Carl Johnson

Carl Johnson, better known by name as CJ, is the main protagonist of the 2004 action adventure video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the seventh installment of the franchise. 
He is a co-leader of the Grove Street Families (GSF), along with his brother, Sean "Sweet" Johnson. GSF is a criminal gang dedicated to the alleged marijuana trafficking, arms smuggling, and bank robberies, but the gang is fully opposed to drug dealing like their rivals in the Ballas and Los Santos Vagos. Sweet suggested that CJ was born in the Johnson House, a two-floor home in Grove Street, a cul-de-sac in Ganton, Los Santos, which was owned by the Johnson family matriarch, Beverly Johnson. Carl is the second child of a family of four (in birth order): Sean, Carl, Kendl, and Brian.
Five years prior to the beginning of the game, CJ left San Andreas and took up work in Liberty City out of discontent for the degrading situation of Los Santos, which happened shortly after the death of his brother Brian and Sweet blaming CJ for it. There, in Liberty City, he earned his living working for the Leone Family Mafia, doing work for Don Salvatore Leone's son Joey. As the game opens, CJ arrives back in Los Santos following news of his mother Beverly's death in a drive-by shooting by the rival Ballas gang, only to be located by corrupt Los Santos Police Department (LSPD) C.R.A.S.H. (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) task force officers Frank Tenpenny, Eddie Pulaski, and Jimmy Hernandez, who immediately framed him for their recent murder of a fellow police officer, Ralph Pendlebury, who threatened to expose their illegal racketeering to Internal Affairs and have them arrested and thrown off the force for their corrupt actions.
He is voiced by Young Maylay.
==Biography==
===Backstory===
Carl Johnson was born in the crime-ridden Los Santos suburb of Ganton between the late 60s or early 70s. He had three siblings, Sean "Sweet", Kendl, and Brian. At some point, his father left the family making his older brother Sweet fill in as the man of the house, though Carl claims to never have met him. Some years after that, Sweet, CJ, and Brian befriended Lance 'Ryder' Wilson and Melvin 'Big Smoke' Harris and joined the gang known as the Grove Street Families. Later in 1987, Brian was killed and Carl was blamed for his death. As a result, unable to bear being blamed for Brian's death, he left the GSF and Los Santos. He moved to Liberty City and did petty crimes and car thefts for the Leone Family until 1992 when his mother Beverly accidentally got killed in a drive-by shooting meant to take out Sweet. Learning of his mom's death over the phone from Sweet and Kendl, CJ makes plans to return home for his mother's funeral.
===Return to Los Santos===
After arriving in Los Santos, Carl barely departs Los Santos International Airport to return to Ganton when he was kidnapped by members of the LSPD (Los Santos Police Department) CRASH (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) task force and was framed for the murder of a police officer, Ralph Pendlebury, who had threatened to report the illegal activities of CRASH to Internal Affairs, forcing them to silence him to maintain their activities over turning in their badges for corruption of duty, then dumped back out into the street in the territory of the Ballas, the Grove Street Families' rival gang. He returned to Grove Street and began to work for the Grove Street Families again, having learned that, while he was gone, the GSF fractured as the Seville Boulevard and Temple Drive Families split off from Grove Street to fend for themselves. He also encountered a member of the Los Santos Varrios Los Aztecas Mexican gang named Cesar Vialpando, his sister Kendl's boyfriend, earning his respect after proving himself in a lowrider competition. 
Thanks to Carl's efforts with trying to rebuild the GSF, the Seville Boulevard and Temple Drive Families agree to reunite, but the meeting to finalize the reunion is nearly ruined when the Jefferson Motel, where the meeting was being held, is raided by LSPD SWAT, but Carl and Sweet escape thanks to help from Big Smoke and Ryder, who initially chickened out when they realized the meet was being raided, but came back to help the Johnson brothers. While on a mission to weaken the Ballas, Carl and Sweet discovered that Big Smoke and Ryder were working with Frank Tenpenny, the leader of CRASH, as well as the Ballas, thanks to Cesar revealing to CJ that Tenpenny, Pulaski, Smoke, and Ryder were with the Ballas and the green Sabre that was seen performing the drive-by that killed Beverly, meaning they sold out the GSF in an attempt to destroy the gang and ensure the Ballas reigned supreme in Los Santos alongside the Los Santos Vagos and flooded the streets with drugs, something the Grove Street Families were deeply against doing themselves.
