All GTA Cover Girls from GTA 1 to GTA 6

GTA cover girls
Image Credit: Rockstar Games (edited by Ishan Adhikary/ Beebom)

As tradition goes, every Grand Theft Auto box art always features a cover girl. Whether it’s a pink bikini, oversized sunglasses, a lollipop, a gun, or a smartphone selfie, every little detail tells you something about the chaos waiting on the other side of the loading screen. With Rockstar finally unveiling the GTA 6 cover art, there has never been a better time to look back at the cover girls who helped define each era of the franchise. So, from Liberty City’s Misty to GTA 6’s Vice baby, here’s the complete history of every cover girl from the mainline Grand Theft Auto games.

List of GTA Cover Girls (2001-2026)

Image Credit: Rockstar Games

Rockstar kicked off the tradition of introducing cover girls on the box art in 2001 with the fifth GTA game, Grand Theft Auto 3. Since then, every GTA game from the 3D and HD era has included a girl on the cover.

Some cover girls became fan favorites, some appeared in the games themselves, and others existed purely to capture the vibe the game wanted to sell. That continued with GTA 5, and now the GTA 6 cover art also features a modern girlie with swag, a White Claw (sorry, Thaw), and a cool tattoo.

With that said, here is the complete list of cover girls from GTA games in order:

Cover GirlGame (Year)
MistyGTA III (2001)
The Twins (one of them)GTA: Vice City (2002)
Rochell’leGTA: San Andreas (2004)
Maria LatoreGTA: Liberty City Stories (2005)
Unknown Woman and MystiqueGTA: Vice City Stories (2006)
Lola Del RioGTA IV (2008)
JoniGTA: The Ballad of Gay Tony (2009)
Ashley ButlerGTA: The Lost and Damned (2009)
Ling ShanGTA: Chinatown Wars (2009)
Blonde Selfie GirlGTA V (2013)
GTA 6 Cover Girl aka Vice BabyGTA VI (2026)

GTA Cover Girls from All Mainline Games

Now that you know the identity of every cover girl featured in Grand Theft Auto cover art, you might want to know more. While some of the characters are straight-up NPCs, many are only for promotional purposes.

GTA 6 cover art, much like GTA 5, includes a mysterious girl figure. So, if you are curious, here is a detailed breakdown of all the mainstream GTA cover girls:

Misty – GTA 3

If you played GTA 3 back in 2001, chances are you remember Misty before you remember half the mission givers. She was the face of the game’s promotional artwork and one of the first women to become closely tied to the series’ identity.

Unlike many cover girls who never made it into the game, Misty actually appears throughout the story. She works as an escort in Liberty City and is regularly chauffeured around by Claude during several missions. That alone makes her one of the few cover stars with a meaningful in-game role.

Image Credit: Rockstar Games

Misty is known for serving high-paying clients across the city and has connections to several important characters. While she never becomes a major protagonist, her appearances help make Liberty City feel like a living place rather than just a collection of missions. Years later, Rockstar even referenced her in GTA Online through the character creator’s family tree system.

The Twins – GTA Vice City

The pink bikini-clad twins from GTA Vice City are among the most recognizable faces in the entire franchise. Oh, the good ol’ days of the loading screen with Laura Branigan’s song playing in the background! Chills, literally chills!

According to Vice City’s manual, the twins are connected to drug kingpin Ricardo Diaz. In the game, one works as a bartender at the Malibu Club while the other performs at the Pole Position Club. And the best part is that you can unlock a little “dance” service from her by spending $300.

Image Credit: Rockstar Games

Their role in the story is short, but their impact on the game’s identity is huge. They helped sell the flashy, neon-soaked fantasy of 1980s Miami that Vice City was built around. Rockstar, over the years, referenced them through artwork and collectibles in the following GTA games. Few cover girls are as big a part of GTA’s visual language as The Twins, even after more than two decades.

