The line "you've forgotten far more important people than me" hits even harder after playing rdr2, when you know that John didn't even mention Arthur once in rdr1.
@@mukhrizfadzil1464 Rockstar always thought of creating Arthur, they just made John first. As to why he’s not mentioned it wouldn’t make sense because the player wouldn’t know him and there’s dialogue in beechers hope after you beat rdr2 where John tells Abigail and Jack that he doesn’t like talking about him
He could be Cain from The Bible. 1- Cain killed Abel, he is the first serial killer ever. That's why in RDR2, if you photograph his house, the picture will be entitled "Serial Killer". 2- Cain is doomed to walk on Earth for all eternity - making him invincible - and God says all will recognize him. John recognizes The Strange Man, despite never meeting him. 3- God says anyone who does harm to Cain, vengeance will be enacted on them 7 seven times over / sevenfold. John shot The Strange Man 3 times. When John Marston meets his demise at the end of RDR1, he is shot 21 times. 4- When John Marston says "Damn You!", he replies "Yes, many have." He is damned to walk the earth for eternity, so this response makes perfect sense.
well that's an angle I haven't heard before however it's a possibility the strange man is in reference to that but it wouldnt be Cain himself rather a descendant. Cain was crushed to death by his house however its said he lived hundreds of years so he would have many children likely to cover the globe instead of it being a single entity.
The part of the gun jamming on the fourth shot signifying Jack’s survival was mindblowing to me. The Red Dead series is unmatched in terms of storytelling.
Thats cuz the reaper, or devil, whichever you believe him to be, CANNOT touch the innocent nature of a child, jack had done nothing wrong at that point, yea sure he gets lippy with john but what teenager doesent do that with their parents? Even while giving blatant lip he obeyed both john and Abigail at the end of the day, which biblically speaking puts jack in the righteous path, OBVIOUSLY until we play as him and he chases vengeance lmfao, so when rdr3 comes out im homestly expecting jack to die or be dead when we play, and i swear to god if its a prequel to the second game im just done with games in general..... Cuz we already know the story of how the gang formed, dutch was trying to rob hosea, hosea was trying to rob dutch, they teamed up and found arthur and the rest fell into place, im EXTREMELY curious to see the rest of jacks story and his future, does he end up married? Does he try to walk away from the gunslinger life after killing edgar ross? These are the questions i would love to see answered, and even though i would hate it does jack die early and in a similar way to john leaving his family widowed just like john? Or does he follow arthurs path and join the mafia?
@@themanwithnoname1839A 3rd Game playing in the Future after RDR1 doesn’t make sense to me, in RDR2 the Wild West was already dying. And RDR‘s Formula is based on that. Besides, a prequel to a prequel which properly visualises the way the Gang was formed wouldn’t be too bad. I could rather imagine playing as a very Young Arthur (or Dutch in that matter) than playing in an Era where the Wild West is basically No more.
Also the bullet literally does not jam. John does not try shoot him 4 times. He shoots him 3 times and then stares at his gun wondering why it didn’t work 3 times in a row. Anyone who keeps parroting this wannabe edgy 14 year old tumblr bs is just too 🤤 to think
@@Spookeism 1) rdr2 is literally the 3rd game 🙄 you mean a 4th red dead game 2) rdr is the game when the old west is dying. The prequel beleaguers that point for no reason.
@@Brun-s7o RDR = Red Dead Redemption, not Revolver. He was saying “3rd Red Dead Redemption game.” since there obviously aren’t 3 Red Dead Revolver games. very silly of you.
@@Qourie It's not a joke though. It's a very chilling and foreboding line and delivered well. The entire atmosphere of Red Dead 1 is creepy and surreal at times
What's interesting to me is the way the Strange Man speaks. He speaks with a very "modern" cadence compared to every other character in the game. It makes sense considering that Death isn't exactly confined to one dialect or era.
He does sound very twenty first century and grounded whereas the rest of the characters sound more fictional. I think that's because he's supposed to sound like he's outside of the story and has authority over the player.
Weird that god, death or the devil would have an accent though lol. Why would he be murican?.. An English accent is the most logical for death/devil lol. They proved why. Hence why the US only speaks English, they only speak their conquers tongue
I think him being the Grim Reaper is the most logical choice. I think he's just a unique version of Death that studies people and will sometimes give them a chance to do better when the end nears. He *_is_* the game title rolled into one character & he offers us _Redemption_ before we die.
He's cain from the Bible in the Bible cain is dammed to walk the earth which is why he says many have dammed me also in the Bible when some one harms him vengeance is brought on them 7x Marston shoots him 3 times when he dies he is shot 21 times
The caged alligator is a symbolic image referring back to a secret event. When in the valentine tavern a band will play during this rare event. The band is called Ruptured Gourds. The lyrics to the chorus of the song they play are “despite all my rage, I am still just a Gator in a cage.”
I think he's death because sometimes death is visioned like a accountant and since the strange man doesn't know his name and says many have when John says damn you. Death was damned to the lake of fire in the Bible. So considering in armadillo being plagued in rdr2 it's only natural that it's death as Satan has no control over disease. The factor that John is close to death and he meets the strange man and then he vanishes is a clear sign he's death as he appears once as you get close death and he appears again but you will see him differently.
@@povyouretiredbutdontwannasleep My guess is that he’s death as he knew exactly how,where and when John was going to die. And also him getting shot 3 times and each time the bullets phasing through him and the final shot just coincidentally jamming makes me think he’s either a type of higher being or even death himself.
Something of note relating to Jimmy Brooks is the fact that his name is inscribed on a traveler's stone south of the abandoned oil rig in New Hanover, dated 1863. Jimmy Brooks was probably a dead man brought back to test Arthur's morality.
If that’s the case it makes sense, the Strange Man puts John’s morals to the test in rdr1 as well. He asks him to confront a man that will cheat on his wife and whether to encourage him with $15 or discourage him from doing that and later to give money to a nun or rob her of $300+
Maybe but there is no mention of that. You can only stumble upon a srrangers camp in New Austin, he invites you to sit at his fire and talks about the situation in Armadillo and how he saw a well dressed man in the distance Edit: wrote this comment before seeing this encounter is in the video
one of the gang members that was in the black water massacre did talk about seeing a imposter trelawney but they knew trelawney wasn't in Blackwater during the robbery
Y'know within the theories of the strange man being the devil, angel, or just the grim reaper in general. I think that Micah could've seen the strange man at some point for example maybe sometime whilst he was in jail in strawberry telling him something he's damned for hell or something.
I think what makes Jimmy Brooks so "Special" in terms of being the subject of the poem is that how you choose to deal with him is your first taste of the honor system in the game. It's your first real action that shows who Arthur is, so I think the poem calling back to that reflects the idea that the strange man has been following and watching from the very beginning.
I heard a theory that the honour system is the strange man judging the player/character the same way he judged John in RDR1. I mean how else would you explain losing or gaining honour when no one is around?
Reminds me of Book of Eli (Denzel Washington movie). Protagonist is attacked by a biker gangster who he had seen killing innocent travelers on the road and Eli, after breaking his teeth, holds him to the ground and says “I know you. Murderer of innocent travelers on the road. You are going to be held to account for the things you’ve done.. do you understand that?” It’s obvious he’s not talking about merely being beaten by Eli, he’s talking about God
My theory is that he is the vengeful ghost of a man killed in Blackwater for two reasons; 1. Arthur mentioned seeing someone during the massacre who looked like Trelawny (Trelawny and the strange man look similair). 2. He mentions Heidi McCourt, a girl who was murdered by by Dutch in Blackwater.
you could be right here, it’s also very possible that the entity of the strange man took on the form of this man so that John could maybe recognise him.
Not only his reflection from the mirror is haunting but the fact that there’s a dead alligator under the cabin with no claws signifying usage of voodoo
Seeing the dude in the mirror but not when turning around just reminds me about how mirrors on some places just really creep me out. Dunno why, they just do and kinda always have been. So seeing that dude in the mirror then have the scene where he just stares at the mirror while talking made me uncomfy
I like the quest name too “I Know You” It’s not only the Strange Man saying he knows Marston. But he knows You, the Player. He knows the honor or dishonor you’ve done through the game.
I also feel like when it says "I know you" for the quest it literally points you to the middle of nowhere but you go there and he knows you will go there.
I have a feeling that The Strange Man is the wayfarer of the dead, much like Charon in Greek mythology. He's in charge of transporting the dead to either Heaven or Hell, depending on their life lived. With John, death has already pre-ordained that where and when he's going to die, but the Strange Man is conflicted because he sees the propensity for good in him, but also sees the evil deeds he's played a role in, and so, The Strange Man is indecisive. He offers these choices to John to help him in his decision making process; he essentially admits he's an accountant and a bureaucrat, almost like a middle management role of the afterlife. He's not Death, but he's a associate of Death.
I agree with you here, and as someone who is a fan of the tv show Supernatural this is what I immediately saw The Strange Man as, not Death himself but someone acquainted with/works for Death.
That’s kind of the vibe I got as well. Could be that he was someone who was judged before death as well, and maybe this duty is his punishment in the afterlife for his sins.
I agree with this theory, although given the detail about the dead alligator, makes me feel more of Anubis weighing the soul through deeds, with the alligator representing the crocodile deity Ammit who eats the souls of those who fail Anubis's weighing
I agree, I've always thought he was Death. The Grim Reaper. Simply because he says that he follows John to all these places. Wherever John goes, he leaves behind bodies, and then Death has to come and do his job, and this is why he knows John so well, because he has to follow John's trail of bodies.
I always found it peculiar that Jimmy brooks gives you a pen of all things for saving him. I always felt it was no coincidence and it was significant. Not just a random reward. Otherwise he could’ve just given you money, gold, jewelry, a watch, you name it. But a pen of all things. Which is one of a kind, you cannot get any other pens or anything like a pen. Idk what it means but I always felt it significant and for some reason I never sold that pen I always liked it. My head canon is Arthur used that pen from then on to write in his journal
The question continues to remain: where does John recognize the Strange Man from? He refers to that when meeting him in RDR and when seeing his portrait in Herbert Moon's store.
It's a mixture of that and the fact that The Strange Man is a representative of John's inner consciousness (especially after his first kill in about 1884, which he claims wasn't a deliberate murder), doubts and sense of self. A lot of Ferrymen challenge as well as highlight the actions and transgressions of the souls they carry over into the afterlife. This is done to set them up in preparation for further judgement.
Could be he remembers him from Blackwater, as people report seeing a man who looked like Trelawny. Could be John remembers him from the portrait (or the mirror) in the cabin in Bayou, which canonically is 4 years before John actually meets him in person. But most likely the answer is unknown, and R* simply want it to remain a mystery. Yes he recognizes him from somewhere, but not knowing where from is the whole point of the mystery of the Strange Man.
Theory 6: He's Gavin. We have finally found him. (Edit: Cause some people in the replies take this a bit too serious, this comment was originally made as a joke.)
15:20 Jimmy brooks is mentioned here especially in the poem because if you look at the top left corner when you save Jimmy it actually says that you’ve gained honour, and it explains the honour system. Jimmy Brooks was an introduction to the honour system- since the strange man is all about morals the honour system is also about morals. So this correlates very well
Aren’t you introduced by the honor system when you choose to kill or spare the o’driscol at Sadie’s place or when you choose to kill or spare the 3 train passengers after the first train robbery?
