What If Claude from GTA 3 Talked and Had a Voice Actor? GTA 3 Alternate Universe Concept - Introduction

 

The "beta" model of Claude in GTA III, which was used in promotional images for the game and in the bank robbery cutscene in the game's introduction. In this concept, this is what Claude Speed would have looked like for the whole game. Source: GTA Wiki (Fandom)

When I first played Grand Theft Auto III back in 2004, I was always bothered by the fact that Claude in the game was not only a mute protagonist, but his face always struck me as dumbly designed (and it wasn't what he looked like in some of the promotional images for the game (which are even on the back of the box art for the game and in the manual) - talk about false advertising!). It also didn't help that GTA Vice City was the first 3D GTA I played where Tommy Vercetti is a talking protagonist (RIP Ray Liotta - he did a hell of a job with the character and put forth a legendary performance in the process even though he had voiced disdain about working with Rockstar Games). As I played more and more of GTA 3 (along with all the other GTA games that came out since GTA 3's release date and before – GTA 2 is my favorite GTA game), I've matured over the years and I've come to terms with Claude being a silent protagonist. I also figure Rockstar Games "dumbed down" Claude's final facial model as Claude in the PS2 promotional images looked like a "talking protagonist" as opposed to their vision for a "strong, silent killer" that they were aiming for.

However, I've also pondered this distinct possibility: what if Claude was the first talking protagonist in the Grand Theft Auto series instead of Tommy Vercetti in GTA Vice City? While Grand Theft Auto III was revolutionary in the video game industry for its open-world sandbox design and you'd have to go back to the arcades of the 1980s (Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, etc.) to get an idea of the last time video games had helped define pop culture (and GTA 3 would itself open the door for inspired mass media, fandoms and in-universe explanations for media of all forms since, not just video games), the writing and story/plot/characters could have been a lot more transparent and clear. Having a silent protagonist, given the purposes of the story and game world, strongly inhibited the game's plot. There are many video games where a silent protagonist works (and GTA 3 was made at a time where silent protagonists were the norm, not the exception), but GTA 3's story was barely cohesive with the absence of a talking protagonist. Had Claude talked, not only would the story been more clear and dynamic, he would have brought even more life to a game world that was clearly lacking this element – it was the missing piece to what could have been a true masterpiece of the genre. While I understand that GTA fans (generally) believe that Claude's "actions speak louder than words" persona made him stand out from the rest of the characters in GTA 3 (and arguably from all other GTA protagonists since 3, even though the 2D GTA protagonists were silent, though this was legitimate due to the design of the 2D games), I must disagree with the notion that it was unnecessary for Claude to talk simply because this had sharply hindered the development of his character and story. 

Had Rockstar/DMA deigned to take matters into their own hands and properly craft the lead character, simply put, the story would've been more crystal clear. I can see where at one point the direction of the GTA III team at Rockstar/DMA Design was to simply convert the 2D Claude Speed character from GTA 2 to a 3D Universe realm instead of going for a completely different model, but a new character model was going to be created for the "new" Claude anyway as GTA 3's Claude doesn't really look that much alike GTA 2's Claude Speed (considering face models (both GTA 3's beta and final build and the platform variations, and concept artwork – hell even Scott Maslen as Claude Speed in the GTA 2 promotional film looks (and acts) considerably different from GTA 3's Claude). The GTA 3 Design Document also shows there were planned lines for Claude to speak at one point during the game's development, but Rockstar/DMA gave up later on. So the argument that Claude was never intended to speak at any one point in the development of GTA 3 just falls flat on its face. And I also don't buy the idea that Rockstar intended for players to "relate" to Claude by making him a silent protagonist, as they did quite the opposite in fact. Every GTA protagonist that the series has had since have more defined motives, whereas Claude is simply a bystander whose decisions are based purely on trite motives. And therefore, people were quick to forget about Claude once Vice City came out. Enough ranting – I aim to fix all of this, one way or another.

So... in this concept, Claude is here forth known as Claude Speed (the 3D Universe rendition) and is not the same character as Claude Speed in GTA 2. Claude's personality would be brash, confrontational and foul-mouthed, and also sarcastic, witty and (surprisingly) down-to-earth with some of the characters he meets in Liberty City, and he would be similar to Tommy Vercetti, Toni Cipriani (both in GTA 3 and Liberty City Stories), Niko Bellic, Michael De Santa and Trevor Philips. With all that in mind, I did some research on who would be an ideal fit to voice Claude Speed in GTA 3 for this concept, and I decided that Jason Mewes (of Jay & Silent Bob fame) would be the actor who plays Claude in GTA 3.

