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| “ | I have a plan. | „ |
| ~ Dutch's most popular catchphrase. |
| “ | Dutch: We can't always fight nature, John. We can't fight change. We can't fight gravity. We can't fight nothing. My whole life, all I ever did was fight. John: Then give up, Dutch. Dutch: But I can't give up, neither. I can't fight my own nature. That's the paradox, John. You see? John: Then I have to shoot you. Dutch: When I'm gone, they'll just find another monster. They have to, because they have to justify their wages. John: That's their business. Dutch: Our time has passed, John. |
„ |
| ~ Dutch's last words with John Marston before committing suicide, as well as foreshadowing Ross' betrayal to John. |
Dutch van der Linde is the secondary antagonist of the 2010 action-adventure game Red Dead Redemption and one of the two deuteragonists (alongside John Marston) of its 2018 prequel Red Dead Redemption II.
Van der Linde is the last of the three targets that John Marston must capture for the Federal Government in order for them to release his family, the first two being Bill Williamson and Javier Escuella.
Throughout most of the plot in Red Dead Redemption, Dutch is mentioned many times in the New Austin and Nuevo Paraiso chapters. He finally makes an appearance in the West Elizabeth chapter, where he serves as the main antagonist.
In Red Dead Redemption II, however, Dutch served as the deuteragonist of the first five chapters, before becoming one of the two main antagonists (alongside Andrew Milton) in the sixth chapter and the secondary antagonist of epilogue.
He was voiced by Benjamin Byron Davis.
Biography
Red Dead Redemption II
| “ | You can't erase who you are, John! You can't just wish it away. | „ |
| ~ Dutch Van Der Linde to John Marston. |
Dutch van der Linde is an outlaw having a gang consisting with John Marston, Arthur Morgan, Micah Bell, Charles Smith, Javier Escuella, Bill Williamson, Abigail Roberts and several others who met Dutch and joined also. They terrorized the West until 1899 when a botched train robbery occurs, and several gang members leave Arthur and John to die. This leads to John and Abigail retiring, and the gang being disbanded due to Dutch's madness.
In 1899, Dutch and his gang hide out in Colter after a botched robbery in Blackwater. He plans on getting enough money to leave the United States.
After a robbery in Saint Denis goes horribly wrong, Dutch starts to become paranoid. This was noticed after setting up camp in Beaver Hollow. When Arthur confronted Micah and called him out as the rat, Dutch still turned against Arthur and John before leaving them to fight off the invading Pinkertons. When Arthur and Micah are fighting to the death, he stops the fight. Arthur and Micah plead with Dutch to turn on each other, but Dutch, not knowing who to believe anymore, simply walks away in silence.
Eight years later, Dutch teams up with Micah once more to retrieve the money from Blackwater, which they succeed in doing so. When John infiltrates Micah's hideout to kill him, Dutch appears, resulting in a Mexican standoff between the three. After being persuaded by John, Dutch shoots Micah in the chest, allowing John to finish him off. John tries to thank Dutch, but once again, Dutch simply walks away in silence.
Red Dead Redemption
Four years later, Dutch returns after the death of Bill, having recruited young Native Americans for his army. John is ordered by Edgar Ross to kill him in order to get his wife and son back. John witnessed Dutch murdering a police officer in his hideout and tries to kill John afterwards, but only knocks him out when the bullet hits John's binoculars. John and the BOI later confront Dutch and his gang when they tried to rob a bank, but Dutch and his gang escape by murdering Muriel Scranton, a worker at the bank.
Later, John and the BOI take on his army, with John confronting Dutch by himself after cornering him at the edge of a cliff. Dutch laments about how the world is changing despite his efforts to prevent the change and warns John that he will be hunted by the law next. Not wanting to be incarcerated by the very system he despises, Dutch steps backwards off the edge of the cliff and plummets to his death. John and Edgar find his body at the bottom of the cliff, and the latter shoots his corpse in the head to ensure his death.
Personality
Originally, Dutch used to have a much warmer and noble side to his personality, presenting himself as a witty, charismatic and sophisticated outlaw who highly conformed to his own philosophies about life in the Wild West. He did show to be protective of his own fellow gang members, having raised Arthur Morgan and John Marston like his own two sons. He also became outraged at Jack Marston having been kidnapped by the Braithwaite family and in retaliation, stormed their manor while killing them all and demanding where the child had been taken.
