New Tales from the Borderlands’ story focuses closely on three characters, with all becoming memorable across its runtime. Anu serves as the voice of reason, as she is an anxiety-ridden scientist with a heart of gold. Octavio is desperate for fame, having a memorable sense of humor due to his own stupidity. However, out of all the New Tales from the Borderlands characters, it is Fran that has the most potential to be a playable character in the main series.
New Tales from the Borderlands’ Fran stands out for several reasons. Her traumatic backstory is both funny and sad, her anger issues and sexual nature allow for a lot of easy jokes, and her role as a frogurt shop owner ensures that she can show a side of the Borderlands universe that is rarely documented: everyday life. However, her mech chair also gives her plenty of potential as a combatant, something that opens her up to being a Vault Hunter one day.
Why Fran Would Work as a Vault Hunter in Borderlands 4
Similar to how Fiona from the original Tales from the Borderlands would make an excellent Vault Hunter, Fran is a character that could easily make the transition to a playable character in a Gearbox looter shooter. In the endings where Fran survives, she either returns to Fran’s Frogurts or starts up a consulting business with Anu and Octavio. Either option would allow for her to take on the path of a Vault Hunter, as she could be motivated by expanding her business with whatever riches she finds within the Vaults.
With a motivation set, it becomes easy to think about Fran in a traditional Borderlands setting. There is nothing preventing her from wielding Borderlands’ many guns like any other protagonist, with the only difference being how she gets around. Just like in New Tales from the Borderlands, she could get around in her hover chair, which could be upgraded with a boost option so that it moves faster.
As Fran floats around whatever planets will be featured in Borderlands 4, she could use some upgraded versions of her hover chair’s two main abilities as action skills. Her freeze ray is a perfect action skill option, as she could stop groups of enemies in their tracks or focus down singular large targets. Similarly, the large metallic fist that she frequently uses to hit the malfunctioning hardware in her shop would make for a fun skill, as players could land some powerful melee attacks with the fist.
The “mode Fran does not use anymore” is the perfect action skill, as it could essentially be a different take on Moze’s Iron Bear abilities from Borderlands 3. When activated, Fran’s chair could transform into a mech, allowing her to unleash a tornado among other attacks. With so much versatility when it comes to potential skill trees and abilities, Fran could be an excellent and unique Vault Hunter.
Lastly, it is worth mentioning how fun it would be to see Fran interact with iconic Borderlands characters. Given her flirtatious nature, a conversation with Mad Moxxi would surely be hilarious, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. For example, it would be great to see her talk with another character like Salvador who is also known for angry outbursts, with a bond possibly forming between the Gunzerker and Froyo Queen. Her general responses to questgivers and her regular comments during fights would surely be a treat as well. Though Anu and Octavio are easy to picture as side characters in the mainline games, taking on a Rhys-like role, far more can be done with Fran if Gearbox is interested.
New Tales from the Borderlands is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.