Michael De Santa

Michael Townley, (born either 1968 or 1965), later Michael De Santa, is one of the three main protagonists (alongside Trevor Philips and Franklin Clinton) of the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V.
He is an infamous and retired bank robber living in Los Santos under the federal witness protection program.
Michael's story centers around how his seemingly idyllic and halcyon lifestyle is brought to a halt as his past demons and morally compromising mistakes come back to haunt him. All the while, his midlife crisis pushes him to his ultimate snapping point. He is also the archenemy of Devin Weston and Steve Haines.
He is voiced and motion captured by .
==Physical Appearance==
Michael is a tall, quite muscular yet slightly overweight Caucasian man in his late forties with grayish-black hair and green eyes (artworks meanwhile depict him with blue eyes). His casual outfit is a gray suit with a white shirt, gray trousers, black leather belt and black leather shoes. He is six feet and two inches tall, and is also two-hundred and ten pounds according to his ID card in subtle option for the Big Score.
Medical examiners in Dead Man Walking describe Michael as overweight, with fat deposits on his abdomen suggesting a "fondness" for Bleeder Burgers, leading them to suspect his "death" as a result of coronary failure. They and Trevor in Derailed have noted his poor hygiene due to his drinking and smoking cigarettes, giving him discolored teeth and fingers, with the examiners estimating he smoked approximately a pack of cigarettes a day with cigars. The medical examiners also noticed broken capillaries around his nose to indicate his alcoholism and deduced he has an unhealthy liver.
In official artwork, he is shown to have blue eyes but has green eyes in the official gameplay. His default appearance is a cleft chin with a Lexington hairstyle and 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 Michael himself at many times. Michael's movement is also much slower than Franklin and Trevor's, as he's much older, and on top of the fact that his ten-year retirement from crime meant he is not 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 a gray two-piece suit without a tie and casual attires like beach shorts with sandals or polo shirts. His gray suit is his default outfit used in most of his artwork and concept art. He shows approval as he's trying out outfits at Ponsonby's, as opposed to the clear disdain of buying items from Suburban or Binco. His Prologue appearance has him with shorter, shaven hair. It is 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 Trailers 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 his actions during gameplay.
==Personality==
Michael is muddled, even confused, by his "good and evil" personalities. He spends an unusual amount of time in 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 why things aren't going in the direction he planned. Michael is obsessed with materialistic appearance and images, making it the main reason 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 false lifestyle, rather than coming to the conclusion that his troubling mistakes have brought a great deal of misfortune upon himself, his family, and old friends and associates of his (his agreement with the FIB is a prime example). The self-hatred gives him an exceptionally short temper that he does not know how to control, which fills him with rage and causes him to not think at times. One example is when he caught Amanda having an affair with her tennis coach, Kyle Chavis. He chases Kyle to a mansion and pulls it down a hillside believing that it belonged to him, despite Chavis himself stating that it was far too expensive for him to own on his tennis coach salary. Sarcasm is something that Michael firmly grasps because of his self-hatred, as he does not 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 things he has left in this world that cannot be taken away from him.
Michael is a highly egotistical and narcissistic person. He only shows concern about the issues he is being pulled through instead of the situations he constantly puts his family or friends through. He will often get unfairly defensive when someone rightfully criticizes him. A case in point of this wrongdoing 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 want 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 defensively, Yeah, thanks for the fucking feedback. It means a lot coming from you. The same goes for Lester and Franklin as well. During Predator, Trevor criticizes Michael for instantly thinking about himself, claiming it is "typical" of him. During The Paleto Score, Michael argues with Trevor over the latter's kidnap of Patricia Madrazo, resulting in their exile in Sandy Shores to avoid the wrath of her husband Martin. Michael complains that Trevor is not making his situation any easier, with Trevor again criticizing Michael for only thinking about himself. At the beginning of The Bureau Raid (Fire Crew entry), when Lester is explaining the plan to Michael, Michael describes it as "a bit idiotic". Lester explains that he tried his best and that Michael chose this method. He then claims that Trevor "has a point" about Michael "whining too much", to which Michael responds by giving Lester the finger. At the beginning of the Roof Entry setup for the same mission, Lester continuously reproaches Michael for his constant bickering about the former, managing to still stay calm and collected as they prepare to pull off a dangerous raid on one of the most secure buildings in the country. Michael gets annoyed that he refuses to give Lester's cane back to him unless he retracts 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 not noticing how self-absorbed he's been.
