Micah Bell

“Ya shot me… ya shot me pretty good…” - Micah's last words after being shot and betrayed by Dutch

**Micah Bell III** is the main antagonist of the *Red Dead Redemption* duology, part of the *Red Dead* franchise, serving as the posthumous overarching antagonist of the 2010 video game *Red Dead Redemption* and the main antagonist of its 2018 prequel *Red Dead Redemption II*. He was also mentioned in the online spin-off *Red Dead Online*.

He is the extremely psychopathic and dangerous hitman for the Van der Linde gang, in which he killed immoral amounts of people for money and sport. He constantly kills people for the smallest of things, such as killing his old friend for not being able to stop him getting arrested. He eventually rats the gang out for his own gain, murders his archenemy, Arthur Morgan, in cold blood and runs away. He is eventually caught by John Marston, who kills him by shooting him several times.

From Chapter 1 to 5, Micah is a major character since he's the member of the Van der Linde gang where he helps Dutch, Arthur and their allies get the job done. At the end of Chapter 6, it is revealed Micah betrayed the Van der Linde gang by becoming an informant for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency and becomes the main antagonist.

## Biography

In 1899, Micah had only been a member of the Van der Linde gang for no more than 5 months before a robbery in Blackwater goes horribly wrong, forcing the gang to hide out in Colter in the Western Grizzlies, although not soon after traveling into the state of New Hanover, Micah was caught by the law for murder and taken to jail in Strawberry.

He is broken out days later by Arthur Morgan before they go on a shooting spree in the town before heading back to Dutch. After a botched robbery in Saint-Denis, Micah, along with Dutch, Arthur, Bill Williamson and Javier Escuella are washed ashore on the island of Guarma before eventually making their way back to the United States.

Sometime after returning from Guarma, he began secretly working as a mole for Andrew Milton and the Pinkerton Detective Agency, which (coupled with Dutch's own instability) causes the Van der Linde gang to fall apart. Arthur learns of his treachery from Milton, who is killed shortly after by Abigail.

After Arthur and John Marston confront him at the camp, a standoff ensues, resulting in Micah shooting Susan Grimshaw dead. However, before the situation between them could escalate any further, Agent Ross and the Pinkertons discover the gang's location, forcing them all to flee.

Arthur and John head to a nearby mountain before parting ways, leaving Arthur to fight off agents until Micah soon reappears to kill him. A brawl then commences between the pair which ultimately ends with Arthur's death.

Eight years later, former Van der Linde gang member Sadie Adler discovers Micah has formed his own gang and they were hiding out on Mount Hagen. Wishing to avenge Arthur, John and Charles Smith travel with her to hunt him down.

However, after finding Micah, he manages to take Sadie hostage and reveals he has partnered up with Dutch who emerges from the nearby dwelling. John makes one last attempt to reach out to Dutch during a brief standoff, which results in Dutch shooting Micah.

In a last ditch attempt, Micah raises both his revolvers to gun them all down, but John is faster and shoots him several times, causing him to tumble backwards and only just managing to stand. Micah attempts to walk away, most likely to muscle memory, before collapsing dead in the cold snow, avenging Arthur and ending his nightmarish reign.

## Personality

Wild, ruthless, and unpredictable, Micah is undoubtedly the most unprincipled and chaotic member of the Van der Linde gang, even by the gang's standards, crossing many lines that the others normally wouldn't. Micah is a narcissistic, mocking, hurtful, callous, and sadistic outlaw who has absolutely no qualms in killing others with a barbaric glee. This is shown when he caused a shootout in the town called Strawberry and killed a former acquaintance and his wife only to reclaim his prized revolvers, and doing this all after Arthur saved him from being hanged. Even towards his fellow gang-members, Micah is very insulting and tends to bully and antagonize most of them, as he punched Bill Williamson across the face after being offended by a mere joke. The only exception to this is Dutch van der Linde, who Micah shows a devoted loyalty to, and Dutch respects him in return. Micah also tries to gain Arthur's approval, although Arthur doesn't trust him for good reason.

Micah is also extremely derisive and racist, treating Lenny, Charles and Javier with open contempt solely because they are not white. He bullies Reverend Swanson for his alcohol and morphine addiction, as well as the pastor's lack of contribution towards the camp. Aside from bullying and harassing Reverend Swanson, Micah also harassed other members of the gang who don't contribute to helping the camp. It is also believed that he killed Cain, Jack Marston's dog, and was shown kicking the dog beforehand. Micah also creepily flirts with the girls at camp and is implied to have sexually harassed Sadie Adler when they first met. He refers to this behavior as "the merry dance of the sexes", although Arthur rightfully proclaims him as a creep.

