If there was such a thing as a driving and crime simulator, Grand Theft Auto is the first and foremost claimant as king of the throne. Over the years, the series gradually moved from the simple overhead view and gameplay to the typical 3D open-world third-person role-playing adventure game. That was probably the most hyphens I have used in a single sentence, but it had to be done to describe the innovative and genre-breaking franchise of GTA. Sure, the content matter isn't the most family-friendly, but GTA was a type of game that had to be done, eventually.

If you happened to land a copy of any of the GTA games during Christmas, it was one of the best of holiday presents. When a franchise has sixteen different titles and various expansions over the span of twenty years, it has to be determined as one of the most successful gaming series in history. As of this moment, the GTA gaming series is the fifth best-selling of all-time. Even if the series ended today, Rockstar's flagship franchise will forever be one of the most-talked-about games for decades to come.

Are the aspects of car-jacking, for-hire stuff, and rising up in the criminal world appealing to you? With over millions of copies sold worldwide, it is definitely appealing to a lot of people. Besides, GTA is not a real-world simulator, and also runs by its own GTA-level logic that is often ridiculous. Rather it is something you play to escape the mundane regular work week. Thus, it is only fitting to celebrate the past two decades of prominence and decadence with 25 of the best Grand Theft Auto Memes ever. Don't worry, crossing the line doesn't necessitate the inclusion of any profanity or gratuitous content.

25 It's Gonna Blow!

Has your car ever caught fire in real life? Probably not. While cars are often running on the process of internal combustion with the aid of very flammable gasoline, luckily explosions don't always accompany every fender bender. Could you imagine the cleanup if cars exploded left and right? But this is a common occurrence in the world of Grand Theft Auto. Almost one of the best things you can do after a crash or flipping your vehicle is to run away as far as possible, because the most likely result is going to be in the form of a massive explosion. Also, if the engine bay is on fire, it is guaranteed to explode like a Michael Bay action scene. Don't say I didn't warn you.

24 Indestructible... Greenery

So, you finally have the keys to the city by way of that car you just bought or stole. This is Grand Theft Auto, so gamers are incentivized to boost their next mode of transportation. While keeping the vehicles in tip-top shape is one of the major challenges in the franchise, due to the often haphazard handling and the other idiotic drivers populating the roads, there is usually nothing a car (or tank) cannot run over in the open world of Grand Theft Auto. This includes people, other cars, fences, and even lamp posts. Bushes, on the other hand, are virtually indestructible. Be careful with that next exotic ride, especially around shrubbery. They are as tough as brick walls.

23 Brutality And Franks

Part of the gaming mechanics of Grand Theft Auto is also one of the more hilarious ones. Indeed, performing crimes in public, like killing civilians, often doesn't always seem to draw the attention of others (excluding police officers, of course). This is especially true for food establishments, like this hot dog vendor, who is perfectly indifferent to witnessing your midtown massacre. Not like he isn't going to sell you a hot dog just because you are a killer. Everyone has to eat. As all keen GTA players know, the act of eating helps replenish health without having to seek out health packs. Eating was actually first utilized in the gameplay of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Now, it is pretty much a staple of all GTA titles after.

22 Trying To Be Normal

Sometimes, just driving around town and mowing down everyone in your path gets pretty boring. In terms of Grand Theft Auto, driving like a normal person is probably one of the most difficult skills to master in the franchise. Not only do most of the cars have haphazard handling that would have you more likely to wrap your ride around a tree rather than allowing you to perform an Initial D super drift, the other drivers in the city seem to be in the habit of running into you even if you have the best of intentions. It is probably more of a challenge to act “normal” in GTA than like the typical maniac. Gamers love atypical challenges, am I right?

21 Damn It, There Goes My Deposit

Finally found that nice exotic after hitting a spawn at the right time? The level of satisfaction is unequal. Like with in real-life instances, getting that dream car also gets us in the habit of being extremely-careful with our driving habits, such as putting proper distances in traffic and actually not cruising the city like a bona fide maniac. Unfortunately, driving carefully in Grand Theft Auto is not always rewarded with an undamaged vehicle, especially if you are on a mission or a delivery. In a game where you are supposed to disobey traffic laws and cause havoc for others, following the rules by actually stopping at a light might actually get your rear-ended. That is what you get for being a goody-two-shoes. Nice guys finish last!

