Seth Briars

"Oh, I've lost it all partner. My wife, my children, my business. Good riddance to them all. I don't eat, I don't sleep, I don't wash, and I don't care."

- Seth Briars

"I know, I can smell you from here."

- John Marston

 is a Major character featured in Red Dead Redemption.

Background
Briars is characterized as a dirty, crazy, old prospector who has resorted to grave robbing in his pursuit of treasure. He is obsessed with an unspecified Treasure and the map that will lead him to it. This obsession has caused him to lose his family, his business, and most of his mind. It is also implied through conversation that his father left him which might also be a cause of his lack of sanity.

Briars has a history of working with Bill Williamson, but is largely removed from the gang lifestyle due to his pursuit of treasure. It is this history which Marston exploits to gain entrance to Fort Mercer in The Assault on Fort Mercer.

Red Dead Redemption
John Marston first encounters Seth at Coot's Chapel as instructed by an old friend of Seth's, Nigel West Dickens. Marston asks for his help in infiltrating Fort Mercer but Seth shows the least bit of interest. Until the conversation leads to story of Moses Forth stealing half his treasure map. Marston agrees to help Seth recover his map in return for helping him. They set out to Benedict Point where Moses was being held by the law after being arrested for exhuming. Marston distracts the deputies guarding the jail by stealing one of their horses, and leading them away, before returning to Seth. Seth knocks on the door of the shack before Moses slams the door in his face and tries to run away. Marston catches him and brings him back hogtied. Seth threatens Moses with a Knife for the whereabouts of his map. Moses tells Seth that it is in Odd Fellow's Rest, panic stricken, causing himself to urinate ("I think you gone and pissed yourself, Moses"). Marston and Seth leave him tied up on the ground and clear John's bounty with a Pardon Letter.

John finds Seth again at Coot's Chapel with a wagon load of corpses from Odd Fellow's Rest. He says he requires Marston's assistance in bringing the bodies to a desolate location, Tumbleweed, to be searched. On the way, they are ambushed by Treasure Hunters who are trying to obtain the treasure map. Marston then tries to outrun them in the wagon, killing any that come too close while Seth searches the bodies on the way, they arrive safely, with Seth having found the other half of the map in one of the corpses. By chance, the treasure map said that the treasure was in Tumbleweed. Seth tells John that he will help him as soon as he finds his treasure.

John later returns to Tumbleweed to find Seth robbing a grave at the old church cemetery. They head over to the mansion where the treasure is supposed to be. Unknown to them the center of town is filled with Treasure Hunters who then launch a surprise attack on the two. They push toward the mansion, with Marston killing any enemies in their path. When they come to the room with the treasure chest, Seth opens it but all he finds is a glass eye. Seth is devastated but still agrees to help Marston as promised.

At the assault on Fort Mercer, Seth finds his way in beforehand (unknown method). The Williamson Gang then let in Nigel West Dickens' stage coach. After the massacre of Williamson's gang, Seth meets up with the others. Bill Williamson is nowhere to be found. Seth parts ways with Marston as he leaves, never to be seen again after that point (Undead Nightmare un-cited).

Epilogue
After "The Assault on Fort Mercer" is completed Seth is not seen again. In 1914, a newspaper reveals that Seth finally found the treasure he had been obsessed with, somewhere near the Tall Trees region.

Undead Nightmare


Seth appears during Undead Nightmare relaxing at the The Old Bacchus Place 'playing cards' with his friend, the newly Undead Moses Forth. He will suggest Marston cleanse the three New Austin cemeteries in hopes to end the plague in the mission &quot;Get Back in That Hole, Partner&quot;.

He appears again briefly at the very end of the mission &quot;On a Pale Horse&quot;.

Mission Appearances

 * &quot;Exhuming and Other Fine Hobbies&quot;
 * &quot;A Gentle Drive with Friends&quot;
 * &quot;Let the Dead Bury Their Dead&quot;
 * &quot;The Assault on Fort Mercer&quot;
 * &quot;Get Back in that Hole, Partner&quot; (Undead Nightmare)
 * &quot;On a Pale Horse&quot; (Undead Nightmare)

Trivia

 * Seth doesn't like people, men, or women, he has been driven to lose all faith in them because of the betrayal by his partner in crime, Moses. You can gain insight into this by what he says during your first mission with him, &quot;Exhuming and Other Fine Hobbies&quot;, which was, "I don't have the facility to tell you, what I would have done for that man", Of course referring to Moses, and "I don't like women partner, I don't, Not since mammy died".
 * The Blackwater Ledger repeatedly reports on Briars' actions as a serial grave robber, noting public outrage at the desecration of local graveyards, yet the last issue also reports that a man named Seth Briars has found a large treasure of gold.
 * It is possible that Seth has gone mad, as he has conversations with corpses.


