Edgar Ross

"Actions have consequences, Mr. Marston! You can't just buy a few chickens and expect it to go away. YOU can't erase the past, John...But WE can."

- Edgar Ross to John Marston.

Edgar Ross (1861 - 1914) is the main antagonist in Rockstar San Diego's 2010 open-world western action adventure videogame Red Dead Redemption. He is a corrupt government official who captures John Marston's wife and son and forces him to hunt and catch the members of his former gang.

For the first three chapters, Ross is an anti-hero since he actually does helps Marston in capturing his last target, while at the same time forcing him to do his dirty work.

In the fourth and final chapter, Ross finally betrays John after the latter killed all of his targets, assaulting John's ranch and killing John himself. However, Jack and Abigail Marston survive, and in the Stranger side-mission "Remember my Family" Ross is hunted down by an older Jack (3 years after John's death) and killed in a duel, avenging John while at the same time making John's sacrifice in vain.

He was voiced by Jim Bentley.

Red Dead Redemption
Born in 1861, Ross is the director of the early federal law enforcement body, the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), which is now known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Ross is a purveyor of modernism, and plays a strong role in both the narratives and themes of Red Dead Redemption. Ross, although older than Marston, chooses to ride in automobiles and use automatic weapons. Through dialogue, Ross advocates federalism and acknowledges the hypocrisy of his methods as necessary. Ross is portrayed as indifferent, unscrupulous and sometimes even jubilant when at his most inequitable.

During the late 1890s, Ross was a Pinkerton agent who served as the partner of Milton.

12 years later, Ross has Marston's family held away from Marston in order to strong arm him into hunting down Bill Williamson.

He sends John Marston, the main protagonist in the game, to kill all his former gang members by kidnapping his wife and son and keeping them hostage. After John has killed or captured his two former friends/members, Ross still won't take him to his family until John gets rid of Dutch Van Der Linde. After John has finally killed Dutch, Ross finally lets John go to his family.

After John has spent some time on his ranch, Ross is revealed to have betrayed John by sending in the army on an assault on his farm, killing John's friend Uncle. John pulls out a revolver and shoots the most he can and sacrifices himself so that his family could have a better life, realizing what Ross wants is his death and not the death of his family. Ross lights a cigar and watches John take his last breath until he finally collapses on the ground. Ross then gets all the credit for what John Marston did and receives a chest full of medals, and John is mentioned as one of the criminals involved.

3 years later, John's son, Jack, has become a gunslinger and goes to get revenge on Ross. Ross retired about a year ago and now lives at Lake Don Julio with his wife. Jack approaches Ross' wife, Emily, who tells him that Ross is hunting with his brother Phil, so he rides to Mexico where he finally finds Ross duck hunting. Jack confronts Ross about his father and Ross shows no remorse for having betrayed and killed John and even threatens to kill Jack as well. Jack Marston refuses to go and Ross challenges him to a duel. Jack wins the duel, finally killing Ross but this makes him a murderer, something that his father tried to avoid Jack from becoming. Ross' body floats in the river, Jack walks away and the credits start.

Ross is gunned down, a long running theme of hypocrisy in the actions of Ross are ironically concluded, recalling the statement that "...Everyone will eventually pay for what they've done". Ross paid the price for murdering John. Ross became a victim of revenge and died as a murderer.

Trivia

 * Edgar has some similarities to the following villains:
 * Frank Tenpenny from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as both are corrupt members of law enforcement, blackmail the protagonists to do work for them, and betray them at the end of the storylines. The difference is that while Agent Ross had somewhat decent motives such as eliminating gang violence and helping John Marston meet his obligations, Officer Tenpenny did nothing to help CJ with his tasks, endorsed gang violence instead, worked with major gangs, and amplified hardship in the poorer areas of Los Santos.
 * Steve Haines from Grand Theft Auto V as both are corrupt government agents, blackmail the protagonists to work for them, and betray them at the end of the storylines. The difference is that Agent Ross was level-headed, had somewhat decent motives, and always killed John Marston, which successfully went according to plan, where Steve was more volatile, only wanted to further his career, and attempted to have both Michael De Santa and fellow corrupt agent, Dave Norton, arrested due to the ramifications of a successful heist Steve forced them to carry out. Steve's attempt to arrest them failed miserably, resulting in a deadly three-way shooting between a corrupt FIB (Federal Investigation Bureau) divsion, the IAA (International Affairs Agency), and Merryweather Security Consulting. Steve initially wanted all three protagonists killed, but Dave Norton managed to dissuade him, leading Steve to want only Trevor Phillips killed, which is player-determinant.