History of traitorous and sadistic outlaw from Van der Linde Gang, Micah Bell III from Red Dead Redemption 2.
Background[]
Early Life[]
| “ | Gentlemen... and the rest of you. My oh my, ain't life grand? Well, it is. Trust me on that one, it is! Ol' Micah Bell told me. That was my daddy. Micah Bell, like his daddy too. Pair of wild horses, they was. Father and son... and then me. At one point, my daddy was wanted for murder in five counties. Five! Never did suffer fools. Damn near killed my brother one time, but... my brother always was a fool. And a coward. Yellow as pissed on snow. Never could stand him. Nor his wife. Lives over in California, by the sea. Pathetic. What kind of a man lives by the sea, I ask you? Hm? Huh? Huh? The kind of man that gets told where to live by his wife. [laughs] Ain't no woman never told me nothin', apart from "Make yourself scarce!". And that suits me about fine. | „ |
| ~ Talking about his early life and family in a campfire interaction |
Micah Bell III was born sometime in 1860 in an unspecified area of the Western United States to criminal outlaw Micah Bell Jr. or Micah Bell II and an unidentified mother. Not much is known about Micah Bell’s early life, besides the fact he had one brother, Amos Bell, and was raised into a life of crime and violence as he rode alongside his brother and his father, who he himself rode with Micah III’s late grandfather, Micah Bell I/Micah Bell Sr.
When Micah was 17, he and his father took part in a double homicide of Roscoe and Jean Briggs, who slit their throats and hung them from the rafters, sending the, on the run. Besides this, Micah’s time with his family is unknown, besides the fact Amos eventually left the group due to atoning his actions, and according to Micah, was nearly murdered by his father. Amos cut Micah off as he eventually moved to California and had a family, while Micah sent a letter to his brother before the events of the story, to which Amos sent a response saying that if Micah ever comes near him or his family, he will kill Micah. The contents of Micah’s letter is unknown and during conversations around the campfire, he will mock his brother for being “weak.”
At some point in time, Micah’s father passed away and Micah went in contact with two other criminals, Cleet and Joe, alongside a man named Norman who had a falling out due to a botched bank job. Prior to 1898, Micah presumably kept up a crime spree of robbery and murder throughout the Midwest.
Meeting The Van Der Linde Gang[]
Around December 1898, Micah Bell met Dutch Van Der Linde in a bar in the Grizzlies during a botched dealing which Micah saved them in. Dutch respected Micah and took him into the gang, becoming the most recent member of the Van Der Linde Gang, riding with them for five months before the events of the game. Micah was generally disliked by the rest of the gang members, a sentiment he shared with the others as hostility came with him and various members, with only Dutch respecting him. Micah was also shown to be a racist towards the minority gang members, such as Charles Smith and Javier Escualda, and a womanizer to the women of the group. During a conversation, Micah will brag with sleeping with Jenny Kirk, a young woman of the group and implied lover of Lenny, even bragging that she might have been carrying “Micah Bell IV.” Whether he was being truthful, or even if the act was consensual to Jenny Kirk is left up in the air.
The Blackwater Heist[]
Shortly before the events of the game, The Van Der Linde Gang were held up outside of the town of Blackwater, where Dutch set his sights on one of the ferries, which carried $150,000 dollars. While the senior members Arthur Morgan and Hosea Matthews were busy in Blackwater doing their own mission for money, Micah encouraged Dutch to go through with the robbery, eagerly participating with Dutch and the rest of the gang, sans Morgan and Matthew’s. What happened during the Blackwater Heist is never fully explained, but as pieced together is that while the attack was going smoothly, the gang were ambushed by police, bounty hunters and Pinkerton Agents (one of whom being Agent Andrew Milton).
