Summary
Gearbox Software’sBorderlandsfranchise is one of the most well-known and long-running looter-shooter series. With a futuristic sci-fi story spanning across galaxies,Borderlandshas built a world replete with rich lore and history. Its settings are populated by ferocious alien wildlife, dangerous lost technology, greedy, corrupt companies, and those who are simply trying to survive against all these hostile forces. Throughout their adventures in theBorderlandsuniverse, its heroes have encountered a number of nefarious villains whose only aims are to get ahead, no matter the cost to the rest of the universe.
Borderlands' villainsinclude slumbering Eldritch entities and poorly organized but relentlessly bloodthirsty groups of psychopathic bandits. But it’s the aforementioned companies, all of which are weapons and munitions dealers, that have consistently played an adversarial part to some degree in every game so far. They often coincided with bigger threats, causing further chaos with their short-sighted attempts at maintaining wealth and glory at the expense of safety and common sense. The next title, then, should continue this tradition by having another corporation in an antagonistic role concurrent with the overarching danger.
Borderlands 4is not officially confirmed at this point, but various reports indicate it is likely in the works.
Borderlands 4 Should Keep This Fun Story Aspect Intact
Borderlands' Previous Weapons Corporation Villains
The arms dealers in the series are usually depicted as morally gray at best, and unapologetically heartless at the extreme. At least six of the majorBorderlands' gun manufacturershave already appeared in villainous positions in both mainline titles as well as DLCs and spin-offs:
Tediore
New Tales From the Borderlands
The series began with Atlas as the big bad, although it was a bit upstaged byThe Destroyer at the end ofBorderlands 1.BL2is probably the most well-known example, with Hyperion CEO Handsome Jack hiring the protagonists and later brutally betraying them in his scheme to unlock Pandora’s legendary vault. Maliwan and Tediore were also major villains, with Tediore in particular being the one pulling all the strings inNew Tales.
Not all dealers were always completely evil, however, and a few stories highlighted another side to some of them.CEO Wainwright Jakobswas depicted in a more sympathetic manner, teaming up with the protagonists inBorderlands 3’sGuns, Love, and TentaclesDLC. Mr. Torgue, head of his eponymous company, also shows up in a more helpful manner throughout, as he seems to take more delight in spectacularly badass explosions than being outright malicious.
Borderlands 4 Could Have Another Arms Dealer As An Antagonist Again
Although not always the case, the weapons dealers often served as a secondary threat to the main danger, which most often came in the form of the ancient cosmic monstrosities that the bygone Eridian civilization sealed away in the various vaults. In their literal arms race against the competition, many of theBorderlandsmanufacturersdisplayed wanton disregard for both the planets' populations and their own employees' lives as they scrambled to beat each other (and the protagonists) to the punch to ransack the vaults' treasures.
This element has so long been a core component of its plots that one ofBorderlands' gun makersshould almost certainly return in an antagonistic capacity forBL4. It could be one already seen, like Tediore, that is bent on vengeance against the Vault Hunters. Alternatively, it might shift to one that was previously more in the background, such as Vladof, as it attempts to rise above the competition and ends up bumping shoulders with the next batch of Hunters. Either way, Gearbox would do well to continue featuring one of the arms dealers as part of the next story to keep the tradition going strong.
