With the stories of Arthur Morgan and John Marston both drawn to a close, players are left wondering what the next entry in the Red Dead Redemption series will have to offer. Red Dead Redemption 2 and its predecessor elevated narrative storytelling to new heights, by virtue of their complex protagonists and the thoroughly fleshed-out worlds they inhabited. But with the stage set for Red Dead Redemption 3, it's unclear whose shoes players will be stepping into for their next journey into the Wild West.
Fans have long speculated who the next protagonist could be. Some estimate that we'll get a younger version of a Red Dead character like Dutch or Hosea, or experience the heyday of a gunslinging legend like Landon Ricketts. Others have argued that it's high time a female protagonist takes center stage for the first time in the series' history. But in its next iteration, Red Dead has an opportunity to tick three boxes at once. With the right protagonist, the next Red Dead can fulfill players' desire for a game set during the height of the Wild West, break new ground with a historical female protagonist, and subvert expectations with their choice of character. In this light, the obvious choice is not always the right one.
The Obvious Choice for Red Dead's Female Protagonist
When players speculate about a female protagonist, the conversation tends to steer toward the obvious choice for Red Dead's next protagonist, Sadie Adler. Sadie is a fan-favorite from Red Dead Redemption 2 - her journey is as emotionally charged and narratively complex as any good protagonist, though in many ways her story is the inverse of Arthur's. Whereas Arthur starts as a hardened killer who gradually softens to the more meaningful aspects of life, Sadie's domestic bliss is ripped away from her at the outset of the game, setting her on a path of ruthless vengeance against the O'Driscolls.
To give credit to Sadie's potential as a protagonist, there's plenty of her story left untold which could serve as the setting for Red Dead Redemption 3. After her and John's final confrontation with Micah and Dutch atop Mount Hagen, she eventually bids farewell to John, and players aren't sure what happens next in her story. Given that she doesn't appear in Red Dead Redemption, we can assume that she's no longer in the same area as John, giving Red Dead Redemption 3 the opportunity to explore new locales.
She's even heard mentioning an interest in South America, which, given the fact that much of Red Dead Redemption takes place in Mexico, wouldn't be too much of a stretch for Red Dead Redemption 3's setting. South American history is rich with its own narratives similar to those of the American West. For example, the gaucho is the South American equivalent of cowboys, roaming the pampas grasslands of South America. The next Red Dead could even revisit a similar regime-changing storyline to Red Dead Redemption's storyline in Mexico.
How Rockstar Games Could Choose Red Dead Redemption's Next Protagonist
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Red Dead Redemption 3 has several potential paths for its story. While a new setting would certainly freshen up the series, what players have really been clamoring for is a new era. Given that both Arthur's and John's stories take place at the tail end of the Wild West, it's likely that players will finally get to experience a game set in the high watermark of the Wild West.
This is something players have been looking forward to for quite a while. Granted, setting Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 in an era where the world is changing around the characters, where they're more ghosts than people now, is a fantastic narrative choice. But the games are running out of runway at the end of the Wild West era, so the natural choice would be to finally let players visit the legends they've only heard of in previous games.
A setting like this makes a compelling argument for featuring an old Wild West legend like Landon Ricketts. But there's another infamous gunslinger who could fulfill the player base's desire for a Wild West-era Red Dead, break new ground with the series' first female protagonist, and subvert player expectations all at the same time.
The Legend of Black Belle
Not much is known about Black Belle's background, but what little players do learn in Red Dead Redemption 2 would make her the perfect protagonist for Red Dead Redemption 3. Black Belle is a legendary gunslinger from the old Wild West and the sole surviving member of the Colter Tobin Gang. Her first robbery in Rhodes kicked off her outlaw lifestyle, and eventually, she took her place in the pantheon of Wild West legends.
Arthur first meets Black Belle on the stranger mission in Red Dead Redemption 2 documenting the lives of four legendary gunslingers from the Wild West. But Black Belle scoffs at the mention of Jim "Boy" Calloway, dismissing him as a coward who took great pains to curate his reputation as a gunslinger in the newspapers. Unlike him, she is a bona fide legend, and in this respect confidence is quiet and insecurities are loud.
Black Belle's no-nonsense candor, her tough-as-bricks attitude toward the bounty hunters who she'd rather fight than hide from, and her legendary reputation would make for a compelling protagonist. Many Red Dead fans ultimately want three things from the next game - a true Wild West setting, a female protagonist, and an unexpected choice. By featuring Black Belle in the next Red Dead, Rockstar could easily kill three birds with one stone.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
