Tiny Tina is the loud, slightly unhinged demolitions expert of the Borderlands series. Despite her over-the-top personality, she plays a prominent role in the series and even has close bonds with some of the main characters. This has garnered plenty of love for her from the gaming community.
Because of her popularity, Gearbox created a spin-off title that features her more prominently — Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Set for release on March 25, players are excited to see how the game’s fantasy twist will elevate the original Borderlands formula. It’ll also be interesting to see how it adds to Tiny Tina’s already interesting character.
Tiny Tina Before the Events of Borderlands 2
Tina was born on the planet of Pandora. She was a pretty normal kid with normal parents — that is, until Hyperion came along. When Tina was younger, the corporation paid a visit to Pandora to mine its Eridium which is a valuable resource in Borderlands. Hyperion also sought to refine the element and, in the process, produced slag as a by-product. After doing some research on Eridium, Handsome Jack learned that slag had mutagenic properties and promptly ordered Hyperion staff to start experimenting with it.
At some point before the events of Borderlands 2, Hyperion had the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve built. It was a huge facility made specifically to detain potential test subjects. This included a range of animals as well as humans. Unfortunately, Tina and her family were among those who were taken for experimentation. According to ECHO recordings found in the preserve, Tina’s family was handed over to Hyperion by a man named “Flesh-Stick.” The scientists were to administer slag injections to them to see how they might react.
Before they were taken to the facility, however, Tina’s parents gave her a “heavy, red rock” that she was to hide inside her dress. When the family lined up to get their slag injections, Tina was instructed to pull the pin on top of the rock and throw it. It was a grenade, and it successfully blew a hole in the facility wall, allowing Tina to escape. Sadly, her parents didn’t make it. It’s this event in Tina’s past that made her the way she is in the Borderlands series.
Tiny Tina and the Crimson Raiders
After the death of her parents, Tina lived alone in the Tundra Express, a location on the map of Borderlands 2. At some point, she became friends with Roland, who then introduced her to the other Crimson Raiders. However, it’s clearly Roland that Tina has the closest bond with. She even has a portrait of the two of them in her workshop.
When the player interacts with her, she’s 13 years old. She doesn’t play a very prominent role in the game’s main story, though she does offer a side quest wherein the player helps her get revenge on Flesh-Stick. Unfortunately, this relief is short-lived as not long after, Handsome Jack kills Roland in Borderlands 2.
Tina is devastated by this, and instead of coming to terms with his death, she refuses to acknowledge it. This is seen in the Borderlands 2 DLC Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep, where she inserts Roland’s character into the campaign, even as the other Crimson Raiders try to tell her that he isn’t coming back. By the end of the DLC, Tina accepts the death of her friend and learns to live without him.
In Borderlands 3, Tina is around 20 years old and officially a member of the Crimson Raiders, and she is in a team with Brick and Mordecai. The two seem to act as her parental figures, so she’s in (somewhat) good hands. Much like in the previous game, she doesn’t play that big of a role in the main story, but hopefully, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands provides a broader look at her character.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands releases March 25, 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.
