Catalina

Updated 29 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Catalina is the main antagonist of Grand Theft Auto III (2001) and a supporting character in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004). In San Andreas she drags CJ into a string of robberies before leaving him for Claude. Years later in GTA III she shoots Claude during a bank heist, leads the Colombian Cartel and is killed by him. She is voiced by Cynthia Farrell.

Who is Catalina in GTA?

Catalina is one of the few characters to play a major part in two different games of the 3D era. Players first met her in Grand Theft Auto III as the woman who starts the whole story by betraying Claude. Three years later, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas went back to 1992 to show her earlier life and her short, stormy relationship with Carl "CJ" Johnson.

Wikipedia's page on GTA III names Cynthia Farrell as her voice actor, and the GTA Wiki lists Farrell for both games. The GTA Wiki also says she is the cousin of Cesar Vialpando, the Varrios Los Aztecas leader who becomes one of CJ's allies.

What is Catalina's role in San Andreas?

After CJ is pushed out of Los Santos into the countryside, Cesar sends him to meet his cousin. According to the GTA Wiki, they meet at a bar in the small town of Dillimore. Catalina is aggressive, unpredictable and quick to threaten CJ, yet she also treats him as her boyfriend.

She brings him in on four robberies around the area: a petrol station, a bank in Palomino Creek, a betting shop and a liquor store in Blueberry. The pair keep falling out, partly because CJ is focused on getting his brother Sweet out of prison. In the end she drops him and takes up with a new man.

How are Catalina and Claude connected?

Her new partner is a silent street racer who is later named as Claude. As our Claude article explains, CJ beats him in a race and wins the deeds to a garage in San Fierro, and the couple then leave San Andreas together. Near the end of the game, Catalina phones CJ to tease him about her new man and calls him Claude. Wikipedia notes this was the first time the name was made official.

The GTA Wiki says the two spent the next nine years on the road, robbing banks as they made their way east to Liberty City.

What happens to Catalina in GTA III?

At the start of GTA III, set in 2001, Catalina and Claude rob a bank. Wikipedia describes how she then turns on him, shoots him and leaves him behind. Claude is arrested but escapes on his way to prison.

By the time Claude catches up with her, she has become the leader of the Colombian Cartel in the city. At their meeting she also shoots her own partner, Miguel. Her last move is to kidnap Maria Latore and demand a $500,000 ransom. The exchange is a trap, and she flees with the money in a helicopter. Claude shoots it down with a rocket launcher at the Cochrane Dam, killing her.

Why do fans remember Catalina?

Catalina gives the 3D era a rare thread that runs across games. Her betrayal sets up GTA III, and her scenes in San Andreas explain where Claude came from and why he trusted her. The GTA Wiki also records her as the last antagonist to be killed in the 3D Universe timeline.