Red Dead Redemption Players Claim Arthur Was in the First Game, Here’s the Proof

Red Dead Redemption 2 takes place around 12 years before the events of the original game, and that was always going to lead to some sticky situations for Rockstar, who likely weren't accounting for the second game too much, ahead of the release of the first.

The fact that so many of the same characters appear in both games only deepens these potential conundrums further, with characters like John Marston and Dutch van der Linde serving as major roles in both.

That slightly unusual dichotomy between the two games leads many to wonder why Arthur Morgan isn't a more prominent former figure in John's story in the first game, given their closeness in RDR2.

The obvious answer for this is that they simply hadn't created Arthur Morgan at that point, with the character retroactively placed into the earlier part of John's life for the purposes of the 2018 entry.

That said, some players are convinced they may have found a reference to him in the first game, one that confirms the relationship between John and Arthur, long before the release of the prequel.

Arthur Morgan and John Marston Could Appear in Red Dead Redemption 1 Photo

Rockstar Games

Over on Reddit, one user shared a post claiming that their girlfriend had discovered a photograph in the original Red Dead Redemption game, which they were convinced features both John Marston and Arthur Morgan with their arms around each other's shoulders.

Though the practicalities of game development and the real world likely mean that isn't the case, it certainly captured the imagination of fellow fans in the comments who would like it to be true.

"I have a feeling that photo was intended to be John and Dutch but I like the Arthur explanation better. The low quality of the image actually does us some favours here," one comment read in response.

"Like the other comment said it was probably supposed to be John and Dutch, Javier or Bill. But Arthur himself if a giant retcon so saying that picture is him isn't crazy lol," another added.

A third speculated, "Kinda looks like John and Abigail holding hands? Or, perhaps, a young John holding hands with his mother. I do like the idea that it could be Arthur, but I see two people holding hands so I couldn't see it being John and Arthur if that's the case."

Even if it isn't true, it's nice to think that John would keep the very limited photos of Arthur around to remember the special bond they shared before Arthur's tragic death.