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New Austin
Armadillo
Law Enforcement
Leigh
Leigh Johnson
"My cause is to keep this town from turning into a living Hell for the folks who live here."
Voiced by: Anthony De Longis
The no-nonsense District Marshal of Armadillo. John helps him deal with several outlaws throughout New Austin. In exchange, Johnson and his deputies assist John in assaulting Fort Mercer so that they could apprehend Bill Williamson.
- Cool Old Guy: He is past his prime, but there's no denying you shouldn't get on his bad side if you value your freedom, or your life.
- Cowboy Cop: He'd kind of have to be given the setting of the game. Johnson would much prefer that the town of Armadillo stay quiet, but when trouble comes around he certainly isn't afraid to go for his gun and put down any bandits causing problems for the people he is charged with defending.
- Guns Akimbo: In cutscenes only, unfortunately.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Has quite a cynical view of Armadillo and of his profession, but he protects the town and surrounding area nonetheless.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: When John first asks for Marshal's help with getting Bill Williamson, Marshal states he can't at the moment, but only because there are many other criminals causing troubles, so the Marshal and his deputies have their hands full. After John assists them by tagging along and defeating outlaws with them, the lawmen finally have time to go after Williamson.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: According to the epilogue, he eventually retired as Marshal and moved as far away from Armadillo as he could.
- The Sheriff: Leigh's a Marshal, but the trope more-or-less fits. He is Armadillo's head lawman who will fight off any troublemaker he sees.
Eli & Jonah
Eli and Jonah
Eli on the left, Jonah on the right.
- Voiced by: Frank Noon and Brad Carter, respectively.
Two deputies in Armadillo. They are certainly not the smartest lawmen, but they are loyal to Marshal Johnson.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Which Herbert Moon helpfully points out.
- Butt-Monkey: Often on the receiving end of John's jokes, especially Jonah.
- Clueless Deputy: It is a good thing the Marshal is around, because these two would likely be pretty reckless without his leadership. Jonah in particular is as dumb as a post. Eli is a little more competent but he comes across as gullible and naive.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Eli and Jonah may come across as incompetent buffoons, but outlaws should still not underestimate them. They are decent gun users, capable of holding their own in a shoot-out.
- Fat and Skinny: In a bit of an inversion, the heavyset Eli seems to be smarter and more competent than the rail-thin Jonah.
- Jerkass: Jonah is hot-headed and pretty rude, often a little too happy to bully already-defeated criminals.
- Nice Guy: Eli on the other hand is very friendly and easy-going, often expressing concern when someone might be in danger.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Jonah doesn't view Native Americans very fondly, though this is shown to mostly be ignorance. He's never met one, and all he's heard are that they are 'savages'.
- Those Two Guys: In the mission "Political Realities in Armadillo", Jonah is introduced first. When Eli is introduced in "Justice in Pike's Basin", they would always appear together from then on.
MacFarlane's Ranch
Bonnie
Bonnie MacFarlane
"Change is only good when it makes things better."
Voiced by: Kimberley Irion
A Rancher who helps out John in New Austin and later does business with him.
- Action Girl: She is one of the few female characters capable of handling a gun.
- All Love Is Unrequited: It's implied that by the last time she meets John, she develops a crush on him while John is already married to Abigail. However it seems that she's moved on by the epilogue, where it's stated that she's married.
- The Cameo: She's one of the Strangers in the Online Mode in II.
- Damsel in Distress: After "The Burning", Williamson's gang kidnap Bonnie. In "Hanging Bonnie MacFarlane", the gang demand that the Marshal release one of their gang members, or else Bonnie will be killed. John and the lawmen attempt to make the exchange. A shoot-out occurs, but the heroes fight off the gang, rescuing Bonnie and forcing Williamson's gang to retreat.
- Deadpan Snarker: Like most characters, she has a dry wit.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde and the most prominent of probably the handful of truly decent people in the series.
- Hanging Around: As mentioned before, Bonnie gets abducted by Williamson's gang. In the aptly named mission "Hanging Bonnie MacFarlane", a number of the thugs endeavor to rape her before lynching her. Depending on the player’s choice, John either gets in close and cuts the rope with his Bowie knife, or shoots the rope in order to save her life.
- Nice Girl: She is certainly one of the friendliest characters John meets.
- Old Maid: Bonnie's 27 and unmarried, which counts for that era.
- Put on a Bus: While she shows up in the Online Mode in II (which takes place sometime during the very beginning of the main story), she and her family are not present in the Epilogue, having left the ranch during that time to avoid the cholera epidemic that's been plaguing New Austin.
