Uncle

"I'm real sick John. Lumbago. It's a slow and painful death, my brother."

- Uncle to John Marston

"" is a major character featured in Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2.

With the addition of the Myths and Mavericks DLC pack, Uncle is also a multiplayer character model that may be selected in the "Revolution" section of the Outfitter.

Background


Uncle was born sometime before 1849 in Ohio and is one of the oldest members of the Van der Linde gang. Uncle was nine years old when both of his parents died, forcing him to move to a new city and "live on his wits" from there on out. He was married at least twice before 1899. Not exactly the most productive gang member, Uncle was a whore-monger and drunkard who was always around when the whiskey was open, but rarely when there is work to be done.

Uncle is an elderly alcoholic and reformed petty thief. Although borderline dysfunctional, Uncle resides with the Marston family and is provided with food and shelter at the family ranch in exchange for work he rarely performs. He sometimes manages to contribute, but to his chagrin, he is often viewed by John as lazy and inept. "Uncle" is a nickname, and he is of no biological relation to any of the Marstons (John qualifies this statement with "at least I sincerely hope not.").

Uncle, in his own way, can be viewed as seeking redemption from his life of petty crime by working on the Marston ranch. This parallels the decisions of John and Abigail to leave the Van der Linde gang and live a normal life.

Events of Red Dead Redemption 2
"A hanger‐on and good‐time guy, Uncle is always around when the whiskey is open and never around when there’s any work to be done. If he wasn’t so entertaining, Dutch would have cut him loose years ago."

- Rockstar Games' description of Uncle for Redemption 2.

Horseshoe Overlook chapter
Uncle and Arthur take the women to Valentine, in the hopes of finding some more leads. During the excursion, Karen starts planning to rob the Valentine Bank.

Clemens Point chapter
Uncle got a tip about a Cornwall company train heading through Rhodes, and convinced Charles, Bill, and Arthur to help him rob it. The heist quickly goes downhill, as uncountable lawman descent upon them. The gang hides in an old barn, but is found by the law. The barn is lit on fire, and they are forced to fight their way out of the barn and engage more lawman in the forest before escaping. After dividing up the money, Uncle says that he is officially retired.

Beaver Hollow chapter
Uncle left the gang while hiding out in Beaver Hollow, along with several other members.

Beecher's Hope Chapter
Uncle, having previously reunited with John in Blackwater, oversees John and Charles building John's home. While annoying John and Charles to no end, John does credit Uncle with being very helpful in getting the ranch moving in the right direction. After the house is built, Uncle is kidnapped by the barbaric Skinners gang. John and Charles hunt them down and rescue Uncle, who was badly burnt whilst being cooked alive by the Skinners.

Events of Red Dead Redemption
After Abigail and Jack are abducted by Edgar Ross and held for ransom, John reluctantly puts Uncle in charge of looking after the ranch at Beecher's Hope. John is then forcibly sent to New Austin to hunt down Bill Williamson and Javier Escuella. For the duration of the pursuit of Williamson and Escuella, Marston is not in any kind of contact with Uncle. When John Marston finally returns from his quest to bring his former gang members to justice, he finds the ranch in disrepair and the livestock rustled. John continually berates Uncle for his inability to maintain the ranch whilst he was away.

Uncle continues to live with the Marston Family after John's return. Working at the ranch, Uncle can be seen assisting with blacksmithing and animal tending duties. He and John herd cattle on one occasion and break horses on another. At most other times, he can be seen napping around the ranch.

When U.S. Army soldiers and Bureau agents approach the ranch, Uncle spots them and immediately alerts John, enabling them to mount a defense and plan for the escape of Jack and Abigail.

Uncle assists John in fighting the soldiers, showing great competence with a rifle, but is ultimately wounded in the chest. Jack ceases firing and comes to Uncle's side, while John continues fending off soldiers.

John returns to Uncle and thanks him for his sacrifice, Uncle promptly demands that they escape, and then bleeds to death. Jack expresses horror at Uncle's death.

At some point in time after the assault on the ranch, Uncle is buried atop the ridge at Beecher's Hope, in the family plot. His grave marker provides no birth year and his epitaph reads "Impossible to forget."

Events of Undead Nightmare
Note: ''The events of Undead Nightmare are not considered part of the same canon as Red Dead Redemption. The following description is therefore not contiguous with the preceding section on Red Dead Redemption.''

Uncle makes his first and last appearance in the mission "Love in the Time of Plague".

John, after riding through the intense downpour from the storm, comes home at night to find Uncle has not returned from town, with the family assuming he has taken shelter from the storm. Later that night, while John and Abigail are in bed, Uncle bursts in, zombified, snarling and growling. As John tells Uncle "he don't look so good", Abigail sees Uncle's bloodied, torn-up appearance and yelps in horror, putting as much distance between her and Uncle as she can. Uncle slowly approaches John. John then grabs him by the throat and asks what's wrong with him, ending the situation by beating the now undead Uncle over the head with the base of a nearby lamp.

