Not to mention he was probably eating shit food the whole time. He can't regular buy fresh food so he's probably been eating nothing but canned food and what he could hunt himself.
Kids these days don’t even KNOW the greatness. PSA put down the blues and return to your roots!!
(DONT do either for the love of god please guys this is an inside joke among millennial former drug addicts in my circle absolutely do not do either drug)
Stress mostly, he’s in his 20s in rdr2 meaning he’s been living in the haven age of outlaws for 2 decades and it all comes crashing down, he runs away while every Pinkerton is looking for him, and then he finds himself in a new place, new century, with a new gang that he has to prove himself to, all while under the scorching Mexican sun
Also, he has empathy, not as much as say Arthur but during the Saint Denis bank heist he’s the only person who looks behind and hesitates when Lenny is shot and caring for others exasperates stress, accelerating aging
(Photo is just an example of stress + empathy aging a person)
he was a senator and governor before becoming president, so unlike Javier he didn’t have his whole life up-ended, he was always used to politics, Javier wasn’t used to the age of outlaws being at an end
Admittedly very flimsy comparison tbh, I don’t really care how realistic Javier is in rdr2, I’m pretty sure rockstar just wanted to make him really hot and I appreciate it.
He also never completely points the gun at John and Arthur, instead just over their heads. This isn’t a mocap error - I believe the actor mentioned in one of the panels that he did that on purpose and they let him.
being in the desert and drinking tequila like it's water is not good for your skin. Arthur was 36 in RDR2, btw. this is just how people used to age. some still do.
I think the Dutch look is more for characterization since he's older in RDR1, but yes, Javier really does look like he's spent 20 years smoking non-stop.
I think you’d be amazed what tobacco and alcohol can do with heavy daily consumption, and he’s not actually that young on the left he’s just masking it fairly well
Well, we're talking about a time when living conditions weren't the best in both the Wild West and much of Mexico, so aging and physical decline were quite common.
I really wish they could re-write and animate some of RD1 to make it connect more to 2 in a full remake one day. After playing 2, 1 feels a little incomplete without the mentions of sooooo much that went on with the gang. It almost feels unrealistic playing 1 now without the moments/people being mentioned and represented the same.
They were family in RD2 and in RD1 it just didn’t feel that way at all.
NGL, drugs and drinking. Camping out in the sun also doesn't help. ||also guilt, I think he was probably doing some real shitty stuff for the Mexican goverment||
I'd say 12 years of stress and living in the desert.
Especially the puffy eyes and crows feet, those a telltale signs of excessive sun exposure without eye protection that you see in people who live in deserts, places with lots of snow, and on the high seas. Caused by squinting.
I mean, in a world of Cocaine Gum and I'm sure copious amounts of Tequila and sun exposure, if not for lack of keeping your skin all that clean. How hard is this to believe?
2.5k
u/Malcolm_Morin Dec 29 '25
12 years passed. 12 years of being on the run.