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My dear Arthur, I have gone out hunting. Not a phrase I thought any pen of mine would ever ink but nonetheless one I am very proud to finally be able to write.
Charlotte Balfour, in a letter to Arthur Morgan.

Charlotte Balfour is a minor character featured in Red Dead Redemption 2.

History[]

Background[]

Prior to February 1893, Charlotte married a banker named Cal Balfour. Cal invited Charlotte to live a simpler life in the wilderness, and so they bought the homestead in Willard's Rest and departed from Chicago.

Events of Red Dead Redemption 2[]

First Encounter[]

In Chapter 6, Charlotte is seen sitting by a grave, crying and murmuring just outside Willard's Rest. She informs the player about how, after her husband passed away, she is certain that she will die from starvation, since she does not know how to fend for herself; not even knowing how to catch a mouse. The player insists that he will teach her, and the two search the nearby forest for small game. On the way to the clearing to find a rabbit, Charlotte reveals that her husband, Cal, had been attacked by but survived a bear, unfortunately dying a week later from his injuries.

After successfully killing a rabbit, the player instructs her how to skin a rabbit. Hesitantly, Charlotte does so, by pulling the rabbit's fur from its body. The pair then head back to the cabin but are interrupted by a pack of wolves. The player protects Charlotte from the wolves, and she thanks the player for their help, but is exhausted and suggests that they come visit her again sometime.

Second Encounter[]

Sometime afterwards, Charlotte is seen practicing how to use her husband's rifle, by shooting at some glass bottles on the front of her shed. She is unexperienced, having bad form and absent-mindedly pointed the barrel of her rifle towards herself, and is unable to hit the bottles, so she asks the protagonist if they can teach her how to shoot.

The player gives her some guidance and she managed to shoot close enough on her second attempt. A rat came scuttling beside the shed, which she mentions as the rat that's been bothering her since she and Cal moved in. If the rat is shot, Charlotte comments on the player that he's a showoff; if the rat is not shot, then the pair will ignore it and move on. On Charlotte's third attempt, she finally manages to shoot a bottle.

Playing as Arthur: She thanks Arthur and offers to give him a stew made from the rabbit they caught together. During this, Arthur has a violent coughing fit due to his Tuberculosis, and eventually collapses. Charlotte decides to care for him in her room; she leaves a letter requesting Arthur to take money from her nightstand, as gratitude for what he had done for her. In the letter, Charlotte expresses how grateful she is for being shown how to survive for herself and that she is out hunting.
Playing as John: Charlotte is grateful and thanks John for helping her, before walking inside the house. There is no third encounter if you play as John.

Third Encounter (Arthur only)[]

A few days later, Charlotte seems to be doing well writing, and is well-kempt. She thanks Arthur again and tells him that "what's mine is yours", she asks that Arthur take care of himself and kisses him on his cheek. Inside the cabin there are several packs of Premium Cigarettes he can take.

Epilogue[]

If Arthur completes her first two encounters, she is available at her cabin for John to visit, eight years later. John informs her of his friendship with Arthur and the latter's passing, telling her that Arthur's journal writings suggested that he thought quite highly of her. Charlotte thanks John for telling her of Arthur's passing and tells him that she knew he wasn't well, adding that she assumed he passed away from his illness when he stopped coming by. She says that she considers anyone a friend of Arthur like John to be a friend of hers as well and welcomes him to her cabin whenever he wants.

Character[]

Personality[]

She is initially shown to be despondent after her husband died, owing to her lack of survival skills. However, this changes once she meets the protagonist, as the skills she learns from him cause her to have a lot more self-confidence.

Charlotte can also be seen as a kind and selfless individual, allowing Arthur to have all of her money, and showing John great kindness despite only knowing him as a friend of Arthur's.

Appearance[]

In 1899, Charlotte has long, straight, black hair and a slim build. She wears a blue blouse and a skirt with a tartan pattern. If Arthur never meets her and the player only does the mission with John, she is seen wearing these clothes in 1907.

By 1907, Charlotte appears much the same as she did eight years prior, but she is noticeably healthier and is seen wearing different clothes. Her outfit consists of a white shirt with a brown waistcoat over it, black skintight leather trousers and boots, and a white brimmed hat on her head, with a feather tucked in the band. Notably, she also wears a gun belt, implying that the skills she learned from the protagonist continued to develop.

Video[]

Trivia[]

  • Her stranger mission unlocks after A Fork in the Road.
  • Unlike most characters with stranger missions, Charlotte's missions don't have names. Instead, her strand of missions is technically considered a "Home Robbery" mission, as documented in the in-game log and the "Robberies" section of the official guide.
    • Although she lives in Willard's Rest, the robbery tip about her is called "Rocky Seven," the beta name for the area and her model in the game files even refers to her as the "Rocky Seven Widow".
  • Her mission strand is the only one that requires both Arthur and John to be played.
  • If Arthur meets Charlotte for the first encounter while carrying an NPC on horseback, she will run away from the grave, crying for him to leave her alone. This appears to remove all further opportunities to meet her from the game unless the player reloads a previous save file.
  • If Arthur triggers the first encounter but does not complete it, either John or Arthur will find her deceased in her house on revisiting.
  • The player can encounter a man camped out on the hilltop east of Emerald Station who, when spoken to, describes a woman living alone whom he has been observing while hiding in bushes. A closer look at his campsite reveals pictures of naked women in his tent, dolls and a pair of handcuffs, suggesting he has plans to rape her. If the player kills him, they will lose honor.
  • Charlotte Balfour is the only stranger who had a deep impact on Arthur's feelings about whom he does not give a single entry at all in his journal, neither by drawing nor description, despite Arthur having registered events with seemingly far less presence in his life. In addition, John says that Arthur wrote fondly of her, although there is no mention of her name in his journal.
  • If the player gets too close to her when she's sitting on her porch, she will make a comment about this while being visibly uncomfortable. If the player points a gun at her, she will react shocked and will pull out a gun of her own.
  • Even though she and Arthur exchange names during their third encounter, Charlotte still calls Arthur by his name in her letter to him beforehand. This obviously implies they were originally meant to reveal their names on first meeting.
  • Despite her inviting John to visit her homestead, she is nowhere to be found if the player returns later.

Trophies/Achievements[]

Completing her Stranger mission strand is associated with these trophies/achievements:

ExtremePersonality
EXTREME PERSONALITY
10 gamerscoregamerscore
Bronze bronzebronze
Reach maximum or minimum Honor level.

BreakingandEntering
BREAKING AND ENTERING
20 gamerscoregamerscore
Bronze bronzebronze
Recover the stash from 4 homesteads

WesternStranger
WESTERN STRANGER
30 gamerscoregamerscore
Bronze bronzebronze
Complete 10 Stranger mission strands.

CollectorsItem
COLLECTOR'S ITEM
20 gamerscoregamerscore
Silver silversilver
Complete one of the Collectible strands

BestintheWest
100 gamerscoregamerscore
Gold goldgold
Attain 100% Completion.


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