The gunfight results in the deaths of swarms of men, culminating in Dutch executing a young woman, Heidi McCourt. The Van der Linde gang managed to get away in the Grizzlies after Dutch and Micah hid the money in an undisclosed location, but suffer heavy causality: Jenny Kirk, Davey and Mac Calldner were mortally wounded from the gunfire, with Mac being left behind and tortured by Andrew Milton before promptly executed, with Jenny and Davey dying on the mountain from their injuries. Micah, for his part goes out ahead of the group alongside John Marstoj to scout, separating from each other shortly before the events of the game as the gang settle into the abandoned town of Colter.
Events of Red Dead Redemption 2[]
Chapter 1 - Colter[]
Time in the Mountains[]
| “ | Gentlemen | „ |
| ~ Micah to Arthur and Dutch; His first lines in the game |
Micah appears at the very beginning of the game as Arthur and Dutch venture out into the mountains, coming across him with a lantern during the blizzard. Micah informs the two about a homestead he discovered with the lights on, seeing it as a good potential place for some of the members to stay in. The traverse and sneak towards the house, with Arthur and Micah ducking away as Dutch goes up to the front, talking to the people inside. However, Micah soon discovers a corpse in the wagon, and culminates in a shootout with the men, who turn out to be members of the O'Driscoll Boys, mortal enemies of the Van der Linde Gang. After dispatching of all the gang members in the house and looting it, Micah soon discovers a woman, Sadie Adler, hiding in the cellar and begins taunting her and chasing her around the house. Dutch and Arthur break it up, but a lantern is knocked over and sets the house on fire, the three fleeing out with Sadie. Learning that the house was once hers and the corpse in the wagon was her husbands, Dutch takes pity on her and takes her with them. The four return to the barn, and Micah becomes annoyed when informed he’ll be sleeping with the others, insulting Lenny Summers and Charles.
After the prior confrontation with the O’Driscolls, Dutch breaks up a fight Micah caused by punching Bill Williamson in the face over him laughing at Lenny’s insult at him. Dutch then takes Micah, alongside Arthur, Bill, Javier, and Lenny to a campground where the O’Driscolls are hiding out to steal their supplies and plans for a robbery on a train. The group storm the camp after their leader and Ducth’s archenemy, Colm O’Driscoll, leaves, and massacres everyone there, promptly stealing the deeds and Arthur kidnapping O’Driscoll member Kieran Duffy.
Later, Micah joins the group the plan to rob a train owned by Leviticus Cornwall, with the group traveling down towards the train tracks as Micah discusses them going back for the Blackwater Money, which Arthur and the others dissuade. After Bill fails to blow up the tracks, the gang forcibly stops the train and Micah helps rob the valuables, including bank bonds they could sell legally.
After the train robbery, Micah joins the group as they travel out of the Grizzlies and travelled into the East into the Heartland Regions of New Hanover. The group settles into a location named the Horseshoe Overlook, and Micah, alongside Lenny are sent out of the camp to scout.
Chapter 2 -Horseshoe Overlook[]
The Strawberry Massacre[]
| “ | They had somethin' of mine... My guns. I showed him, and I'll show the rest of this town! | „ |
| ~ Micah after slaughtering the town of Strawberry |
Sometime during the scout, Micah and Lenny end up in the town of Strawberry in the state of West Elizabeth. During that time, Micah kills a man in a bar and is arrested, with the sheriff of the town planning to hang him. Arthur travels out into Strawberry to meet with the sheriff, who refuses to release Micah. After, Arthur sees Micah through the window of his cell, and Micah begs Arthur to rescue him, because he respects Arthur, much to Morgan’s doubt. Despite this, Arthur manages to free Micah from captivity, either by destroying the window of his cell or storming into the sheriff’s office, murdering the sheriff and deputies and opening his cell door. Either way, Micah will quickly execute his cell mate, another O’Driscoll, before a shootout erupts as Micah and Arthur shoot their way through lawmen, killing scores of them (including the sheriff if he wasn’t already killed).
