History NightmareFuel / Borderlands2

*** Krieg: Opportunity is under attack. The majority of Hyperion's robot army is just peacefully walking around, when in comes the tallest psycho you've ever seen, with arms the size of autocannons. Immediately, he whips out his Buzz Axe and charges towards the nearest loaders and engineers. He's just a Badass one, right? Wrong. You watch in horror, forgetting that you're supposed to be Jack's ''freakin' body double'' as his axe blows up your friends and whacks Badass loaders in half, and his Torgue assault rifle cutting down more and more Hyperion forces with every reload, even when his shields are down. And when he isn't slicing or shooting, he's chucking dynamite everywhere, blowing up everything in sight. A Super Badass Loader unloads its guns onto the psycho, setting him on fire. But to your horror, ''it just makes him stronger.'' You desperately raise your Bitch and fire round after round, watching the Vault Hunter turn your boss's glittering Orwellian paradise into a land of burning men and twisted metal, until the Psycho finally turns towards you, wreathed in flames, and slams his axe straight into your heart.

*** Gaige: So you and some fellow Marauders are just relaxing in the Dahlwell Oasis, talking about that grilled skag you just shared, when up strolls this pretty redheaded girl in a skirt. She runs right up to your group, Coach Gun drawn, and is spouting total nonsense like she was auditioning for a slightly more lucid psycho. She opens fire and you quickly try to cover yourself. Only except you realize that every one of her shots is missing. Like, missing by a ''mile''. Your friends share a laugh at this, this girl obviously hasn't used a gun in her life. Then the laughing suddenly stops when the guy right beside you suddenly bursts into bloody salsa. You realize that so many of those missed bullets are bouncing around the place like pinballs, and every wall of lead from the Jakobs shotgun is tearing everyone apart like a million Torgue rounds! You manage to find cover as more and more of your group are splattered all over the place thanks to this redheaded 18 year old from hell. When you finally strike the nerve to aim your Bandit repeater at her head, you're face to face with a floating metal demon of a robot covered in bones, knives and a hellish red glow. The last thing you see are her bladed fingers, impossibly sharp and shiny, heading right for your terrified eyes.

*** Gaige: So you and some fellow Marauders are just relaxing in the Dahlwell Oasis, talking about that grilled skag you just shared, when up strolls this redheaded kid in a skirt. She runs right up to your group and is spouting self deluded nonsense like she was auditioning for a slightly more lucid psycho. She draws her Coach Gun, and you quickly try to cover yourself. Only except you realize that every one of her shots is missing. Like, missing by a ''mile''. Your friends share a laugh at this, this girl obviously hasn't used a gun in her life. Then the laughing suddenly stops when the guy right beside you suddenly bursts into bloody salsa. You realize that so many of those missed bullets are bouncing around the place like pinballs, and every wall of lead from the Jakobs shotgun is tearing everyone apart like a million Torgue rounds! You manage to find cover as more and more of your group are splattered all over the place thanks to this redheaded 18 year old from hell. When you finally strike the nerve to aim your Bandit repeater at her head, you're face to face with a floating metal demon of a robot covered in bones, knives and a hellish red glow. The last thing you see are her bladed fingers, impossibly sharp and shiny, heading right for your terrified eyes.

*** Axton: For a Badass Marauder like you, it's just another day in Sawtooth Cauldron...when a Commando jumps down from a nearby cliff into your area and starts blasting away with his Vladof assault rifle. The bullets are going everywhere, faster than you can blink, faster than any bullets you've seen, and chopping off limbs and the imploding faces your buddies. You lead a massive charge against him, while air support flies in...then he throws down his turret. ''Two'' turrets that stick to the walls, with a giant shield, and a gun that slags you, while its rocket pods shoot buzzards out of the sky, pinpointing them with their laser beam. You bombard him with endless grenades, rockets, gyrojets and bullets...but he shrugs it off like it never even ''harmed'' him. Eventually, the Commando fires a 2-round burst through your helmet and you fall down, clutching your Bandit rifle, watching your legs separate from your body as the commando continues firing, cheerfully yelling as crashing buzzards, loot midgets and bloody limbs all fly past him...

** At one point, you can see Bloodwing's decapitated corpse [[DeadGuyOnDisplay on full display]].

** Gaige: You see a young, high-school-age looking girl stroll casually towards your camp. As you rush out to get her, this peppy little girl, who you notice has [[ArtificialLimbs a robotic left arm]], pulls a [[ShockAndAwe blue SMG]] and goes to town on the whole camp. She seems to get crazier and crazier as the battle goes on, firing blindly and pulling WolverineClaws, murdering everything in sight. Eventually, her huge-ass RobotBuddy joins the fight and begins tearing everybody apart with gigantic claws and elemental beams. In the end, it's just you and her, and the last thing you see is this sweet high school girl's [[DropTheHammer tool hammer]] hitting your forehead.

