The Grand Theft Auto series is one of the most successful in video game history. As good as the first two were, they didn't have the same appeal as Grand Theft Auto III and the subsequent entries that made the jump to behind the back 3D. Why? Because stunts didn't look so damn cool from a top down view, that's why. Stunts really started to stick to the Grand Theft Auto series when gamers realized that they could take GTA III's silent protagonist careening off jumps and cliffs to complete stunts. As the franchise's line up of cars increased, the maps got bigger, and the physics got better, stunts have become a mainstay of the Grand Theft Auto series. With YouTube channels and subreddits dedicated to the craft of insane and complex stunts, one needs not look far to find some truly zany acrobatics with nearly every vehicle in the game.

The latest entry in the franchise, Grand Theft Auto V, is no exception. With the ability to bring other players into the fray using GTA Online, the stuns have gotten more heinous, creative, and overall, mind blowingly awesome. These are 15 Grand Theft Auto stunts that will make your face melt like that one solider from Raiders Of The Lost Arc. Seriously, they're that dang good. I hope you brought a helmet because we'll be corkscrewing through 15 gifs of the most insane stunts ever pulled off in the Grand Theft Auto games!

15 Almost Forgot Something

Via: youtube.com (BlackSmoke Billy)

Oh my sweet lord, how many attempts to get everything just so? BlackSmoke Billy is a household name for fans of Grand Theft Auto V stunts, especially when it comes to using cumbersome and heavy vehicles that most gamers would disregard as being too difficult to attempt stunts with. You can watch bikes and sports cars do flips all day long, but it takes some real talent to pull off stunts with semis and dump trucks.

The amount of planning that had to go into getting the container to clear that bridge, to land the right way, and to line up with the semi's hitch is just...breathtaking. It's almost unbearable to think about the level of creativity and logistical thinking that went into this.

14 The Liquor Hole Is A Right Of Passage

Via: reddit.com (l-Orion-l)

One of the most notorious stunts in GTA V, the liquor hole is one of the most difficult to pull off in the game. It involves skydiving through a tiny hole, testing player’s aim as well as the in-game physics engine and hit detection. Despite the difficulty, Reddit user l-Orion-l makes it look incredibly easy, all while using the Oppressor motorcycle to get airborne no less.

After dismounting midair, he speeds towards the Liquor Hole, fits like a glove, and pulls his chute for a 10/10 landing. Not like the citizens on the street are impressed in the least. Everyone goes about his or her business, like he didn’t just come screaming through an impossibly tight fit and pull his chute just at the right moment. I guess when you live in Los Santos, few things genuinely surprise you.

13 Screw The Gate, We're Making This Flight!

VIa: http://carhoots.com/videos/epic-gta-stunt/

Instead of trying to run through the airport to get to the gate, this player finds a much more direct way of making sure he catches his flight. Using one of Los Santos airport’s many strategically placed ramps, they’re able to time it just right, getting swallowed by the plain before the stewardesses can start passing out pretzels.

Sure, it may have just been a stroke of luck and superb timing, but isn’t that pretty much what makes up all of the best stunts? After the unconventional boarding, the game has the audacity to inform the player that they failed the stunt. The game may not understand, but whatever stung they were going for has certainly been topped, even if the actual stunt was an accident.

12 That's Not How Bridges Work

Via: youtube.com (EvolveStunting)

Well, that is just not how physics works at all, but we'll have to allow it, just because this stunt looks so damn cool. Could you imagine pulling this one off on a date? "OH GOD, WE'RE GOING OFF THE BRIDGE...psyche!" Not only does that take a ridiculous amount of control to pull of midair, but that landing and the continued trajectory is just insane.

You can tell a great Grand Theft Auto V stunt from the rest when it almost looks like a mistake, much like this. In the midst of falling, the player just happened to hit the rocket button and bam, up the belly of the bridge we go. It's hard to imagine being able to pull this off at all, let alone making it look as fluid as the folks over at EvolveStunting make it look every time.