@@nathalievanhecke6436 the notification doesn’t come up on either of these encounters. Watch the bar at the top when you choose to save Jimmy Brooks it says ‘you’ve gained honour’ and describes the honour levels
You should do a re-visited video on Micah. The things I can think off of top of my head that you forgot are Strawberry detour as well as O'Driscoll set up. You mentioned that when Micah and Lenny are sent as a scouting party for Horseshoe Overlook, they somehow ended up all the way in Strawberry. However, when asked about it, Lenny mentioned that Micah seemed to know alot of people in Strawberry. Now, it's worth noting that areas surrounding Strawberry is crawling with O'Driscolls - Micah knows their hideout is on Hanging Dog Ranch, as well as knowiing the details of their planned stage coach robbery. Additionally, Micah's plan for the robbery is highly questionable he wants to deliver the stage coach to Dutch as a gift. Whilst it has benefits og being an armoured vehicle, it's also highly suspicious - imagine riding this thing into horseshoe overlook, it's going to raise eyebrows. In your video, you mentioned that in Chapter 3 Micah wasn't present, only showing up to Rhodes to discuss deal with Grays that turned out to be a ruse. Only thing is, Micah had another presence in that chapter - meeting with Colm O'Driscoll. It was Pearson that met the O'Driscolls who suggested the meeting, yes, but it was Micah that was pushing for that meeting. As we know, it turns out to be a setup, with O'Driscolls kidnapping Arthur. They knew precisely where Arthur would be, and Micah was the one to suggest that sniping spot to Arthur. This heavily indicates that Micah was closely associated not only with Pinkertons, but with O'Driscolls as well.
Exactly, Micah was trying to sabotage the gang from the very beginning. Who knows what he did just before the ferry job in Blackwater... shure, the gang was getting sloppy, but I bet he was involved in the set up.
If I'm not mistaken, when the men left the camp to rescue little Jack Marston, Dutch ordered Micah and Kieran to stay and kill anyone they didn't know. But when they returned to the camp, after burning the Braithwaite Manor, Micah was nowhere to be found.
One of the strangest encounters I ever had in RD2 was in RDO. I remember coming back to camp near Lake Don Julio south of Armadillo. It was night and Cripps said, 'Hey there's a strange man here, says he knows you?' I walked up to the campfire and a scraggly old man with a long white beard was resting near the fire. He asked, "Hey...could you gimme something? My belly's aching, I..." I had the option to give him some food so I did. Then he got up, thanked me, and wandered of into the night saying, "A kindness..." I can't be the only one who's seen this guy, right? It's been on my mind for the longest time. I have screenshots of the guy too, but no video clip sadly.
manky man, i call him. if you ignore him, he'll steadily get more aggressive and demanding. if you kill him, he doesn't stay dead and references it the next time he pops up.
@@Bigman-fh1fz he's not blind from what i noticed. he's just really skinny and dirty with unkempt gray hair and a long beard, half naked and barefoot. if you haven't encountered him yet, don't worry, you will :)
OKAY HEAR ME OUT. If you listen closely to what the Strange Man said to John, "I admire you John, I hope my boy turns out just like you" I feel like the Strange Man is reffering to Jack when he said "my boy" since he spared Jack so it could be a nod to Jack being spared and the Strange Man wants Jack to become just like John (High honor)
To me this theory is just right, but my guess is that as we saw John goin out to do the devils dirty work. It has kinda the same resemblance when it comes to jack be spared because of the fourth bullet, that means that the devil wanted jack to do his dirty work and kill edger Ross for his unfaithful doings. Same as edger killing John.
It is so utterly creepy and ominous that Rockstar put that subtle mirror moment in RD2. Their thinking on it is fascinating. They just ever so slightly threw him in there, clearly hoping you notice him and freak out so that you’re utterly confused when he’s no longer in the mirror. I imagine that a good portion of people who played the game and actually ran into this never even noticed him in the mirror. And if you don’t notice him in the mirror, and you simply move your camera off to the side, you’ve officially had an encounter with Death that you don’t even know you had….WOW.
I've wondered whether the Strange Man is some kind of watcher. He doesn't seem to know things before they happen but talks about afterwards in a riddle. It also explains why he just observes, occasionally pointing someone towards a better path but ultimately leaving it to them to decide. He may sometimes test people's morality, mainly due to them being difficult to figure out. Which is why he visited Moon and Marston.
In Egyptian mythology Anubis (who, in addition to having the head of a jackel was tall, lean, and dark), judged the souls of the dead for good or evil. Those who were evil had their hearts fed to Ammit, who had the head of a crocodile. The strange man, who was tall, lean, and wore a dark suit, judged the souls of the protagonists, and kept an alligator in a cage.
@@FriskyDingo36 Anubis also oversaw funerary rituals. But the biggest thing about Egyptian mythology, and mythologies in general, is the stories are inconsistent.
I think Jimmy Brooks is, in-game, a real person. The reason he's significant is because he ISN'T significant. Killing or sparing him is completely meaningless to Arthur's story, yet that's a human being with a family who, unless he's killed, sees him with some regularity. The fact that there's no reward or punishment regardless of your actions makes it a good litmus test for Arthur's morality.
I tried saving him but I went too fast with the horse and I plummeted down the cliff he was at, when I respawned bro was gone and I was some honour shorter
He remembered Jimmy Brooks words in the end though regardless if he wasn't a major part in the game he was the set up point for the honor system. Plus he gives you a pen so how could you forget him.
Definitely Death itself, or the Grim Reaper in another form: - An accountant (of souls). - Damned by the relatives of people who died.* - He, himself, cannot be killed. - Not inherently bad or good, just an event that will inevitably occur to every living being. - The tests he asks people to do are in order for him to be sure where, or to whom, will he deliver the person's soul. *EDIT: Relatives or ANY people close to ANY dear living being that eventually might die.
Plus the fact that one of his writings in his shack is "His Final Toll Will Sound My Greatest Coming" John's final toll is his death, in 1911. Just a few years later, WW1 begins in 1914. It's kind of obvious to me.
The tests could also just be out of boredom I can imagine a personified force of nature like even Death itself tends to get bored during an eternity of the same thing over and over
It honestly feels to me like the Strange Man was created whilst listening to ‘The Man Comes Around’ by Johnny Cash. The lyrics fit the theme of the character perfectly.
The strange man being death fits really well with the same theme of Blood Meridian. It's an interesting idea that John throughout his life, took others and with that death itself naturally would seek him out and show him to the very spot he will be laid to rest. Incredible writing
Ever since playing RD1 I always felt like the the strange man was either god or the grim reaper (or both) but since playing RD2 I think that it's most likely that the strange man...Is Gavin
It makes sense, because Gavin’s friend is constantly looking for him, maybe Gavin was a test of his friends morality and his friend chose the bad option, maybe he found out and is now trying to find him to make things right
and it's even greater that it's held together by duct tape and sheer force of will. It's a well known thing that the spaguetti code for that game would make any italian grandma jealous
I’m playing it for the first time on Switch, and if I didn’t know for sure it was a 2010 game I would just think it was a newish Switch game, still looks great.
I feel like he IS the measure between dishonor and honor. 'Accountant' I think was a jest to himself as he catalogs or keeps count of people's honor. Like a weighing of the soul before their death. Sort of like Anubis as he weighs hearts. I really love this character and it was a great choice to have him in the games.
The Mystery Man reminds me of a story my grandma used to tell me about local deities. “See, God has a lot on his plate, so he assigns an angel or two to watch over small pieces of earth and the people on it. You have nice ones that help and bless everything, the rough ones that enforce or toy with their piece, and the absentees that let life go on by itself.”
The fact his cabin is down the southern part of the map could be a reference to "the devil went down to georgia" might be looking into it to hard, but still
One thing I like about the Strange Man's design is that while he's dressed like an upperclass gentleman, his coat isn't fully buttoned. It makes his white shirt and vest look like an hourglass that's running out. I personally think that the man is an embodiment of death and complex morality. Maybe it's a case of the embodiment of death coming too close to mortality and has taken to trying to understand humans.
What I always find so interesting about the strange man is that all three times you meet him he has bugs buzzing around him. You see most of them in the initial encounter. Bugs are drawn in by pungent smells, including stuff like manure or rotting corpses. So having bugs flying around the strange man no matter where he goes makes it feel like he's a rotting corpse just standing there. I wonder what the strange man smells like? (Out of context that sounds like a weird thing to ask lol)
@@unoriginalhazard If it's cicadas, they're supposedly a symbol of resurrection, rebirth and/or transformation. On top of that, they're used to provide tension and uncertainty when you hear them during quiet moments (at least when you hear them during an anime). But no matter what kind of bugs they are, I think they're a really cool addition to the scene 😁
It is an ominous "demonic" trope in some horror movies I think. There is another idea floating around reddit that he was inspired by the character "Cain" from the bible, who is the first murderer and was punished by being forced to walk the Earth for an eternity. The screenshot on Rockstars social club saying "serial killer" makes sense if he's been around for thousands of years - he's probably killed a lot of people. This doesn't explain how he knows everything about Arthur and John's future though, so I think there is likely more to it than just that. A lot of the themes in RDR2 seem to have some similarity with Tolkien's stories. The destruction of the gang follows a similar plot as the destruction of Numinor in the second age of Middle Earth, where Micah plays a very similar role in manipulating Dutch to how Sauron convinced the King of Numinor (a character that is quite similar to Dutch) to assemble an army to sail west - leading to the destruction of that Kingdom. My point is, the writers are very likely Lord of the Rings/Tolkien nerds, so there may be some Tolkien story or character that may also be an inspiration for the strange man, but I'm not aware of anything specific from any Tolkien book that would have specific similarities. In the end, with a lot of characters like this I think it's also possible the writers intentially leave it a mystery, in shich case it is more interesring to try and think about where their inspiration for the mysterious man came from with other books or movies we've read/watched. The writers seem to be massive film and literature nerds, so source of inspiration is probably an exhaustive list.
this could be a stretch and mind u I did not think this out fully as I'm typing- just off the dome, but what if the strange man is like mental thing for john, he doesn't actually exist hence the not being killed while shot 3 times, I feel like it could've been a part of John consciousness or like a mental baggage weighing on him, highly doubt I'm right just a quick thought
I agree with you in the fact that The Strange Man is a sort of God / Devil / Grim Reaper hybrid who has a unique fascination with John, Arthur, and the rest of the Van Der Linde gang. He takes forms of people like Sister Calderon, Jimmy Brooks, and the hundreds of other people you find in stranger missions and honor based interactions that you can encounter throughout both games. These people always present you with a choice on whether to help them or not, and offer you little tests along the way like whether you accept money from the kidnapped girls mother after saving her in RDR2 or offering health cure to a hunter who you saved from his bear trap. The honor bar is how The Strange Man judges your decisions and depending how kind you are to his different forms is how he will determine your fate. If you continue to pass his tests and prove you are a good soul then he will allow you to die with honor, more so in RDR2 than RD1, but if not, then Micah figuratively and literally ends up stabbing you in the back and you die completely in vain. I belive he gives the same sort of tests to the rest of the gang as well, for example as the old woman in Guarma who demands pay for her information who Dutch then strangles, or Micah who killed Jacks dog Cain for begging or being a mole in the gang. Both Dutch and Micah died pretty horrible deaths and its clear how their honor bars would have looked up until their ends so its not such a loose theory that they could have been interests of The Strange Man as well and could have had encounters with him at some point. I’m just a superfan of the franchise and look way to deep into everything because its fun to try and piece together theories so take all of this with a grain of salt and know that I don’t have all the evidence to prove this or that I am even trying to. I’m just fascinated with The Strange Man and other unsolved mysteries in these games and like to pretend I know Rockstars deeper meanings lmao. If you read this then I’m very impressed.
@@MrHowardMoon I mean Micah is shown abusing the dog on many occasions throughout the game, and then tells Jack that he “ran away”, in Chapter 6. No one else at camp said the same thing or knows what happened to him, and Micah makes a little joke in an extremely telling tone about it to Arthur if you ask him about it. Its *heavily* implied that he killed Cain.
@@fxrdo Yeah, I thought it was just implied. I've seen so many discussions about it in TH-cam comments and wasn't sure if you'd found something in game that confirmed it.
Also worth noting that in the beginning of Undead Nightmare, Jack reads a book to John about how people started worshipping the Moon instead of the Sun. This ties into the Strange Man protecting the hateful Herbert Moon. That pretty much settles it.