** In fact, that WHOLE last stretch of the DLC is rigged with The Sorcerer going into gory details about what he and his soldiers are going to do with the queen! It even gives the vibe that this is timed!

* The penultimate boss battle. Having the person you've been trying to save turn out to be EvilAllAlong isn't exactly new, but when that person is revealed to be ''[[FriendToAllLivingThings Angel]]'', it becomes quite chilling. And [[UncannyValley she's definitely creepy]]. You do not want a corrupted [[SpiderPeople Drider]] smiling at you as she spews spiders from her body at you.

[[folder:DLCs]]

%% (ZCE) * The Wildlife Exploitation Preserve. Just listen to the announcer.
%% (ZCE) * The slag test logs, namely the fate of Tiny Tina's parents, which is found in the above location.

* You know how the Goliath's face peels back, and their skull protrudes from what used to be their mouths? Have you ever wondered how your Vault Hunter would look with their skull exposed and their face peeled back like a hood? No, you didn't? Well, too bad, because the reward for completing ''Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre'' gives it to you anyway in the form of unlockable head options for each Vault Hunter.
** Krieg's is the worst. On other Vault Hunters, it's clear that their faces were pulled back over their skulls. On Krieg, whatever skin wasn't being held in place by his Psycho mask was just torn away. The skin still on his head is ripped from where it evidently caught on the mask's eye-hole, leaving Krieg's exposed, lidless eye visible in its bloody socket.
* So you just defeated Wilhelm, and have retrieved the cargo the train he guarded was carrying. While it's not the Vault Key, it is something that's still useful - a power core for Sanctuary's shield that can replace the one you just put in a few hours ago, and hopefully power it for a lot longer. You go back home, take out the old one, put in the new... and suddenly there's a pause. Angel's face appears on a screen right above where you put in the core, as Jack calls in and drops the WhamLine - ''Angel is working for Jack.'' And then she disables the city's shields so that Jack can start bombarding it with Moonshot rounds.
** Up until this point, the game was a mixture of kickass gunfights with bandits, robots, and the local wildlife, and absurd dark humor from the likes of Tiny Tina. Plus you're gradually growing in power as either a MilitaryMaverick with a deployable turret, a short and roided out [[GunsAkimbo dual-wielding]] [[TheBerserker berserker]], a [[TheFaceless completely faceless]] {{Ninja}} with a super sharp blade, a cheerful high school girl with a killbot by her side, the Pandoran equivalent of a [[PhysicalGod physical goddess]], and/or a playable version of the Psychos who can get power from all the suffering he takes. Suddenly, all the awesomeness and hilarity comes to a halt, as Sanctuary - which is your home at this point - is now being blasted apart by Handsome Jack. You go in and hear people screaming as the place is being hammered with what seems like hellish meteors, and with some unlucky souls being ''liquefied'' by the impacts as you pass through.
*** Scooter's lines make it worse in all honesty. Previously he was a dorky, perverted mechanic who nonetheless seemed friendly enough. But when Sanctuary is getting torn apart, it gets replaced by a guy who's in a major panic and supremely scared about what's happening. It can possibly make ''you'' scared that the place is going to be pounded into dust before long.
* The log of Taggart, a Hunter who, well, hunted the Stalkers. It all starts out funny enough but the last log emphasizes how much of a DeathWorld Pandora is:
--> '''Taggart''': ''Chapter F... Chapter Ffff... [[MoodWhiplash Henry ate my hands..]] she chewed them off in front of me and I swear to Jack... the spiky bitch laughed as she did it. Mom, I just don't know what to do... No! Get away! Henry! No, Henry! Get back! No! Mommy! Mommy! MOOOOOOOOMMMMMY! '''Accompanied by chewing noises''' ''
** The concluding quip of the quest doesn't help, either:
--> ''"You found Taggart’s missing chapter and, in so doing, discovered a soul-crushing truth: all the confidence in the world cannot prevent you from dying frightened and alone. [[MoodWhiplash But on the upside, you got PAID!]]"''