Though Arthur urges a retreat, Micah refuses as he goes towards a house. The house belong to his former ally Norman, who, as soon as the door is opened, Micah fatally shoots in the stomach and tosses aside before raiding the house, executing his wife and coming out, revealing he needed to retrace his two hush and continuing the firefight, much to Arthur’s anger.
Arthur and Micah narrowly escape town and run from the law. Arthur is angered at Micah for his recklessness and slaughtering nearly half of the town for his guns. Micah gives a hollow apology, stating that they’re practically brothers due to being “sons of Dutch” and thus must forgive each other for theirs mistakes, and he gifts Arthur an empty holster as a thanks before Micah decide to split off, not wanting to go back to Dutch empty handed.
Stagecoach Robbery[]
After the Strawberry Massacre, Micah spends his times up in the mountains, planning to “redeem himself” in Dutch’s eyes by pulling a heist on a stage coach. When Arthur returns, Micah explains his plan to rob the banking stagecoach and split the money, an act Arthur reluctantly agrees on. The two manage to locate and overtake the stagecoach, killing the guards and driving the coach to a river bank before suddenly they are swarmed and attacked by O’Driscolls, a rouge explosion causing the stagecoach to get flipped over. Micah and Arthur proceed to take out the horde of O’Driscolls and after breaking the lockbox, split the money and go back to camp, where Micah will stay for the entirety of, until the group flees out due to Leviticus Cornwall locating them, settling in Clemens Point on the outskirts of Rhodes, where the families of Catherine Braithwaite and Leigh Grey are fighting and Dutch seeks to manipulate the families for his own goals.
Chapter 3 - Clemens Point[]
Attempted Truce with The O’Driscolls[]
During camp, Simon Pearson informs Dutch and Arthur over meeting an O’Driscoll, who claims that Colm O’Driscoll wishes to initiate a parlay with Dutch. While Arthur and Hosea don’t believe this and believes it to be a trap, Micah convinces Dutch of the benefits, who agrees to the meeting. Dutch takes Micah and Arthur as bodyguards as Arthur travels up a hill for a sniper while Micah stays at Dutch’s side when Colm comes and meets with Dutch. However, the deal is revealed to be a trap as Arthur is knocked out and kidnapped by the O’Driscolls, who torture Arthur and plan to have Pinkerton ambush Van der Linde gang when they come to save Arthur. However, no one comes to rescue him and Arthur escapes on his own, returning to camp before passing out from exhaustion and his wounds, eventually being able to recover over the course of weeks. Micah himself, after Arthur recovers, may be able to apologize to Morgan for leaving him.
A Short Walk in A Quiet Town[]
Later on, Micah is with Sean MacGurie and Bill Williamson on the outskirts of Strawberry, and Arthur approaches them. As they walk through the suspiciously empty town, Micah explains that the Gray’s have hired them for a “security job” an act that Arthur and Sean find suspicious due to them burning down their fields to fuel the battle with the Braithwaite’s. Arthur stops them, sensing that something doesn’t feel right, which Sean seemingly agreeing with it, until Sean is suddenly shot in the head. Micah reacts instantly, killing a Gray on top of the roof as the three are ambushed by The Grays. Micah and Arthur start returning fire, taking out most of the Grays until they notice Bill was kidnapped. The two approached the outside of the Sheriffs office, where Leigh Gray and his deputy Archibald McGregor and Jock Gray exit with Bill held hostage. Micah disparages the three and taunts them before he and Arthur quickly execute the three and save Bill’s life. As Arthur is upset at Sean’s death and begins reprimanding Bill and Micah, but Micah claims no fault as he simply insults Arthur for always complaining.
After this, Jack Marston was kidnapped by The Braithwaite’s and sold to Angelo Brontë in Saint Denis. The Van Der Linde gang proceeded to storm the manor and massacre the entire Braithwaite family, apart from Micah Bell, who was ordered to stay behind with Kieran Duffy to watch the camp and the women. Afterwards, the gang travels to the outskirts Saint Denis, setting up camp.
