| Arthur Morgan | |
| Red Dead character | |
| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a7/Red_Dead_Redemption.jpg/290px-Red_Dead_Redemption.jpg | |
| First appearance | Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) |
| Created by | Rockstar Games |
| Voiced by | Roger Clark |
| Motion capture | Roger Clark |
| Information | |
|---|---|
| Family | Beatrice and Lyle Morgan (parents) |
| Children | Isaac |
Arthur Morgan is a fictional character in the Red Dead video game series by Rockstar Games. Portrayed by actor Roger Clark, he serves as the central character and protagonist of the 2018 game Red Dead Redemption 2.
Character development
Roger Clark was chosen to portray Arthur Morgan after auditioning for the role. The character of Arthur was developed to be a convicted criminal and a member of a gang. He is also considered to be killer and thief. The development team chose to retain a single protagonist for Red Dead Redemption 2, instead of the three as featured in Grand Theft Auto V (2013). Art director Josh Bass said that "sticking with a single character felt more appropriate for the structure and narrative of a Western". Writer Dan Houser said that "The frontier environment and the force of civilization will destroy people like [Arthur]. He’s caught between the nastiness of nature and the brutality of encroaching industrialization in civilization. He has a feeling that his time may have come and gone."
Fictional character biography
Background
Arthur Morgan was born in 1863 to parents Beatrice and Lyle Morgan, of Welsh descent. A petty criminal and outlaw, his father was arrested for larceny in 1874, when Arthur was 11 years old; his mother also died when Arthur was just a young age, leaving a young Arthur an orphan. Around 1878, Arthur was picked up by outlaws Dutch Van Der Linde and Hosea Matthews. Viewing Dutch as an adoptive father figure, Arthur came to share Dutch's vision of a life lived free from civilization and the rule of law; Dutch, Hosea, and Arthur became the founding members of the Van Der Linde Gang. Shortly after Arthur's induction into the gang, he fell in love with a woman named Mary Gillis (known as Mary Linton in Red Dead Redemption II); the two were even considering marriage. However, Arthur gave his loyalty to the Van Der Linde Gang, and Mary knew her disapproving father would not allow her to marry an outlaw. The two broke off their relationship.
At some point later, Arthur met and slept with a young waitress named Eliza, resulting in her becoming pregnant with their son, Isaac. Eliza knew who Arthur was, but accepted whatever support he offered to her and their son. Arthur would visit Eliza and Isaac every few months and stay with them for days at a time. One day, Arthur arrived at their home and saw two crosses outside. Arthur knew immediately that they were both dead, and later learned that they were killed by robbers, all for ten dollars. The incident hardened Arthur ever since and he never truly coped with the pain. Arthur does not seek a married life with a woman because of what happened to Eliza and Isaac.
Events of Red Dead Redemption II
In 1899, Micah Bell, a recently inducted member of the Van Der Linde Gang, suggested to rob a ferry boat in the modernized town of Blackwater containing rich passengers and large amounts of valuables. Arthur and Hosea, however, suggested a more discreet method of generating money by conning wealthy people. Dutch ultimately believed Micah's plan to be more successful, and decided to rob the ferry boat. Everything went according to plan, until a large number of agents from the Pinkerton Detective Agency arrived at the scene, effectively foiling the gang's plan. Dutch ended up murdering an innocent girl (an act that contradicts Dutch's own values and teachings), and a number of the gang's members were killed or arrested. Arthur was not present at the robbery; Dutch instructed Arthur to head north, into the snowy regions of Ambarino, to search for a safe house in case if the robbery went awry.
Dutch and the surviving members of the gang manage to evade the law and evacuate Blackwater. However, the money they were able to obtain from the heist had to be left behind in a secret location in the town. The gang successfully manages to escape the law once they reach the snow-covered mountainous region of Ambarino. A heavy snowstorm makes the gang desperate for shelter and warmth. Arthur regroups with Dutch and the gang. Arthur notifies Dutch of an abandoned mining town, where the gang takes refuge in. Micah Bell then regroups with Arthur and Dutch, and notifies the two of nearby homestead, which he suspects contains food and supplies. It turns out that the homestead is occupied by a rival gang known as the O'Driscoll gang, led by brutal and ruthless outlaw named Colm O'Driscoll. Arthur, Dutch, and Micah successfully eliminate the O'Driscoll gang members occupying the home. After this assault on the O'Driscoll gang, Arthur interrogates a surviving O'Driscoll thug and learns that the O'Driscoll gang was planning to rob a train belonging to wealthy oil magnate Leviticus Cornwall. The remaining O'Driscoll member informs Arthur of where the plans and the dynamite being used are held. After the interrogation, Arthur and Dutch comfort a young woman named Sadie Adler, who was hiding in the cellar of her home when the assault on the homestead occurred. Sadie, whose husband was murdered by the occupying O'Driscoll members, is left a widow and inducted into the Van Der Linde Gang.
