The Ku Klux Klan is a faction featured in Red Dead Redemption 2.
History[]
Background[]
The Ku Klux Klan was founded after the American Civil War by Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee. Originally, it was a social club, and its name was derived from the Greek word 'kuklos' (meaning 'circle'), mixed with the 'clan' (spelled with a 'K').
The group grew in membership and later became a violent white supremacist terrorist organization during the Reconstruction. By 1899, much of the Klan had dissolved, with only a few small remnants in existence who recruit members and host ceremonies of burning crosses in secret to evade American authorities.
Events of Red Dead Redemption 2[]
The player can encounter members of the Ku Klux Klan on at least three occasions.
They are first encountered by the player when they are initiating a new member into the organization and burning a cross as they complain about Congress and its policies regarding their numbers, as well as promising to establish "supremacy and sanity before it is too late".
They are next encountered when they are trying to lift a cross for a burning ceremony, and finally, when a few members show up disappointed that there weren't 25 members.
The player has the option of either killing them or watching the ceremony go away in the first encounter, having the cross dropped on them in the second encounter, and seeing them burn themselves again in the third encounter. Killing Klan members in the first encounter will raise the player's Honor.
They are depicted as narcissistic, hateful, and incompetent racists.
Missable Items[]
Trivia[]
- The Ku Klux Klan are never actually mentioned by name.
- Arthur seems to have a particular disgust for the Ku Klux Klan, as he will often insult them and even refer to them as "hooded rodents".
- The Ku Klux Klan's appearance in-game during the years of 1899-1907 is a slight anachronism. While the first Klan was founded in 1865, they were no longer active during the time period the game takes place, and had died out by 1872. The Klan wouldn't emerge again until at least 1915, when the film The Birth of a Nation was released. Another anachronism is the depiction of the Ku Klux Klan burning crosses, an activity that the first Klan did not engage in, and would only became associated with them due to The Birth of a Nation.
- As of June 2020, hackers using mod menus in Red Dead Online were spawning ped models of Ku Klux Klan to harass players. Rockstar Games addressed the issue and have patched the game to prevent hackers from spawning members of the KKK.[1]
Gallery[]
