CJ

CJ

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 back 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. 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.

sweet Johnson

Sweet is the leader of the Grove Street Families gang, which is based in Ganton, Los Santos. He is the eldest child of Beverly Johnson and the elder brother of Carl, Kendl, and Brian. Sweet is also shown to have an unnamed girlfriend in two missions. Background Sweet was born to Beverly Johnson and an unnamed father in Los Santos. He was later present at the births of his three younger siblings, Carl, Kendl, and Brian. Carl described Sweet as "the man of the house", since they barely knew their father. Sweet was also often bringing necessary money to the family through robbing other people. After 1987, Sweet became the leader of the Grove Street Families and recruited Big Smoke. Later on, Ryder and Carl joined the gang. Sweet's youngest brother Brian died in an accident, which Sweet blamed on Carl; this resulted in Carl leaving for Liberty City. Sweet then moved out into his own house, two doors down from his childhood home. As stated by Big Bear during a deleted dialogue between himself and CJ, after Brian's death and CJ's departure, Sweet became a "hard man to be with", and when the Seville Boulevard and Temple Drive sets split up from the Grove, Sweet did nothing about this, which was one of the major factors in Big Bear's defection, and Grove Street's loss of power and influence. Throughout the game, Sweet is seen to have two different girlfriends, one of which Carl saved. However, since Sweet shows little to no attention when Carl throws his girl out near the end of the game, it is implied that Sweet and her are not in a relationship and he only has one girlfriend.

kendl Johnson

Kendl is CJ and Sweet's younger sister, and the older sister of the late Brian Johnson. Their mother is Beverly Johnson (who dies just before the game begins). She is also Cesar Vialpando's girlfriend, and therefore affiliated with both Cesar's Varrios Los Aztecas and the Grove Street Families. After learning about Big Smoke and Ryder's betrayal, CJ requests that Cesar bring Kendl to safety by fleeing from Los Santos. Later in the storyline, Cesar pondered proposing to Kendl but the question of whether Kendl accepted or not remains unanswered. Kendl is depicted as intelligent and pragmatic which suggests that although her brothers turned to crime as a last resort to support themselves, Kendl could become successful within the bounds of the law which makes her the "brains" of CJ's business ventures. She possesses entrepreneurial talents, strong willpower, creativity, and a sense of leadership. In fact it was Kendl who came up with the idea of "Letting money work for you" and when CJ responded with, "I ain't going to no college man", she shot back that she will take care of it. She has little tolerance for whining or complaining or complacency which causes CJ and others to regard her as a bit bossy. This is exemplified in the mission Zeroing In, when she discovers everyone sitting around playing poker and chastises them questioning if that was how they would build their business.

big smoke

Big Smoke was a high-ranking member of the Grove Street Families who later defected to the Ballas, and made clandestine deals with the Los Santos Vagos and Russian Mafia, eventually becoming the most powerful crook in the criminal underworld of Los Santos. Big Smoke makes multiple references to his desire to be remembered after his death. Big Smoke appears to speak some Spanish, as seen in the mission Running Dog. He tries to get weed from some Vagos members and after being cursed at, he threatens one of the Vagos members who then responds with "Chinga a tu madre, pendejo" which roughly translates as "Fuck your mother, asshole". His favorite radio station is Bounce FM.Big Smoke was born in Los Santos, likely in Ganton due to his close relationship with Sweet and Carl Johnson, and he later joined the Grove Street Families. He rose through the ranks of the gang until he became Sweet's right-hand man, Carl's departure in 1987 following his brother's death helped Smoke and Sweet develop a closer relationship. Big Smoke quotes from the Bible on many occasions, hinting that he may be religious, though Carl claims he's "still talking shit."

