Ray Bulgarin
Type
Ray Bulgarin
Voiced by
Appearance
Gender
Height
Biography
Full name
Nationality
Date of birth
Place of birth
Fate
Status
Date of death
Cause of death
Home
Family
Main affiliations
- Bulgarin Bratva(Leader)
- Timur
- Niko Bellic(Formerly)
- Dimitri Rascalov
- Luis Fernando Lopez(Formerly)
- Giovanni Ancelotti
Property
Vehicles
Businesses
- Drug dealing
- Human trafficking
- Diamond smuggling
Ray Bulgarin (Russian: Рэй Булгарин) is a minorantagonist inGrand Theft Auto IV and the main antagonist ofThe Ballad of Gay Tony.
He is voiced byVitali Baganov.
History
Background
Ray Bulgarin was bornc.1958, and lived with a sister namedGalina. As a child, he was in a wrestling academy, where his coach made him take steroids.
Bulgarin later emigrated toLiberty City and began his criminal life. In1989 he was arrested for receiving an entire ship full ofAlbanian sex slaves and later deported. Some time after, he continued human trafficking across the Adriatic sea, where he also lived in a large mansion on the waterfront. At some point, he became friends withDimitri Rascalov, a fellow criminal who operated out of Liberty City.
He employedNiko Bellic as a people trafficker, with Niko smuggling people into Italy from Eastern Europe, until one run in which the ship sank, in which Niko was forced to abandon it and its cargo in order to swim to safety. Bulgarin blamed Niko for this loss, and sought to hunt him down. Niko joined the merchant navy to escape Bulgarin's influence within Europe, and spent seven months on thePlatypus before escaping to Liberty City. At one point, someDiamonds belonging to Bulgarin were stolen bya cook onboard the ship.
Events ofGrand Theft Auto IV andThe Ballad of Gay Tony
"Ray Bulgarin. Tell me, where are the women?”
In or before2008, Bulgarin returns to Liberty City and moves into a house inMeadow Hills inDukes with his sister. He meets up with his old friend Dimitri Rascalov who reveals that Niko Bellic was working for him by chance. Rascalovoffers Niko to Bulgarin, who accepts without hesitation. Niko is then called to an abandoned warehouse inEast Hook in order to collect payment for a previousassassination, but instead of receiving money, Bulgarin reveals himself, furious at Niko for the money he cost him, and orders him to be killed, but Niko manages to escape with the help of his friendLittle Jacob.
Afterwards, Bulgarin begins attempting to expand his business interests, as he looks to buy theLiberty City Rampage hockey team fromMarki Ashvilli, as well as theMaisonette 9 nightclub fromTony Prince. He hiresLuis Lopez, a bouncer at the Maisonette 9, to assist him with the hockey team acquisition by firsteliminating crookedNOOSE members who have information against Bulgarin, followed bykilling the team owner in a hectic ambush.
Eventually, Bulgarin discovers that Tony and Luis hadobtained the diamonds that were stolen from him by the cook after Luis and Tonyoriginallyfailed to buy them from him. He meets Luis again and tells him to go to a rooftop inLittle Italy tohelp his bodyguardTimur. At one point during his conversation with Luis, he fires anAK-47 into the ceiling at his sister, who is screaming in the room above them. When Luis gets to the rooftop, he calls Bulgarin, who leads Luis to a box containing the cook's severed head on it. Suddenly, a massive ambush of snipers, shooters, gunmen, and a helicopter appears, attempting to kill Luis, though he fights them off and manages to escape from the rooftop.
Later,Gracie Ancelotti, the daughter ofGiovanni Ancelotti, theDon of theAncelotti Crime Family iskidnapped and held for ransom by Niko Bellic at the request ofGerald McReary from theMcReary Crime Family. As a result, in Luis and Tony, who eventually managed to obtain the diamonds are coerced by Giovanni toexchange them for her life. During the exchange, Bulgarin and his menarrive and attempt to kill Niko, but are once again unsuccessful. Niko and Luis both escape and the diamonds are grabbed by one of Bulgarin's men, but he ends up throwing them into a passing truck when confronted by Niko and his friendPatrick McReary.
Afterwards, Dimitri Rascalov, who is moving heroin,is killed by Niko, resulting in Bulgarin taking it for himself. Luis, deciding to kill Bulgarin before he can get a chance to kill him and Tony,destroys the heroin shipment and kills Bulgarin's men, including his bodyguard, Timur. Bulgarin boards aplane atFrancis International Airport to flee the country, but Luis is able to jump aboard. Bulgarin pulls out a grenade and demands that Luis not kill him, but he does so anyway, which activates the grenade. The plane explodes in mid-air, but Luis jumps out of it and parachutes back to Liberty City.
Character
Appearance
Bulgarin's appearance was altered betweenGTA IV andTBoGT. InGTA IV, he had lighter hair and harsher facial features such as higher cheekbones, bigger lips and smaller eyes. InTBoGT, he has darker hair instead and his skin is noticeably pale. His face is also more textured. Interestingly, inbeta version of GTA IV his skin was paler than in the final version.
Murders Committed
Possible Murders
- Galina Bulgarin - Possiblymurdered by Ray for aggravating him recurringly.
LCPD Database Record
- Believed to be operating in Europe on the Adriatic.
- Deported after being caught receiving a shipment of Albanian sex workers at the Liberty City Docks in late 80s.
Prominent Appearances in Gameplay
Grand Theft Auto IV
The Ballad of Gay Tony
- Boulevard Baby
- Clocking Off(Post-mission phone call/If …Blog This! is done before this mission)
- ...Blog This!(Post-mission phone call)
- Going Deep(Boss)
- Dropping In(Boss)
- In the Crosshairs(Boss/Betrayal)
- Ladies Half Price(Voice)
- Departure Time(Killed)
Gallery
Trivia
- His surname (Bulgarin) comes from theBulgarian word for a Bulgarian citizen (българин/bulgarian). Niko uses the Bulgarian pronunciation, while many of the other characters (including Ray himself) pronounce it with an U (as in Булгарин).
- If the player looks him up on theLCPD database on libertycitypolicedatabase.com beforeRussian Revolution, he will be listed as Deceased.
- His full name is often incorrectly stated to be "Rodislav". This fake name first appeared on Wikipedia's articleList ofGrand Theft Auto IV characters. This mistake has even spread to such external websites asIMDB.
- Like many other characters inThe Ballad of Gay Tony, Ray appears to express disapproval of homosexuals. He seems disgusted byLuis' rubbing shoulders withTony Prince and tries to manipulate him into cutting ties.