Strange Man

"This is a nice spot."

- The Strange Man standing on the hill in Beecher's Hope.

The  is a minor character and Stranger featured in Red Dead Redemption. He appears in and gives the player the Stranger side-mission "I Know You".

Biography
A mysterious and metaphysical character, there are several interpretations of the character's strange behavior and apparent supernatural abilities. None have been confirmed, although much of the evidence points to him being a sort of God. For example, when John says "Damn you!," the Strange Man replies "Many Have," perhaps referencing the phrase "God dammit." Moreover, he seems to have a vast array of knowledge and mentions he has a son, who could possibly be Jesus Christ. The Strange Man may also be a Saint, as he will say to John, "You have forgotten far more important people than me" (referring to a much more powerful deity, such as God or Satan.) It is possible that the developers did not base the Strange Man off any religious figure, whether it be a Saint or God, and left it to the players to decide whether he is God, Satan, a Saint or even the ghost of one of John's previous victims. This is supported by the fact that no matter if the player chooses the honourable or dishonourable way of completing the task, he will always say "I hope my son grows up to be just like you." (Referring to Jesus Christ or Damien). During his appearance in Mexico, he can be seen accompanied by a Mule or a Donkey. In religious terms, a Donkey or a Mule was widely used by religious figures such as Jesus Christ and his parents, Joseph and Mary.

The Strange Man reveals a detailed knowledge of John Marston's history. He is impeccably dressed in a three piece suit with a large top hat. The man appears to be calm and collected, even in the arid wilderness. He is also able to identify John Marston whenever Marston approaches him, without actually looking at him. When questioned, he claims to be "an accountant... in a way," but also claims he cannot remember his own name.

Interpretations
No formal explanation is given for the strange man, leaving players to form their own conclusions about his nature. The Strange Man's apparent invulnerability to bullets, his bizarre calm in the wilderness, and his unusual knowledge of both Marston's own criminal past and the nature of Marston's victims seem out of place. Additionally, the Strange Man seems to foreshadow the location of their final encounter as a "nice spot."

Supernatural
The first meeting with the Strange Man takes place looking out over a rocky desert area. The second meeting with the Strange Man takes place in Nuevo Paraiso, which translates to "New Paradise." The third meeting with the Strange Man takes place atop a hill in Beechers Hope, overlooking all of John's "kingdom."
 * Several popular interpretations include the strange man being a moral or religious deity, or powerful supernatural agent. In this interpretation, the strange man is testing Marston's supposed redemption from his crimes.
 * The Strange Man to most is a supreme being, or as some would say a god. He is always very calm, collected and seems to understand everything he does, as if he has a bigger picture of the Red Dead universe. He never seems to care what John Marston's choices are as his response is the same if you perform a good or bad deed. The Strange Man only cares to see that John Marston has to experience these situations he creates. The Devil in this case would be trying to manipulate the player into a bad deed, an Angel or Jesus Christ would be trying to help the player make the right choice, where as the Strange Man is the creator of the situation as a whole.
 * When the Strange Man responds to John's curse of "Damn you!" with the retort of "Yes, many have", this could allude to a number of colloquial blasphemous profanities involving the damnation of deities throughout numerous religions.
 * It has also been suggested that the Strange Man is a personification of Death; as only John interacts with him during the crucial events leading up to his death, and is neutral in his requests as opposed to a good or evil deity. The idea that the Strange Man is Death can be aligned to his claim to have had a son through Milton's, Paradise Lost, in Paradise Lost Death is the grandson of Satan and he rapes his mother (Sin), begetting dogs that torment her. Also note that many men at that time Cursed Death, or Damned it, which would be an ironic foreshadow of John's death. Also, the final location where you meet the Strange Man, who remarks "This is a nice spot", is the same spot John is buried in the final cutscene.
 * In the final encounter with the Strange Man, Marston attempts to shoot him as he walks away. However, the bullets do not harm him, and Marston looks at his gun as if something was wrong. This suggests that the bullets went right through him.
 * Despite this, it is possible to kill the Strange Man before this final encounter. He is rather resistant to bullets, however, taking several shots to the head to finally bring him down. Even if you kill him, however, you are still able to complete the series of quests as he comes back to life for the next meeting.
 * The Strange Man is very reminiscent of the character Mephistopheles from the novel Faust and numerous other works throughout literature, including Shakespeare. Mephistopheles is described in many ways but is seen as an agent for the Devil who recruits individuals for the purpose of collecting souls of the already damned. He appears only to souls that are in danger of being damned, and regularly challenges Faust with tests of morality. He also seems reluctant in most cases to do so, as he originally warns Faust about the repercussions of selling his soul to the devil.
 * The number and locations of the meetings with the Strange Man draws parallells to the Temptation of Christ in the Bible:
 * 1) The first temptation of Christ by the Devil happens in a rocky desert setting.
 * 1) The second temptation of Christ by the Devil happens in a place referred to as the "The Holy City."
 * 1) The third temptation of Christ by the Devil happens in a "high place", where "all the kingdoms of the world can be seen."
 * He generally appears to be a ghost (possibly killed by John, as he says he has forgotten him), due to the fact that when John says "Damn you!" he replies "Many have" showing more than just blasphemous expressious like "God damn". It is more along the lines of being a ghost, which is a damned spirit. He may be a symbol of John's past, seeing if he is truly redeemed. He says that he is an accountant, likely due to him weighing up sins and actions.He also talks about a girl he knew who was killed in bank robbery and asked Marston he remember her. Supporting the fact that he can be one of John´s victims ( he was possibly a bank manager or a government agent).
 * John fires three shots at the strange man. Later on in the story, John loses three lives: Uncle, Abigail, and ultimately his own. This could mean that for each shot fired at the Strange Man, John would lose somebody. This may be supported by the fact that when John asks the Strange Man's name and the man says he can't remember, John gets mad and says in an angry tone ¨Tell me your name or I wont be responsible for my actions!¨ to which the man replies ¨Oh but you will. You will be responsible for your action¨. This could also mean that the gun John was using would jam and save Jack's life. This is unlikely as Abigail died years after John and Uncle.

