CJ Real Name: Carl Johnson (GTA Character Bio)

Fictional character. Carl Johnson is a fictional character from Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series. They're not a real person.

Quick answer

CJ's real name is Carl Johnson. He's the fictional protagonist of GTA: San Andreas (2004), voiced by Young Maylay.

Bio

Carl "CJ" Johnson is the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, set in 1992, and for many fans he's the series' most iconic lead. He's voiced by the rapper Young Maylay, and that's his credit in the official game credits.

CJ grew up on Grove Street in Los Santos, a fictional version of Los Angeles, as part of the Grove Street Families gang. Five years before the game starts, he left for Liberty City after the death of his younger brother Brian. The game begins when he comes home for his mother's funeral after she's killed in a drive-by shooting.

Within minutes of arriving, CJ is stopped by corrupt C.R.A.S.H. officers Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski, who frame him for a murder and force him to work for them. CJ then reunites with his brother Sweet, his sister Kendl, and his friends Big Smoke and Ryder, and he sets out to rebuild the Grove Street Families.

San Andreas is huge, and CJ's journey goes far beyond Los Santos. He's driven out into the countryside, then to San Fierro and Las Venturas. Along the way, he works for and with the mysterious agent Mike Toreno, the hippie Truth, Woozie's Triads and Cesar Vialpando, and he builds a business empire that includes a garage, a casino stake and a record deal for rapper Madd Dogg.

CJ's story is about loyalty, betrayal and coming home. His friends and family turn on him, and he has to decide who he really is. He's also more customizable than earlier leads: players can change his body, hairstyle, clothes and skills.

CJ is fictional, but his character, the 1990s West Coast setting and Young Maylay's performance made San Andreas a defining game of its era.