Leopold Strauss

"Ahh... yes... Yes... Ja... A sneaky und manipulative betrayal, indeed... Dutch lacks zee brains to ever find out what were doing. But now, I have a little task for you: There is a Polish man living down in zee cabin of Painted Sky... he hadn't pay me in weeks. I want you to go there and... I don't know, grind him up, pump him up, rip him up to zee bits und pieces - Just make him pay the money he owes! It iz after all your duty, your errand, to do exactly as I say and get me zee money we need to strategise our benevolent plan to bring down zee Dutch and his "kameraden". But remember: he must think its all for his "masterplan", ja. Keep admiring him. Little does he know we have even a far better plan of our own."

- Strauss agrees with Gicov about their vicious, destructive plan and also orders him to get him the money back from a Polish immigrant

Leopold Strauss is a major character who serves as a supporting antagonist in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Biography
According to himself, Strauss was born on April in 1823 in a poverty of a place in Vienna, Austrian Empire. By the age of fourteen, his brother was already a petty crook beating up even poorer people for some food under the orders of the town's watchmen. Strauss' father sold his own daughter, a nine-year-old girl, away into slavery and rape before belting and bruising her across the face himself in order to provide for the rest of the family, breaking her brother's heart while Strauss almost laughed himself to tears. Due to his "wicked ways", Strauss jumped off the ship he was on with his parents to the United States, landing right into Texas instead of Arizona. Many decades had past while Leopold was living in many countries of southern America where he worked as a bookkeeper, debt collector, amongst other sorts. But while on the run after robbing a general store, Leopold had to flee all the way to Louisiana on all: Foot, horse and even stagecoach. After coming to the unfamiliar Frenchy land, Leopold took a poor, lost, fatherless Gicov Bell as his own son, and both of them later got inducted into Dutch's Gang, where Leo became the group's accountant, along with handling Dutch van der Linde's loan-sharking businesses.

Unfortunately for Dutch however, taking in Strauss and Bell was the worst mistake he could have ever made.

It was later found out that most of what Strauss said about his background was a mere facade to make him seem "cooler" or "edgier", and it is still unknown today if he ever had a sister or a brother at all according to some of the FBI files. It is also noted that he apparently killed his own grandmother in her sleep when he was thirteen as she "disrespected him".

Interactions
Soon after Dutch's Gang arrives at Horseshoe Overlook from a snowy mountain camp, Strauss starts up his loan-sharking business, with almost black demonic-like saliva dripping from his mouth; He can't wait to bully someone into taking a loan. He then asks his homeboi, Gicov Bell, to collect money from debtors like Chuck Matthew, Wróbel, and Lilly Waterbury. Lastly, Strauss asks Arthur Morgan to get him the money from one last debtor: Thomas Downes. It was during this confrontation with Downes that Arthur contracted Tuberculosis, which would plague him and make him cough like whole hell until his death.

Leopold, along with John Marston is briefly seen drinking in a saloon in Valentine Village until both men are taken hostage by Leviticus Cornwall's army, who want Dutch (who was also in the saloon) dead for robbing their master's train. In the ensuing gunfight, Leopold is shot in the leg and has to be carried to safety by John and then back to Horseshoes'.

After the gang arrives at a new camp location of Clemens' Point, Strauss then gives Arthur and later Bell each one more mission of collecting money from debtors. Gicov is tasked with getting all the mula back from Winston Holmes, who lives in a camp located north of Strawberry Town while Arthur is ordered to make Guy Hughes pay his debts. While the results of Bell's mission are unknown, Arthur successfully convinces Guy to return Strauss the money he owes after a couple of punches in the nutsack. However, after giving the money back to Strauss at the camp, Leo greets Morgan with only a couple of scolds and mere insults, assuring him the "debt has long been paid.", leaving Morgan confused as all hell.

After the gang moves to Shady Belle, Strauss asks Arthur kindly to collect him the money from Algernon Davidson. Algie tells Arthur he doesn't have the money, leaving Arthur no other choice but to kill him in "self-defence". After getting rid of Algie's stinking body, Morgan loots his house and finds some money in a chest to return to Strauss.

Strauss then joins the gang in robbing a wealthy businessman and gambler Desmond Bittler on a Grand Korrigan riverboat. However, the parasite doesn't assist the gang at all during the robbery, more or less only joining it for the fortune he can get out of it. He lastly escapes the ship with Arthur, Javier Escuella, and Josiah Trelawny after getting all the money and jewellery they needed.

When Dutch and his gang arrive at Beaver Hollow, Zee Ubermensch gives Bell one more money lender to collect from. The debtor being poor o' John Weathers, a deserter from Fort Mercer. Bell found him west of the gang's campsite, trying to fix a broken wagon, but fails. Weathers begs Gicov to spare him as he can't pay off the debt in money, but Bell and Straw can have some of his jewels instead. Bell takes the jewels, claiming they will save Weathers from a torturous death as would money, and then rides off to give them to Strauss.

Nearing the end of Dutch's gang fragile stability and concerning Morgan's doubts about it, Agent Larry Milton reveals to Arthur that the moles who were ratting out Dutch and his bunch to the Pinkertons were actually Strauss and Gicov all along, not Molly O'Shea. Arthur presents this information later at the camp (where Leo is absent) to a stressful Dutch van der Linde, but Gicov denies it and Dutch believes Bell with full will. This was the final straw for Arthur, and a betrayal, as Dutch raised Arthur as his own and he has been loyal to him for decades, whereas Gicov and Strauss had only been with the gang for mere months.

A year later, Gicov created his own gang, taking Herr Strauss with him and his old buddies, Cleet and Bad Jo. Throughout the months they committed various crimes which resulted in several vicious murders, rapes and other crimes, such as dismemberment. Gicov even murdered a young girl, a pregnant woman and an infant, something Leopold highly approved of. While the gang was hiding out on Mount Harris, Sadie Adler (also a former member of Dutch's gang) catches wind of Gicov and his gang's evil activities, and rounds up Marston and Charles Smiff to assist her in disbanding it.

Death
After killing most of Bell's gang members at his hideout, Strauss himself, along with Bad Jo, and two other members, encounter Marston as he makes his way up the mountain. After a brief confrontation and discussion of "the good o' days" in Dutch's gang, John shoots and kills Jo and his allies, before finally killing Leopold after short shootout with the Money Man.

Personality and traits
"Just what is Dutch other zan a nasty little snot, desperately clinging on to life with everything he has? We are so much superior zan him. People like him and his little gang live in zheir own free vorld where zee law is lawless. But in reality? Well, they'll all be swinging soon enough."

- Leopold on Dutch Strauss can be noted as a serious, sadistic, mean-spirited, commanding, evil and unemotional monster of a man, but those things are what allows him to be effective in his job as a loan-sharking bookkeeper. As expected, like Gicov Bell, he is anything but devoted to the gang he joined, giving them up as soon as possible to the Pinkertons, hoping the gang would be brutally tortured and slaughtered to pieces. He is best known as a 'parasite' for only joining the gang to suck it out dry completely, then leave it behind to die and rot.

Other than that, not much else is known about Leopold's personality.

Trivia

 * Strauss speaks in flowery, charismatic eloquence in kind of a similar way as Harlan Fontaine, although without masking his evil and demonic persona, as a villainous tone can still be heard in his words if one emphasises on them correctly.
 * Despite his occupation or his entire outlook on life being the direct opposite, Herr Strauss identifies as a socialist, like Dutch van der Linde. It is possible he only does so because he loves to hide his immorality under the false guidance of great, progressive morality.