RDR2 - Arthur Morgan | Biography
Arthur Morgan - the central character in Red Dead Redemption 2, for which gamers will have to play. Charismatic criminal to whom nobility is not alien. Arthur Morgan is in the gang Datca Van der Linde. Along with him, the player explores every corner of the Red Dead Redemption 2 universe, finds more than one treasure, lobs dozens of shops and trains, tastes the delights of gambling and finds out what real hunting is.
The game is good because each key character has its own story. Not a single shootout alive offender. Arthur will often stand in front of difficult moral choices. He is a multifaceted personality. On the one hand, this is a heartless, cold-blooded criminal who, without the slightest doubt, will shoot the one who he considers to be his enemy.
On the other hand, he adheres to the rules of his own moral code and shows touching concern for those whom he considers close. In the article we will acquaint readers with the personality of Arthur and the key points of his biography. If you have not passed the game to the end or are just thinking about buying it, then keep in mind that the material contains large spoilers.
Arthur Biography
Arthur Morgan has been in the Dutchman gang since its inception. Other members of the group became for him not just comrades, but a real family. The character is smart, perceptive and often helps to find a compromise in disputes within the group.
He regularly supplies his "family" with money and provisions. If necessary, the character is ready to kill anyone who threatens the well-being of the gang. Morgan is a middle-aged man with dark, slightly curly hair on the tips and a firm three-day stubble. He almost always wears a hat, has a great weapon, is easy to handle a horse, knows how to fish and hunt. In addition to physical fitness, Morgan has a sharp mind. He has bright eyes and a small scar on his chin, which becomes more noticeable when Morgan grows stubble. The character doesn’t have any other distinctive features, so he can easily get into the crowd and get lost among onlookers - a useful talent for a criminal who is often hidden from the authorities.
Arthur was born in a poor family. His mother was a waitress, and his father was a petty thief. When Arthur was 11, his father was caught and held in custody during another crime.
Not having a decent example, Arthur from his childhood was a mischievous man who adored all sorts of pranks. It seemed that his fate, as a criminal, had already been predetermined. Dutch finally helped cut the road back to little Morgan. When Arthur was 13, he became acquainted with this robber, who could be compared with Robin Hood.
Dutch spent a lot of time with the boy: they often went on horseback on trips. Van der Linde replaced Morgan with his father, who at the time was in prison. It is not surprising that his skepticism about the letter of the law passed on to the pupil. Arthur was almost the only person whom Dutch could even trust his life. When Van der Linde founded his own gang, the young Morgan took the place of honor in it and became his deputy and his right hand.
Gradually, their criminal grouping grew, new comrades and new major affairs appeared. At the time of Arthur's debut before the player, when the first chapter starts, the central character is in crisis. The ideals of Datca did not stand the test of time. The leader of the gang began to be disappointed in his own convictions, and after him Arthur began to reflect on the meaning of his own actions. Dutch didn’t seem to him to be such an unshakable hero, and it is these reflections that will accompany the character to the very end.
The failed Blackwater robbery will force the Datca and Arthur gang to flee. They will find shelter in a small mining town in the mountains of the Grizzlies. Here, Morgan will meet a new member of the gang Datca Sedi Adler and learn about the upcoming robbery of another major group O'Driskollov.
The criminals will cross the road and enrich the enemy in the person of the owner of the train Cornwall, which will pull the fatal chain of plot events. Part of Arthur’s gang is forced to hide from the tycoon's sleuths, while the other part, together with Morgan, must regularly commit robberies in order to provide the hiding comrades with everything they need. Further, the character will be dragged into a whirlpool of bloody events, during which he will lose quite a few comrades.
Miraculously saved from a boat crash, Morgan gradually begins to give up on Datca. He feels dislike for the newcomer to the gang. In actual fact, Mika Bell really turns out to be a “mole”, whose task was the collapse of the Datca gang from the inside. The last point in the relationship of Morgan and Van der Linde puts the last kill of Cornwall.
Arthur decides to go against the orders of Datche, when he decides to throw Abigail, captured by agent Milton. Arthur saves the girl and learns that his suspicions about Mick Bell were true. Morgan decides to leave the gang, although he understands that his end is near. He persuades John Marston to leave with him.
Both meet Bella in the final. There is a variant ending, which depends on the reputation of the hero. Let's talk about this further.
Variable reputation Morgan
Reputation in the game is a key factor that influences numerous game nuances: Arthur's diary entries, the nature of his relationship with other characters, the appearance of certain replicas during dialogues.
From the low or high reputation depends on the option of ending the game. Arthur's reputation is also a deterrent factor that must always be remembered before you shoot an innocent person or brutally crack down on someone who could be humanely killed. The more outrageous atrocities Arthur commits, the worse his reputation. During conversations with other characters in this case, the latter will turn to him with hostility and caution.
If Morgan’s reputation is high, that is, he has not tainted his honor with heinous crimes, then other Persians will communicate with him benevolently, eagerly answering questions and maintaining dialogue. This is the whole charm of the game - the gamer decides for himself whom he will raise from Arthur: the inveterate scoundrel, who is alien to all human, or a noble gangster with notions of honor.
