John Marston

"People don't forget. Nothing is forgiven."

- John Marston

 is a Central character and the main protagonist of Red Dead Redemption.

Early Life
John Marston was born in 1873. His father was an illiterate Scottish immigrant, his mother was a prostitute who died during childbirth. John's father was blinded in both eyes during a bar fight in Chicago.

In 1881, John's father died of unknown causes, thought to be by drink. John was only 8 years old at the time and was sent to an orphanage where he lived most of his life up to the age of 17 in 1890 and met his future wife, Abigail, with whom he promptly ran away; both later joined Dutch's gang, where Dutch took care of John, teaching him how to read, shoot, and the ways of the West.

Early Career
John Marston is a former outlaw and bandit. He ran with Dutch Van Der Linde, Bill Williamson, and Javier Escuella, committing bank robberies, train raids, murders and other various crimes across the country. According to Marston, the gang stole and fought for a reason. In stealing from the rich and those who were given too much to give to the poor, they wanted to elicit change in the people of the West, although this might just be his own justification for their actions.

After being seriously wounded in a bank robbery in 1908, and was left to die by Bill Williamson and his other former brothers in arms, Marston sought to retire from the outlaw lifestyle. Putting his past deeds behind him, he disappeared along with his wife Abigail Marston and young son Jack and purchased himself a ranch. Between his abandonment of the gang and the beginning of the game, Marston had a daughter, but she died of cholera.

Despite Marston's apparent reformation, he remains a masterful gunman, rider, and hunter. Marston is a rugged survivalist and knows life as a fight to survive; he adheres to the old-fashioned West, in a world rapidly experiencing the advancements of technology.

Red Dead Redemption
As the old American Wild West is being tamed by encroaching technological advances; such as railroads, telegram offices, and stricter law enforcement, the federal government creates the Bureau of Investigation to aid in the process, headed by Edgar Ross. One of their major goals is to rid the region of all of the violent gangs running wild and unchallenged, especially that of Bill Williamson's. Edgar decides to use an ex-associate of Williamson's to hunt him down: former outlaw John Marston. By kidnapping John's wife and son, Edgar forces him to comply.

After leaving the region for unknown reasons, John arrives by ferry and is escorted by Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham through the town of Blackwater, then sent off by train to Armadillo. Once there, John is led by a man named Jake to the gates of Fort Mercer, Bill and his gang's main hideout. In confronting his old friend, Marston tries to reason with Williamson in giving up peacefully, but this alone results in a rifle bullet to the ribs by one of Bill's men.

Bonnie MacFarlane and her ranch hand Amos find John left-for-dead on the side of the road and pick him up. After treating his wounds, Bonnie provides John lodging with the condition of helping her around on her ranch.

John works off his debt of $15 and his life to Bonnie and her father Drew MacFarlane, but after Bill has found out that John survived and is staying at the MacFarlane Ranch, he has his gang burn the barn down.

After helping US Marshal Leigh Johnson clean up Armadillo of some gangs, John and the Marshall begin to plan an assault on the fort. To gather a team, John works with merchant Nigel West Dickens, dysfunctional alcoholic Irish and psychotic treasure hunter Seth Briars. However, their plans of assault are temporarily delayed when they have to save Bonnie from some of Williamson's men. After saving Bonnie, John and his team carry out a full-blown assault on Fort Mercer, using a "Trojan horse" strategy by sneaking John and a gattling gun inside the fort with Dickens' sales wagon and then jumping out and attacking when all the outlaws inside are distracted. However, after clearing the fort of outlaws, the crew discover that Williamson had fled the previous day and went into hiding in Mexico with Javier Escuella.

Irish escorts John south of the border to Nuevo Paraiso, where he meets the region's corrupt provisional governor Colonel Allende and his ruthless subordinate right-hand man Captain De Santa. He is forced to work for them to gain information on Williamson and Escuella. At the same time, John runs into the aging gunslinger Landon Ricketts who teaches him new gunfighting skills. Marston also aids Abraham Reyes and Luisa Fortuna, two revolutionaries working to overthrow Allende. He attempts to extract any information possible from both Allende and Reyes regarding Bill and Javier's whereabouts.

