The head of GTA has finally said what fans long suspected about Red Dead Redemption: a truly infernal presence haunted the frontier. Dan Houser confirms that the Strange Man, one of Rockstar’s enduring riddles, is in fact the devil.

The GTA series—and by extension Red Dead Redemption—is riddled with secrets; even GTA Online overflows with curiosities. What most players agreed on, though, is Rockstar’s taste for the supernatural, and few ever considered the Strange Man “ordinary,” let alone human. Since the first Red Dead Redemption, the top-hatted, black-suited figure has fueled endless debate over who he is and what he hides—until cofounder Dan Houser defined his nature outright.

At last, confirmation: Red Dead’s Strange Man is the devil in disguise

For the uninitiated: he appears in the side quest “I Know You,” and resurfaces in several cameos throughout Red Dead Redemption 2, showing an uncanny grasp of John Marston’s life and his past with Dutch van der Linde’s gang despite never meeting him. That eerie, inscrutable presence—underscored by his formal attire—made him one of the saga’s most memorable, mysterious icons.

Over the years, theories abounded: some cast him as a godlike being; others argued he embodied Death itself—Rockstar’s parallel to Gaunter O’Dimm in The Witcher 3. Last week the riddle was finally settled when Houser told Lex Fridman the Stranger is a “manifestation of shadow, karma, and the devil” within the story. Few assumed anything mortal about him anyway, and nods beyond Red Dead Redemption—like the Nazar Speaks slot in GTA Online’s Diamond Casino Heist whispering, “I see a strange man in a top hat… he scares me”—had already pointed that way. With this, Rockstar closes one of its longest-running community debates, enshrining the Stranger as a richly symbolic figure. Will he surface in GTA 6? If he’s the devil, never say never.

Source: 3DJuegos