The Borderlands franchise has its fair share of mysterious characters. Learning Nyriad’s story in Borderlands 3 is a major highlight, for example, and Guardians like the Seer and the Watcher both get fans intrigued by speaking in riddles. However, when it comes to the characters gamers have actually played as, Zer0 is undoubtedly the most mysterious of all. As such, it has come as a surprise that New Tales from the Borderlands has seemingly given him some new lore.
What makes this so interesting is that New Tales from the Borderlands tells its own story with very few returning characters, and Zer0 is not one of them. Beyond that, the reveal does not come in the main story, as it is hidden away somewhere many players will not look: the description of Zer0’s Vaultlanders figurine. Though it does not provide ever answer fans have been asking for, it is a step toward something more concrete.
Zer0’s Well-Hidden Secret
New Tales from the Borderlands’ Vaultlanders are an entertaining collectible type with a mini game attached, and each focuses on a popular character from the series. With unique finishing moves and some funny battles against the Badass Superfan, Vaultlanders are a ton of fun, and players that get the best ending will be rewarded with a Zer0 figure. Intriguingly, this figure is hiding a bit of lore.
Inspecting the figures at the main menu results in funny descriptions about them, like the Handsome Jack figure mentioning how often he comes back from death. Zer0’s reads as follows:
“Sometimes, when a robot Mommy and a ninja Daddy love each other, you get Zer0.”
Obviously, this has led to some discussions across social media, as this is the most official information gamers have on what Zer0 is. However, it raises some interesting questions, and fans should be careful not to read into things too deeply since Gearbox could always deem this bio non-canon down the road.
What Zer0’s Vaultlanders Text Could Mean
At the very least, this text confirms what fans have expected for years now: Zer0 is not human. While answers ranged from him being an alien due to his four fingers, or a robot because of his visor and way of speaking, this description provides something more concrete. Zer0 is officially a robot - or at least part robot, as no details are provided about the ninja half of his lineage.
Assuming that the ninja father mentioned in Zer0’s Vaultlander description is human, he would be a cyborg. However, this would raise questions about FL4K, who gamers believe is directly connected to Zer0 due to the numbers in their names and the digits present on their hands. FL4K is very much a robot, so Zer0 potentially being a cyborg would make him quite different from the beastmaster. With no details provided on the father’s species beyond it being a ninja, it could also be an alien or simply another robot.
It is also worth noting that this description is worded as a joke, with the “mommy and daddy” line being a parody on the birds and the bees talk many have heard in their lives. As such, the only important information to take from the bio could be the robot comment. If taken at face value, Zer0 could only be part robot, but that may be reading too much into the joke. At the very least, fans have some concrete confirmation that Zer0 is robotic, something they have wanted in writing for a long time now. Why he was created and who wanted to make a haiku-speaking assassin are still two things that need to be answered in future Borderlands games, however.
New Tales from the Borderlands is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