At the plea of Abigail Roberts, Arthur is asked to search for John Marston, who was shot during the heist on the ferry boat and was separated from the gang during the escape and evacuation of Blackwater. Arthur, with Javier Escuella, searches the high mountains to find John badly wounded. Arthur and Javier take John back to the refuge, where John lays down to recover for the next few days.
Dutch orders Arthur, Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella, Micah Bell, and Lenny Summers to accompany him to raid the O'Driscoll camp where the plans for the train robbery and the dynamite are being held at. Dutch claims that in order to fund their escape from the law, the gang needs a few more successful heists to financially cover their travel plans out of the United States. The gang successfully wipes out the O'Driscoll population in the camp, and secure both the plans and the dynamite for the robbery.
The Van Der Linde Gang is successful in robbing the train (although the plan almost fails due to Bill Williamson not rigging the dynamite correctly). The gang secures a modest sum of money, and, paired with the weather in the region becoming less harsh and the snow beginning to thaw, the gang manages to leave the abandoned mining town and set up camp in Horseshoe Overlook, in the Heartlands region of New Hanover.
During the gang's time at Horseshoe Overlook, Arthur does several tasks for many of the gang members. Dutch orders the gang, including Arthur, to venture to the nearby town of Valentine and search for any leads that will make the gang money. Leopold Strauss, a lucrative loan shark from Austria, asks Arthur to collect debt money owed to the gang, lent by Strauss himself. These loans were given to desperate people, who in no way would be able to pay the debt back plus heavy interest. Strauss needs Arthur to do the collecting because Arthur is seen by the gang as Dutch's toughest enforcer. Arthur extorts the money from the debtors in various immoral ways, including threatening a non-English-speaking immigrant at gunpoint, lassoing a debtor off of their horse, and severely beating up a man named Thomas Downes, who is suffering from tuberculosis.
Arthur learns from Josiah Trelawny (a member of the Van Der Linde Gang with wealthy connections) that fellow gang member Sean MacGuire is being kept in custody at Blackwater after being arrested in the botched ferry heist. Arthur, Javier, and Lenny rescue Sean from bounty hunters while Sean is being transferred to a federal prison. Arthur and the gang celebrate Sean's return.
Furious that his train had been robbed, Leviticus Cornwall hires the Pinkerton Detective Agency to investigate the robbery and apprehend those responsible. The Pinkerton Detective Agency assigns senior agent Andrew Milton and junior agent Edgar Ross to the case. Milton and Ross deduce that the Van Der Linde Gang was responsible for the robbery after a brief altercation with Arthur, where they promise Arthur freedom if he gives up the location of Dutch Van Der Linde. Arthur demonstrates his loyalty to Dutch when he refuses to do so. Cornwall's anger towards Dutch escalates to a boiling point where, after a job stealing valuable livestock from transporters, Cornwall and his private army hold John Marston and Leopold Strauss hostage outside of a saloon in Valentine and demand Dutch to turn himself in. Arthur eliminates the Cornwall's henchmen, and a shootout occurs. Arthur, Dutch, John and Strauss all survive, with Strauss taking a minor bullet wound.
Dutch is aware that the gang must pack up once again and relocate camp because of the shootout in Valentine. Dutch sends out Arthur and Charles Smith to search for a new camp hideout. Arthur and Charles rescue a German man from a camp site held by the Lemoyne Raiders, a militia of racist revolutionaries. Arthur returns the German man to his family. Arthur and Charles, after eliminating the Lemoyne Raiders in the camp, agree that the area is safe. The gang now settles in a new location, named Clemens Point.
