Between Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Redemption, there are quite a few existing characters in the series who Red Dead Redemption 3 could follow. Although it was nice that both Arthur and John were original characters, it would be cool to explore one of the ing characters from the first two games whose story has room for more development. This could also preserve the link between the main characters of all three games.

Because Red Dead Redemption takes place near the end of the Old West, it may make more sense for Red Dead Redemption 3 to focus on one of the older characters, and set the game even further in the past than Red Dead Redemption 2. They could even take a character from the original Red Dead Revolver game, which takes place earlier than either Red Dead Redemption game. That said, the threat of encroaching society has been a strong theme of each previous Red Dead Redemption game, so RDR3 may need to follow a character between the other two games.

10 Seth Briars Could Be A Wild Protagonist

Seth Worked With John Marston In Red Dead Redemption

Seth Briars is an eccentric former treasure hunter introduced in Red Dead Redemption. Although he once had a family and a business, his obsession with finding treasure caused him to lose everything he cared about, leading to a deterioration in his mental health. There is a silver lining to Seth's tragic story, as a newspaper article in the epilogue of Red Dead Redemption reveals he finally got his hands on some treasure. Of course, this is likely a Pyrrhic victory for Seth, given everything he lost on the way to finding his treasure.

There are a few ways Seth could make a compelling protagonist for Red Dead Redemption 3. We could start in the past, and see how his obsession led him to where he was at the beginning of the first game. This would be an appropriately tragic tale for the series, and adds depth to his story in the first game. Alternatively, Seth could be a similarly unstable protagonist to GTA 5's Trevor, and we could see his quest to find treasure that takes place between the main events and epilogue of Red Dead Redemption.

9 Charles Smith Would Be RDR's Most Honorable Protagonist

Charles Acts More Altruistically Than Most Outlaws In The Series

Charles Smith is one of the rare of the Van der Linde gang that stays both likable and alive throughout the events of Red Dead Redemption 2. He is a bit more reserved, which isn't a bad quality for a Red Dead protagonist, as proven by Arthur Morgan, and Charles is surprisingly altruistic for an outlaw. At the end of Red Dead Redemption 2, Charles parts ways with the Marston family to go try and start a family of his own in Canada.

Tracking Charles' journey in Red Dead Redemption 3, following the events of the second game, could be an interesting type of story. Here, the "redemption" part of the title could be front and center, and we'd be starting with easily the most likable Red Dead Redemption protagonist, at least when the game begins. Charles feels like he deserves a happy ending, and Red Dead Redemption 3 could give us the first one in the series, though his journey would likely be fraught with conflict along the way, especially as a black and indigenous man traveling across the U.S. in 1907.

8 Hosea Matthews Could Introduce New Gameplay Styles

Hosea Used To Be A Con Man

Hosea Matthews is one of the older of the Van der Linde gang in Red Dead Redemption 2, meaning he also has one of the richer backstories to mine for a new game. Hosea was a former con man and outlaw, and it could be interesting to see Red Dead Redemption 3 include some of his old tricks into your arsenal of abilities. We've done quite a bit of riding horses and shooting guns, so things like cheating at cards or pulling off elaborate scams could be other fun side activities.

Playing as Hosea would also allow us to see the formation of the Van der Linde gang, and see younger versions of the characters from Red Dead Redemption 2, the same way that game did for characters from the first Red Dead Redemption. If there's one downside to playing as Hosea, it's that a lot of his backstory is already known, so there may not be as many surprises in the story.

7 Dutch Van Der Linde Could Retroactively Redeem Himself

A Prequel Could Show Why Anyone Trusted Dutch To Begin With

In my coverage of the Red Dead Redemption games, I've made it abundantly clear that I strongly dislike Dutch Van der Linde. However, that's also why I've argued before that he'd make a compelling protagonist for Red Dead Redemption 3. If Red Dead Redemption 3 is a prequel that shows the redeeming qualities Dutch supposedly had before the events of Red Dead Redemption 2, and the game managed to make me like him despite everything he does in the future, it would be a seriously impressive feat of storytelling.

Similar to following a younger Hosea, playing as Dutch would let us see the formation of his gang, and likely endear us to him as he takes in characters like Arthur Morgan. It would also play well with the "redemption" theme of the series, as it could retroactively redeem a character who started out very unlikable in the first game and got a bit more complex and understandable in the second. This would also keep the strong ties between the protagonists of each game, something that I think benefits Red Dead Redemption's stories.

6 Jack Swift's Trick Shots Could Improve Gunplay

Jack Performed Trick Shots For The Circus

Jack Swift is a character from the first Red Dead game, Red Dead Revolver. He came from England to the United States, where he became famous for his trick shots. He later ended up working for a circus, which turned out to be a bad move as a disagreement with its new owner landed him in a cage. Jack could make an interesting protagonist for Red Dead Redemption 3 for a few reasons.

