Few villains have proven more popular in the gaming community thanBorderlands 2' Handsome Jack. As an overarching antagonist, he was as menacing as he was quirky, inducing fear as easily as he would laughter through quirky dialogue exchanges. He continued a trend of corrupt and out-of-touch CEOs that define part of the series' message, which is likely to reappear in a hypotheticalBorderlands 4.
Borderlands 3chose to step away from this formula, opting instead for the Calypso Twins. Despite not owning a company full of lackeys, the twins still managed to be a considerable threat to all factions in theBorderlandsuniverse. Though they were not as well-received as previous villains,Borderlands 4should still strive to move away from the corrupt CEO formula in favor of more unique antagonists.
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Future Borderlands' Villains Need to be Bigger Than CEOs
TheBorderlandsuniverse is dominated by corporations that take advantage of the near-lawless nature of the setting to make a quick buck, largely by becoming gun manufacturers. This endless perpetuation of violence and bloodshed is not only encouraged, but enjoyed by the CEOs of those corporations.Borderlands 2’s Handsome Jackis the purest incarnation of this caricature, so it makes sense whyBorderlands 3saw fit to move away from this formula. Though the Calypso Twins may have not been as well received as Handsome Jack, this shined a light on the potential of future villains.
While the use of corrupt CEOs as main villains was understandable and even relatable, it had to go sooner or later. This is not because it was a bad idea; the use of corrupt CEO villains pulled from real-world examples to shine a light on how people drunk on power can often be way over their heads. The issue lied in the fact that it limits the potential of how bigBorderlands' world can be, and how dire the conflicts can become.Borderlands 3’s Calypso Twinsshowed that the franchise has the potential to create problems that threaten the entire universe.
With the potential ofBorderlands 4including a foreshadowed Watcher War, the franchise has the chance to expand through using different types of villains. The Watcher War could bring threats that are even greater than the Destroyer, as characters like the Seer believe there is a looming threat of universal annihilation despite players beating the Destroyer inBorderlands 3. Focusing on corrupt CEOs at this point would be retreading old territory. Gearbox seems to realize this, which may be why it is may have tackled antagonistic corporations like Maliwan, Hyperion, and Tediore inNew Tales of the Borderlands.
This doesn’t mean corrupt CEOs don’t have a place in the franchise. After all, dropping a theme that has played an integral part in the franchise’s messaging might not bode well.Borderlands 4could just take a more passive approach than previous games. For example, the discovery of Dahl’s mining equipment in Caustic Caverns inBorderlands 2told a tale through environmental storytelling.Borderlands 4could recreate this, weaving in the ways greed eventually led to the downfall of various powerful entities.Borderlands 4’s weapon manufacturerscan still play a significant role without being main villains.
HoweverBorderlands 4approaches its antagonists is up to Gearbox Software, but there’s a good chance it has moved past the era of corrupt CEOs. With the Destroyer having potentially been destroyed for good, a new cosmic threat may take its throne. After all, players might still have awar foreshadowed by the Watcher and Seerto look forward to, and these universal stakes require equally great threats.
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