For the Red Dead Redemption 2 variant, see Mule (RDR2).

The Mule is an animal species and mount type featured in Red Dead Redemption.

Description

The mules in Red Dead Redemption are significantly smaller than horses. They can be ridden by the protagonist and NPCs, but cannot carry more than one person in normal gameplay, however in story missions or when assisting stranded travelers, this rule is overridden and an NPC can get onto the mule alongside Marston. Hogtied individuals cannot be placed on a mule for transport. Mules are much slower than horses, being slower than a one star horse in the game, and cannot jump. They have a much greater tendency to wander and go away while dismounted than horses. Mules also cannot be used to transport bounty targets.

Mules are always seen in the settlements and the wilderness of Nuevo Paraíso. Sometimes a mule's owner will be encountered along a road with a recalcitrant mule, cursing the animal for not moving. In a random encounter an NPC may try to sell a mule to the player. Unlike in Red Dead Redemption 2, mules can be saved as a permanent mount by hitching them and they will respond to your whistles like a horse would.

Killing a mule is not required for the Unnatural Selection trophy/achievement, as a mule is considered a domestic animal.

Acquisition

As with horses, mules can be purchased or stolen. Since mules are domesticated, they do not need to be broken. Deeds can be purchased from Mexican General Stores for $200, or $100 if you have the rank 2 of High Honor.

Sometimes when chasing down bounties in Mexico, the player will be chased by bandits riding mules as well as horses.

In multiplayer, El Señor is the first mount provided to the player at level 1.

In Undead Nightmare, they do not spawn naturally and do not have undead variants. Instead the only way to aquire a mule is by using the Donkey Rider cheat. The cheat will always spawn in El Señor.

Variants

El Señor

El Picor

El Hedor

Bugs

• Make sure you have a mule saved as your mount. At the very beginning of the Vincente de Santa mission "The Demon Drink", run over to De Santa's horse before he can get to it and mount it. He will then mount your mule. When he tells you to race him, stay ahead of him. Then after completing the mission your mule will somehow have high speed and stamina. If you save your game in a safehouse or quit the game however, your mule will be back to normal.
• The "Donkey Woman" is a glitch that appears as a hybrid of a mule and a woman.
• In the mission The Outlaw's Return's cutscenes, the game anticipates you will be on a horse. However if you're on a mule once you get to Macfarlane's Ranch, the cutscene will start automatically but with John onto a horse while your mule will be in the background. Once the cutscene is off, the horse will disappear and you'll be able to get onto your mule again.
• In other cutscenes where a mule is your steed, the saddle on their backs will be slightly in the air where a horse's saddle would generally be, which can lead to the saddle disappearing once the cutscene is over. However it can be fixed easily by sleeping/saving the game, then a saddle will reappear on the mule.

Trivia

• A mule is the offspring of a horse and a donkey.
• During the Stranger side-mission "I Know You", both the Strange Man and Mother Superior have mules, but Marston is unable to ride them, as they lack a lead.
• Although labeled "mules" in-game, the animals found in Red Dead Redemption are actually donkeys, as they show every physical characteristic of a donkey. In real life, mules can be the same size or larger than horses, and their ears, while longer than those of a horse, are generally shorter than a donkey's.
  • This difference is rectified in Redemption 2.
  • Furthermore, Nuevo Paraíso residents call them "burros", which means "donkey". The Spanish for "mule" would be "mula" or "mulo".
  • Additionally, the Zebra Donkey is considered a Mule.
• Contrary to their inability to jump in the game, real-life mules are excellent jumpers. Mules and donkeys are popular for contests in which they jump increasingly high poles from a standstill, a feat of which few horses are capable.