Jack's trick shots could introduce interesting new abilities to Red Dead Redemption's gun play. Since right now, you essentially just pull the left trigger, then the right trigger to kill every enemy, it would be nice to get some new moves to mix things up. Red Dead Revolver is also not fully canon in the Red Dead Redemption series, the game would have the flexibility to change aspects of Jack's story where necessary to make the game better.

5 Sadie Adler Proved She Could Do Everything An RDR Protagonist Needs

Sadie Is A Capable Gunslinger And Resilient

Of all Red Dead Redemption 2's side characters, Sadie Adler has one of the best developed story arcs. She initially s the gang after her husband was killed by the O'Driscolls. As the game progresses, she continues to prove her worth to the gang and takes a much more active role in defending them from outsiders and helping on missions. One of the most memorable missions in the game is when she and Arthur work together to break John Marston out of prison, and it would be cool if this mission retroactively became one that included three Red Dead Redemption ​​​​​​​protagonists.

Sadie becomes a bounty hunter after the Van der Linde gang breaks up, which could provide an angle for telling stories about her in Red Dead Redemption 3. That said, as well-developed as Sadie was in Red Dead Redemption 2, this could count against her as being a good protagonist for the next game. We've already seen her go through a solid character arc, and it may be hard to find something new to do with her character. That said, if Rockstar figures out a good way to make it work, I would gladly play as Sadie in RDR3.

4 Annie Stoakes Could Introduce A New Dynamic To Red Dead Games

Players Could Take Care Of Annie's Ranch

Annie Stoakes is another character from Red Dead Revolver that it would be exciting to see brought into the Red Dead Redemption series. Annie is a successful cattle rancher whose business starts to suffer when the governor decides he wants her business for himself. She fights off some of the governor's goons with her trusty repeating rifle, then decides to enter the Battle Royale dueling contest to win the money she needs to save her ranch.

Annie is mentioned in the Red Dead Redemption games as something of a folk legend for how she managed to defend her ranch, so we know she exists in this continuity too. It could be interesting if Red Dead Redemption 3 wanted to build in some life-sim elements to have players taking care of Annie's farm while also doing other styles of missions. While Annie might not need redemption in the same way some of the more lawless characters in the series do, there is likely a way her story could be retooled to fit the theme.

3 Landon Ricketts Could Prove Why He's A Legend

Landon Was Introduced In RDR As A Powerful Past Gunslinger

Red Dead Redemption introduced us to the legendary gunslinger Landon Ricketts, who apparently had quite a few memorable adventures and renowned gun fights in his day. By the time John Marston meets him in the first game, Ricketts has moved to Mexico, where he uses his shooting skills to protect Chuparosa. Ricketts dies peacefully before the epilogue of Red Dead Redemption, but there is a lot of his life prior to this game that could be used as a basis for Red Dead Redemption 3.

The earlier parts of Red Dead Redemption 3 could show us the fights that made Ricketts a legend in the first place. Since his backstory is somewhat vague, aside from some names of people he killed, there is a lot of wiggle room for Rockstar to build a story around what we already know. We could even see a time jump to an epilogue that takes place in Mexico before the events of Red Dead Redemption​​​​​​​, where an older Rickett is helping to protect his new home.

2 Jack Marston Could Use Some Redemption

Despite His Familly's Best Efforts, Jack Ended Up An Outlaw

I've seen opinions split on whether Jack Marston should be Red Dead Redemption 3's protagonist. On the one hand, Jack is a character that could use some redemption following the events of the first game. He lets his quest to avenge his father turn him into an outlaw, something his family had been staunchly opposed to. And, while civilization had already made its way pretty far west by this point, The Oxford History of the American West does give 1919 as an official end year to the period that the RDR games are set in, giving Jack's story five years.

Having Jack as the protagonist would also be somewhat interesting as we would have essentially seen his entire life. We see his early years in Red Dead Redemption 2, then him growing up over the course of Red Dead Redemption, and what would likely be his tragic end in Red Dead Redemption 3​​​​​​​ if the last two games' protagonists are any indication. That said, ending both the Marston family's story and the Old West in the same game could make RDR3 feel too much like a conclusion to the series, and I'm sure Rockstar would like to keep it going.

1 Red Harlow Was The Original Red Dead Protagonist

Red Harlow Was The Main Character Of Red Dead Revolver

Red Harlow was the protagonist of Red Dead Revolver, and has since become a legend in the Red Dead Redemption continuity. Harlow has a pretty solid backstory for a Red Dead Redemption protagonist. Red is a bounty hunter who witnessed the death of his parents and is out for revenge. Although his story was already told in Red Dead Revolver, Red Dead Redemption 3 could bring him back and make some changes to his story.

Since Red Dead Revolver isn't considered canon, we could get a complete reimagining of the first game with the updated mechanics from Red Dead Redemption 2, and whatever new changes Rockstar makes. Red Harlow's story takes place in the 1880s, which sets it a good deal earlier than previous games, and actually sets it in the Cowboy Era. Of course, Red Dead Redemption 3 may simply give us a new character, which wouldn't be a bad thing either. After all, Arthur Morgan was never mentioned in the first game, and he turned out to be a great main character.