Fun Fact: Handsome Jack, Was a Placeholder name... But everyone loved the name that much that it became his actual name

Jack. The villain who didn't start out as a villain. Tried to really be an actual hero but slipped off the stairs ascending to hero-dom and fell into the fiery pits of villainy and insanity. His actions were not morally correct but with the shit he went through before his fall. Harvey Dent said it best: "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain." Kind of suits Jack to a T.

You see the main problem with a character like Jack is that you write him too well. causeing all antagonist after him to not feel as complex or as charismatic towards your audience.

"You are a Bandit, and I am the GODDAMN HERO!!!" -HANDSOME JACK. Best video game villain ever.

I will say thou, the voice actor for Jack is the goddamn hero... No, but really, amazing performance.

The scene where Jack kills his boss makes me both giddy but also gives me chills

handsome jack is the embodiment of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Jack definitely isn't a good guy but if I was crossed as many times as him, had my daughter killed, had everything I cared about taken, I'd be pretty fucked up too

The best villains are the ones that genuinely believe what they’re doing. Jack genuinely felt like the good guy, which makes him even scarier

Bay faaaaaaaaar my favorite villain in any media, period. His descent into madness and belief that he is the actual hero is amazing because he is right in a certain sense. The vault hunters are, in essence, just mercs while Jack tried to civilize Pandore before the power got to his head. We probably won't get a villain this good in any game in a while, change my mind!

I mean if you concider borderlands 3 he was kinda right about the bandit thing.

Jack's descent into madness began when he lost his wife, so in the end all he really wanted was revenge - vindication for the asshole for forced his own daughter to kill her mother. And I cannot say I blame him. I'd do the exact same fucking thing probably, just without the whole locking my daughter away bit that is.

The problem with Jack is that 90% of his dialogue was improvised, which is why his presence was so distinct compared to everyone else’s, because, essentially, he had his own writer, separate from the rest of the cast. But this also means that the Borderlands team could never successfully write the character on their own, or create a good enough follow-up villain for the sequel. And they didn’t. I watched a three hour breakdown of how Borderlands 3 fails, and I still don’t remember the main villain’s name. I remember that the story *hinted* that her brother might have a plot to overthrow her, due to jealousy, but then he dies, and that whole plotline is forgotten. The other issue is that the Borderlands writers, especially Randy, seem extraordinarily petty. All of the new fan-favorite characters that were introduced in Tales from the Borderlands, were either completely flanderized over a single DLC for B2, or they were flanderized, AND had their voice actor changed, or, they were just not in the game with no explanation as to where they were. Like, you may not remember it, but “Rhys” was f*cking TRENDING on twitter, every time a new trailer for Borderlands 3 dropped, and fans spotted a hint that he’d be in the game. People f*cking LOVED tales, and its cast, and how it expanded on the characters that already existed. And Gearbox just said “Nope, f*ck that”, just like how they had constantly tried to reel in Jack’s VO. Oh, and Randy Pitchford is a sexual predator who physically assaults his staff.

Jacks idea: ✅ Jacks execution of said idea and his morales: ❌

I’d love to see the history of face mcshooty

That mission in Borderlands 3 broke me. Hearing all of Jack and Angel's backstory was so fucking sad, yet it's all played like a joke by Tannis. I was so tearful, furious, and frustrated. It was such an interesting way to reveal backstory, but it played like it was nothing important and not worth getting into. The writers... what the fuck were they thinking?

I can't help but feel bad for John (Handsome Jack), he's grown up fatherless and was constantly abused by his grandmother. Out of all of the characters from the Borderlands games, John is by far, the character who's gone through the most worst changes, he was fired by Harold Tassiter, dumped and almost killed by Moxxi. The final straw was Lilith punching the vault symbol, branding John's face with it, from that last moment there Handsome Jack was ultimately born. In Tales From The Borderlands, Jack reveals some things that happened in his life but I won't get into that. This is why John is my favorite character in the Borderlands franchise, he technically DID save Elpis but he had to do it at a big cost. Props to Dameon Clarke for his performance as John/Handsome Jack, amazing voice acting and performance.

Jennifer Green did such a good job on Angel's voice.

Finally he was the best boss he makes you feel sorry for him with his backstory

In 2019, I met the man behind Handsome Jack, Dameon Clarke. Meeting him made me love the character even more than I thought was possible. He was incredible to talk to.

