Dutch van der Linde

Does it symbolize Satanism, the occult or related?

been workin hard on it, besides the sun gradient I did every pixel here

Bit of a spoiler at the end for Blood Feuds, Ancient and Modern.

Just a take on Dutch's name, idk I was in a history class and had a lightbulb moment.

Back in N*zi Germany during 1933 the Reichstag building was set on fire. Historians still aren't sure who did it but one suspect who did it was a communist named Marinus Van Der Lubbe who was of Dutch descent.

I'm not to sure myself were this was going, I was VERY sleep deprived at the time. I thought it was a funny coincidence because both commited arson (Marinus allegedly) on an important building, Dutch's being the Braithwaite manor. Just a funny thing I wanted to share with y'all :))))

They changed a lot. They let evil overtake them. I know they weren’t good people at all in rdr2 but in RDR you gotta admit they are worse. Especially Dutch!

My Opinion

1. Landon Ricketts

2. Red Harlow

3. John Marston

4. Arthur Morgan

5. Dutch Van der Linde

Dutch is the best character of red dead in my opinion and people saying he was this narcissistic psychopath since the start is just simply not true there are a lot of factors to whey he turned darker and darker.

First off Dutch was always bad as he was a criminal since he was 15 but always had a moral code this videogame slowly shows us how this moral code gets eventually deteriorated. The first thing that makes Dutch go darker is the pressure he has on himself people are starting to doubt him which has never happened in the gangs history. So he becomes desperate to get a major victory to win back the trust some of the gang members have lost so he starts trying to win money to escape to paradise but the failures that transpire hoseas, Sean’s, and Lenny’s death he thinks were all practically his fault so he tries everything he can for that never to happen again and this includes shattering his code.

This is first shown in Guarma when he kills the old woman because she was in his way this shows us that his code of “no unnecessary killing” is now gone but he did this to save Javier faster meaning that his code of “leave no one behind” is still In tact.

In my personal opinion I think that Dutch just wanted to go to a country in peace but go back to the USA with a new gang he doesn’t care about and continue fighting for a anarchistic paradise and he would’ve continued on fighting until that worldview was implanted on the USA the bad thing Is Dutch doesn’t even know how to do this. He just keeps on fighting.

But back to why Dutch became more evil as time passed by now we’re on chapter 6 now Dutch shattering his entire code in this chapter was in my opinion MOSTLY because of Micah and nobody else, Micah preyed on Dutch’s trust issues about John and straight up told him that he was a traitor to Dutch, Micah also preyed on Dutch wanting survival for his gang telling him that doing impulsive, vengeful, and destructive acts is the only way for survival, Micah does all of this because it benefits him as he wants to be the most powerful member and the one who makes the most money he wants Dutch to be completely trust him so he needs to get rid of people like John and Arthur to get that position, And Micah manipulated Dutch so well that he believed him he ditched his entire code for survival in paradise he leaves Abigail behind to save his own skin as saving Abigail would be too risky again Micah manipulated him into doing this decision. But he actually saw Micah for who he was and avenged Arthur if it was just to kill Micah because he betrayed him he would have taken the money. So this is how I view Dutch’s decline.

Now this is of course an opinion, so take this with a grain of salt and please state your opinion of what you think happened to Dutch. But in this post, I'll discuss what could have happened to Dutch that made him into the insane psychopath murderer and outlaw he was at the end of RDR2 and during the original Red Dead Redemption.

So, there are two sides of course to what could have happened to Dutch and it's those two that most people of course choose between. One is the "Dutch changed from a good leader with morals to a blood hungry murderer" and the other is "Dutch just showed his true colours, he was always like this and never a man of principle". Now, I have always been on the boat of Dutch having changed, but I have thought it through and I personally believe that it is a small mix of both. Dutch did have that darkness within him but he was always able to control his impulses and he always was a principled man who did believe what he preached to the gang. And one big part that always kept Dutch in check and challenged him was of course good ole Hosea.

Now, there are other reasons that I will delve into that could be a catalyst for Dutch changing and his dark impulses coming out more:

1. Blackwater: This is undoubtly what started his struggles. The Blackwater Ferry job is what started the downfall of the Van der Linde gang, and one major moment that occured here was Dutch shooting mother Heidi McCourt in cold blood during the robbery. The reason for this is unclear, but it could be that Dutch was stressed and pressured into killing him by Micah, as Micah was "pressuring Dutch to kill her". Or maybe Dutch did because he could, whether he knew the reason for it or not. Why he killed Heidi is unclear but it is clear that him killing her had a big affect on him in some way. And the massive gunfight did have a affect on Dutch too in some way.

