Jonathan "Johnny" Klebitz is a character in the GTA IV Era, who appears as a supporting character in Grand Theft Auto IV and in The Ballad of Gay Tony and the protagonist of The Lost and Damned. While he was the leader of The Lost MC, before Billy Grey was reinstated after being released from rehab, Klebitz maintained a relative peace between The Lost and the gang's rivals, The Angels of Death. As of 2008, Johnny is the acting president of The Lost MC, while Billy was later incarcerated. At 34, Johnny is the oldest of the Grand Theft Auto IV Era's four protagonists.
Biography
Childhood
Johnny Klebitz was born in 1974 in Acter, Alderney to a Jewish family. In Off Route, Johnny steals a bus and sometimes says, "Mom always told me I'd be a bus driver.". He has an older brother, Michael Klebitz, who used to be friends with Billy Grey when Johnny was 10. Ironically, Michael is a soldier serving in Iraq, and a law-abiding citizen, and criticizes Johnny's biker lifestyle and criminal association with Billy.
Adult Life
Johnny's criminal record shows rigorous activity between 1991 and 1994, when Johnny would have been between 17 and 20. He was put in prison soon after, and had a parole violation in 2000, meaning he did up to six years. Klebitz tells a friend of Thomas Stubbs that he has not had a job since he was released from prison. One of the patches on Johnny's jacket reads "I Rode Mine Los Santos 2004". Among his many scars, it has also been implied that he is weak or even blind in one eye, when talking to Clay Simons, he says "Oh. I should use my good eye." Also, during a conversation with Billy Grey early on in The Lost and Damned, Johnny states that he weighs 230 lbs.
Johnny, unlike Billy, actually cares about business, but is quick to shut down anyone who is wrong or disobeys him. Before Jim was murdered, he seemed to care more about The Lost than many of his friends. Johnny is also much more headstrong and sensible than the other bikers.
Johnny and Ashley Butler used to date, but he ended the relationship with her due to her affair with Billy Grey, as well as her drug addiction. He still cares for her, but believes the drugs have completely taken over her life. He will still do anything to protect her, as shown when he receives a phone call from her and drops what he was doing to give her aid. Johnny also sympathizes with Roman Bellic, a stranger to him, later on in the mission "Roman's Holiday," even asking the Russians to go easy on him, though Johnny had no choice in the kidnapping.
Events of The Lost and Damned
Immediately after Billy Grey got out of rehab, he became angry with Johnny for not having his bike. Billy then started a fight with the Angels of Death to get his bike back. This creates tension, not only between the two outlaw motorcycle clubs, but also between Billy and Johnny. This tension quickly escalated into a war between The Lost and the Angels of Death.
Billy Grey threw several parties at The Lost clubhouse to celebrate his release from prison. While being visited by part-time lawyer, part-time biker, Dave Grossman, Klebitz had a sit-down with Billy and the two discussed the tension between them. When they began to start agreeing with each others' point of view, Billy was sent a text message from someone, informing of some members of The Lost being jumped by members of The Angels of Death. After rescuing the attacked Lost members, Billy was informed of the death of Jason Michaels, who was killed by an Eastern European (who was actually Niko Bellic).
Billy manipulated the situation by blaming the Angels of Death in order to rally the gang to attack their clubhouse, even after he informed other members of The Lost that it was a "Pole" or "Serb" hitman. During the attack, Billy found two duffel bags full of heroin and stole them with the intention of selling them. This created even more tension between Johnny and Billy.
Billy later called Johnny and told him to speak with Elizabeta Torres, who had found a buyer for the stolen heroin. Elizabeta informed Johnny about the deal and sent Niko Bellic and Playboy X to accompany him. The deal, however, was an undercover LCPD sting operation. After some commotion, Johnny escaped with the heroin, while Niko and Playboy X escape empty-handed.
Billy then called Johnny again and told him to meet up with Congressman Thomas Stubbs III to help him with some "dirty laundry" and other sensitive situations.
