http://gta.wikia.

com/Michael_De_Santa
Background:
"I'm just a fat washed up jock who can't get his head around the fact his high school football career didn't play out the way that
he planned. The only way I'm content and competent is with a gun in my hand or a price on my head."
Michael Townley was born in the mid-to-late 1960s, possibly in the Midwest, which would explain why he spent some of his
earlier criminal career in North Yankton. As a child, he didn't have the advantages his children have and grew up in the poor
environment of a trailer park with his parents. Like Trevor Philips and Franklin Clinton, Michael had a tough upbringing due to his
father being an alcoholic and physically abusing him. Michael's father soon abandoned him and his mother. He was told an
exaggerated amount of stories of why his father left, all of which include but aren't limited to, him skipping town, being hit by an
oncoming train or even joining the navy. During his time in high school, Michael was an acclaimed quarterback for an all-state
football team. Michael would often put on a well placed performance during games and also had his face in the local newspaper
occasionally. However, due to his temperament issues and the constant stream of injures, he was ultimately forced to quit.
As a young adult, Michael eventually became a criminal. According to Michael, he had been in prison twice by the time he was
20. He committed his first robbery in the outskirts of Carcer City in 1988, where he managed to steal $10,000 from a lesser
known franchise. In the same year however, he was arrested twice for unknown reasons. While in prison, Michael was able to
master many skills, sometimes from bizarre events, such as learning how to do tattoos by tattooing his name on his cellmate's
backside. Despite his failures and shortcomings, Michael perfected his criminal skills to the point where he became an expert
marksman and efficient leader amongst other things. During this time, he associated himself with Lester Crest, who was an
exquisite planner and would assist Michael in planning out heists as well as other tasks.
In 1993, Michael accidentally met Trevor Philips while he was escorting cargo across the border. While Trevor waited on the
runway to meet his unknown employer, he noticed not one, but two dust trails coming up the road, despite the fact that he was
told there would be one person meeting him with the exact cargo. Michael exited the first vehicle, while an older civilian exited
the second. As it turned out, the old civilian had been carjacked by Michael. As Michael tried to make a hasty escape on foot, the
old civilian attempted to get Trevor's attention as to what just happened. Trevor approached the civilian and fired off a flare gun
into the the man's eye, brutally killing him. He and Michael both dumped the body into a lake after landing the plane. Trevor
stated that the experience was horrible, as the flare was still burning from the inside of his skull as they dropped him off into a
lake. Trevor and Michael threw up after landing the plane since the dead man's stench was still inside the cockpit. After noticing
how well they work with each other, Michael brought an aimless Trevor along as a partner for various crimes he would commit.
They were both somewhat successful at their profession, but Michael claims that they were always impecunious and constantly
on the run from the law; Trevor's rage issues would cause him to murder someone in broad daylight and Michael's
circumspection and foresight would cause him and Trevor to skip town after completing a job.
Michael met his future wife Amanda while she was a stripper at a strip joint. Whether he met her before or during the same
year he met Trevor is unknown. After flirting with each other, the couple started a romantic relationship. Using his criminal
proceeds, Michael was even able to buy Amanda some breast implants, which would help with her stripping as well as her days
as a hooker. This led to Michael creating his own prostitution racket. After a few months of dating, Amanda became pregnant
with their two children Jimmy and Tracey while living in a trailer park in the Midwest. A few months later, they were married.
Michael began to see that he had a lot more to lose if he was ever killed or imprisoned and started to keep to himself over time
as a criminal and was much more careful - much to Trevor's annoyance, who saw Michael as "soft". A few years later, Trevor
met Brad Snider, a fellow robber and future accomplice of Michael and Trevor. Michael and Brad would never show any
Michael
"I pay you to listen to my problems. I'm rich. I'm miserable. Half
the time, my kids can't stand me. The other half, my wife is
cheating on me. I kill people without remorse, Doc. Hell, I'm
pretty average for this town, really."
Michael De Santa
empathy for each other and would often express distaste or distrust when working together. According to Trevor, Brad planned
at one point to cut off Michael and work only with Trevor.
At some point in 2004, Michael met FIB agent Dave Norton. Michael struck a deal with Norton to give Trevor up to the FIB and
fake his death in the process, in exchange for a cut of his accumulated millions and letting Norton "kill" him in the upcoming
bank heist in Ludendorff, North Yankton - a move that would make Norton's career as the agent who took down the supposed
"Most Wanted Man in America". The staged robbery, however, turned out to be a disaster after Trevor murdered a guard who
held Michael at gunpoint and when Michael, Brad and Trevor were ambushed by over a dozen police officers ready to arrest or
kill them. During the getaway, their driver was killed by pursuing police; Michael took the wheel and drove the crew to the
ambush spot he and Norton had agreed on, where he claimed there was an escape chopper waiting.
