The western genre is filled with both comedy and tragedy, and Red Dead Online and the Coen Brothers anthology film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs exemplify this. One fan of Buster Scruggs decided to recreate the singing cowboy in Red Dead Online, adding him to the many characters from other properties remade in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Buster Scruggs doesn't seem to be as difficult to recreate in Red Dead Online's character customization as, say, Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher. As a fellow western character, he fits right into the game's world, though his presentation as a straight-laced young gun does make him stand out a bit against Red Dead Redemption 2's gritty aesthetic.
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In the titular vignette of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Buster Scruggs is introduced as a young cowboy with a guitar and an incredibly fast draw. He performs a series of increasingly impossible gunslinging feats before being shot and killed by another young singing cowboy with an even faster draw. The moral of the story, delivered by Buster himself in the moments before he falls, is that nobody can be the best forever--a theme that many appear to feel is in line with the Red Dead Redemption series. Redditor OldThompson1928 was able to capture just about every aspect of Buster Scruggs except the cheery attitude. Red Dead Online can capture Homer Simpson's bumbling laziness but apparently has trouble with chipper cowboys.
The Redditor was able to find exactly the right off-white shirt and hat, brown pants, and pointy-toed brown shoes, but could not find a way to get a screenshot of the character playing the guitar while he rode. The white horse also lacks the pink nose of Buster Scruggs' very real white horse and uses slightly different tack. Both pictures are set in the desert, but while Buster Scruggs is shown riding through sand and bare earth, the Red Dead Online screenshot is filled with scrubland and cacti. Despite these small imperfections, the recreation of Buster Scruggs is incredibly film-accurate and would fit right in on the list of Red Dead Online's most impressive character creations.
This image has been warmly received by fans, many of whom immediately began discussing the thematic similarities between Arthur Morgan and Buster Scruggs. One poster expressed a wish that the Coen Brothers would make a movie entirely dedicated to Buster Scruggs, while another said that Buster Scruggs should have been an NPC in Red Dead Redemption 2. It would be interesting to see such a cheerful and comedic character in the game. One wonders if Buster Scruggs would be one of the NPCs that fight griefers in Red Dead Online.
Red Dead Online is available right now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
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