The strange man is god and Herbert moon is satan in the flesh. Doomed to destruction and death yet protected until the lord’s return and and satan’s demise thereafter.
I personally like the theory that he's the biblical Cain, because the dog in RDR2 that wanders into the camp that Jack adopts is named Cain by Dutch, so that might be the connection to the Strange Man calling Jack "my boy" when speaking to John
Yea there is dialogue i just heard between jack and dutch when the dog wanders in camp, dutch mentions how a man named cain wanders after doing something bad
Ross and the feds aren’t appropriate authorities. They gave John a pardon and offered him redemption. They are stabbing him in the back and judging him which they shouldn’t be allowed to. The only authorities able to truly judge John are not of red dead’s earthly world. Hence why I think the mysterious stranger is referencing higher powers with his comment.
The Strange Man, Dutch, John Marston, Jim Milton all characterise the deeply complex and multi-faceted angles of philosophy especially in classical Western literature. The Strange Man is the representation of the nature. He doesn't judge, he observes, and prods individuals to consider who they are and what they make of their actions and to what purpose. One can say he's also supposed to represent the notion of 'God' which I'd agree with, but at the same time God is supposed to bring forth judgement. Whereas, nature, let's the world enact it's judgement upon eachother. 'The mind is itself its own place. It maketh a heaven out of hell and a hell of heaven.' - John Milton I personally reserve the theory that the writers of the RDR series heavily based the games story from Milton's Paradise Lost. I don't think the name Jim Milton was at all a coincedence either. But this is a rabbithole that is both more akin to a large blog post and no doubt some zoomer dickhead will comment something like 'touch grass lel' if I went into it. Alls I'm saying is, this game has a very intricate and advanced storyline based off of the classics that made up our concept of western culture and philosophy today. RDR1 is the epitome of this, but RDR 2 further expands on it with the expanding on Dutch's character as he is the embodiment of John Milton's 'Satan'. Also, the Strange Man is just a figment of John's imagination. It's either actually hallucinitory and John might actually be a little bit loopy, OR it's just the games metaphorical storytelling just doing its thing. I like to think that the Strange Man is John's moral eternalised confusion, survivors guilt and anxieties culminating in a genuine hallucination of those conflicting fears and emotions manifesting irl. It's why Arthur never meets nor gets to see the Strange Man (except perhaps in the form of Jimmy Brooks) - but John does. Both in RDR 2 and of course in RDR 1. This interest in the deeper rooted philosophy and ethical components of RDR renewed my passion for a game that I've spent well over 1000 hours in and, in all fairness, gotten quite bored of. But reading and studying and correlating similarities back into the game really struck awe with me again. Will be interesting to see what this video expands on.
I personally don't agree with the "He's John's hallucination" theory. The store owner in Armadillo has a picture of him. I like that he's Cain from the Tale of Cain and Abel, where he's forced to walk the Earth for eternity, but any harm would be multiplied Sevenfold. Like when John shot at him 3 times, and John was shot 21 times at the end
It’s an interesting point but it sort of falls down (with regards to the hallucination) with the cabin in RDR2 where both Arthur and John see the same thing as well as his interactions with others in the world.
13:45 Throughout my entire play through I never sold this pen. Whenever I would open my journal or write something in it I would pretend it was with this pen
I've always loved when there is a character like this in a game that you just can't explain. Reminds me of how I feel about the G-Man from the Half Life universe
"John Marston in the flesh, or rather in the COWBOY suit. I took the liberty of relieveing you of your weapons. Most of them were stolen property. As for the hat, i think you've earned it...."
I really like the theory that he is the Angel of death. He seems to show up in some way to people that are destined to die soon. We have two accounts of him making an appearence to people who are about to die (arthur sees him through the mirror and in paintings in that weird shack in the swamps.) That, along with the fact that john shot him three times to no avail, (I highly doubt he missed), makes him really seem as though he is immortal.
When you rescue him, we all know he gives Arthur a $10 pen. That pen seems important some how. Out of all the times I played the campaign, I’ve always kept the pen
couldn’t bring myself to sell it. seems like a test. maybe it affects the house. pretty interesting that it is prolly what arthur and john use in their journals
The first game made it seem like the ferry raid was the one that made John leave the gang. The strange man even says "the one you got shot on" and John only ever said "he got shot, the gang left me, I left them" so it makes you think that. And he does get shot, but it was in reality the train robbery was the final heist he also got shot in. These games have good stories and lore. It lives up to the hype of immersion. I just wish online was as immersive as the game itself.
When I entered the epilogue and was free to roam around with my weapons the first thing I noticed was the eerie feeling. there was so much death and strange things along my way. It was a strange feeling
I had this crazy moment where I met the blind man that asked for a dollar for a fortune. My friend saw this since I was streaming my gameplay. I turned away and pointed my gun at the blind man and a carriage carrying a man and a woman loaded with arrows all over their body while only one horse was carrying the entire carriage had been shot with arrows too stopped right in front of the blind man. Coincidentally it was the same blind man in this video that said there are two people chasing John. I immediately shut the game off because I was so scared no cap. My friend and I thought the blind man was a God. Turns out he knew one...
@@myautobots7147 that happened to me too today. I first didn’t notice the arrows. I gave the blind man 1 dollar and then noticed the 2 marks on the map. And then I saw the arrows. It was a introduction to the new rival gang (the Indian gang)
New Theory: the strange man WAS a real man, who in life was an outlaw, and ended up making a deal with the devil to run away from his sins. (he wished he had better guidance in life) for this reason, he is forced to become an accountant of death, and is given the power to take many forms and play with reality a bit (jimmy brooks, sister Calderon etc.) because of his past as an outlaw, he takes sympathy on the Van Der Linde gang (and presumably other outlaws, and others who are going down his same path of hate) and gives them a choice, a fork in the road. He tests John with scenarios he had set up, he gives Arthur encounters to strengthen his resolve or doom him to eternal suffering. So he is the grim reaper, working for and against the devil.
this would also make sense with one of the first encounters where he says something on the lines of "i wish i had more guidance" he wishes he had the guidance he is giving to others
He eirly reminds me of Gaunter 'O' Dimm, am omniscient presence with class and style but you know damn well he could destroy the world piece by piece if he wanted to. Love it, great analysis btw.
I'd lean toward Theory 1 - The Grim Reaper. He dresses like an Undertaker of the time, can be found around Death, and can even strike a deal w/a person (Herbert Moon) but not w/o a price. He's morally neutral, and an accountant. We all have to pay him eventually- with our lives. He stands at the graves of John, Abigail, and Uncle. While he could be God, or the Angel of Death, I doubt it. In the Bible, angels are described as wearing white. Also, they would pronounce God's judgement/wrath on a place if it was to be destroyed, usually for its sins (Sodom and Gomorrah). The angels would protect God's chosen ones (which Herbert Moon, due to his hate, wouldn't be) while destroying the wicked. If the townspeople repented, they would be spared (such as the City of Nineveh was in the story of Jonah). Also, God would probably strike Moon w/leprosy, instead of leaving him as the only healthy man in a plague filled city. I doubt Strange Man is the Devil. If he were, he'd delight in the chaos he sees, and try to encourage John to make the wrong moral choices. He'd constantly be trying to trick or tempt John and with what he desires. However, Strange Man is fairly honest, if vague w/ John, and seems to question/challenge John's perception of morality more than to change it. It's possible Strange Man is a composite character w/the traits of all three. I propose a fifth Theory- Strange Man is a stand in for The Player. We are always watching John. We know him, but he doesn't know/remember us. Because we play the game and control John, we kill people with him, making us virtual serial killers.
I think he is Nyarlathotep. He exactly like Gaunter O Dimm fron the Witcher witch both him and the strange man share big similarities with Nyarlathotep from the Lovecraft mythos. Still tho God or the Grim Reaper are big possibilities too
Considering the strange man’s outfit, the way he presents himself, and the fact that he’s always present where’s there’s death. He truly deserves the nickname, The Undertaker
This is the stuff why I love rockstar games, especially the red dead series. These games are so much more than open-world sandboxes they have such fleshed-out worlds and it's amazing
I always assumed The Stranger was death or some other deity of sorts. I personally lean more towards death though because of his penchant for wearing all black, and how he describes himself as an accountant. “Many men have cursed me.” Death is something none of us can escape, just about all of us fear, but no matter what we do, we’ll be another number eventually. If not Death, maybe the Devil.
I always felt Trelawny's characterization has a nod to the strange man: enigmatic, magician (SM has "magical" abilities,) and of course his appearence.
The Strange Man reminds me of Gaunter O’Dimm. Random dude with a seemingly innocuous professional who may or may not be evil but certainly seems that way.
I feel like the strange man is very curious about people, like he might put people through morality tests because he himself doesn't quite understand people and their morals. You can be such a vicious killer yet such a kind hearted soul to someone.
Jimmy Brooks says he recognized Arthur from Blackwater with a bunch of other outlaws, but wasn't Arthur across town with Hosea during the robbery? Also, amazing video!
@@nvxprince19 yeah Arthur mentions in his journal that he would hang about Blackwater looking for work so he definitely could’ve seen him there, though Jimmy Brooks probably wouldn’t have remembered/been scared of Arthur if he hadn’t seen him do something bad
I love that you brought up the The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain here. It's a phenomenal novel by the way and I'd recommend it to anyone, although it is incredibly bleak. It should be pointed out too that the novel was written between 1897 and 1908 which isn't far off the Red Dead timeline.
The Strange Man reminds me of the Inquisitor from Red Dwarf. A being that lived until the end of time and realized that the only meaning of life is to live it to its full potential. So he travels through time judging each and every person who ever lived, giving people who didn’t get to live a chance to take the place of people it feels are unworthy. The Inquisitor can shape shift and takes the form of the person it’s judging, essentially letting the person judge themselves.
I always found it interesting that John says "I won't be responsible for my actions," and the response from the strange man being "Oh but you will." It's the only meeting with the strange man in which you, the player--and by extension John Marston--have no agency on the outcome. The other two have following events with decisions to be made, but this one finishes in the same cinematic. In a manner of speaking, John was not responsible for his actions.
He is likely a Reaper. Since he also refers to himself as an accountant of a sort. The three shots john takes at him, jams on the fourth. Many believe it refers to the three graves of John, Abigail, and Uncle. With the jamming being fourth being Jack who is spared. The dead alligator in RDR2 at his house may refer to Ammit, the Egyptian god who punishes the soul or perhaps Sebek another Egyptian god of death and burial. When John says "damn you" and he replies "many have....", he is referring to death itself.
More reaper evidence; "I know you from" this-and- that several places. Either John was DUE to die and escaped, or he came for the ones John killed-- maybe even both. Maybe the reaper gives John those missions as some sort of repayment for a soul he came to collect and could not.
I always like to think John recognizes him because he was at the many shootouts John has been in since his youth but as a spectator not a participant, doing "his accounts"
@@cb-9938 didn't Arthur write something about seeing someone who looked like trelwany at the Blackwater massacre in his journal or something like that. That could be another clue if so
@@NappaDZ Arthur wasn't at the black water fairy job, your thinking of when he says they heard about a man like trelawney in his journal during chapter 2
I see as it's John last chance of life to show humanity with people before he goes to Heaven or hell. It's the decision you make in life. That's my theory
It’s the line “I hope my boy turns up just like you” is probably the most important clue. He’s either God talking from outside of time about Jesus or Satan talking about the Antichrist in a future he hasn’t experienced yet.
