Micah Bell

"I believe there's winners and losers... and nothing else besides."

- Micah Bell

Micah Bell III (referred to as Micah Bell) is a central character and the main antagonist of Red Dead Redemption 2. He is also mentioned in Red Dead Online.

Background
"A career criminal and hitman. Wild and unpredictable but he lives for the action."

- Rockstar Games. Micah Bell III was born circa 1860 to Micah Bell Jr., a ruthless petty outlaw. When Micah was 17 in 1877, he and his father were on the run for the brutal double homicide of Roscoe and Jean Briggs, who were hung from the rafters with their throats slit. It can be assumed that he was his father's partner-in-crime throughout his upbringing, although evidence suggests that he also ran with his brother, Amos, for a time. Micah became acquainted with two outlaws named Cleet and Joe at some point, and also mentions being involved in a failed bank robbery down south with Norman.

In 1898, Micah met Dutch van der Linde in a bar at Crenshaw Hill. Dutch tried to sell gold that his gang had recently stolen, but the deal went sour, leading to an altercation where Micah stepped in and saved his life. As a result, Micah was accepted into the Van der Linde gang. Despite being an experienced outlaw who was respected for his skill in combat, Micah was generally disliked within the gang. Arthur and Hosea in particular saw him as argumentative, reckless and hot-headed, with Dutch alone taking a liking to him.

After five months, Micah set his sights on a ferry in Blackwater. Although Arthur and Hosea had their own lead, Dutch chose Micah's option, which was a bigger take but also more risky. Unfortunately, the robbery turned out to be a complete disaster, and a huge gun battle with the Pinkertons ensued. Due to this, the gang was forced to flee, and eventually managed to lose the law by entering a blizzard on the snowy mountains of Ambarino. The failed heist notably caused the deaths of Jenny Kirk, Davey Callander and his brother Mac Callander.

Colter Chapter
In addition to John Marston, Micah was sent to scout ahead while the rest of the gang looked for some shelter. After settling at an abandoned mining town named Colter, Dutch and Arthur ride out to try and find any sign of Micah or John. After a short ride north, they come across Micah, who is seen riding with a lantern. He says that he found a homestead up north that appears to be throwing a party. The three eventually come across the homestead, where Micah and Arthur take cover while Dutch tries to persuade the "owners" to help them. Whilst in cover, Micah discovers a dead body in the wagon and alerts Arthur, before a shootout occurs when the "owners" are revealed to be O'Driscolls who attempt to kill them.

After killing the enemy gang members, they loot the home, but whilst checking the barn, Arthur hears a scream and investigates the house. He finds Dutch yelling at Micah who is harassing a distressed woman. Before finding out she isn't an O'Driscoll, Micah flips the table, knocking down the lantern and setting the house ablaze. After realizing the woman is not the enemy, they grab her and leave the now burning ranch. After returning to camp, Micah finds out he is bunked with Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella and Lenny Summers which prompts him to make racist remarks about his bunkmates. Micah is also ordered to go back to the homestead and bury Jake Adler, but he most likely didn't since there is no evidence of any grave nearby.

Micah later gets into an argument with Bill and punches him in the face, although the pair are restrained by Lenny, Arthur and Javier before a fight can break out. Dutch then comes in and reprimands the two, before telling them that they are going to launch an assault against an O'Driscoll camp, which Micah is involved in. At the end, Micah searches the camp and finds information about a train which the O'Driscolls were going to rob, and gives the map to Dutch. Dutch later decides to rob this Cornwall train, and Micah is part of the crew involved with the robbery. After the guards are eliminated, he searches the train for loot with Arthur and Lenny.

Horseshoe Overlook Chapter
Before arriving at the new camp location, Micah and Lenny are sent scouting near Strawberry, but get drawn into a bar fight which leads to Micah killing two O'Driscolls, landing him in the local jail. Arthur comes to the jailhouse a few days later on Dutch's orders and reluctantly rescues Bell. After being freed, Micah immediately shoots his O'Driscoll cellmate in the head, and the pair clear off the guards in the immediate area. Arthur insists they should leave, but Micah instead fights his way through town to get his prized revolvers back, searching for an ex-associate of his. Micah soon finds him, and kills both him and his wife, before retrieving his guns and resuming his escape from the town. The reckless charge almost cost both he and Arthur their lives, and afterwards, Arthur scolds Micah for his recklessness.

