Joe Butler is a minor character and a special character featured in Red Dead Redemption 2.

History

Background

Joe Butler is a Confederate Army veteran who hangs outside the Rhodes general store, and wears a Confederate Artillery Captain or Major uniform. He describes Rhodes as his home, and it is implied that he is a native of Lemoyne and had been in Rhodes since 1870 or so, and that it had been ruined by Grays moving into it, and that he thinks they were United States spies during the war. He also complains that the people of Rhodes are terrible, and that they make him miserable, but that hating them gives him something to keep him busy. During the war he was hit by a cannonball, and lost his right leg, which was then eaten by a dog. His sweetheart passed away from Cholera, and he witnessed his friends and five brothers die. He likely owned slaves, as he exclaims that he fought for people to "mind their own business, and that his property is his business".

Events of Red Dead Redemption 2

The player can encounter Joe Butler in Rhodes and talk to him about various subjects, including his past and the current state of the area. He can be encountered three times in 1899 and once in 1907.

Character

Personality

Joe is an angry old veteran who begs outside of the Rhodes General Store. Upon his first encounter, he will ask Arthur for money. If Arthur obliges, Joe will strike up a friendly tone, share tidbits of wisdom, and give helpful insights. Despite Joe's cynicism toward the town and its residents, his friendly tone toward Arthur will continue throughout the game and can extend later toward John Marston. From a distance, Joe can be heard describing horrors of war and such. Once he is actually engaged in conversation, he is modest about his service and circumstances, and he otherwise offers scant details about his wartime experiences. In his own opinion, he's sad the South lost, likely because of losing his way of life, and likely slaves as well.

Appearance

Joe is a slim man with a grey beard, who wears an old and dirty Confederate Army Artillery Captain, or Major uniform based off of the insignia. Given his officer's status, he probably was at least in his late 20s during the war, which would make him a man at least in his 60s by 1899.

By 1907, his uniform is even more haggard, and he has patches of white in his hair and beard along with more sunken eyes.

Trivia

• The red-colored facings on his uniform indicate that he was in the Confederate artillery.
• Joe's coat sleeves display gold braid Austrian knots, a distinctive feature of a Confederate officer's uniform. If the coat is genuinely his, the two braids would indicate that he was either Captain, or a Major. Because his collar insignia is missing or not visible, his exact rank is difficult to determine.
• At one point, Joe can be heard lamenting the fall of the Confederacy and the federal government's interference with his "property", implying that he may have been an antebellum slave owner. This, combined with his officer's uniform, hints that he was a man of wealth and status at one time, despite his present circumstances.
• After the initial encounter and donation, Joe can offer insights about Rhodes and give cryptic warnings. Arthur can converse with him on three separate occasions, and John can do so once during the epilogue. Although he can be heard from a distance complaining bitterly about a variety of people and topics, Joe shows a fondness for both Arthur and John.
• Joe can give a rather harsh assessment of Rhodes and its residents, particularly with regard to the Gray family. On Arthur's third visit, Joe will warn of government agents and bounty hunters who are on the prowl in the area, but Arthur is not surprised.
• Joe's warning that the Grays served as Union ("Yankee") spies during the Civil War might seem paranoid, but it is telling nonetheless, as it suggests the Grays are experienced in surveillance and may be watching the Van der Linde gang more closely than its members realize. (From the fact of who was the real ancestor of Gray-elder it seems not quite a lie as it can be seen).
• At one point, Joe can be heard saying that he watched his "five brothers fall". This may have been intentionally inserted into the game's script as a Confederate version of the famous Bixby story, in which a Union widow reportedly lost five sons in the Civil War. Especially on the Confederate side, it was common for families to have lost multiple brothers in the war.
• Joe is a direct contrast to Mickey, as it's likely due to his position in the south and as a presumed confederate veteran he actually served in the war unlike Mickey who was just trying to garner sympathy. They also have opposite injuries, with Mickey having a missing left arm while Butler has a missing right leg.

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