Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 provide players with a sprawling Wild West fantasy, but within these vast worlds, there is a set of unexplained supernatural mysteries that remain as memorable as John Marston and Arthur Morgan's stories. Plenty of unexplained mysteries remain in the Red Dead Redemption series, to the point where some players are still searching for answers. While we don't have official answers from Rockstar Games, we do have a few theories to explain the unexplained with these disturbing mysteries, so check out what we deem the best unsolved mysteries in the Red Dead Redemption games!
Pleasance Was Abandoned
A Most Unpleasant Settlement Steeped in Sin
- Location: Scarlett Meadows, Lemoyne
The state of Lemoyne is often filled with creepiness, but it's the abandoned settlement of Pleasance that takes the cake. This settlement was founded in 1883, but it seems that it wasn't long before the settlement was completely abandoned. There's a mass graveyard here, with 10 victims of different ages, all murdered on September of 1883, indicating a massacre. While the massacre itself remains unexplained, it's the town's story that deserves the most attention. Rotted walls of the abandoned town are covered in graffiti, such as "UNCLEAN SINNERS", "ILL WITH SIN", and most disturbingly, a locked barn that reads "STAY OUT PLAGUE".
This all indicates that there's something wicked going on here, and that perhaps this town was founded by sinners, and those sins finally caught up to them with a plague. Is the barn filled with those infected with the plague, and could that plague be that which causes zombies? Exploring Pleasance also shows that there is no Christian cross or symbolism in the town's church, perhaps indicating that this Godless town worships Satan. This is further indicated just south of Pleasance with the corpse of a gigantic serpent on a nearby tree. Perhaps this was a vessel of Satan's influence on the town, which then starved as the settlers all died or left?
The Ghosts of Lemoyne
Plenty of Ghosts Haunt Among Us
- Location: Bluewater Marsh, Bolger Glade, Lemoyne
While we do have (mostly) the full story of Agnes Dowd, the ghost who stalks the Bluewater Marsh in Lemoyne, there is still much to be uncovered about her existence. Players who are brave enough to explore Bluewater Marsh in foggy weather between 11 PM and 4 AM will be able to hear, and even see, a ghost, one that Arthur will even draw in his journal after witnessing her. By visiting Agnes across multiple in-game nights, you can learn her full story of how she met her lover, who was a married man, and how Agnes' proud father killed him, resulting in Agnes' madness that saw her kill her family, then result in her suicide that took her life and the life of her unborn child. Agnes now haunts Bluewater Marsh, the same area where she hung herself. Why Agnes' spirit cannot move on, and why she's the only physical spectral ghost players can see, is a mystery in itself, and it remains unexplained why she's here, and why players can't interact with her past her ghostly wails.
There's also a Ghost Train that can be found at 3 AM at the entrance to Lemoyne, which remains completely unexplained. There are no ghostly passengers on board, nor indications of a crashed train that implies the spirits are trapped here. Could the Ghost Train be representative of those who have died and board their stop to Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory? Who's to say what it really means? These are also just two examples of ghosts, as there's also the spirit voices of General Quincy T. Harris' soldiers at Bolger Glade between 12 AM and 4 AM that cause quite the fright.
Francis Sinclair, the Time Traveler
A 1930s Time Traveler Who Has Been to the Past, Present, and Future, But How?
- Location: Big Valley, West Elizabeth
Heading into the Big Valley of West Elizabeth, players can find Francis Sinclair, who begins a quest, "Geology for Beginners," to find 10 Rock Carvings. Francis Sinclair is a very unusual chap, sporting clothes and dialect that's not of 1899, and instead, more sporting of the 1930s. This cryptic character seems truly out of his time, and exploring the Rock Carvings indicates something far more disturbing. These Rock Carvings are disturbing and cryptic, indicating a carved future that Arthur will never see. Worshipping angels, nuclear bombs, sprawling futuristic cities, it's all too much to bear, so who put them here? It's a puzzling mystery, but finding all 10 and returning to Francis Sinclair sees the puzzle get even weirder.
By heading back to Francis Sinclair, players will find that all that's left is a widow and a baby with the exact same birthmark as Francis, indicating that Francis was indeed a time traveler who's managed to get back to his present, or perhaps even the past, or maybe the future? The giant sketches on Francis Sinclair's room indicate that he's been traveling all over, from the future to Ancient Egypt, but how? It's a total and unsolved mystery.
The Strange Man – Who Is He?
An Accountant, the Devil, God, or Something Else?
