Timeline of the Grand Theft Auto series

1961

• GTA: London 1961

1969

• GTA: London 1969
• Harolds Cartwright is killed, as ordered by Albert Crisp
• The Crisp Twins, Albert and Archi Crisp flee out of London. Archi heads for Devon and Albert is leaving to Thailand.

1997

• Grand Theft Auto

2013

• GTA2
• An unnamed city in the United States suffers from crime and violence, while seven gangs struggle to gain control of the city.
• Claude Speed arrives in the city and starts to accept jobs from these gangs.
• Claude Speed kills Trey Welsh, Elmo, Johnny Zoo, Red Valdez, Doctor LaBrat, Billy Bob Bean, Uno Carb, Sunbeam and Jerkov, the bosses of the gangs.

1971

• Tommy Vercetti is ambushed by eleven hitmen in his home town Liberty City, sent by Sonny Forelli. Tommy manages to kill them all, earning him the nickname 'The Harwood Butcher', but is arrested afterwards. Tommy is sentenced to a jailtime of fifteen years and doesn't learn who ambushed him.

1984

• Ken Rosenberg starts his law firm "K. Rosenberg & Co." in Vice City.
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
• Soldier Victor Vance is transferred to Fort Baxter Air Base in Vice City, but gets a dishonourable discharge when he is found with Jerry Martinez' drugs and a prostitute.
• Victor meets Phil Cassidy
• Victor meets Marty Jay Williams and his wife Louise.
• Louise leaves her husband and moves in with her sister Mary-Jo Cassidy
• Victor murders Marty when he finds out he abuses Louise.
• Lance Vance arrives in Vice City and teams up with his brother.
• Victor meets Umberto Robina.
• Victor meets Brian Forbes and kills him when he finds out he is an undercover DEA agent.
• Victor meets Reni Wassulmaier
• Phil Collins visits Vice City.
• The Vance Family meets the Mendez Brothers
• Victor meets Ricardo Diaz
• Reni Wassulmaier leaves Vice City by plane.
• Armando Mendez murders Louise
• Victor murders Armando
• Victor murders Jerry Martinez and Diego Mendez.

1986

• The rock band Love Fist visits Vice City. Kent Paul becomes their producer.
• V-Rock DJ Couzin Ed gets fired and his former colleague Lazlow takes over his job.
• The Forelli Family decides to expand its power to Vice City with drug dealing. Sonny Forelli doesn't want Tommy interfering with his business in Liberty City, so when Tommy Vercetti gets out of prison, Sonny sends him to Vice City and introduces him to Ken Rosenberg to do a drug deal with the Vance Family. Sonny's plan is to "set Tommy loose in Vice City" and take over his business.
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
• The deal between The Vance Family and Tommy is ambushed by Ricardo Diaz and Harry, Lee and Victor Vance are killed. Tommy and Ken manage to escape, but they have to leave the money and drugs behind. Sonny is furious when Tommy tells him he lost both the money and drugs, but Tommy promises him he'll get his money back and he'll find the one responsible for the deal.
• Hurricane Hermoine is heading for Vice City. Several bridges are closed out of precaution, but the hurricane does not reach the city.
• Tommy meets Lance Vance, Victors brother, and they decide to cooperate.
• Tommy meets Avery Carrington and his apprentice Donald Love.
• Tommy and Lance figure out it was Diaz who ambushed the deal. Tommy does a few jobs for him to get to know his business before he kills him, but Lance attempts to kill Ricardo without Tommy. Lance failes and is kidnapped to be killed. Tommy saves him and they decide to kill Diaz together. When Diaz is dead, Tommy takes his place as don of Vice City.
• Candy Suxxx becomes a successful porn star when Tommy hires her to work for Interglobal Films
• Tommy plans a heist on El Banco Corrupto Grande and meets Cam Jones, Phil Cassidy and Hilary King. Hillary King dies during the heist.
• Phil Cassidy loses his arm when his own bomb explodes right next to him.
• Sonny Forelli and his henchmen come to Vice City to take over Tommy's business. Lance betrays tommy and chooses Sonny's side. During a gunfight between the Forelli's and Tommy, Sonny reveals his former attempt to kill Tommy. Eventually, Tommy manages to kill both Lance and Sonny.

