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Much like Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2, John possesses all of the qualities required to be a good man, but often finds himself committing some pretty despicable deeds. His quest to protect his family from his past is littered with corpses; one of which ends up being his own. While he may not be the devil incarnate, there are plenty of occasions when John paints himself as the game’s true villain.
10 He Showed No Remorse For His Past Life
In one of the earliest trailers for Red Dead Redemption, viewers are given an elaborate self introduction from the game’s main protagonist himself. In it, John speaks candidly about his time with the Van der Linde gang, mentioning some of his many past indiscretions in the process. Wrong though they may be, however, he doesn’t sound at all remorseful.
A big part of the game is centered around John’s quest to become a better man, but while he does initially gives up the outlaw life, there’s not a hint of contrition in his speech. This suggests that his entire motivation for changing was more about surviving than it was atoning and this idea is backed up elsewhere in the game.
9 He Traumatized His Son
It doesn’t take too long for John’s past to catch up with him, nor does it for the former outlaw to show his true colors. John’s actions are ultimately what led to Jack and his wife Abigail being taken hostage by the Bureau of Investigation, but this is far from the only time that his son had to suffer for his father’s many mistakes.
As well as having to see the corpses of both Uncle and John in the first Red Dead game, Jack is exposed to extreme violence on numerous occasions. In the game’s prequel, he is visibly traumatized after watching his father kill three men and this likely leaves a lasting impression on the young child. It’s also worth noting that the men John killed only apprehended him in the first place due to one of his earlier murders.
8 He Forced Rose Harling To Return To An Unhappy Marriage
Much like its prequel, the world of Red Dead Redemption is littered with strangers for whom John can complete missions. One of these is handed out by a woman named Alma Horlick and leads to a meeting with a deplorable man named Nathan Harling. Compared to John though, Harling isn’t really that bad.
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Harling has information about Alma’s fiance, but he’ll only hand it over if John pays him $5 or helps him to find his wife, Rose, who has run away due to his infidelity. If John chooses not to pay the money, he’ll instead intimidate Rose, hogtie her and then return her to her husband against her will. It’s even possible to leave her on the railway track like an old penny afterwards; something that the game rewards with either a trophy or achievement.
7 He Betrayed His Allies In The Mexican Revolution
While the lengths that John goes to in order to save his family are somewhat admirable, his conduct during the Mexican Revolution is nothing short of despicable. He regularly switches sides and kills many of the people who had believed him to be their ally in the process.
It’s only when his deception is discovered that John fully commits to the rebel cause, although by this point he doesn’t really have much of a choice to make. That he was able to look them in the eyes given everything that he had done up to that point though goes to show how remorseless and morally bankrupt he really was.
6 He Sacked The Town Of Tesoro Azul
While on the subject of war crimes, John’s action in the town of Tesoro Azul were as sadistic as they were cruel. He may argue that he was just following orders, but there must have been a part of him that knew that what he was doing was wrong. This didn’t stop him though, nor does it even tempt him into holding back.
After slaughtering every single one of the rebels who are stationed in the town, John begins to hurl fire bottles at the buildings; burning the town to the ground. As well as being spiteful and unnecessary, it was also incredibly reckless. For all he knew, there could have been women and children inside some of the buildings, but despite knowing this he didn’t even hesitate before setting the town ablaze.
5 He Hanged Cleet
There’s perhaps an argument to be made that Cleet deserved to die. The thing is though, John had absolutely no right to make that call, nor was he in any moral position to carry out the sentence himself. That he could even think about doing so does raise some interesting questions though.
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If John truly believes that Cleet deserves to die, then he must surely feel that he too is deserving of the same fate. After all, John’s past indiscretions are far more numerous and heinous than Cleet’s and yet he seems ready and willing to give himself a pass. Granted, it is possible to do the same for Cleet, but not before he’s been strung up by his neck and scared half to death.
4 He Trivialized Arthur’s Sacrifice
While Arthur Morgan was destined to die anyway due to his worsening case of tuberculosis, he risked his life and ruined his reputation so that John and his family could escape to a better life. All he wanted was for John to leave the outlaw life behind, but, despite his best efforts, this is something that John just couldn’t do.
Although there were obvious circumstances that led to John picking up his guns once more, he still had a choice in the matter. Rather than honor his dead friend’s wishes, however, he opted to go after Dutch and the rest of the Van der Linde gang instead.
3 He Murdered His Former Friends
They may well have had it coming, but, as was the case with Cleet before them, John arguably had no right to enforce the sentence; at least not morally, that is. Siding with the law against his former allies was a terrible move on his part in a number of ways and is ultimately what led to his death.
He tells himself that he’s doing it to save his family, but he seems to take quite a lot of enjoyment from hunting down his old friends. If he was really serious about moving on with his life though, he would have moved far enough away that the Bureau of Investigation would have never found him and his family in the first place. At the very least, he’d have started running the moment that he got them back.
2 He Hunted An Entire Species To Extinction
The Red Dead Series does an excellent job of highlighting the impact that humanity has on the environment around them. Whether it be the mangy animals that have been displaced by civilization or the poisoned fish that can often be found swimming in the lakes and pools surrounding power plants, the damage being caused is clear to see. This is perhaps most evident, however, during the Birth of the Conservation Movement stranger mission, in which John must hunt down Sasquatches.
After killing six of them, he comes across the very last one in existence. Rather than plead for its life though, it begs John to kill it as it cannot bear the thought of a lifetime of loneliness. Whether or not he chooses to fulfill the beast’s request is somewhat irrelevant, as, having killed all of the Sasquatch’s potential mating partners, John has already doomed the species to extinction.
1 He Failed To Stop Jack From Repeating His Mistakes
One of the primary themes found throughout the Red Dead series is the death of the outlaw lifestyle. In this new world, there is no place for people like John and the only way for them to survive in it is to change their ways. Although he does try, John is ultimately unable to achieve this, but the consequences of his failure extend much further than his own death.
He mentions several times throughout the first game that he does not want his son to grow up to be like him. Despite what he says though, he does very little to prevent it from happening. As Jack points out, he is rarely around and when he is, he often exposes his son to extreme violence which normalizes the bloodshed in the young child’s mind. As a result, Jack predictably ends up following in his late father’s footsteps; destined to meet the same grizzly fate. It is a vicious cycle, and one in which John plays a pivotal role.
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