Clemens Point is situated near the town of Rhodes; the town's history is plagued by an on-going feud between two plantation owning families: The Gray family and the Braithwaite family. Dutch and Hosea hear of a rumor that both families possess valuable Civil War-era gold. On the way to Clemens Point, Dutch spots Josiah Trelawny being transported in a prisoner's wagon. The other outlaws manage to break free out of the prison wagon while Dutch distracts the lawmen with small talk. When the prisoners break free, Dutch cuts a deal with the lawmen; they will free Josiah if Arthur manages to recapture the escaped prisoners. Arthur does so, and Josiah is set free. Seeing this as an opportunity to obtain the alleged family gold, Dutch makes himself, Arthur, and other gang members deputized by Sheriff Gray in order to get closer to the Gray family. Dutch tasks Arthur with various assignments that will secure the trust of the Gray family. At the same time, Hosea makes contact with the Braithwaite family and assigns Arthur tasks that will secure the trust of the Braithwaite family. The gang's activities are discovered by the Gray family, when Arthur and Sean are tasked to burn the Gray's tobacco fields. The Gray family sets up a trap in the town of Rhodes; they offer Arthur, Micah, Bill, and Sean a job in protection; this job offer came off as suspicious only to Arthur and Sean, as the job offer was presented immediately after the burning of the Gray's tobacco fields. The trap results in a shootout, with the first death being Sean. Arthur, Micah, and Bill survive the ambush; Arthur blames Sean's death on Micah and Bill for being oblivious to the certainty that the job offer was a trap.
Returning to the camp after the shootout in Rhodes, Arthur is informed that Jack Marston, John's four-year-old son, has been kidnapped by henchmen of the Braithwaite Family. Dutch forms a rescue party, consisting of Dutch himself, Hosea, Arthur, John, Javier, Lenny, Bill, and Charles. The party assaults the Braithwaite Manor, after they refuse to hand over Jack. When Dutch finally gets his hands of Catherine Braithwaite, the matriarch of the Braithwaite family, reveals to the gang that her sons handed Jack over to Angelo Bronte, an Italian crime boss residing in the modernized city of Saint Denis. The gang leaves Catherine to die in the fire of her manor.
After the assault on Braithwaite Manor, the gang returns to camp, where Dutch is confronted by agents Milton and Ross. Milton states his ultimatum to Dutch, but the gang, including Arthur, show their allegiance to Dutch by pointing their guns at the two agents. Milton and Ross leave, prompting Dutch to task the gang to relocate once again; this time to an abandoned house called Shady Belle.
Located near Shady Belle is the modernized city of Saint Denis, where Jack is purportedly being held at. Arthur manages to find information regarding Angelo Bronte, and he, John and Dutch arrange a meeting with Bronte discussing the terms of Jack's release. Arthur and John complete a task for Bronte, prompting Jack's release from Bronte's custody. Dutch believes that Bronte's powerful connections in the city of Saint Denis have the potential to be profitable, so he tasks the gang to once again ensure the trust of Bronte so that they could potentially commit another heist which will fund their escape. Bronte suggests to Dutch that robbing the post office in Saint Denis is much more profitable than robbing the Saint Denis bank. Dutch, Arthur, and Lenny do so, but the trio discover that Bronte intentionally lied to them when the post office held a small sum of cash. A swarm of police officers rush to the scene and attack the three. The three survive the ordeal, risking their lives for a mere $45.25.
Dutch sets out to get revenge on Bronte for lying to him; however, Arthur is against this plan, as one of Dutch's core teachings is to never set out to get revenge. Regardless, Arthur takes part of the assault on Bronte's mansion. Arthur kidnaps Bronte, brings him to Dutch, who drowns and then feeds Bronte's body to an alligator in the bayou surrounding Saint Denis.
Arthur participates alongside Dutch and the gang in a planned bank robbery in Saint Denis, where the gang is viciously confronted and ambushed by Agent Milton and his agents, causing the deaths of Hosea and fellow gang member Lenny Summers, and the capture and imprisonment of John, devastating Dutch and Arthur. Arthur and the gang are forced to escape through a boat heading to Cuba. A storm shipwrecks the boat, washing Arthur and the gang ashore on the beaches of Guarma, an island ruled by the tyrannical Alberto Fussar, a military colonel whom the gang met at Bronte's mansion, who learns of the gang's presence on Guarma and wishes to capture them to get a reward from Pinkerton.
Having reunited with Dutch and the gang, Arthur witness Dutch's slow descent to insanity after Dutch kills their guide Gloria, who threatened them to give her money. Arthur manages to save fellow gang member Javier Escuella from Fussar's henchmen. The gang also participates in fighting the army alongside rebel Hercule Fontaine as Arthur manages to kill Fussar, securing their passage back to America. They then ship back to America, split up and rendezvous with other surviving members of the gang, who were led by Sadie during Dutch and Arthur's absence. They were attacked by Agent Milton and his men afterwards, whom Arthur and the gang managed to fend off. They resort to a cave holed up in Beaver Hollow. Sadie and Arthur then successfully break John out of prison against Dutch's contradictory wishes, bringing further strain to Dutch's bonds with Arthur and John.