Another of Michael's negative traits is his hypocrisy. He frequently scolds the people around him for their mistakes and bad habits but refuses to acknowledge his own. 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. With Tracy, he denies her the opportunity to become famous by intervening against her wishes while actively currying favor with Solomon Richards to be a renowned movie producer by working with unsavory individuals. With Amanda, he claims she is "wasteful" with his money even though she notices that Michael's day trading is hurting the family finances during "The Good Husband" on their way home. He does the same thing towards Trevor, openly judging his will to maim, kill, and steal with ease and pleasure while not showing any signs of remorse, even though Michael himself displays little to no remorse for the various people he kills while he actively provokes trouble with Simeon, Blake, Lazlow and Madrazo over petty issues his family has. During The Paleto Score, Michael complains to Trevor that he misses his family. Trevor angrily retorts that Michael never paid any attention to them and only misses them now that they've left him. 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 does not enjoy the "thrill of the action" or that he does not hold a "plain yet willfully strong addiction to chaos".
The see-through hypocrisy can simultaneously show how easily and massively dishonest he is. Regardless of whether it is himself, his family or 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. Once Trevor realizes that Brad is dead, Michael continues to lie about his grave being empty instead of it actually containing Brad's corpse. Even after Brad's corpse is exhumed, Michael will unwittingly lie about his death instead of coming out with the truth about the staged robbery 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, telling Franklin that he's known worse human beings. He then begins to take it back after receiving an astringent blow to his midsection with a baseball bat delivered by Madrazo himself. He even declares Martin a terrifying psychopath. With Devin Weston, he wanted no part in Weston's plans to highjack several high-end vehicles, that is, until Weston promised to arrange a meeting with Michael's idol, Solomon Richards. After this, he chooses to keep Devin in a positive mood to ensure that none of his business ventures are ruined, even if that means making Franklin work for Devin continuously without payment.
Despite all 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. Still, he 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, Michael's family issues slowly started to dissolve after their reunion.
It should also be noted that it is very clear that Michael cares for his friends more than he shows. If Franklin chooses to kill Trevor in the end, Michael will stop hanging out with Franklin for a while because he is devastated by Trevor's death. However, he will later apologize to Franklin and reassure him they are still friends. If the player chooses to kill Michael, his extremely aggressive behavior towards Franklin shows that he loved him as a friend and can't believe Franklin did not feel the same.
Being the opposite of Trevor, Michael is thorough and rational regarding crime. This makes others leave him to the planning and leading of robberies and missions, as he is usually the one to devise a plan for a heist alongside Lester. He also shows consideration for people caught up in robberies. An example is that if you choose to pose as guards for the Union Depository heist, Michael will give the guard he blackmailed a bar of gold to help 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 comes back to find Michael in his house, Michael immediately puts himself in front of Jimmy, not knowing what Trevor was going to do. When Devin Weston sent Merryweather 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, 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 comes back and can be seen expressing a great amount of regret for to the decisions he has made, becoming more truthful and open. This is evident when he hangs out with Franklin; he expresses great distaste for his decision to betray Trevor with the help of Dave to secure a future for himself, seeing as the decision itself was "hollow" and only created more problems as well as causing much more resentment for not only for himself but the people around him as well.
==Description==
He is a retired bank robber who has a family, including his wife and two children. For the major part of the story, he wasn’t generally a hero, but in the end, he proved that even though he is a criminal, he feels sorry for it and wants to have a good life with his family.
Michael is a former bank robber and career criminal who faked his death to retire and live a peaceful life with his family in Los Santos. However, his unhealthy relationship with them takes its toll and he soon gets pulled back into his criminal life, forcing him to return to his old ways. Michael's story centers around how his seemingly idyllic and halcyon lifestyle is halted as his past demons and morally dubious lifestyle choices come back to haunt him.
Meanwhile, his midlife crisis pushes him to his ultimate snapping point, and he becomes determined to achieve something more with his life while also attempting to escape his past, become a free man and start a new life with his family. Michael is an old friend of fellow protagonist Trevor, and, early on in the storyline, he also befriends Franklin and becomes a mentor figure to him. He is the husband of Amanda and the father of Jimmy and Tracey.
== Biography ==
=== Background ===
Michael was born either in 1965 or 1968, possibly in the Midwest, which would explain why he spent some of his earlier criminal career in North Yankton, close to the Canadian border. As a child, he didn't have the advantages his own children have and grew up in a poor environment with his parents, where his father drank and hit him before abandoning his family. Michael's mother, also abusive towards her son, would frequently tell her son contradictory stories about why his father left, ranging from skipping town, being run over by a train and joining the navy. During his time in high school, Michael was an all-state football quarterback, earning him fame in his community and even appearing in the local newspaper. Unfortunately, Michael was forced to quit due to his temperament issues and constant injuries.
