Niko Real Name: Niko Bellic (GTA Character Bio)

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

Quick answer

Niko Bellic is the fictional protagonist of GTA IV (2008), an Eastern European war veteran voiced by Michael Hollick.

Bio

Niko Bellic is the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto IV, set in a redesigned Liberty City in 2008. He's voiced by Michael Hollick, who also performed the character's motion capture, and GTA IV is widely seen as the series' most serious story.

Niko is a veteran of the Yugoslav Wars who arrives in Liberty City from Eastern Europe. His cousin Roman has been sending him emails about the "American Dream," claiming he's living in luxury with women, money and big cars. When Niko arrives, he finds that Roman actually runs a small cab firm, is buried in gambling debts and owes money to dangerous people.

Niko came to America with his own agenda. He's looking for the man who betrayed his army unit during the war, an ambush that killed most of his friends. That search for revenge runs through the whole game, and it's what makes Niko a darker and more thoughtful character than earlier GTA leads.

In Liberty City, Niko does jobs for a long list of criminals, including Russian mobsters, Irish gangsters, Jamaican dealers, the Mafia and government agents. He's skilled and dangerous, but he's also tired of killing, and he often talks about how his past haunts him. GTA IV also lets players shape his story with a few major choices, including a moral choice that decides one of two endings.

Niko's story is a critique of the American Dream: a man who came for a new life and found the same violence he left behind. Fans and critics praised Michael Hollick's performance.

Niko is fictional, but the GTA IV credits list Michael Hollick for the role.