Michael De Santa

Michael De Santa (born 1965) is the main protagonist and one of the three playable characters in Grand Theft Auto V.

## Background

### Synopsis

Michael was born in either 1965 or 1968, possibly in the Midwest, which would explain why he spent some of his earlier criminal career in North Yankton. As a child, he didn't have the advantages his children have and grew up in the poor environment of a trailer park with his parents. Like Trevor Philips and Franklin Clinton, Michael had a tough upbringing due to his father being an alcoholic and physically abusing him. Michael's father soon abandoned him and his mother. He was told an exaggerated amount of stories of why his father left, all of which include (but aren't limited to) him skipping town, being hit by an oncoming train or even joining the navy. During his time in high school, Michael was an acclaimed quarterback for an all-state football team. Michael would often put on a well placed performance during games and occasionally had his picture in the local newspaper, but his temperament issues and a constant stream of injures ultimately forced him to quit.

After quitting the Football team and leaving high-school, Michael joined the United States Marine Corps. During his time in the USMC, Michael eventually reached the rank to 1st Lieutenant and received multiple silver stars and a congressional metal of honor. Due to his experience in the military, Michael became an expert marksman and effective leader. Sometime before 1988, he left the USMC.

As a young adult, Michael eventually became a criminal. According to Michael, he had been in prison twice by the time he was 20. He committed his first robbery in the outskirts of Carcer City in 1988, where he managed to steal $10,000 from a small franchise. While in prison, Michael learned many skills, including learning how to use a tattoo gun by tattooing his name on his cellmate's buttocks. Despite his failures and shortcomings, but also due to his highly exceptional military career, Michael perfected his criminal skills to the point where he rapidly improve his marksmanship and leader and where he became one of America's most wanted criminals. During this time, he associated himself with Lester Crest, an exquisite planner that would later assist Michael in planning out heists, as well as otherTASKS.

In 1993, Michael met Trevor Philips while he was escorting cargo across the border. While Trevor waited on the runway to meet his unknown employer, he noticed not one, but two dust trails coming up the road, despite the fact that he was told there would be one person meeting him with the exact cargo. Michael exited the first vehicle, while an older civilian exited the second. As it turned out, the older civilian had been carjacked by Michael. As Michael tried to make a hasty escape on foot, the older civilian attempted to get Trevor's attention as to what just happened. Trevor approached the civilian and fired off a flare gun into the man's eye, brutally killing him. He and Michael both dumped the body into a lake after landing the plane. Trevor stated that the experience was horrible, as the flare was still burning from the inside of his skull as they dropped him off into a lake. Trevor and Michael both threw up after landing the plane since the dead man's stench was still inside the cockpit. After noticing how well they work with each other, Michael brought an aimless Trevor along as a partner for various crimes he would commit. They were both somewhat successful at their profession, but Michael claims that they were always impecunious and constantly on the run from the law, as Trevor's rage issues would cause him to murder someone in broad daylight and Michael's circumspection and foresight would cause him and Trevor to skip town after completing aJOB.

Michael met his future wife Amanda while she was a stripper at a strip joint. After flirting with each other, the coupleSTARTED a romantic relationship. Using his criminal proceeds, Michael was even able to buy Amanda some breast implants, which would help with her stripping as well as her days as a prostitute. This led to Michael creating his own prostitution racket. After a few months of dating, Amanda became pregnant with their two children Jimmy and Tracey while living in a trailer park in the Midwest. A few months later, they were married. Michael began to see that he had a lot more to lose if he was ever killed or imprisoned and started to keep to himself over time as a criminal and was much more careful - much to Trevor's annoyance, who saw Michael as "soft". A few years later, Trevor met Brad Snider, a fellow robber and future accomplice of Michael and Trevor. Michael and Brad would never show any empathy for each other and would often express distaste or distrust when working together. According to Trevor, Brad planned at one point to cut off Michael and work only with Trevor.

