“Things are different now, John. Now, I'm in charge! No more Dutch, and no more you!”
–Bill Williamson
William "Bill" Williamson (1866-1911) is a central character and one of the primary antagonists in Red Dead Redemption. He is a former gang partner of John Marston. Marston has been extorted into hunting down his former brothers in arms, with Bill Williamson being the primary target. The hunt for Bill Williamson serves as the impetus for the game's plot, and is the central motivating factor throughout the first and second act.
Bill Williamson was once a soldier and John Marston's former partner in Dutch's Gang. During his time in the gang, Williamson, along with Dutch and Javier, seemed to have had a casual sexual relationship with Abigail Marston. In 1906, a botched bank robbery leaves Marston wounded and disillusioned. Some time afterward, Dutch goes into semi-retirement and Williamson (insane and disillusioned from Dutch's insanity) established his own gang whom resided in Fort Mercer.
Interactions
In 1911, John and Bill meet once again at Fort Mercer. John has been extorted into pursuing and apprehending Williamson due to his gang's vicious crimes. Edgar Ross and the Bureau of Investigation threaten John's son and wife to force John to complete the task. Marston confronts Williamson from outside the fortified walls, appealing to him to surrender before any harm befalls him. Williamson refuses, has several men put Marston at gunpoint, and berates John for his reformation. John responds by reaching for his revolver, causing one of Williamson's men to open fire and wound him in the lower-right torso. They presume John dead and leave his body to the elements. Hours pass, until ranchers, Bonnie MacFarlane and Amos discover him wounded. Bonnie and Amos altruistically take Marston to Nathaniel Johnston, the Armadillo doctor, to treat his wounds. John then recovers quite well after the bullet is removed. In return for a $15 doctor's bill, John agrees to work at the ranch for a short time. However, Bill later discovered that John was alive and living with Bonnie. As revenge, Bill and his followers burned the Macfarlane's barn to the ground.
During that time, Marston recruited some people in New Austin with a cost of helping them. After helping Leigh Johnson, Nigel West Dickens, Seth Briars and Irish, John planned a strategy to raid Bill's hideout. The group breached the fort only to find out that Bill fled to Mexico with the help of a member of John's former gang, Javier Escuella. The pair was put into the Protection of the government.
John eventually ventured to Mexico himself and was forced to work with Colonel Allende, the brutal dictator of a region in Mexico called Nuevo Paraiso. Even though Allende promised to deliver Escuella and Williamson to Marston, Allende betrayed Marston and attempted to kill him. Due to the betrayal, John joined with the anti-government rebels led by Abraham Reyes and attacked Allende's villa in Escalera.
Bill Williamson is a ruthless and ambitious man, power-hungry, self-serving and greedy by nature, as well lacking any morals or conscience. His ruthlessness and immorality were shown through countless acts of crime and intimidation, including arson, kidnapping and murder, and likely rape.
Throughout his life as a criminal, Bill became both respected and feared by the people and criminals of New Austin, with Bonnie even calling him "the worst bandit in the county". Many criminals and bandits such as Norman Deek chose to follow Williamson, making him one of the most dangerous and powerful criminals in the area.
Originally a friend and brother-in-arms of John, Bill's friendship with him soon turned into rivaly over Dutch's attention. It was developed into hatred by 1906, and Bill along with the other fellow criminals left John to die in a miserably failed robbery.
Despite his ruthlessness and inhuman acts at times, Bill is truely a coward with no sense of loyalty. Each time, during his encounters with John, Bill never fights against his former friend, preferring to send his men after him. Bill is also quick to run away upon understanding the threat upon his life, and will do anything to escape death.
—Bill Williamson giving the reason for leaving John
“
You always was a traitor ya bastard orphan!
„
—Bill Williamson
“
I always knew you were a coward.
„
—Bill Williamson
“
Whould you hurry up?
„
—Bill Williamson to Allende when about to escape
“
What the hell are ya doing?
„
—Bill Williamson to Allende
“
You implore me? He, he you implore.
„
—Bill Williamson
“
Alright, John, I-I-I'll-I'll come quietly.
„
—Bill Williamson's last words
Multiplayer
"I sure miss that whore of yours!"
"I always was more clever than you, hahahahaha!"
"I've been waitn' for this!"
"Go home to your whore wife!"
"Son of a bitch!"
"Go on, hit me, you coward!"
"I'll blow your damn brains out!"
"This time, I'll make sure you're dead!"
"You always was frightened of me!"
"This was the way it was always going to be, old friend."
"Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I'll cut you open!"
"You're still a scared little boy!"
"I aint' goin' to jail for you ya' son of a bitch!"
"You always was a coward!"
"I'll kill you twice you bastard!"
"You always was weak-minded!"
Trivia
Bill appears to have been less educated than John and Dutch, taking offense at John's larger vocabulary in their first encounter at Fort Mercer. Namely, the word "implore."
Bill is partly bald, revealed during his final appearance, when Allende shoves him out of the wagon, his hat falls off, revealing his baldness. It can also be seen by shooting off his hat, or by playing Poker or Liar's Dice with him in Multiplayer.
One reason Bill does not appear in Undead Nightmare could be that in the canon storyline of Redemption he is supposed to have been shot in the head and unable to return as an Undead. This is supported by the fact that when it is time to execute him during An Appointed Time, if the player is using Casual Mode for targeting, the reticle automatically locks onto Bill's head.
In the Liars and CheatsDLC pack, he is on the damnation list because of his acts during the game.
Most, if not all, of Bill's multiplayer quotes seem to be directed at John.
The official concept art for Williamson has him sporting a 'cowboy' hat, though in-game he wears a slouch hat and a red bandana/scarf is wrapped around his neck, also unseen in the concept art.
The pin which holds the side of Bill's hat up bears the symbol of the Freemasons (The Square and Compasses). This either means that Williamson himself is a Freemason, or that he stole the hat off of someone who was.
The name William Williamson suggests that he has a Welsh heritage since giving your children the same first and surname was a tradition in Wales in the 17th-20th centuries.
In one of the early trailers for Red Dead Redemption, Bill is seen drinking in a bar. This is never seen in-game, but it's most likely either cut content or a hidden sneak peek for the Liars and Cheats DLC pack.
Bill Williamson could be a reference to Bill Williams, a character mentioned in 'Mojave Crossing', a book written by the famous western writer Louis L'Amour.
It seems that Bill is affiliated with various criminals as seen in "The Assault on Fort Mercer" as his gang mostly consists of mixed criminals.
In Undead Nightmare among the writings on the walls of buildings in Blackwater one writing reads "Things are different now." These are some of the words that Williamson said to John before wounding him at Fort Mercer.
Bill seems to bring up his former gang leader, Dutch van der Linde, in many of his interactions with John.
The Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year Edition says Bill was born in 1866 and was once a soldier, but then decided to become an outlaw with Dutch.
Bill and John always seemed to have hated each other to a degree even when they were in Dutch's Gang. Evidenced by statements and insults between the two characters. Out of all of his former gang members John seemed to hate Bill the most.
It's possible that Bill figured out about John's plans for assaulting Fort Mercer long before it happened, it was this knowledge that inspired him to retreat to Nuevo Paraiso. However, it is unknown how he acquired this information.
Bill is the most mentioned character in the entire game, being mentioned in 22 missions and appearing only on 3.
If the player plans ahead exactly in game, one can actually see Bill Williamson leave the perimeter of Fort Mercer to travel to Mexico by simply walking casually before the events of the Assault on Fort Mercer. This is the only time he can be killed in free roam.
