Borderlands is a sequence identified for its aptitude for the unhinged. However in reflecting on the looter-shooter’s lengthy, gorey, and downright fallacious historical past, there are a number of moments that stand out even inside a sequence the place derangement is the established order. Twelve of them, in truth. Right here’s Borderlands’ most outrageous moments, so as of ascending wildness.
12. Attending Claptrap’s Birthday Celebration (Borderlands 2)
Claptrap is a reasonably divisive character within the Borderlands group. Some discover him hilarious, whereas others simply assume he’s annoying (they’re each proper). However no matter the place you stand on his comedy chops, it’s fairly simple that he’s one of the crucial miserable characters to spend time with. The wheeled garbage can usually goes out of his manner to attract out awkward moments and instigate a full-physique cringe within the nearest vault hunter.
Few such moments are extra hilariously miserable than when a facet quest in Borderlands 2 known as “Claptrap’s Birthday Bash” has you spending time with the dorky little robotic whereas organizing his birthday celebration. After extending invites to everybody in Sanctuary, attendance is predictably dismal and also you’re compelled to face round for a number of minutes in awkward silence. We’ve all been to a birthday celebration like this one earlier than, proper? Pure ache.
11. Marcus Aggressively Denies Request for a Refund (Borderlands 2)
Everybody’s favourite entrepreneur, firearm salesman, and sequence narrator, Marcus, is greatest-identified for his love of chilly exhausting money and violent disagreement with anybody who tries to get in the best way of him and his quest for moolah. His introduction video from Borderlands 2 completely demonstrates this when he proves his weapons work simply high-quality and refuses a refund by capturing a buyer within the knee with stated “defective” weapon.
The long-lasting line “Appears to be like like it really works to me” lives hire free in my head each time I see that sadistic businessman’s grin, and completely encapsulates the grasping capitalist in his purest kind.
10. Rhys and Vaughn Bro Down Arduous (Tales from the Borderlands)
The most effective elements of Telltale Video games’ Tales from the Borderlands is the way it leans on its unreliable narrators to shock the participant in attention-grabbing methods. My favourite instance of that is in Episode 2 “Atlas Mugged” when a second between Rhys and Vaughn begins feeling very odd. They abruptly begin overusing “bro” of their dialogue, start fist-bumping each other, then go cross-eyed and lose their minds… earlier than the scene cuts to Fiona, who reveals she made all of it up. If I hadn’t already been endeared to this lovable solid of misfits by the second episode, this second solidified my love for them.
9. Claptrap is Bested by Stairs (Borderlands 2)
Most likely the perfect Claptrap second in all of Borderlands comes in the course of the climax of Borderlands 2 because the vault hunters start their remaining assault towards the vile Good-looking Jack. After an epic battle sequence and an inspiring speech delivered from our robotic good friend, Claptrap is abruptly confronted by a foe too nice for him to beat: a flight of stairs. The wheelbound little man has no manner of navigating such an incline.
Naturally, he has to remain behind whereas the vault hunters go on to face off towards the large unhealthy. And we thank these stairs too, as a result of spending extra time with Claptrap most likely would have thrown a moist blanket on a reasonably superior conclusion.
8. Discovering the Thirsty Shotgun (Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel)
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel typically will get a nasty rap for its comedy chops, however a few of its gags stand out amongst its sequence friends. My private favourite is a facet quest known as “One other Pickle” that rewards the participant with a sentient Scav shotgun known as Boganella. The weapon’s particular impact, known as “Rack off ya dag!” will increase the scattershot’s efficiency and in addition makes it discuss each time you hearth or reload it.
And to our shock, pricey outdated Boganella appears to solely have one factor on her thoughts, as she shouts “get in there,” “jam one other in me,” and rather more specific phrases I dare not repeat. This thirsty shotgun simply goes down as one of the crucial distinctive and memorable weapons ever to seem in a online game.
Additionally, since The Pre-Sequel was made by 2K’s now-defunct Australian studio, there’s a bit of easter egg in there for these acquainted with native slang. The title “Boganella” is a reference to the Australian and New Zealand time period “bogan”, which describes “an uncouth or unsophisticated individual considered being of low social standing,” based on Oxford Languages. Naturally, the weapon’s fixed cursing and vile appeal completely encapsulates that stereotype.
7. Mr. Torgue Blows Up the Ocean (Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands)
Mr. Torgue was an immediate hit the second he first confirmed his mustachioed face and glistening muscular tissues within the Borderlands 2 DLC, Mr. Torgue’s Marketing campaign of Carnage. Over time, the character turned an increasing number of of a mainstay to the sequence, together with within the Borderlands spinoff, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands.
Of all of the moments for which Mr. Torgue’s excessive-octane vitality and foul mouth is thought, although, none strike me as being fairly as wild as that point he solid “Magic bonk-ing Missile” and launched a dozen nuclear warheads that blew up your complete ocean. Not solely can we get a memorable rock live performance beforehand, however this explosion has a large influence on the remainder of the sport, as you’re then compelled to stroll via the now-empty ocean mattress to get from one space to the following. Thanks lots, Mr. Torgue.
