Scaling Every GTA Character

Scaling Grand Theft Auto

Prerequisites

I’ll be assuming that humans are around human level unless I have good reason to believe otherwise. This helps keeps interpretations of stories consistent. The same goes for assuming the GTA universe is similar to our own.

I'll only be speaking on characters I have a lot of playtime with. Eventually, I'll quit being cheap and go buy Vice/Liberty Stories for my PS2. Until then, those games aren't on the list. 3D era and up only as well. No purely top-down games. I'll be adding some NPCs in my spare time.

This will list characters from weakest to strongest. Don’t be surprised when I make some assumptions for the sake of placing people. Also, I’m not taking weaponry into account all that much.

I made this before I decided peak human is worth a one point increase in Numdead. This hardly changes anything, but some of these characters are actually .1-.2 higher on average because of that.

Humans

Generally, pedestrians are more or less the same. They represent untrained citizens. Depending on the GTA title, they may be a bit more tactically sound than average, but they're never normatively implied to be anything but fodder to have fun with. This is what I'd consider a basic NPC. It's no surprise that these guys are basic human to athletic human level. 

Power: Peak Human - Able to deal damage to GTA protagonists (this will be important later). 

Speed: Basic Human - able to run at competitive speeds but lack any meaningful perception. 

Durability: Basic Human - Sometimes tanky in combat but always able to go down in one to three shots. 

Intelligence: Basic Human?: They're meant to represent adults, but they're programs, and not smart programs at that. There's some tactic programmed into them, and sometimes it's more than your average citizen.

Totaling the value of each ranking gives me 11. Divide that among the stats, and you get 2.75, making the basic NPCs normal human to athlete level. Considering their purely defensive and sometimes extremely docile nature, I'd rate their character low and their readiness at .6, giving them a new average of 1.65 in stats. Considering I'm a 1.46, I may be able to beat up a single GTA NPC, but it would be the fight of my life.

Cops

A lot like pedestrians, cops are meant to represent a standard person, this time with 6 months of training (or just a guy who stole a cop outfit) and a love for killing. How realistic. Police are always the pedestrians with a basic pistol or shotgun and the potential for light armor. This is also what I'd consider a basic NPC.

Police stats are essentially no different from pedestrians, but they may have double their normal health, giving them Superhuman/ metallic skin. This ups their average to 19, making them a 4.75 all around and a 5.22 when considering their (sometimes) defensive but extremely aggressive nature, resulting in a 1.1 multiplier.

SWAT/NOOSE/Squads

SWAT members are much like Police except with much better weapons and tactics. They pull up in large groups with heavy armor, or in cases like Vice City, they may barrel towards the player in supercars. These higher forms of Police are never portrayed as anything but somewhat higher-level enemies. From this point forward, NPCs are now considered advanced.

The biggest changes here are a one up in armor, putting their Durability at Super Human x2 and their Intelligence at Advanced Human considering the newly found skills and tactics. 

This stat jump equates to 7.5 on average. Considering SWAT only spawns when you're deep into your wanted level, they are always blood lusted. They will kill themselves to fight you. 7.5 x 1.4 = 10.5 to all stats.

It's at this point that we need to talk arsenal. These advanced NPCs do not have the weaponry that a GTA protagonist does. Despite being many times stronger than I am, SWAT still rank low because at the end of the day they are just brawlers with low caliber automatics.

The GTA 4 online character

This one is a weird start to the protagonists, but I'm leaving no played character unturned. This character shares the same general stats as the GTA 4 protagonists but without any lore to go off of. Depending on the personalization or mission, this character may say some one-off things or complete a (probably canon?) mission, but they're featless besides that. 

I'll save the deadliness scale for a more important relative character. Also, this character may not even have a firearm to start depending on the version you go with.

Jimmy from Bully

This may not be a GTA game per se, but Jimmy Hopkins has some juice. He is normatively implied to be above Russell, who is just a walking superhuman boss character.

