Welcome to my 3rd ever proposal and today I'll be discussing the guy who started it all. Short proposal and, like, genuinely short. Would've almost turned this into another double proposal, as I was going to include this guy's father (Micah Bell I) but I feel like the former fails too much given that his crimes weren't so specified and that it's largely offscreen while also suffering from fridge horror.
What's The Work?
Red Dead Redemption II is a Western action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar. The story focuses on Arthur Morgan's journey with the Van der Linde gang, which consists of six chapters, while avoiding the Pinkertons and the law in the process. The setting is Southwestern America during the events of 1899.
Who Is He? What Has He Done?
Micah Bell II, not the rat, but Micah's dad, is a minor or even the overarching antagonist of Red Dead II, alongside Cornwall. His introduction is as follows: he is Micah Bell's father, born around 1839, and the father of the latter and Amos Bell.
What has this POS done? First and foremost, he created Micah Bell; hence, he is indirectly responsible for all of Micah the rat's crimes. By 1877, he was an infamous outlaw who would commit multiple crimes alongside his son, none other than Micah "Rat" Bell III, which literally means he influenced Micah to do terrible shit and be the disgusting criminal he is today (though I am definitely not saying the rat is tragic, not even close).
In the same year, the father and son duo would brutally murder their employers, Roscoe and Jean Briggs, by slitting their throats and hanging both of them in their barn, which unsurprisingly took place in Ohio. This would result in a $10 bounty being placed on the father and son's damn heads, and considering that it is not mentioned that they were ever caught, it is implied that they killed at least one bounty hunter or lawman who attempted to track them in their pursuit (and well, obviously, cus of this, they also committed another crime called obstruction of justice I mean evading arrest, but who cares?).
He was also wanted in five different counties at some point in his life, and because it is not mentioned that he was caught, it is safe to say he avoided the law again. It also seems like Amos bonded with him in his crimes till something terrible happened between the two and he attempted to kill his son, Amos. In 1899, he died of an unknown circumstance, though it is unlikely due to the law catching up.
While it is clear that he bonded with his son, Micah, in committing crimes, given that this dude has almost no characterization, it is doubtful that he genuinely cared for his rat son, especially with the fact that this dude attempted to kill his other son, Amos, in the first place, as Rat Bell does not appear to care for this dude either.
Heinous Standards
Now, Red Dead has extremely high heinous standards to the point that mass murder and child murder are seen as the norm. Given that this guy is an outlaw, we'll compare him to four outlaw villains who also pass the HS.
- Micah Bell: Shot up the majority of the residents of Strawberry, ratted out the Van der Linde gang and manipulated Dutch, causing the gang to break up and causing Arthur's death.
- Arthur Morgan: Beating a man with TB to death, participating in the raids on the Braithwaite manor, an O'Driscoll camp, a Lemoyne Raider camp, and so on, resulting in several casualties, assisting Micah in killing the majority of the residents in Strawberry, and having a kill count of hundreds to thousands.
- Dutch van der Linde: One of the men responsible for the infamous Blackwater massacre, shooting Heide McCourt in the head, mass murdering agents and lawmen during the Saint Denis bank heist, causing a war between the Wapiti Indians and the Army, betraying Arthur and John to side with Micah despite raising both John and Arthur as sons for decades, causing another massacre at the Blackwater bank in 1911, shooting Muriel Scranton in the head, and killing a lawman in Cochinay.
- Colm O'Driscoll: Robbed a stagecoach and murdered everyone inside, including women and children, killed Jake Adler, tortured Arthur Morgan, worsening his tuberculosis, and brutally tortured and killed Kieran Duffy while attempting to massacre the Van der Linde gang through his gang members.
Now, does Micah II pass? He somewhat does, as despite brutally murdering his employers by slitting their throats and hanging them, (edit: attempting to kill his son) as well as being wanted in five counties and forming Micah into the evil rat he is today, he still falls short when compared to his son Micah Rat Bell III or Dutch, both of whom had a higher kill count and more unique crimes, but Micah II still stands out.
What Prevents Him from Pure Evil?
While there are no signs he ever cared for both of his sons, it's really because he is very insufficiently characterized, with his goals being quite unknown as well, though this prevention is not as severe due to the fact that he is seemingly sadistic. He also suffers from off-screen villainy, as all of his crimes were only in the background and maybe even fridge horror, as it's a bit unknown why he is wanted in five different states.
Consensus
An easy yes for the rat's father.