San Andreas Characters: The Truth, Woozie, Madd Dogg, Ryder
A guide to the key San Andreas characters beyond the Johnson family: The Truth, Wu Zi Mu (Woozie), Madd Dogg, Ryder and Mike Toreno, with roles and voice actors.
The most memorable San Andreas characters sit outside the Johnson family entirely. Once CJ is forced out of Los Santos, the campaign hands him over to a chain of allies who carry him through the Badlands, San Fierro and Las Venturas: The Truth, Wu Zi Mu, Madd Dogg, Ryder and Mike Toreno. Here is who they are, what they do in the story, and the real-life voice actors behind them.
The Truth: the hippie who opens up the map
The Truth is the elderly hippie and cannabis farmer who picks up CJ's story after the Los Santos act. He lives in Leafy Hollow, Flint County, drives a graffiti-covered Camper van he calls the Mothership, and talks in conspiracy theories about the government, aliens and the military.
His missions are the bridge out of the city. After the police find his marijuana operation, CJ helps him destroy the crop in Body Harvest, then drives him across the state in Are You Going to San Fierro?, which physically relocates the campaign to San Fierro and unlocks the second act. The Truth later sends CJ to steal a jetpack from the Area 69 military base in Black Project, then to recover a stolen chemical in Green Goo. He is also the link that introduces CJ to the San Fierro Triads.
The Truth is voiced by Peter Fonda, the late actor and counterculture icon of Easy Rider, which is exactly the register the character is built on.
Wu Zi Mu (Woozie): the blind Triad boss
If you have searched for Wu Zi Mu or Woozie, this is the standout. Wu Zi Mu is the blind leader of the Mountain Cloud Boys, a faction of the San Fierro Triads. Despite being completely sightless, he is an uncannily lucky shooter and driver, which earns him the nickname tied to his "lucky" reputation and makes him one of the franchise's most beloved allies.
Woozie owns the Four Dragons Casino in Las Venturas and runs a betting operation in San Fierro's Chinatown. His mission set is the spine of the Las Venturas act and the run-up to the casino heist:
- Mountain Cloud Boys and Ran Fa Li, the San Fierro Triad introductions
- Lure, Amphibious Assault and The Da Nang Thang, the Vietnamese-gang storyline
- The Caligula's Palace casino heist, which Woozie helps CJ plan and pull off
Wu Zi Mu is voiced by James Yaegashi, a Japanese-American actor based in New York, who also provided motion capture for the role.
Madd Dogg: the rapper CJ destroys, then saves
Madd Dogg is the famous Los Santos rapper whose arc bookends the whole campaign. Early on, working for the wannabe artist OG Loc, CJ steals Madd Dogg's rhyme book and the theft helps tank the rapper's career. By the time CJ reaches Las Venturas, Madd Dogg has hit rock bottom and is standing on the roof of the Royal Casino on The Strip, ready to jump.
CJ talks him down, rescues him, and becomes his manager to rebuild the career he helped wreck. That arc runs through the missions Madd Dogg and A Home in the Hills, where CJ recovers the rapper's mansion from a rival. Madd Dogg is one of the few characters present at the campaign's finale, End of the Line.
Madd Dogg is voiced by Ice-T, one of the pioneers of West Coast gangsta rap, who also appears as himself on the in-game radio. The character draws on real artists of the era, including Suge Knight-style label politics and rappers like Ice Cube and Dr. Dre.
Ryder: the Grove Street traitor
Ryder belongs in the supporting cast even though he turns. He is a high-ranking, perpetually-stoned member of the Grove Street Families and one of CJ's oldest friends, fronting some of the earliest missions in the game (the pizza-joint robbery, the drive-bys, stealing weapons). Then the betrayal lands: Ryder, along with Big Smoke, sides with the Ballas, the Vagos and corrupt cops, and is revealed as a traitor who helped engineer Grove Street's collapse.
Ryder is voiced by MC Eiht, real name Aaron Tyler, the Compton's Most Wanted frontman. His voice also features on the in-game Radio Los Santos station through the track "Hood Took Me Under." A long-running fan theory claims a dispute with the voice actor forced the betrayal into the script, but it does not hold up: MC Eiht kept working with the GTA series afterward.
Mike Toreno: the agent pretending to be a villain
Mike Toreno is the campaign's great fake-out. He first appears as a cocaine supplier and apparent leader of the Loco Syndicate in San Fierro, an enemy CJ is sent to kill. After a staged "death," Toreno reappears and reveals he is actually an undercover government agent, blackmailing CJ into a string of black-ops jobs (flying lessons, stealing military hardware) in exchange for getting Sweet released from prison.
His payoff is real leverage on the plot: Toreno is the character who eventually springs Sweet, tying the side allies back to the Johnson family thread. Mike Toreno is voiced by the film actor James Woods.
How the supporting cast connects: Sweet, Big Smoke and Cesar
These figures only matter because of the people they orbit. Sweet, CJ's brother and the Grove Street leader, is the principle the whole story returns to; Toreno's arc exists largely to free him. Big Smoke is the friend-turned-kingpin whose drug empire Ryder feeds, and the final mission End of the Line settles both betrayals at once. Cesar Vialpando, CJ's eventual brother-in-law through Kendl, is the Aztecas ally who first exposes Big Smoke and Ryder as traitors. For the family side of the story, see our San Andreas characters and games hub.
San Andreas characters quick reference
- The Truth, voiced by Peter Fonda: Flint County hippie, drives the Mothership, unlocks San Fierro
- Wu Zi Mu (Woozie), voiced by James Yaegashi: blind Triad boss, owns the Four Dragons Casino, plans the heist
- Madd Dogg, voiced by Ice-T: rapper CJ ruins then manages, present at End of the Line
- Ryder, voiced by MC Eiht: Grove Street member turned Ballas/Vagos traitor
- Mike Toreno, voiced by James Woods: false antagonist, undercover agent who frees Sweet
Want to keep exploring the game? Browse the full San Andreas screenshots gallery or grab a code from the San Andreas cheats list.