11 The Domino Effect

Via: http://imgur.com/xBO4S4f

Whoa, this definitely took some planning. These gamers teamed up to jump a fighter jet, having the last one strike the jet in order to set off the buses the other cars jumped over. Not only does this take some serious dedication to set up in the first place; finding willing participants, stacking the right vehicles, and the multiple attempts it likely took, just to time everything correctly and have it go off just so is a serious feat.

Even if that last car wasn’t supposed to hit the plane, it made the stunt that much better. Instead of botching the entire attempt, the detonation chain reaction at the end elevates the stunt into a fireworks show.

10 Ejecting Pilot Nails Tight Squeeze

Via: http://makeagif.com/i/QViyYt

What a seriously tight squeeze! Being able to have those fighter jets maneuver without smashing into each other is crazy enough, ejecting at top speed while heading towards them, slipping between the rocketing fighter craft, and then landing in a speedboat as your jet crashes into the water nearby…outstanding.

I’d like to think that afterward, he drove the boat to a nearby beach bar where the fighter jet pilots were waiting, and they all shared a cocktail for a job well done. I can’t even think how many attempts this must have taken to get just right, and how many times they watched his body tumble lifelessly into the sea after he grazed one of the fighter jets while passing in between them.

9 Gas Tank Surfing

Via: https://gfycat.com/OrganicAmusingBellsnake

This doesn't even make sense. How the heck does he stay on? How does he steer the damn thing? I'm sure this is some modding magic, but still, an impressive stunt none the less. What happens when the ride ends? Does the stunt end with a massive explosion, taking the passing cars with it? One thing's for sure, grazing anything on that ride is going to end up with some seriously barbecued bystanders.

It makes it even funnier that it's a dirt coated hick with one sock on riding a propane tank down the middle of the street; it doesn't even seem that out of the question as actually happening in some pockets of the world. Riding a flaming fuel tank to your destination guarantees quick travel and a seriously explosive entrance.

8 Threading The Needle

Via: http://imgur.com/Yk1bJOF

Holy cow! This seems to have taken some serious planning and attempts to pull off right, or it was a serious stroke of luck that ended up being one of the most impressive stunts ever pulled off on a stunt track. Seeing the flaming hoops, you figure that he's going to try and make it through the giant opening, but instead, he squeezes just so in between the supports between the hoops, making jaws drop.

Again, this could just be a happy accident, a misdirection at launch that projected the bike just so. Even if it is a happy accident, it's still incredibly impressive and another example of how well crafted the physics and hit detection work in Grand Theft Auto V work.

7 You Know How Many Bottles You'd Open With That Corkscrew?

Via: https://gfycat.com/SereneWideeyedHalicore

That is an ungodly amount of rolls and one of the smoothest landings I've ever seen in a Grand Theft Auto V stunt. Well done. Even though that was definitely an unexpected outcome, this stunt was all the better for it. Part intentional ramping and part physics engine miscalculation, you can't even classify this as a series of rolls, this is the whole dang bakery.

Probably a happy mistake, the fact that the landing is as buttery as it is makes it look completely intentional. The kind where the driver could get out, say "I meant to do that," to a bunch of bikini clad babes, and then proceed to clean all the puke off his windshield and dashboard, after puking some more on the sand. Anyone that does that many screws is going to have their stomach in their throat and their lunch in their lap.

6 Threading The Double Needle

Via: https://gfycat.com/TheseUntriedFirefly

Jeez, and you thought the other guy on a bike was impressive. Not only does this guy thread enough needles to knit a whole quilt, but he also throws in a perfectly executed backflip with just enough room to clear his helmet through those supports. Just watching it increases my heart rate — actually landing it would probably cause me to smash my console out of sheer excitement.