Rochell’le – GTA San Andreas

Rochell’le occupies one of the most interesting spots in GTA history. This character was inspired by Mariah Carey, a real-life R&B singer, and a clever nod to one of the best sitcoms, Seinfeld. She technically exists within Rockstar’s GTA universe rather than simply posing for the cover. The singer appeared on the GTA San Andreas box art, bent and with sunglasses in hand. She instantly became one of San Andreas’ standout promotional characters.

Within the GTA universe, Rochell’le is an R&B and hip-hop artist who previously dated the rapper, Madd Dogg. Their relationship ended before the events of GTA San Andreas, becoming part of the celebrity gossip that filled the state’s entertainment scene.

Image Credit: Rockstar Games

Rockstar expanded her story through the Forgotten Legends of West Coast Rap promotional website. There, Rochell’le was portrayed as a musician caught up in rivalries and industry drama, giving her more backstory than most cover characters ever received.

Her fame faded over time, but references remained in future GTA games. You can find Rochell’le’s CDs at the Middle Park East Safehouse in Grand Theft Auto IV. You can also spot her poster in Franklin’s room in GTA 5, proving that even fictional celebrities can survive the jump between GTA generations.

Lola Del Rio – GTA 4

When GTA 4 shifted the series toward a grittier and more grounded tone, grabbing the title of best GTA game, Rockstar introduced Lola Del Rio as the game’s cover girl. Armed with a lollipop and plenty of attitude, she became one of Liberty City’s most memorable promotional figures. Stephen Bliss, former Senior Artist at Rockstar, confirmed that Lola was modeled after his ex-wife.

Lola never physically appears during the main story. Instead, players learn about her through the Liberty City Police Department database, which paints a picture of a woman with a lengthy history around the city’s nightlife scene.

Image Credit: Rockstar Games

According to her profile, Lola worked as an escort and frequently spent time around Star Junction and Algonquin. Her records mention various legal troubles before she eventually settled into Liberty City life after moving from San Fierro. Thus, she is seen as a spiritual successor to Misty from GTA 3.

Despite having almost no screen time, players still remember her. Being called the GTA “Lollipop Girl” for nearly twenty years is not a bad legacy, even if it sounds like the world’s strangest superhero nickname.

The Blonde Selfie Girl – GTA 5

It’s 2013, and GTA 5 is taking its sweet time to load. Then your parents walk into the room at the exact moment Rockstar decides to showcase a bikini model taking a selfie. For many players, that loading screen was almost as memorable as the game itself.

The woman featured in the artwork became the most iconic cover girl in the GTA series’ history. The unnamed woman appears to be taking a selfie with an iFruit smartphone at Vespucci Beach. The artwork perfectly captured the social media culture and celebrity obsession that defined Los Santos and much of GTA 5’s satire.

Image Credit: Rockstar Games

Rockstar hired real-life model Shelby Welinder as the reference for the artwork. Her likeness became the foundation for one of the most recognizable images in gaming history, even though the character herself never received an official name.

The image became so famous that it sparked legal controversy, especially when celebrity Lindsay Lohan filed a lawsuit against Rockstar. That definitely worked more in favor of GTA being a virtual parody of IRL characters.

GTA 6 Cover Girl

After over a decade, Rockstar Games revealed the box art for Grand Theft Auto 6. And as expected, there was a cover girl. Despite being a mystery girl, it said a lot.

On the official GTA VI website, there are no artworks in the gallery that fit the visual descriptions of the cover girl. The girl on the cover holds exactly what the vibes of Vice City in GTA 6 from both the trailers seem like.

Image Credit: Rockstar Games

The background also says The Atoll Bar and Grill, which could mean the character is near the beach area on the GTA 6 map. She also reps the Vice City Manatees while sipping on the drink named Thaw.

Apart from that, her tattoos reveal more about her roots, like “Vice Baby”, “Siempre”, and “305,” in the game.

This mysterious bikini girl is obviously not the bikini girl in GTA 6 trailer 1. So, we have to wait and find out if Rockstar will make her an active NPC in the game like Misty or the Twins.

Which one of these box art girls is your favorite? Let us know in the comments section below.

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