20 Boredom Kills

Rest in peace, members of the Grand Theft Auto's finest. While police are usually who civilians turn to in times of extreme duress, the ones in the GTA franchise are usually nothing more than hindrances to the player's missions, like Imperial Stormtroopers and bugs in houses. Like insects and Stormtroopers, police are pretty much the targets of all of the rage and aggression of the gamers. As your job is to break the law and not get caught, usually this involves the slaying of all uniformed personnel in order to stay out of trouble and escape. Like in most shooting games, each GTA is going to rack up quite the body count, especially with the men and women in blue. Too bad for them, but it is fun for all of us.

19 Body Crash

Because life isn't perfect and neither are you, most video games often have some glitches. While the quality of each title could either be affected very little or very much by glitches, usually the shortcomings in Grand Theft Auto are often minor, even the memorable “Blue Hell” bug that started when the franchise moved into the realm of 3D gaming. Usually, it involves a gamer falling into a supposedly inaccessible area only to respawn somewhere else in the level. What can we actually say about this graphical glitch shown in this Meme? Perhaps, the body file just stopped working. Sorry, CJ. It seems that stealing that bicycle just led to unconscionable results. Reminds me of the cartridge-tilting glitch in Goldeneye 64.

18 Tank Busters!

Driving a Caddy in Grand Theft Auto? Though the vehicle is made mostly of plastic, it can somehow plow into lamp posts and other object with seemingly limited damage. What kind of NASA-grade high-ballistic plastic is that? Might be carbon fiber, or fictional hogwash. Well, then you finally get your hands on a heavily-armored Rhino Tank and run over other vehicles and pedestrians. You are invincible! At least, to a certain degree. Yep, you cannot run over trees and bushes, as plant-based life in Grand Theft Auto are given the strength and durability of Wolverine's Adamantium-infused skeleton that not even a 60-ton and 1,500 horsepower tank with a cannon can pass through them. That is some grade-A GTA logic here.

17 Call Darwin, Evolution Does Exist

Remember Grand Theft Auto 1? Some readers on TheGamer weren't even born when the first game of the series was released in 1997. Has it really been two decades, already? Indeed. Over the years, the overhead gaming of the first two titles have morphed into the 3D realm since its introduction in Grand Theft Auto III. Since GTA III, the series has been refining itself over the course of numerous releases. Now, the graphics of Grand Theft Auto V is probably the best of the entire franchise. Comparing the first title and GTA V, it seemingly proves that evolution does exist. The presentation of the series has come a long way, and it wasn't just something that happened overnight with a click of a deity's fingers.

16 Invincible Like Boris

Featured in Grand Theft Auto IV, Niko Bellic is one tough and bad dude. Starting his life as soldier somewhere in Eastern Europe, Niko moves to Liberty City and leaves a trail of bodies in his wake. Trying to locate the traitor that cost his friends' lives, he takes up a bunch of crime jobs in order to earn money to fuel his rage. It is not known where Niko is actually from, but being that he is such a hardened and vicious man, it is likely that he is Soviet in origin. Despite processing the ability to change the power balance of the fictional Liberty City, a dead ringer for the New York City, Niko cannot defeat trees or other forms of shrubbery. Why? Because trees and bushes are invincible in the GTA world. Thanks for that Rockstar.

15 Who's The Loser Now?

The son of Michael and Amanda De Santa and the younger brother of pop-star hopeful, Tracey, Jimmy is deemed a slacker who's main purpose in GTA V is to play video games online and trading insults with other gamers and his sister. Hey, some people have priorities, okay? He's not a family favorite, but he sure does loves to game. Sure, some gamers of GTA V might view Jimmy as a loser who does nothing more with his life than playing games all day long, except they themselves are playing GTA V for eight hours straight. Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? It seems like that the character of Jimmy is a little bit more meta than first realized. Rockstar was wiser than I thought.

14 Jerks In Traffic

I live in Los Angeles, and driving here is an absolute nightmare. If you thought the jerks in Grand Theft Auto are terrible drivers who never use turn signals are the worst, they are still better people to share the roads with than the people in Los Angeles. On a daily basis, my commute is filled with several close calls and random jerks who cut me off on the freeway just to get one car length ahead. These drivers are the worst people in all of mankind. Okay, so this might be a little bit of hyperbole, but they are awful drivers. Also, Los Angeles has one of the most stressful commutes in the entire North America. So, those fake jerks in San Andreas aren't too far off from their real-world counterparts.

