The Grand Theft Auto series has made a strong case for possibly being the greatest video game franchise of all time. Obviously a diligent comparison would require comparing it to other icons such as the Mario games, Pokémon, and all the rest, and an entire book could be written on that topic. Back to GTA, the early games were fantastic for what they were. The top-down format and poor graphics were just a reality of what we had to deal with in the late 90s.

Ever since GTA III came out back in 2001, we have been periodically treated to amazing adventures throughout the intriguing undergrounds of fictionalized versions of American cities. The sandbox format of the gaming world, along with the ability to do just about anything you want, with only hapless cops standing in your way, are the two most basic reasons this franchise has done so well. Along with that, it seems to take controversy everywhere it goes and each game pushes the limits of what is acceptable in a game even further.

We could write for days about the merits of this series and what it has done not only for fans, but also for the world of video gaming overall, but instead we're going to switch gears and talk about how much certain gaming elements make us laugh. We'll admit, as much as this series is a total masterpiece, there are some ludicrous aspects to each game that make us laugh. Here are 20 things about Grand Theft Auto that make absolutely no sense.

20 Why Couldn't Tommy or Claude Swim?

As we mentioned earlier, the first two 3D universe games, GTA III and Vice City, brought us out of the top-down format and allowed us to roam around and experience the world in an entirely new and more immersive way. While there were definitely plenty of amazing aspects to these games, the fact that Claude and Tommy Vercetti were non-swimmers was incredibly frustrating, as both Liberty and Vice had plenty of water on the map. The earlier games were similar, and as of 2004's San Andreas, protagonists have been able to swim capably (except for Liberty City Stories...for some reason). But we look at it this way, Claude and Tommy are both able bodied gents, and can run, jump, operate vehicles with ease and even soak up bullet damage with relative ease, but somehow treading water is a one way ticket to a watery grave.

19 Cops Run Into You And It's Your Fault

There are a few ways in which interactions with cops make no sense in the GTA series. We'll keep coming back to it, but perhaps this is a roundabout social commentary Rockstar is making about the attitude some "bad apples" in the law enforcement community have. In this case, even if you're driving with relative care and trying not to hit anyone, and a cop switches lanes without signalling and slams into the side of your Cheetah, somehow it is the player's fault and we have to flee and get rid of stars. It makes absolutely no sense and we can't imagine a reason for the cops to operate in this way. But of course, we're trying to apply real life logic to the Grand Theft Auto series and that in itself is just plain old silly.

18 Injuries Have No Effect

One of the interesting gameplay elements of the GTA series is the fact that people flee at impressive speeds when they hear gunfire. Old people who are barely even getting along are all of a sudden world class sprinters if you fire a 9mm near them. But adding to that (this is something that is present in many games in which people get shot), when people have been shot and wounded, many of them are still able to flee with incredible speed. In real life, if someone has taken a bullet to the leg or knee, adrenaline might take over and block out some of the pain, but movement would be severely hampered. Like we said though, this is present in many gaming franchises, including many in which enemies can be shot and just keep coming at you. There are mods that can almost accurately show people suffering effects of wounds, but in the real game, this meme is still relatively accurate.

17 Where Do The Protagonists Store Their Weapons?

Again, much like our previous meme, this is an example of "video game logic" as much as it is an example of "GTA logic." Games like the Call of Duty series are somewhat realistic in terms of what one can carry in terms of weaponry. You have a rifle, submachine gun, or machine gun (a primary weapon) a secondary, a knife, and some other equipment. These are normal things for a person to carry and don't hamper movement. But on the other hand, like many other games, GTA has always allowed players to carry a pistol, baseball bat, assault rifle, machine gun, and rocket launcher all at once. When you wake up in your underwear, as Trevor often does, where are these weapons being stored? Knowing Trevor, maybe these are questions we'd rather not have the answer to.

16 The Food Service Workers Have Brilliant Discipline

We aren't going to bother taking a stand here on the open-carry, concealed carry debate because it doesn't matter what we think of that. But the point is, when you enter a fast food restaurant in these games and are brandishing a large weapon that could lay waste to everyone in the establishment, they greet you and serve you like it's nothing. Similarly, if you've just massacred an entire city block worth of people (which would make a ton of noise and attract a lot of attention) it is the same deal. Even hot dog vendors in Vice City; you could literally decapitate someone with a katana and they will still happily sell you a hot dog. The dedication to their job is admirable. Would this service be commonplace in real life if all fast food workers got paid $15?

15 The Cops Have to Work on Their Banter

Obviously this is just a case of there being so many different things cops can yell during a chase. It is a small issue, but a hilarious one nonetheless. We've said it before, and we'll say it again, the cops in this series are not the brightest pennies in the fountain. While it wouldn't have been too much to have the cops yell "land that vehicle and get out with your hands up" or something to that effect, we have cops shouting at our character to pull the helicopter over. We almost feel bad for these cops in GTA games, as they have to go up against heavily armed supermen armed with little more than pistols and shotguns. But then again, maybe they'd be better at doing their jobs if the LSPD would hire some smarter people.