The Lost later found out that the heroin they stole from The Angels of Death originally belonged to the Triads. Billy and Brian thought that they should keep the heroin, but Johnny and Jim convinced the gang to get rid of it, due to the LCPD being onto them. The four of them went to the deal, but only Johnny and Jim went in to speak to the Triads, who immediately attacked them and stole the heroin. As Johnny and Jim escaped to a rooftop, they saw Billy crash his bike. He was then surrounded by LCPD officers, angered and screaming out that Johnny had set him up. This eventually split The Lost into two factions, one led by Johnny and one by Brian. Johnny and Jim met up with Brian at the Alderney Docks after hearing that he wanted a truce. Instead of a truce, an argument breaks out with Johnny telling Brian that Billy doesn't give a shit about the brotherhood and to get the fuck out of town and a gunfight breaks out with Johnny & Jim fighting Brian's faction.
Jim Fitzgerald later introduced Johnny to Malc and DeSean of the Uptown Riders. Once again, Johnny spoke with Elizabeta Torres and she said that she needed a job done, pairing him with his new allies Malc and DeSean. Jim later introduced Johnny to Ray Boccino, a Capo of the Pegorino Family, who directed Johnny to Brian's hideout (because Boccino believed the Lost civil war was bad for business), which resulted in a confrontation with Brian. Ray then orders him to steal diamonds from Gay Tony at a ship.
Ashley Butler pleaded for his help, saying that she was being held hostage for her debts to Dimitri Rascalov. As payment, Dimitri's men demanded that Johnny kidnap Roman Bellic for him.
Later, Ray Boccino had Johnny accompany Niko Bellic to a diamond deal with the Jewish mob. Johnny, however, took off with the money after Luis Lopez ambushed the deal. Ray then kidnapped Jim in retaliation and tortured him in the basement of Drusilla's to try to get his money back, until Johnny showed up to rescue Jim. The two later escaped and Johnny called Ashley Butler to meet her at the clubhouse. Ashley told him that Boccino had her convince Johnny to work with him in the first place so Ray could use The Lost, while neglecting their pay. She also revealed that Jim Fitzgerald has been killed by one of Boccino's hitmen
(who was Niko Bellic once again).
Upon this loss, Thomas Stubbs III met with Johnny at the clubhouse, and informed him that Boccino and alot of his accociates would either be dead or in jail with in a month or so, as well as of Billy Grey's plans to rat out Johnny and fellow member of The Lost, in order to be released from prison. Johnny got everyone left in the Alderney City chapter of The Lost to break into the Alderney State Correctional Facility, in order for Johnny to personally silence Billy. After escaping the prison, Johnny and the remaining members of The Lost discovered that their clubhouse had been ransacked and destroyed by Ray's goons. Johnny ordered the remains of the clubhouse to be burned down, and the surviving members of The Lost's Alderney City chapter (Acter district of Alderney City, specifically) watch it burn.
After the Events of The Lost and Damned
After the completion of the story, Johnny's life is in turmoil. Billy's betrayal has caused the Alderney chapter of The Lost to be left in ruins, with the only remaining members being Terry, Clay, Angus, and Johnny himself. Johnny stops contacting Ashley after she asks him to give her $40 which Johnny declines - as he knows its for her to buy more meth. Johnny even confess to Angus that he doesn't see any good in Ashley other than the need for her to, in his words, "fuck up everything around her." Johnny also cuts his ties with the mob and Stubbs himself, wishing him good luck in the corrupt life he leads and decides to lie low in the criminal underworld. Johnny will also keep sending money to Jim's wife and child - which was the $2 million dollars from the diamond deal ambush.
Mission appearances
- GTA IV
- The Lost and Damned
- As the protagonist, he appears in all missions.
- The Ballad of Gay Tony
Characters murdered by Johnny Klebitz
- Ed McCornish - Murdered for blackmailing him and Jim Fitzgerald
- Jimmy Matthews - Murdered for blackmailing him and Jim Fitzgerald.
- Arthur Stubbs - Murdered on orders of Thomas Stubbs III.
- Random Biker - Murdered for becoming a part of Brian's faction.
- Brian Jeremy - Murdered for betraying Johnny, starting his own faction, and trying to kill him.
