User:Raziel Reaper/Sandbox/John Marston

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

- John Marston to Bonnie MacFarlane



John Marston is a central character and the main protagonist and playable character in Red Dead Redemption, as well its non-canon expansion pack, Undead Nightmare. He is slated to reappear as a supporting character in Red Dead Redemption II.

Marston is also an optional playable multiplayer character in the multiplayer mode of Redemption; his usual self is playable with the addition of the Liars and Cheats DLC, while an undead version dubbed Zombie Marston is available with the addition of the Undead Nightmare DLC.

Background
John was born in 1873, the son of an illiterate Scottish immigrant and a prostitute who died during childbirth. John recalls that his father was born on a boat to New York, and was blinded during a bar fight south of Chicago.

John was left an orphan in 1881, his father dying under unknown circumstances. The eight years old John was sent to an orphanage, where he spent most of his teenage years. Little is known about John's early years, aside from hearing about the famous gunslinger Landon Ricketts in his youth.

He eventually ran away from the orphanage, and under unknown circumstances, he met infamous outlaw Dutch van der Linde, who took the young John under his wing and recruited him into his outlaw group, the Van der Linde gang.

In the Van der Linde gang, John met and befriended Bill Williamson and Javier Escuella, whom he will see as brothers. He also met a girl called Abigail, who would serve as the gang's prostitute. In the gang, John and his brothers-in arms were mentored by Dutch himself, although John would later admit all of this was fake. During his time in the Van der Linde gang, John and his fellow members robbed about 40 banks.

John would soon become one of Dutch's favorite "sons", although dialogue by both Bill and Javier imply this to have been an act on Dutch's part. Under Dutch's wing, John was taught reading and shooting, while he and Bill competed for Dutch's approval.

At some point prior to 1895, John and Abigail fell in love, and married. Their relationship resulted in the birth of Jack in 1895, and the birth of another child - a daughter sometime later. Members of the gang, specifically Bill and Dutch himself, would act like "uncles" to Marston's children, although Abigail choosing him would serve as bitter jealousy towards John.

Post-Redemption II
John was still a member of Dutch's gang after the events of 1899. However, during a botched bank robbery in 1906, John was injured and subsequently left to die by Bill and the other members of the gang. Disillusioned and tired of his outlaw career, John decided to take Abigail and their children and leave the gang. By 1908, the family bought and maintained a ranch at Beecher's Hope in the territory of West Elizabeth. As part of the ranching, John hired Uncle as an extra muscle and brought a dog called Rufus to help with the cattle. At some point afterwards, John and Abigail's daughter died of illness.

In 1911, a federal organization called the Bureau of Investigation opted to hunt down the final remnants of the Van der Linde gang - Bill, Javier and Dutch. The Bureau tracked down John and forcefully took Abigail and Jack to use them as leverage against John so he will help the federal agents to hunt down the three criminals.