Carl Johnson

CJ is markedly different from the previous playable characters in the Grand Theft Auto series. While Claude and Tommy Vercetti are both depicted as completely heartless and feeling no regret for all of the people that they kill, CJ is depicted as having a considerably less violent personality, occasionally giving his targets a chance to redeem themselves. An example is his failed attempt at convincing Eddie Pulaski to see that he was no more than Tenpenny's pawn in the mission High Noon. Furthermore, CJ displays genuine remorse for having to kill Ryder and Big Smoke, who he considered close friends. However, CJ has no problem with killing members of other gangs, and willfully slaughters any that get in his way of reclaiming Grove Street Family turf or try to sabotage his businesses, though in return, the gangsters are trying to kill CJ also. CJ's naïve personality, face-value interpretations of other characters' responses occasionally leads them to question CJ's intelligence (The Truth, Catalina). Despite his mostly calm nature, CJ has shown a very violent and aggressive side when his family is threatened, as with the mission Deconstruction, where he vowed to teach a lesson to the construction workers who insulted his sister, Kendl, and proceeded to kill them all, including burying the Foreman alive in a portable toilet. CJ, like his brother Sweet, holds a deep seated loyalty towards Grove Street and the hood, as seen in his reaction to the resentful attitude of his friends and siblings early on. Though, towards the end of the game, while Sweet was in prison, and CJ was making progress in San Fierro and Las Venturas, the unattended Grove Street became Ballas turf and was filled with crack dealers. CJ tries to get his brother to abandon the hood for their assets elsewhere, but he is quickly convinced into re-taking the turf and rebuilding the Grove Street Family. Despite his young age, Carl often handles situations in a professional manner. This is shown during the mission The Meat Business when Carl keeps encouraging Ken Rosenberg to calm down and remember that "you're the boss". At the beginning of the game, Carl, much like Sweet, had a very gang-based and ghetto mentality, stubbornly holding to his gangster views and beliefs, such as his unwillingness to "rat" towards the cops, holding onto his "street code" and naïvely believing that other gangsters also held onto them, and using outdated methods to create tools, such as a silencer. Shortly after being exiled from Los Santos, Carl continued to hold onto these beliefs until Cesar Vialpando revealed that Smoke had been a drug dealer for a long time and was transporting drugs from San Fierro, and Kendl noted that Smoke's house was purchased with drug money. However, shortly after his arrival in San Fierro, Carl gradually loses his gang-based mentality and adopts more strategic, intelligent, and cunning viewpoints and mentality. This is demonstrated by planting drugs on a D.A.'s car and reporting to the SFPD, leading The Da Nang Boys away from Chinatown to allow a Triad leader to escape assassination, using stinger traps to steal a car without damaging it, scaring a high-ranking mobster into revealing his identity, planning a major Casino heist in Venturas, saving Madd Dogg's life by using a truck full of crates, leading an all-out assault with the Triads to reclaim Madd Dogg's mansion from the Vagos, and using a SWAT Tank to break into a heavily-protected building. Carl also becomes the successful manager of Madd Dogg, and through his various connections, helps revitalize Madd Dogg's career, further showing Carl's growing mindset and business-like methods.

Appearance: In the Beta Version and in The Introduction, CJ is seen wearing a black hoodie with blue jeans. CJ's default appearance in the final version of the game is a white tank top, with blue jeans and black tennis shoes. He is an African-American with a cesar hairstyle, black hair, brown eyes, a bit of facial hair and a thin body. CJ has been compared to and confused for both his father and his brother Brian, suggesting that CJ bears a great resemblance to both of them. CJ is also stated to have been fatter or more muscular before he left for Liberty City, with his friends stating the east coast "thinned him out". Carl is noticeably short, as the player can see when Carl is standing next to other characters such as Sweet, Big Smoke, Grove Street members, and even Ryder, who has been belittled for his height numerous times. Some mission cutscenes show Carl slightly limping his left foot. This is also notable if the player enters the slow motion cheat twice and watches the sprint animation carefully. CJ can have a large variety of appearances depending on the player. For example, he can wear cheap clothes from Binco or luxury clothes from ZIP. He can be muscular, thin or fat with the use of gyms and restaurants. He can also have different tattoos and hairstyles. Carl was the most customizable protagonist until the release of Grand Theft Auto Online. Another interesting dynamic thing about Carl's appearance is that his quotes depend on his clothing and physical appearance. For example, he will use more slang when dressed in lower-end clothing, speak in a more refined tone when wearing high-end clothes, or even make food-related comments when he is fatter.

Carl "CJ" Johnson was born in Los Santos to Beverly Johnson; in The Introduction, he mentions that he did not know his father. Beverly had four children: Sean, Carl, Kendl, and Brian. Sweet states that Carl was born in the Johnson House, the family's childhood and current home. Old Reece, a family friend and Ganton's local Barber, recalls memories of Carl's father, although Carl tells Joey Leone that he never knew his father, and that Sweet was the "man" of the house but made his life miserable. Carl mentions to Woozie in Amphibious Assault that, when he was swimming as a child, he once got a condom stuck to his face, and that "horror like that stays with you for life". This also explains his fear of swimming.

The Johnson siblings, along with Big Smoke and Ryder, grew up on the same cul-de-sac and were childhood friends. CJ recalls Ryder dealing drugs since he was ten. Sweet became the leader of the Grove Street Families and introduced him, CJ, and possibly Brian into the gang life.

Around 1985, the Grove Street Families were at the height of their power when they first became pressured by Frank Tenpenny, a corrupt police officer of C.R.A.S.H. It's likely that Officer Eddie Pulaski was also serving with Tenpenny at this time. The Grove Street Families went into a decline at some point between 1987 and 1992. Carl's younger brother Brian died in 1987. The cause of his death was never revealed, though it is implied that Carl was present but did not help him, as Sweet laments that Carl "let Brian die". Carl was no longer considered a member of Grove Street and would later have to earn his way back into the gang. Big Smoke also implies that Carl was physically larger during that time, stating that the "East Coast got [him] all thinned out". Following Brian's death, Carl left Los Santos and moved to Liberty City. When he arrived, he began working with Joey Leone, the son of Leone Crime Family Don Salvatore Leone, in the car theft business, as well as other small-time crimes. CJ is the second-in-command of the Los Santos-based street gang, the Grove Street Families, which is led by his older brother, Sean "Sweet" Johnson, and includes his childhood friends Lance "Ryder" Wilson and Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris. Having left his friends and family behind and moved to Liberty City for five years after the death of his younger brother Brian, CJ eventually returns home after learning about the murder of his mother, Beverly Johnson. From there, he works to earn back the trust of his friends and family, restore Grove Street to power, and learn the mysterious circumstances of his mother's death, only to later be betrayed by his friends and forced to flee Los Santos once again. While exiled, however, he makes numerous new friends and allies, becomes successful and wealthy through businesses and assets in both San Fierro and Las Venturas, and eventually returns to Los Santos to reunite with his family, exact revenge on those who wronged him, and reclaim the city for Grove Street. Carl is the son of Beverly Johnson, the younger brother of Sweet, and the older brother of Kendl and Brian. At the very end of the game, Carl is a young and wealthy man. His assets and business interests include the Grove Street Families gang and Madd Dogg's contract in Los Santos, a car garage and several other properties in San Fierro, and shares in the Four Dragons Casino in Las Venturas, as well as the government's $60 million jetpack.