red dead verse :)
erik is born in dusseldorf, germany, under the name max eisenhardt, to edie and jakob eisenhardt. they are a family of poor jews, and fled to america around 1850 (give or take) to escape economic hardship and riots in germany. they settled in new york. in real life history, this era, from about 1820 to 1920, was a massive flux of jewish migration from europe to the us, so this fits easily and well.
an important note: in every universe, erik is a mutant, as this is an aspect of his person i absolutely cannot erase. its integral to his person, as important as him being jewish, and it feels.. borderline offensive, tbqh, to remove that for the sake of the universe. considering there is enough weirdness in the rockstar collective and rdr universe--i.e. time travel, vampires, ufo, etc, even if its meant to serve only as easter eggs, i think y’all can give erik a pass.
to create some sense of reflection in this verse, erik’s mother and father are killed when erik is about 15 in a shoot out in which they were bystanders. ruth and erik--then max--survive.
erik works various jobs as he grows up, desperately trying to earn enough money to keep himself and ruth afloat, but eventually becomes frustrated with the civil and class injustices he witnesses around him. after his wife magda and daughter anya die over a work dispute, this fuels him into the age of outlaws into becoming one--especially once he discovers that no bullet can touch him.
changing his public identity from max eisenhardt to erik lehnsherr in order to erase his past and protect himself, erik acquires a variety of nicknames from other gunslingers, but those that stick out the most prominently are “erik the red”, and just “red”.
his gang is colloquially known as the ‘magnus’ gang. he is, basically the kind of freedom fighter that dutch imagines himself as, except he actually sticks to it and his values.