However, things yet again deviated from their plan when Brad was accidentally shot by Norton (later succumbing to his wounds)
after he walked in front of Trevor. Michael took the second bullet as planned - although the lack of a visible wound or blood loss
implies that Dave intentionally missed him, or he was wearing a bullet proof vest and acted as if he believed the wound was
fatal, imploring Trevor to leave him behind. Enraged beyond sense, Trevor proceeded to massacre numerous police officers
before barely escaping the ambush (to Michael's chagrin) with his life.
After the incident, Michael Townley was pronounced dead. True to his word, Dave arranged for Michael to receive a
comfortable stipend and a relocation to a large Los Santos mansion in Rockford Hills, where he and his family lived under the
surname "De Santa" (a longtime alias of Michael's); thus, Michael received an off-the-books way to safely retire from his former
criminal life and spend time with his wife and kids in exchange for a monthly five-figure "hush money" payment to Norton in
exchange for his silence.
Living the Vinewood Dream
"Why did I move here? I guess it was the weather."
Michael's life in Los Santos has slowly pirouetted into a living nightmare. He's become massively depressed about having to
abandon his criminal lifestyle for the family man persona that he once believed he desired. He now just spends his days either
getting drunk to dull the depression or miserably lounging by his pool, ignoring his children and being absentee and self involved
in the process. This has caused his children to treat him with an intense amount of disrespect as they continued to age. Michael
also began to show coarseness and insolence towards Amanda and even slept with a stripper. This caused the couple to have
multiple affairs with other people and while Amanda shows animosity towards him while spending his money on fashion items
and plastic surgery. As a result, Michael goes through a midlife crisis and often visits overpriced professional therapist Isiah
Friedlander who doesn't really care about Michael's problems.
Events of GTA V
Nine years have passed since Michael's false death and after another therapy session with Dr. Friedlander, Michael has a chance
encounter with a Los Santos youth named Franklin Clinton, whom he unknowingly directs to Franklin's repossession assignment
along with his friend Lamar Davis.
A short time later his son Jimmy buys an SUV from Simeon Yetarian, an Armenian car salesman who sells the car to him at an
unaffordable price of $5,000 in monthly installments. After being late on the first payment, Simeon gets his repossession man,
the same Franklin Clinton, to "repossess" the SUV from the De Santa home. However, Michael spots Franklin sneaking in and
hides in a rolled up rug in the backseat of the car prior to Franklin stealing it. Michael reveals himself and holds Franklin at
gunpoint, ordering him to go to Yetarian's shop and drive the SUV through the store's window. Afterwards, Michael pays
Franklin to leave and beats Yetarian into submission, threatening more violence if he pulls another of his sales tactics on him or
his family again.
At home, Michael attempts to relax by his pool, only to be interrupted by Franklin, who takes up his earlier offering of a drink.
Surprised that Franklin actually took it to heart, Michael decides to take him out drinking. Unfortunately, Jimmy calls that instant
and reveals he has tried to sell Michael's boat, ending with the "buyers" hijacking the yacht themselves. Enraged, Michael along
with Franklin drives after the boat and saves Jimmy, but is unable to rescue the yacht. Michael becomes angry at Jimmy but
becomes fond of Franklin after his impressive efforts, whom he tells to visit him any time.

After the fiasco with the boat, Michael discovers Amanda sleeping with her tennis coach, leading him and a recently arrived
Franklin to give chase. Furious beyond reasonable thought, Michael chases the coach to an exotic house on the side of the
Vinewood Hills. Michael then orders Franklin to hook their truck's winch onto the supports of the house and he pulls them loose,
causing the house to collapse, much to Franklin's shock and Michael's joy. However, it turns out that the house did not belong to
the coach, but the girlfriend of a powerful Mexican cartel leader named Martin Madrazo, who sends his men after Michael and
Franklin. The two manage to fend them off, but Madrazo arrives at the De Santa residence. He orders a henchman to hit Michael
with a bat before demanding that Michael pay for the damages in an installment of two million dollars - money that Michael
does not have.
With no other choice, Michael decides to return to bank robbing and contacts his old partner Lester Crest. Lester agrees to help
Michael get the money if the latter agrees to sabotage founder of Lifeinvader, Jay Norris' phone. Michael does so and causes
Norris' death when he calls the entrepreneur's sabotaged phone, causing it to explode and kill him instantly. After collecting
information about the Vangelico Jewelry Store and its gems, Michael and Lester set up a heist, with Michael insisting that
Franklin be a part, claiming that the experience will be something that he'll look forward to even with his stiff payment.
