Ever wanted to see what FL4K looks like without the jacket? Of course you did. Who wouldn’t want some hot robot action? Pervs.
FL4K is the new mysterious character from Borderlands 3. Borderlands 2 started the trend of having at least one strange character without a clear backstory with Zer0 the Assassin. We’re still not sure whether or not Zer0 is an alien, a robot, or some combination of the two.
We’re definitely sure that FL4K is a robot, though. The name itself comes from their factory designation, which was an alphanumeric string 512 characters long. But as to where he comes from or how he came to wander the deserts of Pandora with a trip of animal friends? That’s still an untold mystery.
However, new art from Gearbox is shedding a bit of light on FL4K’s backstory. The images are from Gearbox concept artist Max Davenport and they show FL4K in their factory default setting sans flack jacket. As expected, they’re a robot, but we can pick out a few details from the reveal.
Judging by the yellow paint job and the generally high-tech appearance, we can safely assume that FL4K is of Hyperion origin. The style of the single eye is also very reminiscent of the Loaderbot from Tales from the Borderlands, although it’s not quite the same.
While FL4K might have started out as a Hyperion AI, they’ve clearly had a rough life. Various components have been replaced or augmented with whatever scrap they can find, including a brand new right foot, shin, and part of their left hand. Their right foot also has a claw and a knee guard is strapped around torn and bandaged slacks, almost as though FL4K is trying to augment their metallic resilience with more conventional clothing.
They’re certainly not trying to be more human, however. FL4K travels with a trio of beasts including a Spiderant, a Skag, and a gun-toting Jabber. Those canisters on their jacket? Those aren't grenades--those contain food for the pack, according to Mental Mars.