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Father of the year! ## Personality John Marston was born in 1873[1] in the northern United States.[2] His father was an illiterate Scottish immigrant who was born on the boat to New York, while his mother was a prostitute, who died during John's birth. John initially lived with his father, a man who loved Scotland and always talked about it. However, he was blinded in a bar fight south of Chicago and died at some point later, when John was eight years old. The circumstances around his death are unknown, although John was told that he died in the bar fight. John was subsequently sent to an orphanage, where he spent the next few years. He eventually ran away and tried to make his own luck living out in the streets. At the age of 11, John committed his first murder when he shot a man, although he claimed it was not his fault. In 1885, at the age of 12, Marston had been caught stealing by homesteaders in Illinois, who planned on hanging him. Dutch van der Linde stepped in and saved the young boy, taking him under his wing; John was thus inducted into the Van der Linde gang, alongside Hosea Matthews, Arthur Morgan, and Susan Grimshaw. The gang became a surrogate family to the young boy, with Dutch becoming his mentor and father figure. He taught John how to read, shoot, hunt, gather, and instilled him with a love of nature and things other than power. John developed into an experienced outlaw, running with Dutch, Hosea, Bill Williamson, Arthur Morgan, Javier Escuella and several others, committing robberies, raids, murders, kidnappings and other crimes across the American frontier. Alongside Morgan, Marston was viewed as Dutch's proudest protégé; many members of the gang considered John to be Dutch's favorite and "golden boy", much to the envy of certain people, such as Bill. Marston had fallen under the sway of Dutch's philosophy, believing that the gang stole and fought for a reason. In stealing from the rich, they, in turn, gave to the poor. They wanted to elicit change in the people of the West, although he later came to admit that these were excuses to let them rob and steal indiscriminately. In 1894, a prostitute named Abigail Roberts joined the gang. Despite having sexual relations with most of the gang members, she eventually fell in love with John. They later had a son together in 1895, whom they named Jack. The gang became an extended family to Jack, with most of the members becoming aunts and uncles to him. In his early years, John had a lot of difficulties connecting with his son due to doubts as to whether or not he was Jack's biological father, as well as fears about his own ability to raise him. Around 1896,[4] John left the gang for a year. His return was met well with Dutch and certain other members of the gang, whilst Arthur felt betrayed by his actions. A rift between the two steadily grew over the next few years. The gang picked up new members such as Micah Bell, Lenny Summers, and Charles Smith as they traversed the Grizzlies circa 1898. They continued moving east until they reached the up-and-coming port town of Blackwater, where they decided to stay for a while. Here, Micah encouraged Dutch to pursue a lucrative boat heist, which John participated in alongside Javier, Sean, and the Callander brothers - Mac and Davey. The heist went wrong when Dutch shot a defenseless young woman named Heidi McCourt in the head and a unit of Pinkerton agents ambushed the gang, resulting in an eruption of violence. The gang escaped and managed to stash the money from the boat somewhere in Blackwater. The heist was a disaster, leading to the deaths of Davey and Jenny Kirk, Mac being separated, and Sean's capture by bounty hunters. John took a bullet in the arm and escaped with the rest of the gang, heading north towards Big Valley.Colter Chapter In their attempt to escape the Pinkertons, the Van der Linde gang continue to flee north and end up caught in a snowstorm on the mountains of Ambarino. While the rest of the gang look for shelter, John and Micah are sent scouting for additional shelter and supplies. Eventually, Abigail becomes concerned when John has not returned after two days. She pleads Arthur to find him and, after Hosea steps in, Arthur and Javier set out to find John. They eventually manage to track him down and find him up in the mountains, badly injured and his horse killed. He revealed that he had gotten lost a day or so prior, ending up on a cliff near the peak of a mountain after being attacked by wolves that badly lacerated his right cheek and nose, giving him his signature scars. They proceed to bring him back to safety, although Morgan is forced to fend off several wolves that had come after the trio while Escuella carried Marston on his horse. Once they return to Colter, Abigail scolds Marston for his actions, and he is left to recover during the rest of their stay. At some point afterwards, John asks Dutch if he can join the train robbery crew, but