Micah, who doesn't want to return to Dutch empty-handed, contacts Arthur and asks him to help him rob a stagecoach. After a brief gunfight, they take the stagecoach, before a gang of O'Driscolls attempt to steal it from them. Micah and Arthur camp on one side of the river, and after a long fight, annihilate the enemy gang. Arthur and Micah then take the loot and, now feeling that he has redeemed himself, Micah returns to the rest of the gang. After the gang realise that they need to relocate, Micah suggests Dewberry Creek as a possible place to go. Arthur and Charles investigate the location and decide it is a poor choice for camp, so they eventually decide to settle at Clemens Point instead.

Clemens Point Chapter
At some point, news reaches the gang that the O'Driscolls intend to hold a truce meeting for Dutch and Colm. Hosea believes it to be a trap, and Dutch initially agrees with him. Micah, on the other hand, believes it is worth going to, and convinces Dutch to go to it anyway. Dutch, Micah and Arthur ride out to meet the O'Driscolls, although the meeting results in Arthur's capture after he is sent to a secluded spot above to be a sniper. Dutch and Micah, however, come out unscathed and return to camp.

A few weeks later, Arthur meets Micah, Bill and Sean MacGuire in Rhodes to discuss a potential protection job with Sheriff Leigh Gray and his family. However, it turns out to be a trap, as the Grays discovered that the Van der Linde gang were responsible for burning their tobacco fields. Sean is killed in the ambush, leaving the other three gang members to fight the Lawmen and Gray hired guns. Bill is soon captured, leaving Arthur and Micah to work together. After dealing with most of the enemies, Micah and Arthur confront Sheriff Gray and demand the release of Bill. Leigh Gray then exits his office with a gun to Bill’s head but is killed by Arthur, before the other three are also killed, by Micah and Arthur. After the shootout, Arthur angrily blames his death on Micah and Bill's carelessness and asks Bill to give Sean a proper burial. After Braithwaites abduct Jack, Dutch tells Micah and Kieran to stay behind and protect the camp while the rest of the gunmen assault Braithwaite Manor to rescue Jack.

Saint Denis Chapter
Micah gets a lead on a heavily guarded stagecoach, and decides to bring Arthur and Bill along for the robbery. Using dynamite, they stop the stagecoach before descending upon it. After a short fight with the well-armed guards, the stagecoach‘s loot is taken by the three, who divide the spoils.

Micah later takes part in the robbery of the Lemoyne National Bank in Saint Denis. After it goes sour, he and some of the other gang members (namely Dutch, Arthur, Bill and Javier) board a ship destined for the South Pacific.

Guarma Chapter
After the vessel sinks during a storm, Bell washes up on the shores of Guarma with everyone besides Arthur. Not long after Arthur finds the others, they are ambushed and captured by Guarman troops. After they manage to escape with the help of Hercule Fontaine, they go and rest at the rebel outpost of La Capilla, where Micah stays for a time. He eventually goes to Cinco Torres along with the rest of the gang, right before federal troops descend upon it. After fighting off the enemy attack, Micah reports that Colonel Fussar has positioned artillery batteries on the beaches to prevent them from leaving. Micah and the gang then storm the batteries, where he places dynamite in order to blow them up. He then takes part in the charge against Aguasdulces, which results in the ship captain being rescued and the five were able to leave safely. Along with the rest of the gang, Micah then sets sail out of Guarma and returns to the United States.

Beaver Hollow Chapter
At some point after arriving back in America, Micah secretly became an informant for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, who later assault the gang's hideout in Lakay. The gang barely survives the assault, managing to push government forces out thanks mainly to the efforts of Arthur, Sadie and Bill.

