Michael De Santa

Michael is muddled, even confused, by his "good and evil" personalities. He spends an unusual amount of time in his head, where he can comfortably think or reminisce about certain things or aspects that give him a brief moment of nostalgia from his glory days. Nevertheless, it also constrains him into a world of wistfulness and bewilderment as he ponders why things aren't going in the direction he planned. Michael is obsessed with materialistic appearance and images, making it the main reason he dreamt of living out his "Vinewood Dream" with his family. He claims to Franklin that he has lived a repeated pattern of "Chase things, get em', hate em'.".

Michael holds a deep-seated amount of self-hatred, due to him wanting to live a false lifestyle, rather than coming to the conclusion that his troubling mistakes have brought a great deal of misfortune upon himself, his family, and old friends and associates of his (his agreement with the FIB is a prime example). The self-hatred gives him an exceptionally short temper that he does not know how to control, which fills him with rage and causes him to not think at times. One example is when he caught Amanda having an affair with her tennis coach, Kyle Chavis. He chases Kyle to a mansion and pulls it down a hillside believing that it belonged to him, despite Chavis himself stating that it was far too expensive for him to own on his tennis coach salary. Sarcasm is something that Michael firmly grasps because of his self-hatred, as he does not know how to respond to his family or friends properly at times without it. He indicates this in the mission Paleto Score Setup, where he proclaims that sarcasm is one of the only things he has left in this world that cannot be taken away from him.

Michael is a highly egotistical and narcissistic person. He only shows concern about the issues he is being pulled through instead of the situations he constantly puts his family or friends through. He will often get unfairly defensive when someone rightfully criticizes him. A case in point of this wrongdoing is shown in one of the many heated arguments he has with his wife, Amanda. At the start of "Fame or Shame", she castigates him for not giving her any support in raising their children and only wanting to cater to himself by Getting drunk, or you're staring miserably at the clouds, or you're out there doing God only knows what. He responds with the fact that he, Pulled you out of a midwestern trailer park, got you a big mansion in Rockford Hills, and that the only thing she'll have to worry about is What part of your body you want to have chopped off or sucked out again. Another instant is in the same mission, where Trevor chides him for letting Tracey humiliate herself on public television the way she did and labeling it as Poor parenting. Michael responds defensively, Yeah, thanks for the fucking feedback. It means a lot coming from you. The same goes for Lester and Franklin as well. During Predator, Trevor criticizes Michael for instantly thinking about himself, claiming it is "typical" of him. During The Paleto Score, Michael argues with Trevor over the latter's kidnap of Patricia Madrazo, resulting in their exile in Sandy Shores to avoid the wrath of her husband Martin. Michael complains that Trevor is not making his situation any easier, with Trevor again criticizing Michael for only thinking about himself. At the beginning of The Bureau Raid (Fire Crew entry), when Lester is explaining the plan to Michael, Michael describes it as "a bit idiotic". Lester explains that he tried his best and that Michael chose this method. He then claims that Trevor "has a point" about Michael "whining too much", to which Michael responds by giving Lester the finger. At the beginning of the Roof Entry setup for the same mission, Lester continuously reproaches Michael for his constant bickering about the former, managing to still stay calm and collected as they prepare to pull off a dangerous raid on one of the most secure buildings in the country. Michael gets annoyed that he refuses to give Lester's cane back to him unless he retracts everything he stated previously. Lester does so reluctantly. When Michael tries to pull the same bickering move on Franklin, the latter fires back at him with irritation, leaving Michael to apologize for not noticing how self-absorbed he's been.