Dutch refuses and tells John that he needs to rest and heal. During the ride out of the mountains, John is seen being loaded up in a stretcher onto a wagon, with his face still heavily covered in bandages and badly injured. Horseshoe Overlook Chapter After recovering from his injuries, John, along with Arthur and Bill, assaults an O'Driscoll hideout at Six Point Cabin, using the information given by Kieran Duffy, a former member of the O'Driscolls. John takes Kieran on his horse, and they arrive at a forested area outside of the camp. The three take out some of the O'Driscolls silently, before a shootout ensues. The three emerge victorious, and after Kieran saves Arthur's life, John and Bill convince Arthur to let him stay, and the two take him back to camp. John, Arthur, and Charles (before being joined by Sean) rob a train passing through Scarlett Meadows. They manage to steal a Cornwall wagon and put it on the tracks to force the train to stop. During the robbery, John deals with the passengers, carrying a loot bag for them to put their valuables in. However, the law shows up quickly, prompting suspicion from John, although they still manage to make off with the money. John and Arthur go and steal a herd of sheep at some point afterwards, to sell them at the Valentine auction. When they go to the nearby saloon to drink after the success, where Dutch and Strauss show up. Strauss and John go outside but are captured and held hostage by Leviticus Cornwall and his hired guns. Arthur and Dutch rescue them, before fighting their way out of Valentine. They then promptly pick up camp and leave. Clemens Point Chapter John, Javier, and Arthur make a deal with the Grays, in which they will steal the Braithwaites' prized horses and sell them for five thousand dollars. The three of them talk their way into the grounds, before subduing the stable-hand and stealing the horses. John takes the lead during the escape until they sell them for a meager seven hundred dollars. After Jack is kidnapped by the Braithwaites, John takes part in the assault against Braithwaite Manor in the hope of taking back his son. After his son is not at the manor, he grows furious. After the Pinkertons find out the location of the gang's camp, John and Arthur go to Shady Belle, in order to clear out any Lemoyne Raiders so that the gang may set up a new camp there. After eliminating a few of the remnants, John and Arthur dump the bodies in the swamp, and John goes back to the gang to direct them to the new camp. Saint Denis Chapter John, Arthur and Dutch go to Angelo Bronte's manor, after learning from Catherine Braithwaite that he is holding Jack hostage. In exchange for Jack being returned to them, Arthur and John are sent to deal with a group of grave robbers in the city's cemetery. The duo kill the grave robbers, although the police arrive at the cemetery after hearing gunshots, forcing John and Arthur manage to sneak out of the cemetery and evade them. When they return to Bronte's mansion, Dutch is there waiting for them, along with Jack. They then head back to camp, and the gang throw a party to celebrate Jack's return. John's relationship with Dutch begins to deteriorate during this chapter, as Dutch believes that John is becoming too close to his family, and that Abigail is turning John against him. Van der Linde also believes that John is losing faith in him, and in return, John begins challenging some of Dutch's decisions. Later, John accompanies some of the gang members in storming Bronte’s mansion, in revenge for Bronte setting up Dutch. Inside the house, John comes across Bronte and knocks him unconscious with a punch to the face. Later, John witnesses Bronte being drowned by Dutch and fed to an alligator, which he is shocked by. During the failed bank robbery in Saint Denis soon afterwards, John gets captured and sent to Sisika Penitentiary, where he is incarcerated. Beaver Hollow Chapter After Dutch and four others travel back from Guarma, Arthur and Sadie Adler scout the penitentiary using a hot air balloon and later manage to bust John out of prison, before returning him to the camp in Beaver Hollow. However, Dutch berates Arthur and Sadie for getting John back earlier than intended, even though the law began making plans to have John hanged. Dutch begins to develop paranoia, and is convinced that John is a traitor (although this can partly be attributed to Micah manipulating him). With tensions in the gang at an all-time high, some other members of the gang such as Bill also suspect that John is a turncoat, and distrust him as a result. On orders from Dutch, John and Arthur blow up Bacchus Bridge with the stolen dynamite. During this operation, Arthur convinces John that he and his family should run away from the crumbling gang, once they have enough money. The two begin making plans, and John informs Arthur that Abigail knows where the gang's money stash is. The feeling that they need to get out is escalated even more as Dutch descends