10 Unsolved Mysteries In Red Dead Redemption 2

Perhaps one of the most famous mysteries in the Red Dead series, the Strange Man is a character who was also present in the first Red Dead Redemption. In the first game, the Strange Man can be discovered in the form of a well-dressed man with a top hat, suit, and well-groomed mustache. He can be found on John Marston’s journey at various places in the wild and gives John a series of morality-based quests, almost as if he is testing John to see what choices he will make. After the final Strange Man quest and enough prodding from the Man about John’s past mistakes, John will shoot at him in anger – but the bullets do nothing. The Strange Man just walks away. 

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the Strange Man is back, and he’s tied to a much more sinister plot. The town of Armadillo, upon arrival, is basically a ghost town. People tell you that what once was a bustling, populated town has fallen to disease and death. They tell of a figure they can sometimes see overlooking Armadillo, a figure dressed in a suit with a top hat. The Strange Man’s shack can also be discovered in the world, with scrawlings and paintings based on what level morality you have when you get there. The shack also has an unfinished painting, but it doesn’t stay unfinished for long. If you keep coming back, the painting will be closer and closer to completion, until one day, it will be a finished portrait of the Strange Man. Keep an eye on the mirror in the shack once the painting is finished; the Strange Man will be seen standing behind you, watching. If you turn around, he disappears. 

The Strange Man’s origins are still a mystery. There is speculation that he is a biblical figure, maybe the Devil, an angel, or perhaps he’s just Death itself. No one knows. All we know about his past are the two words he uttered as he walked off in the first Red Dead. “Damn you!” John cried after him, to which the Strange Man calmly replied, “Many have.” 

Aliens in a Rockstar game are nothing new. Players found aliens in GTA V, and aliens have been referenced in almost every Rockstar game to date. However, the aliens in Red Dead 2 are so mysterious that players haven’t even found all of them yet. One UFO appears over the ruins of a cult’s mass suicide, only at 2 a.m. The other can be found after summiting Mount Shann at night and is seen clearly hovering in the night sky. Though two UFOs may seem like enough, it is possible there are even more UFOs that have yet to be discovered. 

A panoramic map was discovered after finding the bodies of two frozen settlers in the Grizzlies. The map led to a drawing on the rock of Mount Shann that has six points leading outward, and both of these are combined to correlate with the locations at which the UFOs have been sighted; however, the remaining points on the map have yet to be deciphered. There are still mysteries at the end of the trail, and it is likely they are supernatural in origin. Aliens? Ghosts? Vampires? Nothing is too out there for Red Dead Redemption 2. 

Another popular mystery, the disappearance of Princess Isabeau Katherina Zinsmeister of Luxembourg is one of the coldest cases in the game. In Van Horn, a missing poster can be found detailing the case; how Isabeau disappeared from a cabin when she was only five, and how she’s been missing for 15 years. 

There is little to go off of in terms of clues. A piece of luggage with the Princess’s initials and the royal seal of Luxembourg can be found at the fence’s shop in Van Horn, but really… that’s it. We don’t know anything else. This kind of disappearance is especially concerning, considering there are at least four (human) serial killers in the world of Red Dead Redemption 2, not including the numerous murderous gangs roaming the map. The chances of finding Princess Isabeau 15 years later are slim, but it must have been included in the game for a reason, right? Eh, she probably went wherever Gavin went.     

Another missing-person case, one you likely came across in your own playthrough, has even fewer clues than the missing princess. It’s hard to miss Nigel (not the one from the first game), a man roaming the world shouting about his missing friend, Gavin. In terms of clues, that’s really all there is. Gavin and Nigel traveled to America to seek their fortune, which maybe didn’t pan out so well, and then one morning, Gavin was gone. That’s it! The mystery goes on, and the trail is cold. Nigel spends the rest of his life searching for Gavin as proven by the time jump in the epilogue, and if he can’t find him after eight straight years of searching, maybe poor Gavin is gone for good. 

A twisted scientist who considers himself a Frankenstein left a little gift for the curious players. If you climb through an upper window in a house near Van Horn, you can find an abomination of science that is also, likely, a South Park reference. The ManBearPig (featured in several South Park episodes including one involving Red Dead Redemption 2) is a creature assembled with the parts of many animals, with a bunch of arms, a hog’s head, and the heart of a bear. The creature is not alive, thank goodness, but is still quite troubling. The real mystery, however, doesn’t involve the creature, but rather its creator. The creator’s identity is still a mystery, as is the reason he seemingly abandoned his project. 

