Gavin is one of Red Dead Redemption 2’s strangest off-screen presences. He’s never seen, never confirmed to exist, and only known through his friend Nigel, a well-dressed minor NPC Englishman obsessively searching for him across the American frontier. Nigel’s behavior, wandering the map, calling out for Gavin, and lashing out when questioned, paints a distorted portrait of a man whose absence seems to have broken something vital in him.
Red Dead Redemption 2's Arthur Morgan, who’s deeply cynical but capable of compassion, would’ve reacted with guarded skepticism if he ever met Gavin. He’s no stranger to con men or madmen, and Nigel’s bizarre behavior would’ve already raised red flags for him at the time of this potential meet-up. But Arthur is also a man trying to make sense of a dying world. He’s curious, reflective, and when the moment calls for it, kind. Arthur wouldn’t have treated the meetup like a joke or ignored it — he likely would’ve tried to piece things together first.
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Nigel’s Madness Makes Gavin Seem Like a Symbol of Dislocation and Delusion
It’s never clear whether Gavin ever existed or if Nigel’s lost grip on reality simply conjured him. He speaks of Gavin in the past tense, but contradicts himself. He’s sometimes desperate, other times angry, and never once accepts help from Arthur or anyone else. Rockstar deliberately leaves Nigel's backstory fragmented, and there’s no definite payoff or closure for it. Based on Nigel’s vague recollections, Gavin may have been naive, but almost certainly dependent.
A man described only in glowing terms by someone clearly unstable suggests a one-sided dynamic. Meeting Gavin could have revealed emotional abuse, a man who couldn’t tackle the world, or at the very least, desperation to escape Nigel’s grip. Arthur’s interaction with Gavin in RDR2 might have exposed the bleak underside of their supposed friendship, and that would’ve challenged Nigel’s manic version of events. Or worse, if Gavin were fully normal, it would highlight Nigel’s descent into madness alone. The players could’ve seen not a grand mystery solved, but a story of obsession, identity, and personal ruin.
Meeting Gavin Would’ve Deepened the Protagonist’s Arc, Too
If Arthur had run into Gavin, it wouldn’t be about solving some big mystery, because that’s not the point. It would've hit harder on a personal level. Arthur Morgan's illness, the gang’s falling apart, and here’s this random guy, lost and possibly broken. Gavin could’ve been a weird reflection of where Arthur was heading. If Arthur chose to help him or didn’t — it would've pushed his whole redemption arc further. It’s not about answers, it’s about what Arthur does when faced with someone else who's just as lost. He could’ve been rubber-banded between protecting Gavin’s freedom and shutting Nigel down.
What RDR2 Reveals About Gavin and What He Could’ve Been Like
The first encounter with Nigel usually happens near Rhodes in RDR2, where he’s frantically searching and yelling for Gavin. He claims Gavin is his best friend, that they came from England together, and that Gavin disappeared without saying a word. Nigel insists Gavin would never leave him like that, which fuels his obsessive search across the map. Over the course of the game, Nigel is found in various locations like Saint Denis, the wilderness, and even near Blackwater, always repeating the same lines: that Gavin’s gone, that they came to America together, and that he’s worried something terrible happened.
Nigel’s clothing and mannerisms suggest they were both part of England’s middle class. By extension, Gavin may have been similarly dressed and soft-spoken, likely not built for life on the American frontier. From what little words the player hears, Gavin may have been cheerful, eccentric, and naive, perhaps unfit for the brutal American wilderness in RDR, which is likely the impression Rockstar intended to leave. On the contrary, Gavin could also be someone Nigel read about and wanted to be like, and to justify his own inability to deal with things, might have created a ghost out of him.
Red Dead Redemption 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 95 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
- Released
- October 26, 2018
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Engine
- RAGE
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- N/A
