GTA V Mysteries That Make No Sense
There's an entire world of activities for players to contend with inside the huge Grand Theft Auto V. Ranging from the Story Mode to Online Play, this famous crime series has always delivered a fulfilling gaming experience for hardcore fans and casual players alike. What those casual players don't know, however, is that lurking beneath the surface of GTA V are countless intriguing mysteries. Here are a few of the best unsolved mysteries that don't make much sense. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the one to solve them.
Zombie Outbreak
The zombie apocalypse hasn't hit San Andreas just yet, but at least one Los Santos resident is extremely worried. Lester Crest, the socially awkward hacker who helps Michael, Franklin, and Trevor cause havoc from behind his keyboard, has a marked paranoid streak, and among the files in his ramshackle home is a box labelled "Zombie Outbreak." Given that the box right next to it is labelled "Assassinations"—and that Lester doles out actual assassination missions as the game rolls on—some fans wonder if Lester's research is more than just a paranoid fantasy.
After all, Lester's notes aren't the only place where zombies pop up in Grand Theft Auto V. In Vinewood, an actor dressed like a zombie hangs out by a movie theater. Zombix, an anti-zombie drug featured in Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2, gets name-dropped on Grand Theft Auto V's Weazel News when an anchor mentions that the narcotic is "more popular with junkies than sick people." The undead haven't arrived yet, but the citizens (and addicts) of Grand Theft Auto V will be prepared when they do.
So far, Grand Theft Auto V's zombies seem more like a red herring than an actual threat, but with Grand Theft Auto online getting regular updates, that could change. After all, Rockstar's other open-world crime simulator, Red Dead Redemption, got a zombie add-on in the form of Undead Nightmare. If zombies do end up taking to Los Santos' streets, many players speculate they'll come from Humane Labs and Research, a "perfume" company that's behind all kinds of chemical weapons. Of course, that's just conjecture...for now.
Mountain Ghost
Continuing the thread of supernatural elements, Rockstar Games even went as far as to include an actual ghost into the game. This mystery is only viewable between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m. game-time: positioned atop Mount Gordo, this non-violent, silent spirit wears a white nightgown, has a blurry face and long, gangly black hair. She only appears to player at a distance—attempting to get closer only causes the ghost to disappear. One popular fan theory is that the ghost of Mount Gordo is a reference to a character named Jock Cranley, who appears in both GTA V and GTA: Vice City. Jock is arrested on suspicion for murdering his wife, Jolene, who fell (or was pushed) from the top of Mount Gordo. By the time he appears in GTA V, he's a conservative candidate running for Governor of the State of San Andreas. Whether or not players can interact with the ghost—or somehow bring down Jock—is still unknown.
Doomsday Heist Artwork
Stop the presses: the Grand Theft Auto V's jetpack has been found—or, rather, it's finally been added. Ever since Grand Theft Auto V came out, fans have been scouring the game and (and its code) in hopes of deciphering the wide-ranging Mount Chiliad Mystery, which focuses on a map found at the very top of Mount Chiliad. The map tantalizingly teases a UFO, an egg, a person using a jetpack, and a base hidden inside Mount Chiliad itself.
The UFOs were found a while ago, and players have a pretty good guess at what the eggs refer to, also (more on that later). The jetpack and bunker, however, remained a mystery—until now. Grand Theft Auto Online's massive Doomsday Heist update adds a handful of new multiplayer missions and a bunch of new toys to the game, including a flying car that looks like Back to the Future's DeLorean, a powerful orbital cannon, and yes, finally, that jetpack, although it'll set you back $3 million in in-game cash to get it. The missions will take you inside Mount Chiliad, too, confirming the existence of that secret base. Finally, the Mount Chiliad mystery is over.
Or is it? Some illustrations that arrived with the update, and their mysterious contents, hint that there are other discoveries to make. The Mount Chiliad map and UFOs appear on the artwork, of course. Check the yellow section. The green artwork references Grand Theft Auto V's hallucinogenic Bigfoot quest, with a picture man transforming into the mythical beast, a top-down diagram of a peyote plant, and the word "BIGFOOT" hidden among a DNA spiral. Clearly, these symbols mean something, but investigators haven't cracked the case — not quite yet, anyway.