Following the Pinkerton assault in Lakay, the gang is forced to move their camp to Beaver Hollow. From that point forward, Micah starts having a strong influence on Dutch, who is also becoming distraught at Arthur's recent change in behaviour (mainly caused by Arthur discovering that he is terminally ill with Tuberculosis). Micah becomes more influential, acting as Dutch’s new enforcer and expecting gang members to answer to him.

Micah makes a plan with Dutch to confront Leviticus Cornwall, after his yacht comes into Annesburg. The two bring along Arthur, and the three wait for him at the docks. Micah goes and searches for information relating to the Cornwall company, while Dutch and Arthur confront him. After Dutch kills Cornwall, Micah will rendezvous with the two other men and the three fight their way out of the town. Later on, Micah, Arthur and Bill meet up outside of Van Horn to make plans for stealing some of Cornwall's dynamite, as part of Dutch and Micah's plan. After an argument with Arthur, Micah instructs him and Bill to do it, due to him having “planning” to do. After this has been done, he asks Arthur to help John to blow up Bacchus Bridge with the stolen dynamite.

Micah later shows up with two men that he knew named Cleet and Joe, who wish to join the gang. Dutch happily accepts them, due to him seeing a collapse in loyalty from the rest of the gang. Micah capitalizes on this, creating more conflict between Dutch, John and Arthur by trying to convince Dutch that the latter two are traitors, while showing superficial loyalty to Dutch. When Eagle Flies shows up at camp and the majority of the gang join him in battle against the US Army, Micah stays behind at camp alongside Cleet and Joe.

Micah organises the robbery of a train carrying army payroll and also takes part in it. During the robbery, John gets shot and falls off the train. Dutch says that he will go back for him, but ultimately leaves him to die, lying to the rest of the gang that John was already dead by the time they got to him. After the robbery ends and everyone is returning to camp, the gang learns that Pinkertons had kidnapped Abigail. Micah convinces Dutch not to go after her, saying that the risks are too high. Dutch agrees with Micah, and decides that Abigail is not worth saving. This action prompts Arthur and Sadie to go rescue her alone.

During the operation to rescue Abigail, Arthur learns from Agent Milton that Micah had betrayed the gang and had been feeding the Pinkertons with information ever since his return from Guarma. Upon learning this, Arthur returns to camp to confront Micah about it in front of the rest of the gang. A standoff occurs, with Arthur and Micah drawing on each other. Arthur tries to convince Dutch that Micah is the traitor, while Micah tries to get Dutch on his side by denying it and telling him that they could achieve plenty together. Before anything else can happen, John suddenly returns, still wounded, claiming that Dutch and Micah left him to die, and he subsequently joins Arthur's side. Susan Grimshaw also joins Arthur's side and points a shotgun at Micah, but Micah kills her while she is distracted with the news of the Pinkertons' arrival. In the end, all of the remaining members of the gang aside from John side with Micah.

Pinkertons now led by Agent Ross arrive, launching another assault on the gang. Micah and everyone who sided with him then flee the scene. Later, Micah reappears leading the gang, trying to pursue Arthur and John on horseback, only to lose track of them in the woods. The following set of events depend on the player's choice and Arthur's level of Honor:

Arthur and John run away together and decide to traverse the mountains. Eventually, Arthur tells John to keep going alone, while he holds off the Pinkertons. After doing so, Micah tackles him from behind and attacks him. After the two fall off a ledge, they engage in a lengthy fistfight. At the end of a long, gruelling fight, Arthur pistol-whips Micah with one of his revolvers after being pinned against a wall, but loses his grip on it. Arthur then crawls towards this revolver in order to kill Micah, but he is ultimately prevented from doing so by Dutch, who steps on it before Arthur can reach it. Arthur says that he always did his best for Dutch and that John was the only one who made it, while Micah picks up his other revolver from the floor and begs Dutch to go with him and get the money. In the end, Dutch walks away, abandoning both Micah and Arthur.
 * High Honor: Angered at Dutch's decision to cut all ties with him, Micah furiously departs from the scene, leaving Arthur to die. He does so shortly afterwards, after witnessing one final sunrise.
 * Low Honor: After Dutch leaves, a bitter and vengeful Micah approaches Arthur and aims a revolver at his head, claiming that Arthur is no better than him. He then shoots Arthur in the forehead and proudly laughs, before spitting on his corpse and walking away.

