Snake Oil

 is a common name for a medical elixir that is sold with spurious claims. It can be found in both Red Dead Revolver and Red Dead Redemption, with different purposes.

Red Dead Revolver


in Red Dead Revolver is a throwing weapon that breaks upon impact to damage enemies. When used, snake oil temporarily renders enemies unable to shoot as they will be attempting to get liquid off themselves, after they begin to move again there movement will be slowed down for a brief period.

Professor Perry uses Snake Oil as a weapon during his fight against Jack. However instead of throwing it he will take a swig from the bottle and then spi it back out. (This is also his special move inmultiplayer.) Perry will also heal himself several times over the course of the fight by drinking Snake Oil.

It can be obtained in Chapter 17: The Mine, by interacting with a corpse that is inside a cell to the right of where the mission begins.

Red Dead Redemption
Snake Oil is a consumable in Red Dead Redemption that refills the Dead Eye meter.

Snake Oil can be picked up from looted corpses, found in chests, or bought from most shops. It will take about three seconds to drink the Snake Oil, but the dead eye meter will become full directly after use.

Nigel West Dickens is a stereotypical snake oil merchant who appears in many story missions. The player cannot actually buy snake oil from Mr. Dickens, however.

Trivia

 * Snake Oil was originally used by Chinese railroad workers as a remedy to treat joint pain while working; it was made from Chinese Water Snake. The ointment was introduced to other European workers with joint pains who would later exaggerate its effectiveness.
 * Snake Oil is only available in certain stores in the game