Garrett is the protagonist of the Thief games - a cynical master thief who wishes nothing more than to be left alone to steal in peace, but who unwittingly becomes embroiled in a series of epic events. Orphaned as a child, Garrett spent his youth on the streets surviving as a sneak-thief and pickpocket. After exhibiting a surprising degree of perception by noticing one of their agents he was recruited into a secret organization dedicated to observing and maintaining stability in the City, The Keepers. He was given initial training in the arts of stealth and subterfuge practiced by the Keepers, but found that it was much more profitable to make use of these skills as a thief than to continue working for the Keepers as an agent.

Garrett exhibits a strong sense of survival and self-interest. While on the surface Garrett is callous, cynical and sarcastic, with loyalty only to himself, he does seem to have deeper feelings for a few of his contacts: Artemus, the Keeper that recruited and trained him; Basso the Boxman, a fellow thief; Cutty, his fence. In extreme cases this seems to extend to even to past antagonists such as Viktoria, although that may be a result of Garrett's own self-interest.
Garrett also exhibits a strong sense of professional pride as a thief: he usually refuses to kill while on the job, saying that he's a thief, not a murderer, though Constantine and Karras died as a result of Garret's actions only because he was able to sabotage their evil plans. Lotus was a mercy killing, as he begged for death due to the inhumane conditions that Garrett found him in. Other than that, Garrett has not killed anyone human in the Thief Canon. If a person plays all of the games on expert like they were Garrett, killing would be completely unnecessary.

Not much is known about Garrett before his time with The Keepers, or during his education with The Keepers.He had lost both his parents (or they had abandoned him), was living alone on the streets, picking pockets and running messages to, 'keep (his) ribs from meeting (his) spine'. He saw Artemus walking on the street as people, 'just passed him by like he wasn't there'. Thinking the man had some valuables he decided to make a grab. He was caught, and Artemus, impressed with his ability to see a Keeper, offered young Garrett a new life. Garrett was called "the most promising acolyte" in the Keeper annals, but left around the age of 20 due to his "imbalance". It was brought before the council to deal with him using the Enforcers, but Caduca informed the council that Garrett would be needed in the future.

At some point in time, now working as an independent thief in The City, Garrett steals an expensive scepter from Lord Bafford, breaks into the Hammerite prison to spring his fence, Cutty (who dies while still in prison), and ventures deep into the catacombs looking for treasure. Shortly after this thugs working for the local Warden, Ramirez, attempt to kill Garrett for non payment of tribute. Garrett turns the tables, escaping and going on to humiliate Ramirez by looting his mansion, even going on to rob the local thieves guild. This brazen display of skill attracts the attention of Viktoria, a somewhat mysterious independent fence. She contracts Garrett to steal a magical sword from the eccentric nobleman, Constantine.
Upon successfully returning from Constantine's bizarre mansion, Viktoria reveals that she and Constantine are old associates who were testing Garrett. Constantine offers Garrett a fortune for the job of retrieving the gemstone known as The Eye. Getting to The Eye means Garrett must venture through the abandoned and walled-off Old Quarter of the City to the old Hammerite Cathedral. A mysterious catastrophe, rumored to involve great fires and many undead, caused the area's abandonment decades ago. Garrett finds the cathedral sealed, but the Eye itself tells him of an old Keeper library hidden nearby. Writings there tell of where the talismans that open the cathedral are hidden and how the Keepers almost revealed themselves in order to assist the Hammerites and the Hand Brotherhood in containing a great evil. The first talisman was found in a place called The Lost City, the ruins of an ancient civilization buried beneath the existing city, its entrance hidden by the Keepers. To get the second talisman, Garrett enters a Hammerite temple in disguise. The third talisman was kept with a brotherhood of Mages. The fourth, inside Keeper secured caverns, though unbeknownst to Garrett, the Talisman was recovered by the Guards of the Opera House above the caves. Successful, he then returns to the cathedral and collects The Eye from amid the many undead, escaping with the help of Hammerite Brother Murus' ghost.

