Warning: this post contains some spoilers for Trevor’s third of GTA V.
The “Florida Man” concept, that all the really bizarre things dudes in Florida do that make the news is the work of a single person, is quite amusing, and some of the headlines contributing to the mythology (see this Twitter account) won’t be unfamiliar to longtime Grand Theft Auto players. For example:
Florida Man Tries To Burn Down Ex's Business, End Up Setting Himself On Fire
Florida Man Says He Led Police On High-Speed Dirt Bike Chase Because He Was "Bored"
Florida Man Drunkenly Backed Car Into Girlfriend On Her Birthday
I wrote in my review of GTA V that Trevor is sort of the embodiment of what an anti-video game Fox News pundit imagines the average GTA player to be like in real life, but he can also work as the prototypical Florida Man.
For one, he cooks and sells meth, and he himself is always on it; when he meets Barry the Weed Activist in Los Santos, he says he stopped smoking because “it interferes with the speed.” The result is what you see him doing when you transition to him from another character, which ranges from gross (pooping on the sidewalk, which is also a real Florida Man story) to funny (waking up on top of a remote hill in a dress) to horrific (spooning with Floyd, who is crying).
He also has a temper that you don’t often see from GTA protagonists. Sure, Tommy Vercetti and Michael Townley may yell a lot (I still think of those two as the same person), but they wouldn’t respond to Floyd’s girlfriend coming home and being mad about what they did to the place by murdering her AND Floyd. And let us not forget his introductory scene, in which he has sex with Johnny Klebitz’s girlfriend, Johnny gets mad about it for a second and then apologizes, and Trevor crushes Johnny’s skull and wipes out the entire Lost gang in Sandy Shores. He’s unstable in a lot of ways.
The point here is that Trevor is just the right amount of crazy that were he a resident of Florida he could likely generate a number of “Florida Man” headlines on his own, without any sort of sadistic input from the player. Here are some more Florida Man headlines that fit Trevor’s profile:
"You're Going To Want To Tape This," Florida Man Tells Parents At Playground Before Exposing Genitals, Urinating | http://t.co/1qG3Weg9vq
— Florida Man (@_FloridaMan) June 10, 2013
Florida Man Tries To Kill Cousin For Not Inviting Him To 2-Year-Old's Birthday Party | http://t.co/1klWvf1Mv7
— Florida Man (@_FloridaMan) June 27, 2013
Florida Man Arrested For Barking At Police Dog | http://t.co/BsuAk9PJkw
— Florida Man (@_FloridaMan) July 21, 2013
Florida Man Pistol-Whips Dunkin' Donuts Employee Over Botched Vanilla Coffee Order | http://t.co/H08OkyprFU
— Florida Man (@_FloridaMan) August 22, 2013
Florida Man Found Passed Out In CVS Parking Lot After Long Day Cooking Meth In Truck | http://t.co/AzVV8vS7eV
— Florida Man (@_FloridaMan) August 29, 2013