 * During one of Seth's first missions, on the way to Benedict Point, Seth says:


 * (In his normal voice) Have you looked in the cave, Seth....?
 * (in a high pitched shrill voice) No... it's very dark!


 * This could indicate that Seth suffers from dementia.


 * The irony of Seth's last mission is that he walks right by the treasure - in the basement, Treasure Hunter Challenge 4, and the #3 treasure in it.
 * The front of his left shoe is busted open, exposing his foot. It is a small feature to easily overlook.
 * His physical apparent was based on Mackenzie Crook http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0188871/ especially in pirates of the Caribbean who his character always lost his wood eye (what Seth found in the treasure chest) and was also a crazy treasure seeker.
 * He resembles the character Gollum from Lord of the Rings. He has multiple personalities and is searching for precious treasure, as well as possessing a similar body language.
 * In the short film 'The Man From Blackwater', Seth finds his treasure (a glass eye) in Fort Mercer as opposed to finding it in Tumbleweed while doing the mission "Let the Dead Bury Their Dead".
 * Seth is a playable multiplayer character in the Liars and Cheats DLC.
 * In the mission Liars, Cheats and Other Proud Americans, West Dickens refers to Seth as "Seth of the Dead". This is a reference to the British Comedy Horror movie, Shaun of the Dead, which is, in turn, a parody of Dawn of the Dead.
 * In an Undead Nightmare preview from IGN, Seth is apparently trying to play cards with a now Undead Moses Forth.
 * In the same mission, he says that him and Moses were childhood friends.
 * If Marstom waits nearby and listens to Seth talk to the Undead Moses, Seth says, "What was that, Moses? I'm starting to think you're still sweet on me!" This may imply that Seth and Moses had a more intimate relationship.
 * It is implied in the Gamestop Undead Nightmare Preview that Seth may have unintentionally caused the Undead Plague by stealing the Glass Eye in his last mission (Let the Dead Bury Their Dead). However it is later confirmed to have been caused by an Aztec Mask stolen by Abraham Reyes. Yet at the end, he can be seen stealing the mask from the tomb, which brings John back from the dead.
 * Nigel West Dickens gets a fact completely wrong while talking about Seth. Dickens claims that Seth's profession was highly respected in ancient Egypt. While exhuming was somewhat accepted, Seth is nothing but a grave robber. Grave robbers in ancient Egypt were beaten until crippled, then impaled at the base of their abdomen and left to die slowly in the desert.
 * At the end of Seth's mission in Undead Nightmare "Get Back in that Hole, Partner" although it is not possible to shoot the undead Seth is dancing with you can shoot the lantern above them which will set one on fire causing the others to attack.
 * It is possible to kill Seth and Zombie Moses by simply throwing a Fire Bottle at there feet.
 * When John Marston search the corpses of undead he will sometimes say "Seth, I'm sorry about all the insults." He may also say "Seth, finally I've joined you".
 * In the Red Dead Redemption artwork of Seth, he appears to be slightly more healthy - he has longer and thicker hair, and is actually quite slim.
 * It is possible to kill Seth after the mission "Get Back in that Hole, Partner", however this will not effect the ending of the game.
 * When greeting John he usually greets him politely but almost always gets angered in the conversations he has.
 * While sitting at a camp fire, John can hear a story about an entire family gunned down at Tumbleweed (possible from police or federal agents). The man at the fire mentioned, all of their possessions were destroyed, except for a glass eye. This is likely the same glass eye found by Seth at Tumbleweed.
 * While sitting at a fire, another man can be heard talking to his family. He mentions how important priorities are, and he tells the story of a man who went so obsessed with money, he started robbing graves. An obvious indication to Seth.
 * He may not enjoy his life, because in when you point a gun at him, he may say "Go ahead. Do it. I'd most likely be better off."

Quotes
"Looks like you've gone and pissed yourself, Moses."

- Seth Briars

"I needs the map, partner...I needs it..."

- Seth Briars to John Marston

"Goodbye, John Marston, it's been a great pleasure."

- Seth upon John introducing himself.