Garrett visits Constantine to hand over The Eye and collect his payment. Instead of paying, however, Constantine reveals himself to be the fabled Trickster (aka The Woodsie Lord), the entity worshiped by the Pagans, and Viktoria, his consort. They bind Garrett in vines and Viktoria plucks out one of his eyes, using it to seemingly activate The Eye stone, and leave him for dead. Some time later two Keepers find and free the unconscious Garrett from the vines. The Keepers then leave Garrett to escape by himself through the caverns beneath Constantine's mansion and amongst some new and strange beasts. Once he reaches the surface Garrett decides the only thing to do is visit the Hammerites and tell them about what has happened in the hopes they would provide assistance. He heads for the temple but discovers that the Trickster's minions have gotten there first. Venturing inside he finds the remaining Hammerites in a hidden sanctuary down in an underground cavern. With stealth being the only hope against the Trickster's army, the Hammerites provide Garrett with a booby-trapped copy of The Eye. Garrett descends into the Trickster's realm, where he finds the Woodsie Lord performing a ceremony with the Eye. Garrett stealthily swaps the Eye for its trapped copy, which then explodes, thus striking down the Trickster as he attempts to finish the ritual.

The coda shows Garrett walking back to town alone through the snow. Life appears to be returning to normal. A Keeper approaches, Artemus. The two converse and The Keeper warns Garrett, telling him of a book he should read, and that he can't run away from life. Close observation reveals Garrett now has a mechanical eye. Garrett rejects Keeper 'help' in his life and says to tell the other Keepers that "I'm through. Tell them Garrett is done". He then walks away into the city streets. Artemus answers quietly "I will tell them this: Nothing is changed. All is as it was written. The Trickster is dead. Beware the dawn of the metal age.", foreshadowing the sequel, Thief II: The Metal Age.

Relationships:
Garrett's alliances with the Hammers and Pagans occur near the end of Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age, respectively, providing information and useful objects to aid him in his tasks. In Thief: Deadly Shadows, the Hammers and Pagans are at first hostile towards Garrett, but he can change his allegiance with either group by undertaking certain tasks for them. Also note that faction alliance is null when in a mission. Outside of missions, alliances are not mandatory, they just help with certain difficult situations.

Garrett, possessing a professional and independent streak, is wary of relying on others for anything. Because of this, he never shows romantic interest in any character, with the only exceptions being:
Sister of Basso, whom Garrett had a purely physical interest in, for which he did Basso the favor of breaking him out of Cragscleft.


Viktoria, a wood nymph who Garrett displayed an unusual amount of concern for, when allied to her during The Metal Age incident. At the start, there is little trust on Garrett's part and mutual resentment, given the events of The Dark Project. Yet over the course of sharing a mutual goal, it becomes clear that she is able to gain Garrett's respect. In turn, she grows warmer towards him. All this is demonstrated even to the point of Garrett being willing to defend her directly, immediately rushing to her aid upon hearing of her assault on Soulforge and being noticeably upset with the result. In the end, she even refers to him affectionately as 'My good thief'.

Abilities
Garrett has a scar around his right eye, the result of having the eye plucked from its socket by Viktoria during The Dark Project incident. The eye has since been replaced by an experimental mechanical prosthetic given to him by the Hammerites in the aftermath of the Dark Project.
Garrett has a wide array of Weapons to assist him in his thievery, some expendable weapons that must be purchased or found, such as Mines, and some always available weapons like the Blackjack, Sword and Bow. The bow its self can use an array of arrow types.
Enriching the overall gameplay are Abilities and tools that Garrett gathers along the way.

Visits to Prison

The first time Garrett went to a prison was Cragscleft, to break out Cutty to get his pay for Lord Bafford's Scepter. Cutty died, and Garrett took the opportunity to rescue Basso the Boxman's unconscious body from the prison, in an attempt to get closer to Basso's sister.

The second time, Garrett broke into Shoalsgate Station in order to frame Lieutenant Hagen.

The third time is completely voluntary, but does offer up loot and equipment. In Thief: Deadly Shadows, if at any time Garrett dies in City mode (between missions), he will be transported to Cell 7 in Pavelock Prison, regardless of who/what killed him and where.

Garrett's charges include Burglary, Possession of Stolen Goods, Thievery, Pick pocketing, Resisting Arrest, Assaulting a City Watch Officer, Assaulting another City Watch Officer, Endangerment, Causing bodily harm to an officer, verbal assault on an officer, etc. However, an unused prison roster shows him in cell 5, charged with Thievery, Possession of Stolen Goods, Pick-pocketing, Resisting Arrest, Endangerment, Causing bodily harm to an officer, verbal assault on an officer, etc. Garrett promptly escapes Pavelock Prison. Note that if Garrett dies again, he will not be sent to prison.