Carl then helped Sweet and the GSF homies fight with Ballas members at the Mulholland Intersection, but was arrested by Tenpenny and exiled to the vast countryside, while Sweet was injured during the firefight between the GSF and Ballas and was incarcerated and treated for his wounds. Tenpenny makes it clear to CJ to stay away from Big Smoke, and especially CRASH, or Sweet will be transferred to a Balla cell block to be possibly murdered by the rival gang members incarcerated there.
===Smoke and Ryder's Betrayal===
During his time in the wilderness, Smoke, Ryder, and the Ballas unleash a wave of drugs onto the city. He befriends an aging hippie with a marijuana farm named the Truth and works with him for a while as CJ tries to make a living exiled to the countryside outside Los Santos and San Fierro, near Mount Chiliad.
He also forms a partnership with Cesar's deranged cousin, Catalina and robs "soft targets" with her until Carl wins a race against her new boyfriend, Claude. He wins a run-down San Fierro garage from Claude and begins fixing the business up shortly after arriving in San Fierro, which was done shortly after helping the Truth burn his marijuana fields thanks to Tenpenny double-crossing him and sending a police raid on the Truth's farm, forcing the Truth to destroy the evidence before the cops showed up.
He also begins working for a blind San Fierro Triad leader nicknamed 'Woozie', head of the Mountain Cloud Boys. He and Cesar succeed in killing off Ryder during a meet between the Ballas and San Fierro Rifa with support from Woozie's Triads, also taking out Rifa leader T-Bone Mendez in the process as Carl takes out the Loco Syndicate, the group responsible for flooding Los Santos with drugs for the Ballas. The surviving member of the Loco Syndicate, a corrupt government agent named Mike Toreno, blackmails Carl into working with him, in return offering to release Sweet from prison once he's fully recovered from his wounds.
Later Carl ventures to the desert town of Las Venturas where he becomes Woozie's partner at his casino called the Four Dragons Casino. He also helps Woozie to get rid of the various mafia gangs that are causing him problems and infiltrate Salvatore Leone's gang, made easier when CJ explains to Salvatore that he worked for Joey back in Liberty City before coming home to San Andreas, earning him some rep with the Leone Family.
After some odd-jobs and a brief trip back to Liberty City, Carl performs a daring heist on a casino Leone owns, Caligula's Palace. He also becomes the manager of the disgraced rapper Madd Dogg after thwarting a suicide attempt Madd Dogg attempted after CJ had been responsible for ruining Madd Dogg's career to help a homie named OG Loc get his own rapping career started. After Madd Dogg gets out from rehab, he confesses to CJ that he sold his multi-million dollar mansion to the Los Santos Vagos for drugs. Furious, CJ decides it is time to return home to Los Santos once and for all. Supported by Woozie's Triads, CJ takes back Madd Dogg's mansion and kills Vagos leader Big Poppa when he tries to flee in a car. Madd Dogg's mansion serves as CJ's new home base to reestablish his presence in Los Santos.
===Final showdown===
After Carl returned to Los Santos, he first went to the prison to pick up his brother Sweet after Toreno made good on his promise and had him released in return for all the work CJ did for him. Sweet is furious with CJ for abandoning the hood again, and CJ has no choice but to help his brother reestablish the GSF by taking back Ganton and their other turf from the Ballas, along with reclaiming some of their OGs like Big Bear after he turns on B Dup and asks to rejoin the Families. After Tenpenny was announced innocent after his corrupt actions had been exposed by, of all people, Jimmy Hernandez, leading to the deaths of both Hernandez and Pulaski, riots began all over Los Santos as people were furious that Tenpenny had been acquitted of his crimes. Carl then takes control over most of the streets of Los Santos, slaughtering any Ballas or Vagos that get in his way of putting Grove Street in control of the city as the dominant street gang. Sweet then finds out where Big Smoke is hiding, then both he and Carl go pay him a visit at his crack palace in East Los Santos, on the border between Vagos and Balla territory.