1987

• Brian Johnson dies, causing his brother Carl to leave Los Santos and move to Liberty City

1992

• Ken Rosenberg leaves a rehabilitation centre in Fort Carson. Tommy Vercetti refuses to talk to him, leaving Ken without a job. Salvatore Leone hires him to be a neutral party in a deal with a Casino between the Leone, Sindacco and Forelli Family.
• Kent Paul and Maccer leave Salfort and head for San Andreas, where they meet The Truth
• Jimmy Hernandez becomes the new partner of the corrupt officers Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski, and he gradually becomes involved in their criminal activities.
• Grove Street Family members Big Smoke and Ryder decide to follow the example of the rivalling gangs and start distributing drugs, which is against the ethics of their gang. They also start working together with the archenemy of the Grove Street Families, the Ballas. Naturally, they do not tell the other grove straat members of their activities.
• Beverly Johnson is killed by the Ballas during a drive-by with a green Sabre. Her son Carl returns to Los Santos when his brother Sweet tells him what happened.
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• CJ is framed for the murder of officer Ralph Pendelbury by Tenpenny and Pulaski when he arives in Los Santos.
• Grove Street starts to reconquer its territory and pushes back the distribution of drugs.
• Cesar Vialpando finds out about Big Smoke and Ryders betrayal and tells CJ. This causes CJ to be late for a shoot-out with the Ballas. Sweet is badly wounded and gets arrested. CJ is kidnapped by Tenpenny and Pulaski and is forced by them to do several jobs.
• CJ meets Cesars cousin Catalina and together they rob a bank, liquor store, tank station and a betting shop.
• CJ meets The Truth
• CJ meets Wu Zi Mu, a member of the Triads
• Catalina meets Claude and they give CJ the deed of a run-down garage in San Fierro in excange for winning a race, before leaving San Andreas. Catalina says they're heading for Liberty City, although they won't arrive there until 2001.
• CJ infiltrates the Loco Syndicate and kills Jizzy B., T-Bone Mendez and Ryder.
• CJ meets Mike Toreno, although he thought he killed him. Toreno reveals he is not a member of the Loco Syndicate, but of a unspecified government agency. Toreno promises he will get Sweet out of prison if CJ helps him with a few jobs.
• The Four Dragons Casino comes under management of the Triads.
• Officer Hernandez realises things have gotten out of hand and he reports the crimes of C.R.A.S.H.. Tenpenny finds out and uses CJ to retrieve the file so his crimes won't come out. He hits Hernandez unconscious and leaves Pulaski to deal with CJ and Hernandez. Pulaski forces CJ to dig his and Hernandez' grave. When Pulaski wants to shoot CJ, Hernandez manage to stop him, but gets hit himself and dies. Pulaski tries to escape, but CJ goes in pursuit and kills him.
• Toreno keeps his promise and Sweet is released from prison. He and CJ start reconquering Los Sanots.
• Tenpenny is trialled but accused not guilty, causing riots to start in the ghetto's of Los Santos.
• CJ breaks in Big Smoke's Crack Palace and kills Big Smoke. Tenpenny shows up, who forces CJ to fill a suitcase with money. He tries to kill CJ afterwards, but CJ tricks Tenpenny into thinking Sweet is behind him and manage to evade the bullet. Tenpenny drives away in a Fire Truck. CJ and Sweet follow him, until Tenpenny drives of the edge of a bridge and dies in the crash.

1995

• Toni Cipriani kills a member of a rivalling Mafia family and has to leave Liberty City for a couple of years for his own safety.

1998

• The construction of the Callahan Bridge and the Porter Tunnel is started.
• Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
• Toni Cipriani returns to Liberty City and tries to re-establish his position in the Leone Family.
• The employees of the Ferry go on strike because they fear they will lose their jobs when the Callahan Brigde and Porter Tunnel will be finished. With the Ferry not operating and the bridge and tunnel unfinished, Portland is isolated from the rest of the city. Later, they start protesting on the Shoreside Lift Bridge, isolating both Portland and Staunton Island from the mainland.
• Mayor Roger C. Hole is killed by Toni, in order of Salvatore Leone.
• Miles O'Donavan is elected as the new mayor.
• Officer Ray Machowski becomes the new partner of officer Leon McAffrey. Unlike McAffrey, Machowski is a good cop and doesn't want to get involved with McAffrey corrupt affaires.
• Donald Love orders Toni to kill Avery Carrington, because he fears the Colombian Cartel becomes to powerful. Toni kills Carrington and steals some Panlantic construction plans.
• Toshiko Kasen asks Toni to kill her husband Kazuki, only to commit suicide afterwards.
• Fort Staunton, an area on Staunton Island, is destroyed by a massive explosion, due to the explosives Toni planted in a redundant subway station.
• De strike comes to a halt.
• May
  • The Callahan Bridge]] is finished.
• Motorcycles are banned in Liberty City.
• Catalina and Claude start robbing banks in Texas and New Mexico.

