The Godlike Origins of Claptrap | MojoPlays
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VOICE OVER: Adrian Sousa
WRITTEN BY: Mark Sammut
Hello, minions! Welcome to MojoPlays – today, we're exploring the origins of “Borderlands'” de facto mascot, Claptrap.
Origins of Claptrap
Hello, minions! Welcome to MojoPlays – today, we’re exploring the origins of “Borderlands’” de facto mascot, Claptrap.
Vault Hunters visiting Pandora need a useful and efficient companion to lead them through the dangerous wild-lands, and that help arrives in the form of Hyperion’s CL4P-TP General Purpose Robot. Admittedly, describing Claptrap as “useful,” “efficient,” or even a “companion” would be a bit of a stretch. Designed by Lawrence De Quidt to mainly open doors, the good scientist, unfortunately, passed away before completing the modification to make the AI's personalities slightly less obnoxious or irresponsible.
While each Claptrap is unique, they are still mass produced and incapable of any genuine agency. When Lilith, Roland, Mordecai, and Brick arrive in Fyrestone to start their search for Pandora's vault, Claptrap is there to lead the hunters to Dr. Zed Blanco, an unlicensed medical practitioner with plenty of missions for the gang. Claptrap's other major contribution is being damaged by bandits, although the hunters manage to save the robot.
While a great deal happens in Pandora over the next months – including the opening of the planet's vault, the subsequent release of a godlike monster known as The Destroyer, the vault hunters defeating said monster, and a Hyperion employee named Jack picking up the defeated beast's eye – Claptrap's story does not truly begin until Hyperion decides to reprogram the robot to take out the Vault Hunters. Dubbed as the "Interplanetary Ninja Assassin Claptrap," the AI becomes aware of the widespread mockery and harsh treatment suffered by its production line.
Sick of this blatant discrimination and injustice, Claptrap starts a "Robolution." Despite their well-documented uselessness, the Claptraps actually prove to be pretty decent at this whole revolution thing. Setting up shop at Tartarus Station, Ninja Assassin Claptrap sought to rid Pandora of its human infestation. Ultimately, the "Robolution" is crushed and Claptrap is reverted to an opener of doors and author of enthusiastic one-liners.
Claptrap eventually comes across Jack, an ambitious Hyperion employee who aspires to civilize Pandora by using a mass destruction device to eliminate any troublemakers. During their brief time together, Claptrap lets slip about its past as a Ninja Assassin revolutionist. Intrigued by the prospect of meeting a competent Claptrap, Jack gives the robot a makeover, creating the first and only ever Fragtrap. While no longer a master key, Fragtrap becomes a somewhat capable combatant and one of Jack's personal, if not particularly trusted, Vault Hunters.
At Jack's behest, Fragtrap travels to Hyperion's Helios space station to try and counter an assault by Colonel Zarpedon, a former military commander seeking to destroy the Vault on Pandora's moon – Elpis – so its power does not fall in the hands of any immoral personalities. Jack and Fragtrap ultimately fail to defend Helios, with Zarpedon capturing the space station and also the weapon of mass destruction held within. In order to plan a counterattack and recapture Helios, Fragtrap heads down to Elpis to help Jack in creating a robot army. Aided by Moxxi, Roland, and Lilith; Jack and the Vault Hunters succeed in defeated Zarpedon and retake the space station.
This victory proves short-lived, as Moxxi orders Roland and Lilith to destroy Jack's weapon of mass destruction, almost killing Fragtrap in the process. Angered by the betrayal, Jack orders the Vault Hunters to open Elpis' vault. While successful, this leads to Lillith showing up to disfigure Jack's face. In turn, Jack goes completely off the rails and decides to kill everyone on Pandora for revenge.
After forcibly taking over Hyperion, Handsome Jack tasks the Vault Hunters – including Fragtrap – with entering a digital representation of Claptrap’s mind to locate a source code rumored to hold potentially useful research data. This expedition shines some light on Claptrap's past and explains the general disdain held for the robots. Once upon a time, the town of Overlook held a tournament to select the fourth Vault Hunter, with Claptrap being put in charge of the halftime fireworks show. Long story short, Claptrap accidentally uses explosives and kills most of the candidates.