Arthur leaves John to steal the gang's money hidden back in the caves, but he is suddenly attacked by Micah on his way out, who stabs Arthur in the side with his own knife during a brief struggle. Arthur manages to wrestle Micah off him and the two engage in a lengthy knife fight.
 * High Honor: Eventually, Arthur manages to blind Micah in the left eye by slashing it with a knife, to which Micah responds by tackling Arthur to the ground and trying to stab him, but to no avail. Arthur bites Micah's hand and punches him in the face, successfully prising him off. Dutch arrives and breaks it up, but after Arthur re-iterates that Micah was the traitor, he decides to abandon both of them, despite Micah dismissing Arthur's claims as "nonsense". Micah also leaves, and is seen taking the sack of money which Arthur stole from Dutch’s chest, leaving Arthur to succumb to his Tuberculosis and the initial stab wound, in the rays of the dawning sun.
 * Low Honor: Instead of slashing Micah's eye, Arthur loses his balance, resulting in Micah tackling him to the ground. Micah manages to stab Arthur in the chest during this struggle, before Dutch arrives to break up the fight. With his dying breaths, Arthur swears that Micah is the traitor and begs Dutch to kill him, but Dutch abandons them both. After Dutch leaves, Arthur starts to crawl away, but Micah approaches him with a knife and finishes Arthur off by stabbing him in the back.

Beecher's Hope Chapter
Following the Van der Linde gang's dissolution, Micah went on to form his own gang, taking Cleet and Joe with him. Throughout the years, they committed various crimes including several vicious murders, some of which involved dismemberment; Micah is said to have personally killed two dozen men during this time. A newspaper in 1907 also reports that Micah’s “acts of lawlessness rival that of Van der Linde himself”, and that a lot of people were terrified of him. Additionally, Micah found himself in the custody of a sheriff at some stage, but managed to escape. Sometime later, Micah murdered a young girl's family, but Cleet saved the only remaining member - a young girl. Micah tried to kill him for it, although Cleet managed to escape. Micah would also re-unite with Dutch at some point and, despite hiding out on Mount Hagen, they manage to recover the Blackwater money. In 1907, Sadie catches wind of Micah's activities, and ventures out with John Marston and Charles Smith to exact revenge on Micah.

After a trek up the mountain, during which Joe is killed, John confronts Micah and the two exchange fire, ending up in a deadlock. A wounded Sadie manages to flank Micah from behind, catching him off guard and forcing him to surrender. Before Micah can be killed, Dutch emerges from a cabin, guns drawn. Micah manages to overpower Sadie, holding her hostage, and a Mexican stand-off ensues between John, Micah and Dutch. Dutch initially appears to be on Micah’s side, but after an exchange of words, he shoots Micah in the chest, mortally wounding him. In a last-ditch effort, Micah attempts to shoot John and Dutch, but John is quicker and shoots Micah multiple times. His fate sealed, Micah tries to walk away, but drops dead into the snow after a few steps. His death meant the end of his reign of terror on the region and his comeuppance for betraying the Van der Linde gang.

During the credits, Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham are seen discovering Micah's corpse in the mountains. While never explicitly stated, further scenes imply that the discovery of his death led to the Bureau of Investigation tracing the murder of Micah back to John Marston, thus leading to the events of Red Dead Redemption. Since no one ever buried him, Micah's now-frozen corpse will remain atop the mountain, for the player to return to and claim Micah's Revolver for themselves.

Personality
"I'm a survivor, Black Lung! A survivor! That's all there is, living and dying."

- Micah Bell to Arthur Morgan Micah is considered to be wild and unpredictable even by the Van der Linde gang's standards and is said to enjoy the action in his life, even going as far as shooting half the town of Strawberry in order to reclaim his prized revolvers. In spite of his wild nature, Micah is an experienced criminal and hitman, earning him the favor of Dutch himself. Micah has a poor relationship with most of the gang members, as he frequently antagonizes and bullies them. Besides Dutch, Micah also tries to get Arthur's trust and approval initially, despite Arthur openly disliking him, viewing him as selfish, untrustworthy and opportunistic.