When Arthur went to Saint Denis, Arthur is seized by a violent coughing fit and collapses. A stranger escorts him to a doctor, where he is diagnosed with tuberculosis, having contracted it from farmer Thomas Downes several months earlier. Arthur is overcome with emotion at this news, as this illness was inoperable and there was ineffective treatment at 1899. Erstwhile, Arthur helps Dutch and Sadie with foiling a plan to save Colm O'Driscoll from being fatally hanged, killing off criminal competition. However, Arthur begins growing increasingly disillusioned with Dutch's leadership as Dutch becomes more violent, paranoid and reckless. Dutch's decline is also helped along by new recruit Micah Bell, who keeps on provoking Dutch to take higher risks. Dutch plans to rob a military train holding a great sum of wealth very soon, and urges the gang to assist him. Arthur doesn't take kindly to Bell's reckless influence on Dutch's decisions.
Arthur's loyalty to Dutch finally breaks when Dutch ambushes and murders Cornwall as a part of his big plan. The rift between Dutch and Arthur grows larger after Dutch instigates a war between a local Native American tribe, led by the reluctant Rains Fall and his hot-headed son Eagle Flies, and the US Army. Around that time, Arthur successfully convinces John to take his family and flee from the gang after they finish the last big heist Dutch promised, and calls for Sadie's assistance to help get them out when the time comes. Dutch found state bonds while helping the Indians ambush Cornwall's remaining men and the US Army at an oil rig, and abandons Arthur to die, causing Eagle Flies to sacrifice his life to save Arthur. Arthur's tuberculosis continues to worsen, as he experiences vicious coughing fits and occasionally falling unconsciously.
Afterwards, the gang rides out to Saint Denis, where they come in contact with the military train they're about to rob, and they get into a firefight with the US Army, causing John to get shot and left to die by Dutch, unbeknownst to Arthur, as he and the gang successfully rob the train and ride back to Beaver Hollow, where they found out Abigail was captured by Milton and his men. Dutch, Bell and the gang refused to save her, but Arthur, having been fed up with Dutch and the gang, decides to ride down to Van Horn with Sadie's help and successfully saves Abigail, who kills Milton, but not before Arthur learns from Milton that Bell has been working as a mole for the Pinkertons. Sadie and Abigail departs to meet Jack at a safe place from the camp, while a dying Arthur makes it to camp.
Arthur arrives at Beaver Hollow and accuses Bell of being a mole in front of Dutch and the gang. Within these confrontations, everyone in the camp was surprised when an injured John arrives at camp, distraught at Dutch's betrayal. This urges Dutch, Bell, Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella and Bell's two colleagues, Cleet and Joe, to turn on Arthur and John, but the eventual confrontation was cut short by arriving Pinkerton agents, allowing Arthur and John time to escape from the camp. However, Arthur is tempted to steal the gang money off Dutch but John urges him to stay and help him get out of the ensuing firefight. Arthur can either continue onwards with John to the mountains to lose both Pinkerton agents and Dutch's gang, or Arthur can leave John and trek onwards back to camp to steal the cash.
Either choice, Arthur will encounter Bell, whom he'll engage in either a fistfight or a knife fight, depending on which choice Arthur makes. In the middle of these fights, Dutch intervenes and urges them to stop fighting. Emotionally distraught on Arthur's betrayal and Bell's status as a rat, Dutch parts ways with both of them, leaving Arthur to either succumb to his tuberculosis or get killed off by Bell. Nevertheless, Arthur inevitably dies, believing that he has "won" by getting John to deviate from the gang and informing Dutch and the gang of Bell's backstabbing ways.
Arthur's death is eventually avenged years later in 1907 by John, who treks into the mountains in search of Micah Bell after obtaining information from a former friend of Bell's. With the help of Sadie and former gang member Charles Smith, John finds Bell and kills him.
In the gameplay, to survive, the player needs to repeatedly check your Health, Stamina, and Dead Eye. As Arthur is the main protagonist, you need to make him survive. You may need a horse. If you get a horse, you need to check its Health and Stamina, as it has no Dead Eye. Dead Eye, as it has been referenced a lot, allows you to accurately and precisely kill.