Borderlands is full of harsh environments where heroes attempt to tame a dangerous wasteland, dodging bullets and slaughtering Skags, while narrowly avoiding brutal and humiliating deaths, all in the hopes of finding treasure, glory, and a whole lot of guns.
 
The Vault Hunters are often given their due by fans—and Tiny Tina received her own game—but what about those other characters we meet along the way? Some we simply do business with, others become allies, and a few we’re forced to fight, but they all enrich the adventure. This series is about the experience, one that’s filled with the most ridiculous and fascinating individuals.
 

Mr. Torgue

Calling himself “the most electrifying man in combat entertainment,” Mr. Torgue High-Five Flexington (his full legal name) is all about being swole, suplexing sharks, and swearing. He’s had the facial hair and muscles since he was young, but it was only after his parents died in an Eridium mine explosion that he became obsessed with making weapons that could harness the power that killed them.

Torgue sold his designs to a board of executives for $12 and a high five, but he stayed on as the face of the brand. Many of his words are bleeped out thanks to a voice box modification to clean up his language, courtesy of the shareholders. This guy loves action so much that he created his own tournament for Vault Hunters in a place called the Badass Crater of Badassitude.
 

Marcus Kincaid

If it wasn’t for Marcus and his steady supply of weapons, no Vault Hunter would last long on Pandora. In the early years, he worked with Atlas and Dahl, but these days he’s out on his own, an unauthorized peddler selling arms worldwide through his vending machines. Greed drives Marcus to be aggressive, attacking his competition and taking out their supplies. Everyone knows he’s a shrewd merchant who offers “No refunds!”

He may not seem likeable at first, but Marcus does care and is occasionally generous to his allies. He’s even upset after Roland’s death. He was once married to Moxxi and shot his shot with Tannis, but love isn’t one of his success stories. Instead, he narrates stories of the Vault Hunters and is even nice enough to pick everyone up on the bus.
 

T. K. Baha

Who doesn’t love a good literary reference? T.K. Baha’s last name is Ahab spelled backward, and he’s obsessed with murdering a great white Skag that took his leg, blinded him, and killed his wife. It’s easy to fall in love with ol’ Teddy, because even if this Fyrestone resident likes living alone, his amazing sense of humor has survived everything he’s been through unscathed.

Before everything went bad, Baha created weapons for the Hyperion Corporation. When the company decided they wanted to keep his designs for themselves, they sent assassins after him and his wife, causing them to flee to Pandora. It’s rewarding to help people as cool as T.K., especially when it involves making sure they get revenge and their prosthetic limb back. It’s just too bad we find his body later, strung up by his fake leg after Psychos killed him. Thankfully, that’s not the last we’d see of Teddy. Baha comes back as a zombie and in Claptrap’s subconscious, too good to stay dead.
 

Captain Scarlett

We end up fighting Captain Scarlett, but in all fairness, she warned us about her inevitable treachery. It’s tough not to cut her some slack, however, because she had a rough childhood living the space pirate life before getting thrown out of an airship by her father. That cost her an eye, which she gutted him for, but thankfully, this scallywag doesn’t seem to hold a grudge against anyone for too long. She’s charming, if nothing else, and extremely talkative, with one of her crimes being listed as “excessive cheeriness.”

This cutthroat lifestyle has made her incredibly untrustworthy and untrusting, as Scarlett betrays everyone, even her closest allies. Those decisions have caused her big problems in her quest for the lost booty she seeks. This treasure hunter often suffers from an inability to lie, while at other times she gives misinformation unintentionally, due to a poor memory. Thankfully, she’s skilled at rolling with the punches, even when she's swallowed by a giant guardian beast. Scarlett fights while riding a Rakk Hive named Roscoe in the creature’s stomach, like a boss, and knows how to make an exit when things go sour, via personal teleporter. Live to be bad another day.
 

Mad Moxxi

Everyone loves a good host, a skilled bartender who acts as a friendly ear but who can also deal out violence when the raiders attack. Mad Moxxi can do it all. A fighter in her younger days, she split from the Hodunk clan with her kids when they threatened her daughter, Ellie. Now, Moxxi is a businesswoman trying to give back to the people, help the Vault Hunters, and maybe find her next significant other. She’s been married multiple times and dated powerful characters like Mordecai and even Handsome Jack. She moves through lovers regularly, men and women alike, but she does have some standards (apparently, cannibalism is off the table), and her children are more important than anyone else.

Moxxi is alluring, charming, and even caring to a degree. She’s protective of those close to her while also having a sadistic side and choosing to leave her modesty at the door while “in character.” This persona comes to light when we discover her accent is fake, so it’s fair to assume her mannerisms and maybe even the innuendos—such as Moxxi saying her favorite gun vibrates—are forced too. The character is a mixture of Mad Max and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with a carefully curated outfit that has become iconic. She’s a staple on Pandora and one of the best people to know.
 

Scooter

Another inventor working to make the wastelands better is Scooter. This is the man who gave us the Catch-a-Ride service so that players can take Outrunners across the map instead of walking like losers. Not only is he a skilled auto mechanic, but he’s Sanctuary’s engineer (and one of its saviors) as well. Anyone who can keep a floating city running is awesome. Just don’t read his poetry. It doesn’t end well.

Scooter is Moxxi’s son and shares her same violent tendencies, as we see when he deals with Lucky Zaford for the man’s crimes against his mother. He loves his family, a little too much perhaps, given his crushes on multiple women he’s related to. Otherwise, Scooter is pretty chill; he just enjoys working, sitting around, and reading those “girly magazines.” Sadly, we had to say goodbye to one of our best friends, but he went out like a badass, riding a rocket back through the atmosphere while yelling his iconic catchphrase, “Catch a riiiiiiiiiiiide!”
 

Patricia Tannis

It helps to be associated with someone who knows about Vaults, who studies Eridian artifacts and understands the science behind this alien technology, and who isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty. That’s Patricia Tannis. Sure, she’s a little odd, lacks empathy, and has some strange speech patterns, but this scholar is also the best Pandora has to offer. Tannis just has trouble socializing, to the point that she pops a blood vessel when forced to acknowledge others in person. Though she’s taking this introvert thing too seriously, her hyperfixation provides invaluable research for the Vault Hunters.

Tannis’s descent into madness is the stuff of legend, which we experience mostly through sound clips from the ECHO Recorder she fell in love with (they’re broken up now). This researcher was sent by the Dahl Corporation to find the Vaults but had a series of breakdowns after her team was slaughtered, leaving the good doctor alone to fend for herself. She’s quite a powerful ally, just also very quirky.

With Borderlands 4 coming out September 12, 2025, we’re going to have a whole new gaggle of friends and foes to meet. We can’t wait.