Arthur's fears are proven true later in the game, when Micah starts working as a mole for the Pinkertons, ultimately causing the downfall of the Van der Linde gang. When confronted on his disloyalty, Micah simply labels himself a survivor, showing no loyalty to anyone but himself. Over the course of the game, Micah's relationship with Arthur turns into a bitter rivalry, as Dutch and Arthur begin to distrust each other.

Micah often flaunts his new position as Dutch's right-hand man at Arthur and ridicules his tuberculosis, calling him “Black Lung”. Micah seems to have always been jealous of Arthur, which is evident at the end of the game if the player's Honor is low and Arthur helps John to escape, where Micah exclaims that Arthur is not better than him, before shooting Morgan in the head, laughing, and then spitting on his corpse. Micah treats everyone he meets with sadistic and psychotic contempt, holding absolutely no standards whatsoever. He creepily and forcibly flirts with almost every woman at the camp and is implied to have sexually harassed Sadie when they first met. He violently teases four-year-old Jack and is accused of killing an entire family except for a little girl, who only escaped due to Cleet's interference.

Micah is also an unrepentant racist, treating Lenny, Charles, and Javier with open disgust solely because they're not white. He calls Lenny and Javier "darkies", Charles a "redskin", and tells Javier to "fuck off back to Mexico". He's purposely vague and mysterious about his past, though he does mention that his father taught him that "sympathy is for the weak" and that the United States is a survival of the Darwinistic, dog-eat-dog world. He is also cruel to animals, which is evident by the fact that he frequently kicks Cain and is even implied to have killed him when the dog disappeared.

Micah shows less hostility to John, compared to Arthur. During his last fight, he admits that he doesn't want to kill John and tries to convince him to leave. Later, during the standoff, Micah tries to convince John to join himself and Dutch.

Appearance
In 1899, Micah has shoulder-length, blond hair, as well as a thick, horseshoe mustache and side-whiskers. By 1907, he has shorter hair and seems to have aged considerably, with his hair having mostly gone grey. He wears a (usually undone) black leather jacket, a red shirt, a blue neckerchief, beige trousers and a white hat. In cold temperatures, he is instead seen with a long, brown leather jacket and, in 1907, it is more worn-looking and accompanied instead by black trousers and grey leg warmers. Micah is armed with a pair of custom Double-action Revolvers (ironically having "Vengeance is hereby mine" engraved into the barrel) which have dark grey frames and grips that are painted red and black, which he uses with immense skill. Depending on the decisions made in the mission "Red Dead Redemption", Micah might have a huge scar on his left eye (due to Arthur slashing his eye with a knife if he had high Honor and went back for the money).

For the bank robbery in Saint Denis, Micah wears a white suit with a black shirt, a red waistcoat, and a white tie. While in Guarma, he wears the same black shirt but has it undone and with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, along with grey trousers and slightly longer facial hair. While not as fleshy as Williamson, Micah has a slightly large gut. By 1907, Micah has lost weight and is very slim, while also having paler skin, suggesting that he has been in the mountains for a long time.

Mission appearances

 * Red Dead Redemption 2
 * "Outlaws from the West"
 * "Old Friends"
 * "Who the Hell is Leviticus Cornwall?"
 * "Eastward Bound"
 * "Blessed are the Meek?"
 * "An American Pastoral Scene"
 * "Blessed are the Peacemakers"
 * "A Short Walk in a Pretty Town"
 * "Blood Feuds, Ancient and Modern"
 * "The Battle of Shady Belle"
 * "Banking, The Old American Art"
 * "Welcome to the New World"
 * "Hell Hath No Fury"
 * "Paradise Mercifully Departed"
 * "Dear Uncle Tacitus"
 * "Fleeting Joy"
 * "That's Murfree Country"
 * "Visiting Hours"
 * "Just a Social Call"
 * "The Delights of Van Horn"
 * "My Last Boy"
 * "Our Best Selves"
 * "Red Dead Redemption"
 * "American Venom"

