Pandora and every other world inBorderlandsare over the top and goofy, but they still manage to craft characters that tug at your heartstrings with a tendency to meet tragic ends.
From the very first game, Gearbox hasn’t pulled a single punch as the stories of the vaults unfold.
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Good things, when tripled, are twice as good.
You have to live through the deaths of your favorite NPC’s, playable characters, and villains in moments that are impossible to forget. With a new game on the horizon,doom is in the air for even more fan favorites.
Here are some of the deaths from the series that I’m still bringing up in therapy.
10Borderlands 2: Handsome Jack
An Inevitable Conclusion
There was only one wayBorderlands 2could have ended, and it’s incredibly satisfying to experience. After you defeat The Eridian Warrior that Handsome Jack summoned to take over the universe, Lilith gives you the option to kill him yourself or let her do it.
With everything that Jack did to torture Lilith throughout the game, it only felt right to let her do the honors herself. I’m a sucker for completed character arcs.
Even if it had to happen and the guy really had it coming, Handsome Jack’s death still hurts because it means the end of his villainy.
He’s one of the greatest video game villains ever created, and it hurts to know that he won’t be part of the games any longer (with a few exceptions).
9Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands: Queen Butt Stallion
A (Temporary) Royal Beheading
Though she was just a simple joke first made by Handsome Jack, Queen Butt Stallion rose to royalty within Tina’s Bunkers & Badasses adventures, culminating inTiny Tina’s Wonderlands. She rules over the kingdom of Brighthoof and is cut down by the vengeful Dragon Lord.
The moment was such an extreme shock during my first play-through because she’s presented as a near-immortal character. Seeing her killed so quickly and easily made my stomach sink and made me want to take down the Dragon Lord all that much more.
Of course, her death was only temporary. She comes back at the end of the game and all is well. Still, the feeling of seeing her killed that first time will never fully leave me.Long may she reign.
8Borderlands 3: Lilith
The Final Firehawk Phase Shift
Lilith was the main focus of most of the games and her story reaches an apparent conclusion in the final moments ofBorderlands 3. She sacrifices herself to phase shift Pandora’s moon, Elpis, away, saving the dreadful planet.
This death would be much higher on the list if I believed it was an actual death. Generally speaking, if you didn’t see the death or a body, it didn’t actually happen, and we saw neither.
Lilith is the real badass of Borderlands, and she’s far too important to actually be dead. With Gearbox confirming thatBorderlands 4 will center around the repercussions of the Elpis phase shift, Lilith is sure to make a triumphant return.
7Borderlands 3: Typhon DeLeon
Psychic Siren Patricide
In Borderlands 3, we get to meet the living legend of vault hunting, Typhon Deleon. He’s known as the first vault hunter, and audio journals of his explorations can be found throughout the universe.
When you first unlock the location of the Eridian homeworld, Nekrotafeyo, Typhon enlists your help in sealing the Great Vault of Pandora.
He’s a surprising and lovable little dude, but he eventually reveals that he’s the father of the villainous Calypso twins.
Tyreen Calypso interrupts your mission and, in the heat of the moment, she delivers a fatal blow to Typhon. He isn’t around for long in the game but makes a sizable impact. I, for one, certainly wouldn’t mind a prequel game where we get to live out the life of the legend himself.
6Boraderlands 3: Maya
A Disintegrating Sacrifice
Maya is the second playable siren in Borderlands 2, and she becomes a major figure in Borderlands 3. She’s become the protector of her homeworld, Athenas, and has taken on a young apprentice, Ava, who’s destined to become a siren.
Her Obi-Wan-esque relationship with Ava is one of the more interesting parts of the game’s story, and it reaches an Obi-Wan-esque conclusion. She sacrifices herself to save Ava from the Calypso twins.
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While I was already hurt by her death, the constant mockery of it from the Calypsos just kept rubbing salt in the wound for the rest of the game.
The DLC Psycho Kreig and the Fantastic Fustercluck also explores the wreckage that was left in the wake of her passing in a story that really warmed my heart.
5Borderlands: TK Baha
Blind Bandit Slaughter
TK Baha is the second quest-giver you meet in Borderlands, and his death is one of the darkest moments in the entire series. He’s a lovable blind hick that gives you all sorts of missions and rewards you with one of my favorite guns in the game, TK’s Wave.
After Dr. Zed leaves Firestone, you receive a quest to go back and find TK Baha. When you get to TK’s cliff-side home and make it inside, you find him hanging from the ceiling by his neck, apparently killed by a rogue group of bandits.
The grim discovery is a startling reminder of just how senselessly violent Pandora is. This quest still haunts me, and withBorderlands 4 reportedly taking a darker approach than the last game, it’s bound to be full of moments just like it.
4Borderlands 2: Bloodwing
A Feathered Friend Made Foe
You can’t just kill the pets and expect us all to be fine. Bloodwing has been around since the beginning as Mordecai’s faithful companion, and she becomes the victim of Handsome Jack’s machinations in Borderlands 2.
You’re forced to fight her at the end of a mission to rescue her from a facility doing twisted Eridium experimentation on animals. Just when you think you can save her, Jack triggers an explosive device on her neck, ending her story for good.
I had to stop playing for a while after this, but it was the moment that I decided Jack had to die. Living through Mordecai’s loss of his beloved bird-thing is a wound I may never recover from.
3Borderlands 2: Angel
Ally, Traitor, Tragedy
Angel is one of most tragic aspects of the series, and a key part of Borderlands 2. You first know her as an AI voice in your head, helping you with your vault hunt in the first two games.
After her traitorous playing of both sides comes to light, you find out that she’s been doing it at the direction of her father, Handsome Jack. He’s kept her prisoner and used her energy to charge the Warrior vault key.
She meets her end in one final act of defiance against her parental captor. There was always a sweetness to Angel as she helped you along your way, so her tragic story cuts deep.
2Borderlands 2: Roland
Revenge on the Rebel
Roland was Lilith’s main squeeze, the leader of the Crimson Raiders, and one of the player characters in the first game. He was my first character, and my main introduction to the world of Borderlands.
I was thrilled to see him reach such great heights in Borderlands 2, and I loved him as the head of the rebellion. When Handsome Jack killed him in the aftermath of Angel’s death, it was like a punch to the gut.
His presence is still felt everywhere, from Tiny Tina’s wonderlands to Borderlands 3. Roland may be gone, but he is certainly not forgotten.
1Tales From The Borderlands: Scooter
Catch-A-Ride for the last time
Scooter’s death stings more than any other in the series, and it’s not just because of how tragic it is. It’s how it was delivered.
In Tales From The Borderlands, Scooter sacrifices himself to save his newfound friends after his hand gets stuck in a rocket. He gives a heartfelt farewell message to pass along to his family, Moxxy and Eli, and delivers one final “CATCH A RIIIIIIIIDE.”
Like many others, I hadn’t played the Telltale game before playing Borderlands 3 and was disappointed by the absence of the beloved staple. It wasn’t until recently that I went back and experienced the heartbreaking moment myself.
Scooter is easy to fall in love with, and he’s one of the first allies you meet on Pandora.While Tales From The Borderlands is a fun ride, missing out on Scooter’s death in the main games made it sting all that much more.
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