- Shoot the Rope: One possible way to save her life in "Hanging Bonnie MacFarlane".
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She's implied to have started falling for John when he risks his life to save the ranch's horses when the barn is burning. Later, he saves her from being raped and hanged by thugs which likely added some Rescue Romance to her feelings. Even Abigail notices it and pokes fun at John for being oblivious. As mentioned above, however, the epilogue implies that she eventually got over him.
- Vague Age: She says she's 27 in 1911 as does some official out-of-universe material, but one of the in-universe newspapers claim she's 29 (there's more mentions of the former and Bonnie would know her own age better than a newspaper writer, it's assumed she's 27).
Drew
Drew MacFarlane
"I've never once doubted my life here."
Voiced by: Chuck Kelley
Bonnie's father and the head of the MacFarlane Ranch.
- Dented Iron: Bonnie remarks that he is frailer than he looks, despite being built like a bull.
- Determined Homesteader: He has certainly seen it all.
- Fire-Forged Friends: With John. He isn't pleased about what John is doing for the government, but Drew still sees him as a decent person and friend. Drew certainly respects him even more after John saves his daughter from outlaws.
- Outliving One's Offspring: The poor guy lost five sons; two to disease, one to a bar fight, one to attempting to milk a bull, and one to a gunshot wound to the head.
- Rancher: He has headed his own ranch for many years.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: We never do find out what exactly his fate was in the epilogue.
Other Residents of New Austin
Nigel West Dickens
Nigel West Dickens
"...And I can tell you, with no uncertainty, that miracle cures are no laughing matter!"
Voiced by: Don Creech
A self proclaimed exposer of "Hippocratic frauds", though his own home remedies aren't especially on the level themselves. He aids John in coming up with a plan to apprehend Bill Williamson and John assists him in many of his schemes. By the end, they develop an unusual friendship.
- Action Survivor: It's hard to notice, but there's scarring on his neck that comes from rope burn—meaning that he's survived at least one attempted hanging none the worse for wear.
- At Least I Admit It: He knows full well that he's a swindling cheat and prides himself on his transparency (when customers aren't around, of course).Nigel West Dickens: This is America! Where a lying, cheating degenerate like myself can PROSPER!
- Became Their Own Antithesis: It is suggested that he did used to be hunter of charlatans, but later became one himself.
- The Chessmaster: He takes on this role for John's planned assault on Fort Mercer. Nigel is the one who arranges for Seth and Irish to get involved in the scheme, and even offers up his personal carriage to use as part of the "Trojan Horse" gambit.
- For Science!: Claims to be a man of science, but the truth is somewhat murky.
- Hidden Depths: Nigel may be an out-and-out charlatan and snake oil salesman, but he has a few tricks up his sleeve.
- His "cure-all" potion increases John's Deadeye ability, suggesting that it does have some curative powers.
- He proves a remarkable Information Broker for the assault on Fort Mercer, using his connections with Seth and Irish to get both men involved in the heist. He also devises a scheme based on the Trojan Horse to equip his carriage with a Gatling gun and have John emerge to give them an upper hand.
- During the assault itself, Nigel bravely enters the fort (which is full of armed criminals) and makes one of his grandiose speeches, buying the rest of the group time to get prepared. When the firefight begins, Nigel is right alongside the others, firing a gun without flinching.
- In Undead Nightmare, his potions turn out to be excellent zombie bait. He also constructs the Blunderbuss for John; the gun is the most effective weapon against the undead in the whole game.
- Jerkass Has a Point: He's a swindler and chiseler, but he's right in that John's history of armed robbery takes away any moral high ground he may have had.
- Just Like Robin Hood: When John claims the Van Der Linde gang only robbed wealthy people to give their money to those who needed it, Nigel sneeringly refers to it as "a Robin Hood with spurs" and dismisses the idea out of hand.
- Large Ham: He's a Snake Oil Salesman in a time before microphones, so it comes with the territory.
- Milking the Giant Cow: It's a rare occasion when his hands are still.
- Snake Oil Salesman: A classic example - though his tonic does actually make John's Deadeye ability go up, suggesting it may be Real After All.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: By the end, his and John's relationship could be seen as this.
Seth
Seth Briars
"I don't eat, I don't sleep, I don't wash, and I don't care."
A maniacal treasure hunter who joins in on West Dickens and John's plan to assault Fort Mercer.
