Grand Theft Auto V · Wiki · Character
Lamar Davis
Franklin's best friend from Forum Drive, and later a regular in GTA Online.
| Type | Character |
|---|
Data checked Oct 28, 2026
Lamar Davis is Franklin Clinton’s loud, loyal and hilarious best friend in Grand Theft Auto V. A member of the Chamberlain Gangster Families in South Los Santos, Lamar keeps dragging Franklin back into street hustles even as Franklin moves up to big heists. His rants, schemes and roasts made him one of the most beloved and most memed characters in GTA history, and he returns repeatedly in GTA Online. This wiki page covers Lamar’s background, personality, key missions, his role in the story, his GTA Online appearances and fun facts.
Lamar Davis at a glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Role | Supporting character, Franklin’s best friend |
| Gang | Chamberlain Gangster Families (The Families) |
| Neighborhood | Chamberlain Hills and Forum Drive, South Los Santos |
| Job | Repo man for Simeon Yetarian, alongside Franklin |
| Pet | Chop, a Rottweiler |
| Voice | Gerald “Slink” Johnson |
| Appears in | GTA 5 story and multiple GTA Online updates |
Background
Lamar grew up with Franklin in South Los Santos, and the two have been friends since childhood. Both worked as repo men for Simeon Yetarian at Premium Deluxe Motorsport, and both were involved with the Families gang. While Franklin wants to escape the gang life, Lamar is fully committed to it, always chasing respect, money and the next big hustle. He owns Chop, a Rottweiler who ends up living with Franklin and helping him in missions.
Personality
Lamar is loud, confident and endlessly talkative. He is quick with insults and boasts, and his dialogue is full of slang, exaggeration and bad ideas delivered with total conviction. Under the bravado, he is deeply loyal to Franklin and genuinely cares about him, even if his schemes keep landing them both in danger. His comic timing and the chemistry between him and Franklin made their scenes some of the most quoted in the game.
Lamar’s role in the GTA 5 story
Lamar appears in Franklin’s opening missions, including the street race and repo job in Franklin and Lamar and the Ballas chase in Chop. Throughout the story he involves Franklin in neighborhood problems, including a disastrous drug deal and friction with the rival Ballas gang. His old friend Harold “Stretch” Joseph, recently out of prison, keeps causing trouble, and Lamar refuses to see that Stretch is unreliable.
Lamar Down
In the mission Lamar Down, Lamar is lured into a trap by the Ballas after Stretch betrays him, and the gang holds him at a sawmill. Franklin, with help from Michael and Trevor, fights through the Ballas to rescue him. The mission is a turning point: it shows how far Franklin has come and how much his new crew is willing to do for him. Stretch’s betrayal also comes back in the final mission, where he is one of the targets in Ending C.
Lamar and the endings
Lamar survives in every ending. In the canon Ending C, Franklin, Michael and Trevor eliminate Stretch among their enemies, and Lamar stays in Franklin’s life, which is why he appears in later GTA Online content.
The famous Lamar roast
A cutscene where Lamar mocks Franklin’s appearance and choices became one of the biggest GTA memes on the internet. Fans remixed it with edited dialogue, and it is still shared years later. The meme’s popularity helped make Lamar one of the most recognizable characters from the game, and Rockstar has leaned into his comedic role in later updates.
Lamar in GTA Online
- Lowriders (2015): Lamar gives players lowrider missions and introduces Benny’s Original Motor Works, where players customize lowrider cars.
- Lowriders: Custom Classics: more Lamar missions and vehicles.
- The Contract (2021): Lamar appears alongside Franklin at F. Clinton and Partner, the agency players help run.
- Short Trips: co-op missions where players play as Franklin and Lamar in the expanded versions of GTA Online, available after The Contract story.
- Later updates: Lamar continues to appear in contact missions and events.
For more on online content, see the GTA Online page.
Lamar and Franklin’s friendship
The friendship between Lamar and Franklin is one of GTA 5’s emotional anchors. Franklin is drawn between his old life with Lamar and his new life with Michael and Trevor, and Lamar represents everything he is leaving behind: loyalty, laughs and danger. Even as Franklin becomes rich, he keeps coming back for Lamar, and their scenes together in GTA Online show that the friendship survived. Chop the dog connects them too.
Fun facts
- Lamar’s voice actor, Gerald “Slink” Johnson, also performed the motion capture and has reprised the role in many updates.
- He is one of the few story characters with multiple dedicated GTA Online mission strands.
- His dialogue lines are frequently quoted by the community and used in fan videos.
Lamar Davis FAQ
Who is Lamar in GTA 5?
Franklin’s best friend and a member of the Chamberlain Gangster Families.
Who voices Lamar?
Gerald “Slink” Johnson.
Does Lamar die in GTA 5?
No. Lamar survives in every ending.
Is Lamar in GTA Online?
Yes. He appears in Lowriders, The Contract and Short Trips, among other updates.
What is the Lamar roast?
A famous cutscene where Lamar mocks Franklin, which became a huge internet meme.
Lamar’s key missions in GTA 5
| Mission | Lamar’s role |
|---|---|
| Franklin and Lamar | Street race and repossession with Franklin |
| Repossession | Helps Franklin recover a motorbike from the Ballas |
| Chop | Chases a Ballas member with Franklin and Chop |
| Hood Safari | Involves Franklin and Trevor in a drug deal that goes wrong |
| Lamar Down | Kidnapped by the Ballas and rescued by the crew |
Why Lamar matters to the story
Lamar shows what Franklin’s life would look like if he never met Michael. Where Franklin plans and adapts, Lamar charges ahead on instinct, and where Franklin wants to get out of the neighborhood, Lamar wants to own it. That contrast gives Franklin’s story its stakes: every time Lamar gets into trouble, Franklin has to decide whether loyalty to his old friend is worth the risk to his new life. The answer is always yes, which says a lot about Franklin’s character.
Lamar and Stretch
Harold Stretch Joseph is an old Families member who returns from prison and quickly becomes trouble. Lamar defends Stretch even as Franklin warns him, and Stretch ends up working with the Ballas and setting Lamar up in Lamar Down. In Ending C, Franklin personally deals with Stretch, closing that storyline. The Stretch plot is one of the reasons fans love Lamar: his loyalty is genuine even when it is misplaced.
Where to find Lamar
After the story, Lamar can be met through his phone contact for activities with Franklin, such as hanging out. In GTA Online, he contacts players by phone for missions and appears at Benny’s and at the Agency.
More than a sidekick, Lamar is the friend who reminds Franklin where he came from, and that is why players remember him so warmly. Loud, loyal and endlessly quotable, he is a highlight of the game.
Lamar in fan culture
Beyond the roast meme, Lamar is a favorite in GTA roleplay servers and fan videos, where players imitate his voice and catchphrases. His return in GTA Online updates was celebrated by fans who had been asking for more Lamar since 2013, and every new appearance tends to trend in the GTA community.
If you have only played GTA 5 story mode, his GTA Online missions are worth trying for more of his trademark humor and banter with Franklin.
Lamar is proof that a side character can steal the show.
He never gets old.