Strange Man

The Strange Man is a minor character and stranger featured in Red Dead Redemption.

A mysterious and metaphysical character, there are several interpretations of the character's strange behavior and apparent supernatural abilities. None have been confirmed.

Background
The Strange Man reveals a detailed knowledge of John Marston's history. And that is everything. 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 apparently claims he cannot remember his own name.

He also, in passing, mentions that he has a son.

Interactions
The Strange Man is the focus of the stranger side mission I Know You, which is only available for John Marston. Marston encounters the strange man three times while in the wilderness: once in New Austin, once in Nuevo Paraiso and once in West Elizabeth. This ensures that the players interactions with the man are spread throughout the story narrative.

In the final confrontation, Marston fires three rounds in a fit of anger. The man continues to walk away, unwounded and unconcerned with the attempted assault. Marston looks at his handgun, then looks to the man who has disappeared. This confrontation notably occurs on the ridge at the Marston Ranch where John would eventually be buried alongside Abigail and Uncle.

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", where John would eventually be buried in The Last Enemy

That Shall Be Destroyed.

Supernatural

 * 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 Marstons 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.
 * Some players have insisted that when he claims to have had a son, it is a reference to the Abrahamic Deity, and specifically the Christian interpretation of Jesus Christ.
 * 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.
 * In Roman Catholicism, the archangel Michael is viewed as the good Angel of Death (as opposed to Samael, the evil Angel of Death), carrying the souls of the deceased to Heaven. There, he balances them in his scales (one of his symbols). This would give reason to the Strange Man's comment of being an accountant; as in he is weighing John's soul in relation to the deeds he has performed for him. He is said to give the dying souls the chance to redeem themselves before passing as well. In Mexico, a popular folk-Catholic belief regards the Angel of Death as a saint, known as Santa Muerte, but this local cult is not acknowledged by the Catholic Church of Mexico.
 * Death is also mentioned in the "Revelation of John" which is a book of Christian origin and writings, the connection is obvious the protagonist's name is John and death visits him in visions. However there are four differing interpretations of the Book of Revelation, so no clear connection can be made to John Marston and the Strange Man.
 * Some players believe that the strange man was the devil or an agent of the devil speaking of the evils of John's past and that he will pay for them in hell. When John yells, "Tell me who you are or I won't be responsible for my actions!" and the stranger replies, "Oh yes John, you will", it implies that he will be punished for his previous life of crime and, because bullets have no effect on the man, he is a supernatural being. Also, the "Damn you!" conversation could refer to the devil's initial damnation by God.
 * It has been noticed that he looks like the doctor that goes to work for the devil in the movie that plays in Armadillo, which would explain why he was an "accountant", weighing John's good deeds and bad to decide if he goes to heaven or hell.
 * It is also possible he is like Randall Flagg from Stephen King's work. Randall Flagg is a supernatural, evil wanderer who has been around for a very long time that stretches back to the Civil War. He usually sees people and can "look into their soul" and find out all they want, what their goals are, and what they have done wrong.
 * It is possible that the Strange Man could literally be a ghost from John's past. John says time and again that when he was in Dutch's gang, they stole from the rich and gave the money to those who needed it. The Strange Man claims to be an accountant, which is good paying job, and is dressed in fine attire, implying his wealth and status. As a ghost, the Strange Man has reached a "higher power", which could be why he seems to be able to "predict the future". The Strange Man has unfinished business with John, he tests him to see if he is truly a savage or if he does have some moral fibre. When John says "Damn you!", after the Strange Man refuses to tell John his name, he responds with "Yes, many have". The Strange Man's response may reference the populace's reaction to his wealth when he was alive, and the fact that he was killed because of it. By John, or his gang members, ending the Strange Man's life, he is damned to wander the earth.

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 final 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 posses. 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 it is in John's (however this may be for other reasons, such as the man knowing about Marston's son, so to say to Jack would seem, at the least, weird).
 * Some players insist that he is not a supernatural being and instead a skilled illusionist who has taken an interest in the increasingly famous John Marston, even though there is no actual in-game evidence to support or pander to this suggestion.
 * He may be John Marston's father's ghost who was revealed to be a wealthy accountant. This would explain the pictures in the ranch and his interest in John. It also explains why Jack cannot persue the "I know you" stranger mission.

Rolling Stones Theory

 * He is the devil, and he is based on the song "Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones.

There are many reasons that most of you know about, such him saying "Many have." when John says "Damn you!"

But, there is more.

In the song "Sympathy For The Devil" by the Rolling Stones-

The first line is "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

The Strange Man is dressed in wealthy attire, he carries himself and speaks in a tone as though he has each of those characteristics.

The story the song tells is fairly similar to the Strange Man. He gives you all these clues to who he is, but he won't tell you. In the song at the end, he finally admits that he is Lucifer (more on this later), and he speaks of laying souls to waste. Here is the line from the song:

So if you meet me Have some courtesy Have some sympathy, have some taste (woo woo) Use all your well-learned politesse Or I'll lay your soul to waste''

In your final meeting with him, John shoots at the Strange Man, but finds that his bullets have no effect.

I think this is what triggers the devil to have John killed later, because in that same scene, John says "Tell me your name or I won't be responsible for my actions!"

And the Strange Man replies "Oh, yes you will."

John's actions of shooting The Strange Man give the devil the reason he was looking for, and wanted, to have events transpire that result in his death, so he could take his soul. ''
 * In the first cut scene with the stranger John does ask him " Whats your game friend "

One of the lines in sympathy for the devil goes...

Pleased to meet you Hope you guess my name But what's puzzling you Is the nature of my game

Connections to Saint Peter
The strange man "tests" Marston three times, similarly Saint Peter was tested three times. He also welcomes Marston to Nuevo Pariseo, which is Spanish for New Paradise. Saint Peter's role in Heaven is to welcome newcomers. The strange man says that many have damned him which again could refer to Saint Peter's failure in the three tests he faced, where he denied Christ.

The strange man also refers to himself as an accountant (of sorts). This could be a reference to Saint Peter's role in determining who is allowed entry into Heaven and who is denied.

In the Nuevo Pariseo scene, the strange man is seen with a donkey which is closely associated with Christ and in the next scene, where Marston approaches the nun, she is also seen in the presence of a donkey, which appears to reinforce the apparent holiness of the strange man.

Marston's personal history prior to the events depicted in the story suggest that he has not always been righteous in his actions and it seems quite possible that the strange man is a tangible depiction of the redemption he undergoes during the course of the story, depending on the actions of the individual player.

Themes

 * Supernatural intervention has been a theme in several classic western films including High Plains Drifter (1973) and Pale Rider (1985).
 * The Strange Man bears a thematic resemblance to the satanic character Judge Holden from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian; a novel about genocide in the Western part of the continent during the mid-19th century. Like Holden, the Strange Man imparts crucial information about the character as an antagonist and makes claims regarding the judgment of morality.
 * The Strange Man may be a homage to Randall Flagg, a prominent character from Stephen King's Dark Tower novel series.
 * The Strange Man's ambiguous intentions and apparent supernatural abilities are theme mirrored by the G-Man from the Half-Life video game series.
 * The character may be a reference to the Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain.

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.
 * 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.)
 * If you point a gun at him, he can pull out a Cattleman Revolver and shoot and kill the player.
 * He looks similar to Clark Gable.
 * 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.
 * The Strange Man would rarely say that John was always a nasty little orphan.

Quotes
"Damn you!"

- John Marston

"Yes, many have"

- The Strange Man