Franklin Clinton

"I sound like somebody tryin' to make some paper and not get killed."

―Franklin

{{Template:Infobox Rockstar character |name = Franklin |image = Franklin_Artwork.jpg |aka = F |games = Grand Theft Auto V |gender = Sex change |status = Alive |born = March 23, 1988 |birthplace = South Los Santos |affiliations = Lamar
Families
Michael (GTA V)
Trevor Phillips |business = Drug Dealing, selling his body for money(formerly)
Vehicle Repossession
Armed Robbery |location = Los Santos |weapons = Player's choice

Franklin Clinton is a character in the Grand Theft Auto (series) and is one of the three playable characters of Grand Theft Auto V.

Background

Early Life

Franklin is known to have a rough background that was steeped in street hustling and gang violence (Grove Street Families vs Ballas). He was born in South Los Santos, he never had a family, money, or an education to rely on. As Franklin grew older, he began to deal drugs, but was arrested and soon served a stint in prison. Upon his release, Franklin decided to let the drug dealing life go. While Franklin was still young, he became friends with Lamar, who is a funny lunatic.

Franklin and Lamar then began working for an Armenian scam artist by the name of Simeon Yetarian, who owns a luxury car dealership - which is a base for a loan-sharking operation. The idea is simple: they lend people money at exorbitant interest rates (25%) to purchase luxury cars, but once they start to default on their car payments, Franklin and Lamar step in to play the role of the grim repo men and repossess the vehicles from their owners. Franklin can also be found hustling on the streets of South Los Santos now and then.

Events Of GTA V

But as time moves on, Franklin is tired of being stuck in the ghetto, and as new illegal opportunities and challenges come his way, he is very eager to take them on just to get him out of the world of street crime he grew up in. This is when he meets Michael during one of his repo jobs. Both men did a job together and after that job Michael saw potential in Franklin. This leads to Franklin joining Michael and his dangerous and sociopathic friend named Trevor in a series of heists through out Los Santos.

But as Franklin beings his ambitious rise from the hood, he’s stuck between the allure (charm or tempt) of two worlds, and his idiotic neighborhood friends will attempt to bring him back into the world of gangbanging and low life crime that he's been trying so hard to escape from.

Development of Franklin

Rockstar's idea when creating Franklin was a street hustler in the modern world in which the glory-days of gang-banging had long since passed. The question they ask themselves was, in Dan Houser's words: "When some of the illusions of this life have been shattered, what do you do now having been in that world?" Franklin will also have more ties to a "traditional GTA protagonist" then Michael or Trevor.

Appearance

Franklin is a African American male, with black hair and either black or brown eyes. He has a light brown skin-tone, his face is somewhat squared and he has a cleft chin. Just like Michael and Trevor, Franklin's movement and appearance in the game will show how different he is from the other two protagonist in the game. Franklin appears as a broad and strong unit and he has a sharp muscular physique, which may have been earned from his time in prison. His movement in the game represents a young and hip black male.

Personality

Franklin is a person who wants to succeed by getting a clear idea of life, and his only way to do this is by escape the world of street crime he grew up in. This makes him a highly ambitious to a fault and very eager to take on new illegal challenges to get money. Franklin also appears to have a flashy and smart personality, since his job has him rolling around in seized, luxury sports cars that appeal to this.

Dan Houser's Take on Franklin

"Franklin was the idea of this street hustler in the modern world where the glory days – if there ever were glory days of gang banging – had long since passed. When some of the illusions of this life have been shattered, what do you do now having been in that world? That seemed like an interesting character; a guy in his mid-to-late 20s who wants to move forward but doesn't really know how and is being held back by some of his more idiotic and dangerous friends."

