You’ve spent hundreds of hours staring at the back of his head, watching the way he brushes snow off his coat or how his eyes narrow when a O’Driscoll opens their mouth. Arthur Morgan isn't just a collection of pixels. He feels like a person. But if you try to find the Arthur Morgan face model—the specific human being whose bone structure was scanned to create the protagonist of Red Dead Redemption 2—you’re going to hit a bit of a digital wall.
Unlike Grand Theft Auto V, where the three leads look exactly like their real-life counterparts, Arthur Morgan is a different beast entirely.
Why the Arthur Morgan Face Model Isn't Just One Person
Most people assume there's a guy walking around out there who is a 1:1 match for Arthur. He doesn't exist. Honestly, the way Rockstar Games approached the character design for Arthur Morgan was far more complex than just "scanning a guy."
Roger Clark is the name everyone knows. He provided the voice. He provided the motion capture. He provided the soul. But if you look at Roger Clark and then look at Arthur, they aren't twins. There’s a resemblance, sure—especially in the brow and the way he carries his jaw—but Rockstar’s artists spent years sculpting Arthur’s face by hand.
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They used a "composite" approach. They took elements of Roger Clark’s performance and physical structure but blended them with custom 3D modeling to create a face that could age, get sick, lose weight, and grow a dynamically reacting beard.
The Roger Clark Connection
Roger Clark spent five years in a spandex suit with ping-pong balls stuck to him. He didn't just stand in a booth. Every time Arthur limps, every time he coughs, and every time he tilts his hat, that is Roger Clark.
Because the game uses full performance capture, the facial animations are tethered to Clark’s actual facial muscles. When Clark’s eyebrows knit together in a scene with Dutch, the sensors record that movement and translate it onto the Arthur Morgan model. This is why Arthur feels like Roger Clark, even if he doesn't look exactly like him.
Comparing Arthur to Other Rockstar Protagonists
If you look at Grand Theft Auto V, the "face model" question is easy:
- Michael De Santa is Ned Luke.
- Trevor Philips is Steven Ogg.
- Franklin Clinton is Shawn Fonteno.
Rockstar basically carbon-copied those actors into the game. With Red Dead Redemption 2, they went back to a more traditional "character design" route. They wanted Arthur to look like a man of the 1890s—weathered, rugged, and slightly generic enough that the player could project themselves onto him, yet distinct enough to be iconic.
Interestingly, fans often point out that a younger Roger Clark actually looks more like Arthur than he does today. If you dig up photos of Clark from around 2012, when he first started the project, the jawline and the "tough guy" aesthetic are much more apparent.
The Evolution of the Model
During the development of RDR2, Arthur’s face actually changed. If you look at the very first trailer released in 2016, Arthur looks slightly different. His face is a bit wider, and he looks a little more "shrek-like," as some fans jokingly put it on Reddit. By the time the game launched in 2018, the Arthur Morgan face model had been refined into the sharp-eyed, high-cheekboned version we know today.
Why You Can’t Find a Single "Face Actor"
In the world of AAA gaming, there are two ways to make a face:
- Photogrammetry: You scan a real person’s head with 100 cameras. This is what Death Stranding or The Last of Us Part II does.
- Hand-Sculpting: Artists use a real person as a reference but "build" the face in software like ZBrush.
Arthur Morgan is a result of the latter. He is a "hand-sculpted" character who uses Roger Clark as the primary reference point. This allowed Rockstar to do things that 1:1 scans struggle with. For example, Arthur’s face can change drastically based on the game’s "weight" system. If you eat too many oatcakes, his face gets rounder. If you starve him, his cheeks sink in.
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If they had used a rigid 1:1 scan of a single model, making those transitions look natural would have been significantly harder.
The Mystery of the "Other" Models
There have been rumors for years that Rockstar used a secondary model for the body or specific facial features, but no one has ever been officially credited. Rockstar is notoriously secretive. They make actors sign NDAs that last for a decade.
We do know that for other characters, the likeness is much stronger. Curzon Dobell, the actor who plays Hosea Matthews, looks almost exactly like his in-game character. The same goes for Benjamin Byron Davis (Dutch), though Dutch is a bit more stylized.
But Arthur? He’s a masterpiece of digital craftsmanship. He’s a "Frankenstein" of Roger Clark’s soul and a digital artist’s vision of what a dying outlaw should look like.
Key Takeaways for Fans
- Roger Clark is the only person officially credited with "bringing Arthur to life."
- There is no "hidden" male model who provided the face.
- The face was designed to be modular to support the beard and weight mechanics.
- If you see someone claiming to be the "face" of Arthur Morgan, they’re probably looking for clout.
How to Appreciate the Artistry
Next time you’re playing, turn the camera around and zoom in on Arthur’s face during a sunset. Look at the pores, the scars, and the way the light passes through the skin on his ears (a technique called subsurface scattering).
It’s easy to want a single name to attach to a face. We like to know who the "real" person is. But in Arthur’s case, the "real" person is a collaboration between an incredible actor and hundreds of developers who spent years making sure his eyes looked just sad enough to break your heart.
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If you're interested in seeing the man behind the outlaw, your best bet is to check out Roger Clark's social media or his various convention panels. He’s incredibly proud of the work he did, and he’s the closest thing to a "real" Arthur Morgan we’ll ever have. Just don't expect him to have the same hat or the TB cough in real life.
To truly understand the technical side of how Arthur was built, you should look into the "Making of Red Dead Redemption 2" interviews often hosted at events like GDC (Game Developers Conference). They break down how performance capture has moved past simple "voice acting" into something much more like digital puppetry. It’s a fascinating world where the line between the actor and the model is constantly blurring.
Next Steps for RDR2 Fans:
- Watch Roger Clark's 2018 Game Awards acceptance speech to see the physical mannerisms he shared with Arthur.
- Compare the 2016 reveal trailer with 2018 gameplay to see how the facial structure was tweaked during development.
- Follow the "Red Dead Historian" or similar community channels that dive into the real-life inspirations for the Van der Linde gang's aesthetic.