Throughout Red Dead 2, there are a few hints scattered throughout the game that a new supernatural DLC, akin to Undead Nightmare, might be on the way. For those who don’t know, Undead Nightmare was a zombie-themed single player expansion for the original Red Dead Redemption that was tied to an Aztec mask and an ancient god. In Red Dead 2, these masks can be found in three locations, and an Aztec script found written on buildings on Blackwater was recently translated and linked to the god that created the undead plague in the original expansion.

There is also the abandoned town of Pleasance, which is a possible reference to The Walking Dead and hint to a new supernatural DLC. If this is all true – there are zombies in the barn in Pleasance, the masks have been disturbed, and the text in Blackwater is correct – a supernatural expansion may really be in the works. There could be more to decipher, and it could all just be a big Easter egg, but it’s more fun to dream. 

A strange site with odd symbols, rock formations, and half of a body wearing a mask can be found near Strawberry. There is no shortage of body mutilation and murder throughout Red Dead 2, but this particular case has the internet confused. A ritual sacrifice appears to have taken place, and no one seems to know why or by whom. At first, investigations into the area by the community started with a harmless search of the area to see what happens, or research into the mask that was found on the mutilated corpse. Very quickly, however, players escalated to sacrificing NPCs at the ritual site. Supposedly, a lot of things can happen at the site depending on your actions (that maybe weren’t all intended), but the puzzle of this site clearly hasn’t been solved. Bodies can appear in various states of decomposition or clipping through the ground, and similar symbols to those at the site can be found across the map in the swamps of Lagras. Players have tried seemingly everything to get a reaction from the site, and they are still trying. Maybe someday, a random combination of sacrifices will cause a reaction that will, in all likelihood, still leave players unsatisfied. 

Red Dead Redemption 2 is littered with supernatural beings. In a cave blocked by rocks, a supposed giant will reach out and talk to you about how lonely he is, and how he can’t come out because he’s too big. Hard to believe if you can’t see him, right? Well, the skeleton of a giant human has been found near Mount Shann, which somewhat validates the existence of the giant behind the boulders. 

Witches may also live in the world, although the proof is slim. A cauldron can be found brewing some kind of potion in a shack that already has a witch-y vibe. Drink from it and you will pass out, waking up hours later further away from the shack. An old woman can be found in another location, and Arthur will note that she seemed witch-like, with little evidence to support it. A wolfman was thought to exist, but was proven by players to be a feral man living in a cave instead. A vampire does stalk the streets of Saint Denis, and after following a trail he has left, you can find him over the body of his latest victim. You can kill him, which will net you a new dagger, or you could hogtie him and bring him to the location of the next mystery...

An abandoned, mossy church can be found in the bayou; complete with little pews and a tiny crucifix, this church was clearly used at one point. However, given the size of the church, one has to wonder: used by whom? Who built this tiny church, and who worshiped here? Why was it abandoned? It is clearly a holy place, because players hogtied the vampire, laid it at the altar in this church, and the vampire instantly died. There are many unanswered questions tied to the tiny church, and the community doesn’t even know where to start. 

This mystery has two layers. The first, players have only discovered two of three discoverable items, meteorites, listed in their inventories. The second, players aren’t even sure the third meteorite even exists. Trust me, this mystery gets deep. The first meteorite is found in a cabin with a hole in the roof and filled with dead bodies, implying the meteorite fell through the roof and killed everyone inside. The meteorite can be collected, and when it’s placed in the inventory, it says “Carrying 1 of 3.” However, some players report that the inventory says, “Carrying 1 of 99,” casting doubt on the number of meteorites that actually exists. One player contacted Rockstar and asked about the number of meteorites, and reportedly, Rockstar confirmed that there are, indeed, three meteorites in the game. 

The second meteorite is found near Roanoke in a large crater. Carrying these meteorites grants a 10-percent resistance to hot weather, which just makes people want the third one even more knowing it has the power to increase stats. However, the third meteorite is still missing. Some people believe it’s in a lake; some think it’s tied to the missing UFOs; some are convinced it doesn’t exist. This is your chance to make history and solve the mystery of the third meteorite. Jump back into Red Dead 2 and start searching!