Niko Bellic

Background

Niko Bellic is the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto IV. He grew up in the Balkans and fought as a young man in the Yugoslav wars, an experience that left him hardened, cynical and haunted. His unit of fifteen men was led into an ambush, and only three survived: Niko, his friend Florian Cravic and Darko Brevic. Niko became convinced that one of the survivors had sold the unit out, and finding that man becomes the private obsession that runs underneath the whole story.

After the war Niko drifted into crime. He worked in people smuggling for the Russian gangster Ray Bulgarin, spent time in prison, and left Europe after a smuggling job went wrong and Bulgarin decided Niko owed him. He arrives in Liberty City in 2008 aboard the cargo ship Platypus, lured by his cousin Roman's emails about mansions, sports cars and beautiful women.

Events of Grand Theft Auto IV

The American dream turns out to be a cramped apartment in Hove Beach and a struggling cab depot in Broker. Roman owes money to Albanian loan sharks, and Niko starts by protecting him, beating and eventually killing the Albanians in Bleed Out. Through Roman he meets Little Jacob and works for the loan shark Vlad Glebov, whom he kills in Uncle Vlad after learning Vlad has been sleeping with Mallorie.

Vlad's death puts the cousins in the hands of Mikhail Faustin and Dimitri Rascalov. Niko does Faustin's dirty work, including the murder of Lenny Petrovic, until Dimitri persuades him to kill Faustin in The Master and the Molotov. Dimitri then betrays him to Bulgarin in Russian Revolution, burns down the apartment and cab depot, and forces the cousins to flee to South Bohan.

In Bohan Niko works for Manny Escuela and the cocaine dealer Elizabeta Torres, and in Broker for Brucie Kibbutz. Elizabeta's drug deal in Blow Your Cover brings him into contact with Playboy X and Johnny Klebitz, while his girlfriend Michelle turns out to be a government agent. Her employers at United Liberty Paper start to use Niko as a contract killer in exchange for help. Corrupt police officer Francis McReary introduces him to the McReary family, and with Packie and his brothers Niko robs a bank in Three Leaf Clover and is drawn into the war between the Irish and the Ancelotti family.

Ray Boccino of the Pegorino family hires Niko to recover a stash of diamonds, a chase that ends in the diamonds slipping away twice. Niko is then forced to choose between McReary brothers in Blood Brothers, kidnaps Gracie Ancelotti with Packie and works for Jimmy Pegorino and Phil Bell in Alderney. Ray's information also leads Niko to Florian, now living as Bernie Crane, who convinces him he was not the traitor. United Liberty Paper eventually delivers Darko Brevic to Liberty City, and in That Special Someone Niko confronts the man who betrayed his unit and chooses whether to kill him.

In One Last Thing Pegorino asks Niko to do a heroin deal with Dimitri. Taking the Deal ends with Roman shot dead at his own wedding and Niko killing Dimitri on Happiness Island. Choosing Revenge sees Niko kill Dimitri on the Platypus, but Pegorino's attack on the wedding kills Kate McReary, and Niko hunts Pegorino down in Out of Commission.

Personality

Niko is dry, sarcastic and weary, but he is also loyal and protective of the few people he cares about. He presents himself as a man who has already seen the worst humanity offers, and he frequently tells people he wants to leave his past behind, even while violence keeps pulling him back. Many of the game's best scenes come from his deadpan reactions to the excess and hypocrisy of Liberty City.

Relationships

• Roman Bellic is the closest thing Niko has to family, and much of the story is driven by Niko cleaning up Roman's messes.
• Little Jacob, Brucie Kibbutz, Packie McReary and Dwayne Forge (if spared) become friends who can be called for activities and abilities.
• Dimitri Rascalov and Ray Bulgarin are his main enemies, and Darko Brevic is the man he crossed the ocean to find.
• Michelle, Kate McReary and the online dates Carmen, Kiki and Alexandra are possible girlfriends.

Trivia

• Niko is voiced by Michael Hollick.
• He appears briefly in both episodes from Liberty City: in The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony he crosses paths with Johnny Klebitz and Luis Lopez during the diamond storyline.
• Grand Theft Auto IV never names his home country directly; supporting material and his background point to Serbia.