Dimitri Rascalov (Grand Theft Auto IV)

"You know, if there is one thing I've learned, it's that we must obey the rules of the game. We can pick the game, Niko Bellic, but we cannot change the rules."

- Dimitri Rascalov

Dimitri Rascalov (Russian: Дмитрий Раскалов) was a character in Grand Theft Auto series who appears as the main antagonist in Grand Theft Auto IV. He is also mentioned in The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. Dimitri is a Russian mobster who had immigrated to Liberty City alongside Mikhail Faustin, and was a major and former partner to many people, including Mikhail, Ray Bulgarin, Niko Bellic, Jimmy Pegorino and Giovanni Ancelotti. Dimitri is known for betraying his friends and partners, showing disloyalty to almost everyone.

Background
Dimitri was born in 1969 in Russia and fought in the Soviet Army during the Cold War, and at some point in time he befriended Mikhail Faustin. They later spent time in a Siberian prison together, where Mikhail protected Dimitri from rape by other inmates. They have matching tattoos on the palms of their hands, which means that they are "brothers" for life. They began criminal activity in Russia, where they were both "selling hash to tourists in Red Square" and Dimitri was convicted of murder more than once.

In the mid 90s, he "exploited a loophole in the US immigration treaty" to move to Liberty City, as did Mikhail. Mikhail moved with his wife and young daughter. Dimitri was arrested in 1998 and 2000 for extortion and hijacking, respectively. In following years, Mikhail's addictions to alcohol and cocaine caused his anger and paranoia to spiral out of control. Dimitri abused painkillers, but remained calm. While Mikhail had taken to an extreme level of violence, even by organized crime standards, Dimitri favored reasoning with people to maximize profits (although he could still intimidate people if necessary, as seen in Do You Have Protection?), telling Mikhail time and time again that they had to "play by the rules".

Meet with Niko Bellic
"Wake up! We had to gag him to stop the screaming."

- Dimitri's first words to Niko

Dimitri first met Niko Bellic when he and his cousin Roman were kidnapped and interrogated by Andrei for killing Mikhail 's employee Vlad Glebov in the mission Uncle Vlad. Dimitri wanted to have Niko and Roman killed, however Mikhail thought it better to have Niko begin working for them, Dimitri agreed. After Mikhail had shot Roman in the stomach Dimitri shows a kind gesture in having Roman's wounds stitched, he smugly tells Niko that the situation is "a problem for you and your cousin, not me", which foreshadows his betrayal. Later on, Mikhail orders Niko to kill Lenny Petrovic, the son of the country's most powerful Russian mobster Kenny Petrovic, because Mikhail has a vague, unfounded suspicion that Lenny is a snitch. Dimitri tries to reason with Mikhail, saying Lenny Petrovic is dating his cousin, but to no avail.

Betrayal
"...But you messed up and left a lot of bad debt. You left a good friend of mine out of pocket, big time."

- Dimitri re-introducing Niko to Ray Bulgarin

Later, Dimitri meets with Niko privately, claiming that Kenny Petrovic would spare them both if Niko were to kill Mikhail. It's possible that Dimitri lied, but Niko seems to have never gotten any trouble from Petrovic as promised. When Niko was supposed to collect his payment, Dimitri revealed that he was allied with Ray Bulgarin, who employed Niko as a human trafficker across the Adriatic Sea until he blamed him for a sinking ship. Niko escaped with the aid of his friend &quot;Little&quot; Jacob Hughes, but failed to kill Dimitri and Bulgarin -- both would continue to pursue Niko from then on. The same day, his cousin Roman's apartment building and taxi depot were burned down.

"Wherever you go, people will find you if they want you badly enough."

- Dimitri to Niko Bellic

After they went into hiding in Bohan, he discovered that Roman still frequented a gambling den in Broker. Dimitri was owed an unspecified amount of money from a Lost Brotherhood associate Ashley Butler and used this to his advantage, sending two henchmen to her place, and convincing Lost MC Vice President Johnny Klebitz to kidnap Roman to try to lure Niko to his death, but Niko successfully rescued his cousin and Johnny was left in the dark as to why he had to execute the kidnapping.

In the next month or so, Dimitri allied himself with Italian mob boss Giovanni Ancelotti to profit from his family's rackets. His first action was to extort deputy mayor Bryce Dawkins to help them control several construction unions, blackmailing him with knowledge of his gay affair with Bernie Crane. Coincidentally, Niko was an old friend of Bernie's and stopped the blackmailers. He also tried to ambush Bernie and Niko by boat while they were having lunch. Niko then allied himself with Gambetti family boss Jon Gravelli and destroyed their shipment of cocaine.

Death
At the end of the game, Dimitri offered to sell the heroin from Jimmy Pegorino to a third party; Pegorino had Niko working for him at the time. Pegorino was made aware of their feud (which started when Rascalov sold Niko out to Ray Bulgarin, continued when he burned their Broker Safehouse down, and then finally crossed the line when Rascalov kidnapped Roman); but Pegorino still asked Niko to participate in the deal. The player is then given the choice of whether Niko will participate in the deal and be paid, or rebel and kill Dimitri. Dimitri is killed by Niko in either scenario.

"Fuck you... you dick."

- Dimitri's last words (Deal) (translated)


 * Deal: Dimitri was to collect heroin and and sell it to a third party, who would in turn pay Niko and Phil Bell. Dimitri betrays Niko as expected and leaves he and Phil trapped in the compound, while Niko and Phil must fight their way to the money and escape the compound (If the Price is Right). The very next day Niko's cousin Roman was getting married, and Dimitri sent a hitman to kill Niko (Mr and Mrs Bellic). He accidentally killed Roman in the struggle, after which Niko swore revenge on Dimitri more than ever. After Niko and Little Jacob find Dimitri and Pegorino at an Alderney Casino, Dimitri betrays and kills Pegorino to claim all the profit for himself. Cletus kills him in Robopolis.