✦ The Complete Rockstar Universe ✦
Grand Theft Auto III
📅 Last updated:
Your guide to every Rockstar game, from Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead to Bully and Max Payne, with tips, cheat codes, rankings and the best deals.
GTA III · Characters
Claude: Everything About GTA 3's Silent Protagonist
📅 Checked on
Claude is the silent protagonist of GTA III (2001): a small-time criminal who is shot and left behind by his girlfriend Catalina during a bank heist in Liberty City, escapes from a prison transport and works his way through the city's gangs until he takes his revenge on her. He never speaks, and his name is never said in GTA III: it was only revealed in GTA San Andreas.
GameGTA III (2001)
VoiceNone, he is mute
Also inGTA San Andreas
Ex-girlfriendCatalina
Why Doesn't Claude Talk?
Claude is a silent protagonist. The developers liked the idea of a "strong, silent killer" set against the neurotic, talkative mobsters around him, and Rockstar is quoted as saying they had "so many other problems to solve" that making him speak did not seem a major issue. His successor Tommy Vercetti, in Vice City, was the series' first speaking protagonist.
What Is Claude's Name?
Other characters only use nicknames for him in GTA III. The name Claude was confirmed in GTA San Andreas. Fans often call him "Claude Speed", after the protagonist of GTA 2, but Rockstar is quoted as saying his surname "may or may not be" Speed.
Claude's Story in GTA III
Catalina shoots Claude during a bank heist; he is arrested, but the prison transport is attacked and he escapes with 8-Ball, who brings him to the Leone Mafia family. Claude works his way up to Don Salvatore Leone, until Maria warns him that Salvatore has rigged a car to kill him. On Staunton Island he works for the Yakuza, for crooked cop Ray Machowski and for Donald Love, and kills Salvatore. When Catalina, now running the Colombian Cartel, kidnaps Maria and demands $500,000, Claude pays, escapes the double-cross, frees Maria and shoots down Catalina's helicopter. As they leave, Maria's complaints are cut short by a gunshot, an ending Rockstar has left open. The missions in order are on our GTA 3 story missions page.
Claude in GTA San Andreas
GTA San Andreas, set in 1992, shows Claude's past: he is Catalina's new boyfriend after her break-up with Carl Johnson, and the two leave San Andreas for Liberty City together.
More GTA III Characters
Catalina, 8-Ball, the Leones and the rest of the cast, with their voice actors, are on our GTA 3 characters page. Liberty City itself is on our GTA 3 map.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main character's name in GTA 3?
Claude. His name is never said in GTA III and was confirmed in GTA San Andreas.
Is Claude from GTA 3 Claude Speed?
Not officially. Claude Speed is the protagonist of GTA 2, and Rockstar has said Claude's surname may or may not be Speed.
Why doesn't Claude talk in GTA 3?
He is a silent protagonist by design: the developers wanted a strong, silent killer surrounded by talkative mobsters.
Is Claude in GTA San Andreas?
Yes, briefly. In 1992 he is Catalina's new boyfriend and leaves San Andreas with her for Liberty City.
Does Claude kill Maria at the end of GTA 3?
It is left ambiguous: Maria's rant is cut off by a gunshot, and Rockstar has not said which interpretation is correct.