Tommy Vercetti

"My old man used to work on these. I used to spend the evenings with him cleaning the rollers. I was gonna follow him in his trade but... I lived a different life."

- Tommy Vercetti

Thomas "Tommy" Vercetti (born 1951) is the main protagonist and the playable character of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Beginnings
Tommy was born in Liberty City and at some point met and befriended local thug Sonny Forelli, whose gang he later joined. Around 1971, Sonny had grown jealous of Tommy's rapid rise in notoriety and organized an ambush in Harwood, Liberty City. The ambush proved unsuccessful as Tommy ended up slaying all eleven of his attackers, earning him the nickname "The Harwood Butcher". He ended up imprisoned for his crimes and served time until 1986 when the game's story takes place.

In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
In 1986, Tommy was released from prison after Sonny "pulled some strings". Fearing that Tommy is "too well known" in Liberty City, and also wanting to expand into the drugs trade in the south, Sonny sends Tommy to Vice City. Tommy flies to Vice City along with Harry and Lee, meeting Ken Rosenberg at the airport, before immediately driving to a drug deal at the docks. The drug deal turns into an ambush, and Harry, Lee, and one of the drug dealers are killed. Only Tommy, Ken, and the other dealer escape the attack.

Tommy informs Sonny of the ambush and is reminded that Sonny is "not a man to be screwed with; Sonny makes it clear he wants his money and his drugs back. Tommy initially works for Ken, starting riots and intimidating jurors. While working for Ken, Tommy also meets Lance Vance, the other dealer, who seeks revenge for his brother who was killed during the initial drug deal. Tommy also works for Juan Cortez, an intermediary for the drug deal, who begins to look into the ambush for Tommy. Meanwhile, Cortez has Tommy steal missile technology chips and kill Gonzalez, who had talked about the deal.

Cortez, believing that Ricardo Diaz was responsible for the ambush, asks Tommy to act as protection for Diaz in a deal with the Cubans. The Haitians, enemies of the Cubans, ambush the deal, but are killed by Tommy and Lance. Diaz, seeing potential in Tommy and Lance, hires them to kill gang members who were stealing his money and steal the fastest boat in the city in order to purchase drugs from a dealer on a boat. Lance eventually attempts to kill Diaz for the death of his brother, but is captured by Diaz's men, though he is later freed by Tommy. The two subsequently go on to take revenge, killing Diaz in his own mansion.

The death of Ricardo Diaz brings change to Vice City, allowing Tommy and Lance to step in and continue the crime ring established by Diaz. Tommy, however, begins to look beyond the protection rackets established by Diaz and purchases a number of businesses around the city, most prominently the Malibu Club, the Cherry Popper Ice Cream Factory (a front for a drug running business), InterGlobal Films and the Print Works. After purchasing each business, Tommy helps establish their influence in the city. During this time, Tommy also begins to work for a number of smaller time criminals in the city, including the Cuban leader Umberto Robina and the Haitian leader Auntie Poulet (due to her drugging him), helping both sides attack the other. He also works for Avery Carrington's real estate business, Phil Cassidy's gun running business, Mr. Black's hitman business, Mitch Baker's biker gang, and Kent Paul's management of Love Fist. Tommy also went on to help Juan Cortez escape the city when the GIGN assault his yacht for the missile technology.

Sonny Forelli, growing restless and impatient, sends some of his men to collect some of his money from Tommy's businesses. Tommy kills the collectors, although not in time to save Earnest Kelly, the owner of the Print Works, from being injured. Tommy decides to give Sonny fake money printed at the Print Works. Tommy meets Sonny in person at his estate to give him the counterfeit cash, but Sonny informs him that Lance has sided with him, betraying Tommy. A gun battle ensues, with Tommy killing both Lance and Sonny, who also confirms Tommy's suspicion that he was set up in Harwood. Following the deaths of Lance and Sonny, Tommy and Ken taken over, becoming the most powerful men in Vice City.

Personality
Tommy Vercetti is portrayed as both smart and temperamental. He acts very harshly, even to his friends, but places explicit trust in his associates. He is very bitter about his time in prison, and fondly remembers his childhood which he spent in his father's printing shop. On the other side, Tommy is capable of brutal violence and has killed more people than most GTA protagonists, and has even killed close friends who betrayed him such as Sonny Forelli and Lance Vance. Despite all of this, Tommy Can also show a form of politeness at times.

Appearance
Tommy has the appearance of a light-skinned, black haired man in his mid-thirties. He usually has his hair styled neatly and frequently wears a blue Hawaiian shirt and stone-washed blue jeans. Aside from his "street clothes", Tommy also wears colorful 80's-style suits, like many other characters in the game.He bears somewhat of a resemblance to GTA V's protagonist Michael De Santa, causing many fans to believe that Michael in fact was Tommy before the GTA V's release.

Villain Deeds

 * Murder (during free roam)
 * Carjacking a vehicle (during free roam)
 * Robbing stores (during free roam)
 * In the mission The Job, he robbing El Bancho Corrupto Grande bank

Trivia

 * Tommy is considered to be the most evil protagonist in the series, with the exception of Claude Speed and perhaps Trevor Phillips as well.
 * Unlike the other protagonists, Tommy isn't above dealing drugs and the game's plot mostly revolves around Tommy seizing control of Vice City from the criminals who previously controlled it. Another trait of Tommy is that feel no remorse moving to liquidate their victims, including whether they are friends or not. And apparently, one of the most evil actions is when the leader of the bikers (Mitch Baker) orders him to go outside to eliminate anyone to show the people who is boss. However, he does save his friends if they are in need.
 * Tommy's personality, storyline, place of residence and physical appearance is based on Tony Montana, the main character of the 1983 film Scarface. Tommy's mansion is in fact almost a complete remake of Montana's mansion, with some few differences.
 * Tommy Vercetti is the first speaking protagonist in the Grand Theft Auto games. He is also one of the two Italian-American protagonists, together with Toni Cipriani.
 * Vercetti uses prick the most out of any protagonist.
 * Tommy is voiced by Ray Liotta.

Gallery
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