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. Regular he personally participates in the slaughter of civilians that support the rebels and willingly kidnaps 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. He is also portrayed as a homosexual. In several missions, he is seen looking flamboyantly at Quique Montemayor, a waiter, and can be seen with his arms around him later in the game.
Interactions
Red Dead Redemption
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 learns to dislike him, seeing how most of the tasks involve burning down innocent peoples homes, and capturing young women to give to Allende and 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.
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, De Santa has escaped, and is running back to the safety of Escalera.
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. Sure enough, John (with the help of his rebel friends) quickly dispatches all the Mexican Army soldiers before beating De Santa to a bloody pulp. Under intense interrogation, the brutalized De Santa tells John that Javier Escuella is hiding at Casa Madrugada. In the end, It is the player's choice whether to kill the captain or leave it up to the rebels. If you choose the second option he will be shot by the rebels and left there to rot in a pool of his own blood, despite the fact he has been beaten so severely he already looks like a corpse.
Captain De Santa's information about Casa Madrugada turns out to be a final lie, as only an ambush of Mexican soldiers awaited Marston.
De Santa's grave is to the far left of Sepulcro when the player enters from the side facing Las Hermanas.
Undead Nightmare
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.
"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
His uniform is completely different to that of Captain Espinoza and the rest of the Mexican Army. This means that De Santa is an officer in the Mexican Cavalry. The lack of spurs on his boots indicate the former. His uniform is similar with Allende's uniform (except in the rank). This confirms that they both serve the same military force.
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; Captain De Santa is responsible for the administrative, operational and logistical needs of its unit and supports and advises his commander Colonel Agustin Allende in running.
During his first appearance, De Santa mentions that "he is no soldier, but beholden to his time". Although he could be simply joking.
If the player kills him, he will be count as a civilian kill.
During the mission Mexican Caesar, Captain Espinoza mentions that De Santa "is hardly a soldier, he has better things to do, like mailing letters or sweeping floors or flirting with barmen." Also, during the mission Empty Promises, Captain Espinoza says "Shut your mouth, you office boy!" when he encounters John and De Santa.
It is possible that De Santa is bisexual and a child abuser. 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. And, in another scene, when he is bringing women to Allende with Quique, the two leave with arms around each other. Captain 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 is evidence to him being a child sex offender.
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's homosexuality.
Contrary to other evidence, the bartender at the Escalera saloon says, "Los dicen que De Santa con los hombres es pura mentira." This translates to, "They say that De Santa with men is a pure lie." Additionally, he says, "Capitán De Santa es muy machote," meaning "Captain De Santa is very macho." Both could be interpreted as regarding rumors of his homosexuality.
He has a hostile rivalry with Espinoza. Both are constantly insulting each other and both feel they are Allende's right-hand man. De Santa describes Espinoza as a dog (they) release from time to time," while Espinoza describes De Santa as a maid that Allende cannot fuck.
He actually has a lazy eye. If you look at his picture below, you can see it. It is not as noticeable as Eli's, however.
His name translates to Vincent of Saints.
In the Blackwater Ledger; it is reported that he died at age 34. This reveals that he was born in 1877.
Vincente de Santa is the only antagonist from Red Dead Redemption to make an appearance in Undead Nightmare.
If the Undead Nightmare DLC is installed, De Santa's grave is present in Sepulcro even before his death, this may be a programming error or a glitch.
In Undead Nightmare his tombstone reads, "Hombre Tierno, Soldado Feroz", roughly translating into "Man of tenderness, fierce soldier".
Vincente De Santa is the only character you can kill twice: in Red Dead Redemption (where you can choose to shoot him) and in Undead Nightmare.
If the player leaves the rebels to kill De Santa, Victor Melendez wil indicate that the rebels prefer (or would have preferred) that John killed De Santa himself. This is possibly because, while De Santa was cruel to the people of Mexico, he had personally betrayed John, and so, in their eyes, John's vendetta with him would've been much more personal.