The heist goes smoothly, and Madrazo is paid. Unfortunately for Michael, the job is reported on the news, which Trevor sees on
his TV. Trevor recognizes Michael's modus operandi from the report and goes partially berserk, taking out most of his rivals in
Sandy Shores and making his way to Los Santos to confront the "ghost" of his former partner and friend.
After several weeks of laying low, Michael finds marijuana in the fridge, and correctly assumes it is Jimmy's. This creates an
angry argument among the family until Trevor abruptly arrives, much to everyone's shock and horror. Thankfully, the tension is
broken by Jimmy revealing that Tracey has gone to audition for Fame or Shame. Realizing that Tracey will embarrass herself in
front of the nation due to her horrible dancing, Michael and Trevor rush to the Maze Bank Arena. The two find Tracey doing a
stripper-like dance and the show's host Lazlow Jones beginning to do a sexual pose behind her, enraging both Michael and
Trevor. The two give chase to a fleeing Lazlow in his red Dilettante to the Los Santos Canal. Trevor forces Lazlow to take off his
pants and dance for them as he records it on his phone. In the aftermath, Tracey angrily blames her father for ruining her life,
which doesn't seem to bother him.
Soon after, Michael agrees to meet Dave at the Galileo Observatory. When they get to the meeting point, Dave explains that
Michael's decision to rob the Vangelico Jewelry Store has cause superfluous attention from the FIB for Dave and if the the
Bureau was to come across his files that contain information about the deal that both men made ten years ago, this would
create a serious situation that neither one of them can escape from. Michael proceeds to do tasks for Dave in order to help keep
his career within the FIB, in exchange for covering up the crimes that Michael commits. Michael's first mission is to confirm the
death of a suspect in a morgue. To do this, Norton knocks Michael out and delivers him as a corpse to the morgue. Michael
wakes in the middle of the autopsy and then finds out that the suspect isn't dead by finding his name tag on a woman's corpse.
Michael escapes the morgue by killing the guards. In a panic, Michael calls Franklin and accidentally reveals that he is affiliated
with the FIB, though Franklin continues to trust Michael due to the latter offering him help while he was in a tough financial
position. Franklin also decides to work with Michael, in hopes that there will be better payment from jobs with him.
Michael continues to work for Norton. Steve Haines, a higly decorated but also highly corrupt FIB agent and Norton's superior,
contacts him and makes him team up with Franklin and Trevor to extract a prisoner of the IAA, dubbed Mr. K, out of the IAA
building and into the hands of the FIB. Later, Michael and Trevor are summoned to a remote warehouse where Michael is
briefed that he will accompany Norton to assassinate an Azebaijani terrorist suspect Tahir Javan whilst Trevor and Haines torture
Mr. K for information on him. The mission is successful, and Michael refuses to know any more details of the mission.
When Michael returns home, he finds his wife with her yoga instructor Fabien, who asks Michael to join them. After a few
poses, Fabien begins doing a sexual pose on Amanda, causing Michael to get angry and attack Fabien, who dodges him and
makes him fall into the pool. Angered by her husband's attitude, Amanda leaves with Fabien. Michael goes upstairs and tries to
do something with Jimmy, who asks him to go with him to get a package from a friend. They meet the friend at Burger Shot and
he gives Jimmy some pot and a drink. On the way home, Michael drinks from Jimmy's drink and begins to feel strange. Jimmy
reveals that he drugged the drink and then pushes Michael out of the car and reveals he is moving out and he is going to keep
the car. Michael begins having strange dreams and wakes up in his underwear a few blocks away from his home. When he gets
to the house, he finds a note from Amanda saying that his family has left due to Michael's poor behaviour.

Later, Trevor contacts Michael and Franklin to partake in his own heist; the mercenary group Merryweather and its unknown
cargo at the docks. The heist goes as planned and Trevor finds a super-weapon that Lester reveals is highly dangerous, especially
in the hands of someone like Trevor and tells him that he must return it. Michael and Franklin agree, and Trevor is furious that
he cannot keep the loot.
After the Merryweather heist, Michael, along with Franklin and Trevor are called upon by Haines and Norton. This time they
must rob an armored truck filled with funds that the IAA has received due to drug sales. Haines wants those funds to help
support the Bureau. After some short prep time, the heist is executed with some mild resistance. Michael then proceeds to
deliver the funds to billionaire Devin Weston, who offers Michael a partnership with his movie idol who happens to be movie
producer Solomon Richards. However, he has to steal several rare cars for Weston with Trevor and Franklin. Offered his dream
job, Michael eagerly agrees and delivers the cars to Weston. Michael is thrilled to finally meet Richards, who hires him as an
assistant. His first job is to convince Ancelotti crime family made man Rocco Pelosi to obey Solomon's wishes for how the actors
should behave during the production of Solomon's latest motion picture Meltdown. This gets Michael on Richard's good side
and is promised the role of producer for the upcoming film if Michael continues his good work.