"The idea with Franklin was someone stepping outside their comfort zone and their normal way of doing things, because that way, even though they're still in their mid-20s or whatever, that hasn't worked. That world that they thought they'd be in and be able to make a success of has, thanks to the modern world or the changes in the economy or whatever it is, just failed. It doesn't really exist. They're now looking for something new. A new opportunity. They've gotten their qualifications and gotten all their experience and all they're good at is driving and robbing. How do actually go forward and who do you get to a kind of mentor you? That was a good contrast. The gang-banger in the post-gang-banging world."

Relationship With Other Characters

• Michael - After Franklin had a chance encounter with Michael after one of his repo jobs and even completed a job with him, both men grew a father-son relationship for one another. This because Franklin never really had a family of his own and saw Michael as a person with more professional skills and as a real criminal that could mentor him in the real life of crime. Franklin was also a contrast to Michael; Franklin being the guy on the up contrast to Michael who was the guy on the down. What's even more interesting is that both men will be mentoring each other; while Michael mentors Franklin in being a high profile criminal, Franklin will mentor Michael in life.
• Trevor Phillips - Trevor and Franklin's first meeting was nowhere near perfect, as Trevor was cautious of the new recruit and even insulted Franklin and Michael for their father-son relationship. Trevor was eventually able to put his trust into Michael's judgement of Franklin and the two were able to finally get along. It was said by Dan Houser himself though that Trevor puts a hence in Franklin's life.
• Lamar - Franklin's relationship with Lamar is a bit unsettle, as Lamar is that maniac who is very funny but dangerous as well and he is known to be one of the main people holding Franklin back in becoming a professional career criminal. Dan Houser described Lamar and Franklin's other friends as clowns who always get into trouble.
• Simeon Yetarian - Simeon is an Armenian luxury car salesman, who uses the business as a front for his repo activity. He employs Franklin as his repo-man. It is unknown how is the relationship between them, so far.

Skills and Abilities

Franklin is the young a capable one of the bunch and will provide the team with a level of physical prowess that both Michael and Trevor lack themselves. It is unknown how well Franklin can handle himself in hand-to-hand combat, but during shootouts, he'll stay in cover and take potshots on his enemies. This comes from his times when he would have a gang shootout against the Ballas.

Special Qualities

• Players will be able to customize Franklin with clothes, tattoos and haircuts that will fit his personality, (meaning players can't have Franklin purchase clothes, haircuts or tattoos that will make him look out of character).
• The damage on Franklin will appear in real-time depending on the injuries he can receive. This also goes for Michael and Trevor.
• In addition to each of three characters having skills that improve over the course of time, each of the three playable protagonists has a unique special ability that can help get players out of a tough situations. Since Franklin is an adrenaline junkie, his special ability is slowing down time whilst driving to help him take tight turns at high speeds.
• Franklin's time on the streets of South Los Santos has turn him into an accomplished driver. This means that at the start of Grand Theft Auto V, Franklin will always be the best driver despite the ability to raise skill levels.

Mission Appearances

• Since Franklin is one of the three playable characters in GTA V, he will appear in almost every mission.
• The Extraction
• Blitz Play

Reception

Just like Michael and Trevor, Franklin has gotten a very positive response from critics and fans of the series. One of the reasons being that Franklin wanted to climb the criminal ladder instead of trying to quit the criminal lifestyle once and for all, (which annoyed fans who've stated that it went against what they wanted to do).

Trivia

• Franklin and Victor Vance are the only protagonist in the GTA series that do not have any really serious criminal past life and both men are just beginning there professional criminal careers by the start of there stories.
• Tommy Vercetti, Niko Bellic and Franklin are among the protagonists in the series known to have served a prison sentence. Luis Lopez and Johnny Klebitz have also served time in prison.
• Franklin's first appearance can be seen in the first trailer of GTA V. He is thinner, less muscular and has many tattoos.
• Franklin is the second African-American Protagonist in the entire GTA Series, with the first being Carl Johnson.

Videos

Gallery

Artworks

Franklin in his own artwork.

Screenshots

Franklin in a dirtbike race.

Franklin (on the far right) in the mission The Extraction.

External links

[1] - Check out Franklin on GTA Wikia.