Carl Johnson (Grand Theft Auto)

Carl "CJ" Johnson
Grand Theft Auto character
Carl Johnson's official artwork
First game	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
Created by	Rockstar Games
Voiced by	Young Maylay

Carl "CJ" Johnson is a fictional character and the main playable protagonist from Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, published by Rockstar Games. CJ is a member of the Grove Street Families, a gang located in Los Santos. While playing Grand Theft Auto, one controls the movements and actions of CJ as he proceeds through the storyline and finishes missions. Throughout the game, he slowly rises in prominence as he successfully completes increasingly difficult tasks.

When asked about the character model of CJ, actor Young Maylay stated that the development team took "very professional" photographs of him to model CJ.

Unlike the principal characters of previous Grand Theft Auto games, CJ's appearance is highly customisable, as the player can purchase hair cuts, tattoos and clothing for him. Certain clothes, tattoos and hairstyles improve CJ's standing with his fellow gang members as well as his sex appeal to his selective girlfriends. As CJ rides bikes, drives cars and motorcycles, and flies aircraft, his skill will improve in each. The player can also choose to exercise, which improves skills such as CJ's muscle and stamina.

Carl Johnson's personality markedly differs from the previous playable protagonists in the Grand Theft Auto series; while Claude and Tommy Vercetti are both depicted as sociopathic and feeling no regret for the murders that they commit, CJ is depicted as having a considerably less violent personality, occasionally giving his victims a chance to redeem themselves (one example being his failed attempt to convince Eddie Pulaski to leave Frank Tenpenny's side). Furthermore, CJ also displays genuine remorse for having to kill fellow Grove Street members Ryder and Big Smoke, whom he had previously considered two of his closest friends. However, he still has no problem and feels no regret with killing members of other gangs, and willingly murders anyone that gets in his way of reclaiming Grove Street Families turf or try to sabotage his businesses, though the gangsters are also trying to kill CJ in return. CJ's naïve personality, inexperience, and face-value interpretations of other characters' responses occasionally leads them to question CJ's intelligence (notably The Truth and Catalina).