Dutch Van der Linde was the ringleader of the notorious Van der Linde gang in Red Dead Redemption 2, and as it turns out, he had a pattern for how he chose new gang members. While some people may think he actively sought out members for recruitment, actually the gang leader often waited until he saw potential in a fellow criminal before extending them an invitation.
Dutch originally founded the Van der Lindes alongside Hosea Matthews when the two of them tried stealing from each other. Hosea was trying to con and rob Dutch, only to realize the outlaw had done it to him first.
This led the pair to team up together, seemingly spotting an opportunity to benefit from each other’s talents. But this wouldn’t be the last time Dutch was impressed by someone trying to do him dirty. In fact, his friendship with Hosea established a pattern for how many members of the Van der Linde gang would come to be associated with the group.
RDR2's Dutch Was Impressed By Greed
Many of the main members of the Van der Linde gang only became so because they tried to rob Dutch at one point. Bill Williamson, for example, was met with Dutch hysterically laughing at him when he attempted to rob him. But the gang leader saw potential in the fellow criminal, even though he wasn't successful, and invited him join the gang. Javier Escuella joined under similar circumstances. Dutch caught the outlaw trying to steal chickens when he was doing the exact same thing. Seeing that Javier was down on his luck — he had just fled Mexico in fear for his life — he offered him a spot in the gang, leading Javier to idolize Dutch.
Even though John Marston and Arthur Morgan didn’t try robbing Dutch when they first met him, they caught his eye after their own criminal activities were brought to his attention, even though they were only teenagers at the time. John, for instance, was about to be hanged for stealing someone when Dutch stepped in just in the nick of time in order to save him. Similarly, Arthur was adopted by Dutch after his own father, a criminal, had died.
The pattern speaks for itself. Dutch was clearly only interested in people when they showed an affinity for the same criminal lifestyle he led, or in other words, when they showed potential to benefit the gang in some way. From a strategic point of view, this makes a lot of sense. After all, not everyone would be cut out for the outlaw lifestyle that the Van der Lindes led. Therefore, it's not surprising Dutch had a tried and true pattern for choosing the Van der Linde gang members in Red Dead Redemption 2.