Micah Bell

“	Sons of Dutch. Makes us brothers. Sometimes... brothers make mistakes.	„
	—Micah Bell to Arthur Morgan

Micah Bell III (referred to simply as Micah Bell) is a central character who serves as a supporting character and later revealed to be the main and final antagonist of Red Dead Redemption 2.

History

“	A career criminal and hitman. Wild and unpredictable but he lives for the action.	„
	—Rockstar Games.

MicahBellBio — Biography in RDR 2 (click to enlarge)

Micah was born in 1860 to Micah Bell Jr., a ruthless petty outlaw. When Micah was 17 in 1877, he and his dad were on the run for the brutal double homicide of Roscoe and Jean Briggs, where they were hung from the rafters and had their throats slit. Other than this, not much is known of Micah's past, but it can be assumed that he was his father's partner-in-crime throughout his upbringing.

In 1898, Micah apparently met Dutch van der Linde in a bar where he saved his life when a gold deal went sour. Micah ran with the Van der Linde gang for five months until he set his sights on a ferry in Blackwater. The heist was supposed to be a big score, but it was a disaster and the gang was forced to flee from the heat into Ambarino.

Events of Red Dead Redemption 2

Colter chapter

Micah is first mentioned by Dutch when he and Arthur venture out to find some food for the camp, as he sent Bell out ahead to look for John. Micah is first physically seen riding with a lantern, as Dutch and Arthur ride out of Colter. He says that he found a homestead up north that appears to be throwing a party. After riding a ways, Dutch, Micah, and Arthur come across the homestead and he and Arthur take cover while Dutch tries to persuade the "owners" to help them. Whilst in cover, Micah discovers a body in the wagon and alerts Arthur before a shoot out occurs when the "owners" are revealed to be O'Driscolls who attempt to kill them.

After killing the enemy gang members, they loot the home, but whilst checking the barn, Arthur hears a scream and investigates the house. He finds Dutch yelling at Micah who is harassing a distressed woman. Before finding out she isn't an O'Driscoll, Micah flips the table, knocking down the lantern and setting the house ablaze. After realizing the woman is not the enemy, they grab her and leave the now burning ranch. After returning to camp, Micah finds out he is bunked with Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella and Lenny Summers which prompts him to make racist remarks about his bunk mates.

Micah later helps in the assault against the O'Driscoll camp, and helps rob the Cornwall train.

Horseshoe Overlook chapter

Not long after arriving at the new camp location, Micah and Lenny go out scouting near Strawberry, but get drawn into a bar fight which leads to Micah killing two people, and lands him in the local jail. Arthur comes to the jailhouse a few days later on Dutch's orders and rescues Bell. The pair clear off the guards in the immediate area, and Arthur says they should leave, but Micah instead fights his way through town to go and try to get his guns back. The reckless charge almost cost both of them their lives, and afterwards Arthur scolds Micah for his recklessness.

Micah, who doesn't want to return to Dutch empty-handed, contacts Arthur and asks him to help him rob a stagecoach. After a brief gunfight, they take the stagecoach, before a gang of O'Driscolls attempt to rob them. Micah and Arthur camp one side of the river, and after a long fight annihilate the enemy gang.

Clemens's Point chapter

Micah does little in this chapter, although he does help in the Battle for Braithwaite Manor, which is initiated in the hopes of rescuing Jack.

Saint Denis chapter

Along with Bill and Arthur, Micah robs a heavily guarded stagecoach that is going past Shady Belle. Using dynamite, they stop the stagecoach before descending upon it. After a bloody fight with the well-armed guards, the stagecoach is taken by the gang who divide the spoils.

Micah later takes part in the robbery of the Saint Denis bank, and after it fails he, along with the rest of the gang, board a ship destined for the South Pacific.

Guarma chapter

After the boat sinks, Bell washes up on the shores of Guarma with everyone besides Arthur. Not long after Arthur is found, they are attacked by Guarman troops, and are captured. After they manage to escape with the help of Hercule Fortaine, they go and rest at the rebel outpost of La Capilla. Micah eventually goes to Cinco Torres along with the rest of the gang, right before federal troops descend upon it. After fighting off the enemy attack, they learn that Colonel Fussar has positioned artillery batteries on the beaches to prevent them from leaving. Micah and the gang then storm the batteries, where he places dynamite in order to blow them up. He then takes part in the charge against Aguasdulces, which results in the death of the Fussar, Levi Simon, and the taking of the port and the rescuing of the ship's captain. He, along with the rest of the gang, then set sail out of Guarma.

