Michael De Santa (Outlaw’s Saga)

Michael De Santa, formerly Michael Townley (b. 1965/1968) is a fictional retired bank robber, who had a tough upbringing and eventually settled into a life of crime as a notorious bank robber. Under the risk of being arrested or killed, and the fact that he had a young family, Michael ultimately decided to sell his old friends down the river and start a new life under a new alias, settling in a mansion in Los Santos, San Andreas. He serves as one of the three protagonists of Grand Theft Auto V: The Rockstar Series.
== Biography ==
=== History ===
Michael Townley was born either in 1965 or 1968, with his true birth date being unknown as it is contradicted. It was made apparent that Michael grew up in a trailer park somewhere in the Midwestern United States. His father often abused him, later left him alone. He was raised with a tough upbringing, eventually entering a life of crime to keep himself surviving.
Around 1988, Michael took his first bank robbery score: a depot on the outskirts of Carcer City, thus, beginning his long line of bank robbing. Sometime in the future, Michael was supervised by an older man during a deal between the two and another man, who was possibly the same age as Michael around the time. His name was Trevor Philips, a Canadian smuggler. In a fit of rage for the man disrespecting Michael, Trevor shot a flare gun into the man’s eyeball, killing him. Although the two disposed of the body, they were horrified and disgusted by the experience, even stating that the flare was still burning in his skull. Since then, the two became partners-in-crime.
According to Michael, by the time he was 20, he already served time in prison, ran whores, smuggled dope, and much more, considering them “opportunities” he had.
By the 1990’s, Michael had met his future wife, Amanda, in a strip club. The two fell for one another and with the money he earned robbing, he bought her plastic surgery for her breasts, and according to Trevor, possibly made more money on the side as her pimp. After some time together, the two finally had a daughter, Tracey, and two years from then, in 1993, the two had James, a son. By this time, Michael had become more concerned about his family rather than his own criminal lifestyle, which upset Trevor.
By the 2000’s, Michael and his family were living in North Yankton, a Midwestern state just south of the Canadian border.
=== Ludendorff, 2004 ===
In 2004, Michael had decided to escape his criminal lifestyle as the authorities were closing in and it was up to him to decide whether he would die or escape and betray his old friends. Michael chose the latter to save himself and his family. To provide the perfect scenario, Michael arranged a deal with corrupt FIB Agent Dave Norton to help him fake his death and move to a new place.
When the deal was agreed upon, Michael set up a robbery for a cash depot outside of Ludendorff, North Yankton, with his team consisting of Trevor, fellow robber Brad Snider, and a local yokel that served as their getaway driver. The robbery goes somewhat according to plan, other than a guard casualty. The trio escaped in a truck, with Michael having to drive when the driver was shot and killed. The trio drove to a supposed helicopter rendezvous location, barely beating a nearby train when they were smashed by it. As the three approached a farm, Brad was suddenly shot by Dave in the chest. Michael tended to Brad, but as he tried to run, he was suddenly shot by Dave as well, according to plan. Michael then seemingly dies in front of Trevor, who stayed and stood his ground momentarily until he decided to flee for his life, escaping into the wilderness. Later, it was revealed that Brad died from his gunshot wound, but Michael’s plan worked.
Some time later, a “funeral” was held for Michael, who watched it from afar. Soon after, as promised, Michael was relocated to Los Santos, San Andreas with his family, where he spent the next nine years in retirement.
=== Living the Dream, 2013 ===
In late summer of 2013, Michael still lived in Los Santos, but is now oppressed by his own lifestyle, having a “useless son” and is “stuck at the end of the road,” clearly depressed and angered. He attended therapy sessions with his regular doctor, Isiah Friedlander to try and have a breakthrough, but each one fails due to Friedlander cutting his sessions short.
After a session, Michael decided to sit on a bench overlooking the beach, just as two African American men walk by, with one of them, Lamar Davis, asking Michael where the beach house they were looking for was. Initially denying that he knew, he eventually relented and gave them directions. The other man, Franklin Clinton, was bothered by this action.