6. Good-looking Jack Kills Bloodwing (Borderlands 2)
Good-looking Jack is with out query the perfect unhealthy man the Borderlands sequence has ever had (and certainly one of my favourite gaming villains on the whole), and the explanation he’s such a powerful antagonist is the convenience with which he wears his sadistic nature. As a substitute of being a maniacal edgelord, he pulls off his sociopathic methods with the tone and pageantry of a sport present host telling the viewers to look underneath their chairs for his newest work of deviousness.
One second that at all times stands out to me is when he does the unthinkable and kills off Mordecai’s beloved chicken companion, Bloodwing, in essentially the most disrespectful manner conceivable. Not solely does Good-looking Jack kidnap the winged good friend and use her to taunt the vault hunters, however he additionally mutates her with slag to show her into one of many story’s essential boss fights. As he toys with the participant and prepares to chop Bloodwing’s life brief, he recounts all of the injury parts discovered within the Borderlands sequence and leaves out only one: explosive, earlier than making the chicken’s head pop like a balloon. I nonetheless sometimes discover myself shouting “EXPLOSIIIIIVE” to this very day.
5. Face McShooty Requests a Bullet to the Face (Borderlands 2)
You knew this one was going to make the checklist, proper? Sure, as you most likely suspected, the notorious two-second-lengthy facet quest the place a throwaway character named Face McShooty calls for you shoot him within the face completely belongs on the checklist. It completely encapsulates the foolish, irreverent tone which units Borderlands aside from different looter shooters.
Farewell, Face McShooty! We didn’t know you nicely, however we all know sufficient to conclude you died doing what you liked: getting shot within the face. Relaxation in peace, pricey good friend.
4. Throwaway Gag, Butt Stallion, Turns into Full Blown Character (Borderlands 2)
Butt Stallion, Good-looking Jack’s horse made completely of diamonds, was first talked about within the opening moments of Borderlands 2 as a manner for the antagonist to point out himself to be the ritzy, indifferent one-percenter that he’s. However you might not know that Borderlands 2 author Anthony Burch has stated in interviews that the gag was truly added final-minute and lots of on Gearbox crew didn’t even know of its existence till the sport was within the fingers of the general public.
This makes it all of the extra loopy that, after the fabled steed turned successful with followers, the horse was added to the sport as a precept character, first within the Borderlands 2 DLC Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Maintain, then in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Oh, Butt Stallion, might your reign final one thousand years, you wonderful diamond pony.
3. Good-looking Jack Tells His Spoon Story (Borderlands 2)
Okay, okay. This would be the remaining Good-looking Jack-targeted second. I promise! However it’s exhausting to make an inventory of greatest moments from Borderlands with out speaking about one of the crucial memorable monologues the sequence has. Partway via the Borderlands 2 story, Good-looking Jack chimes in over the radio to lament how tenacious you might be, earlier than launching right into a monologue that so completely showcases his psychopathy, his horrid view of the world, and in some way makes all that genuinely humorous along with his nearly scary ranges of appeal. The story includes a raided village, a person who tries to assault Good-looking Jack with a spoon, and Jack’s violent response that follows, all of which is offered as a hilarious joke.
He ends his story by telling you the ethical of the story, which is actually essentially the most deep and significant a part of all of it – actually makes you assume. It’s additionally the ethical of this text, pricey reader.
2. The Legendary Finger Gun Battle (Tales from the Borderlands)
Maybe one of the crucial stunning and weird sequences in Borderlands historical past, I nonetheless can’t actually let you know how or why this Tales from the Borderlands fight encounter exists. In Episode 4: Escape Plan Bravo, Rhys and Vaughn tackle an entire military of accountants in a make-consider sport of finger weapons. It’s actually the stuff of legends.
I didn’t know that, in a world the place the wildest weapons are simply accessible, I might be extra entertained by the best of youngsters’s video games. However critically, that is up there with the perfect issues Borderlands has ever given to the world.
1. Nakayama Is Fatally Bested by Stairs (Borderlands 2)
Borderlands actually appears to have a factor with stairs, as Claptrap isn’t the one one being given bother by these proper angles. In Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock’s Large Sport Hunt, we be taught much more concerning the obsessive lackey of Good-looking Jack, Professor Nakayam, who hopes to hunt revenge on the vault hunters who minimize his idol’s time brief. However after throwing all method of vicious beast in our path to no avail, he has no alternative however to face us himself. The boss battle that will have adopted by no means occurs although, because the pricey professor journeys and falls down some stairs, dying immediately.
In Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel we grow to be higher acquainted with Nakayama, his obsession for his boss, and his incompetence that in the end leads to his clumsy demise. However he’ll be greatest remembered in the identical breath as Rick the Door Technician from Star Wars: Jedi Survivor – a gag boss who by no means stood an opportunity.
What are your favourite Borderlands moments? Are there any main ones we unnoticed? Share your ideas within the feedback beneath! And when you’re as excited as we’re to see how the upcoming Borderlands film seems, make sure to hold forth about it!
Travis Northup is a author for IGN primarily based in San Francisco. He is been writing about video games for over a decade and enjoys every part from technique video games and platformers to shooters and open-world RPGs. He additionally has an unhealthy relationship with Future 2.