As is the case with a lot of these stunts, it looks so easy. But be assured, this probably took hundreds of attempts to get just right, especially with so little clearance for the bike and the player to slip through. While most gamers are looking for ramps and launches, this guy is finding impossible openings and slipping through them like they're greased with PAM.

5 The Perfect BMX Wall Ride...Down The Side Of A Skyscraper

Via: reddit.com (GallowBoob)

There are some stunts that just make no sense at all, this being one of them. As soon as he heads over the edge, you think that it's a very blatant suicide attempt. He drops like a sack of potatoes that are going to hit the ground at nauseating speed. And then, the unthinkable happens: he evens out, his tires find traction on the side of the skyscraper, and he pedals to gain speed as he plummets to the streets below.

As he hits the ramp at the bottom, he catapults over a statue and lands soundly at a crosswalk. That is seriously talented BMXing and extremely outlandish, even for a Grand Theft Auto 5 stunt. There are a multitude of GTA V BMX trick compilations out there, but only one has a guy riding down the side of one of the tallest skyscrapers in Los Santos.

4 How'd They Get The Tanker Up There?

Via: reddit.com (GTA V Stunts)

I know that they probably used a helicopter, but still. To get the positioning just right, the trajectory of the dive, and to not hit the building or the tanker...this is very impressive. I'm sure the number of attempts is somewhere in the thousands to nail this one just right, which means dedication on top of creativity and skill.

At first, you can't really tell what he's going for, until he nosedives with alarming speed right for the truck. He squeezes through with inches to spare on either side, if even that! Not only is the planning and calculation that went into this impressive, the dedication to the multiple attempts and flawless execution make it one of the finest GTA V stunts ever conceived, let alone pulled off.

3 Almost Forgot Something, Hold My Beer Edition

Via: youtube.com (BlackSmoke Billy)

There is literally no shortage of amazing Grand Theft Auto V stunts when it comes to BlackSmoke Billy. The guy is a prodigy in all things heavy machinery, and he makes all the stunts look so dang easy, even something as mind meltingly intricate as this one. Instead of just flipping the cargo container over the bridge with explosives, Billy decides to flip his semi as well, and —like a figure skater— have the cargo reattach, like it was never gone in the first place.

This one really makes you realize how insanely talented some gamers are when it comes to a game they're truly passionate about. Again, the number of attempts was probably in the thousands, but looking at BlackSmoke Billy's portfolio of insane stunts, I'm guessing this was his first try.

2 I Forgot My Carry On!

Via: https://imgur.com/gallery/UYZaWWd

This stunt is so wild, the game goes crazy after the player pulls it off. At first, you're not sure what he's going for here, perhaps something with a wing or the back of a plane? Nope. He's going to sail right through the damn thing, mid-flight, and continue his skydive with his newly acquired bag of in-flight peanuts. Getting all of this just right must have been hair rippingly hard, with some of the most hilarious "WASTED" screen ever attempting a Grand Theft Auto 5 stunt.

Anyone who can fly planes this well in GTA V is impressive enough, but someone who can bend the planes to their will is extremely impressive. After he realized he nails it, he just takes it all in, sailing silently through the sky as the game flashes blue to let him know that he ripped a hole in the space time continuum by pulling it off.

1 Tanks A Lot!

via coup.com

What? That's all that can be said about this, just, "What?" Of course, the one and only BlackSmoke Billy was going to be the top of the mountain when it came to Grand Theft Auto 5 stunts, but this...this defies all logic. Getting the tank to a sufficient speed to flip correctly, having the helicopter lined up in front of him perfectly, and letting off the shot at just the right moment to bring the helicopter down — it's truly breathtaking.

That said, I'm sure BlackSmoke Billy doesn't just nail this on the first try; this was probably months of planning and failed execution until he got that one perfect take. Bonus points for zooming up on the helicopter pilot's terrified face as a tank backflips and blasts him out of existence in one crazy maneuver. Kudos to you BlackSmoke Billy, you are truly the master.