Allende however, aware of John's loyalties, betrays him and has his men attempt to kill him. Reyes and his rebels arrive in time and rescue John before he is executed. John then sides with Reyes and joins the rebellion. After killing Captain de Santa, Marston and the rebels lead an attack on Allende's villa. Luisa is gunned down by Allende's men. John and Reyes manage to kill Allende and Williamson, who was seeking shelter and protection from the Mexican Army. John also successfully captures (or kills) Escuella. Reyes and his rebels take over the villa and plan on marching to Mexico's capitol, fighting for revolution. John heads back to Blackwater to meet with Edgar Ross again.

Though his business with Williamson and Escuella is over, Ross tells him that he needs to kill Dutch Van Der Linde, former leader of John's old gang, or he will never see his family again. John, along with Ross, Archer Fordham and other Bureau Agents meet in several fights across West Elizabeth against Van Der Linde and his gang of Natives, but he escapes capture or death every time. Marston also works with incompetent Yale Professor Harold MacDougal and Native-American informant Nastas in tracking Dutch down. Eventually, John and the Bureau join the US Army in ambushing Dutch's hideout. He confronts Dutch himself, who warns John that the government will always find a new "monster" to justify their pay. Rather than dying by John's hand, Dutch chooses to commit suicide by falling from a cliff.

After the raid, John is released by the government and finally reunites with his family at their ranch in Beecher's Hope. He settles down with his wife Abigail and teen son Jack, along with old family-friend Uncle, and attempts to return to a crime-free life as a farmer with his family.

However, as per Dutch's warning, Edgar double-crosses John. He, along with the Bureau and US Army, launches an attack on the Marston ranch. Uncle is killed during the gunfight, while John and son continue holding off the attack. John tells Abigail and Jack to run while he stays behind in the barn to defend them. But in reality, he realizes that the only way to save his family from the government's crosshairs is to lay down his life so they can be free.

John sacrifices himself in a desperate last-stand against Ross and his men. After exiting the barn calmly and standing before a large firing-squad, he draws his pistol and takes out as many men as he can until they open fire on him. Still standing, with multiple bullet wounds on his bloody body, he breathes vigorously and drops his revolver, falls to his knees and then eventually collapses to the ground. As Ross watches Marston dying, he is clearly satisfied with knowing that the final member of Dutch's gang is dead. Ross and his men leave the ranch. Abigail and Jack, upon hearing the cease-fire, return to find John's body in a pool of blood. They then proceed to bury him up on top of the hill overlooking the ranch, alongside Uncle. His grave is inscribed "Blessed are the Peacemakers."

John's death at the hands of Ross was a poetic end to his life. He sacrificed himself to save his family so they could lead a better life, the reason he sought forgiveness in the first place. Knowing John was dead, Ross wouldn't follow Abigail or Jack so desperately any more, allowing them, and more importantly Jack, to start life fresh; finally gaining Redemption. Sadly, even though he saved his families life, Jack still went on to become an outlaw, gunning down Edgar Ross in the future for killing his father.

In 1914, three years after John was killed, Abigail dies from unknown causes. An older Jack, now a mirror image of his father, returns and buries her body up on the hill next to John's grave. From then on, he is playable throughout the remainder of the game; retaining all of his father's weapons, clothes, money, horses, houses and fame/honor.

Undead Nightmare
West Elizabeth

In Undead Nightmare, John is in his house with Abigail and Jack. They are all talking about general things, like a book Jack is reading, however they mention that Uncle hasn't returned from what he was doing yet. John however states that because of the storm, Uncle has probably went to a dry place nearby and will stay there until the storm subsides. Uncle is then seen, although he is undead. Uncle tries to attack them, and John fights back. John heads for his gun in a nearby shed, however when he comes back Uncle already bit Abigail in the neck. John shoots Uncle in the head and tends to Abigail. Jack comes outside and tries to help his mother. However, Abigail turns into a zombie and bites Jack, turning him into a zombie. John then has to hogtie both of them, and after giving them both a plate of food, he leaves them in the house and sets out to find a cure.