Martin Madrazo later summons Michael and Trevor to his home. Madrazo, who now views Michael as a friend, requests that he
and Trevor shoot down his cousin's airliner, which is carrying some sensitive files Madrazo wants back. Michael does his part by
bringing it down with a weapon inside a van, while Trevor manages to kill Javier and takes the incriminating files. After
destroying the van, Michael finds out to his horror that due to them being used by Martin to do his dirty bidding while getting
stiffed from payment, Trevor has kidnapped Madrazo's wife Patricia. Knowing full and well what Madrazo might do to them if he
catches them, Michael agrees to hide out in Sandy Shores with Trevor. While exiled in Sandy Shores, Haines and Norton
summon the trio for another mission against the IAA. This time, the two agents plot to raid an IAA chemical plant to steal a
dangerous neurotoxin that the agency is plotting to use in a simulated terrorist attack, with the sole purpose of receiving more
funds from the US government. To carry out this operation, the trio must first secure enough funds to purchase a Cargobob and
other assorted equipment that the FIB can't assign them. Ultimately, the crew settles upon robbing the Paleto Bay bank, as it
contains millions of dollars deposited there by Blaine County's corrupt law enforcement who extort money from all the local
weed farms and meth labs.
After planning the robbery, Michael and Trevor meet at Trevor's trailer, where they have a short conversation and drink beer.
They then leave the trailer and during the way, Trevor receives a call from Franklin, who upon Trevor's request is tailing the
remaining O'Neil brothers - inbred, redneck meth dealers, who are vengeful because of Trevor's earlier attack of the O'Neil
household, resulting in the deaths of most of the O'Neils and the explosion of their farm. Franklin chases the O'Neils, who crash
because of an elk on the road and escape in a forest, located somewhere in the Raton Canyon. Franklin then calls Trevor for air
support and eventually, Trevor and Michael come with a helicopter, used in the extraction of Ferdinand Kerimov, out of the IAA
building. Using a rifle, fitted with a thermal scope, Michael shoots Walton and Wynn O'Neil dead, but can't get a clear image of
O'Neil gang leader Elwood O'Neil, who is hiding behind a rock and firing anti-tank rockets towards the helicopter. With the help
of Chop, Franklin locates and kills Elwood, after which he and Chop are picked up by the helicopter and safely return back to
Sandy Shores.
Using stolen military body armour and machine guns, Trevor, Michael, Franklin and one gunman successfully rob the Paleto
bank, taking a small cut each and giving the largest profit to Haines and Norton so they can purchase the equipment for the
chemical plant robbery, much to the team's irritation. While awaiting this operation, Michael and Trevor carry out another job,
raiding a Merryweather courier train that carries gold and priceless artifacts so that they can pay off Martin Madrazo. Trevor
derails the train over a bridge and Michael dives into the river below to retrieve the merchandise, taking an ancient Aztec
fertility statuette that Madrazo would value. Trevor is greatly dissatisfied with Michael's choice of take, but he calms down once
Michael proposes that, once they get the FIB off their cases, they should carry out "the Big Score" - robbing the Union
Depository.
After returning to Los Santos, Michael receives an unexpected visit from Trevor in his mansion, who pitches him the plan of
busting Brad out of jail. Michael's reluctance to go ahead with the plan leads to a debate, during which Trevor finally realizes
that Brad is in fact dead and buried at Michael's grave in North Yankton. He hastily travels back there with Michael in pursuit.
After a stand off at his (Brad's) grave, they are attacked by Wei Cheng's henchmen, who incorrectly assumed that Michael and
Trevor are lovers and had been surveilling them ever since their exile to Sandy Shores. Trevor flees, leaving Michael to fend off
the henchmen himself. Although he manages to kill most of Cheng's henchmen, Michael is captured when he tries to escape in
his car which Trevor sabotaged. After being tortured by Cheng at a meat processing factory back in Los Santos, he is rescued by
Franklin.

Michael revisits the movie studio to resume working with his idol Solomon Richards. After witnessing Pelosi and his associate
Gianni assault Solomon, Michael chases the two and ends up killing both of them. In return, Solomon keeps to his word and
makes Michael a credited producer in his upcoming film, much to Michael's overwhelming joy. He leaves a voicemail message
on Amanda's phone to try to convince her that he is finally doing something good with his life.