Thesis: The Strange Man is a classic, literary representation of Satan, with some misdirection thrown in. Evidence: -The Strange Man is coded into the game as “Mysterious Stranger”. This is, of course, a reference to Oscar Wilde’s story of the same name, referring to Satan. -The Strange Man offers a FAUSTIAN BARGAIN (Google if not familiar) to Herbert Moon. This is also a hallmark of Satan in literature. -The Mysterious Stranger appears in fine clothing, and tests John’s morality. Why does he do this? Satan is always trying to prove to God that men are immoral. (Story of Job, etc., etc.) Yet another hallmark of literary Satan. -“Damn you!” “Many Have”. Satan is damned by God and all his angels, never to return to heaven. Literary Satan is also *constantly* damned once his bargains are revealed to be tricks. Counter: Some have proffered that he is god, as in “God damn it”. But this phrase doesn’t mean “damn god”. It means “god, please damn this person/place/thing”. Lastly, I want to put the Cain stuff to rest. -Cain is not a “serial killer”. He only killed his brother. -Cain is not damned at all, but cursed to slither the Earth AS A SNAKE. These are VERY different. -Vengeance is not brought 7-fold upon those who HURT Cain, but whosoever KILLS Cain.
I find the satan idea hard to believe. I mean Satan’s whole thing is about leading people astray so they disappoint God. The Strange Man offers many chances for someone to not do that without offering any reward for either choice, something satan would not do. The rest of your theory is pretty interesting though.
@@ye3505 That’s exactly what Satan does. Story of Job, tempting Jesus In the Bible, etc. See, Satan has an ongoing bet with God that humans are more like him. That given a chance, men will do the wrong thing. They are tests of morality. Look up any story with Satan in it. You’ll see those trademarks: Faustian bargains, fascination with and tests of man’s morality, well-dressed, cryptic speech, etc. EDIT: I should possibly add even further, that in both Strange Man (Mysterious Stranger) missions, you are given the choice of doing the morally wrong thing. If that isn’t a test of John’s morality, I have no earthly idea what would be.
I used to feel uneasy when I saw the mission on my map "I know you" I thought it was a horror or creepy easter egg you'd find in most games. Although doing these missions make you feel uneasy, I actually felt comfortable with the Strange man for some reason, he's an interesting character
He says he is an accountant and he shows up in areas where violence and death occur So I think he is just the Grim Reaper/Death. And John recognizes him from the numerous gun fights John has been in. Counting the dead, all the men John killed without any issue. Explains why he is curious of John's twisted Morals. Too. He doesn't understand how someone so Brutal and Vicious could also be a loving Father and Husband.
I believe the strange man is actually you, the player. There are lots of holes with how he has a house with all those messages and the whole armadillo thing does not make much sense for it to be the player. However, the idea of morality in both of these games stems directly from the person playing. You get to decide the morals, similarly to how you get to decide what to do in rdr1 with the man and the nun, and the same goes with Arthur and John in rdr2 at all stages of the game.
The quote on the armadillo map is about the player also: "I gave you two generations you did your choice" - We had two games in different videogame generations to play Red Dead Redemption, we did had our choices in both games, and Armadillo is the start of John story in RDR and the end in the RDR2
The Strange Man is one of my favourite mysteries in a video game. My favourite part of the mystery is John firing 3 shots at him, with them 4th jamming - him, Uncle and Abigail dying, whilst Jack surviving.
Another cool thing about Johns attempt at killing him is that in the bible, any harm enacted on Caine is said to be met sevenfold, and if you count how many times John was shot during the ending, its sevenfold
I always thought that “I learnt so much yet nothing at all” were the words of a painter who made some deal with the stranger to become better at painting.
I wouldn’t outright call him God or the Devil but a higher power being. He doesn’t necessarily Judge like God but just observes. He puts things out there to see what we do instead of judging. The whole Honor system seems like part of his observations. Kinda like what Humans do with mice and mazes, put them in scenarios to see how they deal with it.
I feel like the Stange man being an analogy for the grim reaper makes sense, the way that many have tried to kill death, and how many different cultures have different names for the grim reaper would make sense for the way that the "Many have tried" line, and how he doesn't remember his own name. Also being an accountant of sorts, could be like a bookkeeper, but instead of money its lives
From playing gta for years and I mean years since 2013 release I’ve never touched this game until this last week. I absolutely love it. How big the map is, there so much detail and story it seems like. Kind of sad their isn’t a ps5 upgrade.
I think the most logical explanation of The Strange Man is a certain type of a Grim Reaper who does not take lives away on his own, but rather watches people and offers the choice between redeeming and keeping their sins. He is an accountant of sorts - he just watches and notes what people do with their lives and if they need to make a choice, he offers them one
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Apologies for not making my own premiere gamers, busy day today! Hope you all enjoyed nonetheless & I appreciate all of your support!
honestly im sure we all prefer a normal upload much love
Nope, he is the Devil, according to old-fashioned Southern, meeting at the crossroads archetype. Case closed.
Great video! It feels like old you.
@Pap DM The devil it is
Devil isn't an accountant. Grim reaper is tho.
I figured it was the Canon ending killing him ghost in the future
The line "you've forgotten far more important people than me" hits even harder after playing rdr2, when you know that John didn't even mention Arthur once in rdr1.
Thats bcs arthur wasn't created yet buddy 😂😂
@@mukhrizfadzil1464 no shit Sherlock it’s a reason for why Arthur wouldn’t be mentioned
@@mukhrizfadzil1464 Rockstar always thought of creating Arthur, they just made John first. As to why he’s not mentioned it wouldn’t make sense because the player wouldn’t know him and there’s dialogue in beechers hope after you beat rdr2 where John tells Abigail and Jack that he doesn’t like talking about him
@@flauntytee6596 .. they juss said that..
@@lilplay9016 no bro. Rockstar never thought of creating arthur during rdr1. Only when making rdr2 did they create arthur
the 3 bullets being fired and the 4th shot jamming is some of the most subtle and brilliant physical storytelling i have ever seen
C’mon, man…
@@timchuck9969wat
@@timchuck9969bro what?
@@R3TR0734 Baby's first foreshadowing
I've never played rdr1 so, care to spoil?
He could be Cain from The Bible.
1- Cain killed Abel, he is the first serial killer ever. That's why in RDR2, if you photograph his house, the picture will be entitled "Serial Killer".
2- Cain is doomed to walk on Earth for all eternity - making him invincible - and God says all will recognize him. John recognizes The Strange Man, despite never meeting him.
3- God says anyone who does harm to Cain, vengeance will be enacted on them 7 seven times over / sevenfold. John shot The Strange Man 3 times. When John Marston meets his demise at the end of RDR1, he is shot 21 times.
4- When John Marston says "Damn You!", he replies "Yes, many have." He is damned to walk the earth for eternity, so this response makes perfect sense.
This seems like very good evidence
well that's an angle I haven't heard before however it's a possibility the strange man is in reference to that but it wouldnt be Cain himself rather a descendant. Cain was crushed to death by his house however its said he lived hundreds of years so he would have many children likely to cover the globe instead of it being a single entity.
Incorrect cain died in the flood if he even lived that long hope you ain’t Christian if u are read the bible
Yeah I saw this on reddit last year
John does not recognize the strange man 😂 he literally asks "who are you" 20 times
The part of the gun jamming on the fourth shot signifying Jack’s survival was mindblowing to me. The Red Dead series is unmatched in terms of storytelling.
Thats cuz the reaper, or devil, whichever you believe him to be, CANNOT touch the innocent nature of a child, jack had done nothing wrong at that point, yea sure he gets lippy with john but what teenager doesent do that with their parents? Even while giving blatant lip he obeyed both john and Abigail at the end of the day, which biblically speaking puts jack in the righteous path, OBVIOUSLY until we play as him and he chases vengeance lmfao, so when rdr3 comes out im homestly expecting jack to die or be dead when we play, and i swear to god if its a prequel to the second game im just done with games in general..... Cuz we already know the story of how the gang formed, dutch was trying to rob hosea, hosea was trying to rob dutch, they teamed up and found arthur and the rest fell into place, im EXTREMELY curious to see the rest of jacks story and his future, does he end up married? Does he try to walk away from the gunslinger life after killing edgar ross? These are the questions i would love to see answered, and even though i would hate it does jack die early and in a similar way to john leaving his family widowed just like john? Or does he follow arthurs path and join the mafia?
@@themanwithnoname1839A 3rd Game playing in the Future after RDR1 doesn’t make sense to me, in RDR2 the Wild West was already dying. And RDR‘s Formula is based on that. Besides, a prequel to a prequel which properly visualises the way the Gang was formed wouldn’t be too bad. I could rather imagine playing as a very Young Arthur (or Dutch in that matter) than playing in an Era where the Wild West is basically No more.
Also the bullet literally does not jam. John does not try shoot him 4 times. He shoots him 3 times and then stares at his gun wondering why it didn’t work 3 times in a row.
Anyone who keeps parroting this wannabe edgy 14 year old tumblr bs is just too 🤤 to think
@@Spookeism
1) rdr2 is literally the 3rd game 🙄 you mean a 4th red dead game
2) rdr is the game when the old west is dying. The prequel beleaguers that point for no reason.
@@Brun-s7o RDR = Red Dead Redemption, not Revolver. He was saying “3rd Red Dead Redemption game.” since there obviously aren’t 3 Red Dead Revolver games.
very silly of you.
“DAMN YOU!” - “Yes, many have…” is a line that still gives me chills to this day.
Wow you scar easy… it’s just a game you know… sad how people let the littlest things get them 🙄😑.
@@Qourie Oh shit he fuckin did
@@Qourie LOL
@@Qourie It's not a joke though. It's a very chilling and foreboding line and delivered well. The entire atmosphere of Red Dead 1 is creepy and surreal at times
@@Qourie And I think his statement was also a joke. It seems very sarcastic, especially with the use of the emoji.
What's interesting to me is the way the Strange Man speaks. He speaks with a very "modern" cadence compared to every other character in the game. It makes sense considering that Death isn't exactly confined to one dialect or era.
Well there's also the time traveller.
He does sound very twenty first century and grounded whereas the rest of the characters sound more fictional. I think that's because he's supposed to sound like he's outside of the story and has authority over the player.
Weird that god, death or the devil would have an accent though lol. Why would he be murican?..
An English accent is the most logical for death/devil lol. They proved why. Hence why the US only speaks English, they only speak their conquers tongue
Death doesn't judge people
On my playthru arthur was buried with that pen.
I think him being the Grim Reaper is the most logical choice. I think he's just a unique version of Death that studies people and will sometimes give them a chance to do better when the end nears. He *_is_* the game title rolled into one character & he offers us _Redemption_ before we die.
That’s the deepest shi I read all day I I ain’t even smoke yet
bUt hEs nOt rEd?
The spirit of redemption
He's cain from the Bible in the Bible cain is dammed to walk the earth which is why he says many have dammed me also in the Bible when some one harms him vengeance is brought on them 7x Marston shoots him 3 times when he dies he is shot 21 times
The strange man might be the embodiment of johns guilt
The caged alligator is a symbolic image referring back to a secret event. When in the valentine tavern a band will play during this rare event. The band is called Ruptured Gourds. The lyrics to the chorus of the song they play are “despite all my rage, I am still just a Gator in a cage.”
Also A Smashing Pumpkins Reference
@@___and_memes_for_all bullet with butterfly wings
Wait for real?
“I’ll let the appropriate authorities judge my..morality friend”
“Yes, you will.”
“And they shall.”
such an insane way to foreshadow the ending.
Well, you could hope that you simply get arrested and not mag-dumped.
I think he's death because sometimes death is visioned like a accountant and since the strange man doesn't know his name and says many have when John says damn you. Death was damned to the lake of fire in the Bible. So considering in armadillo being plagued in rdr2 it's only natural that it's death as Satan has no control over disease. The factor that John is close to death and he meets the strange man and then he vanishes is a clear sign he's death as he appears once as you get close death and he appears again but you will see him differently.
Time traveller
@@owendaboss3858 for someone who is a time traveler, he sure ate those shot up
@@povyouretiredbutdontwannasleep
My guess is that he’s death as he knew exactly how,where and when John was going to die. And also him getting shot 3 times and each time the bullets phasing through him and the final shot just coincidentally jamming makes me think he’s either a type of higher being or even death himself.
