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Phil Cassidy
Phil cassidy artwork 1
Appearances: Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Full Name: Phil Cassidy
Also known as: Phil, The One Armed Bandit
Gender: Male
Place of Birth: Vice City 1953
Home: Rockford, Liberty City
Nationality: American
Family: Louise Cassidy-Williams (sister/deceased)
Mary-Jo Cassidy (sister)
Mary-Beth Williams (niece)
Marty Jay Williams (brother-in-law/deceased)
Main affiliation: Trailer Park Mafia (?-1984)
Tommy Vercetti (1986-?)
Ken Rosenberg (1986)
Hilary King (?-1986)
Victor Vance (1984-1986)
Toshiko Kasen (?-1998)
Claude (2001)
Ray Machowski
Cam Jones (1986)
Jerry Martinez (?-1984)
Lance Vance (1984-1986)
Ricardo Diaz
Umberto Robina
Vehicle(s): Green Patriot
Yellow Walton
Perennial
Businesses: Phil's Place (GTA VC)
Phil's Depot (GTA VCS)
Voiced by: Gary Busey (GTA VC & GTA VCS)
Hunter Platin (GTA III)

Phil Cassidy (1953-?) is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series, who appears as a supporting character in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and Grand Theft Auto III. Phil was voiced by Gary Busey in Vice City and Vice City Stories. He was voiced by Hunter Platin in GTA III. His voice actors in Liberty City Stories are unknown.

Biography

Appearance

In all of his appearances, he is featured as a war veteran and a heavy arms dealer, selling the protagonist military-grade weapons such as Grenades, Rocket Launchers, Miniguns, and others. He presents himself as an ex-military veteran, usually talking about his exploits in Vietnam. Cam Jones reveals that he was never in the army, and the records claim that Phil was turned down due to his alcoholism and unstable personality. Ray Machowski, a character from GTA III and GTA: LCS, refers to Phil as an old military buddy.

Background History

Phil is featured to be a heavy drinker. He distills "boomshine", a highly explosive drink that can make a man drunk by smelling the fumes, that he begins selling in Vice City in 1984. During a conversation over the phone with Tommy Vercetti, he explains that he is blind in his left eye.

Phil is notable for his one arm. He lost his arm in 1986 after he was caught in an explosion radius that was mistimed by one of his boomshine bombs. Prior to this event, he is shown with both arms; in his later appearances, he is shown with one.

1984 and 1986

1984

Phil cassidy 3

Phil as he appears in GTA VCS.

Phil first appears in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. He is introduced to Victor Vance by sergeant Jerry Martinez, who Phil serves as Jerry's gun dealer. Jerry sends Victor to help Phil get rid of some Cholos who are giving him trouble. Phil asks Victor to then meet his sister Louise Cassidy-Williams and her husband Marty Jay Williams.

After completing some tasks for Marty, Victor kills Marty for kidnapping Louise. Later, Victor returns and saves Phil from Jerry's goons, who wanted to kill him for betraying Jerry. After Victor saves Phil, he promises to stay sober from now on, but breaks his promise when Armando kills Louise. Phil, who also wants to get revenge, gets drunk and blows open the entrance to Fort Baxter Air Base so Victor could steal a Hunter to attack the Mendez Building located in Downtown.

Around this time, Phil sports a handlebar mustache which was removed before the events of Vice City. He also wears a black leather vest, light blue worn jeans and black boots.

1986

After finding a guy who can crack open money safes, Tommy Vercetti now needs a stickup man who can handle a gun. Cam Jones mentions that Phil would be perfect for the job, but Phil won't accept unless Tommy can beat his shooting score at the Downtown gun range. Tommy does and then later mentions that he needs a driver. Phil suggests that he should employ Hilary King. However, after giving him a call, Phil tells Tommy that Hilary won't work for him unless Tommy beats him in a street race. Tommy does and they begin preparing for the bank heist. Phil is put in

Phil cassidy 1

Phil appearing in GTA VC.

charge of holding down the workers at the bank while Tommy and Cam collect the money from the safe. Hilary gets killed by the SWAT team outside the bank, but Tommy, Cam, and Phil all manage to escape safely to Cam's house.

Realizing that he hasn't had so much fun since he was in Vietnam, Phil decides to work with Tommy some more by allowing Tommy to do various tasks for him. He has Tommy kill some gun runners driving around the mainland and collect their guns. Later, Tommy meets a drunken Phil who wants to show off to Tommy his boomshine bombs. Attempting to set them off, he realizes that the detonator needs new batteries and decides to change them out near the bombs. After placing the batteries in the detonator, the bombs go off near Phil, blowing off his right arm in the process. Tommy has no choice but to drive Phil, while drunk, to a military hospital in Little Havana. Shortly after dropping him off, Phil gives him a call and allows Tommy to purchase weapons from him.

In Later Games

Phil can be seen in later games. He is usually appearing to be wearing a green suit in one game, with a bald head and his one arm.

VCBI Record

Phil cassidy crime card 1

Phil Cassidy's crime card.

The Vice City Bureau of Investigation has a file on Cassidy:

  • Redneck arms dealer.
  • Believed to be involved in weapons trade.
  • Gun enthusiast. Member of various second amendment organizations and various Vice City gun clubs.
  • Sources suggest he also distills "boomshine" in own stills.
  • Fighting war with Mexican gun-running gangs.
  • Linked with "Cam" Jones. Jones and Cassidy believed to have worked together numerous times although Cassidy has avoided convictions.
  • Degenerate.
  • Patriot.
  • Also believed Cassidy claims to have served in various divisions although Army records show he was repeatedly rejected for service because of drunkenness and an unsuitable temperament for combat.

Mission Appearances

GTA Vice City

GTA Vice City Stories

Trivia

  • In Phil's GTA Vice City artwork, Phil is holding an AK-47, a weapon that isn't featured in the game as the Ruger serves this purpose.
  • In re-release versions of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the Confederate flag on Phil's shirt is replaced with a skull. This was in the aftermath of the killing of a black man by police officers in 2020, and that Confederate symbols from the Confederacy were considered racist, thus were slowly being removed from games and media.
  • The player can play as Phil Cassidy in GTA VC by inputting the cheats below:
PS2:Ps2 rightR1 buttonPs2 upR2 buttonL1 buttonPs2 rightR1 buttonL1 buttonPs2 rightPs2 circle
PC: onearmedbandit
Xbox: Right, RT, Up, Black, LT, Right, RT, LT, Right, B

Gallery

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