The Borderlands games have had their fair share of memorable villains, which is why fans are excited to see what Borderlands 3 villains The Calypso Twins will bring to the table. Inspired by video game streamers, Troy and Tyreen Calypso look to use their Children of the Vault cult to find and open Vaults all over the galaxy, and it will be up to the new Vault Hunters in Borderlands 3 to stop them.

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In anticipation of The Calypso Twins, we are taking a look back at the major villains that have been in the Borderlands franchise so far, and ranking them by their dastardliness. Please note that this article will contain SPOILERS for the entire Borderlands franchise up to Borderlands 3.

6 6. Colonel Zarpedon

borderlands ranking every villain

Colonel Zarpedon is the main villain of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and the leader of the Lost Legion. In the events of that game, Zarpedon takes over the Hyperion Corporation's Helios Space Station, using it to blast the surface of Pandora's moon Elpis. While she is actively trying to kill the Vault Hunters and Jack throughout the course of The Pre-Sequel, Zarpedon actually has somewhat good intentions. She knows that if humans access the Vault on Elpis, it will lead to destruction and chaos, so she hopes to destroy it completely using Helios. Zarpedon is the villain in The Pre-Sequel mostly because she is in conflict with the protagonists, not so much because of any evil deeds, and so that's why she's the lowest-rated on the list.

5 5. Commandant Steele

borderlands ranking every villain

Commandant Steele is the villain of the first Borderlands game. The Siren leader of the Crimson Lance, Steele wants to acquire whatever is inside the Vault for the Atlas Corporation. Steele makes numerous attempts to stop the Vault Hunters throughout the course of the game, kidnapping Patricia Tannis and sending her Crimson Lance soldiers to attack Sanctuary. Steele opens the Vault on Pandora by using her Siren powers to put together the Vault Key. Steele is then quickly killed by the Destroyer, the tentacled monster that was residing in the Vault. While Steele was largely unsuccessful in her attempts to stop the Vault Hunters, opening the Vault triggered the events of the subsequent games, and so in a way she is partly responsible for the rise of Handsome Jack.

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4 4. Hugo Vasquez

borderlands ranking every villain

Things are a bit chaotic at Hyperion after Handsome Jack's demise, leading to some power struggles that see Hugo Vasquez murder his boss Henderson and take his place. Vasquez then uses his new power at Hyperion to demote Tales from the Borderlands protagonist Rhys, and it's revealed that he has plans to purchase a Vault Key from a man named August that lives on Pandora. Vasquez's willingness to kill just to move up the corporate leader makes him one of the more cold-hearted Borderlands villains, and at one point in the story, he even holds Rhys and Vaughn at gunpoint, and forces them to dig their own graves. Vasquez ends up meeting his demise at the hands of Vallory, who shoots him in the chest with his own gun.

3 3. Vallory

borderlands ranking every villain

Vallory is a powerful and vicious gang leader on Pandora. Fear of what she will do to Fiona and Sasha is what convinces their adoptive father Felix to betray them at the end of the first episode of Tales from the Borderlands, and Vallory certainly lives up to expectations. Depending on what choices players make in Tales from the Borderlands, Vallory will rip off her own son August's ear, and she also has a tendency to murder people without a second thought. Vallory captures the Tales from the Borderlands protagonists, and she badly injures the Vault Hunter Athena with a rocket launcher before giving her over to Brick and Mordecai. Vallory is the one who ends up opening the Vault of the Traveler, releasing an incredibly powerful monster that can only be sent  backby killing Gortys, the heroes' friendly robot companion who is linked to the Vault. Like Commandant Steele before her, opening a Vault only leads to Vallory's death, as she is crushed by the Traveler monster.

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2 2. Colonel Hector

borderlands ranking every villain

A soldier for the Dahl Corporation, Colonel Hector and his soldiers are tricked into going to Pandora and then forced to mine the planet for resources. They then discover an ancient artifact, but after handing it over to Dahl, they are betrayed and left to die in the caves when they're purposefully collapsed. Hector and his soldiers were discovered and saved by former Atlas scientist Dr. Cassius Leclemaine, who also helped him create a special gas that would convert Pandora from a desert into a lush, botanical environment.

In the Commander Lilith and the Fight for Sanctuary DLC, Hector and his army begin infecting Pandora with the gas. Unbeknownst to Cassius, the gas starts turning people into plant-like monsters, and it's revealed that it will eventually kill everyone on the planet. Hector and his army then attack Sanctuary, expelling the Crimson Raiders in the process. The Crimson Raiders regroup and strike back after developing an antidote for the gas.

In the final battle, Hector completes his transformation by using his plant powers to absorb the Vault Key. Hector's incredible power forces Lilith's hand, and in the ensuing battle, both Hector and Sanctuary are completely destroyed. The Vault Key is also lost, setting up the events of Borderlands 3.

1 1. Handsome Jack

borderlands ranking every villain

Without a doubt, the standout villain of the Borderlands franchise is the sadistic Handsome Jack. Raised by an abusive grandmother, Jack's life was full of hardships. He eventually fell in love with a woman and had a daughter, named Angel, who has Siren powers. Angel's powers are too difficult for her to control, however, and she accidentally kills her mother, sending Jack into a downward spiral that sees him locking his daughter away.

During the events of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Jack is actually on the side of the Vault Hunters for most of the game. However, he is betrayed by Lilith, Roland, and Moxxi when they destroy the Destroyer's Eye that he had been using as a weapon for Helios. Jack then manages to open the Vault on Elpis, where he finds a mysterious item that gives him complete knowledge of another Vault on Pandora. Lilith destroys the object, inadvertently branding Jack's face with the Vault symbol.

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These events pushed Jack further over the edge. He starts trying to enact control over Pandora's residents, and in his hunt for the Vault, murders Helena Pierce and tortures Patricia Tannis. Jack is also the first villain to kill a Vault Hunter, shooting and killing Roland. Jack's misdeeds also include transforming Mordecai's pet Bloodwing into a monster, and just when Mordecai and the Vault Hunters think they're going to save the bird, having its head explode.

Jack is eventually defeated and killed, but that doesn't stop him from reappearing in Tales from the Borderlands. As it so happens, Hyperion scientist Professor Nakayama, seen in the Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt DLC for Borderlands 2, has created a digital copy of Jack's personality, which winds up uploaded into the mind of Rhys. Digital Jack is just as devious as the real deal, and after coming to terms with the fact that his physical body is dead, hatches a plan to regain control of Hyperion. Jack is defeated yet again when Rhys destroys the cybernetic enhancements where his code lives, and despite Jack being pure evil, it's actually one of the more emotional scenes in the series.

Borderlands 3 launches on September 13 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Stadia version also in development.

NEXT: Borderlands: All the Best Easter Eggs in the Franchise