10 Touching Tributes Hidden In Video Games
5. Michael Mamaril - Borderlands 2
Michael Mamaril, a Borderlands 1 fan, died of cancer in 2011 at the age of 22. He loved playing the game with his friend, Carlo, and the two were looking forward to continuing their adventures on Pandora in the sequel.
His unexpected death caused Carlo to reach out to Gearbox, the company behind Borderlands, to request they make a eulogy for Michael in the voice of his favorite character from the game, Claptrap. Gearbox delivered and sent Carlo a heartfelt farewell from Claptrap, who halfway through the audio clip saw David Eddings break character to talk about Michael's passing in a more serious manner. The studio announced that they were going to go one step further and pay tribute to Michael by creating a character based on him.
The in-game Michael Mamaril is a vault hunter that hangs out in different locations in Sanctuary, giving out rare loot to players that talk to him. He also has a special achievement connected to him called "Tribute to a Vault Hunter."
It's nice to see that Gearbox was ready to go above and beyond to honor their fallen fan.