History RedDeadRedemption2 / TropesMToZ

* MustMakeAmends: [[spoiler:''Do Not Seek Absolution'' quest line is only available to the non-low honour Arthur, as he sees the wife (and widow) of a previous family that borrowed money from Arthur's gang which ended with their husband's beatdown from Arthur and presumed followed death, she turned to selling her body outside Annesburg to barely make ends end alongside with her son that got sent to the mines for work, and he doesn't get treated well there, this absolutely guilt trips Arthur, as in those quest lines, he tries to amend for what happened to the family, and [[PutOnABus sends them on the train]] with a huge sum of cash, after the ''Red Dead Redemption mission,'' you can find a newspaper with an article reporting that the family used the money to set up a golf course and are now prospering.]]

* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: In the mission "The last Son", when Micah raises his voice on Arthur after the latter questioned Dutch again, you can see Charles, John, and Sadie, who were sitting moments ago, stand up and about to back Arthur up before Eagle Flies shows up.

* MeleeATrois: The final mission of Chapter 6 involves [[spoiler:Arthur and John fighting Dutch, Micah, Bill, Javier Joe, and Cleet; Ross and an army of Pinkertons then arrive on the scene to wipe everyone out.]]

** During the mission "The Mercies of Knowledge", [[spoiler:the victim of a botched execution by electrical chair]] begs to be shot and put out of his misery.

'''John:''' What the hell are you talking about?\\
'''Charles:''' If it's ''really'' bad... it might be better... to stop the pain.\\
'''John:''' Jesus, you mean to...\\
'''Charles:''' I mean you can live a week without a scalp. But it ain't a good week. A gut wound, you can live a month, but it's horrible. What they've done to him, might have killed him already, with only hurt to come.

** One of the available bounties has a ton of similarities to John Marston. This guy, "Mark Johnson," is a former outlaw who abandoned his life of crime, bought some land in the middle of nowhere, and wanted to start fresh with his wife and son.

* MolotovTruck: An oil wagon is used to this effect during a mission to stop and rob a train.

* MercyKill: {{Discussed|Trope}} by Charles and John when [[spoiler:Uncle is kidnapped by Skinners]], although thankfully Averted since they manage to rescue him before it gets too bad.

* PapaWolf: John Marston, even more so than the first game. [[spoiler: When news of Jack getting kidnapped reaches him, Marston can barely control himself. Dutch and Hosea have to calm him down repeatedly to prevent him from doing anything stupid.]] This is what finally push his CharacterDevelopment and he started to become a better father and husband.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: You suffer no loss to your Honor when killing and looting other outlaws. Additionally, some missions even reward you with an ''increase'' in honor if you go out of your way to harm/kill "evil" individuals as part of the mission. One prominent example is killing [[spoiler:the former slave catcher]] in Scarlett Meadows. You can kill the Eugenics supporter in Saint Denis in broad daylight with absolutely no consequences, even if you put him on the back of your horse so you can finish him off in a more creative way in a different location (such as feeding him to an alligator or letting him get run over by a train).

* WeHelpTheHelpless: The Van der Linde Gang's philosophy as summarized by Dutch is "we shoot fellas as need shootin', save fellas as need savin', and feed 'em as need feedin'." The romantic nature of the crusading outlaw becomes brutally deconstructed over the course of the game -- if Dutch indeed wanted to help others and retreat from the modern world while spreading his quasi-Luddist philosophy, he could've started some sort of anarcho-primitivist collective and lived peacefully in the wilderness, but his insistence on maintaining an Old West gang and fighting injustice through force of arms means that the modern world will always be at his heels hunting him down. Just being a band of outlaws in the first place requires them to fend off other, more vicious gangs for territory and dominance, leaving little time for heroism, while Dutch himself slowly becomes (or revealed as) a tyrant who doesn't allow anything less than unwavering loyalty in the ranks. Ultimately, all they've got separating them from the O'Driscolls in the eyes of the law is a code of ethics and a mission statement, and the law doesn't care about good intentions. [[spoiler:There's evidence for both Dutch's sincere belief in the Robin Hood ideal and him using it as a excuse to justify a life of crime, but taking advice from Micah -- a man who only looks out for himself -- is what really dooms the gang.]]

* WeirdWest: The Old West was even weirder back in the day, containing, among other things, [[spoiler:ghosts, giants, odd statues, aliens, dinosaur bones, viking burial grounds, mad scientists, time travel, robots]], and incest.

*** Tall Trees has much more vegetation and is not covered in snow, so it's almost entirely unrecognizable in certain places. For example, the western end of Aurora Basin has been redisgned entirely and the waterfall is replaced by a much longer stretch of land that ends in cliffs. Nekoti Rock is also unclimbable now, and as the summit is not intented to be seen the cave is missing.

