Characters we’d like to see return in GTA 6

GTA 6 does not need a queue of familiar characters waiting to introduce themselves. Jason and Lucia need space to establish their own relationships, and Vice City should have people worth meeting for the first time.

Still, the right returning character can make the world feel connected. The useful question is what they would add once the initial recognition wears off.

There is a continuity issue to respect, too. Vice City’s return does not automatically bring back the cast of the 2002 game. GTA’s separate fictional universes mean a familiar city name is not proof that Tommy Vercetti’s history carries over unchanged. We have kept these picks to the HD-era games.

This is a wishlist, not a report of confirmed appearances. It contains spoilers for earlier GTA stories.

1. Jerry Kapowitz

Jerry is the most satisfying small-scale option. The diamonds that cause so much misery in GTA 4’s overlapping stories eventually offer him a way out, with Vice City named as the destination for a planned gun shop and liquor store.

That existing connection gives Rockstar a reason to include him without inventing a criminal emergency that draws the whole old cast south. A shop, a conversation and a detail about how life turned out would be enough.

There is a good joke in allowing someone on the margins of the previous story to have quietly done better than almost everyone fighting over its prize.

2. Yusuf Amir

Yusuf would have little trouble finding something expensive to like in Leonida. Property, boats, cars and the opportunity to describe another extravagant purchase all suit him.

Rockstar has already brought him back through GTA Online’s The Chop Shop, establishing that he can function beyond The Ballad of Gay Tony’s original story.

The trick would be keeping his involvement focused. One ridiculous business proposition could justify a visit. Making him responsible for half the map’s criminal activity would waste the pleasure of meeting somebody new.

3. Tony Prince

Tony has the experience to recognise a terrible nightclub investment and the temperament to make it anyway.

His return in After Hours gives him an established life beyond Liberty City. A Leonida venue, a visiting DJ or an ill-advised partnership could bring him into the new setting naturally.

More importantly, Tony is useful in conversation. He can make a business problem personal within a sentence, which would give Jason and Lucia something more entertaining to respond to than another anonymous criminal’s demands.

4. Luis Lopez

Luis deserves consideration in his own right, rather than being treated as something that comes bundled with Tony.

His ability to move between wealthy clients, street-level relationships and nightlife would suit a city where those worlds are constantly rubbing against each other. He could be a competent contact whose competence has limits, particularly when an old loyalty gets involved.

We would prefer a contained role that shows how he has changed. Recreating his original job exactly would be a less interesting use of the time that has passed.

5. Lamar Davis

Lamar can make a short scene feel busy enough for an entire mission. He has an explanation for everything, including situations for which his explanation is the main problem.

The Contract already revisits his relationship with Franklin and introduces him to a different stage of their working lives. That leaves room for a brief Leonida business trip with an appropriately questionable rationale.

A little would go a long way. Lamar turning up with a proposal nobody sensible would accept sounds promising. Having him permanently interrupt the new leads would be less welcome.

6. Imani

Imani offers a chance to develop a comparatively recent character rather than revisit another famous protagonist.

Her role at Franklin’s Agency makes her useful, but the appeal is her ability to notice what everyone else is missing. In a setting where phones and online visibility are prominent in the official material, somebody alert to the information people leave behind could have a meaningful place.

A remote introduction would be plausible. A fuller appearance should give her a personal reason to be involved, rather than reducing her to a convenient voice that opens locked doors.

7. Agent ULP

ULP would provide continuity through a familiar method: arrive with an official-sounding explanation, demand something dangerous and disclose very little about who benefits.

He works best when his authority makes the situation less reassuring. Jason and Lucia could recognise that the job is a bad idea and still have limited room to refuse it.

The reservation is repetition. Another sprawling government conspiracy could crowd out Leonida’s own criminal relationships. A brief, sour encounter would be more effective than making him the organiser of the entire campaign.

8. Roman Bellic

Roman is the most conditional pick. His survival depends on the ending chosen in GTA 4, so bringing him back would have implications beyond a pleasant cameo.

That is exactly why Rockstar should have a worthwhile reason before doing it. A glimpse of a life that has become more ordinary could be affecting. Dragging him into another hostage situation would be a fairly miserable reward for anyone who spent GTA 4 trying to protect him.

Of everyone here, Roman may benefit most from being left in peace. If Rockstar does bring him back, we would like the visit to tell us that some things finally worked out.