However, the Pinkertons' pursuit, the death of his companions (especially Hosea), and the advancement of society made Dutch begin to become crazy and he became more and more ruthless, egotistical, narcissistic, and vindictive. He began to value blind loyalty more, criticizing Arthur and John for this and and even considering them disloyal. Instead, he preferred to listen to Micah because he never questioned him, a mistake that would cost him dearly. While at first, Dutch seemed to have limitations as to how far he'd go, he eventually took a deeper plunge into both paranoia and mental instability following his gang's downfall.
One thing about Dutch for certain, is that he's a skilled manipulator who uses his charm and wit to gain the favor of whomever he may wish to trick, able to present himself as a likable and humorous fellow at one moment while hiding his true motives. He also lectured over a greater meaning of the life of an outlaw, which he imposed on his gang as well, although Arthur eventually saw this meaning as nothing more than an excuse or ruse to commit atrocities in the favor of some good. Eventually losing his reason and gaining a more reckless and manic attitude due to coming further unhinged as well as falling victim to Micah Bell's manipulation. Eight years later, Dutch finally accepted Micah's betrayal and ends up shooting him at the end, showing that deep down he feels remorse for not having listened to Arthur at the time.
It is a subject of debate by Arthur, John and Sadie whether Dutch had dropped from his previous, more moral attitude to his more ruthless and callous behaviour, or whether his kinder side was just a veil to the person he really was. Given the nature of his situation; his gang's impending and inevitable downfall, becoming more paranoid of treachery within his gang, being manipulated by Micah and his own descent into madness, either of these possibilities remain highly plausible.
By the original Red Dead Redemption, Dutch had fully degraded from an idealistic leader to a delusional and frantic killer who immediately taunted John Marston over his relationship with Abigail and killed a woman in order to cover his escape. However, Dutch also did, near the end of his life, exhibit remorse for his actions, with him being secretly aware that nothing he has done has helped preserve his time or change anything. He also states that he was ultimately unable to change and stop what he was fighting for due to his own fundamental nature. At the end, Dutch calls himself a monster and commits suicide, claiming that him and John's time has passed.
Relationships
Allies
- Van der Linde gang (leader, formerly)
- Colm O'Driscoll (formerly)
- Arthur Morgan (formerly)
- John Marston (formerly)
- Abigail Roberts/Marston (formerly)
- O'Driscoll Boys (formerly)
- Sadie Adler (formerly)
- Charles Smith (formerly)
- Hosea Matthews (best friend, formerly)
- Molly O'Shea (lover, formerly)
- Simon Pearson (formerly)
- Josiah Trelawney (formerly)
- Orville Swanson (formerly)
- Uncle (formerly)
- Susan Grimshaw (formerly)
- Karen Jones (formerly)
- Jenny Kirk (formerly)
- Annabelle (lover, formerly)
- Tilly Jackson (formerly)
- Lenny Summers
- Kieran Duffy
- Sean MacGuire
- Bill Williamson
- Javier Escuella
- Micah Bell (formerly)
- Mac and Davey Callander
- Williamson Gang
- Wapiti Indians
Enemies
- John Marston
- Arthur Morgan
- Colm O'Driscoll (archenemy)
- O'Driscoll Boys
- Bureau of Investigation
- Archer Fordham
- Andrew Milton
- Edgar Ross
- Leviticus Cornwall
- Pinkertons
- Agent Johns
- Agent Bunter
- Agent Orly
- Howard Sawicki
- Uncle Sam
- Micah Bell
- Government Agents
- Soldiers
- Army
- Military
- Police
- Murfree Brood
- Lemoyne Raiders
- Braithwaite Family
- Gray Family
- Night Folk
- Angelo Bronte
Quotes
Red Dead Redemption
| “ | It's nice to see you again, John. | „ |
| ~ Dutch to John in 1911. |
| “ | I think that's what they call 'two for the price of one' out here in this wonderful place! | „ |
| ~ Dutch taunting Marston and MacDougal. |
| “ | When I'm gone, they'll just find another monster. They have to. Because they have to justify their wages. | „ |
| ~ Dutch to John regarding Agent Ross. |
Red Dead Redemption II
| “ | Do you have my back? | „ |
| ~ Dutch questioning Arthur's loyalty. |
| “ | Listen to me! We don't want to kill any of you! *Anymore of you* but trust me, we will! | „ |
| ~ Dutch threatening the train passengers. |
