It looks like one of the most disliked characters in the Borderlands series may have been cut from Borderlands 4, according to datamined file names posted online.
As posted by to EpicNNG, a Borderlands content creator and dataminer who previously led an archival effort for the defunct Chinese Borderlands MMO, files exist within Borderlands 4 that explicitly name a character called Ava. This character, introduced during Borderlands 3, proved quite divisive when series fans first met her back in 2019.
These Borderlands 4 files, posted in screenshot form on X by EpicNNG, include assets seemingly tied to her bubble (a Siren ability she was shown to have had in Borderlands 3), as well as moments in the game when she’d be accompanying Zane throughout the story.
These files indicate that Ava may have been totally replaced by another character: Amara. Notably Amara is introduced to the play alongside Hermes (Ava’s pet from Borderlands 3), and by the crashed Sanctuary ship from Borderlands 3 no less. So such inferences based on breadcrumbs left in the files aren’t baseless.
It’s worth noting that these small files datamined from the game are the only evidence available that Ava was at one point part of Borderlands 4. There has been no model discovered, nor audio files.
If Ava was originally intended to be part of Borderlands 4’s narrative as these datamined files suggest, then this would mark a fairly substantial U-turn for the game during development. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford asked the community roughly a year ago what players thought of Ava, and got a passionate response from both those who disliked the character, and those willing to give her a second shot.
Similarly, Gearbox added a Claptrap sound slider to the game, as many fans found the character to be a tad grating to listen to. A smart move, as the option itself is good joke that Borderlands fans could appreciate.
Ava has yet to be confirmed as a returning character in upcoming DLC at all, so this may very well be the closest she comes to appearing in Borderlands 4. Or maybe she’ll make a grand return to the game at a later date. The fact she was considered at all indicates there was some appetite to bring her back a few in-universe years after her grand introduction.