into madness, in addition to becoming increasingly influenced and corrupted by Micah, who acts as his new right hand man. John is later present with the rest of the Van der Linde gang during the battle against the U.S. Army at the oil fields, although he plays a minimal part in it. John takes part in the final robbery of the Van der Linde gang, which involves robbing army payroll from a train. When uncoupling a burning train carriage, John gets shot in the shoulder by a train guard and falls off the train. Dutch goes back to save him, but ultimately decides to leave John to die. After the robbery, John is presumed dead by the rest of the gang. When rescuing Abigail (who had been captured by Pinkertons), Arthur and Sadie learn from Agent Milton that Micah had betrayed the gang, having given information to the Pinkertons since the gang's return from Guarma. Arthur sends Abigail and Sadie to safety at Copperhead Landing while he goes to camp in order to confront Micah. During a stand-off between Micah and Arthur about the former being a traitor, John makes a shock return, still injured, claiming that Dutch left him to die. John and Susan Grimshaw side with Arthur, while the rest of the gang sides with Micah. Susan threatens Micah at gunpoint, but he kills her while she’s distracted by the news of the Pinkertons' arrival. Dutch then draws his revolvers and demands to know who is "with" him, and who is "betraying" him, ultimately leading to the gang uniting behind him and against Arthur and John, holding the two at gunpoint. Before the pair can be gunned down by the others, the standoff is interrupted by a Pinkerton assault on the camp, causing the gang to flee. John and Arthur flee the area using the caves underneath the camp. Once they get out of the caves and try to escape through the forest, Arthur tells John that Micah was the rat and that his family are safe at Copperhead Landing. They are then forced to run while being pursued by Dutch, Micah and the others, declaring that the pair are traitors. After John and Arthur outrun their pursuers, their horses are shot from under them. It becomes clear that the whole area has been surrounded by Pinkertons and their chances of getting out alive are slim, and Arthur has to make a decision. The following set of events will depend on the player's choice: If Arthur helps John to escape: Arthur decides to ensure that John will get back to his family at all costs, so the two decide to traverse the mountains — with the Pinkertons on their tail. John and Arthur fight their way to the top of the mountain until Arthur decides that (due to his illness) he can’t go on, so he suggests that he stays behind and distracts the Pinkertons while John continues on. Arthur gives John his hat and satchel, while John acknowledges Arthur as being his “brother”, and reluctantly continues on his way to his family while Arthur fights off the Pinkertons alone. If Arthur goes back for the money: Arthur claims that the gang's money was left at the camp's caves, but John refuses to go back there, as he needs to get back to his family. Arthur then gives John his hat and satchel, saying his final goodbyes as the two friends part ways, with John leaving the area to reach his family while Arthur goes back to the camp to get the money. Either way, John manages to escape and reunite with his family along with Sadie and Tilly at Copperhead Landing, while Arthur dies, either from his Tuberculosis or from being killed by Micah. John and his family planned to live an honest life after leaving the gang. Wishing to buy some land, they moved to the Yukon soon afterward to take part in the gold rush, but they didn’t make much from it. Sadie and John also vowed one day to kill Micah for his treachery, should they ever find him. Pronghorn Ranch Chapter Years after the gang disbanded, in 1907, the Marston family have an incident at Roanoke Ridge which involved John shooting someone, and head to a destination unknown. They eventually arrive in Strawberry to try their luck there where Abigail and Jack land a job in the town clinic and, under the pseudonym "Jim Milton", John temporarily gets a job working for the general store, delivering goods to David Geddes at Pronghorn Ranch. John arrives at the ranch on time and manages to stop the Laramie Gang from harassing the ranch. After this, John receives work as a ranch hand for the Geddes. His reunion with Abigail starts uneasy friction after she receives news of John's actions prior to their arrival. Nevertheless, Abigail and John manage to get by with their newfound life. John helps Mr. Geddes and ranch foreman Tom Dickens with more ranch work such as teaching the David Geddes' younger son named Duncan Geddes how to tame and ride a horse and build fences around the ranch. During these times, John briefly connects with Jack, teaching him how to ride a pony and retrieving mail from Strawberry. However, their journey in collecting a package at the post office goes wrong, due to John