I remembered hating Jack throughout the game, and especially satisfied when I let Lilith kill him herself. Then until I played Tales from the Borderlands, and listening to Jack and Rhys moments, especially in the end when Jack was begging Rhys to not destroy the eye he was in. Part of me felt a little bad knowing of his past story that explained much of what Jack did, and what he had to do to get where he was up until then. (I like to think Rhys kept the eye and had Handsome Jack trapped in there as time passes, but sadly it’s never really clarified what he did with it.)

You can kind of feel bad for John//Jack near the end of BL2, he's lost the one person he still actually "cares" for-Angel, and in his mind, he doesn't realize that it was HER choice to die. It's actually really heartbreaking, but then you remeber that Jack is just as psychotic and insane as every other bandit you kill along the way to defeat/destroy the Destroyer at that point.

He always had good intentions but stress and insanity drove him to sociopathy. Deep down he still has good intentions to revive Pandora, but in a very different way.

Best “Villain” You Slanderous Man You. Handsome Jack the Greatest HERO of Borderlands Killing Psychos, Mercenaries and Friggin Bandits and making Pandora a better place for Decent folks.

You either love to hate him, or hate to love him, that’s how you know you’ve nailed your antagonist

I know a lot of people want to let Jack rest, but I think he's pretty much the only Character in the series with a strong enough personal narrative to drive the upcoming borderlands movie's plot.

Jack's definitely one of my favorite baddies, mainly because he's built up so well. That's where the Calypsos shit the bed, lol. Their development is asscheeks.

If Lilith and Co didn’t exist, Jack might’ve been a power-hungry but mostly sane CEO who fixed an entire planet by wiping it clean from murderous psychos. Almost everything he’s done was in self-defence, like with the Meriff or Zarpderp, but it’s portrayed as he’s the bad guy? He wouldn’t be the bad guy if he wasn’t betrayed for no reason multiple times.

During the rant he goes on before he dies to the vault hunter where he says he’s a hero actually made me tear up a bit

Jack is the epitome of "perhaps I treated you too harshly"

It just breaks my heart how he started out so good. I cried when I found this out. I feel so sorry for Angel. She lost her father long before he died…. Heartbreaking and makes me so sad….

I was just finishing up The Complete Borderlands timeline when I saw this video. Still one of my fav ytbers!

He was great in BL2 but he was even better in Tales from the Borderlands, benefiting from having a protagonist that can actually talk back to him His finale in TFTB was far more memorable than in BL2

The lack of Jack is a big reason why I never picked up BL3. Plus the free DLC for BL2 that connects it to BL3 disincentivized me with its terrible writing.

I loved what Telltale did with his AI's story in TFTB. Such an amazing climax, as well the fact that it ends just as tragically as his whole journey tragically started.

The original picture of Jack with his wife was found in the Jakobs Manor, meaning either him or his wife had connections with the Jakobs

Honestly Jack's story is the best fleshed out stories I've seen in a video game. I love Handsome Jack !! I wish there was a spin off where we play as Jack and decimate every resistance on Pandora and make it a safe place, and also kill vault hunters too

It’s funny how Jack had more character and depth in borderlands 3 with a side quest and echo logs than both of the calypsos who were the main villain throughout the whole game. I actually hope they retcon Jack back ngl cause he’s so much better than any other villain gearbox has tried

One of the villains that you don't forget

Handsome Jack is literally like the Breaking Bad of video games. Such a deep and beautifully crafted character with an astounding personality and wits but off course having the villainous intent behind his every action because of his past. Borderlands 3 was such a missed opportunity. Instead of taking this type of awesome writing to the next level, we instead got unnecessary character deaths, ridiculous and shitty villains who have the personality of a potato and inherit all the "modern tik tok trends" (which is stupid), Lilith literally was dumbed down of her former self, and worst of all - a non enjoyable and unattractive child brat now the main focus of the series, like what the actual fuck?! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely enjoyed the hell out of Borderlands 3's gameplay it's the best of all the series. Everything was improved on a large scale, all except the writing. Atleast the DLC's were somewhat redeemable, and Psycho Krieg DLC left a very emotional touch. Hopefully Borderlands 4 doesn't lack the narrative knack unlike BL3, because we all know that the great Borderlands war is coming among the various worlds. And it would be very sad to see such a big time event play out like a D grade average generic plot if the story is bad.

