Platypus

File:Liberty docks.jpg

The ship docked in East Hook.

The Platypus is a non-controllable cargo ship in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Description

The Platypus was involved in smuggling operations, including diamonds, heroin, and sports cars, and was most prominently a vessel in which Niko Bellic served as a crew-member for several months, along with Hossan Ramzy, before disembarking at Liberty City. When the ship docks at East Hook, Liberty City, as Niko leaves, the ship is carrying immigrants from across the world, including Greece, Russia, Egypt, Taiwan, Thailand, China and Serbia.

According to news reports, the captain and entire crew of the Platypus disappeared shortly after the ship docked and the passengers disembarked. One of the crew was found in the Humboldt River with whip scars on his back - apparently the man who was engaging in sado-masochism with a woman as the ship was docking. The ship remains docked in Broker throughout the game and, if Niko chooses to exact his revenge on Dimitri Rascalov, is the setting for A Dish Served Cold, suggesting Dimitri intended to steal it and escape America. After this he calls Roman to tell him that "it ended where it began".

The diamonds that interweave between the main stories of Grand Theft Auto IV, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony came from the Platypus when Anthony Prince attempted to purchase them from one of the ship's crew, the cook. When the deal was done, Johnny Klebitz and The Lost Brotherhood ambushed the deal and stole the diamonds for Ray Boccino during this, Johnny ends up killing Tony's boyfriend Evan Moss.

The Platypus is also included in the Bomb Da Base II mode of GTA IV's multiplayer. After stealing a Securicar loaded with explosives, online players playing as Petrovic Family gangsters fly a chopper to the Platypus. Arriving at the Platypus, a heavy gun battle begins between the Albanians and the players. This is similar to the Revenge mission, however the Platypus ship is now under control of the Albanians. Two bombs must be planted on either the upper or lower levels of the ship while gunning down Albanians. The multiplayer team must then escape the ship before the explosion.

If the multiplayer storyline is canon with the campaign, that would mean the Platypus is no more.

Known Crew

• Zorba Philippidis (Captain)
• Niko Bellic
• Hossan Ramzy
• The Cook
• Dave Bosoy
• Ed the mate
• Cousins of the Triad Boss
• Unknown cleaners

Trivia

• A ship in Alderney, named the Octopus, resembles the Platypus. The Octopus reappears in Grand Theft Auto V, docked in the Port of Los Santos.
• The ship's name comes from the platypus, a semi-aquatic mammal native to Australia.
• In single player, if the player flies a helicopter near the second level of the Platypus (the level above the deck), and bails out onto the balcony, the door is open and the player can then explore the ship's interior, although some doors inside are unavailable. You can get in these doors in multiplayer mode.
• This is one of the best places to get the achivement/trophy "One Man Army" if one can get on the deck.
• In The Cousins Bellic, Niko claims that he and the other passengers have been on the ship for seven months. However, in Hossan's Random Encounter, he says that it is three months. Hossan may have gotten on the ship a while after Niko.
• The Platypus can count as a building as well as a vehicle because it can't be moved. 
• The Platypus can be found yet again in the Los Santos docks.