Gearbox's looter-shooter Borderlands 3 is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The FPS-RPG series made its long-awaited return last year and brought players back to Pandora along with a variety of new planets to explore, plenty of loot to collect, and a mix of classic and new characters.
The Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot DLC arrived for Borderlands 3 in December and extended the latest generation of Vault Hunters' adventures, pairing them up with NPCs that hearken back to the series' rich history of characters. Dedicated fans of the series could have plenty more chances to catch up with some of the most interesting figures in the Borderlands universe if Gearbox sticks with a strategy the first part of the Season Pass uses.
Veteran Vault Hunters Could Return For Each DLC
Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot features the return of Timothy Lawrence, a character introduced as the villainous Handsome Jack's body double in Borderlands 2. Players might know him better as the Doppelganger class Vault Hunter in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. Confusingly going by "Jack" at the time, Timothy's skills in that game were built around using holograms of himself as allies in battle, much like Zane's action skill in the new game.
If Gearbox's method for building the story for Moxxi's Heist sticks around for future expansions, Zane and fellow Vault Hunters Amara, Fl4K and Moze might cross paths with some of their predecessors that didn't make it into the original storyline for Borderlands 3. The next release in the season pass looks like it may be pointing toward the return of Axton, the Commando class in Borderlands 2. The turret-wielding mercenary was nowhere to be found in the main game, unlike his teammates Zer0 and Maya.
The rest of the second-generation Vault Hunters may be less likely to show up as lead characters in DLC 2, but fans shouldn't rule out return appearances for them as supporting characters, or as the leads in future content. It's likely a safe bet that players haven't seen the last of Borderlands 2's Salvador, Gaige and Krieg. The Psycho-class Vault Hunter is rumored to have already once been planned as a Borderlands 3 NPC, but his appearance was cut. Because of this, it's entirely possible that the developers might have a place for him elsewhere in the grand scheme of the series, but fans will have to wait and see.
What About Everyone From Tales from the Borderlands?
Gearbox hasn't forgotten about Tales from the Borderlands, the only title in the series so far that hasn't focused on shooting and looting, but there's still loose ends between it and Borderlands 3 that haven't been tied together. The adventure game could serve as another well of potential content, with only two of its original characters, Rhys and Vaughn, coming back in the main storyline of the newest game. With Rhys in particular going from a humble Hyperion desk jockey to the CEO of Atlas between games, it stands to reason that fans would wonder what became of his old friends.
Tales co-protagonist Fiona was nowhere to be found in Borderlands 3, nor was her sister Sasha, or other pivotal characters from the game like Gortys, August, and Loader Bot. The studio could be saving their future adventures for a second season of the Telltale series, but bringing them into the fold for future Borderlands 3 DLC would strengthen fans' investment in the cast, even if their story is a distinct one from the Vault Hunters.
Another important character last seen in Tales was Athena, the former Crimson Lance assassin that first appeared all the way back in the DLC for the first Borderlands. She's the only surviving player character from The Pre-Sequel that hasn't reappeared in Borderlands 3 so far, and as one of the longer-running characters in the franchise, it seems like it'll only be a matter of time before fans see the Gladiator Vault Hunter and her girlfriend Janey Springs again.
New Borderlands 3 DLC Shouldn't Keep Telling Old Stories
OG Borderlands lead characters Brick and Mordecai came back for the third game alongside a not-so-tiny Tina in the game's main plot, where the trio fought alongside the new Vault Hunters to rescue Sir Hammerlock. Longtime fans will remember all three being prominent parts of Borderlands 2, being key members of the fight against Handsome Jack with Roland and Lilith.
While the squad is no doubt memorable enough that they've stuck around since the start of the series, Gearbox may want to steer clear of using them as lead characters for Borderlands 3's upcoming content. Tina was already the host of a D&D-like fantasy game in the Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC in Borderlands 2, and veteran series fans have already spent years with the Bird Man and the Slab King. Seeing them is always a treat, but their stories have, for the most part, already been told.
Long-running series like Borderlands have the difficult task of balancing the old with the new, satisfying loyal fans with familiar ideas while branching out in order to keep things fresh for everyone. Gearbox hasn't shied away from giving popular characters the spotlight multiple times, with Mad Moxxi appearing prominently in three DLC packs since the first game. Future expansions shouldn't be afraid to branch out into the expansive cast of characters to build interesting stories, and perhaps could even introduce new characters for fans to meet.
Gearbox plans to boost Borderlands 3 with three more story DLC packs, and news on the second expansion is coming at the end of the month at PAX East. Borderlands 2 stayed updated with a continuous stream of content for several years after its release, so it's entirely possible the four packs are only the beginning of additional content for the third game. There will probably be plenty of opportunities for Gearbox to draw from the rich history of the series with new content, and sticking with the formula of building future expansions' stories with previous Vault Hunters and other prominent characters in lead roles is a strong way to keep fans hooked, along with satisfying a couple of weird fan requests here and there.
Borderlands 3 is out now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.