Power: Superhuman - Is tasked with destroying stuff in a warehouse, prompting Jimmy to destroy stone statues with his bare knuckles. 

Speed: Superhuman - Can outrun slow-moving cars. 

Durability: Superhuman x2 - takes a sledgehammer to that face that knocks him through a wall and back multiple meters. I can't give this the respect it deserves as Jimmy still has problems tussling with basic NPCs, and child NPCs at that. 

Intelligence: Basic Human - Although a child, Jimmy is more so a child written by an adult, and that fact can't be ignored. Jimmy acts like a little cartoon adult and is therefore a bit ahead of the curve, but not to any substantial degree.

On average, Jimmy is a 10.5 in all stats. Very impressive for a child. Considering his somewhat aggressive nature, I give Jimmy Hopkins a readiness of 1.1, leaving him at 11.55 per stat.

Wait. So why the low placement? Well, Jimmy has no serious arsenal. Sure, he has weapons that do decent damage, but they hardly compare to automatic rifles and explosives. Jimmy gets placed lower solely because he can't fight back all that well.

Franklin from the GTA 5 story mode

Franklin is brought to greatness thanks to his relevance to his peers. Let's do some early scaling to clear things up: 

Johnny gets no diff'd by Trevor. Franklin is comparable to Trevor. Therefore, Franklin should be above the GTA 4 dudes (kinda sorta). Truth is, things get muddy if we reverse engineer Trevor's deadliness/readiness. Trevor is damn near blood lusted against a drugged-up and docile Johnny. It could very well be that Trevor is relative to Johnny and is enjoying a sweet 1.25 multiplier (or higher due to meth use), while Johnny is stuck with a 0.5 multiplier. Still, the scene is in place for a reason; Trevor is portrayed as more powerful.

Power: Peak Human - Where GTA 4 protagonists may get a lucky shot in on a basic NPC, Franklin is capable of one-shotting more consistently and regularly takes NPCs out with 2-4 hits. 

Speed: Peak Human - I originally wrote this as SH but I can't do it. Franklin is not particularly fast on foot but he has essentially a driving sharingan. I wouldn't count this as it isn't a combat move, so I can't give him his points. Also, if Trevor can blindside Johnny (here we go again), the trio are most likely faster on average, but I'm going to be fair. 

Durability: Super Human x2 - same reasoning for Niko Bellic except Franklin does seem a tad more fragile. He's seemingly a bit more likely to die from crashing his car and random police gunfire. Franklin makes up for this with his ability to regenerate health. 

Intelligence: Advanced Human - Franklin is a bit naive and lacks the honed in skill set a master would have. Still, Franklin knows his way around all types of weapons with no training, for some reason. He's also tasked with taking on essentially all of the government with his two amigos, making him canonically very tactically sound.

On average, Franklin is an 8.25 in all main stats. Moving into character, Franklin is complex and imo written a bit strange. He's not stand out in character, making him neither docile or aggressive. I put his readiness at 0.9 which leaves him at a 7.45 to all stats. If a GTA 4 protagonist played their cards right, they may have a win on their hands.

Niko from GTA 4

Feeling the controversy yet? Don't worry, Niko may have some redemption later on. Niko is the golden standard of GTA 4. Each protagonist is built off of him, even imitating his fighting style and ability despite not having the same background as him. Niko is easily able to mow down basic NPCs and is given tasks where he's required to take out multiple advanced NPCs.

Power: Athletic Human - able to snap arms and potentially one-shot basic NPCs in hand-to-hand. 

Speed: Peak Human - able to easily out speed Brucie, who is quite obviously Athlete level or higher considering his shape and usage of BST. I'd actually argue that this perception may be superhuman, but Niko's foot-travel speed weighs him down. 

Durability: Superhuman x2 - able to tank high caliber rifle rounds and shrug off car accidents that send him into concrete at high speeds. Niko would rank higher, but he still takes noticeable, albeit minor, damage from basic NPC melee combat. 