Chapter 4 - Saint Denis[]
Midah Bell appears a minor role throughout the group’s time in Saint Denis, appearing infrequently in the campground in the abandoned manor. After collecting Jack Marston from Brontë, Micah stays away from the celebration and party, and after the party is over, he sits at the campfire to talk about his nihilism of philosophy. When Kieran Duffy is kidnapped, tortured and murdered by The O’Driscolls and his corpse is paraded out when the camp is attacked, Micah shows no sympathy for Kieran, instead believing he betrayed the gang.
The Botched Bank Job[]
Micah Bell joins in on the plan to rob the Saint Denis bank, joining Arthur, Dutch, Bill, and John to raid the bank and hold them hostage to steal the money. The plan goes wrong, however, when Agent Milton kidnaps Hosea, leading to a tense standoff. The standoff ends with the angered Milton executes Hosea starting a firefight with Pinkerton and the police against the gang. Micah escapes with the group up the roofs, but John is captured by Pinkertons and Lenny is shot deaf, with Micah quickly running past his body without any care. Micah hides out in an abandoned building with Arthur, Dutch, Javier, Bill and Charles, and Micah snaps at Arthur’s claim that this is like the Blackwater incident, saying it is ‘nothing like that’ and agrees with Dutch’s plan to board a boat to skip the country until the law dies down.
The six travel down to the docks, with Charles departing to lead the cops away, and Micah gets on the boat with them, traveling to Cuba. However, Micah points out the impending storm on the horizon.
| “ | I ain’t no sailor but uh, that cloud look like good news to you? | „ |
Chapter 5 - Guarma[]
Shipwrecked[]
A tense storm results in Micah and the gang having to abandon ship, eventually finding themselves drifted ashore to the island of Guarma, a Caribbean island run by Alberto Fussar. Micah and the group is found by Fussar’s men, and chained up by Levi Simon and are forced to walk with other prisoners to be interrogated, but they are freed by revolutionaries looking to overthrow Fussar’s tyrannical regime.
Micah is usually in the makeshift camp of Guarma, and later when Dutch and Arthur rescue Javier and are prepared to leave, Micah informs them that Fussar has his men patrolling the seas and called the Navy, and that Fussar has also kidnapped the ships captain. The group works together and proceeded to take out the battalions and rescued the navy, promptly killing Fussar and his men, before they depart from Guarma.
Becoming a Rat[]
At some point when Micah landed back in America, he was picked up by the Pinkertons and became an informant for them. The exact details of Micah’s treachery remains unknown, with only Agent Milton revealing said notion later in the game, and while he states they picked him up after Guarma, it’s implied that Micah was informant on the group long before, due to many situations having Pinkerton suddenly foil their plans. Molly O’Shae, Dutch’s former lover, was suspected as the rat when she drunkingly claims to be one to spite Dutch for his neglect, resulting in her being killed and her body burned.
Chapter 6 - Beaver Hollow[]
Micah Bell is with the rest of the gang in their makeshift hideout in Lakay when Agent Milton returns with his Pinkerton agents, opening fire on the gang without mercy. When Milton flees and the rest of the Pinkerton are taken care of, Micah causally approaches a bleeding Pinkerton and promptly stabs him dead, presumably to prevent him from revealing Micah’s status of an informant. The group proceeded to travel out and settled in a cave area on Beaver Hollow.
A House Divided[]
During the gang ‘s time in Beaver Hollow, the group begins to fall apart due to Dutch’s greed and paranoia, with Micah becoming more sycophantic as he convinces Dutch to be more reckless. Micah and Dutch travel to Morgan to the docks of Annesburg, confronting Leviticus Cornwall and attempting to extort him for money and a ride out of the country. When Cornwall refuses, Dutch kills him and starts a firefight with the police and Pinkerton, making them completely wanted in the state.
