De Santa works alongside John Marston after his first visit to Escalera, sending him on various tasks, oftentimes personally helping John do these tasks. John grows to dislike him, seeing how most of the tasks involve burning down innocent people's homes and capturing young women to give to Allende and the other soldiers. John also obviously hates the idea of a dictatorship, seeing how he fought against governmental control. De Santa tries having John killed a few times, sending John on many missions with incompetent soldiers against large armies of rebels, most notably in the mission “Mexican Caesar” where he sends John and Espinoza on a suspected suicide mission, hoping the two would not come back alive.
Eventually, De Santa betrays John by claiming that the Mexican Army has captured Javier Escuella and Bill Williamson, and insists they are being held in the church at Chuparosa. However, upon reaching said church, John is knocked unconscious by a rifle butt to the head. Upon coming to, he is on the ground, his hands tied behind his back. As he is about to be executed, a lone bullet, fired by Abraham Reyes, whizzes through the air and prevents a seemingly imminent death. In the confusion, a large group of rebels attack, covering John's escape. Rushing over to Reyes, John has the ropes binding his wrists cut, and hurries back to get his weapons. Unfortunately for Marston and the rebels, De Santa manages to escape.
In the Luisa Fortuna mission, "Captain De Santa's Downfall", Luisa explains that De Santa was sent to oversee a massacre in Sepulcro. She asks Marston to ride out with a group of rebels and finish him once and for all. John and the rebels quickly dispatch all the Mexican Army soldiers before De Santa is continually beaten. Under intense interrogation, the brutalized De Santa tells John that Javier Escuella is hiding at Casa Madrugada. In the end, the player is given the choice whether to kill the captain themselves, or to walk away and allow the rebels to open fire on him.
Captain De Santa's information about Casa Madrugada turns out to be a final lie, as only an ambush of Mexican soldiers awaits Marston.
Events of Undead Nightmare[]
Note:The events of Undead Nightmare are not considered part of the same canon as Red Dead Redemption. The following description is therefore not contiguous with the preceding section on Red Dead Redemption.
During the mission "Mother Superior Blues", the player will be asked to clear out Sepulcro. Once the coffins have been burned and most of the Undead cleared out, De Santa will emerge from his grave. As he rises, he will mumble, "Mexico loves you, Mr. Marston," in an eerily distorted voice. The player must kill or otherwise disable the Captain to complete the cemetery; you can either kill or hogtie him.
Character[]
Personality[]
Ambitious and unprincipled, De Santa knows that he is fighting a war, and he has to win as the rebels have placed a price on his head. He will do anything for the Army and kill anyone that tries to stop him.
De Santa is portrayed as a cruel, abusive, and sadistic man. Regularly, he has personally participated in the slaughter of civilians that support the rebels and has willingly kidnapped women to satisfy the sexual appetite of his commander, Colonel Allende. He is also a vicious sycophant, who is not above sending competitors on suicide missions for personal gain; he even makes a man dig his own grave before shooting him. Despite Allende's abuse or perhaps because of it, De Santa seems to genuinely admire and look up to Allende, seeing him as a savior of the Mexican way of life.
It is implied that De Santa is in a homosexual relationship with Quique Montemayor, as in several missions he is seen taking prolonged looks at the waiter, and can be seen with his arms around him later in the game. Furthermore, it is implied he has feelings for the owner of the gunsmith in Escalera, who says that De Santa is often kissing him "as if I were his brother" (in Spanish). It is also likely that De Santa's romantic preferences are known to others, as during the mission "Must a Savior Die?", when Marston tells Abraham Reyes he's "after two men", Reyes responds with, "You have been spending too much time with Captain De Santa." In the mission "Captain De Santa's Downfall" a rebel says "De Santa likes to do a lot of things to men on their knees."
"Tu fin ha llegado, ¡Pendejo!"(Your end has come, asshole!)
"No sabes con quién estás tratando."(You don't know who you're dealing with.)
"¡Van todos al infierno!"(You all go to hell!)
"Ríndanse!"(Give up!)
"Eres mío, ¡Hijo de puta!"(You're mine, son of bitch!)
"Estás muerto!"(You're dead!)
"¡Ya basta cabrón!"(Stop it you bastard!)
"¡Te voy a hacer pedazos!"(I will smash you to pieces!)
Trivia[]
The burgundy color of his shoulder patches signify he is some sort of general staff, meaning de Santa is Allende's in command right hand; implying he his responsible for the administrative, operational and logistical needs of its unit and supports and advises Allende.
If the player kills him, he will be counted as a civilian kill.
It is possible that de Santa is bisexual. There are scenes hinting at a relationship between him and Quique Montemayor, a waiter. In another cutscene, he is seen caressing a woman.
His relationship with the waiter is hinted at in the first cutscene with De Santa, where Quique Montemayor gives John and de Santa a look of longing and desire. In the same scene, as Quique goes to serve de Santa, one of de Santa's guards whispers in another guard's ear and they both laugh, possibly alluding to how obvious de Santa's sexuality is. In another scene, when he is bringing women to Allende with Quique, the two leave with arms around each other. Espinoza also says that he flirts with the bar boy.
When you first meet Abraham Reyes, John tells him he is looking for two men, and Reyes replies with, "You have been spending too much time with Captain de Santa." After de Santa's death, Reyes remarks that "a lot of young boys will sleep safe in their beds." This implies that de Santa is a rapist and possibly a pedophile or a pederast as well, though this may be an instance of homophobia on Reyes' behalf.
During a mission, Allende calls him a mariconcito in Spanish, which roughly translates into "queer".
In a conversation with Victor Melendez, Victor comments about de Santa's cowardice, claiming he'll only attack when a man is on his knees. John comments, "He'll do a lot of things when men are on their knees," further alluding to de Santa being homosexual.
He actually has a lazy eye. It is not as noticeable as Eli's, however.
If the Undead NightmareDLC is installed, de Santa's grave is present in Sepulcro, this may be a programming error or a glitch.
In Undead Nightmare his tombstone reads, "Hombre Tierno, Soldado Feroz", roughly translating into "Tender man, fierce soldier".
If the player leaves the rebels to kill de Santa, Victor Melendez will indicate that the rebels would've preferred that John killed de Santa himself. Furthermore, Abraham Reyes will also question why John hadn't killed him when granted the chance.
He has the same last name as Michael De Santa, one of the main protagonists of Grand Theft Auto V, another Rockstar game. However, Michael's false surname was chosen by him after making a shady deal with corrupt FIB agent Dave Norton; his real surname being Townley.