting green jacket, matching suit pants and brown shoes. He is never seen in another tenue. Also, like most characters in the game, Dimitri will don a unique helmet when riding alongside the protagonist on a motorbike. His helmet is green, with two white stripes along the temples.

Personality
"You're a strange man. You killed your best friend. You betrayed everyone who ever came in contact with you. You killed my cousin. I guess... the survival of the fittest thing really meant a lot to you."

- Niko Bellic's final words about Dimitri.

Dimitri is the exact opposite of his former friend and crime lord Mikhail Faustin: while Faustin was hotheaded, dangerous, unpredictable, rude and an addict, Dimitri is a standoffish, clean, composed, rational and sophisticated man, but treacherous and greedy (hence his name), willing to betray every of his allies in order to gain power over the Liberty City's underworld.

Dimitri is the embodiment of the Faux Affably Evil archetype: at a glance, he appears to be persuasive, eloquent and kind, even taking care of Roman after the latter was shot to the stomach by an angered Mikhail. However, all of this was a mere plan to manipulate Niko, whom is shocked by learning Dimitri's betrayal once the Russian crime lord shows his true colors in Russian Revolution. In fact, he has no qualms about torturing or killing anyone who interfere his plans. Only Little Jacob foreshadowed this turn of events, as his gang is in competition with another clique of Russian mobsters. Niko tried first to reason Dimitri, but the latter retorted him that he "has so many enemies" among the city (including Ray Bulgarin, another mobster and Niko's former employer). Dimitri's sympathetic side completely disappeared once he kidnapped Roman and burnt his depot.

He shows several similarities with Frank Tenpenny, the main antagonist from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: both of them wish to take over their respective cities, both see their allies and subordinates as mere and disposable pawns, manipulating them in order to take over their foes and eventually betraying and killing them, and both are sadistic. They are also prompt to use violence, as they have killed many persons, albeit most of their victims were also not-so-innocent gang members. However, Dimitri is not delusional, and fully aware of his evilness. Instead, he justifies his nefarious behavior by playing the rules of the game, and he even told Niko that "we can pick the game [...] but cannot change the rules", a quote that the latter can use against Playboy X.

This might signify that Dimitri totally disregards life's value and is nihilistic, which would explain his depravity. Also, Dimitri is much more cowardly and instead of directly facing the protagonist like Tenpenny is used to do, Dimitri psychologically abuse and taunt Niko by phone, sending him for instance a pic of Roman tied. In addition, Dimitri is implied to be quite, if not extremely egotist, as he told Jimmy Pegorino, right before killing him, that he doesn't want to "share the spoils of the victory". In addition, Dimitri Rascalov could also possibly serve as a representation of the Dark Triad traits, and their manifestation in all forms of power in society. His cold calculable actions reflect his remorselessness and Narcissism. It should also be noted that Dimitri might have been inspired by the philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche, as Dimitri makes it clear that his fundamental concern in life is "survival of the fittest" AKA: Will to Power in Nietzsche's philosophy.

He became increasingly paranoid and ruthless, as Niko foiled all his plans and destroyed step by step his Bratva. Incapable of getting rid of the Serbian assassin, Dimitri made a morbid obsession about his nemesis, wishing at all cost to kill him or at least breaking him emotionally, by attacking his relatives and friends. Such fixation became his demise, as Niko eventually faced and killed him in both endings. If the player choice the Deal ending, he loses his temper and murders in cold blood Pegorino. Aside being in charge of his Bratva, Dimitri has no hobbies nor loved ones, which makes him methodical, analytical, and remorseless. Rascalov's favorite radio station is Vladivostok FM.

Powers and Abilities
Dimitri has a poor health condition, is not very muscular and aim very bad when shooting, not to mention he abuses painkillers in order to remain calm. Despite this, he has driving and piloting skills. He relies on his brain and his henchmen to get what he wants. He is one of the most successful and dangerous mastermind of the Grand Theft Auto-era since he successfully betrayed almost every of his allies, before being executed by Niko.

Trivia

 * Dimitri is often considered as the most evil character from Grand Theft Auto IV.
 * In addition, unlike most antagonists from Grand Theft Auto IV, Dimitri does not appear in its extensions. But he keeps playing an antagonistic role, as Ashley owes money to the Russian crime lord, forcing Johnny to kidnap Roman in order to save his girlfriend. Also, Dimitri can be mentioned at the end of The Ballad of Gay Tony by Timur; the right-hand man of Ray Bulgarin.
 * He is about 6'0 and 190 lbs.
 * He is very similar to a character in the same game named Playboy X. Both of them are power hungry mobsters who want to overthrow their masters (Mikhail Faustin and Dwayne Forge), are both traitors, and both have used Niko Bellic as an asset.