Benjamin Weston


 * "It is indeed. Club owner, heli pilot, getaway driver, chauffeur, music curator... does the lot. Just don't ask for a massage. Or an insightful chat into the human soul."
 * ―English Dave introducing the online player to The Black Madonna.
 * In Grand Theft Auto Online, the protagonist is a player-created character, with highly customizable traits.

Background
Very little is known about the player's background, other than that they met Lamar Davis on Lifeinvader and took a flight to Los Santos. The player does not return to their old home, staying in Los Santos.

Events of GTA Online
The player is first seen in the initial cinematic tutorial of Grand Theft Auto Online, and meets Lamar Davis when he picks the player up after their arrival in Los Santos from the airport. The two had previously met on Lifeinvader and became close friends.

They enter Lamar's Emperor, where he gives the player a Pistol and welcomes them to the city. If the character is female, a different cutscene is shown where Lamar will try to hit on the protagonist but fails. Lamar drives the player to a Vinewood parking lot, where they begin to race, potentially with other players competing.

Regardless of who wins the race, Lamar sees further potential in the character and introduces them to Gerald, a drug runner living in Strawberry. Gerald immediately employs the character by asking them to ambush a deal between the Ballas and the Vagos and return the product to him. Lamar also introduces the character to Simeon Yetarian, who gifts the player a vehicle to keep in exchange for work.

As the player gains Reputation (or RP), they are introduced to several contacts including Trevor Philips, Lester Crest, and Martin Madrazo, who all offer basic work to the player in the form of Contact Missions.

Lester Crest will eventually contact the player character if they purchase a high-end Apartment and earn enough RP to reach Rank 12. Lester will introduce the player to various heists that are given by different contacts, such as Trevor Philips and Agent 14. The player is required to form a team of two or four players for each heist in order to progress through them. The team is hired to perform various tasks, such as staging a prison break or helping finance a drug startup and even robbing one of the biggest banks of USA.

After gaining enough RP to reach Rank 5, Lamar will introduce the player to Benny and hire them to help him rise to power in southern Los Santos. Lamar employs the player to sabotage rival gangs, for example hiring them to crash a Vagos funeral or having them perform drive-bys on the street. However, continued failures to achieve Lamar's original plans lead him to step down from his attempt to take control of the area.

After gaining at least $50,000, the player character is able to create and manage their own Organization. Organizations are run through the SecuroServ network and are created by players in Free Mode. They then have multiple options from which to choose, such as hiring and firing other players as bodyguards. These bodyguards then work for the player and help them to generate an income from the organization, through various tasks including recovering impounded vehicles from the police and retrieving packages across the state.

The player character is eventually directed to purchase an Office, which allows them to permanently access their Organization and introduces them to the Executive Assistant. The player can further expand their criminal empire by buying, storing, and selling coveted contraband including jewelry, counterfeit goods, and medical supplies.

Similar to Offices, the player is eventually allowed to purchase a Biker Clubhouse, which allows them to run their own Motorcycle Club as a President. When the player first enters their Clubhouse, they are introduced to Malc, who helps the player set up their Motorcycle Club. The player's Club, similar to Organizations, can create profit by running odd jobs and managing Businesses that create narcotics and counterfeit goods. The player can hire up to seven additional players and promote them across a hierarchy within the Club.

Import/Export expands on Further Adventures in Finance and Felony, continuing the player's business tycoon hosted by SecuroServ. The player is given the opportunity to purchase Vehicle Warehouses that store stolen vehicles; the player is tasked with stealing, modifying, and selling the vehicle themselves, and can choose to have other player Associates assist them. The player is also able to undergo Special Vehicle Work for SecuroServ that involve the player using highly modified, specialized vehicles to perform various missions.

Agent 14 contacts the player and introduces optional business venture in the illegal arms trade and weapons manufacturing, which can be utilized under a SecuroServ VIP contract, a SecuroServ CEO organization, or a registered Motorcycle Club. The player begins by an underground bunker and/or Mobile Operations Center. Agent 14 gives the player a personal tour of the bunker to help and guide the player through various Gunrunning-related operations, including research, manufacturing and resupplying, functioning similarly to the MC businesses in the Bikers. Agent 14 also hires the player to work for him for various MOC missions, which work in the same way as the Special Vehicle Work that was introduced in Import/Export.