14 Lenient Judges

The legal system in the game is not without its flaws. No matter what you've done, no matter how heinous your crime, the penalty is being thrown into a local jail for a few hours and then released, often with some money taken. You'll have your weapons confiscated, but beyond that there is no punishment (although it differs from game to game). While the money taken from the player is understood as a bribe, there are some things that nobody could bribe their way out of. For instance, like the meme says, if you've slaughtered everyone in a city block (another day at the office for any GTA protagonist), you're looking at several life sentences and no cop is going to leave your cell unlocked for a few hundred or even thousand dollars. Then again, real life sentences for crimes would render this game unplayable and make getting busted an automatic "game over."

13 Built In Microphone?

The sniper scopes in GTA V are very impressive. Many of you might have noticed this, but in case you haven't, what the meme implies is actually true in the game. If you have to take down or defend yourself from a helicopter, and choose a sniper rifle for the engagement, when you zoom in to take a precise shot, you will hear the sound of the rotors much more clearly and loudly. Now, we know that Professor Farnsworth from Futurama invented the Smell-O-Scope, which allowed far off stenches to be experienced, but even he couldn't come up with a rifle scope that not only allows you to not only get a clearer shot at the target but also hear their vehicle more clearly. We can't really imagine the practical application for this, but it is a cool, minor flaw in the realism of the game.

12 Do Those Cops Have a Sixth Sense?

This can be incredibly frustrating and we can't imagine a reason for it, but the phenomenon is worth a meme for sure. You could be out in the middle of the water on any GTA game, you could be in the desert, or just in some back alley with no cops and nobody around with a suppressed weapon, and if you kill someone you'll get that one star. Maybe the Grand Theft Auto version of the United States has a very impressive surveillance system and there are tiny cameras watching everything everyone does all the time. Then again, maybe the police in the game are more competent that we thought and just have some kind of "Spidey-Sense" and every so often their head perks up like that of a dog, and they say "someone just got killed out by Sandy Shores."

11 People Who Exit Their Cars And Flee From Gunfire

We've all seen this at some point. Whether you're in the middle of a mission or you just feel like creating some mayhem in the streets, the second you open fire and people in cars see you do so, they leap from their vehicles and flee in the other direction. For the record, this is one of the silliest things one can do in this situation. Getting out of the car robs that person of something strong that can stand between them and the bullets. Furthermore, even just putting the car into reverse and carefully turning around will enable a quicker getaway than just running away. At the same time, simply driving at the shooter with your head down and trying to hit them (some NPCs will do this) is probably a better idea than exiting the car and running away.

Then again, we don't need to explain this to you readers, because you're people and likely have some common sense, but the majority of NPCs who do this are just ridiculous examples of video game logic.

10 Painting Your Car Makes Cops Stop Chasing You

The whole "Pay and Spray" or "Los Santos Customs" game element is an interesting concept and has been a mainstay in the series when it comes to losing the police after committing some nefarious act. With that said, however, the idea that getting a new paint job will make the cops no longer look for a perpetrator is absolutely ridiculous. Cops who gave up this easily don't exist in real life, and obviously, because GTA is a gaming series, the introduction of this kind of realism would kill the fantasy aspect of the game. But really, if you drive into a car painting shop in a blue Banshee and drive out in a green one, and there are cop cars behind you just waiting, one would have to think one of them would catch on, but here we are writing about these hilariously clueless cops once again.

9 Girlfriends Don't Care About Murdering People

There have been a few games in which the protagonists can go on actual dates (not just picking up hookers) with their girlfriends. This screenshot is taken from GTA IV, but San Andreas and each of the more recent games have had some sort of "girlfriend experience" for the protagonists. Obviously Claude and Tommy had sort-of relationships with Maria and Mercedes in their respective games. But looking to the games in which players could go on dates with their ladies, it took a lot of bloodshed and vehicular manslaughter before the date would not be considered a success. This is hilarious and would absolutely never happen in the real world. Those women would be frantically calling the cops and trying to flee the scene after the first hit and run incident.

8 Hospital Staff Give All Your Weapons Back And Set You Free

Regardless of how a player-character in GTA is mangled, they get revived and brought to the nearest hospital, at which point some money is taken and they can then go back to whatever they were doing before. While it is an impressive feat to be able to patch up sucking chest wounds, put brains back together (in the case of players who have been shot in the head), repair chainsaw-related wounds and explosion induced trauma, they really need to work on their procedures with regard to people leaving their care. If a man was rushed to the hospital by paramedics but he was in the middle of a massive bank robbery, it would make sense to contact the police and keep as much real estate between that person and their weapons as possible. Then again, it's a game and it evidently doesn't have to make any sense.

