Vincente de Santa

"Mexico loves you, Mr. Marston."

- Vincente de Santa

 is a Major character featured in Red Dead Redemption. De Santa is a Captain in the Mexican Army, serving under Colonel Agustin Allende.

Background
Ambitious and unprincipled, De Santa knows that he is fighting a war, and he has to win as the rebels have placed a price on his head. He will do anything for the Army and kill anyone that tries to stop him. De Santa is portrayed as a cruel, abusive and sadistic man. On a regular basis he personally participates in the slaughter of civilians that support the rebels and willingly kidnaps women to satisfy the sexual appetite of his commander, Colonel Allende. He is also a vicious sycophant, who is not above sending competitors on suicide missions for personal gain; he even makes a man dig his own grave before shooting him. Despite his rather sadistic and homicidal personality, he is also portrayed as a spineless coward when verbally abused by Allende. Despite the abuse (or perhaps because of it) he seems to genuinely admire and look up to Allende, seeing him as a savior of the Mexican way of life. He is also portrayed as a homosexual. In several missions, he is seen looking flamboyantly at Quique Montemayor, a waiter, and can be seen with his arms around him later in the game.

Interactions
De Santa works alongside John Marston after his first visit to Escalera, sending him on various tasks, often times personally helping John do these tasks. John learns to dislike him, seeing how most of the tasks involve burning down innocent peoples homes, and capturing young women to give to Allende and other soldiers. John also obviously hates the idea of a dictatorship, seeing how he fought against governmental control. de Santa tries having John killed a few times, sending John on many missions alone or with incompetent soldiers against large armies of rebels.

Eventually, de Santa betrays John by claiming that the Mexican Army has captured Javier Escuella and Bill Williamson, and insists they are being held in the church at Chuparosa. However, upon reaching said church, John is knocked unconscious by a rifle butt to the head. Upon coming to, is on the ground, his hands tied behind his back. As he is about to be executed, a lone bullet, fired by Abraham Reyes, whizzes through the air and prevents a seemingly immanent death. In the confusion, a large group of rebels attacks, covering John's escape. Rushing over to Reyes, John has the ropes binding his wrists cut, and hurries back to get his weapons. Sadly, de Santa has escaped, and is running back to the capital. In the Luisa Fortuna mission,Captain De Santa's Downfall, Luisa explains that de Santa was sent to oversee a massacre in Sepulcro. She asks Marston to ride out with a group of rebels and finish him once and for all. Sure enough, John (with the help of his rebel friends) quickly dispatches all the Mexican army soldiers before beating de Santa to a bloody pulp. Under intense interrogation, the brutalized de Santa tells John Javier Escuella is hiding at Casa Madrugada. In the end, It is the player's choice whether to kill the cowardly man or leave it up to the rebels. If you chose the second option he will be shot by the rebels and left there to rot in a pool of his own blood.

Captain de Santa's information about Casa Madrugada turns out to be a final lie, as only an ambush of Mexican soldiers awaited Marston.



Mission Appearances

 * "Civilization at any Price"
 * "The Demon Drink"
 * "Empty Promises"
 * "Mexican Caesar"
 * "Cowards Die Many Times"
 * "Captain De Santa's Downfall"

Trivia

 * It is heavily implied that de Santa is homosexual. There are numerous scenes hinting at a relationship between him and Quique Montemayor, a waiter.
 * His relationship with the waiter is hinted at in the first cutscene with de Santa, where Quique Montemayor gives John and de Santa a look of longing and desire. And, in another scene, when he is bringing women to Allende with Quique, the two leave with arms around each other. Captain Espinoza also says that he flirts with the bar boy.
 * When you first meet Abraham Reyes, John tells him he is looking for two men, and Reyes replies with, "You have been spending too much time with Captain de Santa."
 * During a mission, Allende calls him a "Mariconcito" in Spanish, which is slang for homosexual.
 * In a conversation with a rebel, the rebel comments about de Santa's cowardice, claiming he'll only attack when a man is on his knees. John comments, "He'll do a lot of things when men are on their knees," further alluding to de Santa's homosexuality.
 * The shopkeeper will sometimes say, "De Santa me besa como si fuera su hermano," translating as, "De Santa kisses me like if I was his brother," further hinting at his homosexuality.
 * Some NPCs in Mexico say "Capitan de Santa duerme con otros hombres!" translating as, "Captain de Santa sleeps with other men," further alluding to de Santa's homosexuality.
 * He has a hostile rivalry with Espinoza. Both are constantly insulting each other and both feel they are Allende's right-hand man, with the other one just being a cowardly, unimportant moron. De Santa describes Espinoza as "a dog (they) release from time to time," while Espinoza describes de Santa as "a maid that he (Allende) cannot fuck."
 * He actually has a lazy eye, if you look at his picture below, you can see it. It is not as noticeable as Eli's, however.
 * De Santa will be a new multiplayer character in the upcoming DLC Liars and Cheats.