As time moved on, Michael eventually became a criminal, with his first bank job being in the outskirts of Carcer City, in 1988, where he was able to steal $10,000. In the same year however, he had been arrested twice at the age of 20. Remaining in jail, Michael was able to master many skills, sometimes through bizarre events, such as learning how to do tattoos by tattooing his name on his cellmate's buttocks.
As the years went on, Michael met Trevor Philips while robbing someone under a bridge and was able to induce the latter into robbery as well. Both men were hugely successful at their profession. But while the friendship between them was in fine condition, it was later strained at the beginning of the 90's, the moment Michael met his future wife, Amanda, who at the time was a stripper with her sisters at a club run by their mother. They then started dating, and Michael even bought her breast implants to make her even more successful as a stripper and prostitute.
While the couples love for one another grew over time, Michael and Amanda married each other in 1991, while living in a trailer park in the Midwest. As time moved forward, Amanda soon gave birth to their two children, Tracey in 1991 and Jimmy in 1993. Michael, who was able to see that he has a lot more to lose if he was ever killed or imprisoned, grew more cautious over time as a criminal, much to Trevor's annoyance, who describes him as negligent and "soft".
Around 2004, Michael decides to retire from criminal life. He then meets young FIB agent Dave Norton. Michael struck a deal with him to give Trevor and Brad (their other partner in crime, a local thief) 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, in the state of North Yankton, making Dave's career as the agent who took down the "Most Wanted Man in America".
Michael then tells Amanda how his latest heist is going to pan out and how they will able to start over after this ultimate robbery. Amanda, however, is skeptical of the plan's success. She turns out to be right : after Trevor murdered a guard, he, Michael and their accomplice Brad were ambushed by over a dozen police officers ready to kill them. After the shooting, their getaway 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 original 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 blood loss implies that he was wearing a bulletproof vest), and acted as if he believed the wound 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 annoyance) with his life. 
After the incident, Michael Townley was officially announced dead, and true to his word, Dave arranged for Michael to receive a comfortable stipend and a relocation to Los Santos in the "Golden State" of San Andreas, in a large mansion, 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.
=== Events of GTA V ===
Nine years later, Michael's life has turned into a dreary existence, with Amanda's nagging as well his children's carelessness, and secretly wishing to become a criminal once again. After Franklin is sent to repossess Jimmy's car, Michael ambushes him and makes him drive to Simeon's place, where he beats him to stop him from repossessing the car.
===Fates===
Shortly after successfully raiding the Union Depository (USA central bank in the game), Devin Weston arrives at Franklin's house, once again attempting to have Michael killed. He then lays out Franklin's options: Kill Trevor (as previously asked by Steve Haines), kill Michael, or try to save both of them. Ultimately, Franklin chooses Option C, the canon-ending, but the player can select one of the three following endings:
==== Something Sensible ====
In this final mission, Franklin decides to kill Trevor instead of Michael and calls the latter for assistance. At first, Michael is confused by Franklin’s proposition, but giving to the positive turn his life's taking and the fact that Trevor is enraged after him and can represent a threat to him and his family, Michael reluctantly accepts to help Franklin. Trevor realises that Franklin is after him and recklessly drives away, forcing Franklin to chase him on the freeway. Before arriving at the oil fields, Franklin call Michael again, the second saying that he's not far away. With a stolen car, Michael rams Trevor's truck into a gas tanker, causing gasoline to spill all over Trevor. Injured, he gets out of his destroyed truck and screams that he's surrounded by traitors before telling them to kill him. If Franklin does not not shoot, Michael will shoot instead. After the final explosion, he furiously walks away, deeply impacted by his best friend's death while also being glad that he went through with cutting Trevor out of his life. 
After Franklin kills Trevor, Lester informs the other two that he heard that Trevor has "fallen off the grid", adding that he doesn't want to know what is going on and shares Trevor's cut from the Union Depository heist between Franklin and Michael. Michael later emails Franklin, agreeing to continue to be Franklin's friend and that they have to move on, but if the two meets in the street before that email, Michael will say that he needs time after Trevor's death, still impacted, and cuts Franklin of his life, disabling the hang out option permanently. If they meet after the email, they will be able to hang out but they will be out of breath, saying things like "I think I can go out with you one more time."