* YouHaveFailedMe: If you challenge and beat a certain NPC twice in a horse race, he would shoot his horse.

* MustMakeAmends: [[spoiler:''Do Not Seek Absolution'' quest line is only available to the non-low honour Arthur, as he sees the wife (and widow) of a previous family that borrowed money from Arthur's gang which ended with their husband's beatdown from Arthur and presumed followed death, she turned to selling her body outside Annesburg to barely make ends end alongside with her son that got sent to the mines for work, and he doesn't get treated well there, this absolutely guilt trips Arthur, as in those quest lines, he tries to amend for what happened to the family, and [[PutOnABus sends them on the train]] with a huge sum of cash, after the ''Red Dead Redemption mission,'' you can find the newspaper with the family being well.]]

* SequelHook: While there are the obvious nods to [[VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption the previous game]] you'd expect, the game also establishes a convenient [[spoiler:eight-year TimeSkip between 1899 and 1907, [[NoodleIncident at least part of which]] John Marston and his family spent laying low]] in what's implied to be the an equivalent to the Yukon gold rush, which definetly opens up a door for another prequel or an interquel with the same cast in a new setting.

*** [[spoiler:It's possible that Thomas isn't the only one who plays a role in Arthur's sickness. Although TB has a latency period that can last for up to two years, during Chapter 3 Colm O'Driscollhas his boys knock out and shoot Arthur, and then kidnap and torture him and [[DeniedFoodAsPunishment deny him food and water]] for ''days'', which would've undoubtedly weakened his immune system and allowed the bacteria to start wreaking havoc on his body much faster. Colm and his goons could be considered responsible for [[DeadlyEuphemism sending the high-honor Arthur to the big ranch in the sky]], or weaken the low-honor Arthur enough to get shot in the head or knifed InTheBack by Micah.]] As Austin Hourigan of WebVideo/GameTheory [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhF0sYqpFJ4 puts it]]:

** Like the previous installment and unlike the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto series'', the word "fuck" is used very sparingly, both in ambient dialogue and in the story, and it's usually only for a very good reason. Arthur himself rarely says some sort of version of the word "fuck" (he can say it as part of one of the bawdy camp songs and calls the Murfree Brood "kin-fucking bastards" but never says it otherwise).

* MustMakeAmends: [[spoiler:''Do Not Seek Absolution'' quest line is only available to the non-low honour Arthur, as he sees the wife (and widow) of a previous family that borrowed money from Arthur's gang which ended with their husband's beatdown from Arthur and presumed followed death, she turned to selling her body outside Annesburg to barely make ends end alongside with her son that got sent to the mines for work, and he doesn't get treated well there, this absolutely guilt trips Arthur, as in those quest lines, he tries to amend for what happened to the family, and sends them on the train with a huge sum of cash, after the ''Red Dead Redemption mission,'' you can find the newspaper with the family being well.]]

** The first game and its All in the Manual material paint John Marston as being the only rational one in the gang, disliked by both Javier Escuella and Bill Williamson, and who noticed Dutch's declining mental state first. Not only is John more or less liked by almost everyone, John's rationality was given to Arthur Morgan. John was also said to have been a "romantic" and have an eloquent way of speaking, very much a stark contrast to his depiction in ''II''.

** Bill is TheFriendNobodyLikes instead of the crazy and greedy maniac described in ''I''; however, this change is somewhat explained In-Universe by his mental issues. He was described as having a "fatherly" relationship with Dutch and a "brotherly" relationship with John and was jealous that Abigail picked John over him. None of that is shown or indicated in ''II''. Also, his AmbiguouslyGay traits contradicts the claim that he loved and slept with Abigail, as well as his [[spoiler: RapePillageAndBurn]] aspects from ''I''.

** Even Uncle seems different. He's meek and grumpy in ''I'', but very outgoing and cheerful in ''II''. While this could initially be chalked up to him [[TookALevelInJerkass becoming cynical]] [[spoiler: in the twelve years after the gang, basically his only family, had fallen apart]], that doesn't really work when taking into account that [[spoiler: he still has the same lively personality in the epilogue (1907) which is only a few years away from the events of ''I'' (1911)]]. Really, the only similarities he has with his characterization from the first game is that he's an old drunkard that dislikes working. There's also no indication in ''I'' that he was apart of the Van der Linde gang.

* TwilightOfTheOldWest: Though the game is set earlier than its predecessor, it insists even more on the idea than the first one.

