Niko Bellic: Everything About GTA 4's Protagonist

Niko Bellic is the protagonist of GTA IV (2008): an ex-soldier from Eastern Europe who comes to Liberty City to join his cousin Roman, chase the American Dream and find the man who betrayed his army unit. He is voiced by Michael Hollick, who also performed his motion capture. Critics praised him as one of the most complex protagonists of the series.

GameGTA IV (2008)

VoiceMichael Hollick

BornAbout 1978

FromEastern Europe

CousinRoman Bellic

Arrives onThe Platypus

Where Is Niko Bellic From?

The game never names his country. Rockstar's Sam Houser described him as coming "from that grey part of broken-down Eastern Europe", leaving it open. Many journalists and fans describe him as Serbian, partly because of the language he speaks in the game. He was born around 1978.

Niko's Past: The War and Bulgarin

As a young man, Niko fought in a war that left him cynical and traumatised. His unit of fifteen men from his home area was ambushed, and only three survived: Niko, Florian Cravic and Darko Brevic. Niko concluded that one of them had betrayed the unit. After the war he worked for Ray Bulgarin's smuggling and trafficking ring, until a boat sank in the Adriatic Sea during a run to Italy and Bulgarin accused him of stealing the money. Niko left on the cargo ship Platypus for Liberty City.

Niko's Story in GTA IV

Roman's tales of wealth turn out to be lies: Niko finds him broke and in debt. Niko works for loan shark Vlad Glebov, then for Russian boss Mikhail Faustin, until Dimitri Rascalov betrays him and the cousins lose their home and business. From Bohan, Niko works for drug dealers, the McReary brothers and the Pegorino crime family, and is forced into working for a government agency after learning that his girlfriend Michelle is an undercover agent. With Ray Boccino's help he finds Florian, now Bernie Crane, who is innocent. The agency finally brings Darko Brevic to Liberty City for Niko to decide his fate. The mission-by-mission version is on our story missions page.

How Does Niko's Story End?

For one last job, Jimmy Pegorino asks Niko to take part in a heroin deal with Dimitri. Niko chooses between the Deal and Revenge. If he takes the deal, Dimitri betrays him and his hitman kills Roman at his wedding; Niko then kills Dimitri. If he chooses revenge, he kills Dimitri, and Pegorino's attack at the wedding kills Kate McReary; Niko then kills Pegorino. In both endings, he learns that Mallorie is pregnant. Both endings are compared on our GTA IV endings page.

Michael Hollick as Niko

Michael Hollick provided Niko's voice and motion capture, with mixed martial artist Bas Rutten among those who performed his fight scenes. Dan Houser described Niko as a more rounded character than earlier protagonists, and Rockstar created Roman to give Niko a reason to come to America.

Is Niko Bellic in GTA 5?

Not in person, but he is mentioned. In GTA V, Packie McReary says Niko is "probably dead" because he has not heard from him in years, and Niko's profile can be found on the in-game LifeInvader site. Rockstar has not shown what happened to him after GTA IV.

More GTA IV Characters

Roman Bellic, Johnny Klebitz, Luis Lopez and the full cast are on our GTA 4 characters page.