Dave Norton

Dave Norton is a fictional character of the Grand Theft Auto series who appeared as a central character in Grand Theft Auto V; serving as the deuteragonist in Michael's storyline.

History
Dave Norton is a corrupt, but fairly reasonable, agent with the Federal Investigation Bureau. Agent Norton was assigned to the case against Michael Townley and Trevor Philips. Prior to the Ludendorff incident in 2004, Agent Norton's career had not been remarkable. During that fateful heist, Norton was at the farm to ambush Michael, Trevor, and their accomplice Brad Snider with a sniper rifle. Norton shoots Michael and Brad while Trevor escaped. Brad died from his gunshot wound while Michael survived, as the latter had turned states earlier. In an "off the books" agreement, Michael would be allowed to keep his "earnings", fake his death (with Brad buried in his place), assume a new surname and relocate to Los Santos, while Agent Norton received notoriety for "taking down" Michael and a monthly five-figure kickback, and the two mutually agree not to reveal their secret exchange; however, this exchange would later be found out by Michael's accomplice Lester Crest and Agent Norton's superior Steve Haines, who uses this to blackmail Michael and Agent Norton into his service. Since then, Agent Norton posed as Brad whenever Trevor wrote to him in prison as a means to keep Trevor under observation.

When Michael and his new protege Franklin Clinton rob the Vangelico jewelry store, Norton comes to Michael's house to warn him that this will attract Trevor's attention; however, Michael believes that Trevor had died sometime after the Ludendorff incident. As Agent Norton predicted, Trevor shows up unexpectedly at Michael's house, and Michael calls Agent Norton on how to handle the situation. Agent Norton tells Michael that he has to help him and Agent Haines in their covert operations against the International Affairs Agency, bringing on Trevor and Franklin in the process.

Agent Norton has Michael infiltrate the Los Santos Morgue to find Ferdinand Kerimov, believing that Kerimov is not really dead. After Michael escapes the morgue and confirms Agent Norton's suspicions, Agent Norton has Michael meet with him, Agent Haines, and Agent Andreas Sanchez about kidnapping Kerimov from IAA custody. After Mr. K is in FIB custody, Michael and Agent Norton drive to Chumash to assassinate a suspected Azerbaijani terrorist based on information given by Kerimov. Michael warns Agent Norton that Trevor recognized him, although he did not piece together that Agent Norton was the one who ambushed the Ludendorff heist.

Agents Haines and Norton later have the protagonists ambush an armored car so they can procure the IAA's funding for their purposes, rob a small town bank to finance a later raid, and infiltraite a chemicals manufacturing facility to steal a powerful neurotoxin the IAA intended to sell to terrorists to increase their funding. After Michael and Trevor have a falling out over events of the past decade, Michael tells Agent Norton that Trevor knows about Brad's true fate. As pressure comes down on Agent Haines, he and Agent Norton have Michael and Franklin infiltrate the FIB Building to steal or destroy incriminating data against the two. Some time after the raid, Agent Norton has Michael to meet him at the Kortz Center for a debrief. Agent Haines attempts to betray Norton and Michael; however, when Agent Sanchez attempts to arrest Norton and Michael, he reveals himself as a double agent, resulting in his death. Agent Haines leaves Agent Norton and Michael to die at the hands of the FIB, IAA, and Merryweather; however, the two escape from the Kortz Center with the assistance of Trevor. After Franklin recuses his best friend Lamar Davis from the Paleto Bay sawmill, Agents Haines and Norton approach Franklin, wanting him to assassinate Trevor. Haines originally wanted to kill all three protagonists, but Agent Norton convinces him that Michael and Franklin can be reasoned with and should be spared. Franklin protests and tells the agents to have Michael kill Trevor; however, Agent Norton states that Michael can't do it because Trevor won't allow him.

At the end of the game, if the player decides to assassinate Agent Haines, Trevor initially wanted to kill Agent Norton as well for killing Brad and for being Agent Haines' lackey; however, Michael tells him that they need Agent Norton alive so no one will come after them later. Agent Norton tells Michael that he will become the new host of The Underbelly of Paradise. Agent Norton also e-mails Trevor, revealing that he posed as Brad for the past decade; however, this does not occur if the player chose to kill Trevor.