Michael and Franklin are called up once again by Haines for one more job: to break into the FIB building and remove
incriminating evidence against Haines. This goes according to plan, but when Michael meets Haines and Norton at the Kortz
Center, Haines attempts to arrest him to cover his involvement in the raid. However, this turns into a Mexican standoff between
Sanchez who is revealed to be working with a rival FIB team (who want to arrest the trio because of the raid), a IAA team led by
the U.L. Paper Contact (because of the FIB's constant sabotages) and a Merryweather team (for Michael's involvement in their
troubles), Michael, Dave and Steve. The situation quickly goes out of control as Haines is shot in the leg by a FIB operative but
manages to escape, killing Sanchez in the process. Dave and Michael manage to fight their way through the Merryweather
mercenaries, FIB and IAA agents (Michael has the option to kill the U.L. Paper contact) and escape with the help of Trevor, who
removes his vow of killing Michael and wants him in for "the Big Score".
Having had enough of being alone, Michael finally seeks out and reunites with his family. With this and his involvement in
Solomon Richard's upcoming film, things were starting to look up, all until Devon Weston announces his intentions to exploit the
movie studio's insurance policy by hiding the completed film from the world so he would claim the insurance money, ultimately
closing and destroying the studio and building condos on the site. Infuriated upon learning of Weston's intentions, Michael
chases the former's assistant to the airport to try and retrieve the film's master copy. During the chase, she is accidentally
sucked into a jet engine. Michael retrieves the film, and Solomon arranges a premiere so that it cannot be tampered with any
further. At the premiere, Weston unexpectedly shows up and cryptically threatens Michael with Amanda and Tracey's lives
because of his interference. After Michael rushes home with Jimmy, he kills the intruders (revealed to be Merryweather
mercenaries), sends his family into hiding and notifies Lester that they pull off the Big Score now.
Michael helps Franklin and Trevor fight off Merryweather and the corrupt FIB agents at the foundry, then has Trevor and
Franklin kill Steve Haines and Wei Cheng, while he kills Stretch, to not implicate Franklin from its effects. Afterwards, he meets
Franklin and Trevor, the latter having kidnapped Weston and put him in the trunk of his car, at the foothills of Mount Chiliad.
After taunting Weston on their apparent victory, the trio pushes the car off the cliff and into the ocean, killing Weston. Making
amends with Trevor, Michael reflects that he is getting too old to continue a life of crime, and drives home with Franklin,
agreeing to end his partnership with Franklin and Trevor, but remaining friends with them.













Physical appearance
Michael is a Caucasian male in his mid-40s, with grayish black hair and light green eyes. In official artwork, he is shown to have
blue eyes. His default appearance is a cleft chin with a Lexington hairstyle and a short stubble around his face. Michael's
physique is thicker and more heavily built than the likes of Trevor and Franklin, having burly and veiny arms and legs. This most
certainly comes from his time as a quarterback and his stint in prison. Although Michael isn't obese or out of shape, many
people around him will occasionally make fun of his rather large midsection, such as Jimmy and Trevor or even himself at many
times. Michael's movement is also much more slower than Franklin and Trevor's, as he's much older and on top of the fact that
his ten year retirement from crime has forced him to not be as physically active as the other two. During Pack Man Trevor tells
Lamar that when he met Michael he was "kinda fat, but strong underneath".
Michael's initial wardrobe sets him with gray two-piece suit without tie and casual attires like beach shorts with sandals or polo
shirts. His gray suit is his default outfit used in most of his artworks and concept arts. He shows approval as he's trying out
outfits at Ponsonby's, opposite to the clear disdain of buying items from Suburban or Binco. His Prologue appearance has him
with shorter, shaven hair. It is somewhere between his default Lexington and The Wood hairstyle, somewhat similar to the Cesar
haircut of CJ. His facial features are still the same.
Michael's beta appearance can be seen in Trailer one and two, where he is seen with green eyes and an older look. This was
changed later in the character's development to make him look like he wasn't too old to perform some of things he would do
during gameplay.
Personality
Michael is a very muddled person, even confused by his "good and evil" personality. He spends an uncommon amount of time
on the inside of his head, where he can comfortably think or reminisce about certain things or aspects that give him a brief
moment of nostalgia from his glory days. Nevertheless, it also constrains him into a world of wistfulness and bewilderment as he
ponders at the reason why things aren't going in the direction he planned it would. Michael has an obsession for materialistic
appearance and images, making it the main reason for why he dreamt of living out his Vinewood Dream with his family. He
claims to Franklin that he has lived a repeated pattern of Chase things, get em', hate em'.