==== The Time's Come ====
In this ending, Franklin agrees to eliminate Michael and sets up a meeting with him. 
Upon Michael's arrival, Franklin wishes to talk about the situation. Michael notices that Franklin looks weird, but then takes a call from a happy Amanda, who tells her husband that Tracey decided to attend college, much to Michael's happiness. Franklin feels pained upon hearing the positive turn his mentor's life is now taking, but overcomes it. Michael even says that Amanda asked him to bring Franklin at their house for a dinner later, adding that he doesn't know what he did to deserve to be so lucky. However, Franklin remains quiet, surprising his mentor and says that they both know that their troubles aren't over even if he likes him. Michael then realises what Franklin is here for and retreats into his car and drives off with Franklin in hot pursuit.
The chase soon leads the two to the Palmer-Taylor Power Station, where Franklin chases Michael up the scaffolding to one of the chimney walkways, with both of them occasionally shooting at each other. Michael claims his disappointment and sadness, saying that Franklin was like a son to him and the only person who was decent to him, before they starts a small fight where Franklin manages to defeat his mentor before pushing him over the edge but holds his hand. He starts to regret his decision, but Michael refuses to forgive him and wishes he killed Franklin when he broke into his house to steal Jimmy's car. The game gives the player the decision to save Michael or let him go ; but either way, Michael plummets to his death in a mortal fall. 
Afterwards, Lester learns that Michael died for real this time and send Michael's cut from the Union Depository to his family. Trevor informs Franklin that he is dead to him and cuts Franklin of his life, angry of Michael's death and Amanda emails Franklin, angrily saying that she hopes he will burn in hell for her husband's death. 
==== The Third Way ====
In this version of the game's final mission, Franklin decides not to betray Michael or Trevor. Instead to obey Devin's or Steve's orders, he goes to Lester reporting the situation. Lester comes up with an idea to ambush Steve Haines' FIB goons and Devin Weston's private army Merryweather at the same time by luring both parties to a foundry on the premise of the gold they had stolen from the Union Depository is being melted there. Meanwhile, Franklin picks up his friend Lamar while Lester alerts Trevor and Michael. Franklin explains the situation to Lamar, who is ready to fight after Franklin told him that Devin wants their death and they will take him out.
However, when Franklin arrives, Trevor and Michael argue about the weapons being used to repel the assault, with Trevor fearing the sniper rifle Michael had chosen might be better suited to betraying the group than helping it. Michael and Trevor reach the point of threatening each other at gunpoint, Franklin is able to calm both of them down and all four of them successfully repel the FIB/Merryweather assault (Michael also claims that FIB and Merryweather are killing each other as well).
After the assault on the foundry, Lamar returns home while Michael, Franklin and Trevor decide to tie up loose ends and get rid of their problems. As they wanted Franklin to kill Michael and/or Trevor, Haines and Weston are automatically put on their hit list (Weston also sent goons from his army to Michael's house to kill Amanda and Tracey) while Trevor wants Dave Norton on the list possibly for killing Brad but Michael states that they need Dave alive so nobody screws with them after the assassinations.
Franklin adds Wei Cheng to the list for kidnapping Michael (Cheng, believing that Michael and Trevor were gay lovers, wanted both of them dead to take over the drug trade in Trevor's territory and had a grudge against Trevor following the murder of Wei's business contact Elwood O'Neil and his brothers).
Finally, Trevor adds Harold "Stretch" Joseph to the list for luring Lamar and Franklin into Balla traps. After getting whereabouts from Lester, Michael volunteers to eliminate Stretch, Trevor exacts revenge on Haines, and Franklin tracks down Cheng and his son Tao.
After these murders, Trevor kidnaps Devin at his mansion up the hills and all three of them taunt the evil tycoon before they push the car he is locked inside of off of a cliff. The car then explodes.
Following Devin's death, Trevor asks what the trio do now, with Michael responding that they are going to lay low for a while then get on with their lives, with Trevor suggesting as friends, and Michael accepting, as "flawed, awful, totally uncomfortable, and poorly matched friends." Trevor then states that they could then go back to the "capitalism they practice," planning even more heists with better funding, but Franklin wonders how their actions will be any better than Weston's. Michael jokes that hypocrisy is society's greatest virtue. Trevor then tells Michael that his therapist has a lot to answer to for, which Michael calmly agrees to, saying that even though he hates himself, now he knows how to say it, responded by an other argument by Trevor asking if he has to go to a therapy session because he hates Michael. Sensing this incoming argument, Franklin backs away from the two and towards his bike, telling him that they "terrify him of middle age." Michael walks back towards his car, but not before announcing his official retirement to Trevor, claiming he is "too old for this nonsense". Franklin and Michael drive off as Trevor looks on, before awkwardly walking off-screen as the credits roll.
