Trevor Phillips' starting vehicle in the game is a "Canis Bodhi" pickup truck. Steven Ogg, Trevor's voice actor, has a son named Bodhi. It's believed the vehicle is named after his son.

The "Yeti" clothing brand is based on the Japanese clothing brand "A Bathing Ape", also known as "Bape". The logos that appear on the branded items reference the Japanese brand, in combination with the infamous "bigfoot" rumors that spread around the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

In the Yellow Jack Inn near Sandy Shores, there are some dollar bills behind the counter. The face on the dollar bills is Rochell'le, the girl on the cover of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

In the mission "Did Somebody Say Yoga?" Amanda originally wore a white bathrobe, as seen in Trevor's character trailer.

A pre-release screenshot of the game shows Trevor Phillips wearing a green bandana. However, in the final release, Trevor never wears a bandana.

The name of Trevor Phillips' business, TPI Enterprises, is a real Australian company that processes opium poppies.

At the Yellow Jack Inn, there are bloody footsteps around the 8 ball pool table in the back. This is a possible reference to the serial killer Merle Abrahams and his obsession with the number '8'.

The title of the mission 'Pack Man' is a reference to the game Pac-Man.

In the mission "Derailed", the player must jump a dirtbike off a ramp and land on top of a train. One of the gold medal objectives, titled "Better than CJ", requires the player to make the jump using the first of several ramps.

This objective is a reference to the mission "Wrong Side of the Tracks" in GTA: San Andreas, where Carl Johnson (CJ), must chase a train on a dirtbike. One way of beating the mission is to drive up a series of ramps, and jump onto the train. The mission is notoriously difficult, and Big Smoke's line upon failing it became an internet meme: "All we had to do, was follow the damn train, CJ!"

In an interview with Playboy Magazine, Sam Houser admitted that he got his mother, veteran actress Geraldine Moffat, to do some voice and mo-cap work for Grand Theft Auto V. While she is uncredited in the game, it is widely believed by many that she played Trevor Phillips' mother. They look similar, her actress is not credited, and she has an uncharacteristically English accent for a woman who is supposed to be Canadian.

The 4th heist mission "The Paleto Score" is loosely based on the 1997 North Hollywood Bank Robbery.

In the mission "Fresh Meat", the opening cutscene was almost entirely improvised by the two main actors (Steven Ogg as Trevor and Shawn Fonteno as Franklin). During motion-capture, Ogg tripped over an obstacle and Fonteno broke out laughing. Upon standing up, Ogg started to yell at Fonteno (in character) and the scene was kept in-game.

The mission "The Ballad of Rocco" is a reference to "The Ballad of Gay Tony", where Rocco makes his first canonical appearance.

During The Paleto Score, if Spoiler:Packie McReary is brought along as a heist gunman, he begins to talk about a robbery in Liberty City:


This refers to the events of the mission Spoiler:Three Leaf Clover in Grand Theft Auto IV.

A book case in the living room of Franklin's Vinewood house contains a book called "Red Dead", by J. Marston. This is a reference to Red Dead Redemption, and its protagonist, John Marston.

John Marston from Red Dead Redemption is one of the possible "Special Dads" available during character creation for Grand Theft Auto Online. This will only display if the user has a save file from that game, and can be used to influence the appearance of their GTA Online character.

There are a couple of locations in Los Santos that feature Marilyn Monroe, Charles Chaplin, John Wayne and Elvis Presley. One is near board walk and the other is in a back alley.

All of the characters' special abilities (Michael's marksman abilities, Trevor's rage ability, and Franklin's handling of cars) are displayed by the game's interface. However, Franklin's special ability is the only one to be referred to by the characters themselves; This is done by Lamar during the mission Chop, in which he tells Franklin to use that "special driver thing that he does" to capture D.

The in-game German beer company, "Pißwasser", is a joke nickname for Budweiser in Germany. The name translates to "piss water".

There is a car tuning garage close to the Vanilla Unicorn called "Car Tune Network", a reference to the TV station Cartoon Network.