Michael holds a deep-seated amount of self-hatred, due to him wanting to live a life that's a falsehood rather than coming to the
conclusion that his troubling mistakes has garnished a great deal of misfortune upon himself, his family, and old friends and
associates of his (His deal with the FIB is a prime example). The self-hatred gives him an exceptionally short temper that he
doesn't know how to control, which fills him with rage and causes him to not think at times. One example would be where he
caught Amanda having an affair with her tennis coach, Kyle Chavis. He chases Kyle to a mansion and pulls it off a hillside
believing that it belonged to him, (however, nearly everyone around Michael (except Franklin), including Chavis himself, knew
that the mansion was too expensive for him to afford on his salary). Sarcasm is something that Michael firmly grasps because of
the self-hatred, as he doesn't know how to respond to his family or friends properly at times without it. He indicates this in the
mission, Paleto Score Setup, where he proclaims that sarcasm is one of the only few things he has left in this world that can't be
taken away from him.
Michael is a highly egotistical and narcissistic person. He'll only be concerned about the issues he's being pulled through, instead
of the situations that he constantly puts his family or his friends through and will often get unfairly defensive when someone
rightfully criticizes him. A case in point of this wrong doing is shown in one of the many heated arguments he has with his wife,
Amanda. At the start of Fame or Shame she castigates him for not giving her any support in raising their children and only
wanting to cater to himself by Getting drunk, or you're staring miserably at the clouds, or you're out there doing God only knows
what. He responds with the fact that he, Pulled you out of a midwestern trailer park, got you a big mansion in Rockford Hills, and
that the only thing she'll have to worry about is What part of your body you wan't to have chopped off or sucked out again.
Another instant is in the same mission, where Trevor chides him for letting Tracey humiliate herself on public television the way
she did and labeling it as Poor parenting. Michael responds in another unfairly defensive manner, Yeah, thanks for the fucking
feedback. It means a lot coming from you. The same goes for Lester and Franklin as well. During The Paleto Score, Michael and
Trevor argue over their exile from Los Santos, with Michael angrily telling Trevor that he misses his family, with Trevor angrily
retorting that all Michael did was ignore them and only misses them now that they've left him. At the beginning of the Bureau
Raid (Roof Entry), Lester continuously reproaches Michael for his constant bickering about the former managing to still stay calm
and collective as their about to pull off one of the most dangerous raids ever. Michael gets so annoyed to the point where he
refused to give Lester's cane back to him unless he take back everything he stated previously. Lester does so reluctantly. When
Michael tries to pull the same bickering move on Franklin, the latter fires back at him with irritation, leaving Michael to apologize
for now noticing how self-absorbed he's been.
Michael often displays remarkable hypocrisy; he'll often scold the people around him for their mistakes and habits but isn't
willing to call out his own even if it is similar, if not sometimes worse, then theirs. At the start of the mission Daddy's Little Girl,
he criticizes Jimmy for slouching all day in front of the TV, playing video games and eating profusely, despite the fact he does
almost the exact same thing. He does the same thing towards Trevor, opening judging his will to maim, kill, and steal with ease
and pleasure while not showing any signs of remorse. Although he openly claims to his therapist that he does the same thing, he
hides it underneath multiple lies, a few of them being that he doesn't enjoy the thrill of the action or that he doesn't hold a plain
yet willfully strong addiction to chaos.
The see-through hypocrisy can simultaneously show how easily and massively dishonest he is. Whether or not it's with himself,
his family or his friends, Michael displays difficulty when trying to convey the truth. For instance, whenever Trevor brings up a
subject involving Brad, Michael will immediately yet vaguely change the topic and once Trevor immediately realizes that Brad is
dead, Michael continued to make lies about his grave being empty instead of it actually containing the former's corpse. Even
after Brad's corpse was shown, Michael would unwittingly lie about his death, instead of coming out with the truth about the
staged robbery that took place nine years ago, which causes Trevor to grow irritated and angry. At the end of the mission,
Surveying the Score, Franklin questions Michael's past relationship with Trevor to the point where Michael has to steadily ask
him to stop, in hopes of covering his tracks and not letting Franklin catch wind of his deal with the FIB nine years ago and quite
possibly letting Trevor know in the process.
His judgement calls will also cause negative repercussions. After being green lit by Martin Madrazo, he brushes it off as if it's
nothing, stating to Franklin that he's known worst human beings. He then begins to take it back after receiving an astringent
blow to his midsection with a baseball bat, which was delivered by Madrazo himself. He even declares Martin as a terrifying
psychopath. With Devin Weston, he wanted no part in Weston's plans to hi-jack several high-end vehicles. That is until Weston
promised to arrange a meeting with Michael's idol, Solomon Richards. After this, he makes the choice of keeping Devin in a
positive mood in order to make sure that none of his business ventures are ruined, even if that means making Franklin work for
Devin continuously without payment.
