GTA 5GTA 6RDR2RDR1
Account
EN
EnglishENPortuguรชsPTEspaรฑolESTรผrkรงeTRPolskiPLะ ัƒััะบะธะนRUDeutschDEFranรงaisFRItalianoITุงู„ุนุฑุจูŠุฉAR
outlawdb

Red Dead Redemption 2

StoryMissionsStrangersCharactersGangs
The worldMapHorsesWeaponsAnimalsHuntingBusinessesCollectibles
ReferenceChallengesGuidesCheatsTrophies
All characters
Mark Johnson, Voiced by Jason Salmon
Character

Mark Johnson

Voiced by Jason Salmon

Mark Johnson is one of the named cast of Red Dead Redemption 2, working as character. The facts below are the ones the wiki records.

Turns up in the story without fitting any of the other labels.

Role
Other characters
Voice actor
Jason Salmon
Status
Not stated
Occupation
Outlaw (formerly)
Affiliations
Not stated

Player notes

Mark Johnson is a former train and stagecoach robber wanted across the American West. Years before the events of Red Dead Redemption 2, he abandons that life and disappears with his wife to raise their son, Billy. The law still lists him as at large. A wanted poster in Rhodes identifies Johnson and leads a bounty hunter to Siltwater Strand in Scarlett Meadows, Lemoyne, where he is teaching Billy to ride a horse.

When the bounty hunter confronts him, Johnson asks for a chance to say goodbye to his family. He speaks quietly to Billy, then submits without a fight. Bound on the back of the bounty hunter's horse, he is taken toward Rhodes, but works himself loose and leaps down to flee. Mounted gunmen arrive and order the bounty hunter to release Johnson. After they are driven off, Johnson is tied again and delivered to Rhodes Jail, where Sheriff Thomas takes custody of him.

Several days later, Johnson is brought behind the Sheriff's Office for execution. He can be left to hang before the people gathered there, ending the case against him. If the lawmen are attacked instead, Johnson is cut free. He tells the bounty hunter that he cannot understand why he has been saved, but says that he forgives them, then escapes execution.

Trivia

  • โ—†If Johnson's wife is killed, he becomes outraged at the player.
  • โ—†Despite being able to kill his wife, the player can not harm or kill Johnson's son, otherwise the mission will fail.
  • โ—†Various aspects of his character seem to be a play on John Marston:
  • โ—†His initials reversed are identical to Marston's (MJ for Mark Johnson and JM for John Marston).
  • โ—†The names are also almost a perfect anagram for each other, with the exception of the letter K and T.
  • โ—†His retirement from a life of crime but remaining a wanted man mirrors Marston's predicament. This is further evidenced by the dialogue of the sheriff during his hanging, stating that Johnson "...thought he could just leave his outlaw past behind... and become a rancher and family man", similar to the events of John Marston's life during the epilogue.
  • โ—†If he is captured by John, his remarks after being thrown in the cell could be seen as foreshadowing Marston's eventual fate.
  • โ—†The fact that his wife can be killed freely but not his son in some ways mirrors Abigail and Jack's fate at the end of Red Dead Redemption, in that Jack will also be the only one to survive.
  • โ—†If the player pursues him after saving him from hanging, he will hop on a horse and ride all the way to Saint Denis, where he will be executed by the law. This can be interpreted as another element of foreshadowing Marston's death at the hands of the law in Red Dead Redemption, as he cannot escape or be saved.
  • โ—†Allowing Mark to say goodbye to Billy results in an Honor boost.
  • โ—†If the player does not let him say goodbye to Billy, the armed bandits do not appear.
  • โ—†The player can ride safely to Rhodes if Mark is placed on the player's mount and they ride a second horse whistling your horse to follow. Mark's horse can be taken without incurring penalty.
  • โ—†The player can walk a bit further away from the family after allowing him to say goodbye to Billy but not too far and Mark will walk to the player after he is done talking to his son. If the player keeps their distance from Mark while walking towards Rhodes without losing sight of him then Mark will follow you to the Sheriff's office and the dialogue will play out between you two and the sheriff. You can then hogtie Mark and throw him in jail and get your money.
  • โ—†Sometimes when saving him, the player will tell Mark to take care of his son and order him to escape with Mark voicing that he will.
  • โ—†Mark Johnson is hanged despite only having a $25 bounty.
  • โ—†At his execution, it is revealed that Mark killed several people, which is most likely the reason for his hanging.
  • โ—†Arthur can talk to Mark several times during the days leading up to his execution.
View on Red Dead Wiki โ†’

Character data from Red Dead Wiki, CC BY-SA. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games.

Last verified September 14, 2026