Something of note relating to Jimmy Brooks is the fact that his name is inscribed on a traveler's stone south of the abandoned oil rig in New Hanover, dated 1863. Jimmy Brooks was probably a dead man brought back to test Arthur's morality.
If that’s the case it makes sense, the Strange Man puts John’s morals to the test in rdr1 as well. He asks him to confront a man that will cheat on his wife and whether to encourage him with $15 or discourage him from doing that and later to give money to a nun or rob her of $300+
Maybe "J Brooks" from the Register Rock was Jimmy Brooks' father? Could've been John Brooks or Josiah Brooks for all we know.
@@maxpayne4107 I agree, it’s also interesting that he would bring a dead man back to life just to test another man’s morals
Whether thats true or its just a coincidence, thats a very keen observation regardless. Good job.
Nice catch!
I always wondered if any of the other gang members seen the strange man? I could picture reverend Swanson having tales
Maybe but there is no mention of that. You can only stumble upon a srrangers camp in New Austin, he invites you to sit at his fire and talks about the situation in Armadillo and how he saw a well dressed man in the distance
Edit: wrote this comment before seeing this encounter is in the video
one of the gang members that was in the black water massacre did talk about seeing a imposter trelawney but they knew trelawney wasn't in Blackwater during the robbery
I mean he did see the ghost woman in chapter 4
Y'know within the theories of the strange man being the devil, angel, or just the grim reaper in general. I think that Micah could've seen the strange man at some point for example maybe sometime whilst he was in jail in strawberry telling him something he's damned for hell or something.
arthur did, in his diary you can read that he saw a man in blackwater who reminded him of trelawny and they do look similiar after all
I think what makes Jimmy Brooks so "Special" in terms of being the subject of the poem is that how you choose to deal with him is your first taste of the honor system in the game. It's your first real action that shows who Arthur is, so I think the poem calling back to that reflects the idea that the strange man has been following and watching from the very beginning.
I heard a theory that the honour system is the strange man judging the player/character the same way he judged John in RDR1. I mean how else would you explain losing or gaining honour when no one is around?
That's actually a really good point
Having a conscience?
@@masonharvath-gerrans832 suppose that does make more sense
There’s a very simple explanation, it’s a game mechanic
As a muslim, I think he may be the archangel Azrael, whose job is to ferry souls to heaven or hell upon death. Your theory supports this.
The voice acting of the strange man is brilliant.
it has that sinister cadence of Kevin Spacey to it. Makes me think of the likes of Se7en.
LMAOO 😂😂😂
@@JoeMercersWaythat guy actually kind of looks like Kevin spacey. Lol
i could only hope to have as smooth and mysterious a voice as the strange man
@@JoeMercersWayIt's definitely a boss voice. Kevin Spacey does a good boss but he also sounds evil and effeminate.
Strange man: "Oh but you will, you will be responsible."
That's such a ominous line
Reminds me of Book of Eli (Denzel Washington movie). Protagonist is attacked by a biker gangster who he had seen killing innocent travelers on the road and Eli, after breaking his teeth, holds him to the ground and says “I know you. Murderer of innocent travelers on the road. You are going to be held to account for the things you’ve done.. do you understand that?” It’s obvious he’s not talking about merely being beaten by Eli, he’s talking about God
"DAMN YOU!"
"Many have"
@@CHURCHISAWESUMAre you delusional? God can take the life of whoever he wants 😂
@@sam-ht6qv bro what are you talking about
My theory is that he is the vengeful ghost of a man killed in Blackwater for two reasons;
1. Arthur mentioned seeing someone during the massacre who looked like Trelawny (Trelawny and the strange man look similair).
2. He mentions Heidi McCourt, a girl who was murdered by by Dutch in Blackwater.
That’s actually not a bad theory
Oh that's similar to my theory too
you could be right here, it’s also very possible that the entity of the strange man took on the form of this man so that John could maybe recognise him.
@@t.d.i8954 very true!
I think he’s Heidi McCourt’s husband
Not only his reflection from the mirror is haunting but the fact that there’s a dead alligator under the cabin with no claws signifying usage of voodoo
I thought I was tripping, glad someone else saw him in the mirror
@@summerbaby21 saw it first time and didnt believe it until the guy mentions it
@@summerbaby21 whats the time stamp?
@@ademchokri8478 what time stamp?
Seeing the dude in the mirror but not when turning around just reminds me about how mirrors on some places just really creep me out. Dunno why, they just do and kinda always have been. So seeing that dude in the mirror then have the scene where he just stares at the mirror while talking made me uncomfy
I like the quest name too
“I Know You”
It’s not only the Strange Man saying he knows Marston. But he knows You, the Player. He knows the honor or dishonor you’ve done through the game.
That’s so creepy
We’ll, I’m going to have to take a sleeping pill tonight.
That's probably what the devs intended 😮
I also feel like when it says "I know you" for the quest it literally points you to the middle of nowhere but you go there and he knows you will go there.
Time traveller??
I have a feeling that The Strange Man is the wayfarer of the dead, much like Charon in Greek mythology. He's in charge of transporting the dead to either Heaven or Hell, depending on their life lived. With John, death has already pre-ordained that where and when he's going to die, but the Strange Man is conflicted because he sees the propensity for good in him, but also sees the evil deeds he's played a role in, and so, The Strange Man is indecisive. He offers these choices to John to help him in his decision making process; he essentially admits he's an accountant and a bureaucrat, almost like a middle management role of the afterlife. He's not Death, but he's a associate of Death.
I agree with you here, and as someone who is a fan of the tv show Supernatural this is what I immediately saw The Strange Man as, not Death himself but someone acquainted with/works for Death.
That’s kind of the vibe I got as well. Could be that he was someone who was judged before death as well, and maybe this duty is his punishment in the afterlife for his sins.
I agree with this theory, although given the detail about the dead alligator, makes me feel more of Anubis weighing the soul through deeds, with the alligator representing the crocodile deity Ammit who eats the souls of those who fail Anubis's weighing
Again, The Strange Man is all of the above. He is a God, he is a Devil/Demon and he is also a Reaper of sorts.
3:24 and so John's fate was seeled by one touch on the shoulder. Excellent subtle storytelling.
I agree, I've always thought he was Death. The Grim Reaper. Simply because he says that he follows John to all these places. Wherever John goes, he leaves behind bodies, and then Death has to come and do his job, and this is why he knows John so well, because he has to follow John's trail of bodies.
It is certainly plausible.
Dat sound bout right
My theory is he actually isn’t death but he’s a bounty hunter
@@Takaichi666- he's not very good at his job if he were
@@Takaichi666- he took 3 bullets to the back and it did no damage he can’t be a normal bounty Hunter
I always found it peculiar that Jimmy brooks gives you a pen of all things for saving him. I always felt it was no coincidence and it was significant. Not just a random reward. Otherwise he could’ve just given you money, gold, jewelry, a watch, you name it. But a pen of all things. Which is one of a kind, you cannot get any other pens or anything like a pen. Idk what it means but I always felt it significant and for some reason I never sold that pen I always liked it. My head canon is Arthur used that pen from then on to write in his journal
I kept mine too.
@@UNDEADCHARGE 😂😂😂 I like boxing too
@Dirt Cobain who doesn't, it's good for fun and taking out anger and saves me fixing holes in my wall
You can find a fountain pen in that little house where the family died due to smoke inhalation.
It is still a little interesting. You choose not to kill him and he gives you a pen. And you know what they say, the pen is mightier than the sword.
“Yes you will…and they shall”….always gave me chills.
I think the part that gives me chills is how nonchalant he says it
I also love how he just says "Anyway" right after that.
The question continues to remain: where does John recognize the Strange Man from? He refers to that when meeting him in RDR and when seeing his portrait in Herbert Moon's store.
Probably saw him with Arthur in rdr2
It implies that he’s seen before Arthur’s death at least
It's a mixture of that and the fact that The Strange Man is a representative of John's inner consciousness (especially after his first kill in about 1884, which he claims wasn't a deliberate murder), doubts and sense of self. A lot of Ferrymen challenge as well as highlight the actions and transgressions of the souls they carry over into the afterlife. This is done to set them up in preparation for further judgement.
Could be he remembers him from Blackwater, as people report seeing a man who looked like Trelawny. Could be John remembers him from the portrait (or the mirror) in the cabin in Bayou, which canonically is 4 years before John actually meets him in person. But most likely the answer is unknown, and R* simply want it to remain a mystery. Yes he recognizes him from somewhere, but not knowing where from is the whole point of the mystery of the Strange Man.
maybe hes talking about trelawny
Theory 6: He's Gavin. We have finally found him.
(Edit: Cause some people in the replies take this a bit too serious, this comment was originally made as a joke.)
Unfunny now and was unfunny when this guy was shilling this theory multiple years ago.
@@trollking6315 you don't know humor
@@trollking6315 says the guy who’s name is ‘troll king’ with the 11 year old profile picture…
@@Imsimplytrell lamest burn of all time
Took us long enough to find him
15:20 Jimmy brooks is mentioned here especially in the poem because if you look at the top left corner when you save Jimmy it actually says that you’ve gained honour, and it explains the honour system. Jimmy Brooks was an introduction to the honour system- since the strange man is all about morals the honour system is also about morals. So this correlates very well
Aren’t you introduced by the honor system when you choose to kill or spare the o’driscol at Sadie’s place or when you choose to kill or spare the 3 train passengers after the first train robbery?
@@nathalievanhecke6436 the notification doesn’t come up on either of these encounters. Watch the bar at the top when you choose to save Jimmy Brooks it says ‘you’ve gained honour’ and describes the honour levels
@@Slowpokeinabathtub nope. you're wrong
Pretty sure you’re introduced to honor when you choose whether or not to help Lenny in the train robbery.
He’s the number one chicken head in RDR2
You should do a re-visited video on Micah. The things I can think off of top of my head that you forgot are Strawberry detour as well as O'Driscoll set up.
You mentioned that when Micah and Lenny are sent as a scouting party for Horseshoe Overlook, they somehow ended up all the way in Strawberry. However, when asked about it, Lenny mentioned that Micah seemed to know alot of people in Strawberry. Now, it's worth noting that areas surrounding Strawberry is crawling with O'Driscolls - Micah knows their hideout is on Hanging Dog Ranch, as well as knowiing the details of their planned stage coach robbery. Additionally, Micah's plan for the robbery is highly questionable he wants to deliver the stage coach to Dutch as a gift. Whilst it has benefits og being an armoured vehicle, it's also highly suspicious - imagine riding this thing into horseshoe overlook, it's going to raise eyebrows.
In your video, you mentioned that in Chapter 3 Micah wasn't present, only showing up to Rhodes to discuss deal with Grays that turned out to be a ruse. Only thing is, Micah had another presence in that chapter - meeting with Colm O'Driscoll. It was Pearson that met the O'Driscolls who suggested the meeting, yes, but it was Micah that was pushing for that meeting. As we know, it turns out to be a setup, with O'Driscolls kidnapping Arthur. They knew precisely where Arthur would be, and Micah was the one to suggest that sniping spot to Arthur. This heavily indicates that Micah was closely associated not only with Pinkertons, but with O'Driscolls as well.
He really was a rat, in all aspects. Damn.
Facts
Exactly, Micah was trying to sabotage the gang from the very beginning. Who knows what he did just before the ferry job in Blackwater... shure, the gang was getting sloppy, but I bet he was involved in the set up.
If I'm not mistaken, when the men left the camp to rescue little Jack Marston, Dutch ordered Micah and Kieran to stay and kill anyone they didn't know. But when they returned to the camp, after burning the Braithwaite Manor, Micah was nowhere to be found.
@@Herandro_just_Herandro You're right, Micah was nowhere to be found around almost every major event prior to chapter 5/6.