Intelligence: Superhuman - I actually had this at PH and decided it wasn't fair to Niko. He shows no significant signs of naive nature, with some life experience to be found as well as significant skill in melee and ranged combat. Considering he is tasked with complex heists that involve him fighting hordes of advanced NPCs that scale to him, Niko must be extremely tactically sound.

Niko averages a 9.5 across his four main stats, making him about five of me. As for character, Niko is reserved but fine with fighting. He seems to enjoy giving others pain. With a readiness of around 1.1, Niko would generally come in at 10.45 on average.

Johnny from GTA 4

Johnny is weird. He shares all of Niko's ability and is even portrayed as a potential equal/rival. What background info makes this seem possible? Idk. He's just a career criminal who can compete with Russian Spec-Op main characters. This is where I'll start really talking guns. Johnny has better weapons than Niko with the same capacity to use them. Sorry, Niko fans (aka me). Things like automatic pistols and shotguns make Johnny just a bit more deadly.

Luis from GTA 4

Luis is the same case as Johnny but weirder. Turns out some light criminal work and club bouncing can make you Niko level. Luis' biggest claim to fame is his arsenal. Weapons like the Golden Uzi and Explosive Shotgun make him the most powerfully equipped GTA 4 protagonist.

It should be noted that Luis is a bit more docile compared to the other characters, making his post-readiness adjusted stats potentially lower than others.

Micheal from GTA 5

Micheal doesn't need much preemptive explanation. He's a direct rival to Trevor and is comparable to Franklin as well (albeit much more impressive with narrative implication). I didn't talk arsenal for Franklin so I'll do it here. Micheal has weapons that outclass Niko's. Dude gets a minigun at one point.

Most stats are exactly like Franklin's or close enough to not worry about. 

Speed though?: Superhuman - Micheal can slow time down much like an actual Sharingan. This bullet time effect seems to slow time down by 2-4 times. During this time, Micheal can make decisions and move his body, theoretically speeding his body up by that many times. Considering he is still slow to run and can't dodge bullets, using this as a direct multiplier would be weird. 

Intelligence: Peak Human - He is wise from age and is a master in gun handling and shooting, but he's not your typical smart guy.

On average, Micheal is at 10 per stat. He's a lot like Franklin in terms of readiness, but I'd say he's a tad more aggressive. With a 1.0 readiness, Micheal is still at 10 per stat. I decided to place Franklin low to even out playing Micheal high. Again, arsenal is a big deal here.

Franklin from GTA Online

Ever wondered what would happen if we maxed out Franklin's stats and gave him GTA Online level weaponry? I won't be going into too much detail, but Franklin is at his max potential here. He's much more intelligent and sees a minor boost to his all around stats. Not to mention, his new guns deal very heavy damage.

Claude from GTA 3/San Andreas

A bit underwhelming in feats, Claude is a lot like Tommy and gets put up in the rankings because Vice was originally meant to be added content for GTA 3. Claude is really no different from Tommy, but doesn't have the feats to put him up past him. I'll save the stats for my boy Tommy and you can decide if Claude should scale. Keep in mind that CJ is higher up on the list and Catalina seems to think Claude has something on CJ. Maybe the 3D verse boys are all relevant to one another? Makes sense at the surface level.

Carl from San Andreas

Fun fact; CJ is an action movie hero on the TV in Lester's house. That's not surprising as CJ is essentially just like Claude and Tommy but with tactic under his belt. CJ is a bit different and his arsenal is pretty extreme.

I'll be assuming CJ is near Tommy and Claude in terms of stats. 

Speed: Peak Human - CJ just isn't as fast as Tommy but is still not normal at all. 

Durability: Superhuman x2 - Very tanky with full health considered. Sure, he can’t tank a big fall, but he’s a bullet sponge. He’s like a juggernaut suit.

Intelligence: Superhuman - CJ may be a bit naive, but he has expertise like none other. CJ is trained in many potential fighting styles, one of which gives him a combo that seemingly commands the death of whoever is grappled. CJ performs a double knee to an opponent's head and finishes the combo with a punch to the temple, killing even the gym trainers who have nearly player levels of health. CJ also has special weapon skills that work like stats. He can dual wield submachine guns and is labeled an expert in each major weapon category.

