Steve Haines


 * "Then I guess you getting involved with a clapped out old agent who's been living off of past glories was your first mistake. You're my boy now, amigo. My career depends on this, and that's very important to me. So seeing as we're all boys now, that makes it important to you."
 * ―Steve Haines to Michael De Santa in Three's Company.
 * Steven "Steve" Haines is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series, appearing as a central character and the secondary antagonist in Grand Theft Auto V.

Background
Steven Haines was born in 1975 and joined the FIB in 1993. In the following years, he became such a highly decorated and high-ranked FIB special agent to the point that he was given leadership of his own FIB special unit and became the handler and boss of several well-known FIB special agents, including Andreas Sanchez and Dave Norton. In 2008, Haines was chosen to become the host of a new criminal reality TV show called "The Underbelly Of Paradise". As host of the show, Haines (and his camera crew) regularly make reports on gang activity and the overall criminal underworld of Los Santos, which is divided between rival criminal gangs. Haines would then become a celebrity, thanks to the success of the program.

However, despite the decorations from the Bureau, leading his own unit, and becoming famous as the host of "The Underbelly Of Paradise", by 2013, Haines and his right-hand man, Andreas Sanchez, were infamously corrupt. Haines in particular, was known to be on the payroll of several wealthy and powerful people, including eccentric billionaire Devin Weston, whom Haines considers a "close friend".

In 2013, both the FIB and the rival IAA are in a heated battle to secure government funding after cuts had been made to the budgets of both organizations due to a decrease in terrorist activity. Haines actively engages in attempts to sabotage the IAA in order to gain more prestige within the Bureau by securing more funding from the government and improving his own public image in the process.

Personality
As stated above, Haines is a corrupt FIB agent who does not hesitate when it comes to breaking the law and Bureau procedure and policy if there is an opportunity to further advance his career. Haines first appears to be pleasant and charming on his TV show, but when Michael meets him in person, he is shown to be selfish, arrogant, callous, manipulative, and overconfident in dialogue, thinking solely about his career. When they first meet, Haines introduces himself to Michael by saying "Steve Haines, but you probably knew that already" and asks Michael if he's ever watched his show, before displaying open displeasure when Michael claims he has never heard of Haines or his show. His true colors are shown, however, when Michael begins to jokingly mock Haines and his partners over their rogue activities. Haines plays along and even compliments Michael on his quick wit at first, before his temperament suddenly changes when he grabs Michael by the throat and threatens to strangle him to death if he continues to disrespect him. Haines has a very short temper and even shorter patience, as shown when he chokes Michael for making a few wisecracking jokes at his expense. Haines also attempts to make his own wisecracks, but his snide and arrogant personality often results in these jokes falling flat. Despite these traits, Dave Norton tries to assure Michael that they're not that different and that Haines and Norton are less corrupt than some divisions in the FIB, but over time it is shown that even Norton has no control over Haines, as do the rest of the protagonists.

Haines is shown to be despised by almost everyone he comes into contact with (most noticeably by Michael and Trevor, who both share a deep hatred towards Haines). Despite this, he claims a personal friendship with Devin Weston, though Weston's reference to Haines as a "clown" would suggest otherwise. Haines has no qualms with torturing and/or killing suspects or people he sees as standing in the way of his career. This is shown when he has Trevor Philips brutally torture a seemingly innocent man for information (who was more than willing to give Haines the information he requested) on another possible terror suspect, before casually ordering Philips to murder the man when he is of no further use to him and leaving to attend a racquetball game. He is also shown to have little to no regard for innocent causalities, as until Dave objected, Haines initially suggested that Dave and Michael kill a man who owned a house in Rockford Hills where a TV show was being filmed for nothing more than the fact that he was of Azerbaijani descent and that the man Haines was interrogating, Ferdinand Kerimov, claimed to have installed equipment there for the show. Further evidence is shown when Haines also threatened to shoot Karimov and call an airstrike on Chumash if Kerimov failed to identify the target they were looking for, although it's possible that Haines was only bluffing about this to scare Kermimov.

Haines is an opportunist. He uses Michael, Trevor, and Franklin to do his dirty work before betraying them when they outlive their usefulness to him. Haines is also willing to sacrifice others to save his own skin which is evident when he attempts to have Dave Norton and Michael De Santa arrested to deflect blame for all the criminal activities they participated in.