History Characters / RedDeadRedemptionWestElizabeth

* VirtiousCharacterCopy: {{Downplayed|Trope}} He's basically a white, Wild West counterpart of [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas Frank Tenpenny]], with a similar looking mustache to boot. Much like Tenpenny, Ross is [[DirtyCop a corrupt law enforcement official]] with an [[SmugSnake irritatingly smug personality]] who forces the protagonist to do his dirty work by [[IHaveYourWife holding family hostage]], claims to be doing what he does for the greater good, and [[spoiler: decides to kill the protagonist after they've done everything he asked]]. However, he genuinely believes he is the force of law and order and has a few PetTheDog moments, while Tenpenny is ultimately self-serving, is not above killing fellow cops, and has no redeeming qualities. As such, Ross ends up [[spoiler: [[WrittenByTheWinners being remembered as a good person]]]], while Tenpenny is HatedByAll.

* {{Expy}}: He's basically a white, Wild West counterpart of [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas Frank Tenpenny]], with a similar looking mustache to boot. Much like Tenpenny, Ross is [[DirtyCop a corrupt law enforcement official]] with an [[SmugSnake irritatingly smug personality]] who forces the protagonist to do his dirty work by [[IHaveYourWife holding family hostage]], claims to be doing what he does for the greater good, and [[spoiler: decides to kill the protagonist after they've done everything he asked]].

* SmugSnake: Both he and Fordham are irritatingly condescending to Marston whenever they meet.

* VocalEvolution: Ross's voice in the sequel sounds significantly deeper and more gruff compared to his speaking tone in the first game.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Pretty obviously a villain, who does very, very little to endear himself to either players or in-game characters. However, his [[{{Jerkass}} nasty personality]] can make it easy to forget that ''everyone'' he goes against in both games (with the exception of Jack) really is a criminal entirely guilty of everything Ross accuses them of. Furthermore, his rationalization to clean up TheWildWest is emphasized in [[VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2 the sequel]], even if you put aside the fact that the Van der Lindes murdered [[spoiler:Milton]]. Considering how incredibly depraved some criminals really are (such as the O'Driscolls, Murfree Brood and Skinner Brothers), it's hard to blame someone who is trying to clean up such a violent place as TheWildWest.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: He's 50 by the start of ''1'' and 53 by the epilogue, but looks at least 10 years older than that. Possibly justified due to the stresses of his job and living in TheWildWest. The sequel shows Ross used to look significantly younger from 1899 to at least 1907, which may bear credence for that justification.

* BadassBaritone: Has a very deep voice.

* InnocentBigot: Unlike Herbert Moon, who hates practically everybody, [=MacDougal=] is for the most part an UpperClassTwit who believes in [[CriticalResearchFailure crackpot theories and idiotic science]] and doesn't seem to really bear the natives any ill will. He also constantly espouses his WhiteMansBurden beliefs to Nastas, acting what he sees as friendly while denigrating him and natives in general as savages at the core in need of being civilized.

[[folder: Harold [=MacDougal=]]]

[[folder: Nate Johns]]
!!Nate Johns
->'''Portrayed By:''' N/A

A gubernatorial candidate campaigning in West Elizabeth, and later the commonwealth's governor.

* BlueBlood: Hails from an affluent southern family.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Aldous Worthington's accusations against Johns include "corruption and vote-rigging to extortion, kidnapping, and sexual depravity."
* CorruptPolitician: Transparently so, not above outright buying votes and blackmailing rivals.
* TheGhost: Despite his importance to the game's background, he is never encountered. The closet we get is the stranger mission "American Lobbyist" in Blackwater, where Marston assists an operative of his.
* GreaterScopeVillain: To Edgar Ross' BigBad. While not personally involved in the mission that Ross sends John on, it's made clear that the local Bureau, under Ross' direction, is tacitly assisting the Johns campaign. As the law and order candidate, it's little surprise that [[GloryHound Ross]] hopes to use Johns' campaign promise in order to make himself look good. Were it not for Johns' campaign, it's conceivable that the events of the game would've played out quite differently.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Johns' underhanded tactics are ultimately his downfall, and his multiple scandals ensure that his governorship is short-lived.]]
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: His motus operandi. He's a scion of a wealthy southern family and just throws money at any problem.
* TheUnfought: Like Sanchez, John never goes after him, though Johns is merely corrupt and not part of Ross' [[spoiler:betrayal and murder of John. This saves him from Jack's wrath several years later.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Harold [=MacDougal=]]]
!!Harold [=MacDougal=]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fc12d55bb64356a52e6fcce4c2421edb.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"The savage heart cannot be conventionally civilized! I was right all along!"'']]
->'''Voiced by:''' Joe Ochman

A "researcher" of Native Americans, [=MacDougal=] is a perfect representation of science of his time.
----

* CorruptHick: Southern BlueBlood who's looked down upon by locals like Mrs. Ditkiss for his family being "hillbilly trash" from the antebellum era.

* PetTheDog: An extremely downplayed one and mostly visible through hindsight: Harold is actually one of the few white men who wants to find a peaceful settlement with the Native Americans in the area. [[spoiler: He's just so grossly incompetent it leads to Nastas death instead.]]

* BigBad: He's the main villain of ''Red Dead Redemption'' along with Dutch van der Linde, as the one forcing John to go after the members of his old gang by [[IHaveYourWife holding his family hostage]]. His threat to John increases after Dutch dies, [[spoiler:as he ultimately has John killed.]]

* BigBad: He's the main villain of ''Red Dead Redemption'' along with Dutch van der Linde, as the one forcing John to go after the members of his old gang by [[IHaveYourWife holding his family hostage]]. His threat to John increases after Dutch dies, [[spoilers:as he ultimately has John killed.]]

