here you will see all the GTA main characters story before and in the game

1- claude speed gta 3 main character claude is the only main character that get into the stealing and killing life cuz that he want all the other main character get into it cuz there lifes are bad but claude is the only person that want to kill and steal claude is the only main character that never said and word in the whole game and that why he is called the silent killer and in the story time he live in liberty city (new york in real life) and the time that the game happen in is 2001

2- tommy vercetti gta vice city main character this person wont be happy if he isnt in charge he is a killer and one time he killed 10 people with guns alone and that is why he is called harwood butcher the only problem that i have with tommy and claude that both of them cant swim breh and he live in the game in vice city (miami in real life i guess) and the time of story of the game is 1986 yea even before gta 3 lol

3- carl johnson or you can call him CJ he is the first kind main character and that he isnt evil at all and that why many people like this character but like every main character his live is about his brother gang (grove street families) i hope i said it right anyway one time carl and his other little brother went somewhere but other evil gang called ballass killed CJ little brother and when everyone knew that CJ big brother was angry cuz CJ didnt protect his little brother and the life was hard in that time so CJ went to live in liberty city (new york in real life) but he went back home after 5 years if you want to know why or what happen next go to youtube or play gta san andreas and the place that the story happen in is San Andreas country (its couple of towns in real life) the time is 1992 i guess

4-Niko bellic the main character of GTA 4 he is not from america he is a Russian or something like that i wont tell any spoilers cuz niko bellic has one of the best stories for me he is a kind person but dont mess with him or he will break your arm cuz he was a army so he know how to fight but he promised himself that he wont kill in the next place he is going the story place liberty city the time is 2008

i wont say anything about gta V cuz it has three different main characters and iam already tired