Despite all of the negatives, Michael does possess a good side to his personality. He is a very considerate individual, as he paid
Franklin for doing what he was forced to do and drive through the front of his boss' business, even though the latter broke into
Michael's mansion. Despite all the problems he has in his family, he dearly loves them but is frequently angered with Tracey's
social life, Jimmy being jobless, lazy and a video game addict and Amanda spending most of his money and cheating on him.
However, after reuniting with his family, Michael's family issues slowly started to dissolve. It should also be noted that it's very
clear that Michael cares for his friends more than he shows. If you choose to kill Trevor in the end Michael will stop hanging out
with Franklin because he is devastated by Trevor's death. If you choose to kill Michael, his extremely aggressive behavior
towards Franklin shows that he loved him as a friend and can't believe Franklin didn't feel the same.
Michael, being the opposite of Trevor, is thorough and rational when it comes to crime. This makes the others leave him to the
planning and leading of robberies and missions, as he is usually the one to come up with a plan to a heist, alongside Lester. He
also shows consideration for people caught up in robberies, an example is that, if you choose to impose as guards for the Union
Depository heist, he'll give the guard he blackmailed a bar of gold for helping them get past security.
Michael will also always put his family's safety above anything else, going as far as to make a moral compromise with the FIB to
ensure his family was not in danger. When Trevor first came back to find Michael in his house, Michael immediately put himsel f
in front of Jimmy, not knowing what Trevor was going to do. When Devin Weston sent Merry Weather to Michael's house to kill
his family, Michael instantly abandoned his movie premiere to engage the hostile forces, rescue his family and subsequently
move them to a new location. Michael's care about his family is finally reciprocated by Amanda towards the end of the game, at
which time she makes him promise not to get killed.
Towards the end of the game, Michael has started to accept his borderline-sociopath personality, with him stating in the final
cutscene of the Deathwish ending that he still hates himself, but at least he knows the words for it. Michael has also started to
work on his anger issues when his family came back and can be seen showing a large amount of regret due to the decisions he's
made, becoming more truthful and open. This is evident when he hangs out with Franklin; he expressed great distaste for his
decision to join the witness protection program, seeing as the decision itself was hollow and only created more problems as well
as causing much more hatred for not only for himself but the people around him as well.
Dan Houser's description of Michael
"Michael, to me, is... Who is he? I know who he is, I'm just trying to... He's the person who is trying to ignore some rather large
mistakes that they have made. The person who's trying to forget about certain practical but still selfish decisions that they took.
He's a man, also, obsessed by images and by appearances and who, when the world doesn't live up to those images and
appearances, doesn't know what to do. He just retreats into his head. What he also is, when we started out... What he kind of
evolved into as we began thinking about him and developing him... He was the first character we came up with. He began as the
idea of, what happens to a regular GTA protagonist after they retire? Then you think, what would make him retire? He's a man
with a big ego and plenty of good values and plenty of bad values."
"A guy who's in his mid-40's and on the cusp of middle age who doesn't know what to do, but made a bunch of money and does
not know what to do with it. He's theoretically won, but the spoils of victory aren't necessarily what he imagined. For us that's a
very interesting character, unlike what we've done in the past or what we've seen in much entertainment in general, let alone
any video games. That was interesting."
Trivia:
Michael was the first protagonist that came to Rockstar's mind when they began the development of Grand Theft Auto V.
Michael is the only protagonist in the entire Grand Theft Auto series to have a spouse and children.
Being in his mid-late 40s, he is the oldest protagonist in the GTA series.
Michael's special ability might be a reference to Max Payne, another Rockstar-owned franchise, where the title character
possess an ability called Bullet Time, that allow him to slow down time. Both at some point in their lives arrived at their houses
only to find out it was under siege by a group of mercenaries while their families hid in horror. Michael even has the same gray
suit that Max wears in Max Payne 3. Elements for Michael's ability might also be taken from Rockstar's Red Dead games (which
feature a similar ability called Dead Eye) and the adrenaline pills from 3D Universe games.
The quote that Michael uses in Prologue and The Jewel Store Job, "You forget a thousand things everyday, make sure this is one
of them.", is from the Solomon Richards movie Arthur Penny's Sanitorium, although slightly modified. The original line is "We
forget a thousand things everyday, can't we just make this one of them?"
Michael Townley is a real person under federal witness protection. He was a former CIA operative who was involved in the 1976
assassination of Orlander Letelier, a Chilean ambassador.
It appears that Michael's drink of choice is whiskey as a whiskey bottle is seen in his house, and in Father/Son, when he sits
down by the pool he is drinking a glass of whiskey.
Michael was called "snowbird" by Devin Weston and Gianni.
