The 10 Best Borderlands 3 Characters

The Borderlands franchise started out with the first-person shooters. Since then, it has expanded to include other forms of media. However, those first-person shooters remain the core of the franchise, with the latest example being Borderlands 3. There was a fair amount of criticism for said title’s story. Still, some of the characters proved to be more interesting than others.

10. Typhon DeLeon

Generally speaking, Vault Hunters aren’t the nicest of people. Plenty of playable characters have been terrible, though they are still better than their enemies. As a result, it was something of a surprise when the first Vault Hunter turned out to be a decent man. For that matter, it should be mentioned that Typhon DeLeon has what one might call a very meaningful name. His namesake was the most formidable of the challengers to Zeus’s throne in Greek mythology, being a huge, winged figure whose head brushed the stars and whose legs were serpent tails. Moreover, the original Typhon’s union with his bride Echidna produced a wide range of monsters with examples including but by no means limited to Cerberus, the Hydra, and the Chimera. Typhon DeLeon lives up to his namesake in some respects but not in others. For example, he is the father of the Calypso Twins, meaning that he occupies a similar role as the Father of Monsters. Similarly, he was very fond of his wife Leda, which seems to be something else that he shares with his namesake. In other respects, Typhon DeLeon is so different that it seems safe to say that his name was meant to be both ironic and unironic. He isn’t a brute who possesses overwhelming might. Instead, he is most reliant on his cunning, which makes him something of a standout even among Vault Hunters. On top of thtis, Typhon DeLeon isn’t very good-looking. Something that can be considered both a similarity and a dissimilarity with his namesake. After all, his appearance doesn’t change the fact that he is a very good-natured individual. In contrast, the ancient Greeks believed that one’s outer appearance reflected one’s inner character, meaning that monsters were, well, monstrous.

9. Gaige

Gaige is one of the playable characters from Borderlands 2. Moreover, she is one of the more memorable options from that title, both because of her background and because of her skills. For those who are unfamiliar, Gaige was a high school student whose design for her robot Deathtrap was stolen by her rival. When the two competed in a science fair, her rival shoved with her, with the result that her rival was promptly exploded by Deathtrap because that was seen as a sign of aggression. As a result, Gaige had to flee, thus leading to her being involved in the events of Borderlands 2. As for her skills, well, she could summon Deathtrap to help out, which was nice enough. However, the much amusing skills were centered on Anarchy stacks. Essentially, Gaige could earn Anarchy stacks by either killing enemies or emptying magazines, which would make her do more damage at the cost of making her less accurate. The amusing part came from the fact that she could stack a lot of Anarchy builds, so much so that she could pretty much annihilate everything that she came upon provided that she ever managed to actually hit them. By Borderlands 3, Gaige has managed to become a wedding planner, which is apparently a much more exciting job in the Borderlands setting than in the real world. She has matured to some extent because she is no longer a teenager. However, Gaige is still very much Gaige, as shown by her willingness to start shooting as well as her continuing emotional reliance on her robot in spite of the latter’s seeming lack of personality. Regardless, it is always nice to see one of the Vault Hunters from earlier titles doing well.

8. Krieg

Speaking of which, Krieg is another one of the playable characters from Borderlands 2. In his case, he had been subjected to Hyperion experimentation, with the result that his mind fractured into a sane splinter of his original personality plus a Psycho version of himself that controlled his body. Still, the sane Krieg retained enough control that he was able to nudge the murderous madness of his counterpart towards deserving targets rather than innocents. Skill-wise, he was very unusual because he was a much more melee-focused character than the others, which to be fair, made sense because of his nature as a Psycho. The story of Borderlands 3 wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences for Krieg. This is because he was very fond of Maya, so much so that he became a Vault Hunter in the previous title because of her. As such, Krieg was one of the hardest-hit by Maya’s death. Still, Borderlands 3 did give interested individuals a chance to explore the character’s mind through DLC, which provided him with a surprising amount of nuance.

7. Timothy Lawrence

Timothy Lawrence is a playable character from Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! However, interested individuals might be more familiar with him under the name “Jack.” This is because Timothy was an actor with a lot of student debt who had been surgically altered to make him a double for Handsome Jack. As such, his skills were centered on summoning Digi-Jacks, though there was a clear divergence between those that made him and his minions more powerful and those that made his minions more useful as suicide troops. In any case, while Timothy’s situation apparently became worse and worse after the events of The Pre-Sequel!, his appearance in Borderlands 3 DLC suggests that he might be bouncing back after hitting the very bottom. At the very least, he is out of the casino. Moreover, he might have a chance with his crush.