Throughout this, Arthur also begins feeling the effects of Tuberculosis, which Micah taunts him for by referring to him as “Black Lung.” Soon enough, the gang starts crumbling as several members leave the group, such as Josiah Trewlawney, Karen Jones, Mary-Beth Gaskell, Uncle and Simon Pearson. Charles also proceeds to leave the gang to focus on the Native American tribe and help them after Henry Favours exploits. During this, Micah invites Joe and Cleet into the gang, who remain unpopular with the remaining members. Despite Arthur’s pestering to just leave, Dutch holds one last robbery on a train of the US government. While the gang tried to board the train quietly, they immediately give chase when the train blazed past them, killing the army members. John is shot and falls off the train, with Dutch running with Micah and Cleet to get him as Arthur, Sadie and Joe robbing the train. Unfortunately, Dutch claims that John didn’t make it.
As the gang travels back to camp, Tilly Jackson confronts them with Jack, telling the group Abigail Marston was kidnapped by Agent Milton. Micah convinces Dutch that the rescue would be futile, and they decide against saving her. Arthur and Sadie agree to save Abigail, going over to confront Agent Milton. During the standoff, Milton reveals Micah’s treachery before Abigail kills him, and Arthur departs with Sadie and Abigail to go to camp, confronting the group,
Micah’s Final Fight with Arthur[]
Arthur goes to camp as the gang packs up and plans to leave and immediately confronts Micah, accusing him of being the rat. Micah attempts to deny and defend himself as Dutch remains silent, only for an injured John comes in, claiming that Dutch left him to die. This leads to the group pulling out their weapons, with Morgan and John on one side and Micah on the other. Susan Grinshaw comes to Arthur and John’s aide, however when Javier comes and announces Pinkerton are coming, Micah shoots Grimshaw dead. This escalates in a final standoff as Dutch sides with Micah, with Cleet, Joe, Bill and, reluctantly, Javier taking his side as Arthur and John stand alone.
Then, the Pinkertons storm the camp, lead by Edgar Ross, who open fire on the gang, who scatter in different directions. Arthur and John escape through the caves, but are chased up the mountain by the Pinkerton and Dutch’s group. What happens next as Arthur and John are up on the mountain are dependent on the player’s final choice, which are either Arthur helping John escape, or Arthur going back to retrieve the money, and there is two variations each depending on the honor of Arthur throughout the game.
- If Arthur Helps John Escape: Arthur will buy John time to escape by shooting at Pinkerton by the mountain. However, Micah will sneak around and tackle Arthur off the mountain, kickstarting their final fight where the two fight, and, even if Arthur is severely weakened from Tuberculosis, can properly fight off Micah. The battle escalates with both men weakened and on the ground, with Arthur crawling for the gun, only to be stopped by Dutch, who declares it to be “over.” Micah, standing up, attempts to coax Dutch to go back for the money, while Arthur weakly tells Dutch that Micah was a rat and he “gave him all he had.” When Micah desperately says that they “finally made it” Morgan only responds that “John made it” a statement that silences the both of them. Dutch, seemingly remorseful over what he has become, leaves the two behind in silence as Micah tries calling out to him. After this, what Micah does next depend on their honor.
- With high Honor, Micah will become angered and walk away from the dying Arthur, to which Arthur Morgan will peacefully die from the tuberculosis and his injuries, watching the sun rise.
- With Low Honor, Micah will became enraged at Arthur and pull out his gun, claiming that Morgan is “no better” than him and after one last hate filled dialogue, will execute Morgan and leave.
| “ | Micah: You’re not…better than me, Morgan! Arthur: Whatever you say! |
„ |
- If Arthur goes back to the money: Arthur will leave John behind as he goes off to the cave for the money. However, Morgan is ambushed and stabbed by Micah. The two engage in a knife fight, which, depending on the Honor rating, can go two separate ways:
- With High Honor, Morgan will slash Micah’s eye out before Dutch breaks up the fight. A similar dialogue tree will go, but instead Arthur will simply reiterate that Micha was a rat and “doomed us all.” Despite Micah’s attempts to make Dutch come with him, he simply walks away and leaves Micah angry as he flees with the sack of money, leaving Arthur to watch the sunset before dying.
