Bradley "Brad" Snider is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series, appearing in Grand Theft Auto V. Brad was a friend of Michael Townley and Trevor Philips and a member of their heist crew. Despite his limited screen-time, Brad plays a key role in the later part of the story. While he may only appear in two missions, he somewhat has a major role in the plot.
Brad is voiced by Ryan Woodle, who also voiced Chad in The Lost and Damned.
History
Early life
Little is known about Snider's early life, other than that he was born (or at least lived for some time) in Ludendorff, North Yankton.
Early criminal life
Brad did not commit any serious crimes until he met with Trevor Philips and became a member of a heist crew, consisting of Michael Townley, Philips and Lester Crest. From then on, they would rob banks and make a fortune, all while evading law enforcement. Despite their fruitful partnership, Brad was disliked by Michael and Lester, who both distrusted him. Trevor, on the other hand, had a closer connection with Brad.
Ludendorff
It was in 2004 when Brad participated in a fateful heist, along with the pair and an unnamed getaway driver. The heist was a failure, with Trevor murdering a security guard, unexpected police 'heat' resulting in the death of the driver, and Brad and Michael being shot during the escape by Dave Norton, an FIB agent. Only Trevor managed to escape. Publicly, Brad was imprisoned with a stiff sentence, while Michael died of his gunshot wound. In reality, Brad was buried as "Michael Townley", with Michael changing his surname to "De Santa" and moving to Los Santos with his family.
Over the next nine years, "Brad" maintained an infrequent correspondence with Trevor through paper and electronic mail. It served as his only lifeline to the outside world, as he claimed to have been denied visitor privileges. By the time Trevor reunites with Michael and Lester Crest, "Brad" seems relatively at peace with his situation and encourages Trevor to turn himself in. In reality, these messages were written by Dave Norton, the agent who shot Brad, to allow him to keep an eye on Trevor and to prevent him from discovering the truth.
The truth
Trevor eventually realises the truth, however. Brad never survived the botched Prologue heist and was buried in the place of the supposedly dead Michael. Michael, who already knew the truth, attempts to prevent Trevor finding out. Over Michael's protests, Trevor flies to North Yankton during Bury the Hatchet to confirm his suspicions, and exhumes Brad's corpse from Michael's grave.
Following this discovery, Trevor and Michael refuse to speak to each other, a hostility which lasts until the end of the game. If Trevor survives at the end of the game, Dave Norton emails him and explains that he was the one who sent the e-mails and letters posing as Brad. If both Trevor and Michael survive, Trevor forgives Michael and both mutually agree that Brad was a "dick".
Personality
Brad had little screen time during the game to fully display his personality. What is known of him are second hand descriptions, mostly by Trevor, who is an unreliable narrator.
For much of the game it is implied that Trevor and Brad had a close relationship. They had identical "cut here" tattoos on their necks. Trevor attempted to write to Brad while in prison, and several times during the game talked about missing Brad. When Trevor first begins to think that he was mislead on Brad's death, he loses it and flies straight to North Yankton to verify. On the other hand, while hanging out with Franklin, Trevor says that he thought Brad was a "dick", and would have probably killed him at some point anyway but "wouldn't have done it in such an underhanded fashion and the authorities wouldn't have been involved."
Michael never spoke about Brad much, but Trevor claims that the two of them never liked each other and that at one point Brad planned to cut Michael off. Lester described Brad as the "shit" part of the team, because he was "lazy, forgetful, mean and stupid." In the Prologue, Brad appears to lack empathy, as he laughs and brags about smashing a woman's face into a glass teller's window. Michael berates him for doing so, sarcastically calling him a "stallion".
Mission appearances
- Prologue (Killed)
- Bury the Hatchet (Corpse)
