Red Dead Redemption's Strange Man's True Identity Leaves Gamers Horrified

There are a lot of genuinely memorable characters in the Red Dead Redemption series; whether it be the always nefarious Dutch van der Linde, or any of the other members of the Van der Linde gang, both games have stellar casts that really make the fall of the Wild West feel gritty and alive.

Other characters remain more on the fringes, but they are no less interesting. The best example of that phenomenon remains the Strange Man.

First appearing in the original Red Dead Redemption, the Strange Man gives very little about his identity away throughout the game. He gives players several quests that require them to help others, before the final conversation we have with him sees our character, John Marston, empty a full clip at him. Bizarrely enough, the Strange Man is unbothered by this, and walks off into the distance completely unaffected.

For most, that was more than enough to prove that he was, at the very least, supernatural, and his cameo in Red Dead Redemption 2 did little to change that.

Over on Reddit, players were keen to share their theories on who he actually is meant to be. "I always just thought of him as The Grim Reaper. You’re right though, him appearing as a normal man is probably typical for him interacting with human beings just so they’re not terrified of him. He’s also responsible for the cholera outbreak in Armadillo back in 1907 so he obviously has super natural power," one said.

Another dismissed the idea that it could be Cain from the Bible (popular in some circles online), saying, "Does his painting in the serial killer house also depend on the eye of the beholder? As far as we know, it's the only objective evidence of his (its) form. The Cain theory is... stupid. Cain isn't an account. Death personified is more fitting. I like the idea that his image depends on the beholder. He may not even be visible to others."

Rockstar has never come remotely close to giving us a concrete answer on who he is supposed to be, presumably deliberately leaving his identity up to the audience for the most part.

With GTA VI now the developer's sole focus, we aren't getting any more Red Dead for a while, but it would still be nice to know exactly what its intentions were with the Strange Man's inclusion in the games at some point.