13 Good Morning Officer, Nothing To See Here

Police officers aren't alert to arrest you just because you are carrying a rocket launcher around, which is brilliantly captured with this noteworthy screen capture. Besides, the Wanted level doesn't trigger unless you actually cause some collateral damage or ram your vehicle into a police car. For the love of everything, never tap a GTA police car, because they will kill you. Thus, a player can walk around the world with a rocket launcher or semi-automatic weapon in hand without being apprehended by the police. This led to this type of Meme being immensely popular with GTA players on the internet as one of the most ridiculous GTA-based logic in the franchise. If only real-life was the same way. On second thought, it is probably better that it wasn't.

12 How Much In A Bundle?

That might look like a bundle of cash, but in the logic of the Grand Theft Auto series, it is merely a total of $16. Though it does seem to be quite the graphical oversight, most of the game's features cost way more than the $16 in in-game currency, anyway. Most of the franchise's more sought-after exotic cars are usually to the tune of over half-a-million dollar, with several over the million-dollar threshold. So, now that we all know how much things cost in GTA, then it makes sense that the creators didn't factor in how the stacks of money would graphically vary in the games. By the way, who bundles a bunch of one-dollar bills together? A dancer at a gentleman's club?

11 Don't Pull Over

While it is wise to pull over when hearing police sirens in the real world, this is the equivalent of suicide-by-cop in terms of the Grand Theft Auto world logic. Sure, the police in GTA tell you to pull over, but that is so they can riddle your main character with massive amounts of ammunition en-route to getting you wasted. Thus, it is probably behooving to try to escape the police as quickly as possible, either through sheer driving skill, repainting your car, or hiding in the apartment to get the Wanted level down. Remember, never ever stop and let the police in GTA pull you over. In real-life, however, please don't run, because it isn't going to end pretty.

10 Sky-Diving

Driving like a normal person in Grand Theft Auto? How preposterous! The whole point of playing a video game is doing things that you cannot and should not do in real-life. Be sure to live vicariously through the video games that you do play, because committing felonies in real-life is sure to get you more than a monetary fine. In the game GTA V, there are a fair amount of in-game cheats, such as the “Skyfall”, where a player can survive falls from ten-thousand feet without a parachute. Also possible is the ability to float in a car and drop straight to ground, leaving the player alive and able-bodied. In some miraculous The Fast and The Furious type of insanity, sometimes the car would still be working, driveable condition. That's GTA logic at its best!

9 Pink Surprise

If you are a guy and a gamer, does your significant other sometimes recolor the cars in your GTA garage? What is even more impressive is that you somehow landed yourself a wife or girlfriend when you dedicated your life to not going outside. So, congratulations! Indeed, even nerds and geeks can get married one day. Through some luck, one day you become married to someone who also loves video games. Still, be careful sharing a home with someone who knows her way around a PlayStation or Xbox as she might pull this practical joke by giving your in-game vehicles paint-jobs. Luckily, this won't happen in real life, so be glad you will not be driving a Jaguar colored like Barney the purple dinosaur to work.

8 Lohan Has A Point

There was a time when Lindsay Lohan took Rockstar Games to court because the Beach Girl featured in one of the load screens in Grand Theft Auto V was claimed to resemble her when she had a beach-ready body. There was also a time when Lohan looked absolutely flawless. No one on the internet made a better comparison than Brian Altano, known by his Twitter handle @agentbizzle, when he compared Lohan's likeness to that of the callous-faced Trevor Philips, one of the three main characters in GTA V. And Altano has a great point, as the no-so-steamy photo of Lohan looked very similar to Trevor. I wonder what ever happened to the legal claim. That being said, Lohan currently owes the IRS over a hundred grand.

7 Paint Logic

A change of paint yield more than just aesthetic result in the world of GTA. If only real-life allowed people to get away with crime by repainting their car, things will be a little more interesting. In terms of Grand Theft Auto logic, repainting one's car will seemingly eliminate the Wanted level for the character. Of course, doing this in reality never yields this type of results, probably because the police in the real-world aren't a bunch of bubbling idiots most of the time as in the GTA series. Still, it would be nice to be able to Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card once in a while. Well, we all know the rich people have one. Indeed, even money can buy freedom in a video game like Grand Theft Auto.

6 Healed With Fried Chicken

This might be better than chicken soup. One of the main purposes of consuming food at various restaurants in the GTA world is to refill your health without the use of cumbersome health packs. While this might seem like a more realistic method of regaining health (as health packs don't just hide in closets and the warehouses), wouldn't it be more realistic to have some method of going to a medical clinic to heal? Well, in CJ's case, just go to the chicken restaurant to heal from your multiple gunshot wounds. That makes a lot of sense, and is somehow not politically-incorrect. I once ate a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken to heal my twisted ankle. As expected, it did not work. GTA and Rockstar lies to me again.