Set in the Wild West time period, Red Dead Redemption 2 takes a hard and detailed look at the culture and people that made up the landscape. While not always the most civilized, the dust-covered residents are always keen to provide some level of insight into the constant chaos of their lives. With how detailed each member of Red Dead Redemption 2's cast of characters is, it makes sense that there might be fair few that are at least partly based on a member of history. Whether it be slight references to classic literature or what amounts to full recreations, this Wild West game is littered with characters that will make players do a double-take.
While the game takes place in a version of the American Wild West, the Red Dead Redemption 2 game world and characters won't be found in history books. For instance, the in-game location of New Hanover, Ambarino, Lemoyne, New Austin, and West Elizabeth make up the Red Dead Redemption 2 map, far off from the real names. However, the basis of the locations are there with the snowy and mountainous terrain of Colorado or the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico. It's also helpful to think of the characters this way. The names might be different, but the underlying features and mannerisms of the historical figures from the past are there.
Professor Marko Dragic - Nikola Tesla
When Arthur Morgan first stumbles upon Professor Marko Dragic, he is a stranger attempting to pilot a remote controlled boat across a pond in order to spur investors. After getting accosted by a man, the investors aren't sure if they can trust Dragic, and instead ask Arthur to pilot the controls for the duration of the showcase. After Arthur pilots the boat successfully, the investors are impressed by Professor Dragic's technology and decide to invest in his endeavors. Arthur is then invited to Dragic's office, and he continues to help the inventor with his work. The final time Arthur returns to Professor Marko Dragic's office, he has been killed by his robot that has escaped and is loose somewhere in the world.
Upon looking at Dragic on first approach and even more so when he explains his technology, the Professor is one of the more noticeable figures from history. From Serbia, Southeastern Europe just like Dragic, Nikola Tesla was a mechanical and electrical engineer who has been credited with being the foundation of Alternating Current. It's lesser known, but he also had a fun streak in him. In Madison Square Garden in 1898, Nikola Tesla showcased his new radio-controlled toy boat to an amazed crowd. Tesla had a tendency as a showman, and just like Professor Marko Dragic, he used it to impress crowds in an endeavor to move society forward.
The Aberdeen Family - The Bloody Benders
In Red Dead Redemption 2, Arthur and/or John might come upon a run-down pig farm where he'll see the merry couple of Bray and Tammy Aberdeen greeting them from the porch. Although their setting may be humble, they're more than happy with their lot in life, dancing and speaking of the joys. They quickly invite the player in for a bite to eat, which is held up by Tammy taking a long time to freshen up. After the player has a word with her, they sit down to eat a dinner with all the fixings, to which Arthur or John will comment on how the meat tastes strange and tender.
Bray breaks out a bottle after mentioning Tammy is his sister, and the player takes a few shots before passing out in their chair. The couple then steal all the player's cash and dumps them in a hole with another body some ways away. After throwing the rotting corpse off themselves, the player can go back to the farm to retrieve their money. This can actually be used to send money from Arthur to John if players go find the Aberdeen Pig Farm before the final Arthur missions.
Regardless, the Aberdeen family has a few similarities to another family who would rob, kill, and worse in a search for profit and thrill. The Bloody Benders is the name given to the Bender family of serial killers in Labette County, Kansas that killed at least 11 people back 1871 and '72. While that is before the main game, the parents were already old in the stories and the timeline matches up with the kids escaping punishment and growing up 28 or so years. The Bender family would rent out a spare room of their house for any passerby as well as giving them a special seat of honor at the dinner table. That seat of honor, however, was positioned over a trap door where the bodies would be dropped after they had their heads' crushed and throats' slit.
The reasoning is that Tammy and Bray are the daughter and son of Red Dead Redemption 2's version of the Bender family, this time going by Aberdeen. Given that it's been nearly three decades since the time period in which the Benders committed their acts and fled before they could be caught, it would line up. It seems that Tammy and Bray learned a lot from their parents, as they try to poison the player before robbing them and throwing them in a mass grave. It has been reported that the Bender children, Kate and John Jr, were siblings as well as a married couple. This also ties in with Tammy and Bray, the two siblings who can't seem to get enough of each other.
Angelo Bronte - Charles Matranga
The old school gangster Angelo Bronte in Red Dead Redemption 2 controls Saint Denis with an iron fist. Angelo Bronte is a man of business, and he uses his considerable wealth, power, and support from the police force to impact the local politics. Bronte does this by donating to the mayor and attending large political events with powerful people. When Jack is kidnapped from the camp, it's found out that he had been sold to Mr. Bronte in the hopes of providing some kind of life for him, as he had also been taking care of the street kids in Saint Denis. After Arthur and John take care of some grave robbers, Jack heads home with the group and tells them that he actually had a good time.
The founder of the New Orleans crime family, Charles Matranga, also had a firm hold on the swampy city between 1870 and 1920. Arriving with his brother, Tony, Charles set up a saloon and brothel from which they would run labor racketeering and extortion. This is very similar to Bronte in Saint Denis, who would defraud officials to increase their financing, and both trades rely on a sharp wit and thoughtful planning. He and other members of the Matranga family would be arrested, but somehow the first six who managed to go on trial got their charges acquitted or dismissed, which made the people in town furious. After escaping a near-lynching for killing a cop, something that Bronte may be guilty of, he would ascend to the head of the crime family and New Orleans as a whole. This would be about the time that Arthur ran into him.
There are probably some saying, "Just put the actual historical figures themselves in," but this would heavily limit what Rockstar would be able to do with them. As interesting as it might be, feeding infamous crime boss Charles Matranga to a crocodile might not sit well with some audiences. Just loosely basing the characters on these figures is enough to make players think while still giving Rockstar plenty of room to freely tell the story it wants to.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.