Harold MacDougal

"I write books... I'm from Connecticut!"

- Harold MacDougal

 is a Major character featured in Red Dead Redemption.

Background
He is a 43-year old anthropologist. Harold is on a sabbatical from Yale, writing a book on Native Americans and the last days of the Wild-West, and he is very much an East Coast turn-of-the-century man. It could be said that that he has taken his study of cocaine a little too seriously, and that his 'sabbatical' from Yale might have been forced. He is an optimist who loves the American way of life and speaks in large metaphors at times.

Red Dead Redemption
When John Marston and Archer Fordham retrieve Nastas from Dutch's trap at the Wreck of the Serendipity, they drop him off at Professor Harold MacDougal's house to recover. Edgar Ross then instructs Marston to pay him a visit later.

When John Marston visits MacDougal again, he finds him comparing blood samples of, in his opinion, the 'savage' Native Americans and the 'civilized' white man. After observing them, he is absolutely shocked to see that they are exactly the same. Nastas then enters, and MacDougal tries to communicate with sign language and metaphors, but Nastas responds to him by speaking in a perfectly normal manner. Nastas claims to know the location of Dutch Van Der Linde, and both Marston and MacDougal follow Nastas into Tall Trees, where MacDougal rides back to Blackwater, obviously frightened. After Marston gets knocked out, Nastas runs up the mountain and carries him back to MacDougal, where he revives him with smelling salts. MacDougal claims that he and Nastas carried Marston back, but after an angry glare, he reveals that he was not involved.

When John Marston encounters MacDougal again, Nastas arranges a meeting with Dutch's men at Bearclaw Camp. On the way, they encounter a Grizzly Bear, and MacDougal, horrified, shoots and makes the bear angry. When it attacks, Marston kills the bear before it could do any damage. Nastas then says that the Bear meant no harm and would not have attacked if Macdougal had not shot first. The meeting with Dutch does not go very well. Nastas is shot after being called a traitor. The professor cowers in fear as Marston fights Dutch's men, and the two of then escape back to Blackwater.

Marston next finds him packing in a hurried state, repeatedly calling the natives "fucking savages!", and aiming to take the next train back to Yale. Dutch Van Der Linde approaches his house from the street, telling John to send MacDougal outside they could show him their own method of 'Anthropology'. Marston and MacDougal escape via the rooftops, but Dutch has snipers all over the city. After a battle, Marston and MacDougal get on their horses and run full speed to the train station at Manzanita Post. Marston along the way kills any of Dutch's men trying to pursue them.

When they reached the station, MacDougal thanked Marston for his help. He shakes his hand but gives up and gives him a big hug before boarding the train.

Epilogue
MacDougal succeeded in returning to Yale University. In 1914, MacDougal is caught beating a fellow scholar, Fortisque, on the head with a croquet mallet before climbing a building completely naked and demanding fine food and drink. He is in a drunken state and is then kicked out from the university. The newspaper article detailing this event emphasizes the "savagery" of the attack; an ironic choice of words, since MacDougal accuses Native Americans of being savages.

Undead Nightmare


He appears in the mission "Curious Tales from Blackwater, USA".

John Marston encounters MacDougal in Blackwater, who has returned to do more research. He plans to go with John but first goes to find his bag which he left at his office. But is attacked by Nastas' zombie and turned into one himself.

Mission Appearances

 * &quot;Bear One Another's Burdens&quot;
 * &quot;At Home With Dutch&quot;
 * &quot;For Purely Scientific Purposes&quot;
 * &quot;The Prodigal Son Returns (To Yale)&quot;
 * &quot;Curious Tales from Blackwater, USA&quot; (Undead Nightmare)

Trivia

 * MacDougal is exceedingly incompetent, demonstrating a terribly inaccurate understanding of the Theory of Evolution after having wantonly provoked a Bear. MacDougal defends his actions stating that it will strengthen the species. Over the next half-century, the Grizzly Bear would be driven to near extinction in much of the United States, to a population of 1-2% original size.
 * Later, MacDougal comments on the nobility of hunting Buffalo. Nastas remarks that they are being over-hunted. MacDougal dismisses the comment, declaring that Nastas is ignorant. In reality, the Buffalo was hunted to near total extinction on the North American continent.
 * Later in the game, a newspaper talks about how he savegly attacked another man at Yale. It mentions a rumor that he apparently tried to get the grounds keeper to cut the top of his scalp off so he could see a living human brain.
 * MacDougal is a fairly realistic depiction of early pseudoscientific "arm chair" anthropology, as practiced by individuals such as Paolo Mantegazza. During the time period, the discipline saw an overhaul of the anthropological method by academics such as Franz Boas, E.B. Tylor and Bronislaw Malinowski.
 * MacDougal is a chronic cocaine addict, shown both by his outlook on it being "a wonderful way to relax the body and strengthen the mind", but mainly by the collection of injection marks on both of his forearms. He also takes some in the introduction cutscene for his final mission.
 * Oftentimes when Marston encounters MacDougal he is very jittery, a sign that he is under the influence of cocaine.
 * MacDougal is exceedingly bigoted, stereotyping all natives as "Savages" and "Indians". However is shown to be completely oblivious to this.
 * He got into Yale and was discredited amongst his peers because he didn't understand evolution. He is unwilling to accept the "savages" as normal human beings despite taking blood samples when it turns out they were exactly the same according to his later tests.
 * MacDougal is a playable multiplayer character in the DLC Liars and Cheats.
 * It is strange he is in Undead Nightmare, because he would've already left Blackwater. Marston makes note of this, but MacDougal then says that he's returned for more research. He is eaten by a zombified Nastas.
 * In light of that statement, he may have jinxed himself minutes before meeting undead Nastas, by saying "I'm going to wander down that lonely, deserted street and get my bag."
 * After he is bitten by the zombified Nastas, he turns into a zombie and therefore, gives Marston the choice to kill him or just walk away and let him chase you.
 * MacDougal claims that cocaine "Restores the ego, and helps his thinking enourmously". It is found in the last version of the Blackwater newspaper that while this is true, the drug has overwhelming effects if used chronically. This is most likely what led to his expulsion from Yale (also found in the last edition of the Blackwater paper).

Quotes

 * "I wanted to report the last days of the West. The honour, the romance, the nobility. But it turns out it's just a bunch of people killing each other!"
 * "I'm going to wander down that lonely, deserted street and get my bag."

Gallery
Harold MacDougal