At some point in 2004, Michael met FIB agent DaveNORTON. Michael made a deal with the FIB to surrender Trevor and Brad in exchange for protection. In exchange for a five-figure payment every month, Norton would provide Michael with a new identity and a home for him and his family in Los Santos. Michael would let Norton "kill" him in the upcoming bank heist in Ludendorff, a move that would make Norton'sCAREER as the agent who took down the supposed "Most Wanted Man in America". The staged robbery, however, turned out to be a disaster after Trevor murdered a guard who held Michael at gunpoint and when Michael, Brad and Trevor were ambushed by over a dozen police officers ready to arrest or kill them. During the getaway, their 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 helicopter waiting. The plan almost failed after their vehicle was hit by a train on a level crossing as they attempted to avoid a roadblock of North Yankton State Patrol vehicles.

Things yet again deviated from their plan when Brad was accidentally shot by Norton, who later succumbed to his wounds, after he walked in front of Trevor. Michael took the second bullet as planned - although the lack of a visible wound or blood loss implies that Dave intentionally missed him, or he was wearing a bullet proof vest and acted as if he believed the wound was fatal, imploring Trevor to leave him behind. Enraged beyond sense, Trevor proceeded to massacre numerous police officers before barely escaping the ambush with his life. Trevor was never caught by the police and eventually went into hiding.

After the incident, Michael Townley was declared dead, while Brad was sent to prison after being handed a long sentence. In reality, Brad was buried in Michael's grave in Ludendorff. True to his word, Dave arranged for Michael to relocate to Los Santos, where he entered an "informal witness protection programme". Michael and his family moved to a mansion in Rockford Hills, where they lived using the surname "De Santa" (a longtime alias of Michael's). Lester Crest, who coordinated most of the heists, knew about the deal, but both men agreed not to disclose information on the other to the authorities. Lester moved to Los Santos as well, eventually settling in Murrieta Heights. Trevor, who survived the ambush, evaded the authorities and made a new life for himself in the small desert town of Sandy Shores, a few miles north of Los Santos. At one point, Trevor wrote a letter to Brad, who he believed to be in prison. Dave Norton intercepted the letter and used this as a means to communicate with Trevor and keep an eye on him. Since Michael believed Trevor to be dead, Dave did not inform Michael about the letter.

### Living in Vinewood Dream

Michael's life in Los Santos has slowly pirouetted into a living nightmare. He has become massively depressed about having to abandon his criminal lifestyle for the family man persona that he once believed he desired. He now spends his days either getting drunk to dull the depression or miserably lounging by his pool, ignoring his family and becoming extremely narcissistic and self-centered in the process. Because of this, his children have rarely shown him any respect as they've grown up. Michael's marriage also began to deteriorate, and Amanda once caught Michael cheating on her with a stripper. In retaliation, Amanda had affairs with multiple men, and also spent most of the family'sMONEY on plastic surgery. Eventually, Michael goes through a midlife crisis and begins visiting Isiah Friedlander, an overpriced pyschologist who doesn't appear to be bothered about Michael's problems.

## Events in GTA V

Nine years have passed since Michael's false death and after another therapy session with Dr. Friedlander, Michael has a chance encounter with a Los Santos youth named Franklin Clinton, whom he unknowingly directs to Franklin's repossession assignment along with his friend Lamar Davis.

A short time later, his son Jimmy buys an SUV from Simeon Yetarian, an Armenian car salesman who sells the car to him in installments of $5,000 a month. After missing a repayment deadline, Simeon orders Franklin to "repossess" the SUV from the De Santa household. Franklin breaks into Michael's house and eventually locates the SUV in the garage. However, Michael spots Franklin and hides under a blanket on the backseat. Franklin drives the SUV out of the driveway, where Michael reveals himself and holds Franklin at gunpoint, ordering him to drive to Yetarian's showroom. When they arrive, Michael, still holding Franklin at gunpoint, orders him to drive through the showroom window, which Franklin reluctantly does. Michael pays Franklin to leave, before assaulting Yetarian, threatening him with more violence if he tries to scam Michael or his family again.