CJ averages 11.25 per stat. He is a bit more defensive than he is aggressive. With a readiness of 0.75, CJ is looking at 8.44 per stat, making him a target for his 3D peers. In fact, on a bad day, CJ may not like what someone like Luis or Niko have to dish out.

Tommy from Vice City

Tommy Vercetti is a beast. Not to mention, Tommy has essentially the same arsenal that all the big dogs get.

Power: Superhuman - Kicking people backwards multiple feet like he’s a Tekken character and chopping heads clean off with a katana being used wrong are signs of a super human. 

Speed: Superhuman - Tommy can run as fast as the casual drivers and is shown aim dodging powerful machine gun rounds (or at least escaping general bullet fire). Plus he has access to the slow motion pill that gives him Micheal's ability (not using this item in the scale btw). 

Durability: Superhuman x3 - Tommy can jump from tall buildings, take point-blank explosions, and tank bullets. He's a lot like thick concrete. I'd rate him higher, but his inability to walk through hand-to-hand blows from basic NPCs holds him back. 

Intelligence: Advanced Human - Tommy has some life experience and he's good at what he does. He isn't a grand master at anything really, but he has something for tactic.

This might get a bit crazy. Tommy averages 13.25 per stat. He also has little to no morals or care for others. In fact, Tommy has a bit of an anger problem compared to his peers. I rate his readiness at 1.1, raising him up to 14.57 per stat. He's nearly 10 of me! I’m placing Tommy over CJ because of this multiplier, despite the slight stat indifference.

Huang from Chinatown Wars

Let Niko know there's a new top dog in Liberty City. I'm honestly surprised Lester didn't mention Huang Lee given what he's capable of. Chinatown Wars allows for more cartoon action and this comes at the cost of creating a character that scales above all.

Power: Superhuman - Can knock adults back multiple meters and combo out basic and advanced NPCs. 

Speed: Superhuman x3 - Dodges an RPG shot coming at him after it was fired. Also dodged an unexpected shotgun blast. 

Durability: Superhuman x2 - takes whatever the story throws at him. Bullets to the head, explosions, shotgun blasts, etc. Like all GTA protagonists, durability is capped by Huang's inability to get over damage caused by basic NPCs. 

Intelligence: Advanced Human - Huang is surprisingly smart and has mastered a few tactics (from what I can tell).

On average, Huang is a 15.75 to all stats. He is the closest we have seen to a multi-super human level character in GTA. Accounting for a defensive 0.75 readiness, Huang clocks in at 11.81 per stat.

Trevor from GTA 5

This is the last real protagonist. Trevor is just like his peers except he can become literally indestructible. With a fairly long invincible mode (15 mins if you count in-game time) and instant activation, I'm choosing to bake this invincibility into Trevor's stats. Trevor also receives a 2x strength boost as well from his ability :)

Stats are the same as Micheal's for the most part. 

Strength: Super Human - Trevor is just twice over peak human. 

Durability: Indestructible/SPR2.

Trevor made me realize that my deadliness scale didn't cover game rule abilities. Starting from now on, IND is code for indestructible (unable to be physically damaged). Trevor averages at 11.25 IND. Add in that 1.25 readiness, and we're looking at 14.06 in-fight. Trevor beats up any GTA protagonist from a number perspective.

The GTA Online character

The power cliffing from GTA 4's online got a bit crazy. The GTA Online character is much like post-story Franklin in terms of stats if you give them the max online stat treatment. Regardless of ability, the major difference is the arsenal. The Online character canonically owns the building that houses the Orbital Canon. The Orbital Canon can lock on to anyone and deal immense damage from satellites. Maybe a war submarine with controllable missiles instead? How about a flying bike that shoots lock-on explosives?

This placement is based solely on what this character canonically owns. If anything, this is a gag placement.