"Snowbird" means someone from the U.S. Northeast, U.S. Midwest, Pacific Northwest, or Canada who spends a large portion of
winter in warmer locales such as California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, the Carolinas, or elsewhere along the Sun Belt of the
southern and southwest United States, Mexico, and areas of the Caribbean. The way that snowbird was used by Devin and
Gianni towards Michael was a reference to how he moved to Los Santos from Ludendorff.
Michael can get a number of tattoos that are Irish-themed, implying he is of Irish descent. Even the name "Townley" is of Celtic
origin. Michael's green eyes and fondness of Whiskey are also stereotypical Irish traits.
Upon returning to his house, one possible line of dialogue for Michael to shout is "Daddy's back, bitches!", the first line of
dialogue in Grand Theft Auto IV.
On Michael's tombstone in North Yankton it states that he was born in 1965 (making him 48 in 2013) however Trevor, Lester,
and his son Jimmy all state that he is 45 years old (meaning he was born in 1968) therefore his exact age is unclear.
Sometimes when switching to Michael after completing the mission Reuniting the Family, he can be seen walking past a
prostitute who asks him for pleasure, to which Michael replies "no thanks, I'm a married man".
Michael has the most main mission appearances (not counting optional appearances) of the 3 main protagonists, appearing in
38 of the game's 69 missions as apposed to Franklin's 32 appearances and Trevor's 31 appearances.
When walking, Michael is slightly slower than Franklin or Trevor, this might be due to him being retired and not as active as he
used to be. His voice and motion-capture performer Ned Luke even put on 25 pounds to replicate this.
Michael's signature color is blue. The selection of the protagonist's signature colors may also be a reflection of the character's
personalities and/or their individual story arcs. Blue is the color of control and negative emotion, reflecting Michael's struggles
with managing his psychotic tendencies and his desire to calm down his life. Franklin's is green, the color of education and
wealth and Trevor's is orange, the color of madness and the unconventional.
If the player chooses The Third Way, when hanging out with Trevor, Michael will offer him his cut from The Big Score telling him
that he just wants him to be happy, to which Trevor says that he doesn't care about the money and never did. Michael then
apologizes to Trevor for the North Yankton betrayal and Trevor accepts his apologies.
Despite this, they may still fight over what happened when hanging out afterwards.
A person comments under the film Rum Runner's synopsis on the Classic Vinewood in-game website, under the pseudonym
'michaelds', saying 'I wanted to be Eddie Olson when I was a kid. Just without the handicap fetish'. "michaelds" is most likely a
pseudonym for Michael De Santa.
There's a second comment from 'michaelds' under the film The Many Wifes of Alfredo Smith's synopsis, in this one he
comments: "This is how movies should be. A plot so tangled that you still don't have a clue what's going on even after watching
it five times. Not the dumbed down sickly sweet trash Vinewood pumps out these days".
Michael sleeps for the shortest time of the 3 characters. When saving the game as Michael, the game skips ahead 6 hours,
Franklin sleeps for 8, while Trevor sleeps for 12.
Michael's appearance in the game may be based on Robert De Niro's character in the movie Heat as both characters are
professional bank robbers, of Irish decent, dealing with a psychopath (Trevor in-game, Waingro in the movie), and are being
tailed by law enforcement.
A clear reference to the movie Heat is seen in the mission Blitz Play, where Michael, Trevor, and Franklin attempt to rob an
armored truck by ramming into it with a large tow truck. In the movie, De Niro's character and his crew attempt to rob the
armored van under the same circumstances, but a crew member "Waingro", who Trevor is based upon, messes it up by killing
the security guards.
In the living room of Michael's house, there is a picture of a Labrador, implying the family once owned a dog, or some other
family member may have owned the dog.
It seems that at some point of development Michael was able to wear a watch on his left wrist, because sometimes when you
switch to him he looks at his left wrist and mentions the time (being late from a meeting and similar things). Michael is the only
protagonist who does not wear a watch.
There are a lot of similarity between Michael and Tony Soprano from the TV show, The Sopranos:
Both Tony Soprano and Michael smoke cigars. Both Tony Soprano and Michael go to a shrink, despite the fact that none of
them believe in therapy. Both of them have two children, a boy and a girl, with whom they have a lot of fights, especially about
their job, Tony being a mafia boss and Michael being a robber. Both of them have trouble with their wives, and shaky
relationships, however, Tony's wife Carmela doesn't cheat on him like Amanda does. They both live in a big house with a pool.
Their language and way of speaking are similar. Both Tony Soprano and Michael have anger attacks every once in a while, only
Michael doesn't pass out like Tony does. Both of them are huge movie fans, and they both prefer classic movies of Hollywood
(GTA world, Vinewood), to "new-age" movies.