I love how threatening he is by just talking calmly. And that he just tell him things that the guy shouldn't know.
One of the strangest encounters I ever had in RD2 was in RDO. I remember coming back to camp near Lake Don Julio south of Armadillo. It was night and Cripps said, 'Hey there's a strange man here, says he knows you?' I walked up to the campfire and a scraggly old man with a long white beard was resting near the fire. He asked, "Hey...could you gimme something? My belly's aching, I..." I had the option to give him some food so I did. Then he got up, thanked me, and wandered of into the night saying, "A kindness..." I can't be the only one who's seen this guy, right? It's been on my mind for the longest time. I have screenshots of the guy too, but no video clip sadly.
The strange man has visited my camp twice.
I’ve had him visit twice, and what an important place for him to appear, Lake Don Julio
manky man, i call him. if you ignore him, he'll steadily get more aggressive and demanding. if you kill him, he doesn't stay dead and references it the next time he pops up.
@@eggstermin8 he’s a blind guy right?
@@Bigman-fh1fz he's not blind from what i noticed. he's just really skinny and dirty with unkempt gray hair and a long beard, half naked and barefoot. if you haven't encountered him yet, don't worry, you will :)
OKAY HEAR ME OUT. If you listen closely to what the Strange Man said to John, "I admire you John, I hope my boy turns out just like you" I feel like the Strange Man is reffering to Jack when he said "my boy" since he spared Jack so it could be a nod to Jack being spared and the Strange Man wants Jack to become just like John (High honor)
Not likely
@@micahbell9412 shut up, Micah.
My bunga bunga boy
@@micahbell9412 You Rat
To me this theory is just right, but my guess is that as we saw John goin out to do the devils dirty work. It has kinda the same resemblance when it comes to jack be spared because of the fourth bullet, that means that the devil wanted jack to do his dirty work and kill edger Ross for his unfaithful doings. Same as edger killing John.
It is so utterly creepy and ominous that Rockstar put that subtle mirror moment in RD2. Their thinking on it is fascinating. They just ever so slightly threw him in there, clearly hoping you notice him and freak out so that you’re utterly confused when he’s no longer in the mirror. I imagine that a good portion of people who played the game and actually ran into this never even noticed him in the mirror. And if you don’t notice him in the mirror, and you simply move your camera off to the side, you’ve officially had an encounter with Death that you don’t even know you had….WOW.
Rdr2 or RD3 pick one
Rdr is rd2
@@Brun-s7oUh, no. That's not the case.
Nah rdr is rdr rdr2 is rdr2 and red dead revolver comes first
@@Brun-s7o rdr1 remastered
Rdr rdr 2 first rdr 3 is rdr Is 4 and rdr is red dead revolver rdr rdr 2 and rdrun and rdrh is rdr 5 rdr 6 rdr.
I've wondered whether the Strange Man is some kind of watcher. He doesn't seem to know things before they happen but talks about afterwards in a riddle. It also explains why he just observes, occasionally pointing someone towards a better path but ultimately leaving it to them to decide. He may sometimes test people's morality, mainly due to them being difficult to figure out. Which is why he visited Moon and Marston.
In Egyptian mythology Anubis (who, in addition to having the head of a jackel was tall, lean, and dark), judged the souls of the dead for good or evil. Those who were evil had their hearts fed to Ammit, who had the head of a crocodile. The strange man, who was tall, lean, and wore a dark suit, judged the souls of the protagonists, and kept an alligator in a cage.
No, that's Osiris.
@@vermilion7777 it’s actually both. Osiris, as the god of the underworld, oversaw the weighing ceremony, Anubis preformed it.
@@FriskyDingo36 Anubis also oversaw funerary rituals. But the biggest thing about Egyptian mythology, and mythologies in general, is the stories are inconsistent.
@@generaljesus9825 Couldn't you say, due to inconsistencies, the strange man could actually be Anubis, given time has twisted his tale?
@@captainduck3421 I suppose, but thus far we have seen little relation to jackals, or Ancient Egypt.
I think Jimmy Brooks is, in-game, a real person. The reason he's significant is because he ISN'T significant. Killing or sparing him is completely meaningless to Arthur's story, yet that's a human being with a family who, unless he's killed, sees him with some regularity. The fact that there's no reward or punishment regardless of your actions makes it a good litmus test for Arthur's morality.
I mean...you do get a nice pen
I never give away the pen he gives me, idk why, even if my honor is low it feels like bad luck
I tried saving him but I went too fast with the horse and I plummeted down the cliff he was at, when I respawned bro was gone and I was some honour shorter
He remembered Jimmy Brooks words in the end though regardless if he wasn't a major part in the game he was the set up point for the honor system. Plus he gives you a pen so how could you forget him.
@@minedark597😭
Weird analogy he gives Arthur a steel pen. And Arthur likes to write and draw. Adds onto the strange man testing Arthur.
Wasn't this pen meant to be given to Mary Beth?
@nostalgiaof9827 it's another pen
@@nostalgiaof98you’re not allowed to, which is frustrating cause that’s the only time I’m willing to give it away
Gaunter O'Dimm came to mind when you described the mirror presence. Master Mirror. Faustian at times.
This is so real
John hinged so closely to good and bad that the devil himself had to budge him in either direction. What a beautiful story.
Definitely Death itself, or the Grim Reaper in another form:
- An accountant (of souls).
- Damned by the relatives of people who died.*
- He, himself, cannot be killed.
- Not inherently bad or good, just an event that will inevitably occur to every living being.
- The tests he asks people to do are in order for him to be sure where, or to whom, will he deliver the person's soul.
*EDIT: Relatives or ANY people close to ANY dear living being that eventually might die.
And he would like their children to be like John's, who kills without hesitation but still respect the vows of marriage.
Plus the fact that one of his writings in his shack is "His Final Toll Will Sound My Greatest Coming"
John's final toll is his death, in 1911. Just a few years later, WW1 begins in 1914. It's kind of obvious to me.
@@andreasballe7470 Nice catch!
@@andreasballe7470 ww1 wouldn’t be his greatest coming tho more people died in ww2
The tests could also just be out of boredom
I can imagine a personified force of nature like even Death itself tends to get bored during an eternity of the same thing over and over
It honestly feels to me like the Strange Man was created whilst listening to ‘The Man Comes Around’ by Johnny Cash. The lyrics fit the theme of the character perfectly.
You nailed it!!!
That song is actually in the Spotify RDR2 playlist "Ride & Play." You can find it randomly in the Featured on Playstation section of the music tab.
@@kristoffersonsilverfox3923 damnnnn
Shh I have a crush on him
But that man that Johnny cash is signing about is Jesus and his return to earth. I don’t think R* made the strange man Jesus.
The strange man being death fits really well with the same theme of Blood Meridian. It's an interesting idea that John throughout his life, took others and with that death itself naturally would seek him out and show him to the very spot he will be laid to rest. Incredible writing
Ever since playing RD1 I always felt like the the strange man was either god or the grim reaper (or both) but since playing RD2 I think that it's most likely that the strange man...Is Gavin
NO FUCKING WAY
That would be the biggest plot twist, ever.
Maybe
It makes sense, because Gavin’s friend is constantly looking for him, maybe Gavin was a test of his friends morality and his friend chose the bad option, maybe he found out and is now trying to find him to make things right
I know you were joking lol I just wanted to add that other comment
I agree, makes sense. It can physically and spiritually be impossible that the strange man could be anyone other than the legendary... Gavin.
It's always crazy to me how well RDR1 held up to the test of time. Even by today's standards it looks good
and it's even greater that it's held together by duct tape and sheer force of will. It's a well known thing that the spaguetti code for that game would make any italian grandma jealous
Art design. That's why graphical remakes almost always are a downgrade.
And gunplay is still very satisfying
@@MrWepx-hy6sn lmao i didn’t know rdr1 was spaghetti coded. is there a video or article about it? kinda interested now
I’m playing it for the first time on Switch, and if I didn’t know for sure it was a 2010 game I would just think it was a newish Switch game, still looks great.
I feel like he IS the measure between dishonor and honor. 'Accountant' I think was a jest to himself as he catalogs or keeps count of people's honor. Like a weighing of the soul before their death. Sort of like Anubis as he weighs hearts. I really love this character and it was a great choice to have him in the games.
Cool theory tbf
So he's the Grim Reaper/Angel of Death... O_O
The Mystery Man reminds me of a story my grandma used to tell me about local deities. “See, God has a lot on his plate, so he assigns an angel or two to watch over small pieces of earth and the people on it. You have nice ones that help and bless everything, the rough ones that enforce or toy with their piece, and the absentees that let life go on by itself.”
Damn that goes hard…
Huh, that’s… not quite biblically accurate.
The hints of paranormal mystery weaved with the gritty western tales of RDR1 and 2 kept me thinking about them long after I finished them.
The fact his cabin is down the southern part of the map could be a reference to "the devil went down to georgia" might be looking into it to hard, but still
Regardless of who he is, the fact that Dan Houser and this team at Rockstar made this all possible is amazing.
One thing I like about the Strange Man's design is that while he's dressed like an upperclass gentleman, his coat isn't fully buttoned. It makes his white shirt and vest look like an hourglass that's running out. I personally think that the man is an embodiment of death and complex morality. Maybe it's a case of the embodiment of death coming too close to mortality and has taken to trying to understand humans.
Im always Amazed how well RDR graphics and story are. Way ahead of its time 2010 was a great year.
What I always find so interesting about the strange man is that all three times you meet him he has bugs buzzing around him. You see most of them in the initial encounter. Bugs are drawn in by pungent smells, including stuff like manure or rotting corpses. So having bugs flying around the strange man no matter where he goes makes it feel like he's a rotting corpse just standing there. I wonder what the strange man smells like? (Out of context that sounds like a weird thing to ask lol)
He probably smells like Death warmed over, very unpleasant.
That buzzing sound you hear is cicadas, not flies. So there’s that to think about.
@@unoriginalhazard If it's cicadas, they're supposedly a symbol of resurrection, rebirth and/or transformation. On top of that, they're used to provide tension and uncertainty when you hear them during quiet moments (at least when you hear them during an anime). But no matter what kind of bugs they are, I think they're a really cool addition to the scene 😁
It is an ominous "demonic" trope in some horror movies I think. There is another idea floating around reddit that he was inspired by the character "Cain" from the bible, who is the first murderer and was punished by being forced to walk the Earth for an eternity. The screenshot on Rockstars social club saying "serial killer" makes sense if he's been around for thousands of years - he's probably killed a lot of people. This doesn't explain how he knows everything about Arthur and John's future though, so I think there is likely more to it than just that. A lot of the themes in RDR2 seem to have some similarity with Tolkien's stories. The destruction of the gang follows a similar plot as the destruction of Numinor in the second age of Middle Earth, where Micah plays a very similar role in manipulating Dutch to how Sauron convinced the King of Numinor (a character that is quite similar to Dutch) to assemble an army to sail west - leading to the destruction of that Kingdom. My point is, the writers are very likely Lord of the Rings/Tolkien nerds, so there may be some Tolkien story or character that may also be an inspiration for the strange man, but I'm not aware of anything specific from any Tolkien book that would have specific similarities.