* Once Handsome Jack decides to intervene directly following Angel's death, we see just how ''downright terrifying'' he can be when he's not being a petty jackass. Before, he was a smug bastard who derived joy from taking petty potshots at you, and then suddenly, Roland has a bullet in his chest and Lilith is kidnapped and tortured! It may be justified, seeing as how you helped kill his daughter, but '''''DAMN...'''''
* Lilith in "Angel Vision" after the game's WhamEpisode. Unlike Angel, Lilith just looks like she's in ''agonizing pain'' whenever she talks to you like that. And she ''is'', instantly regenerating in Hero's Pass from Jack, who is stabbing her, repeatedly.
* Doubles as TearJerker. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD4WrEpO_JA#t=05m03s Tiny Tina's reaction to her parents' death.]] The scary part? It's difficult to tell if she's crying or ''[[LaughingMad laughing]].''
* Handsome Jack, while undeniably an evil douchebag, manages to somehow be funny with his sheer mania and trolling. However, once you clear Opportunity, his smug, taunting personality suddenly becomes threatening and serious, and his dialogue from then on becomes surprisingly sinister, particular his line when he sics the [=BNK3R=] on you.
-->'''Handsome Jack''' (In a completely serious, low and seething tone) ''Now do me a favor...and '''die'''.''
** Worse is Handsome Jack's treatment of his daughter, which you learn from an audio tape in Fyrestone/Jackville. His sick, sick treatment of her...Not mention his real face. Pure BodyHorror.
* Bloodwing's death scene. The first time you enter the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve area, you're told that Mordecai's BFF Bloodwing has been captured by Jack. After getting through a building full of Hyperion employees, robots, and varied species, you reach Bloodwing's cell... only to find it empty. Turns out Jack moved her to a big open-area observatory which is where you confront her in her Slagged form. Mordecai asks you to lower her health level so he can shoot a tranquilizing dart that will calm her. At one point, Jack taunts you about the different elemental effects that she can mutate into, which corresponds with the element she resists at that point in time, forgetting about one of them on purpose. Once Mordecai calms her down, Jack remembers the missing element: Explosive! And activates [[ExplosiveLeash a bomb planted on Bloodwing's collar]] that decapitates her in the most gruesome way.
** Once you get to Opportunity, you'll see at one point Bloodwing's decapitated corpse [[DeadGuyOnDisplay on full display]].

** It gets downright unnerving after you get the Handsome Jack voice modulator, because while the other Vault Hunters express disdain at hearing Jack’s voice come out of their mouth whenever they speak, Krieg simply doesn’t speak. At all. For him to go from a loud and BoisterousBruiser to a silent and deadly killing machine is terrifying, and it’s all because of how much he ''hates'' Jack.
* The penultimate boss battle of ''Assault on Dragon Keep''. Having the person you've been trying to save turn out to be EvilAllAlong isn't exactly new, but when that person is being played by ''[[FriendToAllLivingThings Angel]]'', it becomes quite chilling.
-->'''Princess Angel''': At last, I'm free... ''free to wreak my vengeance'' '''UPON ALL THE WORLD!!'''
** Becomes just plain [[TearJerker sad]] when you realize that it's ''[[GameMaster Tina]]'' who made her evil, in a desperate attempt to blame someone for Roland's death.
** And [[UncannyValley good lord is she creepy]]. You do not want a corrupted [[SpiderPeople Drider]] smiling at you as she spews spiders from her body at you.
** To make things worse, Angel stated that Handsome Jack tricked the last four Vault Hunters with Angel, and Tina made Angel into a villain. In other words, ''Tina knew she was a danger, and Roland paid the price. Tina made Angel as she saw her as: A lure.''
* Also from ''Assault on Dragon Keep'', the first time you encounter a mimic. You've just finished cleaning up some fantasy foes, and are ready to open the nearby chest of loot OHGODWHATTHEFUCKISTHAT.
* The quest where you have to carry a midget up to the giant fake dragon and set him on fire. Sure, he's going along with it voluntarily, but still, you're basically helping a guy burn himself alive out of devotion to a goddess that you ''know'' isn't actually a goddess.
* Handsome Sorcerer in the last part of ''Assault on Dragon Keep''. He gets so graphic that even Brick points that out.
--> '''Brick''': Damn, Tina. That was graphic.
--> '''Tina''': Don't hate the player, hate the game.
** In fact, that WHOLE last stretch of the DLC is rigged with The Sorcerer going into gory details about what he and his soldiers are going to do with the queen! It even gives the vibe that this is timed!