Trivia

 * Despite being the most immoral member of the Van der Linde gang and the main antagonist of Red Dead Redemption 2, Micah is almost never seen without a white hat on his head, which is traditionally associated with protagonists or "good guys" in classical Westerns. It's possible that this distinction foreshadows Micah turning against the gang (which would typically be seen as antagonist due to it being an outlaw faction). Conversely, despite being the main protagonist of the story, Arthur wears a black hat, with black hats being associated with villains in Westerns; this reflects the more conventional view of the outlaws being evil and the law being good.
 * If the player visits Micah's temporary Strawberry camp at any point after "An American Pastoral Scene", they will find two newspaper clippings and a torn wanted poster of indeterminate age for Dutch van der Linde, listing a bounty of $1000 for his capture or death. One of the articles, from 1877, mentions Micah and his father as the primary suspects in the gruesome murder of an Ohio rancher and his wife. The other details the ferry heist, and mentions that local authorities are still searching for the $150,000 stolen from the steamboat by the gang.
 * It is unknown why Micah is carrying the wanted poster, but given his mercenary nature and his later betrayal of his fellow gang members, it's not hard to imagine that Micah may well have intended to turn Dutch in—or perhaps kill him—and collect on the reward once the Blackwater money had been recovered.
 * In-game, Micah is seen using a pair of custom Double-action Revolvers, although in the concept art he uses a pair of Schofield Revolvers instead. Additionally, only one of his revolvers can be looted from his corpse.
 * If one looks closely, they will notice a small match in the band of his hat.
 * In dialogue, Micah reveals that he had sex with Jenny Kirk when the gang were camped near Blackwater. He goes on to describe her as a "dirty little thing" and laments how she "could’ve been carrying Micah Bell the Fourth for all I know".
 * Ironically enough, much like Arthur, Micah seems to have respiratory problems, constantly snorting, clearing his throat, and coughing.
 * If the player antagonizes him enough, Micah will shove Arthur, just like Dutch.
 * Micah seems to be very attached to his guns, risking his life to go back and get them in Strawberry, admitting to Arthur afterwards ”Ain’t much I care about more than those guns”. Additionally, Micah can often be seen checking and cleaning his guns whilst in camp.
 * Micah's attachment to his guns is best exemplified in that he is the only member of the Van der Linde gang to be in possession of his usual sidearms when he is in Guarma - Arthur, Dutch, Bill and Javier all use something different while they’re here due to the absence of their normal weapons, showing how much Micah cares for his revolvers.
 * At various moments in the game, Micah refers to the Van der Linde gang as his family or to Arthur in particular as his brother. In the Old Testament, Micah is the name of a prophet who at one point (Micah 7:6) warns of internal familial threats: “A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household” (often translated into various alternatives, such as: “Your worst enemies will be in your own family”).
 * The circumstances surrounding Micah's defection to the Pinkertons are unclear; it is unknown whether he was arrested and forced to serve as a spy in an alternative to being executed, or whether he sought them and made a deal whereby he would serve as an informant in exchange for his freedom.
 * Micah's horse is a male Missouri Fox Trotter called “Baylock”. With its black body and white face, it bears a striking resemblance to the Dark Horse from Red Dead Redemption, which would spawn if the player's Honor was low. This is almost certainly intentional, given Micah's evil and dishonourable nature.
 * If the player examines Micah's corpse after the epilogue, they will notice that he has the scar over his eye regardless of the decisions made in the mission "Red Dead Redemption". His corpse will also be referred to as "Stranger".
 * Micah is the only member of the gang to never be seen eating.
 * Micah is almost never seen sleeping in the whole game. He cannot be seen sleeping at any of the camps except for Beaver Hollow, where he can sometimes be seen napping while leaning back in a chair with his feet propped up on the table, as opposed to lying down. The only time he is seen lying down to sleep is during the opening cutscene of "Fleeting Joy", when he rests in a hammock next to Uncle. If he is greeted at night, Arthur may comment that he has never seen him sleep, to which Micah replies "It's overrated".

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