He sometimes looks as cold as Claude, and his morality is certainly as questionable, but he is not limited by silence and can look any way the narrative needs. Even with the outdated graphics, his model evokes confidence of the dangerous kind. He is intelligent but hot-tempered and prone to violence. It helps that, unlike Claude, Tommy has an identity of his own, allowing players to learn about his character without deciphering gameplay and graphics. He was sharply dressed and looked ruthless, sort of like a greaser. In the original game, Tommy’s looks managed to simultaneously complement and contrast his personality. His cyan, tropical-themed shirt does a great job standing out and perfectly fits with the Miami-inspired setting of Vice City. This 1980s gangster who was spared from execution in Vice City certainly has the most colorful look of all the protagonists in this trilogy.
Grand Theft Auto Online’s GTA 3-themed cosmetics gave players a hint at what an HD version of Claude could look like, and it is not that different from what players will soon receive. Considering the cycle of revenge that he gets himself into, that concerned look is understandable and makes Claude more believable as a character. Either Claude’s expression in the original was too uncanny when using the new model, or Rockstar decided to make him more expressive.
What was initially a slight smirk turns into a worrisome expression. The remakes’ lighting add saturation to his clothes, and his face is more stylized. In Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, Claude’s appearance differs from his more somber initial design.
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It plays with the series being unwilling to have a talkative protagonist at the time and shows that Claude is capable of enduring the violence and betrayals surrounding him. Indeed, he is mostly seen with an indifferent, slightly visible smirk. Because he never speaks, the developers never bothered giving him a wide range of physical expressions. To play around the technical limitations at the time and put emphasis on his stoicism, Claude in the original Grand Theft Auto 3 was a blank state. Claude is the 3D era’s first protagonist, the last one to be completely silent, and one of the most iconic Grand Theft Auto characters.