=== GTA Online ===
Michael doesn't make an appearance in Grand Theft Auto Online, unlike Trevor and later Franklin. It's mentioned and proved in the mission "Strong Arm Tactics" that Option C is the canonical ending and he is alive (so Weston and Haines are dead). It was also proven that Tao Cheng mentors his uncle instead of his father, most likely his father died in the events of Deathwish. in 2021, 8 years after GTA V's events, while the Online Protagonist and Franklin are chasing two golfers through Richards Majestic Studios, the latter mentions that he knows one of the producers there and hopes he isn't in work on that day. This shows that Michael is still working his dream job as an associate producer with Solomon Richards, and that he maintains contact with Franklin (and probably Trevor).
==Quotes==
==Heroic Deeds==
TBA
== Relationships ==
TBA
==Trivia==
*Michael is 6'2 (188 cm) and weighs 210 lbs.
*Michael has unique, terrifying reactions when he hits a family member with a car.
*Michael's great shooting accuracy makes him one of the most challenging opponents while playing Darts.
*At one point during the development of GTA V, Michael's name was Albert De Silva, as per the Rush Casting Call.
*After firing a pistol and starting to run or walk as Michael, he will be holding it in both hands, unlike Franklin and Trevor.
*It is possible that Michael dreamed of becoming a cop growing up, as suggested by Trevor Phillips in "I Fought the Law...".
*Michael was the first protagonist that came to Rockstar's mind when they began the development of Grand Theft Auto V.
*While wearing the Epsilon tunic, other characters, such as Bob Mulét and other barbers, may say Kifflom to him in greeting.
*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 .
*His favorite radio stations are Los Santos Rock Radio, Vinewood Boulevard Radio, and Radio Mirror Park. He also seems to have a taste for funk, as the radio inside his mansion is tuned to The Lowdown 91.1, and he will bob his head in appreciation to both it and Space 103.2 while in a vehicle. Additionally, he will listen to Rebel Radio, during his time in Blaine County.
*Michael's special ability might be a reference to Max Payne, another Rockstar-owned franchise, where the title character possesses an ability called Bullet Time, that allow him to slow down time.
*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?".
*Throughout the game, Michael displays a contempt for yoga instructors. Coincidentally, his voice and motion capture performer Ned Luke is married to a yoga instructor.
*Michael Townley is a real person under federal witness protection. He was a former CIA operative who was involved in the 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier, a Chilean ambassador.
*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 southern California, southern Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Georgia, 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 may be of Irish descent, as a number of his possible tattoos are Irish-themed, his former surname, Townley, is of Celtic origin, he has green eyes and his favourite drink is whisky, which are common Irish traits.
*Michael is the only protagonist who cannot hang out with Lamar since they barely met in the storyline, and during Lamar's friendship activities with Franklin, he claims he dislikes Michael and that he freaks him out.
*On Michael's tombstone in North Yankton it states that he was born in 1965 (making him 48 in 2013). One of the coroners in "Dead Man Walking" describes him as being in his "late 40s", and Michael refers to himself as "the last of the baby boomers" in The Bureau Raid (Roof Entry), which would back up the birth year of 1965. However, Trevor, Lester, and his son Jimmy all state that he is 45 years old (meaning he was born in 1968).
*If Michael accesses the in-game website PsychicShoutout and speaks with Ms. Tammy, she will reveal that Amanda has already had sex with the yoga instructor (Fabien LaRouche), the tennis coach (Kyle Chavis) and also a fireman, a plumber, a beach lifeguard, a truck driver, a dustman, a gardener as well as a hipster. Michael will angrily replies that they have an open relationship. This is later backed up by Tracey De Santa in the mission Reuniting the Family when Michael drives himself, Tracey and Jimmy De Santa to Dr. Friedlander's office.
*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.
*When someone talks to Michael on his right side, he shifts his body toward that person. This is because in real life, Ned Luke, Michael's voice and motion-capture actor, is deaf in his right ear.
*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 Wives 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 know what's going on even after watching it five times. Not the dumbed down sickly sweet trash Vinewood pumps out these days.".
