Lucia Caminos is routinely described as the first playable woman in GTA. But that's not quite right, and the real history is more interesting. Lucia is the first female lead of the series' modern, story-driven era: the first woman whose name, face, and story anchor a mainline Grand Theft Auto. Playable women, though, have been part of GTA since the very first game in 1997. Here's the full lineage.
1997: GTA's forgotten female originals
The original top-down Grand Theft Auto let players pick from a roster of eight interchangeable criminals before hitting Liberty City, Vice City, or San Andreas. Depending on the platform, that lineup included several women: names like Ulrika, Katie, Divine, and Mikki. They had no dialogue, no backstory, and no bearing on the story; every character played identically, and most players never noticed. But technically, you could play GTA as a woman on day one, in 1997.
The London expansions kept similar selectable rosters. Then the leap to 3D changed everything: from GTA 3 (2001) onward, GTA became an authored, cinematic series about a single named protagonist, and for 25 years of mainline games, that protagonist was always a man: Claude, Tommy, CJ, Niko, and GTA 5's trio of Michael, Franklin, and Trevor.
The 3D era: women everywhere except the driver's seat
That doesn't mean women were absent. Some of the series' most memorable characters were female, just never playable in the main campaigns:
- Catalina, the treacherous villain whose betrayal opens GTA 3 (and who returns in San Andreas as CJ's unhinged partner in crime).
- Asuka Kasen, the Yakuza co-leader who becomes Claude's most powerful ally in GTA 3.
- Auntie Poulet, Vice City's voodoo matriarch, voiced by the late Youree "Miss Cleo" Harris.
- Elizabeta Torres, GTA 4's doomed Liberty City drug queen.
- Molly Schultz, Devin Weston's razor-sharp fixer in GTA 5, plus the Casino era's Georgina Cheng and resort boss Agatha Baker in GTA Online.
The closest the 3D era came to a playable woman before now: GTA Online, which has offered fully playable female avatars since 2013. Millions of players have spent a decade-plus running Los Santos as women, a fact often forgotten in the "first playable woman" debate.
When asked around GTA 5's launch why the trio didn't include a woman, Rockstar's Dan Houser said the game's themes of masculinity drove that particular story, while suggesting a female lead was something the studio could explore when it fit. GTA 6 is apparently where it fit.
Lucia: what "first" actually means
So the precise claim is this: Lucia Caminos is the first female protagonist of a mainline, narrative-era Grand Theft Auto, the first woman Rockstar has ever built a GTA story around. And she's not a token addition; she's arguably the franchise's new face.
What's confirmed about her: born and raised in Liberty City, she served prison time before relocating to the Leonida Keys, where she reconnected with Jason Duval. The pair anchor a Bonnie and Clyde-inspired story, and Trailer 1 opened on Lucia in a prison interview. That shot introduced the entire game to 100+ million people. With confirmed character switching, players will spend roughly half the game (exact balance unconfirmed) seeing Leonida through her eyes.
Her full profile is in our Lucia Caminos deep-dive, and her dynamic with Jason gets its own treatment in Jason and Lucia's relationship breakdown.
Why this matters beyond trivia
The distinction between "first playable woman" (1997, nameless) and "first female lead" (2026, franchise face) actually maps GTA's whole evolution: from anonymous crime sandbox to the biggest character-driven entertainment property on Earth. Rockstar putting a woman at the center of the most anticipated game ever made isn't correcting an oversight from 1997; it's a statement about where the series' storytelling is going. RDR2 already proved Rockstar could write layered women (Sadie Adler, Abigail, Mary-Beth); Lucia is the first time that craft leads a GTA.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lucia the first playable female character in GTA history?
No. The original 1997 GTA and its London expansions had selectable female characters, and GTA Online has offered female avatars since 2013. Lucia is the first female protagonist of a mainline story-driven GTA, which is the meaningful first.
Who were the playable women in the original GTA?
The 1997 original's selectable roster varied by platform but included women with names like Ulrika, Katie, Divine, and Mikki. They were cosmetic choices only: every character played identically.
Is Lucia GTA 6's main character, or is Jason?
Both. GTA 6 has dual protagonists with character switching, similar to GTA 5's structure. Rockstar hasn't said whether screen time splits evenly, but marketing has consistently presented Lucia and Jason as equals.
Will you be able to play as a woman in GTA 6's online mode?
Rockstar hasn't detailed GTA 6's online component at all. Given that GTA Online has supported female characters since 2013, it would be surprising if any future online mode didn't, but treat that as expectation, not confirmation.
The Bottom Line
Playable women have technically existed in GTA since 1997, but for the entire era in which GTA meant characters, the lead was always a man. Lucia ends that streak. She's not the first woman you can control in a GTA; she's the first one the series has ever been about, and that's the far bigger milestone. In 99 days, the biggest game launch in history will open, if the trailers are any guide, on her story.