6. Mad Moxxi

Moxxi is one of the most iconic characters in the Borderlands franchise. In part, this is because she has been in every single one of the shooters. However, Moxxi is also memorable because her character stands out in a lot of respects. She is very much a native of Pandora, as shown by her ability to fight as well as her general ability to handle rough-and-tumble situations. Despite that, Moxxi is on the decent end of things. Something that can be seen in her friendliness as well as her protectiveness of the people who she cares about. Having said that, the character has a fair amount of nuance from the sheer amount of exposure that she has gotten. To name an example, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! showed that she has the same kind of accent as the Hodunks, which she is embarrassed by. Something that made for a strangely human moment.

5. Sir Alistair Hammerlock

Sir Alistair Hammerlock is a very recognizable character. After all, he goes around dressed as a futuristic Victorian adventurer. However, what makes Hammerlock great is that he is just a consistently good-natured individual to have around. In fact, he was the very first friendly human to show up in Borderlands 2, which was a refreshing change from Pandora’s less pleasant inhabitants. In Borderlands 3, Hammerlock has had some more life-changing experiences. After all, he has been married to Wainwright Jakobs in a very sweet moment, which was particularly nice because the player got the chance to help out with everything.

4. Amara

Unsurprisingly, the playable characters made the top of the list in Borderlands 3. After all, they are the ones that we spend the most time with, meaning that they are the ones that we know best. Granted, that could have been a negative. Fortunately, every single one of the playable characters in Borderlands 3 are relatively likable in their own particular way. Background-wise, Amara would be the title’s playable Siren in the same way that Lilith and Maya occupied the role in Borderlands and Borderlands 2. In her case, she was born in the slums of her home planet before proceeding to punch her way to heroism. Something that says a lot about Amara’s personality. That might be a bit straightforward. However, it is important that remember that being straightforward isn’t necessarily a bad thing, particularly Amara pulls it off so well. Skill-wise, Amara is very different from her predecessors. After all, the extra arms aren’t just there for show, so it should come as no surprise to learn that she is much more melee-focused. That can be a lot of fun for people who want to race about the battlefield, punching enemies to pieces, and then racing off for more of the same. On top of that, Amara is a great choice for anyone who enjoys looking cool by drawing upon spiritual beliefs from the real world. It is no coincidence that she comes from a South Asian-inspired planet, seeing as how multiple arms are associated with gods as well as other enlightened beings in a number of Dharmic religions. Indeed, Amara’s arms even make mudras, which couldn’t make the connection any clearer.

3. FL4K

FL4K isn’t the first time that the Borderlands series has had a robot for a playable character. After all, there was Claptrap in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! However, FL4K is more than capable of standing out from their predecessor. For starters, FL4K was apparently a librarian robot who acquired an independent will as well as a desire to kill. Fortunately for their ex-employer, they weren’t just an indiscriminate murder machine. Instead, FL4K wandered from planet to planet looking for self-enlightenment, with the result that they seem to have developed a rather curious religion or pseudo-religion of their own focused upon a death goddess. As for how they play, well, FL4K is the one with the pets. To be exact, if people want to run around with wacky Pandoran wildlife fighting for them rather than against them, this would be the perfect character for them. It might not be very glamorous, but it sure is a lot of fun.

2. Moze

Hyperion was the main focus in Borderlands 2. After all, it was the mega-corporation that belonged to Handsome Jack, meaning that it was natural for its minions to show up the most in that title. Still, there was a very interesting moment in that title that talked up Vladof’s Ursa Corps, just a troop of which is apparently capable of clearing out an entire continent of Tediore soldiers in a matter of days. Judging by Moze, that observation wasn’t exaggerating. She might not be the most unorthodox playable character ever featured in a Borderlands title. However, a full-blown mech makes up for a lot of shortfalls and then some. Sadly, it seems that Vladof has a lot of the same problems as the other mega-corporations, which is perhaps unsurprising considering that a central government apparently no longer exists in the Borderlands setting because of mega-corporation shenanigans. In Moze’s case, she was apparently guilted into staying on with the Ursa Corps longer than she had to serve. Something that eventually resulted in her just leaving when the rest of her squad were killed in action. Despite that not so happy background, Moze remains a very fun character.

1. Zane

Zane makes the top of the list by being a very entertaining mix of awesome and ridiculous. Granted, he was never going to be normal, considering that he comes from the same family as Baron Flynt and Captain Flynt. That might not mean very much on initial consideration until one realizes that those aren’t titles. Instead, Baron Flynt is literally named Baron while Captain Flynt is literally named Captain. Of course, the name issue is actually relative minor in the grand scheme of things. Instead, the real point of interest is that all indications were that the Flynt family consisted of murderous monsters. As it turned out, Zane shared the same penchant for killing, though pointed in a much more deserving direction. When it comes to his skills, Zane’s repertoire isn’t quite as unified as that of his counterparts. Amara has Siren powers; FL4K has their pets; and Moze has her Iron Bear mech. Meanwhile, Zane gets a collection of tools such as a drone and a decoy. Still, that make sense for his background as an extremely experienced assassin who has done just about everything, particularly since he gets to equip not one but two Action Skills at the same time.