By the Book is a mission in Grand Theft Auto V, given by FIB agent Steve Haines to protagonists Michael De Santa and Trevor Philips.
Because of the nature of this mission, it has been heavily criticised by various media outlets, and is viewed as one of the most controversial missions in the series.
Mission
Michael or Trevor (whoever is being played at the time) receives a phone call from Steve Haines telling them to go to a warehouse and meet the other protagonist (the mission automatically begins with the receipt of the phone call). There, they find Haines and Dave Norton along with Devin Weston. Ferdinand Kerimov is revealed once Weston exits. Haines wants Michael to assassinate Tahir Javan, an Azerbaijani man who Haines and Norton claim has ties to terrorism. Kerimov previously set up an audio-visual system for Javan and so is the FIB's sole source of information. Haines orders Michael to go with Norton to locate Javan, while Trevor and Haines remain in the warehouse with Kerimov.
Michael and Norton drive to their first location, a home in Los Santos, but this turns out to be a false lead. Haines then orders Trevor to torture Kerimov in order to discover Javan's whereabouts. There are four ways in which Trevor can torture Kerimov:
- Waterboarding
- Beating him with a wrench. Where Trevor hits depends on his position as he observes Mr. K. All three areas have the same effect and damage. Kerimov's left = knee. Middle = genitals/midsection. Right = arm.
- Electrical shocks from a car battery
- Extracting a tooth using pliers. First tooth changes speech. Unknown if more pulls either further deteriorate his speech or nothing at all.
(Kerimov can't be pushed too far. If this happens, he'll need an adrenaline shot, which requires injecting him with a syringe. Kerimov can die up to three times before Trevor runs out of adrenaline) The first round of torture reveals that Javan is actually at a beach house in Chumash. Michael and Norton drive to the home, but once there, they discover that a party is in full swing and that there are several men present who could possibly be Javan. At this point, Haines orders Trevor to engage in more torture. Through three additional rounds of torture, Kerimov reveals that Javan is:
- A man of average height and weight (Able to kill Javan at this point to complete the mission early.)
- Has a beard
- Is a chain smoker and left handed
Through these clues, Michael is able to identify Javan and assassinate him.
Back at the warehouse, Haines tells Trevor that Kerimov is "expendable" and orders Trevor to kill Kerimov after Haines has left. Once Haines departs, Trevor instead decides to free Kerimov. He guides Kerimov from the warehouse and into his truck, at which point he drives Kerimov to the airport and tells him to flee Los Santos. Trevor drops Kerimov off at the airport, where he falls down a flight of stairs. Trevor drives off and the mission is completed.
Mission Objectives
- Go to the warehouse in Banning. - (Michael or Trevor)
- Go to Rockford Hills. - (Michael)
- Choose a tool to torture Mr.K. - (Trevor)
- Go to Chumash. - (Michael)
- Choose a tool to torture Mr.K. - (Trevor)
- Locate the target. - (Michael)
- Choose a tool to torture Mr.K. - (Trevor)
- Try to locate the target again. - (Michael)
- Choose a tool to torture Mr.K. - (Trevor)
- Kill the target. - (Michael)
- Take Mr.K. to the airport. - (Trevor)
Gold Medal Objectives
- Don't Stop Me Now - Complete without Kerimov's heart stopping.
- If Kerimov's heart rate passes 200 then it will stop.
- If replaying this mission, waterboarding Kerimov four times will grant the player this achievement relatively easily, as waterboarding deals the least damage.
- Electrocutioner - Electrocute Kerimov.
- Perform this first to avoid killing Kerimov.
- The Tooth Hurts - Pull out Kerimov's tooth.
- Perform this second or third.
- Wrenched - Hit Kerimov with the wrench.
- This can kill Kerimov if it is performed last, but it is unpredictable as Trevor can swing anywhere.
- It's Legal! - Waterboard Kerimov.
- Hold down on the bumper to prevent extra pressure.
Aftermath
Los Santos Shepherd Newspaper
"A beach front house party turned into tragedy yesterday when an Azerbaijani-American was killed, in what appeared to be a professional job by a long range sniper. Police are baffled by the case not merely because they are baffled by most things, but also because no motive is apparent. The man, Tahir Javan, an Azerbaijani-American in his late 40s, moved to this country when he was 13 and grew rich in the green energy sector, and has subsequently donated large sums to education initiatives here and his former country. Who would offer a professional hit on him and why, or whether this was a professional hit or a psychotic rank gone dangerously wrong is still unclear. Tahir was a smoker, a bon vivant and a lover of life and all that was precious. "Why would anyone want to kill him? He didn't have any enemies, just friends and friends he hadn't made yet. We all loved him," said partygoer Rachel Withers, who described herself as "something big in greeting cards"."
Bleeter Posts
- @chumash_kiki - "Omg police everywhere! Guy got shot at a party next door. What does this mean for Chumash property prices???"
- @alderneyedwin23 - "White supremacists carry out professional hit on Azerbaijani man in Chumash. At least that's what me and my roommate are telling everyone."
Videos
Gallery
Glitches
- Should the player re-play this mission and have Trevor wearing a full outfit with shoes, during the mission his pants will revert back to his default jeans, but he will have no feet.
- Also, while replaying the mission, if the player kills Javan early, the game will rarely bug and Michael will stand still aiming, the player will not be able to switch to Trevor and no Mission Failed screen will appear. The only solution is to pause and load a previous game file.
- After torturing Kerimov for the first time, the player switches to Michael drinking coffee with Dave. Sometimes, the player will be able to control Michael before the cutscene actually ends. If this happens, the cup of coffee Michael is holding will be stuck to his hand.
Soundtrack
Main article: By the Book/Soundtrack
Trivia
- The name of this mission comes from a quote Trevor may use while he is waterboarding Kerimov: "Always go by the book, that's my motto."
- The gold medal objective "Don't Stop Me Now" is a reference to a popular song of the same name by Queen.
- If Trevor has tortured Kerimov to death and does not inject the adrenaline shot, a cutscene triggers as Steve gets angry with Trevor for pushing Kerimov too far. Haines would also say "You're going down, punk. At the exact moment I get bored with you, your little racket... will end." This is foreshadowing that Haines wants Trevor dead. The mission also fails.
- This mission can be triggered by Michael or Trevor, and after receiving the phone call from Steve, the game will prompt a character switch which instantly starts the mission.
- If switching from Michael to Trevor, the cutscene will show Trevor defecating behind a dumpster as Michael approaches him. The two briefly converse before entering the warehouse.
- If switching from Trevor to Michael, the cutscene will show Michael having a cigarette as Trevor approaches, telling Michael that he should quit.
- The gold medal objective for waterboarding Kerimov called "It's Legal!" is a reference to the CIA using waterboarding as a form of interrogation and infamously denying that it was torture.
- If the player assassinates Javan without getting all the information from Kerimov (the description of Javan's height and weight is enough), the mission will pass and the torture session will be cut short. However, this does not change the outcome of Kerimov's condition as he will still walk with a limp and have altered speech even if neither the wrench or the pliers were used.
- After the mission ends and the player switches to Michael, he will usually be outside the FIB headquarters, saying goodbye to Dave. There is also a possibility that he will still be driving Dave's Oracle, which can be saved in his garage and modified like any other car.
- In the Japanese version of the game, when Trevor tries to pick any of the torture tools, he ignores all of them.