Niko Bellic

"Klošar en. Jebem ti majku! Ta klošarija tle misl da kr use vlada, pizda. Papaki eni."

- Bellic on hobos who try to intimidate him

Nikolai "Niko" Boris Blaž Bellic is a contract hitman from Serbia and the leader of Bellic's Gang and is also an ally of the Ubludskin Family. Niko grew up in Serbia during the harsh times of the Yugoslav wars, which is why he can be seen as such an angry little Balkan man.

Biography
Niko Bellic was born on August 19 1968 in Yugoslavia, present-day Serbia. His mother was a Serbian, Milica Bellic and his father was a Slovene, Boštjan Bellic. His brother was killed in the Yugoslav Wars, and Niko was forced to join the army as a child. Niko was a member of a squad of fifteen other children from his village, and he was trained how to pilot a helicopter and a tank, and the war left him bitter, angry, and pessimistic about life. In 1995, one of his squad members sold out the rest of the squad to the enemy, and all of them but three were killed. Niko, Florian Kravanovič, and Darko Braznev were the only survivors of the ambush by the enemy forces. Niko determined that one of the squad members had sold the rest of the squad out, and sought to put his past behind him by finding them and encountering them. After the war was finished, he was unable to find a job, so he worked with unsavoury criminals in the Adriatic Sea slave trade. He worked alongside Ray Bulgarin in the slave trade as an associate of the Russian Mafia, and smuggled people into Italy. One day, a ship sunk and he had to swim for his life, and Bulgarin was blamed for the loss of his money on the sinking ship. With Bulgarin wanted Niko dead, Niko decided to flee his homeland. Around this time, the FBI began to gather intelligence on his operations in the Adriatic, and began to type files on his criminal activities. His cousin Roman Bellic, who lived in New York City in the United States of America, wrote to him often and told him that he lives in a mansion and has a wealthy lifestyle. Niko decided to pursue the American dream by living with Roman, and decided to immigrate to America, knowing some English from some British hot men in Serbia.

In 2008, he arrived in New York on a cargo ship called "Platypus" along with an Egyptian immigrant, Hossejn Ramzes, after seven months of travelling. He worked on the ship as one of the sailors, and befriended Hossejn, who decided that he would go to Miami instead of New York. When he got out onto the docks of Brooklyn at night, with many other immigrants meeting relatives there, Niko found Roman there waiting for him. Roman was very excited to see his cousin again, although he was very drunk. Niko found that he did not speak much Serbian nor Slovene after ten years of living in America, and Niko decided to speak English to him. He drove Roman back to his apartment in Brighton Beach, where he found out that it was a very poor apartment, not like the mansion and the luxury cars that he talked about, fahing liar. Due to this, Niko became pessimistic about his future in America, but Roman told him to go see him at his cab depot, where he could have a job. Niko lived in the poor apartment from then on, and it became his first American residence.

The next morning Niko became very interested in capitalism and claimed that trough capitalism he will live a great life in a mansion or a castle, and put his pessimism aside for a change, something Flaky refuses to do despite all his wealth and pureness. Niko started to take hit contracts from numerous people in New York, including the Fortunato Regime and Ugo Ubludskin. He was rewarded in bucks for a job-well-done, and soon created his own gang after having enough money to pay his men. The gang consisted of around 60 members and they worked as assassins for hire, store robbers, train robbers and bank robbers. Bellic's group soon became allied greatly to the Ubludskin Family, partially due to Niko's and Ugo's same half-nationality; Slovenian. Bellic currently and finally lives in a mansion in Highbrook with a wife, lots of money and three children. His mansion is highly protected by his gang members. Bellic also works as a citizen for the Ubludskin family.

Quotes
"Revolution is where the young and stupid are tricked by the elites and government into killing each other."

- Niko

"Mamicu ti u jamicu, ti kurba debela!"

- Niko taunting

"Ma dej, KVA JE???! Rt se ti maje, pa Shao Kahn ti ga not daje."

- Bellic bullying some folk around town

"If you want me to kill some ass for you, I'll do it - But you better pay me a lot, k?"

- Niko to his contractors

"Kurc te gleda dol z Bleda, pa tri kepce sladoleda!"

- Bellic

"My gang and yours should be allied due to the great fact we're both half Slovenians. Proud to be a Slav."

- Bellic to Ubludskin

"Ma dej tih bot preden te tkuj prtegnem da še zase navš vedu!"

- Bellic when someone talks too much

"Hey, Roman, sup? Why did you have to lie to me that you live in a mansion? Now I am all pessimistic because of you. Fawk you, Roman."

- Bellic blames Roman for his pessimism

"Jest sm zej končn bogat! Vi pa še kr tle na ulc trošite energiju, popušite kurčinu! Tle zej ko enga majmuna vas bom mučio! To je pr men že uzanec, da vam zjebam državu! Vi tle niste ludeki, ampak pozorište lutaka! Ma kva use vm ni jasn?! Banke, MFF, korporacije ja ropam. Zej bomo pa mi tle kralji ker naše carstvo nikoli nav padlo! Papaki eni majmunski."

- Bellic walkin' 'round town and taunting folk

"Lažnivc jedan ZARUKNEN! BUDALU!! JEDNU!!! PROKLETU!!!! MAMICU TI JEBEM!!!!"