Those that survived took refuge at a local church; unfortunately, Claptrap accidentally starts a fire, causing a whole lot more people to die. Luckily, a single tardy Vault Hunter remained to tell the tale. Alas, Donk is thrown into a Grinder by Claptrap, leaving the town folks rather peeved at the sudden lack of any Vault Hunters.
Once the source code is retrieved, Handsome Jack rewards his talkative Vault Hunter by destroying the entire Claptrap line and abandoning the depowered Fragtrap at Windshear Waste on Pandora. Fortunately, Claptrap is rescued and repaired by Sir Hammerlock, although the former Vault Hunter is once again demoted to an opener of doors who cannot climb stairs.
Ultimately, the planet falls in the hands of Jack's Hyperion, prompting Claptrap to start a personal crusade to get revenge on the person responsible for destroying its brethren. Before that, Claptrap becomes the temporary plaything of a bandit called Captain Flynt. After escaping, Claptrap meets a new group of Vault Hunters and leads them on a revenge mission against Flynt. Eventually, the hunters and Claptrap make their way to Sanctuary, the central hub of a resistance force run by Roland and Lilith. As the Vault Hunters fight to overthrow Jack, Claptrap mostly stays out of harm's way, only being called upon to open the security gate leading to the location holding the Vault Key and to unlock the door leading to the Vault itself.
Once Handsome Jack is defeated, Claptrap goes on a well-earned vacation. In true Claptrap fashion, the robot ends up shipwrecked on an island, is revered as a god by the inhabitants, before eventually souring that relationship. As per usual, the Vault Hunters need to save Claptrap from certain doom.
Putting aside that one-time Claptrap was temporarily hired to – for a lack of a more truthful word – help take down another Vault monster known as the Traveler, the robot’s life slowed down considerably after Jack's demise. At least, until Sanctuary is attacked by Colonel Hector, forcing everyone to evacuate the city. Rather than stay around to help the Crimson Raiders fight off this new threat, Claptrap strikes out in search of valuable crystals. Unsurprisingly, Claptrap overestimates their worth and ends up crawling back to Lilith. Ultimately, the robot settles down at The Backburner with Sanctuary's other survivors.
Whatever "Borderlands'" future holds, one can rest easy in knowing that Claptrap will always be there to open doors, treat Vault Hunters like minions, and to occasionally commit a bit of accidental mass slaughter.
Hello, minions! Welcome to MojoPlays – today, we’re exploring the origins of “Borderlands’” de facto mascot, Claptrap.
Vault Hunters visiting Pandora need a useful and efficient companion to lead them through the dangerous wild-lands, and that help arrives in the form of Hyperion’s CL4P-TP General Purpose Robot. Admittedly, describing Claptrap as “useful,” “efficient,” or even a “companion” would be a bit of a stretch. Designed by Lawrence De Quidt to mainly open doors, the good scientist, unfortunately, passed away before completing the modification to make the AI's personalities slightly less obnoxious or irresponsible.
While each Claptrap is unique, they are still mass produced and incapable of any genuine agency. When Lilith, Roland, Mordecai, and Brick arrive in Fyrestone to start their search for Pandora's vault, Claptrap is there to lead the hunters to Dr. Zed Blanco, an unlicensed medical practitioner with plenty of missions for the gang. Claptrap's other major contribution is being damaged by bandits, although the hunters manage to save the robot.
While a great deal happens in Pandora over the next months – including the opening of the planet's vault, the subsequent release of a godlike monster known as The Destroyer, the vault hunters defeating said monster, and a Hyperion employee named Jack picking up the defeated beast's eye – Claptrap's story does not truly begin until Hyperion decides to reprogram the robot to take out the Vault Hunters. Dubbed as the "Interplanetary Ninja Assassin Claptrap," the AI becomes aware of the widespread mockery and harsh treatment suffered by its production line.
Sick of this blatant discrimination and injustice, Claptrap starts a "Robolution." Despite their well-documented uselessness, the Claptraps actually prove to be pretty decent at this whole revolution thing. Setting up shop at Tartarus Station, Ninja Assassin Claptrap sought to rid Pandora of its human infestation. Ultimately, the "Robolution" is crushed and Claptrap is reverted to an opener of doors and author of enthusiastic one-liners.
