Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Battleborn

Go To

The various characters of Gearbox's game Battleborn.

Beware of Unmarked Spoilers.


    open/close all folders 

The Factions

  • The Eldrid Battleborn  NPCs 
  • The Jennerit Imperium Battleborn  NPCs 
  • Last Light Consortium Battleborn  NPCs 
  • The Rogues Battleborn  NPCs 
  • United Peacekeeping Republics Battleborn  NPCs 

The Varelsi

An army of cosmic horrors bent on consuming every star in the universe.

    In General 
  • Creepily Long Arms: Many of them have long skeletal spidery arms.
  • Dark Is Evil: The evil star consuming legion of cosmic horrors are prominently dark in color and theme.
  • Dem Bones: A number of them vaguely look skeletal.
  • Deal with the Devil: The Varelsi typically don't communicate with those whose stars they consume. They just invade and attack and they've been doing so for thousands of years. However, for some reason they decided to break their usual pattern and negotiated with Rendain. Apparently in exchange for helping with their mysterious goals, they'd spare Rendain and his people who follow him. What specifically did they offer to Rendain is somewhat unclear but slightly hinted at in Chapter 1 of the motion webcomic. Why did the Varelsi break their pattern and decided to make a deal with Rendain to accept his support in the first place is unclear as well.
  • Deployable Cover: Varelsi Hunters are capable of deploying barriers that only their projectiles can pass through.
  • Dreadlock Warrior: The melee focused Varelsi Berserkers have dreadlock-like tentacles that extend from the back of their heads.
  • Eldritch Abomination: An entire race of them. Seemingly.
  • Fridge Horror: An In-Universe one proposed by ISIC as a response in a potential dialogue in The Algorithm mission wherein Ghalt tries and fails to hit the Magnus with a Logic Bomb. The Varelsi have been rapidly consuming stars at an extremely alarming rate. So much so that it's almost like they're consuming stars in desperation out of fear of something. If that's truly the case, what exactly would drive cosmic horrors like the Varelsi to such desperate lengths.
  • The Goomba: Varelsi Skulks are the most basic type of Varelsi. Having very simple skeletal humanoid appearances as well being extremely slow, they're no different than slow moving zombies that serve as mere cannon fodder.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: They are the main driving threat of the game, having consumed countless stars and making Rendain decide to ally with them in hopes of saving his people. According to an interview, they are as close as to "pure evil" villains, at least from the standpoint that they don't negotiate. They just consume.
  • Hellgate: As shown in The Void's Edge when the Battleborn accidentally travel through to the Varelsi's apparent home dimension, the portals these horrors use lead to someplace very dark and filled to the brim with them.
  • Horde of Alien Locusts: A legion of extra-dimensional cosmic horrors who have been consuming stars to a point that only one star Solus is all that remains in the entire universe.
  • Humanoid Abomination: Many of the Varelsi have vaguely humanoid shaped bodies that are not quite right. Others not so much.
  • Inscrutable Aliens: The Varelsi are a legion of extra-dimensional cosmic horrors who have for thousands of years been dragging stars back to their dark dimension, essentially consuming them all for some unknown reason. Very little is understood about these eldritch abominations and less their actual motives especially since violence seems to be the only language they communicate with to those whose stars they consume. There seemingly is no way to communicate with these beings yet Rendain was somehow able to broker an alliance with them in order to save his people the Jennerit from the Varelsi's onslaught as he came to the conclusion that the complete heat death and darkening of the universe was inevitable.
  • Meaningful Name: Varelsi closely resembles the Swedish word "Varelse" which means "Creature" in English.
  • The Musketeer: Varelsi Hunters can switch between using a sword and a gun.
  • Skull for a Head: They have white skull-like heads upon their dark bodies.
  • The Stars Are Going Out: The Varelsi are the cause of the stars in universe going out before their natural solar lifetimes. The Varelsi have been doing so for thousands of years however ever since Rendain decided to ally the Jennerit with them, the Varelsi's efforts have been accelerated exponentially to a point that only one star, Solus, now remains in the universe.
  • Teleportation: Various quotes from the Battleborn indicate that killing a particular Varelsi just sends it back to the Void. One of Mellka's lore challenges elaborates on this further that their death-deconstitution is surmised to be a sort of automatic battle injury recovery mechanism for the Varelsi. While this would render the Varelsi somewhat immortal, Mellka's lore however also mentions that four of seven Varelsi Conservators that she had defeated one time were so physically broken that their death-deconstitution didn't activate, thus leaving behind the first Conservator corpses ever recovered for close observation.
  • Thinking Up Portals:
    • The Varelsi are somehow able to create portals to traverse across places. These portals in particular are mentioned to be complete anomalies appearing in space time which known science can't fully explain. The fact that the Eldrid have almost figured out how the tech works spurs the mission "The Experiment."
    • One of Mellka's lore challenges states that the Varelsi Conservators appear to possess this capability innately, allowing them to summon additional waves of reinforcements from otherworldly staging areas.
  • White Mask of Doom: The Varelsi have white horrific skull-like masks for heads and collecting these is the main focus of the upcoming Face-Off mode.
  • Zombie Gait: Skulks the most basic of Varelsi types simply shamble when moving around. The other Varelsi types on the other hand, move faster than them.