John then goes to Blackwater, where he finds Professor Macdougal, who returned from Yale to document the zombie infestation. Macdougal is killed however, and John is forced to clear out Blackwater and look for more survivors. He finds a family on a roof, killing zombies, however they are no help. John finds another group of survivors, who all give him tons of reasons for the plague, including a "Snake oil merchant", and a "Freak with a glass eye".

If John goes to Tanner's Reach, he will meet a hunter who claims to have just shot a Sasquatch and makes him start The Birth of the Conservation Movement mission, which has John try to hunt down 6 Sasquatches. After finding the sixth one however, John learns that his hunting has doomed the Sasquatches and the last one there asks John to kill him because his family is dead. John can choose to kill him or not.

New Austin

If John decides to follow the "Snake Oil Merchant" lead, they will find Nigel West Dickens in Fort Mercer, trying to sell his elixir as a cure and repellant to the plague. John however forces Nigel to stop selling it, and Nigel complies and hands out free samples to see if they like it. The elixir however is actually more of a bait, and the drinker is killed by zombies soon after drinking. Nigel is disappointed and asks John to find him 5 Desert Sage and 5 Violet Snowdrops to see if he can make a better cure. He also gives John some of the elixir to use as bait. After John finds the flowers, Nigel makes a Phosphorus bullet coating with it, and then asks John to find him some old parts he needs. After John finds the parts, Nigel uses it for a Blunderbuss, telling John that it is the ideal weapon for zombie killing. He also tells John that he is trying to get to Mexico and should be in Solomon's Folly in a few days. At Solomon's Folly, John finds out that all paths to Mexico are blocked, and that Nigel has no way of getting to Mexico. However, Nigel tells John that if he gets a US Army uniform from some deserters, he can sneak on a train manned by the US Army that is headed to Mexico. Nigel goes off and John doesnt meet him again.

If John decides to follow the "Freak with a glass eye" lead, they will find Seth in The Old Bacchus place, playing cards with an undead Moses Forth. John asks Seth if theres a cure to the plague, and Seth tells him to clear the graveyards. After John clears out 3 graveyards and goes back to Seth, Seth tells him that the cause of all this has something to do with the Aztecs, and tells him to head down for Mexico if he wants to cure the plague.

In the MacFarlane's Ranch, John meets Bonnie MacFarlane, who tasks him with trying to find her father, Drew MacFarlane in the barn, although she tells him he has been in there for more than a day. John finds Drew in the barn, zombified. John is forced to kill Drew, and he goes to Bonnie and tells her what happened.

In Plainview, John finds DS Mackenna, who tells John to bring him a Retcher, because Mackenna desires to make a zombie movie. Once John does so however, Mackenna sets it and another zombie loose, and they both proceed to attack Mackenna, who is turned into a zombie. John then can kill all three of them.

In Armadillo, John meets Marshal Leigh Johnson, and Johnson asks John to find Eli and Jonah, who have been missing for a few hours. John finds Eli eating Jonah, and they both attack John. John then has to kill them both, and tell Johnson the news. Johnson also gives John a Sawed off Shotgun.

In Fort Mercer, John sees an Army Captain posting up a missing persons poster for Millicent Waterbury. The Captain asks John to find the girl, and John finds Millicent in Pleasance House, although zombies are trying to attack her. After John saves Millicent, they head back to Fort Mercer and the Captain thanks John and tells him theres more missing persons if he wants to help them.

If John heads to the deserters, he finds them being attacked by zombies, he can either help them and earn the uniform, or steal it and suffer the consequences. After John has the uniform, he can head to the train, where he finds the US Army being lightly hassled by zombies. After John helps them clear it out, the zombie heads to the border. At the border, the captain tells them all to get off and clear the roadblock. However, they are attacked by zombies and the US Army retreats, leaving John to kill the zombies. After he has dealt with them, John can man the train and smash through the roadblock into Mexico.

