Strange Man

"This is a nice spot."

- The Strange Man standing on the hill in Beecher's Hope.

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

Biography
A mysterious and metaphysical character, there are several interpretations of the character's strange behavior and apparent supernatural abilities. None have been confirmed, although much of the evidence points to him being a sort of God. For example, when John says "Damn you!," the Strange Man replies "Many Have," perhaps referencing the phrase "God dammit." Moreover, he seems to have a vast array of knowledge and mentions he has a son, who could possibly be Jesus Christ. The Strange Man may also be a Saint, as he will say to John, "You have forgotten far more important people than me" (referring to a much more powerful deity, such as God or Satan.) It is possible that the developers did not base the Strange Man off any religious figure, whether it be a Saint or God, and left it to the players to decide whether he is God, Satan, or a Saint of their choice. This is supported by the fact that no matter if the player chooses the honourable or dishonourable way of completing the task, he will always say "I hope my son grows up to be just like you." (Referring to Jesus Christ or Damien). During his appearance in Mexico, he can be seen accompanied by a Mule or a Donkey. In religious terms, a Donkey or a Mule was widely used by religious figures such as Jesus Christ and his parents, Joseph and Mary.

The Strange Man reveals a detailed knowledge of John Marston's history. 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 also claims he cannot remember his own name.

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."

Supernatural
The first meeting with the Strange Man takes place looking out over a rocky desert area. The second meeting with the Strange Man takes place in Nuevo Paraiso, which translates to "New Paradise." The third meeting with the Strange Man takes place atop a hill in Beechers Hope, overlooking all of John's "kingdom."
 * 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 Marston's 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.
 * 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.
 * Despite this, it is possible to kill the Strange Man before this final encounter. He is rather resistant to bullets, however, taking several shots to the head to finally bring him down. Even if you kill him, however, you are still able to complete the series of quests as he comes back to life for the next meeting.
 * The Strange Man is very reminiscent of the character Mephistopheles from the novel Faust and numerous other works throughout literature, including Shakespeare. Mephistopheles is described in many ways but is seen as an agent for the Devil who recruits individuals for the purpose of collecting souls of the already damned. He appears only to souls that are in danger of being damned, and regularly challenges Faust with tests of morality. He also seems reluctant in most cases to do so, as he originally warns Faust about the repercussions of selling his soul to the devil.
 * The number and locations of the meetings with the Strange Man draws parallells to the Temptation of Christ in the Bible:
 * 1) The first temptation of Christ by the Devil happens in a rocky desert setting.
 * 1) The second temptation of Christ by the Devil happens in a place referred to as the "The Holy City."
 * 1) The third temptation of Christ by the Devil happens in a "high place", where "all the kingdoms of the world can be seen."

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 first 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 possess. This, however, is potentially explained by saying that John had already observed the people involved in the tasks while passing through, since the Strange Man does not appear until after John has taken several missions, which could place him near those people. 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 he does in John's. Also, when he mentions that he wants his son to "be just like you". This could be Marston wanting Jack to be like his father, expressed through his conscience.
 * The picture of him above the bed in Beecher's Hope is probably an Easter Eggs, filler material or coincidence, as the evidence that the man is Johns father is outweighed by the evidence he is not.
 * He can also be a person´s ghost who was killed in the past by John Marston when he was in Dutch´s gang. This would explain why he says to Marston that he would be responsible for his actions. He could have been seeking for revenge. This is believed because he tells John about a bank robbery and about a girl he knew who's "...eyeball was hanging out of her eye socket and her brains plastered over the wall..."
 * He also could be the manifestation of Death because he shows up at moments that will involve death. He also could be death because in John's fury he unloads three rounds from his revolver then it jams. That could represent the deaths of John, Abigail and Uncle and the last attempted shot (the shot that jams) could be foreshadowing Jack's survival.

Themes

 * Supernatural intervention has been a theme in several classic western films including High Plains Drifter (1973) and Pale Rider (1985).
 * 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.)
 * Before your first encounter with the Strange Man, he is standing at the edge of a cliff in West Austin, and can be pushed off this cliff which kills him instantly
 * If you point a gun at him, he can pull out a Cattleman Revolver and shoot and kill the player. Or he may run away while yelling at John.
 * 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.
 * After the first encounter with him, players can point a gun at him and he will start to run. Lasso and hogtie him but he will continue to talk. He also keeps talking as if the situation were normal (as if he were still standing at the edge of the cliff perfectly fine). However, pointing a gun at him is considered a crime and civilians will attempt to alert law enforcement.
 * There is a rumor speculating that the strange man may be the ghost of Jack Swift from Red Dead Revolver as they both say they were accountants they dress the same they look similar, same type of mustasch they both use cattleman revolver it is a possibility.
 * The strange man's apperance is very similar to that of hoodoo brown from the video game GUN.

Quotes
"Damn you!"

- John Marston

"Yes, many have"

- The Strange Man