7 There Are Different Universes...Sort Of

We get it, whenever a new console generation or just whenever technology has advanced a certain degree, a new GTA universe has been created. The first games from the 90s are in the 2D universe, GTA III through Vice City Stories make up the 3D universe and everything since then is the HD universe, for those who aren't familiar with the breakdown. The obvious reason for this is that it allows the creators to work with a blank slate in terms of geography and story line. But then again, if the new games being made are in different time periods, creating alternate universes isn't really necessary. Either way, it's not our choice, it's Rockstar's.

What makes significantly less sense is that while main characters do not pass through from one universe to another, there are several examples of crossover. Many celebrities including radio DJ Lazlow Jones, along with restaurant chains, certain landmarks, and even some of the gangs are the same in the 3D universe and HD. Some have suggested that the playable character from GTA 2, Claude Speed, is actually Claude in GTA III as well, but there is no proof of this.

In short, the GTA series has multiple universes, but also it kind of doesn't.

6 If You Pull Over And Get Out, The Cops Shoot You Anyway

Watching the news in the United States, it seems like this aspect of GTA gameplay is closer to reality than one might expect. Obviously there is the idea of "just a few bad apples" but many in the country are getting fed up with trigger happy cops who shoot first and ask questions later.

In Grand Theft Auto, if you do pull your car over when being pursued (why the hell would you though?) and get out of your car, the bullets just start flying. There is no option to surrender and there is no way to stop them. "Busted" is generally only an option if the cop either opens your car door and pulls you out, if you get hit off a cop motorcycle, or if a cop manages to beat you down with his baton. In the case of pulling over however, you're likely just going to get filled with lead.

5 Cops Don't Care About People Walking Around Brandishing Heavy Weapons

Again, maybe this alternate version of the United States never had an open carry debate and everyone is just cool with people sauntering around with small arms in plain sight. We can imagine why, pistols, shotguns and rifles are legitimate for use in self defense. But maybe the thought of an RPG being carried around in public is a step too far. The weapon was created to take out armored vehicles and is now popular for anti-personnel purposes by some unsavory groups in the world. We have to imagine that in any community, regardless of how much they value the right of self defense, that citizens and police alike would have an adverse reaction to a man casually strutting down the sidewalk with a weapon like this.

4 Spend Hours Looking For A Car And Then It's Everywhere

Look at all those Banshees. This is the kind of disappointing thing that will drive any player crazy. It is somewhat less common today, because there are numerous guides online that can allow players to find any vehicle they want, anywhere in the city. With that said, for a long time, if you wanted to find a nice car, the first step was to go to the part of the city, whether it be Liberty, Vice, or San Andreas where people have nice cars and just start driving around with your fingers crossed. It might take ten minutes and it might take an hour, but then when you finally see the car you want, you'll start to see it everywhere. This has been a common trend throughout the 3D games, but much less so in the HD universe, but we remember being infuriated by this back in the 3D days.

3 The Trees are Impressively Strong

Now, this picture might not be the best one to make our point, as that is a pretty big tree and we imagine it is well-rooted in the ground. But even the smaller, thinner trees, that could likely be pulled out of the ground by a guy on his way to the gym can also stop just about anything. Trees that in real life might only be a few years old, are capable of stopping Rhino tanks in their tracks. Keep in mind that these are vehicles that make all cars and trucks explode and can roll over just about anything in the game with relative ease. Whatever they are putting in the water in the GTA seems to be making the cops almost brain-dead but it certainly does make for some sturdy trees, and there is nothing more frustrating than getting on the sidewalk during a chase, only to ram through street lights and then slam into a tree that doesn't move an inch.

2 Barbers Can Make Your Hair Grow Longer

Much like the health care professionals that tend to the player-characters in these games, the barbers deserve a shout out. While hair extensions for men have been around for a few years, it takes a special kind of skill to take a clean-shaven man with a shaved head and turn him into a bearded man with an afro. This is a great example of "GTA logic" but we'd just rather consider this an example of the brilliant skill of the dedicated barbers in San Andreas. How do they do it? We'll likely never know, but if it is some sort of witchcraft, we wouldn't be too surprised.

1 Fast Food Heals Serious Trauma

We already briefly discussed how gifted the doctors and nurses in the GTA series are, being able to heal any and all wounds that show up in hospitals, but we now have to mention the healing properties of the fast food. Your character can take multiple stab wounds, sustain blunt force trauma from a baseball bat and of course, soak up numerous bullets and make it out alive. In the real world, all of those wounds would cause a person problems until further notice, but in Grand Theft Auto games, if you can get to a fast food restaurant, a few hot dogs or some fried chicken can undoubtedly cure what ails you. While in the real world, fast food turns us fat and miserable, the GTA world has no better solution to health issues and injuries.