After Carl takes Smoke down, Tenpenny then appeared and tells Carl his plan is to escape with the money. Carl and Sweet then chase down Tenpenny in a high-speed chase, which leads to the death of the corrupted officer, ending the riots once word of Tenpenny seeing justice via his death becomes public knowledge. After everything is over, Carl and his friends get their first Golden Record with Madd Dogg. When Kendl then notices CJ taking off somewhere, when she asks where he is going, he replies that his "hitting the hood and see what's happening."
===Aftermath===
After the final mission, Kendl asks Carl where he's going. Carl responds with saying he's just going to hang out in the streets. He then gets a call from Catalina while having sex with Claude, witch leads to Carl calling her sick. Carl can then go roam the streets like all other GTA protagonists.
==Personality==
Carl Johnson is a pragmatic and quite charismatic gang leader (though his charisma can be enhanced throughout the game). He can be extremely violent, ruthless, and destructive when necessary. He manages his problems in a boss-like fashion, which often involves brutal shootings. That being said, most of his victims also tried to murder CJ as well. He has no problems hunting down or wiping out anyone that gets in his way - especially Ballas members or policemen, or committing petty crimes such as robbing houses and various places. The only characters he genuinely fears are those in a position of authority such as Frank Tenpenny, or utter psychopaths such as Catalina.
On the other hand, unlike his two predecessors (Claude & Tommy Vercetti), who were hardened criminals with little remorse, Carl Johnson displays much more decency and empathy. He is overprotective of his gang and his brother Sweet. He also displayed regrets immediately after defeating Big Smoke, despite the fact that Big Smoke coldly betrayed him and left him for dead somewhere in the countryside.
Some even question his intelligence, though Carl Johnson proved many times to be a skilled manager and strategist. Carl even uses manipulation and deception in order to gain what he wants, an example is when he successfully tricked Millie into giving him the access key necessary to organize the raid of the Caligula.
Unlike Ryder and Big Smoke, Carl Johnson is not interested in drugs and actually despises them. This is shown multiple times throughout the game, such as when he beat a crackhead attempting to give Sweet some PCP. Despite this, however, CJ seems to get along pretty well with the Truth, who is a drug-addict and dealer. He also holds a grudge against the C.R.A.S.H. - especially Tenpenny - and the cops in general, often nicknaming them "bribe-taking a**holes" or "b*tches".
==Quotes==
===Story===
*"After five years on the east coast... it was time to go home."
*"Ah sh*t... here we go again. Worst place in the world. Rolling Heights Balla Country. I ain't represented Grove Street in five years, but the Ballas won't give a sh*t."
*"Man, what the hood done for me? Always dragging me down. Ever since I got out of the hood s--t been cracking! That's everybody's dream, to get out of the hood."
*"You an a**hole to the end! Punk motherf*cker."
===Idle===
* ""
* ""
* ""
* ""
* ""
* ""
* ""
* ""
* ""
* ""
* ""
* ""
* ""
===Falling===
* "AHHHH!"
* "AHH, NO!"
* "OH NO!"
* "NO!"
* "Oh SH*T!"
* "Ooooh SH*T!"
* "Hoo sh*t!"
* "Damn!"
* "Sh*t damn!"
* "Oh, f*ck, sh*t!"
* "Aw, HELL no!"
* "Ah motherf*cker!"
* "What the f*ck?!"
* "I don't need this sh*t!"
* "I hate gravity!"
===Breakups===
===Rap===
Welcome to San Andreas, I'm CJ from Grove Street.
Land of the heinous, gangbangers, and cold heat.
In Los Santos, neighbours get no sleep.
Beefin' with anybody, competin' even police.
Four deep in a green rag with gold feet,
blast with the flag on the strap - that's OG.
Stay in shape, hit the gym, lift the weights.
Get super cut, or big and buff - nice and straight.
You got stats: respect, weapon skill,
stamina, muscle, fat, and sex appeal.
You get clothes from Bincos and Prolaps,
Sub Urban, Zip, Victim, and D. Sach.
Watch your back when in rival hoods;
they'll test just to guess if your survival's good (survival's good).
Duckin' shells at the Cluckin' Bell,
jump out bustin', gunnin' till they tuck their tail.
It seem like I'm on impossible missions (impossible missions).
Twisted predicaments, hostile positions (hostile positions).
Tenpenny and Pulaski harass me.