*** [[spoiler:It appears that Thomas isn't the only one who has played a direct role in Arthur's sickness. Although his TB has a latency period that would have stayed for years, it's during Chapter 3 that Colm O'Driscoll must have unknowingly gotten an opportunity to hasten the TB progression into active infection by having his boys knock out and shoot Arthur, and then kidnap and torture him and [[DeniedFoodAsPunishment deny him food and water]] for ''days'', which, when combined with his {{smoking|IsNotCool}} and [[TheAlcoholic alcoholism]], are high risk factors for TB progression; which (unbeknownst to Colm and his boys) could eventually either end up [[DeadlyEuphemism sending the high-honor Arthur to the big ranch in the sky]], or weaken the low-honor Arthur enough to get shot in the head or knifed InTheBack by Micah.]] As Austin Hourigan of WebVideo/GameTheory [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhF0sYqpFJ4 puts it]]:

* SelfImposedChallenge: If you can imagine it, you can do try it, and someone else probably already has. Options include some of the more standard video game variety, such as the "Dead is Dead" challenge where you have to start the game over if you die, and another where you don't buy anything that isn't required for plot related reasons, instead looting or crafting everything you use. Some of the more extreme include the GoingNative challenge, where you only wear Trapper clothing and only use a bow, tomahawks, and a knife to fight except for where required by a mission/plot.

* NotTheIllnessThatKilledThem: [[spoiler:If Arthur has low Honor at the end of Chapter 6, Micah will kill him by either stabbing him to death (if the player goes back for the money) or shooting him in the head (if the player choooses to cover John's escape).]]

* NotTheIllnessThatKilledHim: [[spoiler:If Arthur has low Honor at the end of Chapter 6, Micah will kill him by either stabbing him to death (if the player goes back for the money) or shooting him in the head (if the player choooses to cover John's escape).]]

* MustMakeAmends: [[spoiler:''Do Not Seek Absolution'' quest line is only available to the non-low honour Arthur, as he sees the wife (and widow) of a previous family that borrowed money from Arthur's gang which ended with their husband's beatdown from Arthur and presumed followed death, she turned to selling her body outside Annesburg to barely make ends end alongside with her son that got sent to the mines for work, and he doesn't get treated well there, this absolutely guilt trips Arthur, as in those quest lines, he tries to amend for what happened to the family, and sends them on the train with a huge sum of cash, after the ''Red Dead Redemption mission,'' you can find the newspaper with the family being well.

* PercussivePickpocket: Arthur can run into one while in Saint Denis, and they'll make off with a large sum of his money unless they're chased down and caught.

** After returning from the battle in the Braithwaite mansion, Arthur converses with Dutch regarding [[spoiler:Jack's whereabouts]] after which [[spoiler:Milton shows up.]]

* SlippySlideyIceWorld: The state of Ambarino is a snowy mountainous region.

** [[spoiler:Occurs toward the end of Chapter 6 with the final two choices: "Go with John" or "Go for the loot" (combined with FriendOrIdolDecision). If you choose "Go with John", you'll get a bit of a boost to your Honor Meter and you'll fight off the Pinkertons [[DeathMountain while climbing up toward the mountaintop]] in Grizzlies East where a [[FisticuffsBoss fistfight with Micah]] awaits (all of which symbolizes {{Heaven}} itself). On the other hand, if you choose "Go for the loot", you'll suffer a bit of an Honor loss,[[note]]which is no big deal if your Honor meter is high enough to warrant another good ending in that choice[[/note]] and you'll fight your way back down to the camp in Beaver Hollow [[TrashTheSet that is being engulfed by flames as a result of the Pinkteron attack]], where a [[BattleAmongstTheFlames knife fight with Micah]] awaits after you take the money from the chest (thus symbolizing {{Hell}} itself).]]

** A racial slur but still applicable; if you wait too long during Lenny’s “performance” to distract the Lemoyne Raiders during "Preaching Forgiveness As He Went", one of them will deliver an extremely venomous “get out of here, you nigger piece of shit!” And the group will proceed to gun Lenny down resulting in an immediate mission fail.

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: "This idiot is ''really'' [[{{Understatement}} startin' to irritate me]]!" Spoken by Arthur just before [[spoiler:shooting a bunch of Pinkerton agents to death.]]
* PrecisionFStrike: Like the previous installment and unlike the [[VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption GTA Series]], the word "fuck" is used very sparingly, both in ambient dialogue and in the story, and it's usually only for a very good reason. Arthur himself rarely says some sort of version of the word "fuck" (he can say it as part of one of the bawdy camp songs and calls the Murfree Brood "kin-fucking bastards" but never says it otherwise).
--> '''John''': ''[post-bear mauling]'' ''Fucking'' monster...
** A racial slur but still applicable; if you wait too long during Lenny’s “performance” to distract the Lemoyne Raiders, one of them will deliver an extremely venomous “get out of here, you nigger piece of shit!” And the group will proceed to gun Lenny down resulting in an immediate mission fail.