Story and Endings
Everything in Grand Theft Auto IV builds toward one phone call and one choice. After the mission One Last Thing, Niko Bellic must decide between Roman's advice to take the money from a deal with Dimitri Rascalov and Kate McReary's advice to kill Dimitri instead. Whoever Niko listens to pays for it with their life. Below is the road to that moment and a side-by-side look at both outcomes. Full spoilers ahead.
A Cousin's Lies and a New Life in Broker
Niko steps off a cargo ship at the Broker docks believing his cousin's stories about mansions, women and fast cars. The truth is a cramped apartment in Hove Beach, a struggling cab company and a cousin who owes money to the wrong people. Niko's first jobs are about keeping Roman alive, starting with the loan shark Vlad Glebov.
Dealing with Vlad opens a door to the Russian underworld. Mikhail Faustin and his partner Dimitri Rascalov hire Niko, and Dimitri soon persuades him that Faustin has become too dangerous to live. Niko carries out the hit, only to have Dimitri sell him out to Rodislav Bulgarin, a trafficker connected to Niko's past.
The betrayal costs the cousins everything in Broker. Their apartment and the taxi depot go up in flames, and they escape north to Bohan, where Roman's girlfriend Mallorie helps them start again.
Working for Everyone in Bohan and Algonquin
With no money and few friends, Niko takes work wherever he finds it. Elizabeta Torres runs drugs in Bohan, while Playboy X and Dwayne Forge fight over what is left of an old criminal empire in Algonquin. Each employer pulls Niko deeper, and several of them eventually ask him to turn on someone else.
The Irish McReary family becomes the closest thing Niko has to allies. Packie brings him in on the Three Leaf Clover bank robbery, the job that opens Alderney, and Kate McReary becomes the one person who sees Niko as more than a hired gun. Her brothers, Francis and Derrick, each quietly ask Niko to kill the other.
Running underneath all of this is the United Liberty Paper contact, a government agent who uses Niko for dirty work in exchange for help finding the man who betrayed his army unit years before. That search ends with Darko Brevic, and with a choice that the game leaves entirely to the player.
- Dwayne Forge or Playboy X: one dies, the other becomes a contact.
- Francis or Derrick McReary: Niko spares only one brother.
- Darko Brevic: execution or mercy.
- Dimitri Rascalov: the deal or the revenge.
The Last Job for Jimmy Pegorino
The final chapters belong to Jimmy Pegorino, an Alderney boss desperate to be taken seriously by the bigger families. His last big plan relies on a heroin trade with Dimitri, the same man who betrayed Niko. When One Last Thing ends, two markers appear on the map: a dollar sign for the deal and a dagger for revenge.
Roman sees a payday that could finally set them up for good. Kate sees a trap and begs Niko not to trust Dimitri or Pegorino.
Roman's wedding follows either way, and it is there that the cost of the decision lands. That surprise is why so many players remember the ending long after finishing the game.
Deal and Revenge Side by Side
| Deal | Revenge | |
|---|---|---|
| Mission chain | If the Price is Right, Mr and Mrs Bellic, A Revenger's Tragedy | A Dish Served Cold, Mr and Mrs Bellic, Out of Commission |
| Who is lost at the wedding | Roman, struck by a stray bullet | Kate, shot in a drive-by ordered by Pegorino |
| Pegorino's end | Killed by Dimitri | Killed by Niko |
| Last target | Dimitri | Pegorino |
Dimitri never escapes in either version; Niko kills him in both. What really changes is which person Niko loses and who he hunts in the final chase across the city.
The community has argued about the canon ending for years. Revenge fits Niko's code of honor, many fans say, while others call the Deal the darker and more fitting tragedy because it takes Roman away.
Create a save just before the choice. Finishing one path and then loading that save lets you see the other ending without replaying the whole campaign.
Why the Plot Matters in the Browser Version
The browser adaptation on this site does not retell this campaign; it focuses on driving, exploring and police chases. Still, knowing what happened in Hove Beach, Bohan and Alderney makes the grey streets feel like more than scenery.
To meet the people behind each chapter, visit the characters page, and to see where the story moves across the city, open the Liberty City map guide.
If the story leaves you wanting more crime sagas, the games like GTA 4 page collects the series classics and similar picks available here.
Questions About the Endings
Is the Deal or the Revenge ending the "right" one?
Rockstar never named a canon ending, so both are valid. Revenge saves Roman and ends with Pegorino as the final target, while the Deal saves Kate and ends with Dimitri.
When exactly do you make the choice?
Right after One Last Thing, two icons appear on the map, a dollar sign for the Deal and a dagger for Revenge. Starting either mission locks the choice in.
Does Dimitri survive in any ending?
No. Niko kills Dimitri in both versions; the only difference is that Pegorino dies by Dimitri's hand in the Deal and by Niko's in Revenge.