Summary
- Not all characters in the Borderlands series are loved, with some being seen as annoying or grating by fans.
- Tyreen & Troy Calypso may be obnoxious with their influencer personalities, but they are villains for a reason.
- Characters like Ava, Janey Springs, Pickle, Moxxi, Tiny Tina, Handsome Jack, and Claptrap all have their polarizing traits.
The Borderlands series has an interesting relationship with fans, as there seems to be a pretty even split regarding what is loved and hated when it comes to each game’s characters. Whether it’s an overuse of jokes or simply a grating personality, some Borderlands characters aren’t seen in the best light by some.
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There are some characters in the Borderlands series that don’t deserve the hate that they get, but it’s completely understandable that they would be polarizing. On a series built on high-energy characters that don’t seem to stop talking, these people leave a strong impression, but for some, it’s not always a positive one.
8 Tyreen & Troy Calypso
The Mean Siren Tag-Team Of ECHOnet Influencers
- Featured in: Borderlands 3
The central antagonists of Borderlands 3 had a hard role to fill after Handsome Jack left the stage in Borderlands 2. Tyreen and Troy were leaders of the Children of the Vault, and as Sirens, they were gifted with unimaginable powers that allowed them to steal the life force of others. These powers provided the Calypso twins with obnoxious confidence, as well as influencer personalities.
Tyreen and Troy might be a tad annoying with their ECHOnet streamer personalities, but as cult leaders, they have amassed an army of fanatics, and their powers speak for themselves. Players don’t have to like Troy and Tyreen, but at the end of the day, they are villains for a reason.
7 Ava
Maya's Apprentice Who Doesn't Earn Her Stay
- Featured in: Borderlands 3
Ava begins her journey in Borderlands 3, where some players might have missed her tragic backstory as an orphan with nothing left. Feeling empathy for the young girl trying to survive, Ava was taken in by the Siren, Maya, and became her apprentice to learn how to survive this harsh universe, and to one day become a Siren.
Ava’s personality suffers from the same tropes as most young characters. She can be quite loud and obnoxious, and the plot seems to service her in unjust ways that she hasn’t earned. Whilst Ava’s potential for a grief-stricken and inexperienced Siren is there, they haven’t flourished as they should, providing many with a lens of someone who is grating and unforgiving in her actions.
6 Janey Springs
The Loud And Proud Junk Dealer
- Featured in: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Tales from the Borderlands
The impressionable mechanic of Elpis loves the black market, and women equally. She serves the plot of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel rather well, and her intellect and random thoughts are often required to proceed with the mission ahead. Yet, those same missions are something that players might suffer from, as her side missions can get a tad annoying and repetitive.
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Janey Springs’ personality doesn’t exactly go as deep as others, and the only real flaw in her character is the fact that she just doesn’t know when to stop talking. Janey is a tad pushy as a character, and her constant quips and flirting can get tiring.
5 Pickle
A Kid Who Wants To Fit In, But He Tends To Talk Too Much
- Featured in: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Another resident of Elpis in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Pickle is a name that might make many fans of the series shudder, but is that unjust? Pickle has a tragic backstory after the death of his parents and the loss of his sister, and it seems that even the scavs of the Outlands Canyon seem to hate him and find him as annoying as some players do.
Pickle is only a child, so it seems pretty mean that players turn on him so fast. The undisputed problem with Pickle isn’t that he talks too much or he loves a good word salad, but it’s that his repetitive side-missions don’t offer anything engaging.
4 Moxxi
The Flirtatious And Sometimes Self-Serving Hostess Of Too Many Bars
- Featured in: Borderlands, Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Tales from the Borderlands, Borderlands 3
With her origins existing in the first Borderlands game, Moxxi has had her fingers in every pie since and seems to be just about everywhere in the galaxy. Whether it’s on Pandora or off it, Moxxi is somehow always there, and the gimmick of having Moxxi have multiple spouses and plenty of different franchises and bars, can get old rather fast.
Moxxi is the go-to character for Borderlands, and if there is a new entry in the series, she’s most likely in it. Whilst being overly involved isn’t reason enough to find Moxxi polarizing, her unjust betrayal of Jack (before he was a bad guy) and her ability to fit every role given to her just make her a tad uninteresting and tired.
3 Tiny Tina
An Explosive Personality Who Might Come Off Too Strong
- Featured in: Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Borderlands 3, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
Another character who hides her trauma through an abundance of jokes and an unstable personality is Tiny Tina. Tina is yet another mascot of the franchise, and her origins as a vengeful child who just wants to hurt those who sold her and her parents to Hyperion give her justified motivations, especially when players consider the fact that she’s a child who’s basically had to teach herself how to grow up and survive on Pandora with nothing but explosives and crumpets.
One aspect that players might not like about Tina is her personality, as she adds to the list of characters who love to yap and make random jokes that might not fit their own sense of humor. Tina does have a charm about her, and it's pretty chuckle-worthy to hear crude and violent jokes come out of a kid.
2 Handsome Jack
Hyperion's CEO Who Hides His Scars Behind A Mask And Humorous Confidence
- Featured in: Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Tales from the Borderlands
The most impressionable villain in the Borderlands series is easily Handsome Jack. From the moment he invades players’ personal space with his ECHonet messages, he makes it clear that he’s there to give Vault Hunters a bad time. Yet, there’s something about Jack’s riffing and constant torment of Vault Hunters that is pretty funny, and it's easy to see why he’s so loved and hated at the same time.
Handsome Jack is a villain that players love to hate, and some would even argue that he has justified motivations after far too many betrayals. Jack is one of Borderlands’ most complex characters, and some might always disagree on his status as a deluded hero or a total villain.
1 Claptrap
An Intentionally Annoying Hyperion Bot Who Succeeds At His Function
- Featured in: Borderlands, Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Tales from the Borderlands, Borderlands 3, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
It’s hard to be as iconic as Claptrap, but would anyone want to be? Claptrap is famed in the series for being the most intentionally annoying and unlikable character it just adds to his comedy and charm. Even at something as wholesome as a birthday party for Claptrap, nobody would turn up, and some would rather commit suicide than be around him.
Despite the humor that surrounds his personality and his intentionally annoying jabbering, some players really can’t get along with Claptrap, and view him as someone to be ignored and avoided at all costs, especially when he’s demanding things from minions or grieving over stairs that are in front of him.
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