- Depraved Bisexual: States that he's had a wife and child once while implying that his relationship with Moses Forth was more than just partners.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted; while robbing a grave he expresses disgust at one of the corpses he exhumes laying with his sister... but that's just because he doesn't like women, full stop.
- Hidden Depths: He might be a treasure-crazed, cadaver-befriending wretch, but he had a wife, kids and business before he went mad. It makes you wonder about the man before the map. He shows a surprisingly honorable side when he holds up his end of the deal, helping John get into Fort Mercer even after the treasure is discovered to be worthless to him. Granted, John wasn't going to let him back out regardless, but Seth didn't make any attempt to dispute it or skip town.
- I Love the Dead: He expresses his fondness for the company of corpses over the presence of people openly and affectionately. It mostly seems platonic, but some of his lines suggest a willingness to take it further.
- The Mole: His role in the assault on Williamson's gang in Fort Mercer. Seth is actually friends with the gang, so he takes advantage of his position by convincing them to open the gates, allowing John and the others to come in.
- The Pig-Pen: He's absolutely filthy due to his maniacal, narrow-minded obsession with finding treasure.
- Robbing the Dead: In his search for treasure, Seth would loot graves to see if the corpses have anything useful in them. When John meets Seth for the first time, he's in the middle checking a deceased in a graveyard. In "A Gentle Drive with Friends", Seth steals several bodies before checking what they have, then throws each of the bodies away.
- Sanity Slippage: Seth himself admits that looking for treasure for so long has twisted his mind quite a bit. He talks to himself and even corpses, which creeps John out.Seth: (inspecting the corpses)Where are you? Come on, don't be shy.John: What did you say?Seth: I didn't say nothin'.John: Are you talkin' to them?
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The "treasure" he has John help him find turns out to just be a glass eye, which might had value to the original owner, but is ultimately worthless to Seth. To say Seth is upset would be an understatement. Seth still fulfills his end of the bargain to John, never the less.
- Ultimately Subverted. A newspaper that can be read after the epilogue shows that he ended up finding treasure after all, and has returned to his family and reopened his business.
- Shout-Out:
- West Dickens nicknames him Seth of the Dead.
- In Undead Nightmare he also plays cards with his now undead friend Moses, in similar fashion the ending of Shaun of the Dead shows Shaun playing video games with zombie-Ed
- Throw the Dog a Bone: In the epilogue, it is mentioned that he actually found real treasure and became rich.
- He also has a prominent role in the Undead Nightmare DLC and generally fares very well within the Zombie Apocalypse.
- Younger Than They Look: You'd be forgiven for thinking he's maybe in his mid-late 40's or so, but he's actually around his late thirties. All those months of digging graves and looking for treasure hasn't been kind to him.
Irish
Irish
"They say God invented whisky to stop the Irish from rulin' the world."
An arms dealer who loves to drink. He helps West Dickens and John with their plan to assault Fort Mercer by acquiring a machine gun for them.
- Accidental Suicide: How he ends up dying in the epilogue.
- The Alcoholic: Finding him sober is incredibly rare.
- Cowardly Lion: For an arms dealer, Irish tends to avoid getting into gunfights as much as he can, often letting his friends do most of the killing, then show up later thinking the shoot-out is done. He does fight back alongside John when they're attacked during the ride to Mexico (They are both on a raft floating in a river, so it's not like Irish has anywhere he can run to.).
- Dirty Old Man: At one point, he holds two nuns at gunpoint and demands them to lift up their skirts.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's only ever referred to as "Irish". His real name is never given.
- Nominal Hero: He's a sleazy, crass arms dealer. The only reason he can really be considered a "hero" is because he's assisting John with the assault on Fort Mercer.
- Oireland: Well, obviously.
- Pet the Dog: Before parting ways with John, Irish gives him a heartwarming compliment, albeit in his own way.Irish: You're an angry and a feck ugly man, but not a bad one.
- Undignified Death: A newspaper that can bought in the epilogue reveals that he (identified as an "Irish male, of unknown name") accidentally shot himself while using an outhouse.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Considering Irish a hero is a bit of a stretch but he is on John's side. In "On Shaky's Ground", Irish is in the middle of harassing a pair of nuns with his gun. John gives Irish a vicious Dope Slap before calling him out on attempting to hurt the nuns.
- With Friends Like These...: When John meets him for the first time, Irish is tortured and nearly killed by two other guys Welsh and French. After John kills them, Irish thanks him and he later explains that those two people were his best friends. Later on, Irish says that he has another friend Shaky, but their conversations aren't friendly at all as Irish constantly makes fun of his stuttering while Shaky constantly swears at him.
