The Grand Theft Auto games are some of the most polarizing among both fans and spectators. Even those unfamiliar with games are familiar with GTA to some extend due to the controversies that surround the series. They’ve gotten so much bad press that the franchise's reputation has pretty much solidified at this point as a great franchise to those within the gaming community and a source of violence for those outside of it. Fans of the series know the games as some of the most innovative of their time and because of this have enjoyed countless hours of gameplay, familiarizing themselves with every minute detail.

There are certain things that make GTA games what they are. The vast open worlds, fantastic characters and stories and fluid gameplay are just some. There’s some pretty crazy stuff that goes on every once in a while too. Like little quirks with the games and its players that have become humorous to look back on within the community. It could be something about the story or gameplay or just the way that we all play the games that just makes reminiscing about it all that much funnier. So here are 15 hilarious GTA memes that only true fans will get.

15 No Entry Allowed

As vast as the maps in GTA games are, there are obviously some limitations to what you can and can’t do. While some of the areas are created for the sole purpose of us interacting with them, others are strictly off limits to the player – which sucks and can often lead to disappointment. The games always invite players to make use of a safe house and there are commercial locations that can be used for various things like regenerating health or buying weapons and ammunition, but the majority of buildings and homes in GTA go unused. When you consider the scale of the maps used and the number of interactions and activities we get with each game, it does seem like complaining about not being able to enter some generic looking houses is a little bit much.

14 Work Around

Cop Chases in GTA can get intense. We’ve all been there at one point in time and while it can start out as being pretty fun, the more those stars accumulate, the worse off you are in terms of survival. All it takes is one stupid AI driver to bump into you to potentially ruin your day. With your options gradually slimming as you prolong the chase and the ways in which to shake your pursuers off getting harder and harder to pull off with each new car that joins the hunt, an easy fix is often the best solution for getting out of the situation alive. Want to lose the cops in a hurry? Just go in your apartment, they literally can’t do anything to you.

13 Selfie

GTA V has been both praised for its gripping story, solid gameplay and thought out additions to the franchise and criticised as an overrated addition to the Grand Theft Auto series. But one thing you absolutely have to concede to Rockstar is that they got the whole selfie thing down. It might not seem that useful in a game where you steal, shoot and drive through anything and anyone, but in a satire such as GTA, it’d be impossible for the developers to overlook this little fad that has yet to die out. Of course as we see here, not everyone’s interested in taking mundane pics of their characters. Sometimes you want to go for an interesting shot and in this case – things got messy.

12 Hot-Dogs

GTA IV was a fantastic game. It featured one of the series’ most conflicted and ultimately most compelling main protagonists and had Liberty City come alive in a grimy, polluted and shallow portrayal of the American dream. As it is a bit of an older game at this point, we can look back on certain aspects of it and laugh and even compare it with its successor to see just how far the series has gotten. One thing that’s always been a little off is certain NPC’s AI. We’re not talking about the poor NPCs that get caught in the middle of your firefights with the cops, we’re talking about NPCs like this gentleman here – who can watch you slaughter an entire precinct and still take the $3 it costs for him to sell you a hot dog without blinking. Now that’s service.

11 Ah, Just Give Him a Fine

We all try our best to avoid getting caught and that’s why we often go fifteen or twenty minutes straight trying to avoid a massive wave of cops, but the consequences for getting arrested in most GTA games does more damage to our pride than anything else. Obviously, the freedom allowed in open world games compels players to do some pretty reckless stuff – often at the cost of the NPCs around us rather than us ourselves. So when the cops have finally had enough and decide to take action, there’s little choice but to run, which ends in one of three ways. You escape, die or get caught. The latter, however, brings on little to no consequences, so you can pretty much go back to wreaking havoc in no time at all.

10 Smooth Ride

One of the most enticing aspects of Grand Theft Auto games is the ability to take any car you’d like and just do whatever you want to with it. There are very little consequences for most things in the game as you’re most likely committing any crime either fully prepared or in anticipation of police intervention. A great way to either kill time in the game is to find the nicest looking car and see how fast you can take it on the streets or highway. Whether you steal the thing or not (but you’d probably steal it if you could get it legally in the game regardless) sports cars are always going to entice players with their luxury and dynamic appeal. They’re also going to be tough as hell to control and more often than not end up like the one in this picture here.

9 I Know a Shortcut

As we’ve just gone over, driving in GTA is no easy task, especially at high speeds. More often than not you’re going to crash – and that’s even if you’re trying to be safe. So with that in the back of your mind, no one’s really going to care about safety because, well... it’s a game, you don’t have to. This can lead to some pretty stupid wipeouts but it can also lead to some pretty cool stunts. The rules of the road pretty much don’t apply and that’s often a good thing seeing as no one wants to simulate realistic driving to that extent. Why take a curvy mountain road when you can just bomb in downhill as fast as you can? It takes way more sill – and luck – that’s for sure. If you somehow do make it to the bottom, then you can pat yourself on the back. If you don’t, get back up there and try again.