For me while I pretty much figure Jack is dead his prescence throughout Borderlands 3 is still seen especially with the Krieg dlc and the Handsome Jackpot. Makes me wonder if he ever had a back up plan in the event he died. But a few ideas ran through my head On how jack could come back into the series. 1. Via Timonthy Jack personality has been integrated into Timonthy it was something that kept bugging me. What happens if Timonthy was pushed to the point the Jack personality takes over and he more or less resumes his role as the galactic Tyrant. The Casino was also a perfect cover whose to say this didn't already happen to Timonthy. Bit of a stretch I know but it could be a possibility 2. Much like Zarpedon he was infused with Ancient Knowlege. But Zarpedon showed a unique ability in the pre-sequel that caught my attention she became ascended Could it be possible that Jack could come back in this state? 3. Now this theory would seem corny even this was memed upon in the game. The New-U station or just the New-U program in general in the event of his demise he would respawn using his own unique New-U basically come somewhat immortal in that sense and he would secretly manipulate events in the shadows given everything has fallen all to pieces. 4. Now another thought occurred to me was the potential of a Heir to his Corporation. He had three lovers maybe the potential of a secret love child pops up and continues Jack's Ambition. 5. While it's still a mystery of Sirens, vaults, etc. A huge what if Scenario here is one vault monster or Siren has the ability to raise the dead and he comes back ready to take the reigns once more. 6. Screw it since TK baha has become a Zombie Jack Zombie he comes back for a spoof run. 7. Finally while this is a "huge stretch" this is going back to the siren and vault monsters powers deal the idea of Multiverse theory. Just because they got rid of one Jack could there be a possibility of another jack just waiting around in another Universe. To me I don't think his story is exactly over, I do believe he has a role to play in the future of the series. But I don't see a Borderlands 4 in the foreseeable future.

Borderlands 2 will always be my favorite!

Borderlands 3 actually potentially explains how Jack would know about the first vault being real before anyone else. Sirens have some form of ability to see and communicate with the spirits of the previous sirens, which is shown when Ava sees maya upon receiving her power. Therefore Angel may have discovered that the vault was real due to visions from an earlier siren.

To think, if we'd let Jack live and succeed in his plans, we might have got an interesting story in Borderlands 3! Yeah I went there.

At the end of the day jack was a loving parent until the whole plot of borderlands pre sequel, Jack has clearly descended into madness but before that he was a loving father and a husband. He was a father until the bandit held angel hostage. It's a shame but it is clear

I would love to see a piece of borderlands media cover what might have happened if Jack didn't go down his path of madness or were he didn't lose his first wife, since that seems to be were it started. Either as a small comic series or maybe a small game would be cool to see.

Knowing the events of his past makes it even more sad when he's raging at the vault hunter in Borderlands 2 before he died. It makes it sad because he was so driven by his own hate that he was literally incapable of seeing the evil things he did to all of pandora. And couldn't reflect his actions because he went absolut blind by the wrath on bandits. This character is so unbelievable well written and his voice actor is just chef kiss. What a legend

Jack was one of the best villains ever made. I sure hope Gearbox/2k are able to recreate a villain almost as good as him some day

In my 18 years of gaming handsome jack is hands down my favorite villian ever.

The Calypso Twins were a fun duo to go up against, but they could never compete with our Handsome Jack

Roland's death really hit me hard as a kid playing this game. Borderlands is such a great series

I understand the father's anger towards his daugther, but the fact that he didn't accept the daughter's powers and only made it look like a horrible curse was his biggest mistake. I'm sure of that there could be a way for him and his daughter to live life with these powers and the loss of her mother. It's not easy having someone you love to be killed by soemone else you also love such as a daughter. So much guilt and so much else.

Handsom Jack is a hero. Knowing the events of 3 the twins would have still made thier way to pandora, Jack not only new this but also decided to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save everyone and everything. Without Jack being Jack in the second game the twins would have become gods like they had planned. Jack made sure there would be people strong enough to deal with the twins as he knew he was not going to be the one to do it. He also made sure there was kne less vault monster for the twins to obtain. With out Jack all would be lost. Jack is a hero, as he has been telling us. I miss you Jack.

Let's take a moment and appreciate, that Jack tried to take 6 VH at the same time. Odds were highly against him - yet he took the fight.

If they make borderlands 4 hopefully you can bring jack back. To me he didn't seem like a villain. Just a good guy who lost his way. And plus lilth and her friends are the ones who caused him to act that way

Borderlands 4 should focus on handsome jack his past and future

Welcome to pandora kiddos

It's suspected that Jack's wife was a Jakobs as that photo of them can be found in the Jakobs manor

15:57 "Call me Jack, honey," -30 seconds of unskippable ads appear 16:05 "Handsome Jack." The mood was killed along with Tasiter.