A couple of days later, one of the men, Franklin Clinton, broke into his house to “repossess” his son, Jimmy’s BeeJay XL, which he had just bought the same day Michael met Franklin. Michael was made aware of Franklin’s presence in his home and decided to hide under a tarp in the back of Jimmy’s car, but instead of shooting and killing him, he emerged and aimed his gun at the back of Franklin’s head, threatening to shoot him if he did not take him back to his boss, Simeon Yeterian’s dealership. Despite being in a complicated situation, he saw potential in Franklin and even offered to buy him a beer. When Franklin finally pulls up to Simeon’s dealership, Michael demanded Franklin to ram through the front window or he will shoot him and do it himself. Franklin, with no other options, did what he was told. After giving Franklin a few hundred bucks, he proceeded to beat up Simeon in a fight. After, he proceeded to torture him lightly by slamming the car’s door into his face twice, put him into a chokehold, holding his chin, and telling him that he is a “fraudulent scumbag piece of shit,” and warns to not make him return. Michael stormed out of the dealership and called a cab back home.
A couple of days later, things are not much better at home for Michael. While his wife, Amanda, and his daughter, Tracey, were arguing over a guy spending the night, Michael drowned out their noise and listened to Phil Collins’ “I Don’t Care Anymore.” As he laid lounging in the sunlight, Franklin approached him, having taken his offer to heart and had come by for the drink. Michael revealed that he was not necessarily serious, but he allowed him to sit down and listen to his lessons.
=== The Third Way ===
When Franklin was faced with a dilemma, he had to choose between either killing Trevor for the FIB or killing Michael for Weston, but felt he cannot kill both of them. With no other choice, Franklin called Lester for advice and after brainstorming, Lester created an idea to lure the FIB and Merryweather to the foundry, where the gold would be, and have the trio ambush them. Lester then called Michael and told him to head to the Grand Banks Foundry in Murrieta Heights.
Michael and Trevor arrived and, as always, entered a standoff, with both men aiming their guns at each other. Franklin arrived in the nick of time to confront the two and tell them they needed to either set aside their differences or he will either shoot them himself or they will die in the ensuing firefight. Trevor finally relented and after the three calmed down, they took positions, with Michael standing on a catwalk, armed with a sniper. The FIB arrived, asnper the warning of Lamar. After Franklin fired the first shots, Michael began shooting at the FIB team. Eventually, Merryweather joined the fray and started firing at both teams. When Lamar was being ambushed, Michael stayed inside as Franklin went outside. When Trevor’s comms went silent, Michael was tasked to check in with him. After it turned out that Trevor got winded and passed out, the two fought off the extra reinforcements. After this was done, the two rushed outside and took down all of the reinforcements. All three survived, including Lamar. With no other options, the three decide to silence their old enemies: Steve Haines for betraying the trio and attempting to have Trevor killed, Wei Cheng for kidnapping Michael and attempting to have both Michael and Trevor killed, Stretch for attempting to set up Franklin and Lamar, and Devin Weston for attempting to have Michael killed and for cheating them out of their paydays for the stolen cars. The trio called Lester, who informed them that Haines was taping his show on Del Perro Pier, Stretch was on the basketball courts at the B.J. Smith Recreation Center, and Wei Cheng was at the Pacific Bluffs Country Club. Trevor went straight for Haines, Michael went after Stretch to keep him clear of known associates, and Franklin targeted Cheng.
Michael arrived at the recreation center, where he saw Stretch discussing Lamar. Michael proceeded to shoot his bodyguards before taking a knife and stabbing Stretch to death. After killing the pursuing Ballas, Michael informed the team that Stretch was dead. Michael remained on stand-by while Trevor and Franklin took out their respective targets. Eventually, Trevor decided to head for Devin’s house in the Tongva Hills after killing Haines, as per Lester’s advice. Trevor stormed Weston’s mansion and managed to kidnap him. Michael was informed to meet Trevor off the cliffs of the Grand Ocean Highway near Chiliad Mountain State Wilderness, near Paleto Cove.
