Rufus

“	Good boy.	„
	—John Marston to Rufus

Rufus is a minor character featured in Red Dead Redemption and the Undead Nightmare, and Red Dead Redemption 2. He is the Marston family dog; a yellow Labrador Retriever, he accompanies John and Jack on several hunting missions near the very end of the story.

Background

Not much is known about Rufus, other than he is a good tracking dog, and a "good boy." In "The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed", he presumably goes missing or is killed. It is likely he escaped as the soldiers focused more on John Marston and his family rather than anything else, although it is confirmed the soldiers do shoot at Rufus when he is out in the open. He can usually be seen roaming around Beecher's Hope after the main storyline is complete, never having left the home of his owner even after his death.

Interactions

Red Dead Redemption 2

Rufus arrives at Beecher's Hope during the epilogue, having been adopted by Abigail and Jack Marston. He is described by Abigail as "loyal, dumb and angry." During the mission "Trying Again," he is bitten by a snake while John and Jack are fishing, and John must suck the venom out of him. Rufus can then be found wandering around the ranch and occasionally following John while he completes his daily chores.

Red Dead Redemption

Rufus appears in the mission "John Marston and Son" where he assists in tracking down an elk. He then assists Jack and John in the mission "Wolves, Dogs and Sons" where he assists in tracking down packs of wolves. Rufus then assists John in finding Jack during the mission "Spare the Love, Spoil the Child". Rufus is last seen running behind the house during the mission "The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed".

Undead Nightmare

During the mission "Love in the Time of Plague", Rufus is seen being chased behind the house by the Undead Jack Marston. His fate after this mission is unknown, as soon as Marston hogties Abigail, Jack starts running toward John.

Mission appearances

Red Dead Redemption

Undead Nightmare

"Love in the Time of Plague"

Red Dead Redemption II

Trivia

Rufus, Charlie, and Lucy are the only named domestic animals in Red Dead Redemption.
Some players have speculated that Rufus was killed. He can be seen going around the back as the soldiers came, and, when Jack goes around the house, he is nowhere to be found. But his corpse is not seen hinting he might have escaped. However, it's more likely that Rufus died because of natural causes during a time between 1911-1914. He has, however, been seen sitting down behind the Beecher's Hope house after the main storyline is completed.
Rufus appears to be a yellow Labrador Retriever, not to be confused with the Golden Retriever. (Golden Retrievers have a longer coat.)
During the mission "The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed", if the player follows Rufus, he will keep walking until he gets into a small room, where he will continually move as if dodging something. If the player moves their camera away and then moves it back, they will discover that Rufus has disappeared.
Sometimes if the player kills a dog while playing as Jack Marston he will say "I guess I just miss Rufus."
Sometimes Rufus can be found inside the House (Beecher's Hope) and is found in Jack's room and lies down until he wakes up.
At the beginning of Undead Nightmare, while John is tying up Abigail, Jack can be seen in the background chasing Rufus.
If the player kills Rufus, like when killing members of John's family, the game will fail.
On rare occasions, two Rufus dogs will spawn, but the player cannot kill either of them.
Rufus may be killed by a cougar, should one enter Beecher's Hope. This does not affect missions, however, and he will simply respawn.
After the mission, "The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed" and the stranger-side mission, "Remember My Family", Rufus can be seen sitting in Jack's room on the rug. It is possible to nudge Rufus out of the house, however after that, he will just run away and if the player moves their camera off of him just once, he will disappear.
After the main storyline has been completed, if the player whistles while at Beecher's Hope, Rufus can be heard barking in the distance. However, he will not come to Jack as most other dogs do after Marston whistles.
A dog that looks exactly identical to Rufus can be seen playing fetch with his/her owner in Blackwater after the story.