- Bellic's triggerness is off the charge

Personality and traits
"Roman: You're butthurt too much. Niko: I'M NOT FAHAWKING BUTTHURT, YOU FAWKING BUDALJA MAJMUNSKA! ZDONFLI MI TIČA PA CRKNI!!!!"

- Roman saying a fact and Niko responds with triggerness

Niko is very protective of his family and loved ones, particularly his cousin Roman, whom Niko constantly has to worry about due to his gambling habit. Roman has an indiscreet nature of frequently getting the pair into trouble. Niko is withdrawn among strangers, but has good manners, and shows a softer side with love interests. That said, the horrors of war, both witnessed and perpetrated by Niko, have given him a great sense of guilt, and an ambivalence about the value of human life — he warns away pursuers and expresses regret over his past violence, but also feels that killing is all that he can do, readily taking on jobs which necessarily involve murder. Niko is prone to violence after being angered and he has an explosive temper when he is betrayed, manipulated, or his loyalty is questioned, but he is also quick to help the defenceless and unfortunate, even those he merely meets in passing; he apparently possesses a sense of idealism which was wounded by his wartime experiences. Unfortunately, such a split attitude leads to hypocrisy. Niko, for example, appears to genuinely sympathise with the Bulgarin's grief over the demise of one of his brothers, despite having secretly committed that murder himself. This makes it known that Niko is a pessimist.

Niko's bitterness at the murder of his friends during the war has consumed him, and he is unable to let it go, taking on several highly dangerous jobs merely to enable his quest for vengeance. Several of his friends, most notably Roman, urge him to find a new reason to live, and there are many morality choices for Niko to emphasise his trait.

Niko's business-like manner usually leads him to behave more maturely and cautiously than his acquaintances. He has an apparent distaste for illicit drugs. He frequently turns down a drug dealer's offer for marijuana and warns folks about their cocaine habit. He also finds it distasteful to traffic in cocaine and particularly heroin, although this may be due to the heavy jail sentences they attract as much as any moral qualms. He is sceptical of American mainstream culture, which he sees as "shallow" and "hypocritical" and has trouble relating to Roman's fascination with the country. However, he reasons that being in America is far better than back in Serbia due to the country's instability and misery.

Niko also exhibits dislike for American conservative politicians, whom he considers to be hypocrites. An example is Robert Sanders, whom Niko says is a "bullsitther" for giving homophobic speeches and preaching about family values to gain political power when he himself is bisexual. However, a conversation between Niko and Roman reveals he considers himself neither liberal nor conservative, and that the war gave him a highly cynical view of politicians in general and that he is just a capitalist.

Niko has a certain degree of pity for other people, even random strangers, and feels obliged to help others who cannot help themselves. Most of those involve Niko doing jobs for money, particularly one occasion. He is also surprisingly calm when speaking to authority figures, even those as powerful as Donald Trump, whom he simply asks for more money, but Trump answers with a disappointing and frustrating "no". He is usually never emotionally disturbed by anyone besides figures from his past, such as Darko Braznev.

Niko almost always refuses alcohol when it is offered to him (he asks for water mostly).

Niko never hits on female pedestrians, mostly due to the fact he is not as perverted and lustful unlike most other characters.

Trivia

 * Niko is referenced in Scarface: The World is Yours 2. In a conversation, Rafael Jalapeno mentions to Freddy Y. that he knows a criminal named Niko. Y immediately catches on: "I know a Niko too, he lives in New York's Highbrook and speaks some Balkan language." Gomez Gang members look at him surprisingly to which he replies; "Arnold knows him as well, trust me."
 * Based on some of his comments after completing a job which included assassination, Niko seems to thanking his country (Serbia) for doing well on missions.
 * According to some dialogue, many characters think Niko is a sociopath. This however was not proven, but it is debatable because of how Niko - at least when he answers phone calls from Roman - seems to show no remorse whatsoever for all his murders. This is most likely untrue as Niko is shown to have a firm grasp of right and wrong pertaining to some of his more morally questionable actions. It is much more likely that Niko is indifferent to bloodshed given his violent upbringing.
 * Niko had a childhood crush on a girl from his village, named Mila Tadičova. Roman will confirm this during friend activities.
 * Certain right-wingers call Niko a "kebab" multiple times in the GTA games. Kebab is a right-wing term for people from the Balkans or certain Slavs who oppose right-wing ideology.
 * Niko was a reckless driver before he even left his home country, as Roman comments that he is still a crazy driver. When destroying Roman's cab in 2012, Roman joked on how Niko always blows up normal cars but doesn't crash 'the tanks from back home'.
 * In a conversation with Manny Escuella, Niko claims that he stalked a woman in Europe. The reason for this is never stated, but he could've been joking.
 * In Brooklyn, one can find wanted posters for Niko on tables near trailers in the junkyard zones.
 * Niko's favourite bands are Hervardi, Langa, Gregorian and Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
 * After stealing money from the cash registers found in various places around NYC, there will be a delay before Niko says something like "forgive me" for stealing the cash. The same happens after robbing a train or a bank.
 * In Highbrook, surprisingly, a homeless man can be found holding a sign that begs for money and it says that "some Serbian-Slovene guy" robbed him, this is no doubt a reference to Niko, considering the fact he is a Serbian-Slovene and that he lives in Highbrook.
 * Niko, at one point while in US, visited Miami and met with the governor Jackson Borlinghathen who offered him drugs, but knowing Niko, he obviously refused the Borlinghathen's offer.