Dutch

Dutch is the leader of the Lagoon Company and presents himself as a former U.S. Vietnam War veteran in the Black Lagoon series. He is the captain and owner of the PT boat Black Lagoon. He is a heavily muscled African-American man who is 194 centimeters (or 6'4") in height. Dutch appears to be in his 30s and is completely bald, has brown eyes and an almost-full, black circle beard with the upper lip shaven. Additionally, he wears a moss green flak-jacket over a tank top, military fatigues, U.S. military jungle boots, a belt with a sabertooth tiger skull emblem on the buckle, three gold earrings on each ear, and a pair of circular sunglasses, his eye color is unknown as his eyes are never shown except through the lens. Whenever he is relaxing, Dutch usually removes his flak-jacket. He carries a Smith & Wesson 629 revolver with him as well as wielding a Remington shotgun on occasion. Dutch tends to stay away from the fighting associated with Lagoon Company's activities. Instead, he gives orders and negotiates contracts with clients, usually Balalaika of Hotel Moscow. However, Dutch is very capable in combat if need be. He is a calm, easygoing character, and most of the time, is quite friendly. He is also displayed as a mentor figure towards Rock. Dutch functions as the leader and primary negotiator of the Lagoon Company. He is incredibly level-headed and always committed to completing missions, even when those missions might contrast with his morals. For instance, in "Rasta Blasta," Dutch told Rock to try to maintain as detached from Garcia Lovelace as possible, as to not make himself feel guilty about transporting a child as cargo knowing they were partaking in human trafficking. Dutch is also highly pragmatic; during the group's assault on the neo-Nazi ship, he calls out Revy for taking her anger out on non-combatants, going so far as to compare her to the mass murderer Charles Whitman. He doesn't particularly care about the civilians' lives, but having one of his employees going around killing whomever she pleases makes his company come off as disorganized and unprofessional, and that is something that he will not tolerate. He also avoids taking high-paying but dangerous jobs because those kinds of jobs are a quick way to get killed. Dutch represents the strongest level-head in the group; where Revy overreacts and becomes violent and where Rock and Benny freak out, Dutch remains calm, cool, and collected even in the most dangerous situations. Dutch has the respect of the entire Lagoon Company, even being able to keep Revy in check when the situation calls for it. Dutch also has the respect and admiration of Balalaika for his past services, and for once saving her life before the start of the series when Balalaika was shot in a duel with Mister Chang as mentioned in "El Baile de la muerte." Overall, Dutch represents a calm, cool, and collected mercenary who is committed to his missions and commands respect. He has claimed to be a former United States Navy sailor who fought in the Vietnam War, particularly in Task Force 116 of the Brown Water Navy, also claiming that he lied about his age when he enlisted. Shortly before the end of the war, Dutch presumably went AWOL, escaped to Thailand and started working as a mercenary. He founded the Lagoon Company at some point during his mercenary career. In the arc "El Baile de la muerte," however, it was suggested by Shane Caxton that Dutch most likely lied about his Vietnam service due to his lack of familiarity with U.S. military slang and Dutch being too young, which would leave his past unknown, though it was implied that a man as serious as Dutch would not lie without good reason. In the "L'homme sombre" arc, it is heavily implied by Dutch to Rock that he is "La Mouche" (French for "the fly"), a lieutenant colonel in the Burkina Faso Army who was part of anti-French forces who trained in Antsirabe, even having a hand in the planning of the 1989 attempted coup in Burkina Faso. It is unknown how or when Dutch got to Roanapur, but in the city he maintains contact with some friends using a local payphone to call the international code 10013 to get updates and inform them of money transfers. At some point, Revy joined his shipping company, utilizing her gun and diving skills as extra insurance. In 1992-1993, Benny joined the Lagoon Company when Revy saved him from being chased and killed at the hands of the FBI and the mafia in Florida. In November 1993, Dutch saved Balalaika during her gunfight with Chang and helped broker peace between Hotel Moscow and the Hong Kong Triad.