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In each of Borderlands games there are Vault Hunters - usually the heroes of the stories (even if they act a little villainous in some cases), and in many cases are playable characters for you. After the first teaser for 2025's Borderlands 4 was released by Gearbox Software, fans have been speculating just who the vault hunters would be.

During the Gearbox panel here at PAX West 2024, the key developers of Borderlands 4 revealed that they are creating four new Vault Hunters for the game - and that they will be four of many new characters, while also leaving the door open to the idea of seeing some old characters - and possibly old Vault Hunters - returning. 

In the wide-ranging chat about Borderlands 4, the Gearbox staff talked a bit about the development of the Vault Hunters for each game, and where their minds are at for the four new ones planned for the 2025 release. 

"Well, you know, when we look at the Vault Hunters, the first thing that we always try to look at is what is some fundamental promises and fantasies that players might have that we want to explore," says Borderlands 4 creative director Graeme Timmins.

One of the examples TImmins brings up is a "straightforward FPS style" soldier which was highlighted with Axton. Another example is sirens, which as he explains it "speaks to a mage or sorcerer fantasy in our very sci-fi world."

"But even between each game, as much as we start to identify these fantasies that we want to explore with these Vault Hunters, we also think about how can we change them up."

TImmins says they're looking to at the desires fans have, and balance it with being new and avoid being "just rote" - pointing to how they changed up Sirens class with Amara in Borderlands 3 being more melee-based than previous Sirens.

Borderlands 4 art director Adam May has been involved with the franchise since the beginning, co-creating the Lilith character.  He says that at their heart, Borderlands Vault Hunters are "adventure hunters" but he and the other designers try to make each game's characters as "different as we possibly could. I mean they're misfits, outcasts, and almost anti-heroes frequently."

"We play with a lot of different looks, different styles, and different abilities," says May. "And we love that those actually influence the characters themselves, so frequently they won't even look like a group of heroes that you'd expect to see together."

Borderlands 4 is scheduled for release in 2025.

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