Cesare

Little is known about Cesar's life prior to 1992, though at an unknown point in time he joined the Varrios Los Aztecas, a Hispanic street gang, eventually working his way up to become the leader. Cesar also began a relationship with Kendl Johnson, to the disapproval of her brother Sean, the leader of the Grove Street Families. Cesar displays excellent driving skills, especially when it comes to lowriders. During Customs Fast Track, Cesar reveals that he is acrophobic. Cesar first meets Carl Johnson at a lowrider competition. Despite Carl's initial distrust of Cesar, the two eventually form a close friendship and a working relationship between their two gangs, wherein they realize their common ground: opposition to the drug trade in Los Santos. With his newfound friendship with CJ and the Grove Street Families, Cesar does his duty to help them find justice for the drive-by shooting that killed Beverly Johnson. He began investigating the incident and found traces of its planning and execution. As CJ leads the Grove Street in a retaking ambush, Cesar calls him for a meeting at Verdant Bluffs, informing him of the evidence on the drive-by, which the former agrees. Inside a heavily-tinted Bravura, they spy on a Ballas hideout where CJ is horrified upon witnessing Ryder and Big Smoke's betrayal to the Ballas and C.R.A.S.H. head Frank Tenpenny. Cesar adds to the horror by pointing out Tenpenny's right-hand Eddie Pulaski reversing a green-colored Sabre car, which CJ realizes to be the same vehicle that was used in the shooting. Although CJ thanks Cesar for the investigation, he realizes that Sweet and Families are heading for a trap, ordering Cesar to keep Kendl safe, which Cesar agrees to. Like Carl, Cesar and Kendl were forced to leave Los Santos after the incident and his gang's influence in the city diminished sharply. While in exile, he gets Carl into some grief by introducing him to his cousin, Catalina. After arriving in San Fierro, he and Carl cooperate to get reve

Ryder

Ryder is a high-ranking member of the Grove Street Families who later joined forces with the Ballas, Vagos and C.R.A.S.H. Ryder is a drug user, something known by both Sweet and Carl, and he can usually be seen with or searching for his 'water', which is in fact PCP mixed with cannabis. During the mission Home Invasion he can be seen frantically searching for it in his garden, having already dug numerous holes with a shovel. Ryder's short stature is often commented on by many characters, with Kendl, Cesar Vialpando and a Well Stacked Pizza Co. employee (among others) calling Ryder a 'midget'. Ryder was born in Los Santos, most likely in Ganton due to his close relationship with Sweet and Carl Johnson. Ryder was expelled from high school for assaulting a teacher who was wearing Ballas colors, although Ryder claims he was 'too intelligent' for school. It is also revealed that Ryder has been a drug dealer since the age of ten. At an unknown point in time, Ryder joined the Grove Street Families street gang, eventually rising through the ranks of the gang until becoming one of Sweet's closest allies, being helped by the departure of Carl Johnson in 1987 following his brother's death. The Grove Street Families, however, began to lose influence, power and money to their arch rivals, the Ballas, due to their stance against the sale of drugs, which was fueling the Ballas rise to prominence. Big Smoke attempted to convince Sweet about the benefits of selling drugs but failed, later meeting Ryder in his house where he convinces him to join his newly formed alliance with the Ballas. The alliance is later expanded to include the Los Santos Vagos and Russian Mafia, while another was established with the Loco Syndicate, who began supplying the new alliance with drugs from their base in San Fierro, although they do not realise that an undercover government agent is involved in the operation.

grove street

The Grove Street Families is an African-American street gang and one of the oldest street gangs in Los Santos, San Andreas. They are also the native gang of protagonist Carl Johnson. They are the sworn enemy of the Ballas, an intense and ongoing rivalry as part of the Ballas-Grove Street War. The Families also maintain rivalries with the two Mexican gangs in Los Santos – the Los Santos Vagos and the Varrios Los Aztecas. Their rivalry with the Varrios Los Aztecas is not nearly as intense as it is with the Ballas and Vagos. However, both gangs will still commonly fight. Kendl (sister of Grove Street Leader Sweet and CJ) ends up dating a high-ranking member of the Aztecas while CJ befriends him – much to Sweet's disapproval. Most of their territory can be found in the poorer/run-down neighborhoods in the far east of the city, though they also have small pockets of territory elsewhere – including the rich area of Temple and the popular tourist destination of Santa Maria Beach. They are easily identifiable by their green gang color. They are headed by Sean "Sweet" Johnson and Carl Johnson, as well as former lieutenants and OGs, Lance "Ryder" Wilson and Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris. As far as street gangs in GTA San Andreas go, the GSF are depicted as more honorable than their rival gangs. Coming from a background of older traditions, they are against hard drugs being sold on their turf as opposed to the Ballas and Vagos.[1][2] They are very stubborn and Sweet refuses to adapt to changes in the Los Santos criminal underworld. They are well known, however, for committing numerous other crimes and violent acts including gun running/arms-trafficking, gang-banging, gang warfare, murder, robbery, burglary/theft, gang-related homicide, vandalism, and street violence. GSF members drive the Greenwood, Voodoo, and Savanna. Their favorite radio station is the Radio Los Santos. They also have three different skins that will walk and drive around their territories.

grove street members

Members Sweet (Leader) CJ (Co-leader) Brian Johnson. Big Smoke (Formerly) Ryder (Formerly) B Dup (Formerly) Big Bear. Unnamed betrayer (Formerly)