A few days later, Michael attempts to relax by his pool, where he is interuppted by Franklin, who took up Michael's earlier "offer" of a drink. Surprised that Franklin took it to heart, MichaelOFFERS to take him to a nearby bar. On the way, however, Jimmy phones Michael and informs him that he tried to sell Michael's yacht, but the "buyers" have hijacked the yacht with him still on board. Enraged, Michael and Franklin drive after the hijackers and manage to save Jimmy, but are unable to recover the yacht. Michael becomes angry at Jimmy but is impressed by Franklin's efforts, and tells him to visit him at any time.

After the situation with the yacht, Michael returns home to discover Amanda sleeping with her tennis coach, who escapes in his underwear. Franklin arrives at that moment, and he and MichaelCHASE after the coach in a builder's truck. The duo chase the coach to a mansion in the Vinewood Hills, where Michael orders Franklin to hook the truck's winch to the supports of the house. Using the truck, Michael loosens the house's supports, causing it to collapse, which shocks Franklin but leaves Michael feeling pleased with himself. However, the duo later learn that the house did not belong to the coach, but the girlfriend of a powerful Mexican cartel leader named Martin Madrazo, who sends his men after Michael and Franklin. The two manage to fend them off, but Madrazo arrives at the De Santa household, where he orders his cousin to assault Michael with a baseball bat. Before Madrazo leaves, he orders Michael toFINANCE the rebuilding of the house, at a cost of $2.5 million, which Michael does not have.

With no other choice, Michael returns to his life of crime and contacts his old partner Lester Crest. Lester agrees to help Michael get theMONEY if the latter agrees to sabotage a prototpye phone due to be unveiled by Jay Norris, the founder of social network site Lifeinvader. Michael does so, and kills Norris when he rigs the phone with a bomb and detonates it by dialling the number. After collecting information about the contents of the Vangelico Jewelry Store, Michael and Lester set up a heist, with Michael insisting that Franklin is involved, as he will find the experience beneficial.

The heist goes smoothly, and Madrazo is paid, with Michael and Franklin taking a small cut for themselves. Unfortunately for Michael, TrevorLEARNS about the heist on the news and recognises Michael's modus operandi. After wiping out most of his rivals in Sandy Shores, he travels to Los Santos to find Michael's "ghost".

After several weeks of laying low, Michael finds some marijuana in the fridge, and correctly assumes it is Jimmy's. This creates an angry argument among the family until Trevor abruptly arrives, much to everyone's shock and horror. Thankfully, the tension is broken by Jimmy revealing that Tracey has gone to audition for Fame or Shame. Realizing that Tracey will embarrass herself in front of the nation due to her horrible dancing, Michael and Trevor rush to the Maze Bank Arena. The two find Tracey doing a stripper-like dance and the show's host Lazlow Jones beginning to do a sexual pose behind her, enraging both Michael and Trevor. The two give chase to a fleeing Lazlow in his red Dilettante to the Los Santos Canal. Trevor forces Lazlow to take off his pants and dance for them as he records it on his phone. In the aftermath, Tracey angrily blames Michael for "ruining her life", which doesn't appear to bother him.

A few days later, Michael meets Dave Norton at the Galileo Observatory. Dave explains that Michael's decision to rob the Vangelico Jewelry Store has brought the spotlight on Dave in the FIB, and that if his superiors read his files and discover his deal with Michael it could cause serious repercussions for both of them. Michael proceeds to do tasks for Dave in order to help keep hisCAREER within the FIB, in exchange for covering up the crimes that Michael commits. Michael's first task is to locate Ferdinand Kerimov, a suspected terrorist whom the IAA have declared to be dead. To do so, Norton knocks Michael unconcious to allow him to infiltrate the coroner's office. Michael regains conciousness during his "autopsy" and knocks out the coroners. After searching the coroner's office, Michael discovers Kerimov's identity tag on a woman's body. Michael later escapes the coroner's office by killing the guards. When he is clear of the police, Michael phones Franklin and informs him that he is affiliated to the FIB. Michael orders Franklin to leave the city for his own safety, but Franklin tells Michael that he will stay and help Michael to repay Michael's faith in him.