- Evan Moss - Murdered to steal the diamonds.
- Billy Grey - Murdered for attempting to turn the states against Johnny and the Lost MC.
Heinous crimes committed by Johnny
- The bombing of the Angels of Death Clubhouse.
- Stealing motorbikes belonging to the Angels of Death.
- Escaping an LCPD drug bust with a bag full of heroin.
- "Liberating" white collar-criminal's in a prison bus.
- Stealing a Slamvan full of Cocaine.
- Kidnapping Roman Bellic.
- Stealing diamonds from Evan Moss and hiding them in the trash.
LCPD Database record
Surname: Klebitz
First Name: Johnny
Age: 34
Place of Birth: Acter, Alderney
Affiliations: Member of the Alderney Chapter of the Lost Brotherhood Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.
Criminal Record:
- 1991 - Grand Theft Auto
- 1993 - Assault
- 1994 - Manslaughter
- 2000 - Parole Violation
Notes:
- Believed to be the second in command of the Alderney City chapter of The Lost outlaw motorcycle club.
- Assumed control of the gang when its head, Billy Grey, was been incarcerated.
- Exact nature of the relationship between Grey and Klebitz is unknown.
- Under his command, the Lost MC has been able to co-exist with their rivals the Angels of Death in relative peace.
- Ties to known South Bohan drug dealer, Elizabeta Torres.
Patches
Johnny's jacket, like any outlaw motorcycle club member's, has a lot of patches on it. Here they are, and what they mean:
- Vice President - Showing Johnny's position within the club. This changes to "President" after This Shit's Cursed.
- TLMC - An abbreviation of the clubs name.
- White Wings - Indicates that he has given a woman a facial.
- Yellow Wings - Indicates that he has drank a woman's urine.
- Brown Wings - Indicates that he has performed oral-anal sex on a woman.
- Red Wings - Indicates that he has performed oral sex on a menstruating woman.
- I Rode Mine to Los Santos in 2004 - He, Brian and Terry are the only members who have got this patch.
- Skull - Indicates that he has killed for the club.
- 8-Ball - Indicates that he has served time for the club.
- Loyal - Indicates his loyalty to the club (during The Lost civil war).
Gallery
Character trailer
Trivia
- One of Johnny's patches says: "I Rode Mine to Los Santos in 2004". This means that Johnny was in San Andreas in 2004 along with Brian Jeremy and Terry Thorpe, who have the same patch. This is a reference to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which was released in 2004.
- If you move quickly, you can see Johnny fleeing down the staircase and out the back of the museum, when playing as Niko in GTA IV, in the mission Museum Piece. According to the storyline in the The Lost and Damned however, Niko escaped first, with Johnny following behind on the stairs, commenting on the amount of corpses left behind by Niko.
- In the mission I Luv LC, Johnny makes a cameo appearance, shown riding his bike near Luis.
- It is possible to kill Johnny in the GTA IV mission Museum Piece, by simply following him out of the east exit, he will become a random pedestrian. After this, you can kill him without failing the mission, but this does not affect the storyline.
- It is impossible to follow Johnny in The Ballad of Gay Tony mission Not So Fast, because he escapes quicker.
- Johnny's physical appearance from GTA IV to The Lost and Damned changed significantly. In GTA IV, he does not wear his black jacket with the current The Lost MC patch on the back. He, instead, wears a light colored vest with a darker The Lost MC patch on the back, and beige pants with brown Hinterland boots. His skin is paler than in the Lost and Damned, and some of his facial scars and tattoos are more visible.
- During the mission Off Route, Johnny mentions that driving the prison bus is "just like driving an eighteen wheeler", implying that he has experience driving semi-trailer trucks.
- Johnny, like Niko, Luis, and Huang Lee, has Grand Theft Auto on his criminal record.
- In the Lost Clubhouse, in the room before the computer and TV, on the left wall there is a picture of Johnny wearing his old GTA IV clothes, but with his new face texture.