In the end, with a lot of characters like this I think it's also possible the writers intentially leave it a mystery, in shich case it is more interesring to try and think about where their inspiration for the mysterious man came from with other books or movies we've read/watched. The writers seem to be massive film and literature nerds, so source of inspiration is probably an exhaustive list.
this could be a stretch and mind u I did not think this out fully as I'm typing- just off the dome, but what if the strange man is like mental thing for john, he doesn't actually exist hence the not being killed while shot 3 times, I feel like it could've been a part of John consciousness or like a mental baggage weighing on him, highly doubt I'm right just a quick thought
I agree with you in the fact that The Strange Man is a sort of God / Devil / Grim Reaper hybrid who has a unique fascination with John, Arthur, and the rest of the Van Der Linde gang. He takes forms of people like Sister Calderon, Jimmy Brooks, and the hundreds of other people you find in stranger missions and honor based interactions that you can encounter throughout both games. These people always present you with a choice on whether to help them or not, and offer you little tests along the way like whether you accept money from the kidnapped girls mother after saving her in RDR2 or offering health cure to a hunter who you saved from his bear trap. The honor bar is how The Strange Man judges your decisions and depending how kind you are to his different forms is how he will determine your fate. If you continue to pass his tests and prove you are a good soul then he will allow you to die with honor, more so in RDR2 than RD1, but if not, then Micah figuratively and literally ends up stabbing you in the back and you die completely in vain. I belive he gives the same sort of tests to the rest of the gang as well, for example as the old woman in Guarma who demands pay for her information who Dutch then strangles, or Micah who killed Jacks dog Cain for begging or being a mole in the gang. Both Dutch and Micah died pretty horrible deaths and its clear how their honor bars would have looked up until their ends so its not such a loose theory that they could have been interests of The Strange Man as well and could have had encounters with him at some point.
I’m just a superfan of the franchise and look way to deep into everything because its fun to try and piece together theories so take all of this with a grain of salt and know that I don’t have all the evidence to prove this or that I am even trying to. I’m just fascinated with The Strange Man and other unsolved mysteries in these games and like to pretend I know Rockstars deeper meanings lmao. If you read this then I’m very impressed.
Is it confirmed that Micah killed Jack's dog?
@@MrHowardMoon I mean Micah is shown abusing the dog on many occasions throughout the game, and then tells Jack that he “ran away”, in Chapter 6. No one else at camp said the same thing or knows what happened to him, and Micah makes a little joke in an extremely telling tone about it to Arthur if you ask him about it. Its *heavily* implied that he killed Cain.
@@fxrdo Yeah, I thought it was just implied. I've seen so many discussions about it in TH-cam comments and wasn't sure if you'd found something in game that confirmed it.
You just blew my mind lol 😂
Damn that was fukin good
Also worth noting that in the beginning of Undead Nightmare, Jack reads a book to John about how people started worshipping the Moon instead of the Sun. This ties into the Strange Man protecting the hateful Herbert Moon. That pretty much settles it.
The strange man is god and Herbert moon is satan in the flesh. Doomed to destruction and death yet protected until the lord’s return and and satan’s demise thereafter.
I personally like the theory that he's the biblical Cain, because the dog in RDR2 that wanders into the camp that Jack adopts is named Cain by Dutch, so that might be the connection to the Strange Man calling Jack "my boy" when speaking to John
this was mind blowing thank you for sharing
Yea there is dialogue i just heard between jack and dutch when the dog wanders in camp, dutch mentions how a man named cain wanders after doing something bad
Omg I forgot about the dog and the name Jack gave it!!
@@boredgurl111489 micah didn’t forget about the dog…
@@randomracoon8467 no you didn't....
"ill let the appropriate authorities judge my morality" "yes you shall" hinting at how he knows john will get shot down by those authorities
I think it might’ve meant like god judging him rather then other people
@@Bigman-fh1fz true, it makes sense though in the context of the law doing it
Ross and the feds aren’t appropriate authorities. They gave John a pardon and offered him redemption. They are stabbing him in the back and judging him which they shouldn’t be allowed to. The only authorities able to truly judge John are not of red dead’s earthly world. Hence why I think the mysterious stranger is referencing higher powers with his comment.
@@aaronmuir2990 No it doesn't. He clearly meant god judging him for the way he has lived his life.
The Strange Man, Dutch, John Marston, Jim Milton all characterise the deeply complex and multi-faceted angles of philosophy especially in classical Western literature. The Strange Man is the representation of the nature. He doesn't judge, he observes, and prods individuals to consider who they are and what they make of their actions and to what purpose. One can say he's also supposed to represent the notion of 'God' which I'd agree with, but at the same time God is supposed to bring forth judgement. Whereas, nature, let's the world enact it's judgement upon eachother.
'The mind is itself its own place. It maketh a heaven out of hell and a hell of heaven.' - John Milton
I personally reserve the theory that the writers of the RDR series heavily based the games story from Milton's Paradise Lost. I don't think the name Jim Milton was at all a coincedence either. But this is a rabbithole that is both more akin to a large blog post and no doubt some zoomer dickhead will comment something like 'touch grass lel' if I went into it. Alls I'm saying is, this game has a very intricate and advanced storyline based off of the classics that made up our concept of western culture and philosophy today. RDR1 is the epitome of this, but RDR 2 further expands on it with the expanding on Dutch's character as he is the embodiment of John Milton's 'Satan'.
Also, the Strange Man is just a figment of John's imagination. It's either actually hallucinitory and John might actually be a little bit loopy, OR it's just the games metaphorical storytelling just doing its thing. I like to think that the Strange Man is John's moral eternalised confusion, survivors guilt and anxieties culminating in a genuine hallucination of those conflicting fears and emotions manifesting irl. It's why Arthur never meets nor gets to see the Strange Man (except perhaps in the form of Jimmy Brooks) - but John does. Both in RDR 2 and of course in RDR 1. This interest in the deeper rooted philosophy and ethical components of RDR renewed my passion for a game that I've spent well over 1000 hours in and, in all fairness, gotten quite bored of. But reading and studying and correlating similarities back into the game really struck awe with me again. Will be interesting to see what this video expands on.
My mind has been fucked
@@cohenday1377 thats approriat respons
I personally don't agree with the "He's John's hallucination" theory. The store owner in Armadillo has a picture of him. I like that he's Cain from the Tale of Cain and Abel, where he's forced to walk the Earth for eternity, but any harm would be multiplied Sevenfold. Like when John shot at him 3 times, and John was shot 21 times at the end
@@gmodpies7382 was he really shot 21 times? I never really counted it.
It’s an interesting point but it sort of falls down (with regards to the hallucination) with the cabin in RDR2 where both Arthur and John see the same thing as well as his interactions with others in the world.
13:45
Throughout my entire play through I never sold this pen. Whenever I would open my journal or write something in it I would pretend it was with this pen
To be fair, you should sell it because that's it's only use in the game. It would have been cool if it fit into a side quest somehow later in the game
You can hear patrons in the saloon talking about Herbert moon and pondering why he is unaffected by the sickness.
I've always loved when there is a character like this in a game that you just can't explain. Reminds me of how I feel about the G-Man from the Half Life universe
100%, really adds to the almost magical surrealism aesthetic that both games really capture at times
@@gezza1739The Gman, Strange Man, Outsider, and Gaunter O Dimn
"John Marston in the flesh, or rather in the COWBOY suit. I took the liberty of relieveing you of your weapons. Most of them were stolen property. As for the hat, i think you've earned it...."
G-Man is like, Garry Man, obviously. Garry's mod was planned from the start.
I really like the theory that he is the Angel of death. He seems to show up in some way to people that are destined to die soon. We have two accounts of him making an appearence to people who are about to die (arthur sees him through the mirror and in paintings in that weird shack in the swamps.) That, along with the fact that john shot him three times to no avail, (I highly doubt he missed), makes him really seem as though he is immortal.
The painting in the shack only completes as John.
@@Fizhy Oh I had no idea. Can you see the mysterious man in the mirror as Arthur or is that only John as well?
@@QtheLaserDude you only see the man in the mirror as John
@@Fizhy He did send Jimmy Brooks though, so there still was some sort of indirect interaction.
The way I played John Marston he for sure missed
When you rescue him, we all know he gives Arthur a $10 pen. That pen seems important some how. Out of all the times I played the campaign, I’ve always kept the pen
couldn’t bring myself to sell it. seems like a test. maybe it affects the house. pretty interesting that it is prolly what arthur and john use in their journals
@og._dyn no you didn’t ? Lol I’m sorry to hear that
The first game made it seem like the ferry raid was the one that made John leave the gang. The strange man even says "the one you got shot on" and John only ever said "he got shot, the gang left me, I left them" so it makes you think that. And he does get shot, but it was in reality the train robbery was the final heist he also got shot in. These games have good stories and lore. It lives up to the hype of immersion. I just wish online was as immersive as the game itself.
When I entered the epilogue and was free to roam around with my weapons the first thing I noticed was the eerie feeling. there was so much death and strange things along my way. It was a strange feeling
I had this crazy moment where I met the blind man that asked for a dollar for a fortune. My friend saw this since I was streaming my gameplay. I turned away and pointed my gun at the blind man and a carriage carrying a man and a woman loaded with arrows all over their body while only one horse was carrying the entire carriage had been shot with arrows too stopped right in front of the blind man. Coincidentally it was the same blind man in this video that said there are two people chasing John. I immediately shut the game off because I was so scared no cap. My friend and I thought the blind man was a God. Turns out he knew one...
@@myautobots7147 yo that seems really interesting I would like to know more abt ur experience with that if ur willing
@@myautobots7147 that happened to me too today. I first didn’t notice the arrows. I gave the blind man 1 dollar and then noticed the 2 marks on the map. And then I saw the arrows. It was a introduction to the new rival gang (the Indian gang)
@@tonylovesducks2501 its just a random event that happens wen u ride outside blackwater the 1st time, happend all my play throughs no blind man
I keep killing the blind man but he always comes back. I shot him in the leg and he instadied. I found that STRANGE
New Theory: the strange man WAS a real man, who in life was an outlaw, and ended up making a deal with the devil to run away from his sins. (he wished he had better guidance in life) for this reason, he is forced to become an accountant of death, and is given the power to take many forms and play with reality a bit (jimmy brooks, sister Calderon etc.) because of his past as an outlaw, he takes sympathy on the Van Der Linde gang (and presumably other outlaws, and others who are going down his same path of hate) and gives them a choice, a fork in the road. He tests John with scenarios he had set up, he gives Arthur encounters to strengthen his resolve or doom him to eternal suffering. So he is the grim reaper, working for and against the devil.
So it is trelawny
His memories of himself were erased so that he isn't biased in his judgement. That's why he can't remember his name.
This was explained beautifully
@@dmitryklevchuk6436 lol
this would also make sense with one of the first encounters where he says something on the lines of "i wish i had more guidance" he wishes he had the guidance he is giving to others
He eirly reminds me of Gaunter 'O' Dimm, am omniscient presence with class and style but you know damn well he could destroy the world piece by piece if he wanted to. Love it, great analysis btw.
No one does it like Rockstar man. This game, GTA, Bully, so many mysteries that are done to perfection. I'll never get enough of it.
I'd lean toward Theory 1 - The Grim Reaper. He dresses like an Undertaker of the time, can be found around Death, and can even strike a deal w/a person (Herbert Moon) but not w/o a price. He's morally neutral, and an accountant. We all have to pay him eventually- with our lives. He stands at the graves of John, Abigail, and Uncle.
While he could be God, or the Angel of Death, I doubt it. In the Bible, angels are described as wearing white. Also, they would pronounce God's judgement/wrath on a place if it was to be destroyed, usually for its sins (Sodom and Gomorrah). The angels would protect God's chosen ones (which Herbert Moon, due to his hate, wouldn't be) while destroying the wicked. If the townspeople repented, they would be spared (such as the City of Nineveh was in the story of Jonah). Also, God would probably strike Moon w/leprosy, instead of leaving him as the only healthy man in a plague filled city.
I doubt Strange Man is the Devil. If he were, he'd delight in the chaos he sees, and try to encourage John to make the wrong moral choices. He'd constantly be trying to trick or tempt John and with what he desires. However, Strange Man is fairly honest, if vague w/ John, and seems to question/challenge John's perception of morality more than to change it.
It's possible Strange Man is a composite character w/the traits of all three.
I propose a fifth Theory- Strange Man is a stand in for The Player. We are always watching John. We know him, but he doesn't know/remember us. Because we play the game and control John, we kill people with him, making us virtual serial killers.
