There has been plenty of positive buzz aroundBorderlands 4in recent weeks, and for good reason.Borderlands 4’s previews were quite glowing, Vex the Siren’s teaser had a perfect tone that felt like just the right type of humor, and the lineup of Vault Hunters for the game sounds quite diverse. However, while I’m finally on board the hype train for the latestBorderlandsgame, there’s a gut feeling I have that its villain just won’t hit the mark.
Plenty has been said aboutBorderlands’ Handsome Jack problem, as he can essentially be viewed as avillain so good he nearly derailed a franchise. The Calypso Twins’ overly snarky personalities saw them gaining few fans, with players and critics alike viewing them as a poor attempt at creating another humorous villain like Jack. The Timekeeper sounds like he won’t encounter that issue, as the words used to describe him make him sound nothing like Jack at all - but I’m not sure that’s the right solution to the problem, either.
Handsome Jack is my favorite video game villain ever, so it’s impossible for me not to compare any newcomers to the former CEO of Hyperion. With every appearance, I grew more attached to Jack. Yes,The Pre-Sequelhad its problems, but I loved getting to see how Jack was betrayed, as it made his descent into villainy significantly more understandable. And I’ll never forget his interactions with Rhys, particularly the one at the tail end ofTales from the Borderlands, as that game managed to humanize him and make him more detestable at the same time. With multiple titles to shine in, it’s hard to imagine anyone coming close to Jack’s greatness in my eyes. However, I still think the pattern for another good villain can be found by studying Jack and doing something similar, not moving in the opposite direction and focusing entirely on making the antagonist threatening. As such, I’m not worried about the Timekeeper killing my favorites, but I am worried about him feeling out of place and stripping away some ofBorderlands’ identity.
Borderlands 4’s Timekeeper Doesn’t Really Sound Like a Borderlands Character
Borderlands 4’s villain has been described as a formidable tyrant and a cruel dictator. He forces his subjects to wear a device known as a Bolt so that he can see their every move and keep them in line at all times. He’s described as “well-mannered” and “calm,” and he boasts a regal appearance to match his calculated demeanor. He’s meant to deliver a sense of “dread” since he can “reach out and control” people from a distance, meaning he could strike out of the blue and kill off major characters completely by surprise. All these traits sound good on paper, but they also make for a villain fans would see in a more serious sci-fi project. Sure,Borderlands 4is avoiding toilet humorat all costs, but it will still have comedy, as shown by Vex’s short and Claptrap’s dialogue slider gag.
IfBorderlands 4’s Timekeeper is just a comedic foil that shrugs off all the other jokesters that surround him, he could be boring and one-note more often than he is intimidating. After all, one ofBorderlands’ worst characters isCommandant Steele, a Siren that never displays her powers or comes off as any kind of threat. She could certainly be described as someone who is “obsessed with order,” so while she lacked the apparent calmness of the Timekeeper, my fear is thatBorderlandsis coming too close to replicating the series’ worst antagonist by trying to solve its Handsome Jack problem. Sure, he may inspire feelings of fear and hate when he does strike suddenly to harm a fan favorite, but all the moments between those intense scenes matter just as much.
Handsome Jackworked inBorderlands 2because fans got to see his complexity on full display. The Handsome Jack before the Vault Hunters find Angel is a completely different man from the one who comes after. He goes from a jokester who dishes out insults nonstop to a power-hungry monster who feels like a real threat, essentially being two kinds of antagonists in one. People got a reason to love him due to his genuinely funny dialogue, then a reason to hate him because of how he hurt other characters they like, with a bit of tragic backstory sprinkled on top to make him feel more human. If the Timekeeper is played completely straight, and players don’t see proper character development or a change in his personality, he could feel like little more than a caricature. Yes, he’ll be less annoying thanBorderlands' recent villains, and will surely draw less criticism as a result, but I appreciatedBorderlands 3trying to take a big swing at a Jack successor since he was the ideal antagonist for the franchise.
Handsome Jack actor Dameon Clarke also deserves tons of credit for bringing the character to life, with his performance being so memorable that anyone taking on the role ofBorderlandsvillainwill always have a high bar to climb over.
Borderlands 4’s Secondary Villain Can Make a One-Dimensional Timekeeper Work
Obviously, we’ve seen very little of the Timekeeper, so there’s still a chance Gearbox has some surprises up its sleeve. One thing the developer has confirmed is that there will be a secondary villain called the Ripper Queen, and her design is certainly eye-catching. A direct victim of the Timekeeper’s cruel acts, she could provide some great insight into his rule prior to the Vault Hunter’s adventures onKairos. Her personality seems to be the complete opposite of his as well, being a wild lunatic while he’s an almost gentlemanly figure. When viewed as two halves of a whole,Borderlands 4’s villain combo might get the job done, though both characters will have to be well-written and deep in their own right.
Ultimately, I’m going to have to wait and see how the Timekeeper turns out, butBorderlands 4’s early descriptions of the character don’t have me full of confidence. Doing something “different” from what came before is all well and good, but when what came before is one of gaming’s greatest characters, straying too far from that path is a bit of a red flag. Yes,the Calypso Twinswere a miss for me just as they were for so many others, as Troy never got his moment and neither sibling turned down the volume when they needed to. Still, the idea of a humorous yet powerful villain just feels right for the series, while a calm, calculating mastermind sounds a bit out-of-place on paper.
I’d absolutely be happy to be proven wrong, and there’s certainly a chance I will be, as there could be more depth tothe Timekeeperthan meets the eye. Right now, though, I’m picturing him as a mask-wearing dictator who won’t be able to poke fun at his adversaries or have memorable outbursts when his plans are thwarted - AKA, Handsome Jack but with the best aspects of his personality nowhere to be found.
