Who is the villain in Borderlands 4?

You've met the Vault Hunters, and now you must be wondering, who is going to be the villain in Borderlands 4? If nothing else, the antagonists of the Borderlands franchise have always been forces to reckon with; the most well-known being Handsome Jack. We also have the Calypso Twins from Borderlands 3, but no one talks about them much.

However, the villain in Borderlands 4 might be more than just a conversation starter. Meet the Timekeeper. Described as a well-mannered and disturbingly calm tyrant. He rules over the prison planet of Kairos with an iron fist.

Staying true to the role of a dictator, he's obsessed with order, and implements — well, implants — it with zeal using Bolts (not to be confused with Enhancements). Using this, he watches over his citizens and controls them as he sees fit. But that could all change soon, now that Vault Hunters have appeared on his beloved planet.

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What does the villain in Borderlands 4 want?

The Timekeeper (Image via 2K)

Much like any good tyrant, the Timekeeper wants to be in control of things at all times. Much like the Time Variance Authority from the Marvel universe, the Timekeeper seeks to control the ebb and flow of life itself on his planet of Kairos. With the help of his army — The Order — he keeps things in check.

However, when the rogue moon, Elpis, crashed into the protective veil around Kairos and destroyed it, all hell broke loose. I'm sure Lilth didn't mean to teleport a moon from Pandora across the galaxy to start another revolution, but here we are. Following the planet-wide cataclysmic event that disrupted the Timekeeper's perfect order, a revolution is brewing and has been ongoing for six years.

Although the Timekeeper and his Order army have been clamping down on the uprisings, the denizens of Kairos have had enough. Some have ripped out their Bolts (along with chunks of their brain) to break free and fight to the bitter end. This is where the Crimson Resistance, Vault Hunters, and other memorable characters come into the picture. Nothing like breaking into Vaults while starting an intergalactic coup.

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What else do we know about the main villain in Borderlands 4?

No shortage of Psychos (Image via 2K)

Aside from his need to tyrannically and forcefully subdue the populace, he's currently dealing with an uprising by the local Psychos on his planet. You know, the ones that we can see throughout the franchise and often shout out incomprehensible things like "Strip the Flesh! Salt the Wound! What does it do?". Yeah, those guys. Thus, the need for excessive force is understandable.

Which is why this villain in Borderlands 4 is also seemingly into the weapon business and has a manufacturing brand called the Order. It would make sense to create his own weapons to ensure his army is well supplied. With the protective veil that was in place for thousands of years, outsourcing was not an option. Self-sufficiency was a necessity.

Moving past this, we also know that he's rather powerful as an individual. Being able to harness some sort of energy to use in combat. Many synthetics that are part of his army can also tap into this energy. It's unclear what it is, but it makes combatants more formidable; however, nothing that a Badass Vault Hunter can't deal with.

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That's all we know about the main villain in Borderlands 4. I'm sure there will be many more minor villains to contend with, and they'll be revealed slowly over the next few months. All in all, the Timekeeper seems to be formidable. Hopefully, the character's writing and intentions are up to the expectations that the developer has set.

Truth be told, while Vaults and Vault Hunters are important, the main villain in Borderlands 4 is going to be the glue that binds everything together. If protagonists don't have a good enough reason to fight (which means you and your friends in co-op+crossplay), the entire point is moot.

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