John Marston

"I rode in a gang. We robbed trains, banks, held people for ransom- we killed people we didn't like. Bill Williamson was in that gang."

- John Marston

"If I don't capture my former brother in arms, great harm will befall my family."

- John Marston

"I left the gang after the gang left me"

- John Marston

"It's you or me - The way I see it; It might as well be you."

- John Marston

 is the main character and protagonist of Red Dead Redemption. He is voiced by actor Rob Wiethoff.

Early life
John Marston's father was an illiterate Scottish immigrant born on a boat to New York, and his mother was a prostitute who died during childbirth. When John was 8 years of age, his father died in Chicago. John was then sent to an orphanage, which he promptly ran away from. He later joined Dutch's gang, which took care of him, and taught him how to read.

Early career
John Marston is a former outlaw and bandit. After being seriously wounded in a bank robbery, and left to die by Bill Williamson and his other former brothers in arms, Marston sought to retire. Putting his past deeds behind him, he has purchased himself a ranch, got married, had a son and daughter (who later died). Despite Marston's apparent reformation, he is still a masterful gunman, rider, rancher and hunter.

Marston is a rugged survivalist and knows life as a fight to survive. Marston is old-fashioned in a world rapidly experiencing the encroachment of technology.

Red Dead Redemption


John Marston was a former outlaw and was sent by the government agents to the West, which he was forced by Edgar Ross and threatens his family, significantly, his wife and son. He was later ordered by Ross to find and capture or kill Bill Williamson, his former gang partner of Dutch's gang. He heads and met Bill but he was later shot by one of Bill's men and Bonnie and Drew finds him wounded and unconscious, which the two treats his wounds and provide lodging with a condition of helping them in the ranch.

John helps them, majority to Bonnie (as well some tutorial missions and gameplay mechanics) but after Bill found out that John hides from the MacFarlane ranch, the gang burned it while the two attempts to find Bonnie's dad, who was presumably killed by rustlers.

John also worked and helped US Marshal Leigh Johnson, merchant Nigel West Dickens, dysfunctional alcoholic Irish and Seth Briars. After the burning of the ranch, John recruited them and plans a "Trojan Horse" strategy to attack Fort Mercer, which was Bill's main hideout. They successfully raid the fort (with Dicken's armored stagecoach, Irish's maxim gun, Seth's distraction and Johnson's assistance) but only to find out that Bill fled along with Javier Escuella.

Irish takes John to Nuevo Paraiso and was forced to work with Colonel Allende as well as Abraham Reyes and Luisa Fortuna. However, Allende betrayed John and attempts to kill him causing him to join Reyes' rebellion and successfuly captures or kill Escuella and leads an attack to Allende's villa. John manage to kill Allende and Williamson but Fortuna was killed by the Federales in attempt to save Reyes. Reyes then take over the villa and John heads back to Blackwater to meet Ross again. Though he killed Williamson, Ross tells him that he need to kill Dutch Van Der Linde, leader of John's old gang or he cannot meet his family again. Dutch and the US army had wars during that time and John had a hard time encountering Dutch's gang in process, the army thinks he is one of them but John escapes capture from them.

Eventually, he joins the army in an ambush in Dutch's hideout and confronts Dutch on a cliff. Dutch eventually decides to commit suicide by falling off the cliff. After the confrontation, he was eventually released by the government and reunites with his family, but Ross launches an attack on the Marston ranch, with Uncle killed during the fight. John continued fighting the army, telling Abigail and Jack to run while he planned to stay behind and hold them off from the barn.

Although John made an attempt to fend off the ranch, it was foolhardy in the end. He was shot to death in front of the barn after exiting it calmly, drawing his pistol and shooting as many men as he could. Ross and his army left the ranch after John was killed. Abigail and Jack returned to find John's body, where they buried it up over on the hill to the north of the ranch, along with Uncle.

In 1914, three years after John was killed, Abigail dies. Jack returns and buries her body up on the hill. From then on, he is playable throughout the game; maintaining all his father's weapons, clothes, money, horses, and fame/honor.

Eventually, he finds Ross, who was responsible for killing his father. The two duel on the Mexican side of the San Luis River, with Jack defeating Ross.

Trivia

 * Marston resembles Red Harlow with his similar scars. Both Marston and Harlow's scars resemble those of the protagonist of the 1976 film The Outlaw Josey Wales
 * In a recent Q & A, Rockstar confirmed John cannot swim very well. He can wade through shallow water, and board rafts and steamboats to move around certain bodies of water, but if he enters deep water, he will drown.
 * John can actually buy chewing tobacco, which when used, refills the dead eye meter, says a recent preview in Game Informer magazine. He can also purchase a rabbit's foot and other items.