and Jack being followed by three men connected to the incident back at Roanoke Ridge. John is forced to kill them, which triggers Jack's anxiety. After they return to their ranch, Abigail becomes increasingly worried after seeing Jack anxious and John failing his promise to her. This concern ignites after the Laramie attack the Pronghorn Ranch, and steal cattle. John and the ranch hands head to Hanging Dog Ranch where they successfully fight the gang and retrieve the cattle. John also kills their leader for mocking him. The event angers Abigail and she leaves John quietly the next morning. John continues to work at the ranch and after some time, Marston asks Mr. Geddes to put good faith on his name so that he can borrow loans from the bank and buy a plot of land. John attempts to buy Beecher's Hope to convince Abigail he's changed, with the intention of turning it into a ranch. Beecher's Hope Chapter John successfully buys Beecher's Hope after clearing away squatters living there. He reunites with Uncle in Blackwater and Charles in Saint Denis, who help Marston build his ranch, as well as Sadie in Valentine, who provides him with various bounty hunting jobs to pay off his bank loans. Abigail and Jack head back to John after receiving a letter from him. John spends more time with his family, such as fishing with Jack and Rufus, and going to Blackwater with Abigail. During their trip to town, John proposes to Abigail on the lake. Eventually, Marston comes across information leading to Micah's location. He, Sadie, and Charles go despite Abigail's pleas not to. In order to reach their nemesis, the trio track down Cleet in Strawberry, who reveals that Micah and his gang are at Mount Hagen. The player can then decide whether to hang Cleet or spare him, though the latter results in Sadie killing him instead. The three journey to Mount Hagen, where Charles and Sadie both sustain injuries; with Charles getting shot in the shoulder by a sniper and Sadie having been stabbed in the abdomen during a scuffle with one of Micah's henchmen, John is forced to continue on without them. He soon confronts and kills Joe, before eventually finding Micah. A shootout ensues between the two and they end up in a deadlock, which ends when a wounded Sadie appears and holds Micah at gunpoint. However, Dutch makes a sudden appearance, emerging from a cabin with his revolvers drawn, resulting in Sadie being subdued by Micah and held hostage.John has a strong dislike of birds and a rather dull imagination, especially when compared to his son Jack. When it comes to how he feels about religion, in-game quotes suggest that he is likely a Christian who is not overtly religious. He is also a fairly serious individual with very little patience for the eccentricities of both life and the various people he meets during the events of Red Dead Redemption. He frequently threatens Irish into sobering up so as to be of some use to him, and he is clearly disturbed/disgusted by Seth's habitual grave robbing. However, he is not above employing sarcasm in conversation with certain characters, particularly those he sees as exhibiting hypocrisy, which can be seen in his interactions with both Abraham Reyes and Agustin Allende. John is also shown assisting both sides of the revolution in Mexico, suggesting he is willing to be morality apathetic to save his family. He greatly respects women and refuses to commit adultery yet can be quick to anger and never seems to feel guilty or remorseful about the deaths he's caused both past and present. Despite Dutch leaving him for dead and devolving to a deranged maniac, John still holds respect for him as a former father figure in his life. The familial bond created when Dutch took in an orphaned teenage John is still somewhat evident, as John is noticeably reluctant to kill Dutch when given the chance; even years after his time in the gang, John still has some of Dutch's more progressive, less violent philosophical beliefs, such as viewing modern society to be deeply unfair and having a low opinion of the government. However, John does seem to have matured since his criminal days and is unbending in his desire to live out the rest of his life with his family. John is also extremely polite to women, often calling Bonnie "Miss MacFarlane" despite her insistence that he call her "Bonnie." He also does anything possible to keep women safe, even pistol-whipping Irish to defend two nuns he was holding up. In contrast to his politeness to women, John is unafraid to take the moral high ground when dealing with less than reputable characters, like Irish with his alcoholism and Nigel West Dickens with his swindling of gullible people. John seems to be one of the only men who is loyal to his wife. He also seems to get irritated when someone mentions his wife's past rather than his own. Unlike many people of the time, John doesn't hold racist views and even sarcastically mocks those that do. John is also skeptical of new technology, dismissing