- Location: Bayall Edge, Lemoyne
There is no character more mysterious and enigmatic than that of the Strange Man, a character who seems to stalk the fate of John Marston across both Red Dead Redemption games. Whoever the Strange Man is, it's certainly not human. This is a character who knows everything about John Marston and his misdeeds, including things not even John can recall. The fact that the Strange Man knows so much is already telling, and this knowledge extends to people John has never met, as the Strange Man will often provide hints and directions to moral conundrums just to see what John will do in response, much like God testing his sheep to see if their free will makes them worthy of redemption. This can be further reinforced by when John says, "Damn you!" and the Strange Man replies, "Many have.", but perhaps the Strange Man is not God, but the Devil himself.
The Strange Man seems directly involved in the plague of Armadillo. Inside the Bayall Edge cabin is etched writing that reads "I offered you happiness or two generations. You made your choice," indicating a Faustian deal with Herbert Moon, who is the only member of Armadillo not affected by the plague, and has a photo of the Strange Man behind him. Perhaps the creepiest factor of the Strange Man is how, when John visits the cabin with the Strange Man's portrait, the Strange Man himself can be seen in the mirror, stalking John, but turning will see him immediately disappear. Was the Strange Man ever human, and if so, what has he become? His knowledge of John's past and future, and his cabin in Bayall Edge, says so much about him, while saying nothing at all, much like the text within the cabin that reads "I gave everything for art, and I learned too much and nothing at all."
Aliens in the Wild West
Close Encounters with Flying Saucers Prove We Aren't Alone in the Universe
- Location: Hani's Bethel, Heartland Overflow, New Hanover
While there are ghosts, undead, and even demons present in Red Dead Redemption, things get a little weird with the UFOs that can often be seen in the night sky. Players can find flying saucers and the presence of extra-terrestrial aliens that have unlocked space travel, and you can see it for yourself by heading to Hani's Bethel in the Heartland Overflow of New Hanover. Inside the cabin is a bunch of corpses, but returning here at 2 AM will see a UFO fly above, and it will quickly disappear if you dare to look at it from outside the cabin.
The cabin itself is a mystery, as it shows a cult that followed its own path with the Mysterious Sermon pamphlet. The corpses inside indicate that this cult killed themselves to be one with the aliens, and the aliens have arrived to collect their souls. The fact that UFOs are in the Wild West is a terrifying thought, but it goes no further than that... Or does it?
The Locations of Gavin and Isabeau Katharina Zinsmeister
The Missing Characters of Red Dead Redemption 2
The Princess of Luxembourg disappeared from the family's U.S. Hunting lodge in 1884 and has never been seen since. All that's left of Isabeau Katharina Zinsmeister is the reward poster found outside of the saloon at the Van Horn Trading Post, and it's the only evidence that she ever existed, outside of her family's unending grief. There has been so much intrigue into Isabeau Katharina Zinsmeister from players about whether they could find and save her, like a regular bounty mission. However, Isabeau Katharina Zinsmeister is likely dead, or someone entirely different now. While there is a model of an adult version of Isabeau Katharina Zinsmeister in the files, the lack of her presence in-game indicates that this cut character is dead, and the reward poster is nothing more than a mystery to remain unsolved.
On the topic of missing people, there's also that of Gavin, the best friend of Nigel, who often wanders aimlessly for years on end in search of his dear pal. Nigel is from Britain and seems completely out of his element in the Wild West as he searches endlessly for Gavin. Gavin is another unsolved mystery, and it's likely that he never existed, or he never wanted to be found in the first place by his clingy buddy, but what is known is that this mystery will never be solved.
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Red Dead Redemption
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8 /10Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start- Released
- May 18, 2010
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar San Diego
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DIGITALAmerica, 1911. The Wild West is dying. When federal agents threaten his family, former outlaw John Marston is forced to pick up his guns again and hunt down the gang of criminals he once called friends. Experience an epic fight for survival across the sprawling expanses of the American West and Mexico, as John Marston struggles to bury his blood-stained past, one man at a time.
Red Dead Redemption is a Western epic, set at the turn of the 20th century when the lawless and chaotic badlands began to give way to the expanding reach of government and the spread of the Industrial Age.- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Adventure
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Red Dead Redemption 2
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10 /10Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start- Released
- October 26, 2018
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
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DIGITALPHYSICALAmerica, 1899. The end of the wild west era has begun as lawmen hunt down the last remaining outlaw gangs. Those who will not surrender or succumb are killed. After a robbery goes badly wrong in the western town of Blackwater, Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang are forced to flee. With federal agents and the best bounty hunters in the nation massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal and fight their way across the rugged heartland of America in order to survive. As deepening internal divisions threaten to tear the gang apart, Arthur must make a choice between his own ideals and loyalty to the gang who raised him. From the creators of Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2 is an epic tale of life in America at the dawn of the modern age.