Beaver Hollow chapter

Throughout the game, the main members of the gang begin to speculate that a mole is telling the Pinkertons of their plans, as the Pinkertons frequently appear whenever the gang has a big heist planned. When a drunken, scorned Molly O'Shea curses Dutch and reveals that she had told the Pinkertons some information, she is killed by Susan Grimshaw and the gang assume that the mole has been dealt with. However, doubts begin to creep in for some gang members when they think about the logistics of Molly knowing some of their plans, as she is not one of the members who performs such acts. At the end of the chapter, Agent Milton reveals to Arthur that Molly not tell them anything. But Micah was arrested after Guarma, and since then "has been a good boy". Arthur presents this information to Dutch, but Micah denies it and Dutch is unwilling to believe Arthur. For Arthur, this is the final betrayal, as Dutch raised Arthur and Arthur has been loyal to him for decades, whereas Micah has only been with the gang for mere months.

Whilst the gang are fleeing Beaver Hollow, Micah has a brutal fist fight with a weakened Arthur Morgan (due to Arthur's advanced tuberculosis). Based on Arthur's choices and honor ranking, Micah will either shoot Arthur in the face, stab him in the back and kidneys with knives or let Arthur succumb to tuberculosis after beating him to near death.

Beecher's Hope chapter

Micah has kept a low profile in the years after Arthur's death, having secretly created his own gang and has gone completely unhinged and has even gotten Dutch on his side to work under him. He is shot and killed by Dutch Van der Linde after John Marston conveniences Dutch that Micah is truly evil and finished off by John. after John, Sadie and Charles Smith hunt him down for vengeance.

Character

Personality

Micah is considered to be wild and unpredictable even by the Van der Linde gang's standards, and is said to enjoy the action in his life, even going as far as shooting half the town of Strawberry in order to reclaim his prized revolvers. In spite of his wild nature, Micah is an experienced criminal and hitman, earning him the favor of Dutch himself. Micah has a poor relationship with most of the gang members, as he frequently antagonizes them. Besides Dutch, Micah also tries to get Arthur's trust and approval, even though Arthur's opinion of Micah isn't very high, as he doesn't trust Micah's wild and opportunistic nature. Arthur's fears are proven true later in the game, when Micah starts working as a mole for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, ultimately causing the downfall of the original Van der Linde gang by the end of Red Dead Redemption II. When called out on his disloyalty, Micah simply labels himself a survivor, showing no loyalty to anyone but himself. Over the course of the game, Micah's relationship with Arthur turns into a rivalry, as Dutch and Arthur begin to distrust each other. He often flaunts his new position as Dutch's right-hand man in Arthur's face and ridicules his tuberculosis, calling him Black Lung. Micah seems to have always been jealous of Arthur, as at the end of the game, if the player's honor is low, he will scream that Arthur is not better than him, before shooting Morgan in the head and then spitting on his corpse. Micah treats everyone he meets with sadistic and psychotic contempt, holding absolutely no standards whatsoever. He creepily and forcibly flirts with almost every woman at the camp, and is implied to have sexually harassed Sadie when they first met. He violently teases Jack when he's four years old and is accused of killing an entire family, including a little girl. Micah is also an unrepentant racist, treating Lenny, Charles, and Javier with open disgust solely because they're not white. He calls Lenny and Charles "darkies", Charles a "redskin", and tells Javier to "fuck off back to Mexico".

Appearance

Micah has shoulder-length, dirty-blond hair, as well as a mustache and side-whiskers. By 1907, he has aged considerably, his hair having mostly gone grey. He wears a black coat, a red shirt, beige trousers and a white hat. He is also armed with a pair of engraved (ironically named "Vengence is hereby mine") custom Double-action Revolvers, both painted red and black. Depending on the previous ending, Micah might have a huge scar on his eye (due to Arthur slashing his face with his knife during "Go after the money" ending).

When wearing a shirt or coat, he appears to be very overweight with a large gut. By the time of 1907 Micah has lost a considerable amount of weight and is very slim.

Mission Appearances

Red Dead Redemption 2

Quotes

"How about you and me go and redistribute some property?" – Micah Bell to Arthur Morgan.
Play sound
RDR2 Micah Bell RedistributeProp…

Trivia

Ironically, despite being the most immoral member of the Van der Linde gang and the main antagonist of Red Dead Redemption 2, Micah is almost never seen without a white hat on his head, which is traditionally associated with protagonists or "good guys" in classical Westerns. It's possible this distinction foreshadows Micah's traitorous nature, as Micah outwardly presents himself as a loyal member of the gang when in actuality he is the main antagonist.
In game, Micah is seen dual-wielding a pair of double-action revolvers. However, in concept art he uses a pair of Schofield revolvers instead.
If one looks closely, they will notice a small match in the band of his hat.
Micah's role in Red Dead Redemption 2 is similar to Edgar Ross in Red Dead Redemption; both act as an ally only to betray the protagonist and both are killed in the epilogue by the secondary protagonist.