Mexico

In Mexico, John finds that Mexico is actually in worse shape than America, and he heads to Las Hermanas, where he meets the Mother Superior. She tells John that other nuns are not as resourceful as her, and that he needs to head inside Las Hermanas and save the town. After doing so, Mother Superior thanks John and John asks her why the plague is happening. She tells John that she needs a normal Undead to really find out. After John brings her a normal Undead, Mother Superior tells John that she suspects evil, and she pours holy water on the zombie, who is briefly bathed in blue flame, but is not killed. She asks John if he can clear out the Sepulcro graveyard for her, and she gives him Holy Water. After he returns, Mother Superior tells him that a woman told her that the cause of all this is because of something Abraham Reyes has done. John is then tasked with heading to Escalera and finding out what's really causing all this.

In Casa Madrugada, John meets Landon Ricketts, who is busy ridding the town of zombies. Landon seems to be holding off all the zombies by himself, and Landon tells John that if he can find something that attracts the zombies, he can combine it with Dynamite and really kill the zombies quick. After John brings Landon Zombie Bait and Dynamite, Landon combines them and makes Boom Bait, after handing it to John, they say farewells and John leaves.

In Escalera, John finds a woman, who tells him that Reyes is up ahead, John finds Reyes, however, he is zombified and is trying to kill a woman. After John kills Reyes, the woman tells John that the cause of all this is because Reyes' lust for invulnerability made him steal an ancient Aztec mask, and this is why the plague started. They take the mask to the crypt where Reyes found it, and after John places the mask back in the altar, the zombies are returned to normal and John heads home.

Epilogue

Upon heading back to Beecher's Hope, John finds that Abigail and Jack are fine, and they are happy again. A few months later, John is dead, and in Escalera, Seth is shown stealing the ancient mask, causing all dead, including John to return as undead. However, as John was buried with Holy Water, he returns as an undead with a man's soul, allowing the player to still play as him.

Legacy
Eventually, Jack finds Ross, who has retired from the Bureau a glorified hero, and announces he has come to avenge his father. The two duel on the Mexican side of the San Luis River, with Jack killing Ross and causing his body to fall back into the river. However, this same act turns Jack into a murderer, ruining his hopes for a better life and forcing him down the same way of life that his father had so desperately tried to steer him away from, leaving the future of the Marston family in doubt.

The legacy of John Marston in the epilogue of RDR leads the viewer to believe that John Marston ends up deceased. However, in the DLC-pack for RDR, Undead Nightmare, John Marston is the protagonist. The DLC takes place after John gets back to his family in Beecher's Hope. It is an alternate storyline involving a zombie epidemic.

Undead Nightmare
At the end of Undead Nightmare, Seth steals the ancient mask again, causing all dead to return to the living. John has passed away due to Ross' doings by now, and he is revived from the dead as a zombie. However, due to him being buried with Holy Water, John returns as a zombie, but he still has his soul, which means the player can still play as John, although he is a zombie.

Murders Committed
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Collateral

 * Leander Holland - Killed during A Frenchman, a Welshman and an Irishman, for threatening John.
 * Alwyn Lloyd - Killed during A Frenchman, a Welshman and an Irishman, for threatening John.
 * Andreas Müller - Killed during Lucky in Love, for accusing John of being a cheat.
 * The Stranger - Killed during Lucky in Love, for threatening a girl.
 * Captain Espinoza - Killed during Cowards Die Many Times, for betraying him.
 * Raul Zubieta - Killed in retaliation for the murder of Luisa Fortuna.

Optional encounters

 * Harold Thornton - Killed in a duel in The Wronged Woman.
 * Mario Alcalde - Killed in retaliation for the murder of Eva Cortes in Eva in Peril.

Optional
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 * Walton Lowe - Can be killed during Political Realities in Armadillo.
 * Norman Deek - Can be killed during Hanging Bonnie MacFarlane, if John shoots him before the enemy gang does.
 * Manolo Santador- Can be killed during Lucky in Love, if Ricketts doesn't kill him first.
 * Sanchez - Can be killed during Lucky in Love
 * Vincente de Santa - Can be killed during Captain De Santa's Downfall, if John chooses to kill him himself, or let the rebels shoot him.
 * Javier Escuella - Can be killed during The Gates of El Presidio, or captured.
 * Agustin Allende - Can be killed during An Appointed Time, if John chooses.
 * Bill Williamson - Can be killed during An Appointed Time, if Abraham doesn't kill him first.
 * Randall Forrester - Can be killed during American Appetites.
 * Abner Forsyth - Can be killed during The Prohibitionist.
 * Clyde Evans - Can be killed during Water and Honesty.
 * Uriah Tollets - Can be killed during Poppycock.