The All-Seeing Eye
The jetpack man isn't the only mysterious symbol that appears on the Mount Chiliad map. At the very top of the image, at the spot representing Mount Chiliad's peak, is an icon that fans have dubbed the "All-Seeing Eye." If it looks familiar to you, you must be paying very, very close attention. Not only does the Eye look a lot like the symbol most commonly associated with the Freemasons and the Illuminati, but it pops up all over Los Santos, too.
Seriously, once you start looking, you'll notice that the All-Seeing Eye is everywhere. Lester has a poster of the Eye on his wall, which also contains an ominous warning: "The man is watching you." Franklin has a framed version hanging on his wall. The symbol shows up on in-game t-shirts and gear shifts. SecuServ, a company that sells you warehouses in Grand Theft Auto Online, has a version on their logo. Most strikingly, if you visit the Galileo Observatory at the right time of day, the monument outside casts a shadow on the ground that looks exactly like the All-Seeing Eye.
But what does it mean? Clearly, it has something to do with aliens. On the top of Mount Chiliad, a version of the Eye points the way to the message, "Come back when your story is complete"–UFOs only appear if you've reached 100% completion in the game. That doesn't seem like it's the end of the tale, however. Grand Theft Auto V is full of references to the Illuminati (some people think that the game's Scientology riff, the Epsilon Program, is an Illuminati front), and given the Eye's history, there's bound to be some connection.
The Infinity Killer
Savvy Grand Theft Auto 5 players already know the identity of Los Santos' most famous serial slayer. A newspaper clipping confirms that Merle Abrahams died at age 57 in 2004 while waiting for his trial to begin. The article notes that Abrahams was suspected of kidnapping, torturing, and ultimately offing eight men, all of whom were out jogging when they disappeared. While police never found the victims' bodies, players discovered them submerged underwater, wrapped in plastic and tape.
What they still don't know is why Merle went on his spree, other than the fact that he's indisputably crazy. Merle has tried to explain, of course. He's left graffiti all over Los Santos, just waiting for people to find it. He scrawled a nursery rhyme on a rock in the desert, describing each of his victims' reactions in detail. In his house, he's painted "8 is just infinity stood up" on the wall (hence, his criminal alias). Merle's prison cell contains another cryptic message, as well as a hint as to where his victims' bodies are hidden and another reference to the number eight.
But, like we said, Merle is crazy. None of these messages add up to a consistent mission statement. There's clearly some method behind the Infinity Killer's madness, but the full story most likely perished with him, never to be recovered.
Cannibal Cult
Trevor Phillips, one of Grand Theft Auto V's three protagonists, has some weird acquaintances. But none of them are as depraved as the members of Altruist Cult. At first, of course, the cult seems harmless. They're just a group of old people who live in the hills, hate technology, worship an alien god called Zapho, and think that the young people—or "sub 40s," as the Altruists call refer to them on their in-game website—are going to destroy civilization. But then Trevor starts carting people he randomly runs across up to the Altruists' mountain hideout, and a question emerges: what the heck are the Altruists doing with the prisoners?
Going by the evidence, they're eating 'em. In the Altruists' manifesto, they claim that "Sub 40s only exist as subsistence to the altruistic man and gains life from eating them." A little later, the website implores the Altruists' followers to "eat of the flesh" and "drink of the blood." Those could be metaphors, of course—many church services employ similar language without actually endorsing cannibalism—but some experts think that the Altruists' message is much more literal.
The in-game website cultstoppers.com claims that no former cult members can be found–because they've been eaten. Trevor's buddy Ron, who tells Trevor that the Altruists are searching for fresh bodies, mentions that they want the people for dinner. Not that it matters, of course—after Trevor delivers four potential meals (i.e. people) to the Altruists' hideout, they turn on him and he's forced to kill them all. Still, all those people that Trevor kidnapped had to go somewhere, and the Altruists' bellies seem like a pretty good bet.