- With Low Honor, however, Micah gets the upper hand on Arthur and stabs him in the chest, with Dutch coming to break up the fight. Arthur weakly pleads for Dutch to kill Micah, decrying him as the traitor, but Dutch simply leaves the two. Micah, similarly above to Arthur in the other ending, will kill Morgan. This time, Morgan will try and crawl away before Micah stabs him in the back.
| “ | Well... I must say, Arthur... it's been a lotta fun. | „ |
Chapter 7 - Beecher's Hope[]
Eight Years Later[]
During the eight year gap between 1899 and 1907, Micah Bell has formed his own gang with Joe and Cleet. Micah has become feared throughout the west as his gang has committed horrific murder and robbery sprees across the states, with it being said Micah himself has killed two dozen people. During one act of horror, Micah and his gang invaded a homestead and murdered an entire family, including a little girl. When Cleet attempted to save the girl, Micah attempted to kill him, but Cleet escaped. In 1907, Micah got back in contact with Dutch, and the two went up into the mountains of Grizzlies to collected the money from the Blackwayer Heist.
The Final Showdown & Death[]
| “ | Micah: Hello, Scarface. Did you miss me? John: Not much. |
„ |
| ~ John confrontation with Micah after 8 years |
In 1907, after John Marston got his family back and built a ranch, Beecher’s Hope, to live the rest of his life in normality, Sadie and Charles comes and Infrom him, telling John that they have located Cleet, who they wish to interrogate to locate Micah and kill him. John, despite begging from Abigail, agrees and travels with the two. After interrogating and killing Cleet, the three make it up the mountains to hunt Micah Bell and kill him off for good. When Charles gets injured and stays behind, John travels up the mountain, slaughtering his gang members, including Joe.
Getting to the main camp, Micah (now visibly aged and even sporting an eye scar if High Honor Arthur goes back for the money) confronts John head to head, threatening to go down and pay his wife and child “a visit” before exchanging gunfire. Eventually, Sadie comes up and holds Micah at gunpoint, but Dutch emerging from the shed. Micah grabs and holds Sadie as a human shield as him, John and Dutch have a final standoff. Micah attempts to convince John to join the gang as John begs Dutch to see reason. While appearing to be on Micah’s side, Dutch, either finally realizing Micah’s treachery or from guilt of Arthur’s death, turns the gun on Micah and shoots him in the chest. Micah drops Sadie and staggers back, shocked, before he chuckles.
| “ | You shot me…you shot me pretty good | „ |
| ~ Micah Bell’s last words |
In one final showdown, Micah duel wields his pistols and attempts to kill both John and Dutch, but John uses his dead eye and proceeds to unload into Micah Bell. After the final blow, Micah staggers, losing blood as he is unable to say anything. Micah instead turns and tries to walk away, and after shrugging his shoulders, he falls onto his knees and lands face first into the snow, dead. Dutch leaves John and Micah’s body as John collects the Blackwater money and departs with Sadie and Charles back to the ranch, leaving Micah Bell’s body behind.
Legacy[]
While Micah Bell is dead and his gang’s terror is finally over, Micah’s actions leave an impact for the entire story and retrospectively for the first game. As shown in the ending credits, Edgar Ross, now the chief of the Bureau of Investigation (or BOI) alongside Archer Fordham, discover Micah Bell’s corpse at the top of the mountain, leading to an investigation that leads them to find John Marston in his ranch, kickstarting the first game as Edgar forces John to dispatch the rest of his gang.
In the free roam after the last story mission, the player can go back to the top of Mount Hagen and find Micah’s corpse, to which you can rob him for his guns.