Athlete proves the reality of the controversial backflip from the GTA 6 trailer

In last month's extended GTA 6 trailer, fans found a moment that has been dissected frame by frame and turned into a meme. The scene shows Jason doing a running backflip off a pier and into gorgeous blue ocean water. Plenty of people thought the move looked physically impossible.

On August 27, Rockstar shared nearly 30 minutes of gameplay footage, and over the next few days, players spent time digging into every frame looking for details. There was a lot packed into that trailer, but Jason's backflip became one of the moments people singled out as looking off.

Reactions kept describing the animation as "off" or "bad." Compared to the rest of the movement in the trailer, the flip does look stiffer and seems to slow down partway through the rotation. That sparked debate over whether a real person could actually pull off something like this.

Content creator Aspen Tree set out to answer that question. After several failed attempts, he managed to replicate the trick – a running start, a two-footed takeoff, and a backflip with that same odd pause mid-rotation.

Even a trained athlete needed multiple takes to nail the right trajectory, which says something. The animation doesn't break the laws of physics, it just demands a level of skill most people simply don't have.

The real question is whether the move fits naturally alongside the rest of the character animations.

GTA 6 launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series.