| “ | We need to leave forever. We’ve been doing well, making money, but for us all to leave together, we need enough for a boat. Now I found a friendly ship captain, he’s willing to take us to Australia, or Tahiti. We just need to pay for passage and give him money for land when we get there. No questions asked. We will disappear. Be reborn. | „ |
| ~ Dutch planning to go to Tahiti to escape the law. |
| “ | You kill, I kill. You rob, I rob. Only difference I can see is I choose whom I kill, and rob, while you destroy everything in your path. | „ |
| ~ Dutch to Leviticus Cornwall. |
| “ | I ain't got too much to say no more... | „ |
| ~ Dutch before shooting Micah Bell. |
Gallery
![Dutch celebrating Sean's return. [1899]](/wiki/File:Partytime.jpg "Partytime.jpg (371 KB)")
![Dutch robbing the trolley station. [1899]](/wiki/File:RobberMan.jpg "RobberMan.jpg (249 KB)")
![Dutch, Hosea and Arthur. [1899]](/wiki/File:TheFam.jpg "TheFam.jpg (238 KB)")
![Dutch and Hosea arguing. [1899]](/wiki/File:MarriageTrouble.jpg "MarriageTrouble.jpg (442 KB)")
![Dutch and Micah. [1899]](/wiki/File:BellRing.jpg "BellRing.jpg (380 KB)")
![Dutch in his tent. [1899]](/wiki/File:STR.jpg "STR.jpg (358 KB)")
Trivia
- In Red Dead Redemption II, Dutch rode an albino horse named "The Count" that will not let anyone, but Dutch ride him. Arthur Morgan once attempted to ride The Count but was quickly bucked off, and if he approaches The Count alone, the horse will become noticeable agitated.
- Dutch is about 180cm tall and 72kg, or 5ft and 11 inch tall and 158 pounds.
- Even before the botched bank robbery in Saint Denis, Hosea vaguely mentions a decline in Dutch's sanity to Arthur early in the story.
- John Marston implied that Dutch simply let him get arrested in Saint Denis, never saving him (Dutch was against Arthur and Sadie rescuing him from the Sisika Penitentiary). This could most likely be true, seeing as how Dutch abandoned Arthur to die by a small group of soldiers in the oil fields later on in the story.
- Dutch's comment on the government "finding another monster to justify their wages" held true, as Edgar Ross ultimately betrays John Marston in the final chapter.
- Ironically, despite being against the advancement of civilization, in Red Dead Redemption Dutch uses a semi-automatic pistol and a car, which are symbols of modern technology and an advancement of civilization. This shows that deep down, Dutch had already given up, but he couldn't give up his life of crime for his nature.
- After being stranded on Guarma, an alias Dutch uses is "Aiden O'Malley", which is a reference to a minor Grand Theft Auto IV character of the same name who is executed by Niko Bellic.
- In the chapter four mission "Urban Pleasures" where Dutch, Arthur, and Lenny attempt to escape a botched robbery on a trolley, it soon crashes and Dutch complains about badly hurting his head. It's possible that he suffered a concussion here, showing many symptoms in the the rest of the mission as well as the following missions and Red Dead Redemption, such as: headaches, confusion, dizziness, fatigue, irritability, personality changes (becoming much less rational and more impulsive), depression, and psychological adjustment problems. This possible untreated concussion with the stress of a life of crime and his gang falling apart in front of him no matter what he does, could have possibly lead to his mental decline.
- In a form of poetic irony, Dutch died at the bottom of a mountain while Arthur (should he choose to help John escape) died on a mountaintop. Furthermore, Dutch chose to take his own life while Arthur fought until the very end of his, either succumbing to his tuberculosis or being killed by Micah.
- Although Dutch is very famous for giving well crafted speeches that inspire his gang in RDR2, they are never spur of the moment or at the top of his head. Dutch actually plans out his speeches in advance and the player can find proof of this during chapter two. Near Horseshoe Overlook on a table next to a wagon and some trees, the player will find a written speech by Dutch that even has lines he's omitted by crossing them out and moments where he reminds himself to give a dramatic pause.
- His catchphrase "I have a plan" is so iconic that in Just Cause 4, you can find a snowman that looks like Dutch, complete with the red hat & carrots for guns. If you aren't convinced that it's a Red Dead reference, the snowman even has a sign saying "I have a plan!" next to it.
External Links
- Dutch van der Linde on the Red Dead Wiki