Cop cars been on our ass the last past week.
Because the 'Dreas for the gangsters, homeboy.
Hands is the language for the 'bangers, homeboy.
And it's dangerous, homeboy.
Get your brains blew for how you do your fingers homeboy.
Heat cocked, we popping hot ones.
Dump 'em out, bend the block, shaken before the cops come.
Listen for sirens... they don't got none.
Back another lap, catch a straggler with a shotgun.
Hittin' 'em up what that Grove Street like,
in a dirty sling shot, and old Levi.
==Heroic Deeds==
Time 	Deed
Free Roam 	Giving people taxi rides.
Free Roam 	Picking up injured civilians with an ambulance to a hospital.
Free Roam 	Extinguishing burning vehicles and pedestrians.
Free Roam 	Doing Vigilante missions and killing criminals.
"Sweet's Girl" 	Escorts and rescues Sweet and his girlfriend to Grove Street from Seville Boulevard Families.
"Burning Desire" 	Saves Denise Robinson from a burning Vagos house that he himself set aflame.
"House Party" 	Helps protect Grove Street from being attacked by Ballas.
"The Green Sabre" 	Saves Sweet from being killed by Ballas, though Sweet is later being held in a hospital prison.
"Jizzy" 	Saves a ho from being attacked by two men.
"Air Raid" 	Defends Zero's transmitters from Berkley's bombers.
"The Da Nang Thang"	Rescues the refugees from the Da Nang Boy freighter.
"Mike Toreno" 	He and T-Bone Mendez save Mike Toreno from Da Nang Boys.
"Outrider" 	Escorts and makes sure Mike Toreno is driving his van to safety.
"Interdiction" 	Escorts and protects Mike Toreno's helicopter from being destroyed by other helicopters.
"Don Peyote" 	Rescues Maccer and Kent Paul from the desert and take them to Caligula's.
"The Meat Business"	Helps and protects Ken from being attacked by Sindaccos and escorts Ken to exit the abattoir safely.
"Madd Dogg" 	Saves Madd Dogg from a suicide attempt by jumping off the building and then later takes him to a hospital.
"End of the Line" 	Saves Sweet from falling to his death when his grips are stomped by a cop by driving his car closer.
==Gallery==
Carl_Johnson.png
CarlJohnson-GTASAde-Infobox.webp
Remastered CJ.webp
==External Links==
* on the 
*
*
*
* 
==Navigation==
pl:Carl Johnson
ru:Карл Джонсон
Category:Grand Theft Auto Heroes
Category:Male
Category:Honorable
Category:Friend of a Villain
Category:Tragic
Category:Arrogant
Category:Vigilantes
Category:Adventurers
Category:False Antagonist
Category:Criminals
Category:Successful
Category:Orphans
Category:Heroes by Proxy
Category:Wrathful
Category:Assassins
Category:One-Man Army
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Masterminds
Category:Falsely Accused
Category:Martial Artists
Category:Lethal
Category:Pawn of the Villain
Category:Siblings
Category:True Neutral
Category:On & Off
Category:Adaptational Heroism
Category:Archenemy
Category:Honest
Category:Loyal
Category:Localized Protection
Category:Controversial
Category:Karma Houdini
Category:Charismatic
Category:Betrayed
Category:Vengeful
Category:Stalkers
Category:Internet Heroes
Category:Youtube Heroes
Category:Status Dependent upon Player Choice
Category:Fighters
Category:Rescuers
Category:Jerks
Category:Thieves
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:Right-Hand
Category:Wealthy
Category:Egomaniacs 
Category:Protectors
Category:Casanova
Category:Businessmen
Category:Traitor
Category:The Hero
Category:Determinators
Category:Chaotic Neutral
Category:Power Hungry
Category:Egalitarian
Category:Brutes
Category:Strategists
Category:Pragmatists
Category:Reluctant Heroes
Category:Leaders
Category:Extremists
Category:Wayward Heroes
Category:Counter-Terrorists
Category:Tricksters
Category:Deal Makers
Category:Big Good
Category:Failure-Intolerant
Category:Disciplinarians
Category:Liars
Category:Mascots
Category:Mercenaries
Category:Victims
Category:Sophisticated
Category:Master Orator
Category:Scapegoat