Michael continues to work for Norton. Steve Haines, a higly decorated but highly corrupt FIB agent andNORTON'S superior, contacts Michael and orders him to team up with Franklin and Trevor to extract Ferdinand Kerimov from the IAA building. Michael and Trevor are later summoned to a remote warehouse, where Michael is briefed that he will accompany Norton to assassinate an Azebaijani terrorist suspect, Tahir Javan, whilst Trevor and Haines torture Kerimov for information on him. Kerimov provides information on Javan, who is later assassinated by Michael.

When Michael returns home, he finds his wife with her yoga instructor Fabien, who asks Michael to join them. The session passes relatively smoothly until Fabien performs a sexual pose on Amanda, which angers Michael. Michael lunges at Fabien, who dodges him, causing Michael to fall into the swimming pool. Angered by her husband's attitude, Amanda leaves with Fabien. Michael goes upstairs and speaks to Jimmy, who asks him to go with him to get a package from a friend. They meet the friend at Burger Shot and he gives Jimmy some pot and a drink. On the way home, Michael drinks from Jimmy's drink and begins to feel drowsy. Jimmy reveals that he had the drink laced with ketamine, before pushing Michael out of the car and reveals he took Michael's car and some of hisMONEY and is moving out. Michael has hallucinations before waking up in his underwear a few blocks away from his home. When he gets to the house, he finds a note from Amanda saying that his family has left due to Michael's poor behaviour.

Trevor later contacts Michael and Franklin to partake in his own heist; the mercenary group Merryweather and its unknown cargo at the docks. The heist goes as planned and Trevor finds a super-weapon that Lester reveals is highly dangerous, especially in the hands of someone like Trevor and tells him that he must return it. Michael and Franklin agree, and Trevor is furious that he cannot keep the loot.

After the Merryweather heist, Michael, along with Franklin and Trevor are called upon by Haines and Norton. This time they must rob an armored truck filled withFUNDS that the IAA has received due to drug sales. Haines wants those funds to help support the Bureau. After some short prep time, the heist is executed with some mild resistance. Michael then proceeds to deliver the funds to billionaire Devin Weston, who offers Michael a partnership with his movie idol who happens to be movie producer Solomon Richards. However, he has to steal several rare cars for Weston with Trevor and Franklin. Offered his dream job, Michael eagerly agrees and delivers the cars to Weston. Michael is thrilled to finally meet Richards, who hires him as an assistant. His first job is to convince Ancelotti crime family made man Rocco Pelosi to obey Solomon's wishes for how the actors should behave during the production of Solomon's latest motion picture Meltdown. This gets Michael on Richard's good side and is promised the role of producer for the upcoming film if Michael continues his good work.

Martin Madrazo later summons Michael and Trevor to his home. Madrazo, who now views Michael as a friend, requests that he and Trevor shoot down his cousin's airliner, which is carrying some sensitive files Madrazo wants back. Michael does his part by bringing it down with a weapon inside a van, while Trevor manages to kill Javier and takes the incriminating files. After destroying the van, Michael finds out to his horror that due to them being used by Martin to do his dirty bidding while getting stiffed from payment, Trevor has kidnapped Madrazo's wife Patricia. Knowing full and well what Madrazo might do to them if he catches them, Michael agrees to hide out in Sandy Shores with Trevor. While exiled in Sandy Shores, Haines and Norton summon the trio for another mission against the IAA. This time, the two agents plot to raid an IAA chemical plant to steal a dangerous neurotoxin that the agency is plotting to use in a simulated terrorist attack, with the sole purpose of receiving moreFUNDS from the US government. To carry out this operation, the trio must first secure enough funds to purchase a Cargobob and other assorted equipment that the FIB can't assign them. Ultimately, the crew settles upon robbing the Paleto Bay bank, as it contains millions of dollars deposited there by Blaine County's corrupt law enforcement who extort money from all the local weed farms and meth labs.