In August 2017, the player is contacted by Ron Jakowski, who introduces the optional business venture of air freighting contraband across San Andreas, which can be utilized under a SecuroServ VIP contract, SecuroServ CEO organization, or registered Motorcycle Club. The player begins upon purchasing a hangar located at either Los Santos International Airport or Fort Zancudo. Ron gives the player a personal tour of the hangar and helps them on finding cargo to source and finding buyers for it, functioning similar to the warehouses in Further Adventures in Finance and Felony. The player can purchase a plethora of new aircraft as well.

In July 2019, when the player enters the The Diamond Casino & Resort for the first time, they are greeted by Vincent, who tells them to feel free and come in to have a good time inside of the casino. However, as Vincent tells them that members get access to all the facilities of the resort, he is interrupted by Tom Connors, the Executive Director of Guest Services of the casino, who proceeds to take the player on a tour of the casino. During the tour, the player and Tom bump into the General Manager of the casino, Agatha Baker. After showing the player around the various games they can partake in the casino, Tom suggests to the player that they should buying a penthouse so that they can enjoy the full benefits of being a VIP member of the casino. Tom then concludes the tour and bids the player farewell, leaving them to explore the casino.

The player begins by buying a penthouse. Upon entering, they are greeted by Ms. Baker, congratulating the player on their purchase of a penthouse. Tom enters in shortly afterwards, also congratulating the player for purchasing a penthouse. As Tom is about to pop open some champagne, he, the player, and Ms. Baker encounter Tao Cheng and his translator. Ms. Baker informs Tao of the player's purchase of a penthouse, much to Tao's delight, who then hugs the player. In the midst of the celebration however, Ms. Baker tells Tao that she's received another aggressive call from the Texans, most specifically, from Avery Duggan. She tells Tao that he vows to take over the casino, but due to his state of drunkenness, Tao takes his threat light-heartedly, and he exits the player's penthouse along with his translator. Ms. Baker then informs the player of their current situation with Avery, before her and Tom leave the player alone to explore their penthouse. Later on, the player receives both a text and a call from Ms. Baker, who seeks their help against Avery and his plans. The player can partake in missions that will help the casino executives fight back against Avery and his forces. The player can also do Casino Work missions for Ms. Baker by calling her and selecting the "Request Work" option.

In late 2019, the player is suddenly contacted by Lester, who texts them to come meet him at Mirror Park, stating that there's something to discuss about. However, upon reaching Mirror Park, Lester is nowhere to be seen at first, and the player sits on a bench. Lester then shows up, but tells the player that he's no longer interested in doing heists, reasoning that he's taken every score worth taking in San Andreas, such as cleaning out the Union Depository, and was going to tell them to "dick off". As he continues to ramble on, the player shows them the text he supposedly sent to them, but Lester accuses them of messaging him, only to realize that someone had hacked his phone. Suddenly, members of the Cheng family representing Cheng Family Holdings shows up, stating that they're the ones behind hacking Lester's phone and setting up an arranged meeting between them, Lester, and the player.

One of the members, Huang, introduces them to Georgina Cheng, the vice president of Cheng Holdings. Huang tells Lester and the player that Georgina has come to Los Santos to deal with a "regrettable incident", referring to the conflict between the Cheng family and the Duggan family over the ownership of The Diamond Casino & Resort, which culminated in the sale of the casino from the Cheng family to Thornton Duggan. Lester assumes that they feel embittered about the whole ordeal, but Georgina says that her brother and previous owner of the casino, Tao Cheng, were taken advantage of. Lester then suggests that she should contact a lawyer instead to deal with the situation and not him and the player, but Georgina isn't seeking to take back ownership of the casino. Instead, she wants Lester and the player to rob the casino in order to get revenge on the Duggan family. Georgina reasons that aside from getting money, there's a bigger challenge into pulling off the heist, which is the casino's adaptive and dynamic security system.

