Borderlands is a franchise that thrives off its bizarre and over-the-top characters. With the series' mascot being a loudmouthed yellow robot, and one of the franchise's most iconic characters being named Face McShooty, Borderlands is filled with larger-than-life heroes and villains, most of which fit perfectly with the series' tongue-in-cheek tone. And though Borderlands 2's Gaige may not seem like the most extravagant character on the surface, she's got quite the backstory to tell.
Introduced as DLC, Gaige is Borderlands 2's fifth playable character, and assumes the class role of Mechromancer. Alongside her robot buddy Deathtrap, Gaige is capable of dishing out some serious damage, most of which is elemental. Though Gaige isn't the strongest character in her own right, her robot companion can act as an additional tank for the team, giving Gaige plenty of openings to unleash her speedy attacks. While Gaige seems like a pretty confident character, even when compared to the rest of Borderlands 2's egotistical crew, she's hiding a dark past that not too many fans might know about.
Gaige's Tragic Life Before Borderlands 2
Back in her youth, Borderlands 2's Gaige lived on the peaceful, technologically-advanced planet of Eden-5. Gaige's family home had a large shed in the backyard that she'd use as a workshop. Seeing their child as a genius, Gaige's parents funded her mechanical experiments and encouraged her to keep creating whatever she could set her mind on. While working in her shop, Gaige would often stream her progress to the ECHOnet, where she accrued a total of two followers.
Gaige's natural curiosity and eagerness to learn eventually led her to research the Vaults of Pandora, which became somewhat of an obsession for her. Back at high school, Gaige signed up for the science fair, and began work on a robot that would combat bullying. Named the Mechanized Anti-Bullying Deterrent Test, or Project DT for short, this robot design would go on to be used as the basis for Gaige's best robotic pal Deathtrap just a few years later.
After enrolling in the school science fair, Gaige's rival, Marcie Holloway used her father's extreme wealth to buy her way through the competition, bribing the judges. Convinced that she needed to work harder to beat Marcie, Gaige cut off her arm and replaced it with a robotic arm of her own creation, believing it would increase her work output. Before the day of the science fair, Marcie stole Gaige's Project DT plans, though she only managed to get her hands on the first draft of the blueprints.
On the day of the science fair, Marcie presented her own version of the Project DT robot, though with it being based on rudimentary first draft designs, it was highly defective. Gaige, on the other hand, presented her iteration of Project DT, which performed significantly better, being based on the fourth draft of her original blueprints. Despite this, however, Marcie still came first in the competition, with her father again greasing the palms of the school board. Upon hearing that Gaige still came third, Marcie pushed Gaige off-stage. Gaige's Project DT robot scanned this behavior, recognized it as hostile, and proceeded to grab Marcie with its claws. However, Gaige's designs were slightly off, and the robot squeezed so tight that Marcie exploded all over the school hall.
Gaige was marched down to the principal's office, and was told to wait there for the police to arrive. Facing a potential murder sentence, Gaige called her father, and asked him to help her escape. After providing a distraction so she could get away, Gaige's father gives her a ticket off-world, and the two say their heartfelt goodbyes, knowing that Gaige can never return to Eden-5. Gaige then sets off for Pandora, where she planned on becoming a Vault Hunter alongside her new robot friend.
Borderlands 2 is available on PC, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Switch, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.