Of all the characters in the Borderlands universe, perhaps none are more well-known and more deserving of her own game than Tiny Tina. The 13-year-old ballistics expert, voiced by Ashly Burch, quickly became a fan favorite after her debut in Borderlands 2. But how did a 13-year-old explosion enthusiast end up in Pandora, the main world of Borderlands? And for that matter, why would someone so obsessed with revenge and blowing things up be so interested in creating their own world within the fictional world of Bunkers and Badasses, the fictional D&D analogue that Borderlands creates?

To answer this question before we begin Tiny Tina’s Wonderland, let’s dig into the weird, crazy, and wonderful origins of Tiny Tina herself, with a little help from the creators.

players first encounter Tiny Tina in 2012’s Borderlands 2 mission “A Train to Catch,” which is a great introduction to Tiny Tina. We know a lot about them before we even meet them in person. The area around where we encounter them is dotted with huge mines, leaving no doubt that whoever controls this part of the country is someone with a deep, and almost. terrifying obsession with explosives.

The possibility of bloody, violent, and possibly hilarious death is simply part of life on Pandora, and it shapes its inhabitants. According to Sam Winkler, lead author of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, there’s a reason why an orphaned 13-year-old can live just fine on Pandora. She’s exactly the kind of person who could survive and thrive on a planet full of vicious psychos and alien beasts. , all under the watch of a dictatorial megalomaniac who puts corporate interests above human interests. “The fact that they’re alive, or that they didn’t become bandits, means that they did something really bad to get there and stay alive,” Winkler said of Pandora’s inhabitants. Little Tina is also “super flustered and can blow the hell out of bandits,” which is why this unassuming 13-year-old is such a black sheep for the bandit hordes. The objective of the first side mission Tiny Tina sends you on in Borderlands 2 is to get revenge on a bandit named Fleshstick. We don’t know much about Fleshstick at this point, but that’s okay. All we need to know is that he was responsible for the death of Tiny Tina’s parents, and now Tiny Tina wants your help in getting revenge. Explosive.

Tina Tina Branches Out

Tiny Tina plays a key role in the Borderlands 2 storyline, helping the player and the Crimson Raiders derail the Hyperion train carrying the key to the vault. She also has supporting roles in Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage and the Battle of Sanctuary as a member of Commander Lilith and the Raiders’ B-Team. However, her characterization is fleshed out further in the DLC Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep. This is also the first introduction to Pandora’s own tabletop RPG Bunkers and Badasses game-within-a-game, where Tiny Tina plays the role of “Bunker Master”. It’s ridiculous and a major departure from the main Borderlands storyline, as all the action is technically created on the fly by Tiny Tina and the rules of Bunkers and Badasses.
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DLC offers a fun take on the Borderlands formula, with references to fantasy tropes, existing pen-and-paper RPGs, and the world of Pandora itself tying it all into the Vault Hunters’ larger story, but watch as the game progresses, it’s not quite the carefree journey through a high fantasy world we initially expected. In fact, a major theme of Assault on Dragon Keep is Tina coming to terms with Roland’s death. Roland, a “Solidar” class character in the original Borderlands, later led the Crimson Raiders, a sort of militia made up of former members of the Crimson Lance, an elite corporate military unit abandoned after Atlas left Pandora.

Tiny Tina keeps a picture of Roland in her room, and Roland has thanked Tiny Tina for saving his life more than he can remember. From these little anecdotes, it’s clear that Tina and Roland were very close, and that Tina cannot accept Roland’s death, when he was killed during the events of Borderlands 2. Roland appears multiple times as an NPC in Tina’s B&B campaign, making the Vault Hunters who play with her a bit upset and worried. Her inclusion of Roland as a character in the campaign, as well as the scenarios and dialogue she creates for him, clearly indicate that she cannot accept his death. Her connection to Roland connects her to other characters in Borderlands and Borderlands 2, and her association with the Crimson Raiders continues into Borderlands 3.

The fact that she continues to include him in her game of Bunkers and Badasses, despite the protests of the other players, shows how deeply rooted that denial is within her. This great loss and her eventual acceptance of Roland’s death are the main themes of this ridiculous adventure through a hybrid world of fantasy and life on the deep space frontier.

The Origins of Tiny Tina

As for Tiny Tina’s origins as a character, Winkler credits the character’s charisma to “her gremlin,” Ashly Burch. Though Borderlands 2 was actually written by her brother Anthony Burch, many of Tiny Tina’s personality and mannerisms came directly from Ashly Burch in the recording booth. “She nailed this character. It’s so incredible,” Winkler said. “There’s something about her that lets you tap into that energy.” The vocal outbursts and little flair elements aren’t necessarily in the script. These Tiny Tina-isms come from Ashly Burch.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands doesn’t follow the same theme as Assault on Dragon Keep, but the storyline involves more than just Tina leading a group of new B&B players on a Pandora-themed battlefield. Wonderlands takes place long before the events of Borderlands 3, so Tina is still a child living in a violent world full of murders and explosions. In other words, it’s exactly where it should be. But Winkler said that while she has grown as a person and as a Bunker Master compared to the DLC Assault on Dragon Keep, ultimately, “she’s still 13.”

In terms of the timeline of the Borderlands series, you don’t have to have played Borderlands 3 to understand Tiny Tina’s motivations in the next Wonderlands. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands takes place shortly after the events of Borderlands 2, with new characters and a new storyline. All you really need to know is that Tiny Tina is still a kid, despite her rather important role in supporting the Crimson Raiders and Vault Hunters in Borderlands 2. Sure, she’s a kid who loves murder and mayhem, but it’s beautiful murder and mayhem! And it’s directed at people who really deserve it.

And yet she still wants to do kid things like draw cute fluffy bunnies on rockets and play pen-and-paper role-playing games with her friends. You don’t need to know the depths of Tiny Tina’s backstory to dive straight into Wonderland. It’s enough to know that, like Tina herself, the game-within-a-game is a mix of experiences and references coming together to create something. It’s fun because it’s relatable to everyone.

So don’t worry if you haven’t played Borderlands 3, where the old Tiny Tina returns. If you’d rather dive into the character’s backstory instead, Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep has been released as a standalone DLC, and it offers up some important lessons about how Tiny loves to play RPGs. But don’t worry if you’ve never played it before: Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is intended to act as a sequel to this story, yes, but it tells a whole new story featuring new characters from the fantasy game, led by Tiny Tina.