Carl Johnson (Grand Theft Auto)

Carl "CJ" Johnson is a fictional character and the playable protagonist of the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the fifth main installment in Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series. He is voiced by Young Maylay, who also served as the likeness for the character.

In the game's storyline, Carl is depicted as the second-in-command of the Grove Street Families, a fictional street gang based in his home city of Los Santos, San Andreas (a fictional parody of Los Angeles, California). The gang is led by his older brother, "Sweet" Johnson, with whom Carl became estranged after the death of their younger brother, Brian, in a gang-related attack prior to the events of the game. Feeling his life in Los Santos is unpromising, Carl eventually decides to move to Liberty City in 1987, only to return home five years later after his mother, Beverly, is similarly killed. While seeking to make amends with friends and family for abandoning them, Carl returns to his previous gangster lifestyle as he embarks on an eventful journey across the entire state of San Andreas, which sees him making new allies and clashing with several powerful criminal organisations and corrupt authorities. Although initially portrayed as somewhat naïve, clumsy, and selfish, Carl develops over the course of San Andreas' storyline, both on a professional level, becoming a successful criminal and businessman, and on an emotional level, as he learns to appreciate his roots and those around him.

Carl received critical acclaim, with praise going to his complexity, lack of stereotype and his sense of conscience, and is regarded as one of the greatest video game characters of all time.