    Bagranth the Gunhulk 
A new and improved Varelsi sent by Rendain to stop the Battleborn from retrieving the Eldrid records in The Archive mission. This very large Varlesi serves as the boss for said mission.
  • Arm Cannon: Has two arm cannons. It loses these after taking enough damage and regrows regular Varelsi arms in their place.
  • BFG: Has three on its back and two serving as its arm cannons. They are destroyed during the boss fight as Bagranth takes on damage.
  • Boss-Arena Idiocy: Veil Breaker Turrets the only things capable of breaking through its shield happen to be also littered around the area where Bagranth is fought. They however have to be purchased to be built first and lesser Varelsi continuously come in to destroy said turrets.
  • Deflector Shields: During the boss fight, Bagranth employs a shield to protect itself completely from damage. The only things that can break through this are the Veil Breaker Turrets around the boss area.
  • Didn't Need Those Anyway!: Bagranth loses its BFGs the more it's damaged. Once all five guns are lost, it grows two arms and adapts a more melee based attack pattern.
  • King Mook: Essentially a giant version of similar looking Varelsi types such as the Defilers and Wardens.
  • Shielded Core Boss: Its shield has to be broken through by Veil Breaker Turrets before it can take any direct damage.
  • Spider Tank: With its five BFGs, multiple spider-like legs, and intimidating size, it's pretty much a Varelsi tank.

