Claude Speed

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

Claude Speed is the playable protagonist of Grand Theft Auto 2, released by Rockstar Games in October 1999. He is a criminal who takes jobs from rival gangs in the retro-futuristic Anywhere City. He also starred in GTA 2: The Movie, a live-action short played by Scott Maslen. Whether he is the same man as Claude from GTA III has never been confirmed.

Who is the main character in GTA 2?

The hero of Grand Theft Auto 2 is Claude Speed. The game was made by DMA Design in Dundee and published by Rockstar Games. According to Wikipedia, the PlayStation and Windows versions came out on 22 October 1999, with a Dreamcast port in 2000. Like the first Grand Theft Auto, it is played from a top-down view, so Claude is mostly seen from above as a small figure running between cars.

Claude has no fixed boss. He is a hired hand who sells his services to whichever gang will pay. The GTA Wiki notes that he does not appear in the Game Boy Color version of the game, which uses other characters.

What does Claude Speed do in Anywhere City?

The game is set in Anywhere City, a gloomy, retro-futuristic city split into three districts: Downtown, Residential and Industrial. Wikipedia explains that each district has two local gangs plus one gang that is present everywhere. Working for a gang raises Claude's respect with it, which opens up bigger jobs, but it also lowers his standing with that gang's rivals, who then start shooting at him on sight.

According to the GTA Wiki, the Downtown district is home to the Yakuza, the Zaibatsu and the Loonies. In the Residential district he deals with the Rednecks, the SRS Scientists and the Zaibatsu again. The Industrial district brings in the Hare Krishnas, the Zaibatsu and the Russian Mafia. Claude plays these groups off against each other, and at one point the Rednecks' leader has him locked up.

The GTA Wiki describes the ending this way: the gang bosses work out that Claude has been double-dealing, they all turn on him, and he kills them before leaving the city with his money. Read more about the game on our GTA 2 page.

What is GTA 2: The Movie?

To promote the game, Rockstar made a live-action short film. Wikipedia describes it as an eight-minute film shot in New York City, written by Dan Houser and directed by Alex De Rakoff. It was used as the game's intro and posted on Rockstar's website. The English actor Scott Maslen plays Claude Speed.

The film's Claude is very different from the silent figure players know from later games. He talks and shows emotion. In the story, he steals a van belonging to the Zaibatsu, takes jobs from several gangs and is finally shot in the back by an assassin. The GTA Wiki points out that it is not clear how the film fits with the game's own plot, and that it was probably made mainly as an advert.

Is Claude Speed the same person as Claude from GTA III?

This is the question most fans ask. The silent lead of Grand Theft Auto III is also called Claude, and both men wear a dark jacket, cargo trousers and slicked-back hair. That led many players to treat them as one character.

Rockstar has never said so. The 2D games, including GTA 2, sit in a separate continuity from the 3D games that began with GTA III, and the GTA Wiki lists the two Claudes as separate characters. In a 2011 Q&A cited on our Claude page, Rockstar would only say that the GTA III Claude's surname may or may not be Speed. The San Andreas Claude, who races CJ and leaves with Catalina, is the 3D Universe version.

Reception

Wikipedia reports that reviews of GTA 2 were mixed, with a Metacritic score of 70 for the PlayStation version. Critics liked the soundtrack and the gang respect system but felt the graphics and gameplay had moved on too little from the first game. It still sold well, with about two million copies sold worldwide, according to the same article. Two years later, GTA III took the series into 3D with a new Claude, and the top-down era ended.