Personal

 * Another explanation puts the strange man as a manifestation of John's own conscience, as though Marston is hallucinating. This is somewhat supported by the fact that when John questions him for his name for a first time, he brings up the tragic story of a girl presumably killed by John during a robbery in John's former life. This explanation seems to conflict with the fact that when the Strange Man issues John a task, he has intimate knowledge of this situation; knowledge that Marston alone could not possess. This, however, is potentially explained by saying that John had already observed the people involved in the tasks while passing through, since the Strange Man does not appear until after John has taken several missions, which could place him near those people. A fact that may back this theory up is that when played as Jack this stranger mission is unplayable, as though the man doesn't exist in Jack's mind but he does in John's. Also, when he mentions that he wants his son to "be just like you". This could be Marston wanting Jack to be like his father, expressed through his conscience. However, this is unlikely, seeing that none of the missions needed to meet the Strange Man happen in Thieves Landing which is where the first mission takes place.
 * The picture of him above the bed in Beecher's Hope is probably an Easter Egg, filler material or coincidence.

Themes

 * Supernatural intervention has been a theme in several classic western films including Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter (1973) and Pale Rider (1985).
 * The character may be a reference to the Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain.
 * The character's appearance may be a reference to The Man in the Black Suit by Stephen King. The story's protagonist is taunted and terrorized by the Devil, who appears as a strange man in a black three-piece suit.

Trivia

 * An early rumor circulated just after the games release suggested that the Strange Man is present in the mob that appears during the mission The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed. This has since proven to be false.
 * In an issue of Gamepro Magazine, a closer look at Red Dead Redemption was given. When asked about the Strange Man quest, and whether the "man in the black top hat" represented God or Satan, Rockstar told the magazine that he could not tell if the Strange Man was God, Satan, the Black Smoke Monster from Lost, or anything else.
 * It is actually possible to kill the Strange Man. Just shoot him before triggering the cut scene. Doing so, however, will fail the mission. (You can however, kill him after the mission is over, this can be however be counted as a bug and non canon due to him being a simple NPC and in the cutscene he appears invincible.)
 * Before your first encounter with the Strange Man, he is standing at the edge of a cliff in New Austin, and can be pushed off this cliff which kills him instantly.
 * If you point a gun at him, he can pull out a Cattleman Revolver and shoot and kill the player. Or he may run away while yelling at John.
 * There is what appears to be a picture of him hanging above John and Abigail's bed at Beecher's Hope, as well as directly over Jack's bed. Using a sniper rifle or the binoculars allows for a closer examination.
 * After the first encounter with him, players can point a gun at him and he will start to run. Lasso and hogtie him but he will continue to talk. He also keeps talking as if the situation were normal (as if he were still standing at the edge of the cliff perfectly fine). However, pointing a gun at him is considered a crime and civilians will attempt to alert law enforcement.
 * There is a rumor speculating that the strange man may be the ghost of Jack Swift from Red Dead Revolver. They both say they were accountants, dress the same, look similar, and have the same type of moustache. Although Jack Swift was an Englishman and Stranger has no English accent. Also Jack Swift used dual weapons.
 * The strange man's apperance is very similar to that of Hoodoo Brown from the video game GUN.
 * What appears to be the strange man may appear in the cutscene when you say goodbye to MacDougal at the train station during The Prodigal Son Returns (To Yale), he is sitting on a bench behind the player, however he disappear as the cutscene finishes, however he does not always appear.
 * There is a rumor going around that he might be somehow involved in the Undead Nightmare Pack.

Quotes
"Damn you!"

- John Marston

"Yes, many have"

- The Strange Man