Who is the Strange Man in the Game Franchise of Red Dead Redemption?

 

Credit to  Red Dead Redemption 2: Who is the Strange Man (gamerant.com)

In the first Red Dead Redemption game, the Strange Man is introduced to a man named John Marston, one of the main characters in the videogame series. 

This stranger tells John that he knows a lot about his life, scaring John a little bit when they first meet. 

During the second encounter of their interaction, John snaps, (who wouldn’t at some point) and pulls out his gun to shoot directly at the Strange Man. 

John looks shocked when none of the bullets hit the man, and he just continues to walk away like nothing happened. 

These moments in the first game are a brilliant form of horror. 

This shocked me the first time I saw this online. I felt just like John in these scenes, shaken up and confused out of my mind. Can you imagine witnessing something like this back in the western days?

It doesn’t make any sense, and it’s terrifying. 

I have so many questions. 

The Strange Man doesn’t even have a name. 

John even asked who he was in the first game, and he completely brushed off John’s question. It was a simple answer, the man could have even made up a name. 

But he chose not to. 

Even other characters in the game have stated that they knew of him. There was a random man who claimed he saw him from afar, and described what he wore. The man even sounded like he was afraid of him. 

Another odd thing is the Strange Man’s dialogue. He sounds like a man who is determining the fate of the character’s that the player uses to navigate the world of Red Dead Redemption.

The interactions are so weird, and to top it off, he is always wearing the exact same outfit. He obviously uses the outfit to blend into society more easily, but it just comes off so creepy. 

The player is aware that he is a supernatural being. 

But we don’t know who is really is. 

My theory is that he is the Grim Reaper. Perhaps he is like a punisher of sorts, and lingers around people that are surrounded by death. 

Herbert Moon was a monster that abandoned his daughter, and he was perfectly alright living in a town where a lot of people had died from a horrible disease. John Marston was an outlaw that killed people.

What's insane...is that is only a theory. I don't think we will ever know who the Strange Man is. Perhaps it's better if we never truly know who is...

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn