| “ | I'm really sorry for you, son, it's a hell of a thing. | „ |
| —Barnes diagnosing Arthur with Tuberculosis.
|
Joseph R. Barnes is a minor character featured in Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online.
History
Background
Dr. Joseph R. Barnes is a physician and a surgeon that practices medicine in Saint Denis, running a clinic. He sells tonics and cures to the player. He mentions that he has a family.
Events of Red Dead Redemption 2
While riding around in Saint Denis, Arthur Morgan has a violent coughing fit and soon becomes unconscious. When he regains consciousness, a concerned passer-by escorts him to Barnes' clinic. Once Arthur is there, Dr. Barnes examines Arthur, before diagnosing him with Tuberculosis. After giving Arthur his condolences and injecting him with steroids to boost his energy, Arthur leaves the clinic.
If the player returns to Barnes' clinic after being diagnosed with Tuberculosis, Dr. Barnes will ask Arthur how he feels. Additionally, in a random encounter, the player can save a stranger who randomly passes out, outside of Saint Denis, by rushing him to Dr. Barnes. Barnes will then anesthetize the man, amputate the infected arm, and tie it up. If Arthur has Tuberculosis during this encounter, Dr. Barnes will tell him he should not be doing this and advises him to go and rest. (If the player meets the amputee later on, they will discover that the amputee is in fact the one who murdered a woman in cold blood and that they are now there to watch him hang.)
Barnes's fateful diagnosis of Arthur is one of the lines he reflects upon during his last ride.
Character
Personality
Barnes is a brisk and matter-of-fact doctor who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty, wasting no time sawing a man's arm off until he's drenched from head to toe in blood. While he is empathetic towards his patients, he's ultimately very money-driven, though he claims it's just so he can provide for his family. He refuses to do a check-up on Arthur before he pays him, even though he's having a violent tubercular episode, and isn't shy to remind a mauled-half-to-death man he owes him while performing surgery on him.
Appearance
Barnes looks to be somewhere in his 50's, with short grey hair and a beard. He's neatly dressed in white dress clothes, a grey vest, and a blue bow-tie. He's also bespectacled and has a habit of smoking his pipe.
Mission appearances
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- "A Fork in the Road"
- "Red Dead Redemption" (voice only)
Trivia
- Dr. Barnes is likely named after Joseph K. Barnes, a physician and surgeon general for the United States during the 19th century who served Presidents Lincoln and Garfield.
- He has an engraving of Hippocrates by Paul Rubens hanging on the wall behind him.