Hosea Matthews
Dutch's best friend and co-leader, the wise old heart of the Van der Linde gang.
Hosea Matthews is a veteran outlaw and one of the founding members of the Van der Linde gang, serving as Dutch van der Linde's best friend and co-leader. He is a skilled con artist and strategist who often acts as the voice of reason within the group, urging caution and planning over reckless violence. As Arthur Morgan's mentor, Hosea teaches the younger outlaw the value of patience and critical thinking, hoping to steer the gang away from its destructive path and toward a peaceful retirement before the encroaching modern world closes in.
Quick Facts
- Role
- Co-founder and second-in-command of the Van der Linde gang
- Portrayed by
- Curzon Dobell
- Fate
- Shot by Agent Milton at the Saint Denis bank robbery
Lore & Background
Hosea Matthews, played by Curzon Dobell, is the co-founder and second-in-command of the Van der Linde gang. He met Dutch about 20 years before the game when the two tried to rob each other on the road to Chicago, and they built the gang together. Hosea married a woman named Bessie and tried to leave crime with her but drifted back; when she died he drank heavily for a year. As the gang turned to violent survival he grew disillusioned but stayed loyal, and by 1899 he is Dutch's most senior lieutenant, often objecting to Dutch's methods and preferring to rob peacefully.
Reader's Guide
Hosea is valued for his wisdom and his skill as a con artist. He barters with Catherine Braithwaite in an attempt to double-cross her and is present when the gang attacks her manor to save Jack. At a party at the mayor's residence he finds two lucrative leads, and he convinces Dutch to rob the bank in Saint Denis. During the robbery he distracts the law but is captured and fatally shot in the chest by Agent Milton in front of the bank. Dobell felt that Hosea's death left Dutch exposed and ultimately led to the gang's demise.
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