CharacterMain characters

Maria Latore

Salvatore's wife who warns Claude of a set-up and helps him defect to the Yakuza.

Member of: Leone Family
Voice actor: Debi Mazar
Nationality: Italy, United States
Status: Unknown
Occupation: Former Waitress

Background

Maria Latore is the wife of Don Salvatore Leone in Grand Theft Auto III. She is a lively, talkative woman with a SPANK habit and a close friendship with Asuka Kasen of the Yakuza.

Maria married into the Leone family as Salvatore's wife. She is much younger than her husband and bored by the life of a mob wife. Her drug use and party habits make her a liability to Salvatore, and he leaves her in Claude's care in Chaperone.

Events of GTA III

Claude meets Maria in Chaperone, when Salvatore asks him to look after her. She has Claude drive her to her dealer Chico and then to a party in Atlantic Quays that is raided by the police.

Maria later saves Claude's life. In Last Requests, she pages Claude to warn him that Salvatore plans to kill him, as the don believes she is in love with Claude. She takes Claude to Asuka, and the three escape to Staunton Island.

Maria stays with Asuka during the Yakuza missions. In Ransom, Catalina kidnaps her and demands $500,000 for her release. In The Exchange, Claude rescues her at the Cochrane Dam. As the credits begin, she chatters about her life and a gunshot is heard.

After Last Requests, Maria spends much of the Staunton Island chapter with Asuka, leaving notes for Claude when the two of them leave town or go shopping. She is the reason Claude can join the Yakuza at all, since Asuka takes him in on Maria's word.

Her kidnapping in Ransom is the event that brings Claude face to face with Catalina. Catalina uses Maria as bait, and the final mission is built around getting her back alive.

Personality

Maria is chatty and impulsive. She enjoys parties and drugs and can be careless, but she is also loyal to those she likes and brave enough to betray her husband to save Claude.

Maria talks constantly, often about herself, and is happy to fill Claude's silence with stories. Her talkativeness becomes the final joke of the game when the credits roll.