| “ | Most folk won't spare me the time of day, but you did. You did and it was real nice. Real nice. | „ |
| —Mickey to the player |
Mickey is a minor character in Red Dead Redemption 2.
History
Background
Mickey is a homeless man who claims to have served in the army, allegedly losing his left arm in battle. He can be found opposite Keane's Saloon in Valentine, begging for money, or even just a conversation.
Events of Red Dead Redemption 2
Arthur Morgan can encounter Mickey and chat with him on several occasions. Mickey will be elated that someone is actually sparing him the time of day. When Arthur is dying of tuberculosis, Mickey will comfort him. Mickey will also admit to Arthur that he was not actually a soldier, and is just trying to gain sympathy.
Mickey claimed to have been assaulted by Tommy, and adds that he "Asked for it."
In the epilogue, John Marston can have similar encounters with Mickey eight years later, with not much having changed. Mickey tries to hug John, but he refuses. John also informs Mickey of Arthur's death, whom he mourns.
Character
Appearance
Mickey is an overweight man with a beard, and he wears a worn out Civil War-era U.S. Army military uniform. He has a missing left arm, which he claims he lost during the war.
Personality
Mickey is an extremely lonely man, who has almost no human contact whatsoever. It is likely that Arthur and John are the only people he has ever actually spoken to in decades. His speech is awkward, repetitive, and strained, but he is very thankful towards anyone willing to stand him for more than a couple seconds. However, Mickey is still desperate enough to take advantage of people's generosity by pickpocketing them if he can.
Trivia
- Mickey once had a puppy, which he accidentally killed by sitting on it.
- The three chevrons on the sleeves of Mickey's coat indicate that he is wearing a sergeant's uniform.
- Mickey’s charade is initially convincing because Civil War veterans migrated to the postwar West in great numbers. Those who did so often had served in combat-heavy units and therefore suffered trauma and mental illness at greater rates than those veterans who managed to successfully re-engage in the civilian life of their hometowns in the East after the war. Struggling Civil War veterans were not an uncommon sight in the postwar West, particularly among isolated small towns.
