Robert Elliot Patchen is a minor, deceased character featured in Red Dead Redemption 2.
History
Patchen was once a highly regarded stage actor who performed in big cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Saint Denis. In his later life, however, he just couldn't achieve happiness by portraying in the roles of "fathers and old men", since he still saw himself in the hero's or the main character's role. The only thing that could still bring joy to him was the fact that his face could be seen on one of Millicents Cigarette Cards.
In his suicide letter, he says goodbye to his acquaintances for one last time by writing that he can no longer endure pretending to enjoy their company and his own existence.
After putting down the note and his Nevada Hat on a rock behind the waterfall at Granite Pass, Patchen likely took his own life by jumping down the waterfall. His hat and note can then be discovered by the player. However, the corpse is nowhere to be found.
Trivia
- Patchen is featured on one of the cigarette cards in the Stars of the Stage Card Set. On the card, he is portrayed wearing the an outfit resembling a king, though it's most likely just a role he once played. The card features the only known image of him and can be found near the fence of Rhodes.
- Patchen's name and several details of his death resemble the fate of Sam Patch, a real-life early American daredevil. Like Patchen, Sam Patch leapt to his death off of a waterfall. Unlike Patchen however, Sam Patch's jump was not an intended suicide, being a 125-foot daredevil leap into the Genesee River from the High Falls before a crowd of several thousand people in November 1829. He struck the water and disappeared, and his body was not recovered till the following spring.
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