Tommy Vercetti

Updated 28 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Tommy Vercetti is the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002). A former Forelli family hitman from Liberty City, he is sent to Vice City in 1986 after fifteen years in prison. When a drug deal goes wrong, he builds his own empire and becomes the city's kingpin. Ray Liotta voiced him, making Tommy the series' first speaking lead.

Who is Tommy Vercetti?

Tommy Vercetti is the hero of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the 1980s follow-up to GTA III. He is an Italian-American from Liberty City. As a boy he helped his father, a printing press worker, clean the rollers of the machines. As a teenager he was drawn into the Forelli crime family by Sonny Forelli.

In 1971 Sonny sent him into a trap in the Harwood district. Eleven men were waiting. Tommy killed all of them, and the press called him "The Harwood Butcher". He was convicted of murder. His death sentence was later reduced, likely through Sonny's influence, and he served fifteen years before his release in 1986.

Story of GTA Vice City

Sonny wants Tommy out of Liberty City, so he sends him south to Vice City to oversee a large cocaine purchase. The deal is ambushed. Tommy and the lawyer Ken Rosenberg escape, but the drugs and the Forellis' money are gone, and Sonny wants it back.

Tommy starts digging. He gets help from Rosenberg, the exiled Colonel Juan Cortez, the property developer Avery Carrington and Lance Vance. Lance has his own reason to hunt the culprits: his brother Victor Vance was killed in the ambush. The trail leads to the drug lord Ricardo Diaz. Tommy and Lance kill him, and Tommy takes over his mansion.

From there Tommy builds the Vercetti Gang. He buys up businesses across the city, from a film studio to a taxi firm, and uses them as fronts. He also stops paying tribute to the Forellis. That decision brings Sonny to Vice City in person.

Tommy plans to pay Sonny off with fake money. Lance betrays him and sides with Sonny. In the shootout at the mansion, Tommy kills both of them. He ends the game as the undisputed boss of Vice City, with Rosenberg at his side.

What happens to Tommy after Vice City?

Tommy does not appear in any later game. He is only mentioned. Wikipedia notes that his partnership with Ken Rosenberg did not last: before 1992, Tommy sent the cocaine-addicted lawyer to a rehab centre in San Andreas and left him there. Ken turns up in that state in San Andreas. A prologue film for San Andreas also shows Ken trying to reach Tommy.

Who voiced Tommy Vercetti?

Ray Liotta, the actor known for Goodfellas, voiced Tommy. Jonathan Sale did the motion capture. It was the first time a GTA protagonist had a real speaking role, and Wikipedia says the writers put a lot of work into how a talking lead should sound.

The sessions were not easy. Liotta said the role was demanding, and director Navid Khonsari found him difficult at times. Liotta recorded while watching blue-screen footage so he could picture the action. The work paid off with awards. He won Best Live Action/Voice Male Performance at the 2003 G-Phoria Awards and Best Performance by a Human at the 2003 Spike Video Game Awards.

Personality and influences

Critics saw Tommy as short-tempered but charming. He is often compared to Tony Montana from Scarface (1983), and his partnership with Lance draws on the pairing of Crockett and Tubbs in Miami Vice. Writer Dan Houser described him as strong, dangerous and patient, a man who waits for his moment.

Reception and legacy

Reviewers in 2002 widely found Tommy more engaging than the silent Claude of GTA III. Edge said he "sweats charisma". The Telegraph later called him the most amoral protagonist in the series. In 2022, TheGamer ranked him the greatest GTA protagonist and described him as the series' first fully formed character.

Tommy also set the template for later leads such as Carl Johnson and Niko Bellic: a criminal with a voice, a past and a clear goal. The new Vice City of GTA VI is a modern take on the same Miami-inspired setting; see our GTA 6 Vice City guide.