He sounds like Brandon Rogers who plays blitz in hell of a boss I would love to see someone make fan art of handsome Jack hiring imp to kill the crimson raiders!

Jacks voice actor really knows how to put the impulsive behaviour and weight with his words

Hearing Angel's accidental outburst that ends up killing her mom and hearing Jack's reaction....man, that hurts....

This is the video i've waited for a long time. Thank you EruptionFang.

Jack is honestly just my favourite video game villain so ima go ahead like this before i finish watching it XD

Wait wait wait wait wait! I’m pretty sure Jack would have copied Felicity if they had time to do so, unfortunately time was of the essence and they couldn’t do that. You made it sound like Jack was heartless af doing that

Forgot to mention that in Borderlands 3 there’s a lergendury called “Handsome Jackhammer” and I believe I found another one that has Jack’s voice coming from it asking “Lol hey when can I get a new body?” And all that gripe 😂

I admittedly been waiting for video about Jack since I noticed did insightful videos on Borderlands history and characters. One few I know of and invested fair share into, including that of the sort -psudeo- jack copy who has this neat animatic base of them and 'Jack'. Handsome Jack is pretty amazing character

Meeting Dameon Clarke was such a cool moment for me. Got a signed Jack picture and a copy of 2 that I'll forever treasure. Favorite villain in all of media as a whole, they don't get any better than him.

Literally took the saying "die a hero or live long enough to become the villain" whole another level

I would believe how Jack was able to have enough money to make a doppelganger of himself is that he probably was given a fortune by Hyperion for the vault. After all it was him that led the vault hunters thru Angel to the vault. But I believe it's said somewhere that he had pioneered tech for weapons revolving around Eridium. Only Jack could kill a man kidnap his woman and steal her catchphrase within a single moment.

I would fucking love a game where Jack comes back, cause after all, "your stories never over until it doesn't turn a profit

Thank you for continuing this series

I have a Theory as to why Jack had the doppelganger program so early on, while not high in the chain of command, its clear he's somewhat important, as he's overseeing helios and has direct contact with higher ups, its likely Hyperion funded the program after some convincing by Jack, likely for the unlikely event someone tries to kill the overseer of Helios

I just noticed that in the scene where Jack kills the former president he is wearing his BL2 outfit, but at the start of the Pre-Sequel DLC cutscene (which takes place literally seconds/minutes after killing the Tassiter), Jack is back to his Pre-Sequel outfit with the addition of his mask. Such a fast outfit change.

The early loving relationship between jack and his daughter always breaks my heart

YOOOOOOOOOO I remember I searched for this last week thinking you already made a video on this only to be surprised you didnt BUT NOW YOU DID

Oh man I thought you where done with these videos. Glad to see you are still making them. 👍

I HAVE BEEN WAITING OMG THANK YOU

Just in time just finished all the other history stories bless you good sir

Been waiting for this, keep up the good work

I find it funny how Jake was built for coding and programming then his daughter gets the sirens ability to talk and control the machines.

Honestly its all liliths fault

Thank you I was hoping you make one of my favorite villains

He's just a man who lost a lot of stuff so he literally turned to that, I kinda feel like crying sometimes listening to him

I may have to say this, but the bandit is the actual reason why Jack became that evil bastard

Honestly I can’t cry in video games, not even after listening to the ECHO stories, it’s hard for me to cry.

Thanks for bringing us this wonderful video! Next idea suggestion: Incinerator Clayton from Borderlands 2

We love his AS a villain!!

i really feel sorry for Jack

Awesome video! Jack is the best!

Still crazy to me that so many play Borderlands and be like "Story? You mean the haha ironic jokes between all the looty shooty? yeah good times." It had great story, characters and some real darkness behind all the goofiness and internet meme references.

This is amazing keep up the good work

21:00 - no credit to Scooter for getting Sanctuary in the air, but to lilith for Teleporting.

Handsome Jack is the personification of "The road to hell is paved with good intentions"

His grandma used a friggin buzzsaw

What a coincidence I just started playing borderlands again and you make this video!!

i really liked how jack character progressed throughout the game on the pre sequel

After this, I feel like Jack should come back, if only for him to (somehow) redeem himself, and in doing so, becoming the hero he always wanted. They had a great chance in borderlands 3, and they blew it!

I've been waiting for this

great video. thanks!