Asteroids
Not all of Grand Theft Auto V's mysteries made it into the final game. Players discover some secrets simply by searching the game's art assets, or by taking a look at its code. Take the asteroid, for example. Grand Theft Auto V's PC version comes with a file called "prop_asteroid.ytd." Hackers figured out how to spawn the object in the game and, true to the file name, it is in fact an asteroid. It's a big one, too, with the power to crush both humans and vehicles, so if you spawn it, make sure to get out of the way.
Nobody knows what the asteroid is for. Grand Theft Auto V doesn't have any meteor shower missions. Its characters never travel into space. Some players speculate that the asteroid is the last remnant of a cut mission (possibly one involving a drug trip). Others contend that the asteroid will support some kind of forthcoming downloadable content—after all, Grand Theft Auto V is full of alien-focused shenanigans. Clearly, the asteroid has, or had, some use. Whether that's something that was cut or something yet to come is an open question.
The Face on Mount Chiliad
Not every mystery on Mount Chiliad centers around occult symbols and aliens. Some of them are just plain weird. In the original editions of Grand Theft Auto V, a portrait of a grinning man has been spray painted onto the mountainside. Not only does the picture have apparently nothing to do with the plot and serve no discernible purpose, but nobody's quite sure who the man is even supposed to be.
Some players think that the blurry visage is Breaking Bad's Jesse Pinkman, originally played by actor Aaron Paul. After all, Grand Theft Auto V's producers are clearly fans of the show. One character, a methamphetamine producer named the Cook, bears a striking resemblance to Breaking Bad lead Walter White. In addition, certain wardrobe options can make Grand Theft Auto V's Michael De Santa look almost exactly like Bryan Cranston's iconic drug slinger. Other possible candidates for the mural include one of the game's many, many developers, or perhaps one of their family members or friends.
No matter who the Face on Mount Chiliad is supposed to be, it seems like Rockstar had second thoughts about including him in the game. In Grand Theft Auto V's enhanced editions—the ones that came out on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC—the man is gone, replaced with a vulgar doodle of a "rooster." In other words, Rockstar seems to be saying, don't think too hard about this mystery. It's just a joke.
Aliens
If you manage to get a 100% completion score in Grand Theft Auto V and then travel to one of the spots marked on the Mount Chiliad map, you might see a UFO hovering in the sky. According to some, that's it. The mystery has been solved.
But has it really? Dedicated fans aren't so sure. See, while the UFOs have been found, Rockstar keeps adding alien-related content to the game. In December 2016, three years after Grand Theft Auto V's debut, Rockstar added a brand new UFO model into the game. It has yet to be used. In June 2017, data miners discovered something even bigger: an entire alien-related mission, hidden inside of the game's code.
Actually triggering the mission is difficult, and requires special tools to change the game's global variables. Get everything right, however, and you'll be able to steal an alien egg from a crashed UFO, and then fight off the alien invaders that are trying to protect their brood. The X-Files' Mulder and Scully even make a post-mortem appearance.
This could be an Easter egg for dedicated Grand Theft Auto V players, or it could be the start of something bigger. With the discovery of the so-called "Alien Egg Supply Run Mission," many Mount Chiliad enthusiasts are hanging up their hats. Others, however, think this might just be the beginning, and are keeping their eyes peeled for further extra-terrestrial incursions. But are they just wasting their time? We may never know for sure.
Black Cellphones
If you're cruising around Los Santos and you find yourself in a fix, don't panic. Just pull up your phone and call 1-999-367-3767. Trust us. You'll thank us later.
Who's on the other end, though? Nobody knows. The in-game caller ID only identifies the person on the other end as Black Cellphones. Fans are still trying to figure out who exactly that refers to, but they certainly know what calling them does. Not only does dialing the number change your phone into a sleek black device, but calling Black Cellphones also sets off a massive explosion.
So, what's going on? The Black Cellphones number itself might hold the key. Telephone keypads have letters in addition to numbers, and 367-3767 can be used to create a few different words and phrases. "EMP-DROP" implies that the explosions could come from an electromagnetic pulse. "EMPEROR" could be a nod to the GTA's Scientology-esque Epsilon Program, which names a "religious emperor" in its informational pamphlet. Or maybe that's just a red herring. After all, what color does your iFruit become when you call Black Cellphones? That's right: "emperor black."