*After Isiah Friedlander's death, it is stated on the radio that Michael's name was "Marky De Santo", possibly to hide his identity. Ahron Ward and the police dispatcher also call Michael "Mr. De Santo" and "Michael De Santo", respectively.
*On the Overview page on the Social Club, Michael's business card strangely says "Michael Townley" instead of "Michael De Santa". It also says "entrepreneur", just like Franklin's.
*Michael sleeps for the shortest time of the three characters. When saving the game with Michael, the game skips ahead six hours. Franklin sleeps for eight hours, while Trevor sleeps for twelve. While he lives alone after his family moves out, one of his switch scenes will show him waking up screaming and pointing a gun around. He may suffer from nightmares, which could explain his short sleeping time compared to Trevor and Franklin.
*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 descent, dealing with a psychopath (Trevor in-game, Waingro in the movie). Both have a friend in 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 steal the armored van under the same circumstances, but a crew member, "Waingro", who Trevor is based on, messes it up by killing the security guards.
*According to a phone call with Dr. Isiah Friedlander, Michael tried taking behavior medication before the events of the game but stopped because the dosage was incorrect, causing him to "cry and piss all over himself".
*If Michael picks Norm for the Jewel Store, Daryl for the Paleto Score, Hugh as gunman 2 for the Bureau Raid, Karim as driver 1 for the Big Score, and lets Taliana bleed out while rescuing her, and if Trevor takes Packie to the Altruist Cult, then Michael will have lost as many crewmates as possible.
*There is a lot of similarity between Michael and Tony Soprano from the TV show, The Sopranos:
**Both Tony and Michael smoke cigars.
**They both go to a shrink, even though none believes 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 cheats on Michael.
**They both live in a big house with a pool.
**Their language and way of speaking are similar.
**Both of them are huge movie fans, and they both prefer classic movies of Hollywood (GTA world, Vinewood), to "new-age" movies.
**Both are known for their similar hypocrisy.
**Both played football during their childhood.
*Michael shares many similarities with Max Payne from the Max Payne franchise:
**Both have a drinking problem.
**Both men were used in scandals.
**Both men have similar physical traits.
**Both men are/were fugitives of the law.
**Both men have/had a wife and child(ren).
**Both men can share the same hairstyles and clothing.
**Both men are around the same age if Michael was born in 1965.
**Both men have the “Bullet Time” ability, where they slow down time to focus their shooting.
==Licensing==
This article contains content derived from the "Michael De Santa" article on the GTA Wiki, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
==External Links==
*
*
*
*
==Navigation==
pl:Michael De Santa
Category:Male
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:Honorable
Category:One-Man Army
Category:Grand Theft Auto Heroes
Category:Tragic
Category:Protectors
Category:Lethal
Category:Criminals
Category:In Love
Category:Spouses
Category:Fortune Hunters
Category:Fallen
Category:Friend of a Villain
Category:Chaotic Neutral
Category:Victims
Category:Damsels
Category:Unwanted
Category:Liars
Category:Thrill-Seekers
Category:Loyal
Category:Charismatic
Category:Vengeful
Category:Thieves
Category:Strategists
Category:Assassins
Category:Traitor
Category:Sophisticated
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Wealthy
Category:Arrogant
Category:Businessmen
Category:Parents
Category:Successful
Category:Elderly
Category:Mercenaries
Category:Provokers
Category:Elementals
Category:Fighters
Category:Wrathful
Category:Leaders
Category:Scapegoat
Category:Retired
Category:Masterminds
Category:Controversial
Category:Casanova
Category:Disciplinarians
Category:Mentally Ill
Category:Karma Houdini
Category:Related to Villain
Category:Voice of Reason
Category:True Neutral
Category:Brutes
Category:Virtually Resourceful
Category:Antagonists
Category:Rivals
Category:Pawn of the Villain
Category:Redeemed Villains
Category:Heroes by Proxy
Category:Mentors
Category:Jerks
Category:Betrayed
Category:Archenemy
Category:Insecure
Category:Egomaniacs
Category:Control Freaks
Category:Envious
Category:Falsely Accused
Category:Addicts
Category:Deal Makers
Category:Obsessed
Category:Paranoid
Category:Misguided
Category:Suicidal
Category:Extravagant
Category:Reluctant Heroes
Category:Pragmatists
Category:Dreaded
Category:Pessimists
Category:Status Dependent upon Player Choice
Category:Extremists
Category:Military
Category:Martial Artists