* The fate of Helena Pierce, and the civilians she was escorting. We only hear it over the final ECHO recording. Jack shoots Helena dead on the spot, then casually orders Wilhelm to kill the others. It's only an audio recording, so we simply hear Wilhelm acknowledge the command and open fire -- and the civilians screaming.
* The music in Sawtooth Cauldron is very, very, ominous and actually unnerving, to the point where you'll actually be relieved when a gunfight starts.
** [[SoundtrackDissonance Ironically the place hosts some of the funniest quests in the game]], including Brick's petty revenge on a rival bandit leader, and Ulysses (who just want to get out of Pandora [[BloodyHilarious only to have a Hyperion shipping crate land on him]] [[LudicrousGibs in hyperspeed]]).
* Opportunity is basically a ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''-style city played for laughs. Then, at the third info kiosk we meet, Jack is cheerfully talking, until the end of the sentence, when his tone turns into a very threatening, cold one that he normally reserves for talking to ''you.''
-->"Remember, we should all love our parents...'''''but love me more.'''''"
* Professor Nakayama's prime experiment, Jackenstein. Basically, a Bullymong augmented with two electric generators on its back, and a Handsome Jack mask embedded into its stomach. As if the implications for bringing the big bad Handsome Jack wasn't bad enough, in spite of Nakayama's incompetence, but this creature is all but invulnerable in every part of its body except those mentioned areas. When Nakayama said it was the most dangerous creature on Pandora, ''he wasn't kidding''.
* ''T.K Baha's Bloody Harvest'' has a few hidden Easter eggs that pay homage to three infamously terrifying horror movies. In order to unlock a secret boss, you'll have to find three hidden TV sets. For the first one, stray from the path and you'll find an abandoned tent with one of the TV sets inside. Get closer, and the TV will suddenly switch on, showing a Psycho shot from a weird angle, who just stares directly at the camera, before it cuts to static. It's supposed to be a shoutout to ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'', but it's still pretty jarring.
** Another is a reference to ''Film/TheRing'' but with Claptrap in place of Sadako and Moxxi in place of the woman in painting.
* Handsome Jack was one thing, but Colonel Hector's attempted planetary genocide was the straw that broke the camel's back for the bandits. Someone will unite them into a single cohesive unit and they will become a truly terrifying force to be reckoned with across the Six Galaxies, capable of ''invading other planets''. Vault Hunters, prepare yourselves: The Children are coming...

* The Wildlife Exploitation Preserve. Just listen to the announcer.
* The slag test logs, namely the fate of Tiny Tina's parents, which is found in the above location. Good lord...

*** A bit of FridgeHorror: Siren powers are all based on phasing things into another dimension. They're seeing into another dimension... The same one that Sirens can access, which may be where [[EldritchAbomination The Destroyer]] is from.

** And then there's [[http://i49.tinypic.com/2itj8nq.jpg this.]]

*** If they level up to max, they become [[http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/921246653249723113/AD6712FD79EBE422333A73CE5117B3CB06B79E88/1024x576.resizedimage GOD-liaths]], the ultimate badass Goliath.

** ''It get worse''. If you look close enough, you'll see that their skulls actually [[https://www.reddit.com/r/borderlands3/comments/dv7l87/oh_my_lord_i_thought_all_this_while_the_goliaths/ sprout right out of their mouths]].

** Up until this point, the game was a mixture of kickass gunfights with bandits, robots, and the local wildlife, and absurd dark humor from the likes of Tiny Tina. Plus you're gradually growing in power as either a MilitaryMaverick with a deployable turret, a short and roided out [[GunsAkimbo dual-wielding]] [[TheBerserker berserker]], a [[TheFaceless completely faceless]] {{Ninja}} with a super sharp blade, a cheerful high school girl with a killbot by her side, the Pandoran equivalent of a [[PhysicalGod physical goddess]], and/or a playable version of the Psychos who can get power from all the suffering he takes. Suddenly, all the awesomeness and hilarity comes to a halt, as Sanctuary - which is your home at this point - is now being blasted apart by Handsome Jack. You go in and hear people screaming as the place is being hammered with what seems like hellish meteors, and with some unlucky souls being ''liquified'' by the impacts as you pass through.
*** Scooter's lines make it worse in all honesty. Previously he was a dorky, perverted mechanic who nonetheless seemed friendly enough. But when Sanctary is getting torn apart, it gets replaced by a guy who's in a major panic and supremely scared about what's happening. It can possibly make ''you'' scared that the place is going to be pounded into dust before long.
* The log of Taggart, a Hunter who, well, hunted the Stalkers. It all starts out funny enough but the last log:
--> '''Taggart''': Chapter F... Chapter Ffff... [[MoodWhiplash Henry ate my hands..]] she chewed them off in front of me and I swear to Jack... the spiky bitch laughed as she did it. Mom, I just don't know what to do... No! Get away! Henry! No, Henry! Get back! No! Mommy! Mommy! MOOOOOOOOMMMMMY! *Accompanied by chewing noises*

--> You found Taggart’s missing chapter and, in so doing, discovered a soul-crushing truth: all the confidence in the world cannot prevent you from dying frightened and alone. [[MoodWhiplash But on the upside, you got PAID!]]

