No. Lucia Caminos isn't the first woman you can play in a Grand Theft Auto game. The 1997 original let you pick one of eight characters, and four of them were women. What Lucia is, going by everything Rockstar has published, is the first woman to co-lead a GTA story: a named character with a written background and top billing next to Jason Duval. That's a real change, and it doesn't need inflating.
The record, dated
| Year | Game | Could you play as a woman? | What that meant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Grand Theft Auto (PC, PlayStation) | Yes | Four of eight selectable characters were women: Divine, Mikki, Katie and Ulrika. Names and portraits only, no story of their own. |
| GTA 2 era | Grand Theft Auto 2, Game Boy Color port | Yes | Per Kotaku, the GBC version added two playable women, Candy and Gretchen. |
| 2003 | Max Payne 2 (published by Rockstar, developed by Remedy) | In a few levels | Mona Sax is playable in select levels; Max is the lead. Not a GTA game. |
| 2004 | Red Dead Revolver (Rockstar) | In some levels | Rancher Annie Stoakes is among the characters you control in certain levels. Not a GTA game. |
| 2004 | Grand Theft Auto Advance (GBA) | No | One protagonist, a man named Mike, with no character choice. |
| October 1, 2013 | GTA Online | Yes, your own character | You create your character and can make them a woman. The character is silent and has no written backstory. |
| 2018 | Red Dead Redemption 2 | No, in story mode | You play Arthur Morgan, then John Marston in the final hours. Sadie Adler is a major character, but we found no story segment where you control her. Not a GTA game. |
| November 19, 2026 | Grand Theft Auto VI | Yes | Lucia Caminos, co-lead with Jason Duval. |
We left out GTA games whose protagonists are a single fixed man, which is most of them, and anything we couldn't confirm from a source. If you know of a playable woman in a GTA we've missed, the evidence matters more than the claim.
The 1997 original
The first Grand Theft Auto, released on PC and PlayStation in 1997, opens with a character select. As Kotaku laid out in July 2022, and PC Gamer in December 2023, four of the eight choices were women: Divine, Mikki, Katie and Ulrika. LevelUp's December 2023 piece describes the four as having African, Hispanic, Asian and Scandinavian heritage.
The catch is how little it meant in play. Kotaku notes the characters weren't voiced and choosing one didn't change anything; from the top-down camera you couldn't tell who you'd picked. PC Gamer's description is that they "all look near-identical in their garish yellow shirts." So the honest version is: GTA has let you play as a woman since 1997, as a name and a portrait.
GTA Online, 2013
GTA Online launched on October 1, 2013, alongside GTA V. Its character creator lets you make a woman. PC Gamer's phrase for that character is a "nameless mute protagonist." She exists in the world, but the story isn't about her.
That's the gap Lucia closes. GTA V itself had three protagonists, all men.
Red Dead and Sadie Adler
Sadie Adler comes up in every one of these arguments, so precisely: in Red Dead Redemption 2's story mode you play Arthur Morgan, and the game, in Screen Rant's words, "switches to the perspective of John Marston for its final hours." Sadie is one of the game's most important characters, but we found nothing showing a segment where the player controls her, and the PC mods that let you play as Sadie exist because the base game doesn't. If you've seen a claim that RDR2 has playable Sadie chapters, we couldn't verify it.
Rockstar's earlier Western is a better example. In Red Dead Revolver (2004), Red Harlow is the lead, but you control other characters in some levels, rancher Annie Stoakes among them. Max Payne 2, which Rockstar published in 2003, does the same with Mona Sax. Neither is a GTA game, and neither made a woman the lead.
What's actually new about Lucia
OFFICIAL Rockstar's GTA VI site sells the game as a story about two people. Its copy opens: "Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them." When an easy score goes wrong, it says, they are "forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive." Rockstar's pre-order announcement on June 24, 2026 used the same line about Jason and Lucia.
Rockstar's character description, as quoted by Red Bull in September 2026, gives her a history and a motive: "More than anything else, Lucia wants the good life her mother has been dreaming of since her days in Liberty City." Our characters page collects what else Rockstar has published about her.
So, compared with what came before:
- She has a written story. Not a portrait and a name, and not a blank avatar. Rockstar gives her a family, a past and a goal.
- She's billed as an equal. Rockstar's own copy names the pair together and frames the plot around both of them.
- REPORTED You switch between them. Notebookcheck and PowerUp Gaming, describing the August 27, 2026 Extended Look, reported near-instant switching between Jason and Lucia, including during the same action sequence.
What Rockstar hasn't said: how the campaign divides time between the two, whether either can be played exclusively, and how their stories end. Nobody outside Rockstar has played it. Anyone claiming Lucia has "half the missions" or similar is guessing.
The short answer to use
Lucia isn't the first playable woman in GTA; the 1997 original had four, and GTA Online has let you create one since 2013. She is the first woman to co-lead a GTA story, as one of two protagonists Rockstar names and bills together.
For the whole cast of past leads, see GTA protagonists ranked; for how the series changed between 1997 and now, the evolution of GTA and the GTA timeline. Our wiki character index covers the GTA VI cast Rockstar has confirmed, and the Fact Ledger grades every claim about them.
GTA's Three Universes: What Rockstar Said, and What It Means for GTA 6 · Where You Can Still Play Every Classic GTA
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lucia the first female protagonist in GTA?
Not the first playable woman: the 1997 Grand Theft Auto had four selectable female characters, and GTA Online has let players create a woman since 2013. Lucia is the first woman to co-lead a GTA story, alongside Jason Duval.
Who were the female characters in the original GTA?
Divine, Mikki, Katie and Ulrika, four of the eight selectable characters in the 1997 game, according to Kotaku and PC Gamer. They had names and portraits but no story or voice.
Is Sadie Adler playable in Red Dead Redemption 2?
We found no evidence of it. In story mode you play Arthur Morgan and then John Marston, and the PC mods that let you play as Sadie exist because the base game doesn't offer it.
Can you play only as Lucia in GTA 6?
Rockstar hasn't said. It has described Jason and Lucia as a pair, and reports on the August 2026 Extended Look describe switching between them, but how the campaign splits between the two isn't known.
Sources
- Kotaku: GTA 6's Lucia isn't the series' first female protagonist, July 27, 2022 (updated)
- PC Gamer: With Grand Theft Auto 6's Lucia being the series' first proper leading lady..., December 13, 2023
- LevelUp: GTA 6: Lucia is not the first female protagonist in the franchise, December 5, 2023
- GameSpot: Grand Theft Auto Advance review
- Wikipedia: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
- Wikipedia: Red Dead Revolver
- Gaming Nexus: GTA Online will launch on October 1, 2013
- Screen Rant: Red Dead Redemption 2's epilogue, June 3, 2021
- GamingBible: Red Dead Redemption 2 mod lets you play as Sadie Adler, June 6, 2023
- Rockstar Games: Grand Theft Auto VI
- Rockstar Games / Business Wire: Rockstar Games Announces Pre-Orders for Grand Theft Auto VI, June 24, 2026
- Red Bull: GTA 6 Lucia Caminos, September 22, 2026
- Notebookcheck: GTA 6 extended gameplay reveal shows off new combat, carjacking, gyms and much more
- PowerUp Gaming: Every major gameplay detail revealed in Netflix's GTA 6 Extended Look, August 27, 2026