The protagonist of the game, Arthur, is the star of the show and a fairly unconventional main character. While Arthur claims that he doesn’t have too many thoughts, opinions or conscience regarding the gang’s choices or actions – this is not true. The player hears his inner monologues and understands his melancholy view of the world, a place where he no longer can fit in, despite only wanting to live free.
Raised by Dutch and Hosea since the age of 15, the philosophy that these two men preach is one that Arthur lives by. They are father figures to Morgan, people who taught him to shoot, read, and write. Similarly, John Marston is comparable to his brother, even if they do not always see eye-to-eye. The Van der Linde gang is a big, dysfunctional family.
At his heart, the best adjective for Arthur is Loyal. His faith in what he stands for and those he cares for is unwavering regardless of the foe’s size. He cannot be bought or bribed, and betrayal is absolutely off the table. While his allegiances shift across the game, he remains loyal to those in the crew he is dedicated to protecting.
There is no singular Arthur Morgan. His personality alters incredibly over time, to the point where he is an immensely different man by the end of the game. Arthur is emotionally closed-off, with his ruthlessness and violent behavioural traits being completely dispassionate; he does not kill out of pleasure. Ultimately, he has a moral code that he abides by, with killing unnecessarily being a strictly no-go area for the character.
Arthur Morgan’s voice actor in Red Dead Redemption 2 is Roger Clark. A stage actor and audiobook narrator with a rather short portfolio of acting roles. There is little of note to mention, in popular media, outside of his time as a Red Dead Redemption 2 voice actor. A shocking fact given how incredibly successful Clark was in the shoes of Arthur and his talent as an actor. His performance was so incredible that he even won the 2018 Game Awards Best Performance award for a voice actor in a video game.
The role of Arthur is one of the most demanding performances that a voice actor could hope to undertake. Roger Clark had to bring everything to the table for a 40+ hour game that showcased Arthur as the dark yet endearing anti-hero. Finding this character appealing and engaging, despite the glaring flaws, was no easy task, and a lot could have gone wrong. But Roger Clark brings it all to the table and shows that Arthur has a good heart, even if he commits bad deeds. One of the most immaculate instances of a video game character performance in gaming history.