John leaves the bedroom to retrieve his gun, leaving the disgusted Abigail to look at the beaten Uncle lying on the floor. As John is getting a shotgun from his workshop, Uncle chases Abigail out to the front porch. She trips in the yard near the porch, and Uncle takes the opportunity to jump Abigail and bite her on the neck, infecting her. John, arriving to see Uncle had already jumped Abigail, yells at Uncle, causing him to turn and face John. John then proceeds to shoot him in the head, putting Uncle out of his misery.

During this encounter, he has a deep gash crossing down diagonally from the top of his forehead to his left eye. He's missing his hat, revealing the bald spot atop his head. The part of his beard below his mouth is matted with blood, suggesting that he had already infected another victim or had been vomiting blood. His eyes appear to be heavily bloodshot with dried streaks of blood under his eyes, possibly from blood running out of his eyes. His clothes appear bloody and tattered, suggesting he either put up a fight trying to kill whatever infected him, or he received heavy resistance when he attacked one of his previous victims.

Mission Appearances

 * Red Dead Redemption
 * "The Outlaw's Return"
 * "By Sweat and Toil" (mission giver)
 * "A Continual Feast" (mission giver)
 * "Spare The Love, Spoil The Child"
 * "The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed"


 * Undead Nightmare
 * "Love in the Time of Plague"


 * Red Dead Redemption 2
 * "Outlaws from the West"
 * "Old Friends"
 * "Eastward Bound"
 * "Polite Society, Valentine Style"
 * "A Strange Kindness"
 * "An Honest Mistake"
 * "Blood Feuds, Ancient and Modern"
 * "The Battle of Shady Belle"
 * "Fleeting Joy"
 * "That's Murfree Country"
 * "Money Lending & Other Sins VII"
 * "My Last Boy"
 * "Gainful Employment"
 * "Bare Knuckle Friendships"
 * "Home Improvement for Beginners"
 * "The Tool Box"
 * "A New Jerusalem"
 * "A Quick Favor for an Old Friend"
 * "Uncle's Bad Day"
 * "A Really Big Bastard"
 * "A New Future Imagined"
 * "American Venom"

Quotes
"You always were a hard and nasty man, John Marston."

- Uncle responding to John's idle death threat ("By Sweat and Toil")

"I'm real sick John, it's the lumbago"

- Uncle 's excuse for moving with John when the two reunite once again (Home of the Gentry?)

"It's easy to pick on the elderly. It's easy, but it ain't dignified."

- Uncle to John Marston ("By Sweat and Toil")

"Ain't time, John. I ain't gonna make it off this porch anyhow. You take Jack and Abiga...(coughs). Take them and (coughs). Don't worry about me, just get them out of here."

- Uncle's last words ("The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed")

"I'm real sick John. Lumbago. It's a slow and painful death, my brother."

- Uncle to John Marston ("Home of the Gentry?")

Multiplayer

 * "I'll bed y'all down!"
 * "Back the hell off!"
 * "You're dead, ya son of a bitch!"
 * "You're mine, ya bastard!"
 * "Leave us alone!"
 * "Come on, then!"
 * "You ain't gettin' away with this!"

Trivia

 * Red Dead Redemption
 * It is implied by Uncle while riding back to the ranch with the horses in "A Continual Feast", that he once was a rancher who owned his own spread. Uncle's knowledge of farming and ranching is further shown in Red Dead Redemption 2.
 * Uncle can be seen with a yellow-brown residue in his beard, implying his drinking/smoking habits. In Red Dead Redemption 2, this residue is absent.
 * In the mission "Wolves, Dogs and Sons" John implies to his son Jack that Uncle has some illegitimate children, remarking he is "probably lots of people's father."
 * After hearing stories at a campfire, John will sometimes comment that he "knows an old drunk who would love that one," most likely referring to Uncle.
 * Marston can shoot Uncle's hat off; following mission cutscenes that feature him will depict Uncle without a hat.
 * Uncle can sometimes be seen smoking at the dinner table in Beecher's Hope at around 8:40 PM.
 * Despite John's accusations of laziness, Uncle can often be seen performing various tasks at Beecher's Hope, such as mending the corn silo's ladder with a hammer and crafting horseshoes outside the barn. These accusation likely come from past events, where Uncle more or less refused to help John and Charles build the home and instead overseen the construction.
 * Uncle's corpse cannot be looted after his death scene.
 * The player can throw dynamite, fire bottles, and throwing knives at Uncle to kill him.
 * Edgar Ross wears an outfit similar to Uncle's in the Stranger side mission "Remember My Family".
 * When the player walks by prostitutes as Jack, he may say "Uncle told me about girls like you," or "Uncle warned me about women like you."


 * Undead Nightmare
 * In Undead Nightmare, the unidentified yellow stain on his beard has been replaced with blood.
 * In the final mission "On a Pale Horse" Uncle appears to have not been buried next to John, in contrast to the base game where he was buried a couple yards next to John.


 * Redemption multiplayer
 * In multiplayer mode, Uncle's mouth doesn't move when the player taunts.
 * While in the game's story mode Uncle is depicted with only one glove, on his right hand, his multiplayer model features him wearing two gloves.