Rockstar Games not only innovated the gaming industry with their revolutionary take on the open-world genre with Grand Theft Auto 3, but they have also perfected the formula. Grand Theft Auto 5’s sprawling open-world isn’t just an impressive recreation of Los Angeles, it is also one of the best digital playgrounds you can ask for.
Spread throughout its 75.84-kilometer-wide map are NPCs that bring the fictional state of San Andreas to life. One of the most entertaining parts of driving aimlessly around GTA 5 is the random encounters that can happen at any moment. These are unique interactions with NPCs that will either start a side mission or simply be a strange, often hilarious, cutscene.
10 Concluding Your Business With Simeon Yetarian
Unlike most games that will completely drop a particular NPC once their side mission is over, GTA 5 goes above and beyond with how flexible and realistic the open world can be. This particular random event is time-sensitive and will only trigger during a specific moment in the game, which is after the “Friend Request” and “Mr. Philips” missions.
After the ruckus that Michael does to the scammer Simeon Yetarian’s car dealership store, you can return there as either Michael or Franklin. Simeon will understandably be not too pleased with your uninvited visit and will order his hired goons to beat you up. Take them down, and you have the option to kill Simeon or leave the store with a stern message sent. The latter seems to be the canon choice though as Simeon’s social media account will remain active throughout the game.
9 Rednecks On Patrol
Driving around the boundaries of San Andreas, specifically along Mount Haan Road, Raton Canyon, and Tataviam Mountains might place you in the sights of some trigger-happy racist rednecks acting like border patrol.
These events are one part hilarious and one part infuriating for obvious reasons. Fortunately, two can play that game, and you can make the digital landscape of San Andreas a little bit better during these random encounters.
8 Ursula
The mentally unstable Ursula is one of the possible NPCs that can become the girlfriend of either Franklin or Trevor. She can be found hitchhiking around the south of Mount Chiliad and will request a ride home if you pick her up at El Gordo Drive.
The conversation during the ride will immediately reveal just how unhinged Ursula is. Franklin and Trevor will both react differently, but Trevor is certainly the more entertaining route seeing as how similar Ursula is to himself. She is certainly one of the more memorable minor characters in the game and her dialogues with Trevor are reason enough to find her in Los Santos. The two are so similar in some ways that they are undeniably two peas in a pod.
7 Disturbing Encounter With Cannibals
One of the more shocking random encounters in GTA 5 happens around Grand Chapparal. This event can be triggered by either Michael or Franklin and will involve a woman being assaulted by two members of the Altruist cult. One of which is buck-naked making the purpose of this attack even more diabolical and disturbing.
You can send the cultists to whatever version of the afterlife their religion believes and take the woman safely back home. You can also choose to wait it out and see what happens next – which is not much since they will put the terrified victim in their car and drive aimlessly until you intervene or lose them.
6 Here Lies Paula Schultz
With how outlandish GTA 5 can be, you might forget just how downright grim and brutal the game can also be. Well, this random encounter will remind you of how merciless the underbelly of Los Santos truly is. Drive around the northernmost part of Paleto Bay and you might come across two men with a shovel trying to bury a woman alive. Dark.
Fortunately, the unfortunate woman won’t need to find out if it is possible to dig herself out of her grave like in Kill Bill. Take out the two thugs and escort the woman back to her home in Vinewood.
5 The Damsel In Distress Experience
Certainly one of the most unanticipated random encounters in the game will revolve around a suspicious abandoned van in the middle of the road. This event can be triggered if you drive around Grand Senora Desert and will appear as a blue dot on your radar. Go to it, and you will find a van parked in the middle of the dirt road. Strange.
The less said about this particular event the better as it is best experienced going in blind.
4 I Need A Hero
GTA 5 doesn’t always place you in the role of a morally upstanding individual, but when it does the moment does feel special. One memorable random event is triggered when driving around a construction site in Little Seoul. You will hear a construction worker calling for help as he is trapped inside a flaming vehicle.
Hop on to a nearby bulldozer and start clearing the pipes that are pinning the poor man inside. It’s refreshing to do some good without the promise of a reward in Grand Theft Auto. Don’t take too long freeing the man though. If you do, well, at least you tried.
3 Altruist Cult Shootout
The monetary reward of completing this random encounter alone is worth the reason to trigger it the moment it becomes available. The battle with cultists is an exclusive encounter to the equally deranged Trevor who will trigger the event on his fourth delivery of a victim to the cult.
The cult will betray Trevor and try to “cleanse” him in their camp. This will enrage Trevor wherein the side mission starts, and you will need to eliminate every cultist. Each delivery of a victim will net Trevor $1,000 and there are also four briefcases in the camp containing $25,000, making this the most lucrative random encounter that you can initiate. Plus, you get to take out an entire encampment of insane and dangerous cultists.
2 Hell On Wheels
A rare vehicle was added to the enhanced edition of GTA 5, and it is worth the trouble to hunt it down. The customized armored muscle car called the Duke O’ Death is a sleek all-black beast that you can find in a gas station along Route 68. After completing the “Pulling Favors” mission, look for a Los Santos Custom within Route 68 and check the nearby gas station to see this beauty.
Get in and put the pedal to the metal as a group of pissed-off rednecks will start chasing you down. Either escape or take them all out, and you will get the Duke O’ Death as a reward.
1 The Haunting At Mount Gordo
Supernatural elements have always been teased in Grand Theft Auto, such as the Bigfoot sightings in GTA: San Andreas. GTA 5 takes it a step above though by including a full-blown spectral apparition with a hidden backstory to boot.
You will find the ghost of the murder victim, Jolene Cranley-Evans at the peak of Mount Gordo. She only appears from afar between 11:00 pm to 12:00 am and will disappear after or if you get too close. Use your sniper rifle to get a clearer look at the macabre apparition. If you want to learn more about the grisly demise of the ghost, you can read about it from an in-game newspaper Senora Beach called The Senora Beacon.