After planning the robbery, Michael and Trevor meet at Trevor's trailer, where they have a short conversation and drink beer. They then leave the trailer and during the way, Trevor receives a call from Franklin, who upon Trevor's request is tailing the remaining O'Neil brothers - inbred, redneck meth dealers, who are vengeful because of Trevor's earlier attack of the O'Neil household, resulting in the deaths of most of the O'Neils and the explosion of their farm. FranklinCHASES the O'Neils, who crash because of an elk on the road and escape in a forest, located somewhere in the Raton Canyon. Franklin then calls Trevor for air support and eventually, Trevor and Michael come with a helicopter, used in the extraction of Ferdinand Kerimov, out of the IAA building. Using a rifle, fitted with a thermal scope, Michael shoots Walton and Wynn O'Neil dead, but can't get a clear image of O'Neil gang leader Elwood O'Neil, who is hiding behind a rock and firing anti-tank rockets towards the helicopter. With the help of Chop, Franklin locates and kills Elwood, after which he and Chop are picked up by the helicopter and safely return back to Sandy Shores.

Using stolen military body armour and machine guns, Trevor, Michael, Franklin and one gunman successfully rob the Paleto bank, taking a small cut each and giving the largestPROFIT to Haines and Norton so they can purchase the equipment for the chemical plant robbery, much to the team's irritation. While awaiting this operation, Michael and Trevor carry out another job, raiding a Merryweather courier train that carries gold and priceless artifacts so that they can pay off Martin Madrazo. Trevor derails the train over a bridge and Michael dives into the river below to retrieve the merchandise, taking an ancient Aztec fertility statuette that Madrazo would value. Trevor is greatly dissatisfied with Michael's choice of take, but he calms down once Michael proposes that, once they get the FIB off their cases, they should carry out "the Big Score" - robbing the Union Depository.

After returning to Los Santos, Michael receives an unexpected visit from Trevor in his mansion, who pitches him the plan of busting Brad out of jail. Michael's reluctance to go ahead with the plan leads to a debate, during which TrevorFINALLY realizes that Brad is in fact dead and buried at Michael's grave in North Yankton. He hastily travels back there with Michael in pursuit. After a stand off at his (Brad's) grave, they are attacked by Wei Cheng's henchmen, who incorrectly assumed that Michael and Trevor are lovers and had been surveilling them ever since their exile to Sandy Shores. Trevor flees, leaving Michael to fend off the henchmen himself. Although he manages to kill most of Cheng's henchmen, Michael is captured when he tries to escape in his car which Trevor sabotaged. After being tortured by Cheng at a meat processing factory back in Los Santos, he is rescued by Franklin.

Michael revisits the movie studio to resume working with his idol Solomon Richards. After witnessing Pelosi and his associate Gianni assault Solomon, Michael chases the two and ends up killing both of them. In return, Solomon keeps to his word and makes Michael aCREDITED producer in his upcoming film, much to Michael's overwhelming joy. He leaves a voicemail message on Amanda's phone to try to convince her that he is finally doing something good with his life.

Michael and Franklin are called up once again by Haines for one more job: to break into the FIB building and remove incriminating evidence against Haines. This goes according to plan, but when Michael meets Haines andNORTON at the Kortz Center, Haines attempts to arrest him to cover his involvement in the raid. However, this turns into a Mexican standoff between Sanchez who is revealed to be working with a rival FIB team (who want to arrest the trio because of the raid), a IAA team led by the U.L. Paper Contact (because of the FIB's constant sabotages) and a Merryweather team (for Michael's involvement in their troubles), Michael, Dave and Steve. The situation quickly goes out of control as Haines is shot in the leg by a FIB operative but manages to escape, killing Sanchez in the process. Dave and Michael manage to fight their way through the Merryweather mercenaries, FIB and IAA agents (Michael has the option to kill the U.L. Paper contact) and escape with the help of Trevor, who removes his vow of killing Michael and wants him in for "the Big Score".

Having had enough of being alone, Michael finally seeks out and reunites with his family. With this and his involvement in Solomon Richard's upcoming film, things were starting to look up, all until Devon Weston announces his intentions to exploit the movie studio's insurance policy by hiding the completed film from the world so he would claim the insuranceMONEY, ultimately closing and destroying the studio and building condos on the site. Infuriated upon learning of Weston's intentions, Michael chases the former's assistant to the airport to try and retrieve the film's master copy. During the chase, she is accidentally sucked into a jet engine. Michael retrieves the film, and Solomon arranges a premiere so that it cannot be tampered with any further. At the premiere, Weston unexpectedly shows up and cryptically threatens Michael with Amanda and Tracey's lives because of his interference. After Michael rushes home with Jimmy, he kills the intruders (revealed to be Merryweather mercenaries), sends his family into hiding and notifies Lester that they pull off the Big Score now.

