Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser says Red Dead Redemption 2's Arthur Morgan is his "best lead character," but it's a "toss-up" with GTA 4's Niko Bellic

Rockstar Games co-founder and writer behind many of the studio's best games, including Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA 3, 4, 5, Vice City, San Andreas, and more – Dan Houser – has been talking about who he believes to be the best character he's ever made, and it turns out it's not an easy choice for him.

Speaking to Lex Fridman on his podcast, Houser discusses some spoiler-heavy points around Red Dead Redemption 2's Arthur Morgan (if you know, you know), noting that the way his story and its ultimate ending was handled was "a fun thing to play with." Asked if he thinks Arthur is the best character he's ever made, Houser says: "I think he's the best lead character.

"The lead characters are different from the side characters, and I think he's the most rounded and works the best," he explains, before adding that there's another protagonist also competing for the crown in his head – GTA 4's Niko Bellic.

Dan Houser: GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar, Absurd & Future of Gaming | Lex Fridman Podcast #484 - YouTube

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"Him and Niko are the two I like. They were the two most ambitious. So for me, it's always sort of a toss up, you know?"

As for Arthur specifically, Houser adds that "the art team did such an amazing job" since it was their idea to add the cowboy's journal to the game. "The way that all the features worked into Arthur's character, I thought that was really... He was really rounded, he worked in lots of different ways really well. I loved his flawed relationship with his old girlfriend, things like that. [...] The bits that turned up around him."

In the same interview, Houser also explained that he actually wanted to kill Niko at the end of GTA 4, but couldn't for one big technical reason – players need their protagonist alive to keep playing the game after the credits roll. So, Niko was saved.

Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser says rumored GTA 5 Trevor DLC was about "half-done" when it was canceled, but if it released, the devs "probably wouldn't have gotten to make Red Dead 2."