After returning from Guarma, Micah secretly begins to work as a mole for the Pinkertons, as revealed by Agent Milton. Micah soon begins to manipulate Dutch into thinking that there's a traitor and takes full advantage of his leader's sanity slippage. He also starts to undermine Arthur and ridicules his tuberculosis by calling him "Black Lung". After his betrayal is discovered by Arthur, Micah maintains Dutch's belief in him and succeeds in turning what's left of the gang against Arthur and John. Micah later reveals that all that matters to him is surviving and that he is loyal to nobody. Although at the same time, he expresses his anger at Arthur knowing of his treachery and sadistically fights the outlaw who is approaching death from his terminal illness.

Despite being irredeemably evil and malicious, one hidden encounter in the camp where he threatened Leopold Strauss suggests that Micah strongly despises loansharking as much as Arthur, calling it unseemly and not a man's game. At the same time, however, this scene also foreshadows Micah's treacherous nature and how willingly he would betray someone who sees him as an ally.

Aside from Micah's disliking for anyone who looks different, loan sharks, and lazy people who don't contribute to the camp, Micah calls every single member of the gang weaklings. He strongly admits and shows that he doesn't like people that he sees as weaklings. Even though Micah respects Dutch he believes that Dutch is to soft which is something Micah can't stand. He has shown many times he hates anything and everything weak and soft (which is ironic, since Micah himself was never as strong as Arthur or John, as he was able to defeat Arthur only because he was weakened and on the brink of death from his tuberculosis).

Micah Bell has also insulted some members of the gang for their low intelligence, like Bill Williamson and others. All of this shows that Micah hates laziness, weakness, softness and people who aren't very smart. Aside from insulting Bill's intelligence, Micah also harasses Bill about leaving the army and calls him a coward because of his dishonorable discharge. On a few occasions Micah calls Bill a liar, saying that he thinks all of Bill's stories of his time in the army are lies just to make himself feel better. Aside from calling Bill a fool, Micah admits that he thinks everyone in the gang are fools. He has admitted to Bill several times that he doesn't think very highly of soldiers or people who serve in the army.

Because of his antagonistic behavior, most of the gang either dislike Micah or seem to think very little of him, only working with him out of pragmatism or because they have to. As mentioned prior, Micah often insults the other gang members for kicks, barring Arthur and Dutch, and laughs when he manages to provoke them in some way or another. He is only seen provoking Charles once, and doesn't directly bother him again when he stands up to him and throws him to the ground for a racist remark.

Aside from not liking members of the gang, Micah has mentioned a few times that he doesn't like animals either which is one of the reasons why he always abused Jack's dog. Aside from Micah confirming his hatred for animals, when Micah talks to John he mentions that he has never been attacked by animals and how they won't come anywhere near him. Micah admits that animals don't like and John says he's not surprised since "animals don't like to eat things that are already rotten". Before Cain goes missing, Bill mentions a few times that Cain can tell something isn't right about Micah and that the dog doesn't like him.

For all his negative behavior, Micah does seem to possess some skills in collaboration and a twisted sense of charm that allows him to rally others when need be. He has worked with Bill before, despite their relationship something of a sour one, and he had been seen getting on with Javier on two occasions, despite his frequent racism. While he is reckless at times and possesses zero scruples, Micah does have finesse when it comes to dealing with people, both through combat and coercion. His skill is later proven when he managed to form a very large gang and lead over them through either charisma, fear, manipulation, or a combination of all three factors. At the same time, this can be seen as merely glib that Micah only uses to win people over who can be of use to him, having no true concern for anyone but himself. All of this makes Micah a treacherous and consummate manipulator who will do anything to rig things in his favor.

Micah laughing after being mortally wounded by Dutch, despite obviously being in extreme pain, and then giving a nonchalant shrug moments after he's finished off by John could be evidence that Micah is so vindictive, he doesn't care about his own death as long as he knows John will eventually pay for his murder, since Micah knew that John would be investigated after murdering a Pinkerton spy.

## Enemies

* Arthur Morgan (Arch-Enemy and determent Victim)
* Dutch Van Der Linde
* John Marston (Killer)
* Susan Grimshaw (Victim)
* Sadie Alder
* Charles Smith
* Lenny Summers
* Reverend Swanson
* Cain (Victim)
* Jack Marston

## Trvia

* Depending on Arthur's honor level and ending, Micah's actions will change, by either killing Arthur or leaving him to die.
* The fact that Micah actually spares Arthur if he has high honor suggests that Micah has an honorable side (unlikely as it is). If the player has low honor, Micah remarks "you're no better than me" before killing him.
* Micah Bell is often considered to be the most hated character created by Rockstar and overall one of the most hated characters in video game history due to him betraying the gang, manipulating Dutch, and having such a nasty personality.
* He is about 175cm (5'9'' feet) tall and weighs 76kg (167 pounds).

## External Links

Micah Bell on the Pure Evil Wiki

Micah Bell on the Red Dead Wiki

Micah Bell on the Villains Wiki