** Speaking of which, Gaige's unlockable [[http://i.imgur.com/DTH2y.jpg Speak No Evil]] and [[http://i.imgur.com/5bRh9.jpg Lovely Corpse]] heads are creepy.

* Doubles as Tear Jerking. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD4WrEpO_JA#t=05m03s Tiny Tina's reaction to her parents' death.]] The scary part? It's difficult to tell if she's crying or ''[[LaughingMad laughing]].''

--->'''Handsome Jack''' (In a completely serious, low and seething tone) ''Now do me a favor...and '''die'''.''

* Bloodwing's death scene.
** Even worse, the BEEPING before Bloodwing's head is blown off suggests Jack did the same to her as Skull Face did to Paz in MGS:Ground Zeroes, instead of it "just" being an effect of her slag Infusion!

** Playing as him is a [[TearJerker strangely tragic and disturbing experience]]. Whoever he was before Hyperion got him is lost. He was [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil irrevocably broken]], turned into a monster by Hyperion. Krieg emerged from the experimentation as a Badass Psycho, insane with a need to kill. Krieg's former psyche was sent to the deepest depths of his soul and out of control of his own body. His other personality knows this, and has seemingly [[DespairEventHorizon given up on ever recovering]]. A player rips their way across Pandora, occasionally hearing the sane part of Krieg quietly commenting on the action, in an utterly mournful voice. Being a Badass Psycho isn't as cool as it seems.
** Even the names of his skins start to tell a grim story when you piece them together.
--> ''''' "I AM THE ONLY ONE LEFT" "I'LL NEVER GO BACK" "DON'T MAKE ME DO IT" "CAN'T CAN'T CAN'T DO IT" "DON'T STOP PLEASE HELP ME" "NO NO NO NO NO" "WHYYYYYYYY" '''''

** There's a glimmer of hope in his personal intro movie, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6chxuovrbCI A Meat Bicycle Made for Two]], however. A blue-haired, mystical tatooed, Siren-shaped hope.
** It's implied in the Son of Crawmerax DLC that Dr. Samuels, who was [[IHaveYourWife forced against her will]] to conduct experiments for Hyperion and is at least partly responsible for Krieg's creation, may have gone just as crazy as him out of guilt for what she had done. Her letter to Krieg is written in typical ''Borderlands'' Psycho-speak, although it's possible that Krieg is merely giving his interpretation of what is actually written down, or that she wrote it that way specifically so he could understand it.

* Handsome Sorcerer in the last part of Assault on Dragon Keep. He gets so graphic that even Brick points that out.

* While it's PlayedForLaughs, Tannis' SanitySlippage (as revealed in her ECHO notes) is more disturbing than anything: not only has she become obsessed with the vault, she has developed a social phobia so extreme even people saying hi or telling her she's pretty makes her have a massive nose bleed or vomit for hours.

*** [[UpToEleven If they level up to max]], they become [[http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/921246653249723113/AD6712FD79EBE422333A73CE5117B3CB06B79E88/1024x576.resizedimage GOD-liaths]], the ultimate badass Goliath.

** It get worse. If you look close enough, you'll see that their skulls actually [[https://www.reddit.com/r/borderlands3/comments/dv7l87/oh_my_lord_i_thought_all_this_while_the_goliaths/ ''sprout right out of their goddamn mouths'']].

** And [[UncannyValley good lord is she creepy]]. You do not want a corrupted {{Drider}} smiling at you as she spews spiders from her body at you.

--> Chapter F... Chapter Ffff... Henry ate my hands.. she chewed them off in front of me and I swear to Jack... the spiky bitch laughed as she did it. Mom, I just don't know what to do... No! Get away! Henry! No, Henry! Get back! No! Mommy! Mommy! MOOOOOOOOMMMMMY! *Accompanied by chewing noises*

--> "I hate... hate... ''hate... HATE'', '''''HAAAAAAATE!''''

* You know how the Goliath's face peels back,and their skull protrudes from what used to be their mouths? Have you ever wondered how your Vault Hunter would look with their skull exposed and their face peeled back like a hood? No, you didn't? Well, too bad, because the reward for completing ''Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre'' gives it to you anyway in the form of unlockable head options for each Vault Hunter.