Rip is the long time ranch foreman for the Dutton family ranch. He became an orphan as a teenager when he killed his abusive father while failing to defend his mother and brother from being brutally murdered. Rip was later found by John Dutton hiding in a barn covered in cuts and blood and John decided to take him in as a farmhand. Rip has since considered the Duttons his family, regardless of their feelings towards him, and is willing to do anything they ask of him. He even severed ties to his past by disregarding his own birthday. After Rip killed Rowdy in a fight, John and Lloyd helped cover it up by delivering Rowdy to the Train Station. That night, Rip was given the choice to commit to the Ranch as his home forever and take the brand, and he accepted.