Lester is at first hesitant into being pulled back into doing heists, reasoning that he's done heists that were considered impossible until his involvement in them, but Georgina tells him that he's the best in the business when it comes to pulling off heists. Lester still resists, citing that he needs more persuasion into pulling off the heist. Georgina tells him to do the heist for her as a favor, stating that she's not in it for the money and that whatever money they can get is theirs for the taking. Finally convinced, Lester says that they need a base of operations, but Huang tells him that it cannot involve the Cheng family, and that the player is tasked in finding a potential base of operations. Lester tells the player that he'll send them a link to buy a property in order to setup the heist. Lester and the rest of the Cheng family depart afterwards.

The player receives a text from Lester, which is a link to Maze Bank Foreclosures in order to buy an Arcade property and begin the setup for the heist. After the player selects and buys an Arcade property, Lester calls them, stating that he's officially out of retirement and tells the player to meet him and the rest of the staff at the Arcade property they purchased.

When the player first enters their newly purchased Arcade property, they see Jimmy De Santa talking to Wendy about working in the arcade business. Despite his hopes of having a higher position in the business, he is at first relegated to sweeping the floors and setting up arcade machines. Lester appears shortly afterwards, and shows the player the initial dilapidated state of the arcade before guiding them to the office. Lester then puts a coin into the fortune telling machine, which turns out to be an entrance to an underground bunker where the setup and planning of the heist takes place in. Lester then shows the player around the place, showing them the various sections of the place. Georgina and the rest of Cheng Holdings show up, excited that both Lester and the player are on board in planning the heist. Georgina tells Lester to come with him to discuss plans in regards to the heist, with Lester telling the player that he'll come back once they have everything set up.

Once the player completes the first setup mission, they can now begin to do Prep missions in order to setup the heist. When doing a Prep mission, Lester gives instructions on what do during the prep mission and/or what equipment they need to obtain based on their chosen approach for the heist. Once the player completes all the necessary requirements in setting up the heist, gathers other crew members in aiding them with the heist as well as making final preparations, they are ready to tackle on the heist.

Once the heist has been successfully pulled off, the player and their crew members regroup with Lester at a building across the Diamond Casino to celebrate with him. As they are celebrating, Georgina shows up unexpectedly, much to Lester's shock. Georgina tells him that the Duggan's insurance premium has doubled, with Lester responding that it will continue to double if they rob the casino again, although the security will be ready to anticipate their approach unless they do a approach different from before. As Lester and Georgina start to get close to one another, the player and their crew silently walk away from the scene, leaving them in privacy as they kiss.

In summer 2020, the player is called by Brendan Darcy, who has jobs including the Yacht. The protagonist facing off the Kkangpae like for example, destroying their boats as revenge in order of Darcy saying they were part of the Puerto Del Sol Yacht Club. In the fourth mission, Brendan Darcy and the barkeeper from the Yacht are kidnapped by the Kkangpaes and the player saved them. Before the last mission, the players yacht's engine and generators have all gone down and it is attacked by the Kkangpaes. After successfully defending the Yacht, the protagonist taking revenge by attacking their Yacht and killing their boss who was about to fly away and escape with his Maverick. After killing the rest of his henchmen, Brendan Darcy told the player that a bounty was on the boss head and that they should collect it.

The protagonist is also called by Solomon Richards who claims that he was robbed and needs help to get his famous collection of movie props back. After the player collected all ten of them and bringing them back to Richards' office he rewarded him with cash and an alien outfit.

Later in November, the player is contacted by Tom Connors via text message where he is apologizing for the noises saying that the casino is under construction.

A week after that, a corpse and a briefcase are found near the southwest coast of Los Santos at a random location ranging from Vespucci Beach to Los Santos International Airport.

In late 2020, the player is contacted by Miguel Madrazo, who meets them in the newly-opened Music Locker underneath the Diamond Casino. Madrazo hires the player to travel to the island of Cayo Perico and rob Juan Strickler, alias "El Rubio" (Spanish: The Blonde One), the drug lord who owns the island. Miguel wants the player to find some files that El Rubio could use to blackmail the Madrazo family. He also informs the player that El Rubio has a lot of riches, and the player can keep whatever else they find in addition to Miguel's payment for the files.