- Johnny does share some similarities to John Marston, the main protagonist from another Rockstar game, Red Dead Redemption. Both have a rough voice and background, both rode in a gang and both were betrayed by their gang's leader after they had gone insane and lost their ways. It should also be noted that the antagonists of TLAD and RDR are both named William, shortened to Bill in both cases (Billy Grey and Bill Williamson). As RDR came after TLAD, it is reasonable to assume that Marston was inspired by Klebitz. Also another resemblance is that both Marston and Klebitz are called 'Johnny Boy' by other characters. They are both also weak, or even blind in one eye. Also, Johnny Klebitz and John Marston are also extremely good shooters, as implied by Lost prospects when Johnny makes headshots. They will often say "Johnny, you were always a good shot", or "Johnny, where did you learn to shoot like that?"
- It is implied that Johnny may be somewhat suicidal, as during gun battles, Johnny will yell things like "you're gonna have to kill me!", "I don't care if I die!" and "kill me already!". When crashing into cars with his bike, he will sometimes say, "damn this life!" However, such remarks are likely expressed out of frustration.
- Johnny and Brian Jeremy have matching tattoos of a demonic face on the right side of their necks, possibly implying that Johnny and Brian were somewhat closer before the events of the storyline.
- Johnny is the only GTA IV era protagonist who only speaks English. Niko speaks Serbian, Luis speaks Spanish, and Huang speaks Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese.
- Johnny is also the only protagonist in the GTA IV era, that has not had any prior experience with helicopters, as Niko flew helicopters in the war, and Luis took a course at Higgins Helitours.
- No matter how long you wait while mounted on a bike, Johnny will never put on a helmet.
- Sometimes when fighting the Angels of Death, Johnny can be heard saying "you racist pricks make me sick!", however, he calls Ray Boccino a "guinea", which is a degratory term for Italians (this is most likely said just to annoy Ray, though).
- Johnny has an earring on his left ear, which appears to be made of gold.
- While being chased on foot by police, Johnny may shout, "I'm a patriot!", which is reminiscent of true outlaw bikers, as they are known for their patriotic views.
- In the artwork below, where it shows Johnny, Brian, Jason, Clay and Jim. Johnny is holding an AKS74U or a a smaller AK-47 with a detachable stock (the part at the back) either way, this gun is never seen in-game.
- Johnny has the second least murders in the GTA IV era, with a body count of 7 (not counting optional murders).
- Johnny has a strong disliking for cars, as he is notably bad at driving them during gameplay, and he is ejected from them more often than Niko and Luis when crashing. He also refers to a car as a "cage" (like many other bike enthusiasts) when asked to steal Bryce Dawkins's Infernus and when driving Malc's Presidente or Roman's Taxi during Roman's Holiday.
- Even though Johnny never specifically states his music preference, it would seem to be Liberty Rock Radio 97.8, as this is the default radio station on his bike; this would also fit certain stereotypes of bikers.
- He shares traits with Jax Teller from the 2008 TV series Sons of Anarchy, who was also Vice-President of an Outlaw Motorcycle Club and is also one of the series protaganists. Other similiarities between Jax Teller and Johnny Klebitz are; Johnny's attempts to find a less violent way to solve problems (selling the drugs back to the Triad rather than attacking them as Billy wanted) and objecting to unnecessary violence (when Billy breaks Pretty Boy's jaw during Clean and Serene). Both Jax and Johnny somewhat grudgingly accept the leadership of their respective Presidents.
- Johnny's broken nose, scarred brow, and lack of speed while running might be the result of one serious motorcycle crash or multiple crashes, as he can sometimes be heard saying "Not this again!" or "I thought I got better!" while crashing on a bike.
- Johnny is the only character in the GTA IV Era that does not get down on his knees when getting Busted.
- Johnny, along with Claude, is an extremely dirty character. He only wears The Lost MC jacket and during his idle animations, he'll often sniff his underarms with a disgusted reaction from doing so. Stubbs himself mentioned Johnny's body odor, stating he commits a "crime against hygiene." (This can be heard during a phone call after the player finishes all of the Stubbs' Dirty Laundry side missions).
- Johnny is the only character in the GTA IV Era to not make a facial expression when being killed or being chaced by cops.