Arthur's Diary
Morgan's diary is a kind of chronicle of his adventures. In it he makes important notes and sketches. Morgan showed himself as a good self-taught artist. On the pages of the diary, you can often find not only sketchy sketches of maps, but also drawings of animals and even lyrical landscapes of the Wild West. Each page tells about an episode from the life of Morgan, a meeting with a new friend or an unusual animal on the hunt.
From the diary you can learn a lot of useful information and learn more about Morgan, understand the motives of his actions. By the way, one of the fans of the game spent three months creating an analogue of Arthur's diary. The result was a fat Talmud, which is difficult even to pack in a backpack. The fan said that he used the very paper that was used in the Wild West during the era of cowboys.
Arthur's Disease: Is It Curable
When the game debuted, the fans, who had reached the moment the doctor visited Morgan, fell into a state of shock. Favorite hero, with whom so many adventures were experienced together, is sick with tuberculosis. Now this disease is being treated, but in those days, consumption was considered a sentence. Some patients could stretch another ten years, but with the condition of residence in regions with clean air, while others died after a couple of months. Arthur throughout the game pursued a strange cough, which could easily be attributed to the consequence of forced walks in the cold in a shirt or bathing while leaving the chase.
Immediately after the terrible discovery, many gamers began to actively seek a cure for tuberculosis. The most loyal fans have not abandoned the hope that it does exist, but somewhere is safely hidden. Representatives of the company Rockstar Games, which developed the game, upset the fans: there is no cure. To understand the plot logic that the developers have invested in the game, just look at its name, namely the third word "Redemption". Arthur's “Atonement” for all the sins and crimes committed by him is this incurable disease that will lead him to inevitable death. The hero rethought his life, abandoned his previous convictions, and finally made the last step to the purification of his soul. He redeemed his guilt in front of those to whom he caused pain and suffering, his own pain and his own suffering. So in a virtual game with shootouts and chases, there was a thread of deep meaning. The developers not only added dramatic notes, but also used the disease as a way to complicate the gameplay.
Arthur weakens, it is harder for him to leave the chase, run fast, take part in endless skirmishes. His body is gradually depleted, the cough is stifling Morgana, there is less and less energy left. To prevent this from affecting the parameters of the hero, it is necessary to hunt legendary animals, from parts of the carcasses of which you can later make special amulets. To go to some sanatorium, which is open to patients with consumption, somewhere in the mountains, and Arthur will not wait for his fate in a hospital bed. This act is absolutely not in the character of the hero, so there is no such version of the development of events in the game.
The death of Morgan and his grave
The death of the protagonist is inevitable. A player can only influence exactly how Arthur will die. If the hero throughout the game behaved like an inveterate bastard, then he will end badly. If Morgan showed himself in the role of a criminal with the concept of honor, then he will face a noble death. In the final, Morgan will have a choice: to help John escape or return for money. Outweigh the greed or the hero has really changed - it's up to the player to decide. If a character has a bad reputation, then in the first case, Bell's bullet is waiting for him, and in the second - his own knife, stuck in the back. The ending is trivial for a gangster, but does Arthur deserve such a fate?
If Morgan showed himself as a noble criminal and his reputation is high, then in any case he dies a natural death from exhaustion at the time of sunrise. It does not depend on what he does: rush for money or go to help John. With a high reputation in the credits gamers will see the inscription from the Bible on the tomb of the hero "Blessed are the hungry and languishing with a thirst for righteousness." The interpretation of this expression in the context of the events that took place is unambiguous: Arthur redeemed his sins and took the right path at the end.
After 100% passing of the game you can see the grave of Morgan. His and Susan Grimshaw (arbitrator of the gang Datca) was buried by Charles Smith. This he will later tell Marston during the epilogue. To find the grave, go to the Mysterious Hill Home.
You can walk up to the grave directly by climbing a hill, or bypass the house from behind and get to the burial site through the tall grass. The grave is located on one of the slopes, and the tombstone meets the sunrise every morning. Even here symbolism can be traced: the dust of Arthur will forever admire the sun disk, which is just beginning its journey through the sky, as if Arthur himself, having completed his life journey, has only stepped onto a long road leading to eternity.
Interesting Facts
Arthur is equally good with both hands (this is especially noticeable during the shooting), from which it can be concluded that he is ambidexter. Quite a rare talent, which in our time is found in units. Morgan swims great and draws well. If the first ability repeatedly saves the life of a hero, then the second one speaks of his subtle mental organization, which is not found in notorious criminals.
Arthur had a child who died in infancy with his mother. The hero tells this touching story during a meeting with the Falling Rain. His mistress and child were robbed and killed for ten dollars. Although Arthur did not promise to marry a girl after learning about her pregnancy, he still regularly visited her and helped as much as he could. During the next visit, Morgan saw two wooden crosses on the graves and realized that his small family was killed. The hero gets on well with the four-year-old baby John Marston, who will remind him of his own son. Although this fact from the character’s biography is hardly mentioned during the game, the tragedy, which he could not survive, will have a great impact on the personality of Morgan. Depending on the reputation at the end of the game, after Arthur’s death, either a coyote or a doe will appear, which obviously symbolize the soul of the protagonist, freed from the chains of the mortal body.
