Is Tiny Tina in Borderlands 4?

What to know

• Borderlands 4 launched on September 12, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, with a Nintendo Switch 2 version following on October 3.
• The game introduces four new playable Vault Hunters—Amon, Harlowe, Rafa, and Vex—without any returning ones like Tiny Tina as options.
• Returning non-playable characters include Moxxi, Claptrap, Zane, and Marcus, but Tiny Tina's voice actress, Ashly Burch, confirmed no involvement.
• Set on the planet Kairos, the story focuses on resisting the Timekeeper's regime, emphasizing fresh mechanics like seamless exploration and billions of weapons.

You might be gearing up for your next Vault Hunter adventure, wondering if the pint-sized demolitions expert from earlier games will join the fray on Kairos. As Borderlands 4 dives into a new planetary conflict six years after the events of Borderlands 3, it shifts focus to an all-new cast while bringing back a select few familiar faces. Based on the latest reveals and developer insights from early 2025 onward, here's what you need to know about Tiny Tina's potential role—or lack thereof—in this installment.

Understanding Tiny Tina's history in the Borderlands series

Tiny Tina first burst onto the scene in Borderlands 2 as a 13-year-old explosives prodigy with a wild personality, quickly becoming a fan favorite for her unpredictable humor and narration in the Assault on Dragon Keep DLC.

By Borderlands 3, she's grown into a young adult around 20 years old, appearing in minor roles and side content. Her standalone spin-off, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, released in 2022, expanded her world into a fantasy-themed looter shooter, showcasing her as the Bunker Master in a tabletop-style campaign.

This game highlighted her influence on the series, introducing mechanics like customizable characters and melee weapons that some fans hoped would carry over. However, Wonderlands was positioned as a side project, and recent developer comments suggest Gearbox is prioritizing mainline entries while keeping Tina's universe alive separately.

Borderlands 4's confirmed cast and why Tiny Tina isn't listed

When Gearbox unveiled Borderlands 4 at Gamescom in August 2024, they emphasized a fresh start on the planet Kairos, where Elpis's destruction of a protective barrier sets the stage for Vault Hunters to battle the dictator known as the Timekeeper and his synthetic army.

The playable roster consists entirely of new characters: Amon the Forgeknight, a tanky brawler with incendiary and cryo affinities; Harlowe the Gravitar, who manipulates gravity for crowd control; Rafa the Exo-Soldier, a versatile fighter with explosive turrets and melee options; and Vex the Siren, blending elemental attacks with summoning abilities. Each has three action skills and expansive skill trees, offering more customization than previous games combined.

For non-playable characters, Borderlands 4 brings back staples like Moxxi for her bar and quests, Claptrap as the comic relief companion, Zane Flynt from Borderlands 3 for mercenary support, and Marcus as the narrator. Even Dr. Zed returns via vending machines for gear. So does Lilith. But notably absent from all trailers, bios, and announcements is Tiny Tina.

In a May 2025 interview with Ginx TV, her voice actress Ashly Burch stated she "hasn't heard anything" about reprising the role, fueling speculation that Gearbox is saving Tina for other projects. This aligns with the game's "all-new cast" description, allowing developers to explore Kairos's high-tech, lo-fi aesthetic without tying back to Pandora's core crew.

Potential reasons for Tiny Tina's exclusion and future possibilities

You could speculate that Gearbox wants to avoid over-relying on Tina after her full spin-off game, especially since Borderlands 4 aims for a more "grounded" tone with reduced toilet humor and a seamless open-world feel on Kairos. The new traversal tools—like grappling hooks, dashing, and summonable vehicles such as the Digirunner—shift gameplay toward exploration and combat variety, potentially leaving less room for Tina's narrative style. Plus, with billions of procedurally generated weapons and a licensed parts system for surprises, the emphasis is on loot innovation rather than character-driven stories from past entries.

That said, post-launch support includes two new Vault Hunters and story DLCs as large as Borderlands 3's expansions, starting with "Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned" in early 2026. While nothing confirms Tina's return there, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford teased in September 2025 that they're "just getting started" with the Wonderlands universe, hinting at a sequel. Rumors from mid-2025 suggest Wonderlands 2 was never fully canceled, just delayed to focus on Borderlands 4. If you're a Tina fan, this could mean her explosive return in a separate title rather than shoehorning her into Kairos's resistance plot.

How Borderlands 4 evolves without relying on past characters

Diving into Borderlands 4, you'll notice mechanics inspired by spin-offs like Wonderlands, such as deeper melee options and elemental synergies, but adapted for the mainline. The game supports up to four-player co-op with crossplay, instanced loot, and dynamic scaling, making it easy to team up without replaying the full campaign on alts—you can skip it for new characters. Combat feels refreshed with no loading screens between zones, divided into four distinct regions each ruled by a Commander boss. If Tiny Tina's absence disappoints you, the new Vault Hunters offer versatile playstyles: go brawling with Amon for close-quarters mayhem, or zip around as Rafa for turret-supported frenzy.

Wrapping up the loot hunt on Kairos

As you blast through synthetics and uncover alien treasures in Borderlands 4, the absence of Tiny Tina opens the door for fresh chaos from the new cast, though her potential Wonderlands sequel keeps the hope alive for more bunker-master antics. Whether you're soloing or co-oping, this entry delivers the series' signature mayhem with modern twists—grab your gear and see if it hooks you without the familiar demolitions teen.