Francis Sinclair is a minor character featured in Red Dead Redemption 2. He initiates the Stranger side-mission "Geology for Beginners".
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What is the significance of Francis Sinclair in Red Dead Redemption 2?
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What is the backstory of Francis Sinclair in rdr2?
Why is Francis Sinclair associated with time travel in rdr2?
How does Francis Sinclair contribute to the 'Geology for Beginners' mission in rdr2?
History[]
Background[]
Francis Sinclair was born in 1898/1906 to Tom and Mrs. Sinclair. His father died before he was born, leaving his mother to raise him alone.
He originally lived in Hawk's Eye Cabin outside of Strawberry with his mother during his youth. At some point, he moved to New York City and lived an affluent life.
Events of Red Dead Redemption 2[]
Francis Sinclair is first met in a modest cabin outside of Strawberry and shares his story of hunting for rock carvings throughout the world. He states he will pay a good price for the location of all ten, but remains cryptic with the player about his reasons for asking.
After the player sends him numerous letters highlighting the rock carving locations, Francis invites them back to his cabin, but will be mysteriously absent. In the closing scene of the quest-line, a woman appears in the cabin carrying a ginger-haired baby also named Francis, bearing an identical birthmark over its right eye. After the protagonist expresses their confusion over the situation, Francis' mother asks the player for their name, but after realizing that the baby is indeed Francis, the astounded protagonist tells her that it isn’t important and subsequently takes their leave.
Character[]
Personality[]
Francis Sinclair is shown to be enigmatic and fast-talking. He speaks in a strange dialect, using slang that the protagonist does not understand.
Upon completing the Stranger quest "Geology for Beginners" and returning to his cabin, his notes and drawings are revealed to the player, and, based on what the posters depict, they suggest he may be a time traveler. His documents show figures emerging from portals and jumping between the past, present and future. The rock carvings he was interested in depict skyscrapers, metropolises, an atom and a nuclear explosion.
Appearance[]
Francis Sinclair has combed, ginger hair, an orange pencil mustache and a large birthmark over his right eye. He appears to have quite a lean frame and has sharp, defined facial features, while appearing to be in his late 20s or early 30s. He is seen wearing a checkered blue knit sweater over a white round collared shirt with a blue necktie, high-waisted and belt-looped khaki green tweed plus fours, argyle socks, and brown-and-white spectator shoes. These clothes are atypical for the time and setting in which he lives, adding to speculation that he may be some sort of time traveler.
Mission appearances[]
- Red Dead Redemption 2
Trivia[]
- Francis Sinclair has a strong Transatlantic accent, which was particularly prominent in American culture during the 1920s and 1930s. The fact that he was an infant in 1899-1907 further suggests this.
- Sinclair's Business Card's logo has an hourglass with wings on it, symbolizing time and travel respectively. This reinforces the idea that he is a time traveler.
- Further reinforcing the time traveler hypothesis is his possession of pants with belt loops. Pants with belt loops were not invented until 1922, although they are featured often in the sequel (which takes place primarily in 1911).
- From his unique birthmark, players may deduce that he is a reference to Kraff, a deity worshiped by the Epsilon Program from Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto series, another franchise published by Rockstar Games. However, the character's portrayal and background contradicts every aspect of the Epsilon Program (red birthmark, prohibited red hair, time travel science (general relativity), contradictory years with Epsilonism's creation, setting in an unrelated universe, etc.), making the possibility of being a reference unlikely and simply a coincidence.
- Regardless, his unique birthmark is never employed for any religious purpose; rather, it is designed to serve as a plot device for a more significant revelation during his last on-screen encounter, allowing the player to easily identify him in his "second form."
- Francis also shares numerous similarities with Ernest Keigel, a fictional time traveler who stars in the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories radio program The Time Ranger:
- Both have Transatlantic accents.
- Both are fast talkers.
- Both use 1920s and 1930s slang and are implied to have lived within the time period.
- His cabin does not appear on the map.
- The strange mural that Sinclair put together seems to have been inspired by a Diego Rivera fresco — Man, Controller of the Universe painted in 1934 for the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City — which illustrates the aspects of contemporary social and scientific culture of the 1930s. But the similarities end there; one painting's meaning is time travel and the other's politics.
- In the game files, the model of baby Francis Sinclair is actually an object named "
prop_stuntdoll_01", which likely implies that during MOCAP recordings Mrs. Sinclair's voice actress used a prop instead of an actual baby.[1]- The texture for the baby exhibits a tag located on the back of his neck, though this cannot be seen in normal gameplay.[2]
Gallery[]