### Health & death

De Santa, who had been undergoing lots of hip surgeries in 1990-1999, died in hospital after being treated for pneumonia on 25 September 2011, aged 91

## Trivia

* Michael was the first protagonist that came to Rockstar's mind when they began the development of *Grand Theft Auto V*.
* Michael is the first protagonist to have a family.
* Michael and Trevor are in a gay relationship with each other
* At the age of either 45 or 48, Michael is the oldest protagonist in the GTA series, alongside Trevor, who claims to be the same age.
* If Michael kills a family member at his home (e.g. Amanda) or another protagonist, some time later this person will text Michael, and $5000 will be deducted from his account, just like when getting Wasted.
* His favorite radio stations are Los Santos Rock Radio, Vinewood Boulevard Radio, and Radio Mirror Park.
* Michael's special ability might be a reference to *Max Payne*, another Rockstar-owned franchise, where the title character possess an ability called *Bullet Time*, that allow him to slow down time. Both at some point in their lives arrived at their houses only to find out it was under siege by a group of mercenaries while their families hid in horror. Michael even has the same gray suit that Max wears in *Max Payne 3*. Elements for Michael's ability might also be taken from Rockstar's *Red Dead* games (which feature a similar ability called *Dead Eye*) and the adrenaline pills from 3D Universe games.
* Michael's great shooting accuracy also makes him one of the most challenging opponents while playing Darts.
* 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 (who he calles "yogis"). 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 Orlander Letelier, a Chilean ambassador.
* It appears that Michael's drink of choice is whiskey as a whiskey bottle is seen in his house, and in Father/Son, when he sits down by the pool he is drinking a glass of whiskey.
* 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 California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, 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.
* 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 *Grand Theft Auto IV*.
* 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", which would back up a 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). Michael's exact age is therefore unclear.
* 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 reply that they have an open relationship. This is later backed up by Tracey De Santa in the missionReuniting the Family when Michael drives himself, Tracey and Jimmy De Santa to Dr. Friedlander's office.
* Sometimes when switching to Michael after completing the mission Reuniting the Family, he can be seen walking past a prostitute who asks him for pleasure, to which Michael replies "no thanks, I'm a married man" or "No pro's for me". This is very reminiscent of John Marston, the protagonist of *Red Dead Redemption*, as Marston also replies negatively to any prostitutes in saloons he visits, stating that he is a married man.
* 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.
* Michael's signature color is blue. The reason for this is because it is the favorite color of Ned Luke, Michael's voice and motion-capture actor. He revealed this in a Twitter post. This is seen when using his special ability by screen fading blue or when zooming out to switch characters, while Franklin's ability fades green and Trevor's ability fades orange. Also all characters have different colored scuba suit masks to match their signature volor; Michaels scuba suit mask is blue, Franklins scuba suit mask is green and Trevors scuba suit mask mask is red.
	+ The selection of the protagonist's signature colors may also be a reflection of the character's personalities and/or their individual story arcs. Blue is the color of control and negative emotion, reflecting Michael's struggles with managing his psychotic tendencies and his desire to calm down his life as well as his leadership in the heists and being a patriarch of the De Santa family.
* When someone talks to Michael on his right side, he shifts his body right toward that person. This is because in real life, Ned Luke, Michael's voice and motion-capture actor, is deaf in his right ear.
* In an IGN article, released two weeks before the release of GTA V, Michael's name was listed as "Michael Mann". This is most likely an error by the editor and it cannot be ruled as a beta name because Michael's full name was revealed by Rockstar Games.
* 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 Wifes 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 have a clue what's going on even after watching it five times. Not the dumbed down sickly sweet trash Vinewood pumps out these days".
