Hanging (2024)

Hangings are a form of execution appearing in Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Red Dead Online. During a hanging, a person is put to death by suspension by the neck.

Description[]

Hangings serve as the standard method of executing people publicly in the western United States during the events of the Red Dead saga. In both Redemption games, including Red Dead Online, hangings play a major role in the story.

Hangings are commonplace across most settlements in Red Dead Redemption 2. Oftentimes, those being executed are convicted criminals and bounties that the player has turned in. Additionally, the player may discover an already hung victim in free-roam, oftentimes serving as traps for outlaw gangs such as the Night Folk and Murfree Brood. In the mission, "Goodbye, Dear Friend," Arthur Morgan meets Dutch van der Linde and Sadie Adler in Saint Denis to witness the hanging of Colm O'Driscoll, and ensure that he will not be freed by his gang. Additionally, in the mission "American Venom," the player must track down Cleet to find the whereabouts of Micah Bell. After confronting him and stringing him up to the noose, they are given the choice to either hang or spare Cleet.

In Red Dead Redemption, the player can usually come across hangings in random encounters requiring them to save a person from being executed by outlaw gangs. During the mission "Hanging Bonnie MacFarlane," John Marston must save Bonnie MacFarlane from being executed by Bill Williamson's gang in the now abandoned town of Tumbleweed.

In Red Dead Online, the mission, "The Hanging Of Tom Davies" is about rescuing Tom Davies and Sam Freeman from being hanged by members of the Del Lobo gang.

List of Hangings[]

Red Dead Online[]

• In the mission "The Hanging Of Tom Davies", the Red Dead Online protagonists have to save Marshal Davies and Sheriff Freeman from being hanged by members of the Del Lobo Gang in revenge for executing Alfredo Montez without a trial as well as having his brother Jorge killed.

Red Dead Redemption 2[]

• Arthur Morgan must save Micah Bell from the jailhouse in Strawberry before he is hung in the mission, "Blessed are the Meek?"
• The mission "Savagery Unleashed" is initiated by inspecting a body hanging from a tree, which turns out to be a trap, in which Arthur is tranquilized. Later in the mission, the player has to save three captives from being hanged by soldiers.
• In the mission "Goodbye, Dear Friend" rival gang leader Colm O'Driscoll is sentenced to hang in Saint Denis. Throughout the execution, Arthur, Dutch, and Sadie make sure the O'Driscoll gang members do not intervene.
• Directly after taking Ramón Cortez to Sheriff Thomas for the second time in "A Quick Favor for an Old Friend," he is taken to Saint Denis for hanging. However, the execution cannot be spectated by the player.
• At the beginning of "American Venom," the player has the chance to hang Cleet in revenge for his actions in 1899. If John decides to spare him, Sadie Adler will shoot him dead.
• In a random encounter, an unknown male is hanged in Valentine for three counts of murder. The criminal clearly does not express repent and just wishes his crying wife and son all the best.
• If the player takes the Killer Prostitute to Sheriff Malloy, her hanging can be observed several days later.
• In a random encounter, the player is required to take a seriously injured man to the Saint Denis Doctor, who will amputate the man's arm. Sometime afterward, he is hanged in Saint Denis for murder. If the man spots the player, he will ask him to help him out again.
• In a random encounter, the player witnesses a male drowning his wife in a trough in Valentine. If the player did not save her in time and takes the man to jail, his hanging will be witnessed as a count for murder and domestic violence.
• If Lindsey Wofford is taken in alive, his hanging can be observed in Saint Denis.
• Mark Johnson's hanging can be spectated by the player in Rhodes after completing his bounty mission.
• If the player brings Elias Green in alive, his hanging can be observed several days later in Blackwater. Afterward, the player can attend his funeral at the Blackwater cemetery.
• If Otis Skinner is brought in alive, his hanging can be observed several days later in Blackwater. Sometime later the player can attend his funeral at the Blackwater cemetery.
• During a show at the Theatre Râleur, while performing a magic trick, Benjamin Lazarus accidentally kicks away the stool under his feet and can be seen struggling with the rope. While his assistant tries to save him, the player can intervene by shooting the rope, saving Lazarus' life.
• In the Bayou Nwa, two random encounters can occur in which victims of the Night Folk can be seen hanging from trees. After the player stops his horse, members of the night folk will attack. The Nite Folk Victim's Note and the Nite Folk Wagerer's Note can be looted off the bodies.
• In Roanoke Ridge, two random encounters can occur in which victims of the Murfree Brood can be seen hanging from trees. The Murfree Brood Ransom Note as well as the Murfree Brood Prisoner's Note can be looted off the corpses.

Red Dead Redemption[]

• During "Hanging Bonnie MacFarlane", John Marston has to save Bonnie MacFarlane from being hanged by the Williamson gang in Tumbleweed.
• Several random encounters include a person being hanged by outlaws.

Mission appearances[]

Red Dead Redemption

• "Hanging Bonnie MacFarlane

Red Dead Online

• "The Hanging Of Tom Davies"

Red Dead Redemption 2

• "Savagery Unleashed"
• "Goodbye, Dear Friend"
• "American Venom"

Trivia[]

• When playing free roam in Red Dead Redemption 2, the player is able to save any person from their hanging by killing the nearby lawmen and shooting the rope. However, doing so usually results in a loss of honor.
• Despite Oswald Dunbar being the acting police chief of Blackwater, hangings in the town are supervised by an unknown Sheriff.
• In "The Mercies of Knowledge VI" Andrew Bell III demonstrates his electric chair with the goal to make it the new common form of public execution due to it being 'more humane'. However, the attendees are disgusted by the demonstration and in the end, the chair ends up killing Bell.
• Despite Sheriff Malloy informing the player about hanging Benedict Allbright soon after “Good, Honest, Snake Oil”, he can still be seen imprisoned eight years after in the epilogue.

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