GTA V: Ballas

A couple of Ballas Gang Members in Grand Theft Auto 5

The Ballas are a large African American street gang featured in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online, where they appear as secondary antagonists in the Lowriders update missions, as well as deuteragonists in The Contract update. They mainly operate in the cities of Los Santos and Davis.

Overview

They still maintain their traditional rivalry with the Families. They usually do not attack if the player happens to walk through or pass through their territory. However, if taunted enough times, or if one fires a gun in their territory, or just because of walking near and staring at the Ballas, they will become hostile and begin to shoot or punch the player. Their dogs will also occasionally attack the player, especially if the player is Franklin. The Ballas are supporters of the Los Santos Panic Basketball Team and the Boars Baseball Club, with their purple attire matching the teams' colors.

One of the protagonists, Franklin Clinton, is not on friendly terms with the Ballas as he is part of The Families. However, if he speaks to a Ballas member, they will not be aggressive at first, although they become hostile when Franklin insults them (usually the 3rd time you press the talk button).

They can often be seen drinking, driving cars, bikes, and even walking dogs. Most Ballas stand on the sidewalks in groups of 3-5. Their weapons include pistols and knives. Members are also seen smoking cigarettes, marijuana, and drinking Pißwasser.

They're brash and love to show off their weaponry, money and guns in social media. According to Trevor Philips during his Series A funding, he scoped out their weed stash due of their overexposure of their stuff in Snapmatic.

By 2021, during the events of GTA Online: The Contract, the rivalry between the Ballas and The Families ends once again as they unite together under Vernon and P to take on the Vagos who stole a copy of Dr. Dre's phone, which contains unreleased music.

Influences

The Ballas could be based on the Bloods gang in Los Angeles, because they wear hats with P's and B's on them just like the real life Bloods. They also have certain traits of Crips, (Certain set names) a similar color and other small factors. Also Rockstar switched the secondary colors of each gang and so Families wear green and Ballas purple, to prevent favoritism. The Ballas also have turf on east side of south LS, just like Bloods in real life.

Territories

The Ballas control almost the entire community of Davis. The cul-de-sac of Grove Street is a particular hot spot for activity as well as Davis Avenue, Brouge Avenue and Covenant Avenue in the neighborhood. The Ballas also have a marijuana growing/packing business set up in an abandoned sawmill to the southwest of Paleto Bay.

For a period of time, the Ballas also had a temporary presence along Jamestown Street, Rancho. The Ballas also seem to be somewhat active in Chamberlain Hills, despite the fact that it is strongly controlled by the Families. Ballas can be seen hanging out with lowriders on Forum Drive, and in a nearby shopping center on Innocence Boulevard in Strawberry during Community Outreach. Ballas members are also seen residing in an apartment on Forum Drive during the preparation mission for Setup: Rescue ULP. Additionally, Ballas can be seen hanging out and playing basketball with Stretch during The Third Way at the BJ Smith Recreational Center. This presence is only seen in aforementioned certain missions, as Ballas will not spawn in Chamberlain Hills during free-roam.

Sets

• Original Covenant Ballas (OCB): A Balla set that controls the western part of Davis, with their hotspots for activity being Grove Street and Covenant Avenue. They can be heard saying "OCBG! FK, VK all day!". The Balla OGs D and P were from the Original Covenant Ballas set which may be the main set due to this set appearing in most missions, and also being mentioned the most. They normally wear varsity jackets with the Boar logo on either the front or back as well as shirts with "SA" and the Boar logo on the front. The OCB are based on the Tree Top Piru Bloods gang in Compton. This can be proven as they are seen to occupy Grove Street which is based on Spruce Street in Compton which is occupied by the Tree Top Piru.

• East Side Ballas (ESB): A Balla set that controls the eastern part of Davis, with they hotspots for activity being Brouge Avenue and Davis Avenue. They can be heard saying "East Side, n----!" and "Fuck you, West Side bitches!". They normally wear jerseys of the Los Santos Panic or purple striped polo shirts, and sometimes black and white tank tops. They are at war with the Families, mainly the Davis Neighborhood Families set. The East Side Ballas are most likely based on the Mob Piru or East Side Mob Piru gang as they sport P's on their hats, much like many Piru sets in Compton (which was the inspiration for Davis).

• South Rancho Ballas (SRB): A Balla set based in an unknown part of Los Santos, with their clothes suggesting that their territory is in the southern part of Rancho. If this is true, they are probably at war with the Los Santos Vagos, mainly the Original LS Vagos set, due to the proximity of the territories. Members often wear "Rancho" text on their clothing. The Rancho of GTA San Andreas was Jefferson which was referred to as "Rollin Heights Ballas Country" but in the HD Universe Rancho is mainly a Vago turf. The SRB are most likely based off of Avenue Piru Gang out of Inglewood.

Weapons

The Ballas usually uses pistols, pump shotguns, uzis, assault rifles, carbine rifles, and special carbines. Outside Grove Street, when the player attacks or provokes Ballas members while unarmed or using a melee weapon, such as a knife, Ballas gangsters/thugs may use fists or knives or rarely, baseball bats first to attack the player and only switch to their guns if the player pulls out a ranged weapon or explosive trap.

However, in Grove Street, the Ballas are more armed and sometimes even armored. In Grove Street, they can use Combat Pistols, Assault Shotguns, SMGs, MGs, Combat MGs, Sniper Rifles, Marksman Rifles, Heavy Snipers, Miniguns, and Rocket Launchers. When the player fires a rocket from a Buzzard or P-996 Lazer in Grove Street with the presence of Ballas members, the Ballas will fire a Rocket Launcher at the player's aircraft, just like the Military in Fort Zancudo, a major restricted area.

Members

• King Tiny - OG
• P - OG
• D † - OG
• Big T †
• Little T †
• Small F †
• Terrance †

Associates

• Harold "Stretch" Joseph - Former Chamberlain Gangster Families OG (Deceased)[2]
• Adric Howard - The only White Ballas member of GTA V
• Darnell Stevens

Events of Grand Theft Auto Online

In GTA Online, Lamar instructs the player to reposses a Schafter belonging to a Ballas member and bring it to Simeon's Premium Deluxe Motorsport. Ballas members chase the player after the vehicle is stolen to get it back, to no avail.