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| “ | Oh, no, no, show some respect here, ni**a. The man they couldn't hold down is back. Come on, now. | „ |
| ~ Stretch to Franklin Clinton in the mission "The Long Stretch". |
Harold Joseph, also known as Stretch, is a major antagonist in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V, the seventh installment in the Grand Theft Auto series.
He is a gangster and a street hustler who serves as an OG in the Chamberlain Gangster Families, the same gang as Franklin Clinton and Lamar Davis. Stretch originally seems friendly with the two, despite an arrogant sense of superiority over them, but is secretly an associate of their rival gang, the Ballas, having defected to them during his time in prison. Due to his actions and betrayal, he is the archenemy of both Franklin and Lamar.
He was voiced by Hassan Iniko Johnson, who is possibly best known for portraying the ruthless cartel enforcer "Wee-Bey" in the HBO crime drama The Wire.
Biography[]
GTA 5 - Mission 9 - The Long Stretch 100% Gold Medal Walkthrough
Harold Joseph joined the Chamberlain Gangsters Families at an early age. He eventually worked his way up through the ranks and became a respected "OG" within the family, also earning the nickname "Stretch". He also became friends with up and coming members Lamar Davis and Franklin Clinton; however, Franklin developed an enmity with Stretch, presumably due to his reckless and selfish behavior. Lamar however looked up to Stretch from a young age. At an unknown point Stretch was sent to prison for an unknown crime that he presumably committed for the Chamberlain Families. During his incarceration, Stretch began associating with incarcerated members of the Ballas, the main rival to the Chamberlain Gangster Families.
Eventually Stretch is released from prison, prompting Lamar to have a reunion for Stretch, Franklin and himself, by going to seemingly buy drugs off another gang member named D. However, the deal turns out to be an ambush set up by the Ballas; enraged, Stretch kills D and the trio manage to shoot their way out and escape with their lives.
He later tells Lamar and Franklin to partake in a drug deal with the Ballas; Trevor Philips decides to tag along. Before Lamar can hand over a large bag of money in exchange for a brick of cocaine, Trevor asks for a taste, resulting in a confrontation which reveals that the brick is in fact drywall. This results in a shootout in between members of the Ballas and Franklin, Trevor and Lamar, the trio managing to fight their war through and escape. Afterward, Franklin can call Stretch in regards to the incident, who attempts to shift the blame on Franklin, claiming that him bringing Trevor along resulted in the shootout and is bad for the Families' image due to Trevor being white; Franklin retorts by pointing out that it is thanks to Trevor that he and Lamar were able to escape with their lives.
Later, Franklin, Michael and Trevor begin working for billionaire Devin Weston, stealing several luxury cars for him to sell to Chinese officials with the promise of a massive cash payout. Stretch discovers Franklin's employment to Weston and demands a cut of Franklin's payment, but Franklin refuses. Lamar Davis also becomes involved in the trio's jobs for Weston, however, when all cars have been collected, Weston cheats them out of their pay.
With Lamar looking for another money making opportunity, Stretch convinces him to go off on his own to the Ballas hideout in Paleto Bay, telling him that they were willing to sell drugs and would be a sort of peace making opportunity. However, this turns out to be a trap and Lamar ends up being captured by the Ballas. However Franklin, Michael, and Trevor save Lamar with the help of Lester. While taking Lamar home, Franklin tells him about how Stretch hooked up with the Ballas during prison and that he was the one setting them up, though Lamar still refuses to believe that Stretch would do such a thing.
Ending[]
After pulling of a major bank heist, Franklin is approached by corrupt federal agent Steve Haines and Devin Weston, both asking Franklin to kill one of his new partners (Trevor for Haines, Michael for Weston). If Franklin decides to go against both of them, he, Trevor, and Michael fight off all of the men sent to kill them and then decide to tie up all the loose ends around the city (the loose ends being Stretch, Haines, Weston and Triad leader Wei Cheng). Trevor decides it would be safest to eliminate Stretch since he is a danger to Franklin and by extension the rest of them. Franklin agrees with the idea because of the trouble Stretch has brought. In order to avoid suspicion being put on Franklin, Michael decides to carry out the task since he is not an associate of Stretch. Michael finds Stretch on a basketball court bragging to members of The Ballas of how he plans on killing Lamar and Franklin. After telling Stretch that he has a message from Franklin, Stretch realized that Michael is another one of Franklin's friends before Michael executes him in front of his new found gang, despite the attempts of his new friends to kill De Santa. Michael will notify him, his friend Stretch will not be a problem, but Franklin denies Stretch is his friend though a dude who troubled them.
If Franklin chooses to kill either Trevor or Michael for Haines or Weston, he will receive a call from Lamar saying that he has realized that Franklin was right about Stretch and will have to lay low for a while, possibly hinting that Lamar is planning to kill Stretch eventually but needs time to plan it. Afterward, Franklin can only ever hang out with Lamar at night.
It is confirmed that Option C is the canon ending, so Stretch is canonically killed by Michael.
Quotes[]
| “ | This ain't new age shit, it's fact. You get what you give fool. | „ |
| ~ Stretch |
| “ | Ain't nothing righteous about this shit, acting like big dogs. | „ |
| ~ Stretch |
| “ | Stretch: Yo, motherf*cker. I know little ni**as like you been turned out on the daily. Talking about being hit up, ni**a, I swear, man. You ain't got no motherf*cking respect. Franklin: Motherf**ker, I got respect for reality. |
„ |
| ~ Stretch to Franklin. |
| “ | Stretch: Lamar Davis. Disrespectful ass motherf***er's trying to break the order of things. Please. Pair of bitches. Only pair of bitches the Stretch tolerate, are the ones that worked his pole last night. Ballas: Man, that's bulls***. Stretch: You want to see? I'll show you right here, n***a, watch. Michael De Santa: Alright, I'm at the courts, I think I know which one Stretch is. (While Michael confronts Stretch and the Ballas.) Michael De Santa: Hey! Lamar and Franklin send their best. Stretch: Hey, who this shakey white dude? Hey, where the f**k y'all goin? Ballas: Hey, that's yo' problem, my n***a. My bad. Stretch: You one of them old dudes hangs with Franklin. Oh, okay, I get it. |
„ |
| ~ Stretch shortly before getting murdered by Michael De Santa. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Stretch, alongside Wei Cheng and Massimo Torini, is one of the few Grand Theft Auto major antagonists to have just two appearances in their game.
- Stretch is only seen wearing his green cap during his debut appearance in "The Long Stretch". Given that the Families' signature color is the green and the Ballas' signature color is the purple, it's possible that not wearing his green cap during "The Third Way" is to reflect that he no longer respects the Families.
- Despite rarely appearing in Grand Theft Auto V, he can sometimes make phone calls with Franklin. His conversations would sometimes foreshadow his true intentions, and explaining that Lamar needed to be learn a lesson and by giving him to the Ballas.
- Despite being one of the secondary antagonists, Stretch only interacts with Franklin, and briefly with Michael, making Trevor the only protagonist Stretch doesn’t meet or interact with. (Though Trevor's existence is acknowledged and referenced by Stretch and vice versa).
- The reason why both Stretch and Wei Cheng were so underused was most likely because of the focus Devin Weston and Steve Haines, the main antagonists of the game.
External Link[]
- Stretch - Grand Theft Auto Wiki
