10 Devastating Video Game Deaths That Came Out Of Nowhere - Commenter Edition

4. Roland - Borderlands 2

Borderlands Roland death
2K Games

There’s some disagreement over which shock Borderlands death is the most devastating. A lot of people would say Bloodwing’s unceremonious demise, Mordecai’s subsequent breakdown, and finding Bloodwing’s headless corpse on display was absolutely brutal, but you guys brought up Roland so we’re gonna go over that one. Roland is a playable soldier class hero in the first game and an NPC in the second where he’s captured by the Bloodshots bandits.

The Vault Hunters rescue him with the assistance of Lilith, and he helps you take out Angel who ultimately sacrifices herself to try and defeat Jack.

When they succeed, Roland goes to grab the Vault Key and is suddenly shot dead by Jack. Whether or not you were particularly attached to Roland, the original vault hunters mourning him makes it significantly more upsetting. In particular, Tiny Tina, whose character-focused DLC revolved around her trying to deal with Roland’s death.

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Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.