Somewhere inside Rockstar's writing room, there is almost certainly a whiteboard that says 'doomed gang, loyal deputy, terrible plan.' While the cinematic Wild West of Red Dead Redemption 2 gets all the credit, Grand Theft Auto 4's The Lost and Damned DLC already told that exact story years earlier at highway speed. It is less a companion piece and more a biker-themed speedrun of Arthur Morgan's tragedy.
Same Skeleton, Different Wardrobe
The Lost and Damned follows Johnny Klebitz, the overworked right-hand man of The Lost Motorcycle Club. The club, founded after the Vietnam War by eight marines with a well-documented thirst for questionable decisions, operates mostly in Alderney State. By the time the DLC starts, the gang is already halfway through its collapse. Billy Grey emerges from rehab and drags The Lost into civil war, rival feuds, and a body count that would make a Greek chorus nervous.
Red Dead Redemption 2, by contrast, lets players marinate in the Van der Linde Gang before everything falls apart. Arthur Morgan rides through forests, listens to Dutch's speeches, and watches the cracks form slowly. Yet the character roles are so similar they could be swapped with a character creator and a time machine.
| The Lost and Damned | Red Dead Redemption 2 |
|---|---|
| Johnny Klebitz | Arthur Morgan |
| Billy Grey | Dutch van der Linde |
| Brian Jeremy | Micah Bell |
| The Lost MC | Van der Linde Gang |
| Alderney State | The American frontier |
| Burning the clubhouse | The gang's final collapse |
Both stories revolve around a leader who promises one last score, one final escape, and one brilliant plan. Then the plan explodes, the deputy cleans it up, and the leader starts planning again. It is less a narrative arc and more a greasy treadmill. Thematically, The Lost and Damned opens around the midpoint of Red Dead Redemption 2's emotional timeline. Players do not watch the good old days; they hear about them from grumpy bikers between gunfights.
The Loyal Deputy Suffers Either Way
Johnny Klebitz does not get tuberculosis, but he does get a club full of backstabbing friends and a leader who treats survival like a side quest. Arthur Morgan spends his days hunting, bonding, and coughing meaningfully. Johnny spends his days being told that Billy's latest tantrum is actually a power move.
In The Lost and Damned, the storyline compresses what Red Dead Redemption 2 takes dozens of hours to do. Billy's obsession with a rival gang mirrors Dutch's obsession with the O'Driscolls. Johnny's doomed loyalty mirrors Arthur's. Brian Jeremy, like Micah Bell, is the rat-like voice poisoning the room. The difference is that Red Dead gives players time to care before the betrayal, while The Lost and Damned simply throws the player into a biker soap opera and dares them to keep up.
Leaders Who Love Losing
Billy Grey is essentially Dutch van der Linde without the fancy vocabulary. Both men talk about freedom while tightening their grip on the people around them. Both create enemies faster than a campfire creates smoke. Both eventually force the people who trusted them to choose between blind loyalty and self-preservation.
The Lost's survivors burn their headquarters to the ground, a very literal version of the Van der Linde Gang's slow disintegration. In both cases, the gang does not simply lose a fight. It collapses under the weight of its own poor decisions, inflated egos, and refusal to walk away while there was still time.
Even in 2026, players still grumble about the long-rumored remasters of GTA 4 and Red Dead Redemption that never quite materialized. Yet the comparison remains useful. Rockstar's storytelling has become more polished, but the blueprint has not changed. The Lost and Damned is the punk-rock demo tape for the polished album that became Red Dead Redemption 2.
So yes, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a masterpiece. But anyone who played Grand Theft Auto 4's first DLC knows the tragic gang story was already roaring down the highway years earlier, with more leather and fewer horses. 🏍️🐎