8 I’m Warning You...

As we’ve discussed, consequence is practically nonexistent in GTA games. You can do whatever you want to pretty much whoever you want and that’s why the game has such a large appeal to a vast majority of gamers. It offers a great deal of freedom that we’ve come to expect from games. Are we mostly committing in game crimes with this freedom? Damn right, we’re not role playing as angels here. We’re criminals. As such you can bet you’re going to see the cops a lot regardless of what you decide to do. Funny thing is, most of us either avoid them for fun or because we don’t want to want to deal with respawning. The law has little power in GTA and that’s exactly how it should be.

7 It’s A Date

Grand Theft Auto 4 wasn’t the best entry in the series, but it did come close to at least matching that feat. It wasn’t Los Santos, but Liberty City had its own dirt laden charm. There was a ton to do in terms of mini games and activities and, though it was not a new addition, the return of dating was a fun sidetrack to the main storyline and the moral rollercoaster that brought on. One thing about the women Niko could date was that they were each very peculiar. Your clothes, car and, of course, the way in which you conducted yourself were all under scrutiny. But every now and again you could get away with doing something awful and they wouldn’t even blink an eye. Pretty funny once you actually pull it off.

6 Don’t Mind Me

We’ve gone over the vast amount of vehicles you can procure in GTA as it’s one of the series’ hallmarks. You’ve got a wide selection of choices from luxury cars, to off-road vehicles, boats and even military vehicles if you know where to look or have the right cheats. Some of these things can do some real damage and because they’re so unorthodox, can get the wrong people’s attention. Namely the police. After all, a guy riding around in a tank or a jet can pretty much ruin anything the police force can throw him. But as we see here, NPCs often have a tendency to go with the flow. So long as you don’t do anything reckless they’re cool with it.

5 Still Better Than Twilight

The “Still a better love story than Twilight” meme’s been around for a while and at this point is pretty overused. Other than the fact that both the books and movies are no longer relevant in pop culture, after a certain amount of time you get tired of seeing the same rehashed template over and over. But this one still makes us laugh a little – more so because of the weird romance it encompasses. Trevor is probably the craziest protagonist in a GTA game. While we’ve seen his darker side, we’ve also gotten glimpses at a more human Trevor, none more so than when we were given a look into his off kilter romance with Patricia Madrazo. The pairing was so random yet somehow sweet that it seemed like a perfect fit for Trevor.

4 Where’d He Go?

Getting away from the cops in GTA can be pretty tiring at times. You could try and take them all out, but an endless wave is all you’ll be met with. In that situation your only choice is to run and eventually hide. While you could easily outrun your pursuers with lower stars, the more you accumulate, the more hiding in some alley becomes a necessity – and even that isn’t guaranteed to hide you from a chopper or stray patrol car. One of the series’ foolproof methods of escape is losing sight of the cops momentarily and using that blanket to hide away in a garage, change your car’s color and eventually repeat the entire process ten minutes late. They’ll never recognize that blue sedan once you give it a sick pink paintjob, bro.

3 Grand Theft Auto

Amidst all the shooting, mini games, and needless controversies, we often overlook GTA’s namesake – regardless of how often we do it in game. Really, it makes sense seeing as the games are so reliant upon the player’s ability to take whatever means of transportation nearest to them. While most situations call for immediate action, free roam allows players to be a little choosier when it comes to their ride. There are plenty of nice cars in GTA and each player has their personal poison. GTA V allows players to actual amass a large collection of cars, which leads to a pretty vast and diverse grouping of vehicles. We’re talking Jay Leno style collections. But collecting the cars themselves usually occupies more time than using them after you’ve collected them.

2 Love That Beat

One of the most underrated aspects of any Grand Theft Auto game is the consistently fantastic soundtracks the team at Rockstar puts together with each game. Radio stations highlight the games’ satirical aspects and serve as a strongpoint to the lighter side of the franchise. There’s a station for everyone. Whether you like satirical talk show radio, rap, rock, electronic music and every variant in between, you’ll find something that appeals to you. In a game where you spend a decent chunk of your time driving around, Rockstar has players’ backs when it comes to keeping them entertained. Their choice of songs is always spot on. One problem with that though is that the songs are often so catchy – and drives end so abruptly – that actually getting out of the car and ending them prematurely gets difficult at times.

1 Where’d Everyone Go?

Grand Theft Auto IV is still fresh in our minds almost ten years after it initially came out. The game was undoubtedly one of the darkest entries in the series in terms of setting, story, mood and themes. It’s also the series’ most direct critique on the idea of the American dream. When you think of GTA games you immediately recall hours upon hours of screwing around. This is especially true for players once they’ve cleared the game. But GTA IV in particular has one of the saddest after games of the entire series. While the game included a ton of supporting characters initially, you’ve killed, lost or had to cut ties with most of them by the end – essentially making the end of the ride a pretty isolated one.