Tommy Vercetti

"Wait, Sonny. You have my personal assurance you're gonna get your money back, and the drugs. And I'm gonna mail you the dicks of those responsible!"

―Tommy Vercetti

Thomas "Tommy" Vercetti is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (set in 1986) and mentioned in The Introduction, a prequel of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (set in 1992), and in the game itself during the mission The Meat Business.

Tommy is a former member of the Forelli Family, and the leader of the Vercetti crime family, based out of Vice City.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Thomas Vercetti was born in Liberty City in 1951. His father owned a printing shop and as a boy Tommy helped him by cleaning the rollers. He had planned to follow in his father's footsteps, but in his own words, chose a different life. Dialogue spoken by Tommy while fleeing police indicates that he had a bad relationship with his mother.

Early 1970's[]

At some point prior to 1971, Tommy joined the Forelli Family. He continued to work with the Forelli Family, making his way up the ranks and, presumably, becoming a made man. In 1971, Sonny Forelli, growing apprehensive of Tommy's increasing power, attempted to set up an ambush for him, under the guise of a hit in Harwood. However, Tommy not only survived, but killed all eleven men sent to kill him. He was arrested and convicted of eleven counts of murder, but since he kept quiet and turned no evidence on the Forelli Family, they used judicial connections to spare him the death penalty or life imprisonment. Tommy remained in prison for fifteen years, never informing the LCPD of any Forelli Family secrets.

1986[]

In 1986, Tommy was released from prison after Sonny "pulled some strings". Sonny decides to send Tommy to Vice City, realizing that he is too well known in Liberty City; Sonny also wants to become involved in the drug trade. Tommy flies to Vice City along with Harry and Lee, meeting Ken Rosenberg at the airport, before immediately driving to a drug deal at the docks. The drug deal turns into an ambush, and Harry, Lee, and one of the drug dealers are killed. Only Tommy, Ken, and the other dealer escape the attack.

Tommy informs Sonny of the ambush and is reminded that Sonny is "not a man to be screwed with; Sonny makes it clear he wants his money and his drugs back. Tommy initially works for Ken, starting riots and intimidating jurors. While working for Ken, Tommy also meets Lance Vance, the other dealer, who seeks revenge for his brother who was killed during the initial drug deal. Tommy also works for Juan Cortez, an intermediary for the drug deal, who begins to look into the ambush for Tommy. Meanwhile, Cortez has Tommy steal missile technology chips and kill Gonzalez, who had talked about the deal.

Cortez, believing that Ricardo Diaz was responsible for the ambush, asks Tommy to act as protection for Diaz in a deal with the Cubans. The Haitians, enemies of the Cubans, ambush the deal, but are killed by Tommy and Lance. Diaz, seeing potential in Tommy and Lance, hires them to kill gang members who were stealing his money and steal the fastest boat in the city in order to purchase drugs from a dealer on a boat. Lance eventually attempts to kill Diaz for the death of his brother, but is captured by Diaz's men, though he is later freed by Tommy. The two subsequently go on to take revenge, killing Diaz in his own mansion.

The death of Ricardo Diaz brings change to Vice City, allowing Tommy and Lance to step in and continue the crime ring established by Diaz. Tommy, however, begins to look beyond the protection rackets established by Diaz and purchases a number of businesses around the city, most prominently the Malibu Club, the Cherry Popper Ice Cream Factory (a front for a drug running business), InterGlobal Films and the Print Works. After purchasing each business, Tommy helps establish their influence in the city. During this time, Tommy also begins to work for a number of smaller time criminals in the city, including the Cuban leader Umberto Robina and the Haitian leader Auntie Poulet (due to her drugging him), helping both sides attack the other. He also works for Avery Carrington's real estate business, Phil Cassidy's gun running business, Mr. Black's hitman business, Mitch Baker's biker gang, and Kent Paul's management of Love Fist. Tommy also went on to help Juan Cortez escape the city when the GIGN assault his yacht for the missile technology.

Sonny Forelli, growing restless and impatient, sends some of his men to collect some of his money from Tommy's businesses. Tommy kills the collectors, although not in time to save Earnest Kelly, the owner of the Print Works, from being injured. Tommy decides to give Sonny fake money printed at the Print Works. Tommy meets Sonny in person at his estate to give him the counterfeit cash, but Sonny informs him that Lance has sided with him, betraying Tommy. A gun battle ensues, with Tommy killing both Lance and Sonny, who also confirms Tommy's suspicion that he was set up in Harwood. Following the deaths of Lance and Sonny, Tommy and Ken take over, becoming the most powerful men in Vice City.

Life After 1986[]

Tommy Vercetti continued to run the criminal underworld of Vice City after 1986; during that time, Tommy's relationship with Ken became increasingly strained due to Ken's cocaine addiction. Tommy eventually got Ken into rehab at the Fort Carson Medical Center in Fort Carson, San Andreas. Although Ken completed rehab and got clean of his addiction, Tommy refused to speak to him following this and essentially cut all ties.

Tommy is mentioned by Ken in the mission The Meat Business in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, leading Carl Johnson to question, "Who the fuck is Tommy?". Rosenberg also calls Vercetti at the introduction video of the aforementioned game, this was also the moment where Rosenberg discovers that Vercetti was ignoring him.

Trivia[]

Tommy is the first GTA protagonist in the series who can actually talk, but he is the only one to not use the f-word.
Along with Claude, Toni Cipriani, Victor Vance, and Carl Johnson, Tommy's name appears on graphitti writing on some walls in Grand Theft Auto IV, in a message saying "remember tommy u r still my hero", while other messages say stuff like "R.I.P Claude" and "R.I.P Toni". This shows that the protagonists died sometime before or in 2008. However, it is unknown if this is canon with the 3D Universe (except for Victor, who did have a canon death).