English Dave helps the player get onto the island by posing as a tour manager for one of El Rubio's legendary beach parties. The player also purchases a submarine and meets the one-man crew, Pavel. Pavel aids the player in conducting reconnaissance and preparation for the mission. The player finally returns to Cayo Perico, possibly with allies, and steals the Madrazo files.

Returning to Miguel, they receive their payment, and Miguel hastily destroys the files, which also included photographs of a tryst between Trevor Philips and Patricia Madrazo. Afterwards, the player is contacted by Pavel who informs them that El Rubio keeps many valuables on the island, and the player can continue to rob him of various treasures.

The player also aids Joy Orbinson, DJ of Still Slipping Los Santos, in extending the radio's station's broadcast range. They furthermore help Tom Connors in meeting the requests of the Music Locker's DJs.

Personality
The online player, as shown in cutscenes, seems to be very calm and quiet when dealing with their bosses, the latter of which is often noted and even mocked for although they show no signs of being bothered by this. They will take on any job as long as they get paid for their services (much like Claude in Grand Theft Auto III). They are known to keep their cool and are almost impossible to intimidate. This is best shown when the player first meets Trevor Philips, who initially comes nose to nose with the Online Player and the Player shows no sign of backing down from him and is clearly not afraid of Trevor (exemplified by Trevor's eventual screaming of, "WHY AREN'T YOU FUCKING SCARED OF ME!?"), unlike most other people in the game.

As shown during multiple cutscenes the online player is seen engaging in friendly exchanges with their crew members and trusted associates such as Lester Crest and Tony Prince. During the Humane Labs Raid, when the crew assembles to tackle the finale, the heist leader will pretend to shut the door on the last crew member before allowing them in with a silent laugh. When Lester calls the crew to discuss the Pacific Standard Job, he dances in front of them, asking if he looks like a model to which one of the online players plays along and agrees with a minor dance of their own. During the same heist when Lester discusses stealing the Lectro motorcycles from the Lost MC, the crew are seen humored by Lester's ditsy actions and trying to hide their laughter by turning away from him. After setting up their night club Tony Prince gives a tour to the online player, once they reach the office Tony will clarify he knows nothing of the illicit actions done in the club with "Hear no evil, see no evil." which the online player gestures "speak no evil", playfully referencing the fact that they're mute.

As with many other playable characters with in the GTA universe, the Online Player's psychosis is determinant on the player's actions, and is only evident when killing civilians or other players. This is represented in-game by the player's radar blip, which progressively turns from white to red depending on how psychotic the player is. It can be assumed from this that the character's personality is entirely determined by the player.

Appearance
According to the advanced character customization background and character switch line-up screen, the male protagonist is 6' 0" (1.83 m) and the female protagonist is 5' 9" (1.75 m). The overall physique of the character cannot be altered by player choice. Both the female and male protagonists are generally taller than most pedestrians and other NPCs encountered (in the female's case, usually when wearing shoes with heels).

Originally on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360edit | edit source
The character can be created according to the taste of the player, who is able to choose the character's name, age, gender, physical appearance, nationality and grandparents (who can affect their appearance) as well as alter the character's daily lifestyle choices, such as time spent sleeping and exercising; this creates the initial stats for the character and can slightly change their appearance.

Enhanced version for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PCedit | edit source
The general appearance has changed, with the male protagonists possessing more body and facial hair, and the female protagonists having longer and broader hair. The facial appearance has also changed to look much more realistic, with more tones, features and structure.

For $100,000, players are able to change their character's appearance (but not the character gender). The player can choose their parents during character creation, which will affect the player's initial appearance (a loose composite of both parents, with variable influence). There is also a choice of grandparents for each parent (a composite of both grandparents), which affects their appearance, in turn affecting the protagonist's appearance. In addition to generic people to choose as parents, there is also the choice of well-known characters from other Rockstar Games titles who can be selected as parents.