Michael arrived before Franklin and after he attempted to smoke a cigarette, he coughed and decided to toss the smoke and the lighter, presumably to try and quit smoking. After Franklin arrived, the trio opened the trunk of Devin’s car to find him tied up. Michael then discussed to him that there was “two great evils that bedeviled American capitalism of the type that he practiced. Number one was outsourcing.” He paid a private company to do his dirty work for him, but then he underpaid the company as he thought he was big and bad enough to not have to obey the rules. “Number two: offshoring his profits.” After asking the other two if they wanted to be sent offshore to save some money, which they negatively replied. After Michael expressed that he knew Devin’s opinion on the matter: “keep his problems the fuck out of America.” After telling him goodbye and closing the trunk, the three proceeded to push the car over the cliff into the ocean, where it exploded, killing Devin.
After the three decided to end their partnership, but still remain “flawed, awful, totally uncomfortable, and poorly matched” friends, the three went their own separate ways. After Franklin left, Michael announced to Trevor his official and final retirement, stating “I’m getting too old for this nonsense.” Michael then drove off, now finally retired and rich from the Union Depository.
=== Aftermath ===
Michael’s initial fate was unknown after 2013. Since he retired, he was no longer in the criminal enterprise. However, by 2021, Michael was mentioned by Franklin to Joel Wallace during the chase against a golfer that “he knows someone who works here” and “hope his ass ain’t at work today,” confirming Michael’s fate that he had survived and still works at Richards Majestic with Solomon Richards.
=== Alternative Timelines ===
In two alternative timelines, Franklin would decide that killing either Michael or Trevor was the only way out of his predicament. With that in mind, Franklin would call one or the other to lure them to a quiet place.
In one timeline, Franklin would call Michael and arrange a quiet meeting, with Michael suggesting a quiet trailer park near the satellite dishes off of Route 68 in Blaine County. The two would meet then, with Michael arriving after Franklin, then soon after, he would receive a call from Amanda, notifying him that Tracey is going to be accepted into college, much to his excitement. However, after he would hang up his call, he suggests Franklin to come to his house for dinner one night, but he would start to become more suspicious as Franklin remained silent and eventually telling him that he likes him and they both know how this would all end, with Michael being able to deduce that Franklin was there to kill him. Michael would then quickly get back into his car and drive off, with Franklin in pursuit. The chase lasts for a minute before they would both end up on foot at the Palmer-Taylor Power Station off the Senora Freeway. From there, Michael would flee towards the refinery and go upwards, with Franklin close behind in his pursuit. Eventually, the chase would come to a halt atop one of the smokestacks, with the two engaging in a final standoff where Michael attempts to shoot Franklin, but misses. Franklin would then tackle Michael to the ground, disarm and punch him several times before the two would scurry back on their feet. With tears in his eyes, Michael would yell that Franklin was just going to kill the only person who was actually decent to him. Franklin would then clothesline and push Michael over the railing, but grab his arm, suspending him over a deadly drop. After Franklin would try to make Michael see sense in his decision while apologizing, Michael would yell that he should have killed him long ago when he broke into his house and would threaten to kill him as well. Eventually, Michael would be dropped all the way down to the bottom of the smokestack, falling to his demise. Franklin would leave the plant after calling his friend, Lamar, while using Michael's words to describe the situation. In an ironic twist of events and in metaphorical sense, Franklin was the bottom person, living in the ghetto, while Michael was on top in the beginning, living in a mansion, yet in the end, Michael ended up falling to the very bottom, to his death and into Hell, while Franklin ascended to the top, of both the smokestack and the criminal standing.
In another timeline, Franklin would decide that Trevor is too much of a liability and needs to be put down. Franklin would call Michael for assistance, in which he would reluctantly agree. The following night, in the middle of Franklin's chase against Trevor, Michael would arrive in a stolen Premier and T-bone Trevor's Bodhi into an oil tanker in the El Burro Heights oil fields, dousing Trevor in gasoline. In the end, Franklin would ignite the gasoline that spilled, setting Trevor ablaze. Michael would then officially announce that he is completely done with the criminal life and express how he felt about Trevor
== Appearance ==
=== Physical ===
Michael is an average built man with a pale complexion. He has black hair, that was shaved to be a buzz cut by 2004, but later grew into a wavy style. He has some aging features on his face, with some wrinkles, but he relatively looks young, despite being in his mid to late 40’s. He also has green eyes.