2000

• Grand Theft Auto Advance
• Mike and Vinnie want to leave Liberty City, but Vinnie gets blown up in his car on their last job. Mike decides to find the ones responsible.
• Jonnie is killed bij the Yardies
• Yuka is kidnapped by Mike in order of Cisco. Asuka Kasen, without knowing who kidnapped Yuka, asks Mike to bring her back.
• Cisko is found dead at Francis International Airport.
• King Courtney is seemingly killed by Mike, although he appears a year later in GTA III
• 8 Ball burns his hands in an attack of the Colobian Cartel with flame throwers.
• Mike finds out Vinnie is not dead, and in fact staged his own death so he could get away with the money. Mike is infuriated and kills Vinnie.
• Mike leaves Liberty City.

2001

• June
  • The drug SPANK is starting to become a real problem in Liberty City
• April
  • Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals introduces the play drug Equanox.
• September
  • Donald Love returns to Liberty City
• October
  • 8 Ball is arrested, burning his hands in the process.
  • Catalina and Claude arrive in Liberty City.
• Lazlow has accepted a job as host for Chatterbox FM, after losing his job at V-Rock.
• Grand Theft Auto III
• Catalina betrays Claude during a bank robbery. She shoots him and leaves him for dead. Claude is arrested, recovers and sentenced to prison for ten years. Catalina stops robbing banks, turning to the dealing of SPANK instead.
• The Colombian Cartel attacks the prison convoy to help a elderly Asian man escape. Thanks to this coincidence, 8 Ball and Claude manage to escape, too. The Cartel leaves a bomb on the Callahan Bridge to make their getaway, leaving the Callahan Bridge severely damaged.
• 8 Ball helps Claude to get of the streets and introduces him to Luigi Goterelli, who is affiliated with the mafia family Leone.
• Claude meets several other Leone's, including Joey Leone, Toni Cipriani, the don himself, Salvatore Leone, and his wife, Maria Latore
• Under orders of Salvatore, Claude and 8 Ball blow up a boat used by the Colobian Cartel to produce SPANK.
• Maria falls in love with Claude and tells this to Salvatore. Salvatore, already paranoid with Claude, attempts to kill Claude by sending him to pick up a rigged car. Maria warns Claude and brings him to her friend Asuka Kasen.
• The Callahan Bridge is repaired.
• The Staunton Lift Bridge malfunctions, isolating Staunton Island and Portland from the mainland.
• Asuka asks Claude to kill Salvatore, to prove he has broken his ties with the mafia.
• Claude meets Ray Machowski. Ray has changed much in three years: he is as corrupt as his partner Leon McAffrey used to be and has become incredibly paranoid.
• Claude meets Phil, who now lives in Liberty City and claims to have lost his arm in the war in Nicaragua. Claude helps him to fend of an attack of the Colombian Cartel.
• Ray sends Claude to kill McAffrey. Claude fails the first time, but succeeds in another attempt.
• Claude meets Donald Love.
• Donald Love asks Claude to kill Kenji Kasen with a Cartel Cruiser, to make the Yakuza believe it was the Colombian Cartel.
• The Staunton Lift Bridge is repaired and the last segment of the Porter Tunnel is completed.
• Claude encounters Catalina and Miguel when he is retrieving a package for Donald Love. Catalina escapes, leaving Miguel behind. Miguel is captured by Asuka and Maria, who tortures him because she thinks the Colombian Cartel killed her brother. She interrogates him during the torture.
• Donald Love leaves the city without a trace.
• Asuka and Miguel are killed when the Colombian Cartel when they discover their hide-out. A note from Catalina tells Claude she has kidnapped Maria, and that he has to pay ransom if he wants to see her again.
• Claude pays the ransom, but Catalina orders Claude to be killed and leaves with a helicopter. Claude escapes and goes in pursuit. He follows the chopper to the Cochrane Dam, where he kills several Colombians. He eventually shoots the helicopter down with a rocket launcher, killing Catalina.
• Claude supposedly kills Maria when she keeps on nagging.

1998 (GTA IV canon)

• Niko Bellic starts looking for someone around this year.
• Elizabeta starts dealing drugs in Broker, Liberty City around this year.

2008

• Niko Bellic leaves his native country and moves to Liberty City, after Roman told him about the American Dream.
• Grand Theft Auto IV

2009

• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

2013

• Grand Theft Auto V