Charles Smith

Born to an African American father and a Native American mother, Charles Smith became one of the most recent additions to the Van der Linde gang, joining roughly 6-7 months before the events of the game. He states that he and his father lived with his mother’s tribe until the U.S. Army drove them away. His mother was captured by soldiers a couple years later and was never seen again, whilst his father fell into a depression and became an alcoholic. At the age of 13, Charles ran away and wandered the country alone. A veteran survivalist, Charles joined the Van der Linde gang while being in the Grizzlies, at some point in late 1898. Charles has been described as a quiet and reserved person, yet very competent in everything he takes part of, especially fights. He is very courageous and selfless, providing whatever help he could to the Wapiti Indian reservation, rescuing Captain Monroe and Eagle Flies from the US Army, and telling Sadie and John to run from Micah's men first while he would supposedly catch up later despite being critically wounded. He is nearly always calm, only showing visible happiness or anger on a few short occasions. Arguably the most honorable member of the gang, Charles is cool-headed and reluctant to kill; the continuing blood spilled by the gang is ultimately what causes him to become disillusioned with it and helping the Wapiti Indians instead. He disapproves of people who are nothing but vicious killers, such as his notable disdain for the Callander brothers and Micah. He is also compassionate towards wild animals and shows rare visible anger when encountering the poachers' killing bison for sport. Charles hates racism and is impressed by Dutch's acceptance of all races. The year is currently 1899.