The wait for GTA 6 is like falling into a black hole. The closer we get to the date; the longer time seems to stretch. Rockstar Games is lauded for their stories, locations, and surprise encounters, and some make recurring appearances in subsequent titles.
One such location is Mount Chiliad, first shown in San Andreas and then in GTA 5. Exploring this location at night will set anyone on edge, especially given the ghostly apparition in the fifth game. Rockstar is no stranger to adding otherworldly elements to their titles, and the Red Dead Redemption games feature one of the most enigmatic and unsettling NPCs in any game from the studio.
The Strange Man: A Chance Encounter or Fateful Meeting?
It all begins with Red Dead Redemption. While riding around the vast open prairies as John Marston, you will come upon a stranger mission titled ‘I Know You.’ The mission involves meeting with a man dressed in a suit and top hat who, as the name suggests, knows John despite the lack of familiarity.
This is the first encounter of three within the game. Each time, the mysterious stranger will give John a task, much like Rockstar’s classic open-world formula. These tasks all have moral choices, where the player can choose to gain more honor or become more notorious. Every encounter involves dialogue, which makes it evident that this man is not only assigning you tasks but also judging your actions on every mission.
The last meeting sees John demanding answers from the man and then firing at him when not given any. However, these bullets don’t affect the stranger, who walks away, never to be seen again. The only other way to learn more about this man is to play Red Dead Redemption 2.
The Stranger Has a Long History in the World of Red Dead Redemption
Now, The Strange Man does not directly interact with Arthur Morgan as he does with Marston. Rather, he has more indirect influences that require a bit of exploring to find. The most obvious marker is the Bayall Edge cabin found in the Bayou Nwa region of the Lemoyne territory.
The scene inside is creepy, to say the least. Lit by candlelight, the cabin is filled with odd paraphernalia and paintings. The two paintings on the wall will change based on your honor rating: a wolf and vulture for low honor or a deer and eagle for high honor. In the middle sits an unfinished painting that is completed as the story progresses, one you can also see as John after the epilogue.
“Still no mention of…”: Millions Could Miss Out on GTA 6 Unless Rockstar Change a Decades Long Trend
On the surface of a corner table, the player will also find a poem detailing the events that occurred with Jimmy Brooks. This character is one Arthur runs into earlier in the story and is presented with the choice to either save the man or let him fall off a cliff. The poem will reflect whichever decision the player takes, clearly following the trend of judging the player for moral decisions.
The Strange Man is also somehow connected to the various outbreaks of disease that keep ravaging the town of Armadillo. This can be discovered by speaking with Herbert Moon, who we first met in Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, and looting the letter from his daughter. Other allusions come from speaking with strangers who make references to certain things found in the cabin.
Omnipresent Deity or Malicious Force? To be in GTA 6 or not to be?
Clearly, this man is not a regular human. If the encounters weren’t enough, you can at one point see him watching you from the mirror inside the cabin without actually being there! So, this begs the question as to who or what this gentlemanly entity could be. It isn’t directly answered in any of the games, but maybe a Red Dead Redemption 3 will have some solutions!
He has described himself as an “accountant,” which alludes to him keeping tabs on people’s actions and misdeeds. There are a lot of theories floating around calling him a god, the devil, the Grim Reaper, or a combination of all of them together. The exact label can be debated, but it’s clear he is an otherworldly force that has his eyes and ears everywhere all at once.
It will be interesting to see if Rockstar brings back this character in some way in GTA 6. Given his otherworldly nature, we doubt age affects him as it would everyone else. It wouldn’t be too surprising to see him in his top hat around Vice City!
Do you have theories about The Strange Man’s origins? Let us know in the comments below.