* {{Foil}}: To Dutch van der Linde. Both are fighting for what they believe to be best for society, Ross for civilization and Dutch for anarchy, and both display a complete willingness to ShootTheDog if that's what it takes to get there. But the game shows that both of them are hypocrites and neither of their plans are without flaws anyway. The only real difference is that in the end, [[spoiler:Ross is remembered as the hero and Dutch as the vicious outlaw, but then the game points out that had more to do with civilization ultimately triumphing and history being WrittenByTheWinners then any real moral superiority of one over the other]].

* MirrorCharacter: [[For John. Neither of them can escape their past. John can't escape his past life of crime, while Ross can't get away from his life as a government employee, constantly being pulled back in to work. They even die similarly: Someone of their past catches up to them and pumps them full of lead. It's also hinted that, beneath all his talk of civilizing the west, he's secretly just as resentful of modern civilization as Dutch and the gang; after his retirement, Jack finds him leaving a semi-secluded life in the middle of nowhere, [[BecomeYourOwnAntithesis dressing just like the cowpokes he spent his life hunting and looking down on]].]]

* MirrorCharacter: [[spoiler: Between John, and himself, they really aren't. Neither of them can escape their past. John can't escape his past life of crime, while Ross can't get away from his life as a government employee, constantly being pulled back in to work. They even die similarly: Someone of their past catches up to them and pumps them full of lead. It's also hinted that, beneath all his talk of civilizing the west, he's secretly just as resentful of modern civilization as Dutch and the gang; after his retirement, Jack finds him leaving a semi-secluded life in the middle of nowhere, [[BecomeYourOwnAntithesis dressing just like the cowpokes he spent his life hunting and looking down on]].]]

* {{Expy}}: A [[DirtyCop corrupt law enforcement official]] with an [[SmugSnake irritatingly smug personality]] who forces the protagonist to do his dirty work by [[IHaveYourWife holding family hostage]], claims to be doing what he does for the greater good, and [[spoiler: decides to kill the protagonist after they've done everything he asked]]? Are we talking about Agent Edgar Ross or [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas Officer Frank Tenpenny]]?

* ArchEnemy: To the Marstons in the first game. He’s holding Abigail and Jack against their will to force John to capture or kill his former gang members. [[spoiler:He eventually becomes Jack Marston's archenemy after killing John directly and causing Uncle’s and Abigail’s deaths.]]

* ArchEnemy: To the Marstons in the first game. He’s holding Abigail and Jack against their will to force John to capture or kill his former gang members. [[spoiler:He eventually becomes Jack Marston's archenemy after killing John directly and causing Uncle’s and Abigail’s deaths.]]
* BigBad: Of the first ''Red Dead Redemption''.

* RetiredMonster: At the end of the game, [[spoiler: Jack finds out that Ross has retired to spend his twilight years with his family. Well, he's ''tried'' to retire, but the Bureau keeps dragging him back to work ([[NotSoDifferent Sound familiar?]]).]] Whether Ross is truly ''evil'' or not is debatable, but there's no denying that Ross did some truly underhanded things during his career, [[spoiler: and when Jack catches up with him, it's clear that he has zero regrets for what he did to John]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: It is debatable whether he appears in the final attack. If not, he is never seen or mentioned again after John kills Dutch.]]

* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler: Between John, and himself, they really aren't. Neither of them can escape their past. John can't escape his past life of crime, while Ross can't get away from his life as a government employee, constantly being pulled back in to work. They even die similarly: Someone of their past catches up to them and pumps them full of lead. It's also hinted that, beneath all his talk of civilizing the west, he's secretly just as resentful of modern civilization as Dutch and the gang; after his retirement, Jack finds him leaving a semi-secluded life in the middle of nowhere, [[BecomeYourOwnAntithesis dressing just like the cowpokes he spent his life hunting and looking down on]].]]

* BoomerangBigot: When he first meets John, he asks him if he's from "Nordic stock", and is disappointed to hear that John has Scottish ancestry. His name is ''Mac Dougal''.

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: His scientific ideas in general make him this, as it becomes clear after a while that he has no idea what he's talking about. When Nastas tries to explain to him that buffalo are going extinct due to overhunting, he counters that "extinction is a myth", according to Darwin. Darwin never said this, and it seems that MacDougal doesn't understand how natural selection works. Then there's his ideas on race.

* ArchEnemy: To the Marstons in the first game. He’s holding Abigail and Jack against their will to force John to capture or kill his former gang members. [[spoiler: One can argue that he’s truly Jack Marston’s archenemy after killing John directly and causing Uncle’s and Abigail’s deaths.]]

* CorneredRattlesnake: Ross prefers to stay on the sidelines and send others to do his dirty work, and doesn't seem much of a threat on his own. But when [[spoiler: a vengeful Jack Marston confronts him for his role in John's death and isn't driven off by threats, Ross stands his ground and engages Jack in a duel]].

* YoungerThanTheyLook: He's 50 by the start of ''1'' and 53 by the epilogue, but looks at least 10 years older than that. Possibly justified due to the stresses of his job and living in TheWildWest.
* YourSizeMayVary: Is noticeably short in the first game, but average height in the second game.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: He's 50 by the start of ''1'' and 53 by the epilogue, but looks at least 10 to 20 years older than that. Possibly justified due to the stresses of his job and living in TheWildWest.
* YourSizeMayVary: Is a noticeably short man in the first game, but he's average height in the second game.

* BigGuyLittleGuy: Very tall, about same height (or perhaps even taller) than John, and over a head taller than the noticeably short Ross.