Claptrap eventually comes across Jack, an ambitious Hyperion employee who aspires to civilize Pandora by using a mass destruction device to eliminate any troublemakers. During their brief time together, Claptrap lets slip about its past as a Ninja Assassin revolutionist. Intrigued by the prospect of meeting a competent Claptrap, Jack gives the robot a makeover, creating the first and only ever Fragtrap. While no longer a master key, Fragtrap becomes a somewhat capable combatant and one of Jack's personal, if not particularly trusted, Vault Hunters.
At Jack's behest, Fragtrap travels to Hyperion's Helios space station to try and counter an assault by Colonel Zarpedon, a former military commander seeking to destroy the Vault on Pandora's moon – Elpis – so its power does not fall in the hands of any immoral personalities. Jack and Fragtrap ultimately fail to defend Helios, with Zarpedon capturing the space station and also the weapon of mass destruction held within. In order to plan a counterattack and recapture Helios, Fragtrap heads down to Elpis to help Jack in creating a robot army. Aided by Moxxi, Roland, and Lilith; Jack and the Vault Hunters succeed in defeated Zarpedon and retake the space station.
This victory proves short-lived, as Moxxi orders Roland and Lilith to destroy Jack's weapon of mass destruction, almost killing Fragtrap in the process. Angered by the betrayal, Jack orders the Vault Hunters to open Elpis' vault. While successful, this leads to Lillith showing up to disfigure Jack's face. In turn, Jack goes completely off the rails and decides to kill everyone on Pandora for revenge.
After forcibly taking over Hyperion, Handsome Jack tasks the Vault Hunters – including Fragtrap – with entering a digital representation of Claptrap’s mind to locate a source code rumored to hold potentially useful research data. This expedition shines some light on Claptrap's past and explains the general disdain held for the robots. Once upon a time, the town of Overlook held a tournament to select the fourth Vault Hunter, with Claptrap being put in charge of the halftime fireworks show. Long story short, Claptrap accidentally uses explosives and kills most of the candidates.
Those that survived took refuge at a local church; unfortunately, Claptrap accidentally starts a fire, causing a whole lot more people to die. Luckily, a single tardy Vault Hunter remained to tell the tale. Alas, Donk is thrown into a Grinder by Claptrap, leaving the town folks rather peeved at the sudden lack of any Vault Hunters.
Once the source code is retrieved, Handsome Jack rewards his talkative Vault Hunter by destroying the entire Claptrap line and abandoning the depowered Fragtrap at Windshear Waste on Pandora. Fortunately, Claptrap is rescued and repaired by Sir Hammerlock, although the former Vault Hunter is once again demoted to an opener of doors who cannot climb stairs.
Ultimately, the planet falls in the hands of Jack's Hyperion, prompting Claptrap to start a personal crusade to get revenge on the person responsible for destroying its brethren. Before that, Claptrap becomes the temporary plaything of a bandit called Captain Flynt. After escaping, Claptrap meets a new group of Vault Hunters and leads them on a revenge mission against Flynt. Eventually, the hunters and Claptrap make their way to Sanctuary, the central hub of a resistance force run by Roland and Lilith. As the Vault Hunters fight to overthrow Jack, Claptrap mostly stays out of harm's way, only being called upon to open the security gate leading to the location holding the Vault Key and to unlock the door leading to the Vault itself.
Once Handsome Jack is defeated, Claptrap goes on a well-earned vacation. In true Claptrap fashion, the robot ends up shipwrecked on an island, is revered as a god by the inhabitants, before eventually souring that relationship. As per usual, the Vault Hunters need to save Claptrap from certain doom.
Putting aside that one-time Claptrap was temporarily hired to – for a lack of a more truthful word – help take down another Vault monster known as the Traveler, the robot’s life slowed down considerably after Jack's demise. At least, until Sanctuary is attacked by Colonel Hector, forcing everyone to evacuate the city. Rather than stay around to help the Crimson Raiders fight off this new threat, Claptrap strikes out in search of valuable crystals. Unsurprisingly, Claptrap overestimates their worth and ends up crawling back to Lilith. Ultimately, the robot settles down at The Backburner with Sanctuary's other survivors.
Whatever "Borderlands'" future holds, one can rest easy in knowing that Claptrap will always be there to open doors, treat Vault Hunters like minions, and to occasionally commit a bit of accidental mass slaughter.