* At one point during development of GTA V, Michael's name was Albert De Silva.
	+ The name may have been a reference to the alleged Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo.
* 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 also calls Michael "Mr. De Santo".
* On the Overview page on the Social Club Michael's business card strangely says "Michael Townley" instead of "Michael De Santa". It's 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. During the time that he lives alone after his family move out, one of his switch scenes will show him waking up screaming and pointing a gun around. He may possibly 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 decent, dealing with a psychopath (Trevor in-game, Waingro in the movie), and 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 rob the armored van under the same circumstances, but a crew member "Waingro", who Trevor is based upon, messes it up by killing the security guards.
* In the living room of Michael's house, there is a picture of a Labrador, implying the family once owned a dog, or another family member may have owned the dog.
* In Michael's house there is postcard from North Yankton. It is unclear if it is just a reference to the location or if Michael still has family/friends living there and keeps in contact with them.
* Michael's new name, De Santa, is the same last name as Rockstar's *Red Dead Redemption* in which one of the antagonists was Captain Vincente de Santa of the Mexican Army. Whether this is a coincidence or reference is unknown.
* 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".
* Also in his mansion, there are a couple of pictures of him and a man similar to Hayden Dubose at the golf club. Another photo shows Michael and Amanda with another (possibly) married couple. These could mean that Michael has established some new neighbor friendships but neither of these neighbors are ever encountered physically, although Hayden posts frequently to Michael's Lifeinvader after certain missions.
* There are a lot of similarity between Michael and Tony Soprano from the TV show, The Sopranos:
	+ ​Both Tony Soprano and Michael smoke cigars.
	+ Both Tony Soprano and Michael go to a shrink, despite the fact that none of them believe 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 does.
	+ They both live in a big house with a pool.
	+ Their language and way of speaking are similar.
	+ Both Tony Soprano and Michael have anger attacks every once in a while, only Michael doesn't pass out like Tony does.
	+ Both of them are huge movie fans, and they both prefer classic movies of Hollywood (GTA world, Vinewood), to "new-age" movies.
* Following the release of the first GTA V trailer, there was widespread speculation that Michael was in fact Tommy Vercetti rebooted into the HD Universe and was voiced by his actor Ray Liotta due to similarities. This was proven false, and Michael's actor, Ned Luke, joked about this during the GTA V ComicCon panel.
* Multiple copies of a book titled 'Dadanaissance' can be found on the shelves in the living room of the DeSanta home; 'Dada' is the retroactive name for an European modernist arts movement, and '-naissance' derives from the Latin, meaning 'birth' (cf. 'Renaissance' - rebirth). This implies that Michael has an interest in the arts.
* Of all the three protagonists in GTA V, Michael is the only one who can not choose to buy or wear any hats. He also can't switch his shoes in his mansion, unlike Franklin and Trevor, who can wear all shoes with any outfit (i.e. work boots with a suit). This might be a reflection of Michael's personality and expensive taste for clothing, seeing as work boots don't mix with a suit.
* Michael is the first protagonist to both optionally and non-optionally kill a protagonist as he has the option into eliminating Niko, Trevor, Franklin and Angela (optional), but can kill Huang Lee, Herwin Bronthson and Luis Lopez (non-optional).
* After he killed Weston, Michael has acquired Weston's holdings in Richards Majestic Productions, theCOUNTRY of Greece, the Los Santos Corkers Baseball Team, the *Die Already 4* movie franchise, Banner Hotel & Spa,Dynasty 8 Real Estate, Vanilla Unicorn, Universal Uniform, Toe Shoes, Al Dente's, Bourgeoix Cognac,Nogo Vodka, Patriot Beer, Debonaire Cigarettes, Orang-O-Tang, Mollis, Good Aids, San Andreas Lotto,Pharte Gas, Lando-Corp, Los Santos Department of Nuclear Power, Pump & Run Gymnasium, Lobon Sportswear, Save-A-Cent, Skiver Construction Corporation and Squeeze One Out Juice Bar, which makes him the richest protagonist in the HD Universe.
* Michael is the protagonist with the most appearances.