Michael’s 2004 appearance started with a clean shaven face and a buzz cut. However, by 2013, he has grown out his hair. Further into the story, Michael later grows a stubble after his family moved away. By the time he moves out to Sandy Shores temporarily, he shaves his head, giving him a bald head, and his beard has grown more denser. He maintains this look throughout the rest of the game.
=== Clothing ===
In 2004, Michael wore a red plaid checkered shirt, blue jeans, and winter boots. He had a balaclava until it was forcibly taken off by a guard. During his “funeral”, Michael wore a gray jacket, a sweater underneath, and a black scarf, with a black beanie and sunglasses.
In 2013, Michael’s outfits are variable:
* Michael starts off wearing a gray casual suit with black loafers.
* When he meets Franklin, he wears a light blue open shirt with a white t-shirt, blue jeans and brown shoes.
* Michael also wears a blue open shirt with no undershirt, beige cargo shorts, and flip-flops.
* Typically, throughout most of his adventures, Michael wears a brown leather shirt with a gray sweater, blue jeans, and brown boots. This is also his final outfit in the story.
* In later parts of the story, Michael switches to a Parrot Print Hawaiian Shirt that resembles Max Payne’s shirt from Max Payne 3, off-white/beige chinos, and brown wingtip boots.
== Personality ==
== Killed Victims ==
* Brad Snider (Indirectly Caused)
* Jay Norris
* Blake
* Freddy Slade
* Tahir Javan
* Javier Madrazo’s pilot (Caused)
* Walton O’Neill
* Wynn O’Neill
* Gianni
* Rocco Pelosi
* Stretch
* Devin Weston (Alongside Franklin Clinton and Trevor Philips)
== Relationships ==
== Gallery ==
== Trivia ==
* Considering Michael's eyes are green, it can be associated with mysteriousness, intelligence, leadership, and creativity, all of which Michael demonstrates. It also foreshadows a dark side of Michael's personality, which is distrustfulness.
* Michael shares many similarities with Max Payne from the Max Payne series.
** Both men are in their 40's during their (final) respective games. In Michael's case, he is roughly 45/48 years old, while Max is only 46 by Feburary-March of 2012.
** Both could be born the same year, which is 1965, but whether this is true or not in Michael's case remains unknown. If so, he is months older than Max, who was born on November 30.
** Both are excellent gunmen, who use a different variety of guns and have excellent accuracy with all of them. Michael has experience from being a bank robber, while Max has experience from being a police officer.
** Both were married and had child(ren). In Michael's case, he is still married to Amanda De Santa and has two children with her, Tracey and James De Santa, while in Max's case, he was married to Michelle Payne and had a daughter with her, Rose, before he was widowed and made fatherless with their deaths.
** Both men lose their families at some point, but in Michael's case, his family only moved away for a few weeks, while in Max's case, his family was killed.
** Both share the same special ability, which is Bullet Time.
** Both men look strikingly similar, with both men at some point having wavy hair and a clean shaven face, which later grows into a stubble. In the climax of their journeys, Michael and Max both shave their heads and grow thick beards, while wearing a very similar outfit.
** Michael can wear Max's Hawaiian shirt from Sao Paulo, but it is open with a white v-neck t-shirt underneath.
** Michael has a leather jacket that resembles Max's leather jacket in some ways.
** Both men retire to a comfortable life in the end of their respective journeys, with Michael becoming a movie producer while Max retires to a vacation.
* Michael and Trevor can both die in the base game, but in terms of canonicity, their deaths are non-canon in both the actual Grand Theft Auto and The Outlaw's Saga timeline.
* Michael is so far, the only character who has made an appearance in Grand Theft Auto Online.
* Michael is the best shooter and the stealthiest character out of the three protagonists, but lacks flying and strength in terms of the other two.
Category:Characters
Category:Protagonists
Category:Criminals
Category:Alive
Category:Fathers
Category:Fictional People
Category:Video Game Characters