Seth Briars

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“	Oh, I've lost it all partner. My wife, my children, my business. Good riddance to them all. I don't eat, I don't sleep, I don't wash, and I don't care.	„
	—Seth Briars

“	I know, I can smell you from here.	„
	—John Marston

Seth Briars is a Major character featured in Red Dead Redemption.

Background

Briars is characterized as a dirty, crazy, old prospector who has resorted to grave robbing in his pursuit of treasure. He is obsessed with an unspecified Treasure and the map that will lead him to it. This obsession has caused him to lose his family, his business, and most of his mind. It is also implied through conversation that his father left him which might also be a cause of his lack of sanity.

Briars has a history of working with Bill Williamson, but is largely removed from the gang lifestyle due to his pursuit of treasure. It is this history which Marston exploits to gain entrance to Fort Mercer in The Assault on Fort Mercer.

Interactions

John Marston first encounters Seth at Coot's Chapel as instructed by an old friend of Seth's, Nigel West Dickens. Marston asks for his help in infiltrating Fort Mercer but Seth shows the least bit of interest. Until the conversation leads to story of Moses Forth stealing half his treasure map. Marston agrees to help Seth recover his map in return for helping him. They set out to Benedict Point where Moses was being held by the law after being arrested for exhuming. Marston distracts the deputies guarding the jail by stealing one of their horses, and leading them away, before returning to Seth. Seth knocks on the door of the shack before Moses slams the door in his face and tries to run away. Marston catches him and brings him back hogtied. Seth threatens Moses with a Knife for the whereabouts of his map. Moses tells Seth that it is in Odd Fellow's Rest, panic stricken, causing himself to urinate. Marston and Seth leave him tied up on the ground and clear John's bounty with a Pardon Letter.

John finds Seth again at Coot's Chapel with a wagon load of corpses from Odd Fellow's Rest. He says he requires Marston's assistance in bringing the bodies to a desolate location, Tumbleweed, to be searched. On the way, they are ambushed by Treasure Hunters who are trying to obtain the treasure map. Marston then tries to outrun them in the wagon, killing any that come too close while Seth searches the bodies on the way, they arrive safely, with Seth having found the other half of the map in one of the corpses. By chance, the treasure map said that the treasure was in Tumbleweed. Seth tells John that he will help him as soon as he finds his treasure.

John later returns to Tumbleweed to find Seth robbing a grave at the old church cemetery. They head over to the mansion where the treasure is supposed to be. Unknown to them the center of town is filled with Treasure Hunters who then launch a surprise attack on the two. They push toward the mansion, with Marston killing any enemies in their path. When they come to the room with the treasure chest, Seth opens it but all he finds is a glass eye. Seth is devastated but still agrees to help Marston as promised.

At the assault on Fort Mercer, Seth finds his way in beforehand (unknown method). The Williamson Gang then let in Nigel West Dickens' stage coach. After the massacre of Williamson's gang, Seth meets up with the others. Bill Williamson is nowhere to be found. Seth parts ways with Marston as he leaves, never to be seen again after that point (Undead Nightmare un-citated)

Epilogue

After The Assault on Fort Mercer is completed Seth is not seen again. In 1914, a newspaper reveals that Seth finally found the treasure he had been obsessed with, somewhere near the Tall Trees region.

Mission Appearances

Trivia

The Blackwater Ledger repeatedly reports on Briars' actions as a serial grave robber, noting public outrage at the desecration of local graveyards, yet the last issue also reports that a man named Seth Briars has found a large treasure of gold.
It is possible that Seth has Schizophrenia, as he has conversations with corpses.

During one of Seth's first missions, on the way to Benedict Point, Seth says:

(In his normal voice) Have you looked in the cave, Seth....?

(in a high pitched shrill voice) No... it's very dark!

This could indicate that Seth either suffers from multiple personalities.

The irony of Seth's last mission is that he walks right by the treasure - in the basement, Treasure Hunter Challenge 4, and the #3 treasure in it.
The front of his left shoe is busted open, exposing his foot. It is a small feature to easily overlook.
His physical apparence was based on Mackenzie Crook http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0188871/ especially in pirates of the Caribbean who his character always lost his glass eye (what Seth found in the treasure chest) and was also a crazy treasure seeker.
He resembles the character Gollum from Lord of the Rings. He has multiple personalities and is searching for precious treasure, as well as possessing a similar body language .
In the short film 'The Man From Blackwater', Seth finds his treasure (a glass eye) in Fort Mercer as opposed to finding it in Tumbleweed while doing Let the Dead Bury Their Dead.
Seth is a playable multiplayer character in the Liars and Cheats DLC.
He is set to appear in the upcoming DLC Undead Nightmare.
In the mission Liars, Cheats and Other Proud Americans, West Dickens refers to Seth as "Seth of the Dead". This is a reference to the British Comedy Horror movie, Shaun of the Dead, which is, in turn, a parody of Dawn of the Dead.
Seth was briefly seen in the new trailer for the Undead Nightmare future DLC; this could mean that Seth will have a major role in this DLC storyline. This is no surprise considering his infatuation with the dead.
In an Undead Nightmare preview from IGN, Seth is apparently trying to play poker with a now zombified Moses Forth.
It is implied in the Gamestop Undead Nightmare Preview that Seth may have unintentionally caused the Zombie Plague by stealing the Glass Eye in his last mission (Let the Dead Bury Their Dead).
Nigel West Dickens gets a fact completely wrong while talking about Seth. Dickens claims that Seths profession was highly respected in ancient Egypt, however while exuming was somewhat accepted Seth is nothing but a grave robber. Grave robbers in ancient Egypt were beaten until crippled, then impaled at the base of their abdomen and left to die slowly in the desert.
At the end of Seth's mission in undead nightmare "Get back in That Hole, Partner" although it is not possible to shoot the zombies Seth is dancing with you can shoot the lantern above them which will set one on fire causeing the others to attack.
When John Marston searchs the corpses of zombies he will sometimes say "Seth, I'm sorry about all the insults."
In the RDR artwork of Seth, he appears to be slightly more healthy - he has longer and thicker hair, and is actually quite slim.
It is possible to kill Seth after the mission "Get back in That Hole, Partner", however this will not effect the ending of the game.