Steve Haines

Background

Steve Haines is a senior agent of the Federal Investigation Bureau and one of the main antagonists of Grand Theft Auto V. He is Dave Norton's boss and a media-hungry careerist who hosts his own reality television program, The Underbelly of Paradise. In 2013 the FIB and the rival International Affairs Agency (IAA) are fighting over shrinking government budgets, and Haines is determined to make the IAA look bad and secure more funding, and more fame, for himself.

Events of Grand Theft Auto V

After the robbery of the Vangelico jewelry store, Haines notices that the job matches the methods of the supposedly dead robber Michael Townley. Digging through Dave Norton's old files, he discovers the secret deal from Ludendorff and decides to use Michael and his associates as deniable muscle.

He first has the crew kidnap IAA prisoner Ferdinand Kerimov in Three's Company, then in By the Book orders Trevor to torture Kerimov so that Michael and Dave can locate and kill a suspected terrorist. In Blitz Play Intro he briefs the three protagonists at the Murrieta Oil Field on the robbery of an armored car carrying agency bonds, which they carry out in Blitz Play. Later he sends them to fund and execute the raid on Humane Labs and Research in Monkey Business, where Haines buys the team time to escape by shooting himself in the leg and posing as a hostage.

As his own Bureau begins to suspect him, Haines orders The Bureau Raid to wipe out the evidence against him. In The Wrap Up he tries to pin everything on Michael and Dave at the Kortz Center, only to be betrayed by his partner Andreas Sanchez; Haines kills Sanchez and escapes, leaving the others to die. He then demands that Franklin kill Trevor.

His end depends on the final choice. In Something Sensible he gets what he wanted. In The Third Way, Trevor finds him filming an episode of his show on the Ferris wheel at Del Perro Pier and kills him in front of the camera.

Personality

Haines is arrogant, manipulative and self-obsessed. He talks constantly about patriotism and the war on terror while breaking every rule in pursuit of his own advancement. He treats the protagonists as disposable tools and never misses a chance to humiliate them.

Relationships

• Dave Norton: his subordinate, whom he bullies and blackmails.
• Michael De Santa: his main source of leverage.
• Andreas Sanchez: a fellow agent who ultimately betrays him.
• Devin Weston: a friend and business associate.
• Trevor Philips: his loudest critic, and finally his killer.

Trivia

• After Haines's death in The Third Way, Dave Norton takes over his television show.
• Haines is the only character who orders Franklin to kill Trevor.