Quotes

 * Main article: John Marston Quotations. Quotes can be found in the link.

Trivia

 * Marston resembles Red Harlow with his similar scars.
 * Jack Marston's face has the same scars as his father, caused by a bear.
 * If you look closely at John's hat, it appears very similar to Red Harlow's, with certain aesthetic differences.
 * John does not know how to swim, and will drown in deep waters, similar to many of the protagonists of Rockstar's earlier Grand Theft Auto games. He admits this to Irish during the mission "We Shall Be Together in Paradise".
 * John is often associated with the city, even though he is a rancher.
 * John's parents' relationship with each other is left ambiguous; John himself struggled with what to label them.
 * John's grave marker reads "Blessed are the peacemakers," signifying his long road to redemption and peace for his family in a lawless land.
 * John can only speak very basic Spanish. While in Mexico, he usually remarks "hola" to NPCs and occasionally shouts in broken Spanish during combat.
 * John is seen smoking cigarettes during cutscenes, after missions, and while watching a film in the cinema.
 * John is extremely polite to women. For example, John calls Bonnie MacFarlane "Miss MacFarlane," even after she has asked him to call her "Bonnie." He also does anything possible to keep women safe, even punching Irish to defend two nuns.
 * In contrast to his politeness to women, John is unafraid to take the moral high-ground when dealing with less than reputable characters, like Irish with his alcoholism and Nigel West Dickens with his swindling of gullible people.
 * It is left unexplained why John arrives in Blackwater aboard a steamboat if he resides in Beecher's Hope. This is proabably due to the fact that he and his family were taken away
 * John makes mention of his deceased daughter a few times when discussing his family. Her name and the cause of her death are unknown.
 * John has repeatedly made wise comments toward various characters. If his Honor is low enough, John can insult people by pressing B (Xbox 360) or Circle (PS3). These insults are a clear example of John's sharp tongue.
 * Not promising to resolve the problem, John usually answers with "I'll see what I can do" to Strangers after hearing their situation.
 * Before the game came out, in the trailers, John looked much younger and thin. So did Abigail. But, this was changed due to Jack being nearly a mature man.
 * John actually doesn't have to physically kill his former gang members himself as Dutch kills himself, Javier can be captured, and Bill can be shot by Abraham Reyes.
 * John is very similar to Johnny Klebitz, the main protagonist from another Rockstar Games game, Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned. Both have a rough voice and background, both rode in a gang and both were betrayed by their gang's leader after they had gone insane and lost their ways. It should also be noted that the antagonists of the Lost and Damned and Red Dead Redemption are both named Bill. (Billy Grey and Bill Williamson). In fact, despite some minor differences, the only major differences is being nearly a century apart from one another and final outcomes are exactly opposite.
 * John's cowboy outfit, along with his hat, can be bought and worn by your PlayStation Home character and Xbox 360 Avatar.
 * When killing a zombie prostitute in Undead Nightmare, he may say something along the lines of "Technically I'm not married anymore, but you ain't alive anymore."
 * If you sit at a cannibals' camp, John will pick up some of the meat, eat it and throw up, however he doesn't throw it up if he is a zombie.
 * In the beginning of Undead Nightmare, he seems oblivious to the fact of zombies, like when Uncle bursts in the door, Abigail screams while John just stands there bewildered.
 * If he doesn't find anything after looting corpses in Undead Nightmare he may become annoyed, saying things like "What the hell!?", "Goddamn this shit!" and "This is starting to anger me!".
 * After John Marston has been resurrected, living characters seem oblivious to the fact that he is a zombie.
 * John seems to be one of the only men in the game that is loyal to his wife.
 * When Marston loots corpses as a zombie, he may sometimes laugh at their loss.
 * He, along with Leigh Johnson, Abraham Reyes, Luisa Fortuna, Bonnie MacFarlane, and Drew MacFarlane, sounded different during development. This can be heard here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDJj4Pmj8fE and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69QejKf4am4&feature=related

Gallery
John Marston John Marston