The streets of Grand Theft Auto 6’s Leonida are bustling with all types of zany characters who assist deliver Rockstar’s satire of Florida to life. Usually, this fictional mass of non-playable plebs discover a stability between being full randos and looking out real looking sufficient to be plausible. Probably, you possibly can level to any character within the GTA 6 trailers to this point and have the ability to discover at the least one human being IRL who seems uncannily acquainted to that NPC; we’ve acquired a inhabitants of over 8 billion to work with right here. However there are actually two completely totally different situations the place followers suppose that Rockstar lifted the likeness of two precise individuals.
The first time transpired again in 2024, when Laurence Sullivan, a person referred to as the “Florida Joker,” threatened Rockstar with a lawsuit over a personality he believed mimicked his viral mugshot from 2017. The character in query did bear some resemblances to Sullivan in that each of them clearly took cues from DC’s Darkish Knight, however finally Florida Joker didn’t sue the makers of GTA 6. He did, nevertheless, demand thousands and thousands of {dollars} in compensation in trade for the “free advertising” he was offering them. So far, it doesn’t seem that Sullivan was ever paid.
That very same trailer, which debuted GTA 6 for the primary time, additionally included a Black character adorned with dreadlocks, a white tank high, and a hefty assortment of gold chains. This prompted a response from a TikToker named zoeepoppyy, who posted a video again in 2023 whereas standing subsequent to a nonetheless of the trailer.
“They executed cloned Tyrone,” the person mentioned whereas sucking his tooth in disapproval. “C’mon, can I receives a commission?” he requested. zoeepoppyy pointed to particulars like his hair, his chain, his glasses, in addition to facial options as proof for the copycat.
Two years later, Rockstar launched a second trailer for GTA 6 — and a few issues have been totally different. One in all these tweaks seems to be the identical Black character who triggered the rip-off allegations. This time, nevertheless, the NPC is carrying a crimson hat, a lighter set of shades, a small mustache, and braids. Notably, each characters are carrying a white tank high and the identical set of gold chains, the centerpiece of which shows some kind of horned animal.
Rockstar didn’t reply to a request for touch upon whether or not or not this was supposed to be the identical character, or if the changes have been made in gentle of the TikToker’s allegations. However judging from a Twitter submit that has been seen over 13 million instances within the span of some days, followers are satisfied that Rockstar modified the character particularly due to the TikToker.
Whereas it’s attainable each of this stuff are associated, it’s additionally value noting that video games in improvement change on a regular basis, for all types of causes. Jason, one of many protagonists, saw a huge visual upgrade in between trailers for GTA 6. His first iteration leaned extra within the generic route of gruff, buzzcut major character. His newest model, alternatively, is affixed with a daintier move of locks that may develop heavy with sweat. You possibly can even spot particular person strands of arm hair from afar. Actually, your complete trailer is filled with spectacular modifications starting from the background surroundings and climate to minor particulars like physics and muscle deformation.
That, and, Grand Theft Auto all the time appears to be ducking some kind of likeness controversy. Infamously, Grand Theft Auto 5 noticed Lindsay Lohan sue Rockstar over a personality named Lacey Jonas. In that case, the choose dominated that whereas some similarities have been obvious that total, “vague, satirical representations of the type, look, and persona of a contemporary, beach-going younger lady that aren’t fairly identifiable as plaintiff.”
