Borderlands 3 Gameplay Reveal Event: The Sirens Are "Very Important" To This Story

Somewhere between the sassy robots and trillions of guns, Borderlands has built a respectably complex world. A big part of that are the Sirens, super-powered women distinguishable by their mysterious tattoos. The notion of these super-beings has already played a big part in the previous two games, and Gearbox's narrative managing producer Randy Varnell promises they'll play a major role in Borderlands 3 as well.

"The Sirens are a very, very important theme of this game," Varnell told GameSpot. "You've got Lilith, you've seen Maya returning, and we know Amara, the brand new playable Siren, is there. The villain of Borderlands [Commandant Steele] is dead. She's dead dead. She's gone. Angel is dead dead. She's gone. There's three more [Sirens] unaccounted for."

Gallery

In Borderlands lore, only six Sirens can exist in the universe at any given time. Between Lilith, Maya, and Amara--all playable characters in the main games--we know about three of them. Steele and Angel took two of the additional spots, but Varnell's comments suggest that when one Siren dies, another appears somewhere in the universe. That would mean there are two more relatively new Sirens, and one remaining that may have been a Siren for quite a while now.

Steele was only confirmed to be a Siren after the first game, though fans suspected as much from her power set. Angel's identity as a Siren was a major part of the plot, as she was being exploited by the villainous Handsome Jack. Gearbox says that Handsome Jack is dead and not coming back, but that he'll probably still be mentioned as an influential part of the game.

"I would just say for all the fans out there: we are absolutely sticking to that canonical lore," Varnell continued. "There are only six Sirens in the universe at any one time. And in this game, we'll delve a little bit more into how all that happens and what's going on, and we'll ask some interesting questions. I don't want to spoil anything because there's so much fun to be had there."

Borderlands 3 releases on September 13 for PC via the Epic Store, PS4, and Xbox One. If you're still on the fence about who you might want to claim as your class, read up on all we know about the four playable characters. Check out our pre-order guide for more details.

Gearbox showed off Borderlands 3 gameplay during a stream, which you can watch here. One of the things showcased was the unique skill trees, something that we found really helps improve the solo experience. Read more about that in our Borderlands 3 gameplay hands-on preview.