    Demon Bear 
The titular Demon Bear from the DLC Story Operation "Montana and the Demon Bear" is an ursine-like Varelsi that serves as the operation's boss. Told via campfire stories by Montana and his fellow Battleborn camping with him, the operation revolves around a story involving the Demon Bear and Montana's encounter with her as he chased after the bear in order to retrieve Nova's processing core that she had taken. As Montana and his fellow Battleborn take turns at narrating and giving their own take on the story over the course of the operation's 10 playthrough runs, some aspects about the Demon Bear naturally differs between versions.
  • Action Bomb: In the instance wherein Nova states that there's ghosts in the boss fight, the Demon Bear's cubs will turn into Spirit Cubs instead of normally dying. These ghosts which are immune to damage will seek out players and self-detonate when close enough.
  • Bears Are Bad News: The Varelsi dubbed the Demon Bear by Montana is a large bear-like eldritch horror. Accompanying the Demon Bear are her smaller but still just as eldritch looking bear cubs that she summons via Varelsi portals to battle alongside their mother in her boss fight. The Demon Bear can also summon in a certain instance Bear Alphas, Varelsi bears bigger and tougher than her regular cubs but still smaller than her.
  • Beary Friendly: Due to believing that stories should be fun and happy, Alani's version of the Demon Bear story paints the titular beast instead as being a big friendly bear that just wants to play. Because of this, the Demon Bear isn't even fought during what's supposed to be her boss fight. The bear instead sits all friendly, waiting to be hugged. After being hugged, she gives back Nova's core and becomes even more cutsey with Blush Stickers on her skull and butterflies flying around her.
  • Boss-Arena Idiocy: During moments of her boss fight, the Demon Bear will gain a shield and become completely invincible. Her shield would've made her otherwise unbeatable if not for the drills in her lair which can penetrate and disable said shield. Simply activating the drills alone however isn't enough to disable her shield as it requires standing on the drills' activation pads until the last moment to trick her into running into the drills when she comes charging.
  • Bullfight Boss: Upon activating the drills in her lair whenever she gains a shield, the Demon Bear will charge at players standing on the drills' activation pads. Dodging at the right moment causes her to ram into the drills and get her shield disabled as well as cause her to be temporarily stunned.
  • Collapsing Ceiling Boss: During her boss fight, the Demon Bear will cause her cave lair to shake and make rocks fall from the ceiling to damage players. She can also catch the rocks that fall onto her with her Varelsi tendrils to throw at players.
  • Combat Tentacles: She uses her Varelsi tendrils either to grab players and bring them closer towards her, or to catch falling rocks which she can then throw at players.
  • Our Demons Are Different: Some versions of the Demon Bear story told by Montana and his fellow Battleborn camping with him make out the Demon Bear really into a demon sorts.
  • Depending on the Writer: An In-Universe case with the different versions of the Demon Bear's story. As Montana and the Battleborn camping with him take turns at narrating and giving their own take on the campfire story, certain aspects of the Demon Bear as well as the story itself change between versions in an almost "Rashomon"-Style-like way. In one version for example, the Demon Bear is portrayed as a typical Varelsi monster. In another version though, the Demon Bear is framed as the hero rather the villain of the story. Thus what the Demon Bear is differs depending on which Battleborn is telling the story.
  • Draco in Leather Pants: An In-Universe example with Boldur and Alani's versions of the story. The Demon Bear is the villain in the campfire story being shared amongst Montana and his fellow Battleborn he's camping with. These two though don't shares certain opinions and instead downplay if not outright altogether ignore the Demon Bear's role as a villain when they take a crack on telling the story. With Boldur, the dwarf has an affinity for bears and as such Boldur sympathizes with the Demon Bear. His version thus frames the Demon Bear as the brave yet tragic protagonist of the story who only stole Nova's processing core just to feed her young. With Alani, she believes stories should be happy and inspiring, full of joy and wonder. Her version thus is a Rose-Tinted Narrative where the Demon Bear is merely misunderstood, being actually friendly, and the whole chase with her was just her playing hide and seek. In fact, the Demon Bear in Alani's version doesn't even fight during what's normally her boss fight. She just sits all friendly-like, waiting to receive a big hug for which she in return gives back Nova's core.
  • Elite Mooks: Normally during the Demon Bear's boss fight, she just summons her cubs. However in a certain instance, the Demon Bear will also summon Bear Alphas alongside her cubs. These Bear Alphas are bigger and tougher than the Demon Bear's cubs. They are also capable of firing long range blasts from their forepaws.
  • Framing Device: The DLC Story Operation involving the Demon Bear is framed by Montana and his fellow Battleborn camping with him telling campfire stories about it, each being a different take on the story about Montana's encounter with the bear.
  • Gender Flip: In Shayne's first take on the story, she very briefly refers to the Demon Bear as a male.
  • Ghost Story: Montana's encounter with the Demon Bear is initially told by Montana to his fellow Battleborn camping with him in the style of a typical campfire ghost story. Over the course of the overall narrative of the operation , the Battleborn decide to take turns at narrating this campfire story, each giving their own different take on the premise. Their versions of the story range from adhering to the campfire ghost story style, to downplaying it, to changing the style altogether that it's only a ghost story in appearance but not in narration.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: In the instance wherein Nova states that ghosts there's in the boss figh, the Demon Bear's cubs will instead of simply dying, turn into Spirit Cubs. These Spirit Cubs are immune to damage and will explode when they get near players.
  • Monster Is a Mommy: In Boldur's version of the story, he frames the Demon Bear stealing Nova's processing core as only her providing food for her cubs.
  • Perspective Flip: Since Boldur has an affinity for bears, his version of the Demon Bear's story flips the perspective and frames the Demon Bear as the story's protagonist rather than its antagonist.
  • Puzzle Boss: During moments of her boss fight, the Demon Bear will gain a shield and become invincible. The only way to disable said shield is using the drills located in her lair on her. The thing is however it also requires some Deadly Dodging than just simply activating the drills for them to penetrate the shield. Players need to stand on the drills' activation pads just long enough when the Demon Bear comes charging at them then dodge at the very last second so that she rams into the drills behind them instead.
  • Soul Eating: In Shayne's second take on the story, she gives the Demon Bear a ravenous appetite for souls.
  • The Unfought: Normally the Demon Bear is fought at the end of the operation like any other mission boss. However in Alani's rose-tinted version, the Demon Bear once caught up to in her boss area, doesn't fight. Instead of typically fighting, she's just sitting down peacefully waiting for a hug. After being hugged, she freely gives back Nova's core without any hassle at all.
  • Villain Protagonist: Due to having an affinity for bears, Boldur frames the Demon Bear as the protagonist in his version of the story rather than as the antagonist.
  • Weaponized Offspring: During her boss fight, the Demon Bear will summon her bear cubs via Varelsi portals to battle alongside her.
  • Zero-Effort Boss: The Demon Bear can be one of the most hardest bosses in the game. However in Alani's version of the story, the Demon Bear becomes zero effort as she won't even fight as a boss. Instead of a typical boss fight, the Demon Bear that's been made friendly by Alani just sits peacefully, waiting for a hug. After being hugged, the bear peacefully gives Nova's core back without a fight of any kind. The whole thing is pretty much akin to a Pacifist won battle from Undertale in a first person shooter. Some pragmatic players use this to go for a 100 Ops Point run due to not actually having to fight the incredibly difficult boss at the end.


Top