2. Some in the gang beginning to doubt him: The gang had always been a firm believer of Dutch's ideals and always had faith in him (besides Micah of course). But during the game and even at the beginning in both Chapter 1 and 2, some began to show doubts after what happened in Blackwater etc. This of course affects Dutch because he can't handle people not having faith in his abilities to lead them. Those who began to show doubts first are Hosea and John (that I think of at least). So people beginning to be unsure and doubtful of Dutch seems to have a affect on him.

3. The Pinkertons on their tail: Undoubtly having the Pinkertons on their tail and the law in general now with his now massive price on his head might put tons of pressure and stress on Dutch, which seems to get worse overtime as the gang causes more and more noise in Blackwater, Valentine, Strawberry, Rhodes, Saint Denis and Roanoke Ridge.

4. Micah's influence: Do I even need to explain this? Micah's presence and influence is certaintly something that affects Dutch the worst way as Micah tries to push Dutch to indulge in his dark impulses of murder and chaos.

5. Gang members dying: I mean... when 5 members of your gang are killed within a few months, it's definitely going to mess with you a bit I feel like. I'm talking of course about Jenny, Davey, Mac, Sean and Kieran.

6. Head injury during trolly station robbery: Now, I don't think this is what caused Dutch to fully go crazy, as some would think. But I do agree that this potential head injury or concussion he suffered might have had a affect in his thinking and emotions after he, Arthur and Lenny fell into a trap by Bronte who betrayed them, something that pisses Dutch right off.

7. His brutal murder of Bronte: Now this is where Dutch's emotions, impulses and dark side shine through, when he brutally drowns Bronte to death and then feeds him to a alligator, a action shocking his proteges John and Arthur.

8. Hosea and Lenny's murder: Hosea's death and the bank robbery going completely wrong definitely affected Dutch so much, especially Hosea's death, a man he looked at as a best friend and brother, someone who always was there for Dutch, kept him in check and loved so much like a brother. Shot as a unarmed prisoner in a brutal way. Lenny's death didn't help either, as while Dutch didn't have like a strong relationship with Lenny like he had with Hosea but Lenny was someone Dutch liked very much, sort of like a young Hosea in a sense who challenged Dutch's views and Dutch's obsession with Evelyn Miller.

9. Time in Guarma: Dutch wasn't fully able to process Hosea and Lenny's death as he, Arthur, Bill, Javier and Micah get stranded on Guarma for a while and fight to survive and get out. And also Dutch decides to brutally murder a old woman, who yes did threaten Dutch with a knife because he couldn't pay her back for her leading them to a entrance to the place Javier was held at, still decided to brutally murder her in front of Arthur.

10. His growing dillusion of believing John may be a rat, Arthur becoming sick and Micah's growing influence on Dutch with Hosea now gone: This is honestly self explanitory.

Hope this was easy to read through and understand and I hope I did a ok job explaining what happened to Dutch.

"Our time has passed, John."

It’s been five years of Red Dead 2. I enjoyed playing this game so good.

The evidence suggests that jack marston is the rat and he was sending messages to the pinkertons via his dog "cane".

They are all in a sense, Dutch.

1. Colm the Outlaw represents Dutch's pettiness. Colm takes it personally against Dutch but makes Arthur see Dutch puts personal vendettas over the wellbeing of his gang.

2. Cornwall the Magnate represents Dutch's greed. Cornwall is all about money and makes Arthur see Dutch putting money before his gang.

3. Bronte the Mobster represents Dutch's arrogance. Bronte underestimates Dutch and treats him as expendable, but makes Arthur see that Dutch overestimates himself and isn't as smart as he thinks he is.

4. Fussar the Tyrant represents Dutch's cruelty. Fussar is cruel and power-hungry but shows Arthur that Dutch is much the same.

5. Milton the Authority represents Dutch's ruthlessness. Milton shows Arthur that to Dutch, the ends justify the means. He also showcases Dutch's fear and weakness.

All of the antagonists in the game show that despite all of his fancy talk of idealism, Dutch is no different from any of the people he hates.

There's probably no question that, although Micah is undoubtedly an asshole and probably the most hated character in RDR next to Ross, he's a very experienced and reliable gunslinger. My question arises not because of his skill in gunslinging, but because of his "immunity" to the time-slowing effects of dead eye in the mission American Venom. Now this could be because of gameplay purposes because you can only kill Micah after Dutch shoots him but I think it's a fun idea to toy around with that Micah could also have the same Dead Eye trait that John, Jack, and Arthur have. What are your thoughts?