GTA 6 Should Bring Back Grand Theft Auto 3's Main Character
The silent main character of GTA 3, Claude, had a little bit of a story expansion in GTA: San Andreas, but he deserves a proper finale in GTA 6.
Claude, the main character from Grand Theft Auto III, should make a return for Grand Theft Auto 6. Claude was introduced in Grand Theft Auto III as a silent protagonist, one which the player could impart their own impression onto much like Gordon Freeman in the Half-Life series, but he hasn't been seen since. He did have a few small appearances in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas setting up his arrival in Liberty City (while also giving franchise fans more backstory on Grand Theft Auto III's antagonist) but Claude's adventures afterwards have never been documented.
The finale of Grand Theft Auto III sees Claude facing off against Catalina, his former girlfriend and now head of a massive drug cartel, and surviving. He leaves the ensuing massacre with a woman named Maria Leone, the former wife of Liberty City Mafia boss Salvatore Leone, and although it's suggested that they may end up together in a relationship as the game fades to black a gunshot is heard and Maria's voice ceases, never to be heard again, even as the credits finish and players are allowed to jump back into the game.
It's never been revealed what happened to Claude after the events of Grand Theft Auto III, although the game's developers have stated previously that the character is definitely still alive. In a Rockstar Games Newswire message from 2011 the developers answered a number of fan questions about Claude and revealed that "He certainly isn't dead. What else became of him, we don't know."
Although it's currently unknown what city Grand Theft Auto 6 will take place in, there are a lot of different locations which it would make sense for Claude to return (or escape) to after the events of Grand Theft Auto III. Despite having worked for Salvatore Leone in the past, Claude's actions with the mob boss' former lover had already caused him to become a wanted man in Mafia territory before the game was even complete, and it's likely surviving members of the Leone Crime Family would want to hunt him down and make an example out of Claude eventually.
According to Rockstar (and backed up by his appearance in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) Claude is "Definitely a drifter, probably from the west coast, new to Liberty City." This means it's likely he didn't stick around for too long after Grand Theft Auto III's plot ended, and poses some interesting questions as to where he could end up next.
The most popular and prevailing rumors about Grand Theft Auto 6's setting place the game in Vice City, Rockstar's fictional depiction of Miami. There are many characters in Grand Theft Auto III's version of Liberty City with connections to Vice City, including the real estate and media tycoon Donald Love, who both Claude and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City's main character, Tommy Vercetti, befriends. Although the last time players saw Love he was disappearing himself, it wouldn't be out of character for him to reach out to Claude once he was safely in a new location... back in a Vice City mansion, perhaps.
Wherever Grand Theft Auto 6 takes place, it should be the last adventure Claude ever goes on. Having been the character who helped to pioneer third-person open world video games, he deserves a proper send-off, once which not only honors his past but also appropriately judges him for it.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas introduced players to Catalina's cousin Cesar Vialpando, a street racer and the assumed brother-in-law of that game's protagonist Carl Johnson. Cesar and Carl (who also had a brief physical relationship with Catalina) are both still alive at the end of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and it's easy to think they would be none-too-pleased to hear of her death. A proper confrontation with Cesar about Catalina would be both in tone with the game's message about the cycle of violence and also be an appropriate end for Claude, and Grand Theft Auto 6 doesn't have to take players back to the west coast to make such an event happen.
No matter where Grand Theft Auto 6 is set, the game should definitely bring back Grand Theft Auto III's main character. Claude doesn't even have to be playable, but he should be around, and he should get a proper conclusion to his story. If the game does take place in the past like some rumors have suggested, it would be neat to see a younger, chatty version of Claude, and maybe learn just why he went silent in the first place.
Source: Rockstar Games