Who is the silent protagonist of Grand Theft Auto III?

The silent protagonist of Grand Theft Auto III is Claude.

Claude is a small-time criminal who is betrayed and shot by his girlfriend, Catalina, during a bank robbery. After surviving, he escapes custody during a prison-transfer ambush and becomes drawn into Liberty City's competing Mafia families, gangs, drug operations, and criminal enterprises.

He is called a silent protagonist because he never speaks during Grand Theft Auto III. The decision was partly practical, given the technical and production challenges of the game's first fully 3D world, and partly creative: his silence allowed players to project their own personality onto him.

The name Claude is not spoken in Grand Theft Auto III itself. It was officially revealed when the character appeared in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in 2004. He should not be confused with Niko Bellic, Carl Johnson, or Tommy Vercetti, who headline different Grand Theft Auto games. Claude's story unfolds in Liberty City, a fictionalized version of New York City.