Would make sense why he appears in the mirror behind you
This is honestly the most compelling theory ive heard. Suprised its gotten so little attention
Now this is possible, but the accountant and Herbert's case wouldn't make sense with the Player theory
@@dingane0039 well, videogames and gamers are famous for keeping scores, so there is accountant. As for Moon, yeah I got nothing, 😆
I think he is Nyarlathotep. He exactly like Gaunter O Dimm fron the Witcher witch both him and the strange man share big similarities with Nyarlathotep from the Lovecraft mythos. Still tho God or the Grim Reaper are big possibilities too
The strange man and his presentation, his presence in Red Dead Redemption scared me so much as a kid and It still has an impact on me
You'd think after all their dealings with the pinkertons John and Arthur would know to not answer to their first names.
Considering the strange man’s outfit, the way he presents himself, and the fact that he’s always present where’s there’s death. He truly deserves the nickname, The Undertaker
* lights out and bell tolls *
He will be one on one against THE UNDERTAKER
This is the stuff why I love rockstar games, especially the red dead series. These games are so much more than open-world sandboxes they have such fleshed-out worlds and it's amazing
I always assumed The Stranger was death or some other deity of sorts.
I personally lean more towards death though because of his penchant for wearing all black, and how he describes himself as an accountant.
“Many men have cursed me.”
Death is something none of us can escape, just about all of us fear, but no matter what we do, we’ll be another number eventually.
If not Death, maybe the Devil.
I always felt Trelawny's characterization has a nod to the strange man: enigmatic, magician (SM has "magical" abilities,) and of course his appearence.
i feel like his flighty behaviors contribute to that as well. he only comes in times of need
I always thought trelawny was him but nobody ever seems to say this....cuz I don't think John Ran into Trelawny in RDR2
I think you hit the nail on the head with regards to it being a reference to “the mysterious stranger” of Mark Twain.
"Aint this a beautiful spot" always hits me cuz its the exact spot he dies. The Fantastic storytelling never ends
It's where he gets buried, with Uncle and Abigail, like is said in the video. He dies in front of the barn.
"Ain't this a beautiful barn"
The Strange Man reminds me of Gaunter O’Dimm. Random dude with a seemingly innocuous professional who may or may not be evil but certainly seems that way.
He has such a simple look, but his story makes people wonder who is really in control
I feel like the strange man is very curious about people, like he might put people through morality tests because he himself doesn't quite understand people and their morals. You can be such a vicious killer yet such a kind hearted soul to someone.
Jimmy Brooks says he recognized Arthur from Blackwater with a bunch of other outlaws, but wasn't Arthur across town with Hosea during the robbery? Also, amazing video!
EXACTLY, they did sorta regroup during the fray so it's possible, I just think it's a tad too convenient.
@@Fizhy also you could assume that the gang were chilling in blackwater for a couple days gathering leads like they do in the story
@@nvxprince19 yeah Arthur mentions in his journal that he would hang about Blackwater looking for work so he definitely could’ve seen him there, though Jimmy Brooks probably wouldn’t have remembered/been scared of Arthur if he hadn’t seen him do something bad
@@georginabarras7936 my idea was that jimmy would have seen arthur with the gang then seen gang members do the robbery
That is perfect!
Interesting. The man of the camp said that tumbleweed would be the only place left and yet in Red Dead 1 tumbleweed is abandoned and armadillo is okay
I love that you brought up the The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain here. It's a phenomenal novel by the way and I'd recommend it to anyone, although it is incredibly bleak. It should be pointed out too that the novel was written between 1897 and 1908 which isn't far off the Red Dead timeline.
The Strange Man reminds me of the Inquisitor from Red Dwarf. A being that lived until the end of time and realized that the only meaning of life is to live it to its full potential. So he travels through time judging each and every person who ever lived, giving people who didn’t get to live a chance to take the place of people it feels are unworthy. The Inquisitor can shape shift and takes the form of the person it’s judging, essentially letting the person judge themselves.
Rimmer : what gives you the right to judge
@@Coingamer5555 Inquisitor: Because, the judge will be…
@@thelastroman7791 Rimmer: yourself
Rimmer: oh Smeg
@@Coingamer5555 Inquisitor: Oh smeg indeedy.
The Stranger says he's an accountant...
What's constant in life? *Death and Taxes.*
I feel like that kind of seals it, honestly.
For Jimmy Brooks.
It's one of the earliers Moral choices.
It mentions Blackwater.
It's can start Arthur's "You're a Good man" arc.
I always found it interesting that John says "I won't be responsible for my actions," and the response from the strange man being "Oh but you will." It's the only meeting with the strange man in which you, the player--and by extension John Marston--have no agency on the outcome. The other two have following events with decisions to be made, but this one finishes in the same cinematic. In a manner of speaking, John was not responsible for his actions.
He is likely a Reaper. Since he also refers to himself as an accountant of a sort. The three shots john takes at him, jams on the fourth. Many believe it refers to the three graves of John, Abigail, and Uncle. With the jamming being fourth being Jack who is spared. The dead alligator in RDR2 at his house may refer to Ammit, the Egyptian god who punishes the soul or perhaps Sebek another Egyptian god of death and burial. When John says "damn you" and he replies "many have....", he is referring to death itself.
More reaper evidence; "I know you from" this-and- that several places. Either John was DUE to die and escaped, or he came for the ones John killed-- maybe even both. Maybe the reaper gives John those missions as some sort of repayment for a soul he came to collect and could not.
I always like to think John recognizes him because he was at the many shootouts John has been in since his youth but as a spectator not a participant, doing "his accounts"
@@cb-9938 didn't Arthur write something about seeing someone who looked like trelwany at the Blackwater massacre in his journal or something like that. That could be another clue if so
@@NappaDZ Arthur wasn't at the black water fairy job, your thinking of when he says they heard about a man like trelawney in his journal during chapter 2
I see as it's John last chance of life to show humanity with people before he goes to Heaven or hell. It's the decision you make in life. That's my theory
It’s the line “I hope my boy turns up just like you” is probably the most important clue. He’s either God talking from outside of time about Jesus or Satan talking about the Antichrist in a future he hasn’t experienced yet.
"you forgotten far more important people than me" goddamn that's bone chilling
Thesis: The Strange Man is a classic, literary representation of Satan, with some misdirection thrown in.
Evidence:
-The Strange Man is coded into the game as “Mysterious Stranger”. This is, of course, a reference to Oscar Wilde’s story of the same name, referring to Satan.
-The Strange Man offers a FAUSTIAN BARGAIN (Google if not familiar) to Herbert Moon. This is also a hallmark of Satan in literature.
-The Mysterious Stranger appears in fine clothing, and tests John’s morality. Why does he do this? Satan is always trying to prove to God that men are immoral.
(Story of Job, etc., etc.) Yet another hallmark of literary Satan.
-“Damn you!” “Many Have”.
Satan is damned by God and all his angels, never to return to heaven.
Literary Satan is also *constantly* damned once his bargains are revealed to be tricks.
Counter: Some have proffered that he is god, as in “God damn it”. But this phrase doesn’t mean “damn god”. It means “god, please damn this person/place/thing”.
Lastly, I want to put the Cain stuff to rest.
-Cain is not a “serial killer”. He only killed his brother.
-Cain is not damned at all, but cursed to slither the Earth AS A SNAKE. These are VERY different.
-Vengeance is not brought 7-fold upon those who HURT Cain, but whosoever KILLS Cain.
This is the one
satan trying to get john to redeem himself?!? Grim reaper for me
How is Satan an accountant? And why did he say he admired John after performing a good deed?
I find the satan idea hard to believe. I mean Satan’s whole thing is about leading people astray so they disappoint God. The Strange Man offers many chances for someone to not do that without offering any reward for either choice, something satan would not do. The rest of your theory is pretty interesting though.
@@ye3505 That’s exactly what Satan does. Story of Job, tempting Jesus In the Bible, etc. See, Satan has an ongoing bet with God that humans are more like him. That given a chance, men will do the wrong thing. They are tests of morality.
Look up any story with Satan in it.
You’ll see those trademarks:
Faustian bargains, fascination with and tests of man’s morality, well-dressed, cryptic speech, etc.
EDIT: I should possibly add even further, that in both Strange Man (Mysterious Stranger) missions, you are given the choice of doing the morally wrong thing.
If that isn’t a test of John’s morality, I have no earthly idea what would be.
I used to feel uneasy when I saw the mission on my map "I know you" I thought it was a horror or creepy easter egg you'd find in most games. Although doing these missions make you feel uneasy, I actually felt comfortable with the Strange man for some reason, he's an interesting character
He says he is an accountant and he shows up in areas where violence and death occur
So I think he is just the Grim Reaper/Death. And John recognizes him from the numerous gun fights John has been in. Counting the dead, all the men John killed without any issue. Explains why he is curious of John's twisted Morals. Too.
He doesn't understand how someone so Brutal and Vicious could also be a loving Father and Husband.
I believe the strange man is actually you, the player. There are lots of holes with how he has a house with all those messages and the whole armadillo thing does not make much sense for it to be the player. However, the idea of morality in both of these games stems directly from the person playing. You get to decide the morals, similarly to how you get to decide what to do in rdr1 with the man and the nun, and the same goes with Arthur and John in rdr2 at all stages of the game.
The quote on the armadillo map is about the player also:
"I gave you two generations you did your choice" - We had two games in different videogame generations to play Red Dead Redemption, we did had our choices in both games, and Armadillo is the start of John story in RDR and the end in the RDR2
Good thing I'm an upstanding cowboy who likes trenchcoats.
The Strange Man is one of my favourite mysteries in a video game. My favourite part of the mystery is John firing 3 shots at him, with them 4th jamming - him, Uncle and Abigail dying, whilst Jack surviving.
Another cool thing about Johns attempt at killing him is that in the bible, any harm enacted on Caine is said to be met sevenfold, and if you count how many times John was shot during the ending, its sevenfold
WAAAAIT!!!
WHAT IF THE MAN WAS IN BLACKWATER DURING THE BLACKWATER MASSACRE AND THEN ARTHUR SHOT HIM‽‽‽‽‽
I always thought that “I learnt so much yet nothing at all” were the words of a painter who made some deal with the stranger to become better at painting.
Tbh "I learnt so much yet nothing at all" is exactly how I feel after watching this video lmao
@@ProGamer-lk9qwfr💀
I wouldn’t outright call him God or the Devil but a higher power being. He doesn’t necessarily Judge like God but just observes. He puts things out there to see what we do instead of judging. The whole Honor system seems like part of his observations. Kinda like what Humans do with mice and mazes, put them in scenarios to see how they deal with it.
I feel like the Stange man being an analogy for the grim reaper makes sense, the way that many have tried to kill death, and how many different cultures have different names for the grim reaper would make sense for the way that the "Many have tried" line, and how he doesn't remember his own name. Also being an accountant of sorts, could be like a bookkeeper, but instead of money its lives
Excellent video, the Strange Man is easily one of the most compelling mysteries in all of gaming.
Right on par with Gaunter O Dimm
All the more compelling because he's left unexplained.
Gaunter O dimm is more compelling to me
This game is still freaking awesome. Can't believe it has been almost four years.
Honestly, there is such a deep story that isnt even brought to light, only if you want to you can play it and find mysteries
From playing gta for years and I mean years since 2013 release I’ve never touched this game until this last week. I absolutely love it. How big the map is, there so much detail and story it seems like. Kind of sad their isn’t a ps5 upgrade.
I think the most logical explanation of The Strange Man is a certain type of a Grim Reaper who does not take lives away on his own, but rather watches people and offers the choice between redeeming and keeping their sins. He is an accountant of sorts - he just watches and notes what people do with their lives and if they need to make a choice, he offers them one
The supernatural defies logic by its very nature. No amount of thinking about it is gonna give you the answer.