The Borderlands games offer players chaotic action filled with wacky enemies, powerful abilities, and an insane number of crazy guns. The series now boasts three main titles, a spin-off game, and an episodic adventure made by Telltale Games and released in 2014. Over the lifespan of the series, the world of Borderlands has grown exponentially. The series started with a focus on the desert planet of Pandora, a futuristic wild west-type planet where violence was the norm and life expectancies were short.
Now, the series boasts a multitude of planets inhabited by a diverse cast of characters, companies that each have a distinct personality, and an evolving narrative that keeps players in the know about what each of their favorite characters gets up to throughout the series. This has allowed the franchise to flesh out its world and create a sprawling story throughout its universe, as well as leading players to really fall in love with some of Borderlands' strongest characters like Tiny Tina. However, many fans also don't pay attention to the narrative of Borderlands as they do other elements, as it can be hard to beat something as cool as a shotgun that shoots swords. Still, there are a lot of intriguing moments in the timeline of the Borderlands franchise.
The Eridians and Borderlands' Vaults
Long before players first set foot on Pandora or shot a Skag in the face, the story of Borderlands began with the alien race known as Eridians. There is still very little known about the Eridians, although the series has dropped tidbits of information throughout its games and players finally got to see their home planet in Borderlands 3. The Eridians were able to construct massive buildings and invented a variety of innovative technologies with the power of the rare element modernly known as Eridium. The Eridians also built great structures known as Vaults, which have become an iconic staple of the franchise. However, all of the Eridians were mysteriously killed before the start of Borderlands.
The disappearance of the race is what largely led to there being so little known about them. In their stead, the Eridians left ruins of their grand architecture, revolutionary technology, and ominous Vaults. The Vaults inspired legends and rumors of the Vaults being filled with untold technologies and heaps upon heaps of loot. This led to the rise of the Vault Hunter, a class of powerful mercenaries that set out to find keys and open up Vaults for the riches held inside. This led to Borderlands, where a group of four Vault Hunters opened a Vault on Pandora, but only found a terrifying monster known as The Destroyer. While the opening of the vault was originally seen as a massive victory, it led to the rise of Borderlands' most iconic villain Hansome Jack.
The Rise and Fall of Handsome Jack in Borderlands
While Handsome Jack was originally introduced in Borderlands 2, the beginning of his story was the feature of that game's follow-up, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. In The Pre-Sequel, players take control of Vault Hunters hired by Handsome Jack to help him ascend the corporate ladder of the weapons manufacturing company Hyperion. To do so, Jack discovered another Vault on Pandora's moon of Elpis. His hunt for the new Vault was disrupted by Lilith and the characters from the first Borderlands, which culminated in an attack that left Handsome Jack disfigured and having gone mad. The end of the game saw Lilith and her group, known as the Crimson Raiders, being approached by The Watcher, a guardian built by the Eridians. The Watcher warned them that a massive war would come in Borderlands' future, though this war has yet to be seen in the series.
However, Handsome Jack's insanity drove him to murder the president of Hyperion and take control of the corporation himself. He built a massive robot army that obeys his every command and set out to label the Crimson Raiders as terrorists and bandits to turn the people against them. He also took credit for killing The Destroyer and tried to paint a picture of himself as a benevolent savior as he hunted down Pandora's second vault. Handsome Jack eventually opens the Vault, releasing a powerful monster known as The Warrior, but is eventually stopped and killed by Lilith and the four Vault Hunters in Borderlands 2. Upon defeating him, they find a map that shows them the locations of vaults scattered across the entire galaxy. Despite his death, Handsome Jack is still one of the best characters in Borderlands and plays a massive role in the series to this day.
Borderlands After The Defeat of Handsome Jack
After the fall of Handsome Jack, Hyperion attempted to go back to business as if it had never happened. The period following Jack's death is covered in Tales From The Borderlands from Telltale Games. The story follows Rhys and Fiona who put together a team of misfits to try and make themselves a fortune on Pandora. Eventually, however, Rhys ends up with a chip that holds an AI of Handsome Jack's consciousness in his head. This helps them assemble one of Borderlands' best robot buddies named Gortys, which helps them open up yet another vault. Rhys and Fiona stepped into the vault, with the former seen in Borderlands 3 and the latter's whereabouts still unknown.
Borderlands 3 revolves around two siblings known as the Calypso Twins. The sister, Tyreen, is a siren. There are only six sirens in the world of Borderlands at any given time, and each has its own unique power. However, Tyreen's brother Troy was conjoined to Tyreen at birth and is capable of sapping Siren power from Tyreen to sustain himself. This led to the twins seeking to open what is known as the Great Vault, which ends up being the entire planet of Pandora. However, they are ultimately stopped, and Lilith sacrifices herself to stop Elpis from crashing into the planet and completely destroying it. This has left the series with many more mysteries for players to wonder about such as the nature of Borderlands' Sirens, the Eridians, and the coming Watcher War. Hopefully, fans will get some more news on the future of Borderlands soon.