Jason Mewes, who voices Claude Speed in Grand Theft Auto III in this concept.

Mewes (who was 27 at the time GTA III came out) would have Claude's voice sound like the in-between of Tommy Vercetti and Toni Cipriani (as portrayed by Danny Mastrogiorgio in GTA LCS). Also, in this concept, some of the iconic lines said by other characters in GTA 3 (as we know it to be in our world) would be said by Claude Speed instead to help establish the character.

I'll be throwing the script for GTA 3 up on this blog very soon, and I invite everyone reading this to consider the prospect of a talking protagonist for GTA 3 as I strongly believe that the script I've cooked up would be what the story needed all along, as Rockstar/DMA Design had (in my view) very carelessly approached the concept of creating the main character by feebly attempting to transition the spirit of the 2D GTA protagonists into a 3D realm and then juxtaposing a story that required more out of its lead character than what was actually crafted. Since Rockstar/DMA Design failed to deliver on making a truly immersive game world by deciding to cut off the idea of Claude having any dialogue or discernable personality, I hope my concept will accomplish the goal of making Claude a much more memorable protagonist instead of being a rather generic goon who was overshadowed by literally everyone and everything else in the game.

"But DimitriFaustin, the whole script would have to be re-written!" I hear many a fellow GTA fan cry. So I did – I worked on this script beginning in 2014 and finished it in 2024, and honestly, it wasn't difficult at all to re-write the script apart from a couple of missions. I also took hints from the GTA 3 Design Document to help influence my own re-writing of the script. The script will be divided into 5 parts: Part I (Introduction/Give Me Liberty - Last Requests), Part II (Sayonara Salvatore - A Drop In The Ocean), Part III (Grand Theft Aero - The Exchange), Part IV (Claude Speed's gameplay dialogue and quotes) and a special final part.

"But DimitriFaustin, aren't you proving the creators right that re-tooling the script would basically be just your own interpretation of the character, since it was their intention that anyone could intrepret Claude however they wished?" While I will concede this (and, like I've said earlier, I've accepted the game how it is for what it is), I maintain my viewpoint that GTA 3 could've been much more immersive and that Claude having a voice actor and dialogue was the missing piece.

"But DimitriFaustin, since your favorite GTA is GTA 2, you are aware that the protagonists of the 2D GTA games are silent protagonists, too, right?" Technical limitations of the 2D games forced this, and back then there wasn't a focus on the story and plot, which GTA 3 changed, thus allowing for the protagonist to be simply the player's avatar. The immersive experience was in the setting and in the missions of the 2D GTAs, so my argument that GTA 3 (which began the series' evolution into being more story-driven) required a more dynamic lead character than the generic, voiceless goon we got instead remains valid.

So... was Rockstar/DMA Design's ultimate decision to make Claude a "strong, silent killer" a wise and effective one? Or was it a cop out and a disservice to the character and story? Obviously, I fall into the latter camp, but anyone reading this can decide for themselves whether or not this gambit bode well for all intentions and purposes. I just wanted to explore the idea of Claude being a talking protagonist, both for objective reasons and for my own personal satisfaction.

Enjoy...

NOTE: Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto III, the Grand Theft Auto III logo, and the character model of Claude © by Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Games and DMA Design/Rockstar North. I am not affiliated with Rockstar Games, Rockstar North or Take-Two Interactive in any way.

Update (November 25, 2025): Here are the links to the script for GTA 3 in this alternate universe.

Part I: https://dimitrifaustin.blogspot.com/2025/11/gta-3-alternate-universe-concept-script.html

Part II: https://dimitrifaustin.blogspot.com/2025/11/gta-3-alternate-universe-script-part-ii.html

Part III: https://dimitrifaustin.blogspot.com/2025/11/gta-3-alternate-universe-script-part.html

Part IV: https://dimitrifaustin.blogspot.com/2025/11/gta-3-alternate-universe-script-part-iv.html

Part V: https://dimitrifaustin.blogspot.com/2025/11/jason-mewes-as-claude-speed-claudes.html

And, here's a link to the GTA 3 Design Document on GTAForums. This design document proves that Rockstar/DMA Design at one point had planned for Claude to be a speaking protagonist, but later (for reasons unknown) abandoned the idea.

https://gtaforums.com/topic/991814-gta-3-design-document-itemized-from-gtaseriesvideos-video/

That design document was also covered by GTA-Series-Videos, a big shout out to their channel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUI0moGiNuw

Another YouTube video I credit for helping to inspire this concept:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00M-2y9Ikgc