History VideoGame / TalesFromTheBorderlands

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/talesfromborderlands_logo_1904.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''Too busy earnin', you can't get enough...'']]

''[[TheStinger I won't take the easy road...]]''

** UpToEleven in Episode 5 [[spoiler: if you bring [=Zer0=] to the final battle, when [=Zer0=] has Gortys use [=Decepti0n=], Rhys responds thusly:]]

In 2022, a follow up to ''Tales'' was [[https://www.ign.com/articles/a-brand-new-tales-from-the-borderlands-game-will-be-released-in-2022 teased]] at PAX East 2022. Later, ''VideoGames/NewTalesFromTheBorderlands'' was confirmed for an October 21, 2022 release.

In 2022, a follow up to ''Tales'' was [[https://www.ign.com/articles/a-brand-new-tales-from-the-borderlands-game-will-be-released-in-2022 teased]] at PAX East 2022.

Episode 1 was released on November 25, 2014. Episode 2 was released on March 17, 2015. Episode 3 was released on June 23, 2015. Episode 4 was released on August 18, 2015. The fifth and last episode was released on October 20, 2015 for [=PCs=] and [=PlayStation=] consoles, October 21 for Xbox consoles, and October 22 for mobile devices.
In March 2021 it was released on the Nintendo Switch.

* RealityEnsues: During a car chase, Rhys is thrown onto the hood of August's vehicle. August aims his gun at him, and Rhys rolls out of the way. August doesn't shoot at all and instead lays into Rhys for trying to dodge a bullet [[LampshadeHanging despite the fact that August would literally just have to slightly move his wrist to fire again.]]

* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler:Jack]] loves to point out how he and Rhys are so similar, from Rhys' ambition to climb to the top of the corporate ladder, to how they're both devilishly handsome. [[spoiler:He [[InvertedTrope goes back on this]] in episode five after the destruction of Helios, and says that Rhys was much better at killing people than he ever was,]] even though Rhys didn't kill people [[ForTheEvulz for the fun of it, like Jack did.]] But by now Rhys has seen that his former hero was an awful person all along, and can resolve to never follow in his footsteps.

In March 2021 it was released on the NintendoSwitch.

* YouDontWantTocatchThis: One of the bluffs Fiona can use to keep August from touching the fake Vault Key(the paint's still wet) is to claim it's dangerous. Sasha then chimes in saying you could catch Eridium poisoning from Vault Keyes, so Fiona did August a favor.

* TheCon: The plot of episode one.

* ShipTease: In "Catch a Ride", Rhys has several opportunities to flirt with Sasha, but he's so awkward about it, it's hard to tell if she likes him back.

* ATaleToldByAnIdiot: The game depicts a grand adventure being told to a mysterious stranger from the perspectives of Rhys and Fiona. Fiona generally tells her story pretty straight, but Rhys himself is a buffoon in most situations, usually surviving situations more on sheer luck than actual plans. Whenever he slips up in retelling the story, he gets called on it.

* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: [[spoiler:Holo Jack]] doesn't show up until the very end of Episode 1. His appearance can be surprising to those not expecting it, but since he's a main cast member it's near impossible to talk about later episodes without mentioning him. After "Atlas Mugged" was released, he was even added to the UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil advertising screenshots.]]

* InterfaceSpoiler: [[spoiler:Yvette]]'s FaceHeelTurn was actually given away long before the event actually happened - when reviewing your choices in episode 1, the thumbnail for [[spoiler:accepting Vasquez's deal to betray Vaughn]] originally showed Vasquez [[spoiler: on the ECHO communicator with Yvette]], before a patch changed the image to just show Vasquez, and [[spoiler:Aurelia]]'s bonus TftBL skin in ''The Pre-Sequel'' was titled "[[spoiler:Yvette's Regret]]."
* InterfaceScrew: In Episode 4. Should you go against Jack and refuse to rule Hyperion with him, he straps you into a chair and plugs the override port into Rhys' temple to download himself into the mainframe of the station. The four-option dialogue format comes up as you try to call Fiona for aid over the radio, but all the options begin to glitch back and forth, switching between telling her that you're in trouble to assuring her that everything's fine, since Jack is hacked into Rhys' brain. No matter which option you choose or how carefully you try to time your button-press to select dialogue when it's glitched back to alerting her for help, Jack hijacks the speech center of Rhys' brain and talks through him, forcing him to say that nothing is wrong.

* InJoke: If you press a button to skip the credits that roll after the end of an episode, a message in the corner of the screen will say "Telltale Games will remember that".

* InvulnerableKnuckles: Averted for Rhys, who hurts his hand when trying to punch a bandit in the face. It takes him up to Episode 4 for him to realize that he should punch with the robot arm.

* IAmWhatIAm: When Sasha tries to make Rhys feel guilty about working for Hyperion, Rhys can respond that the only thing he has ever wanted to do since he was very young was run a company, and even though Hyperion does some horrible things, they ''are'' the biggest, richest and most powerful company around, so he's quite happy working there.

* SequelHook: Events at the end of Episode 5 leave things open for a potential Season 2: [[spoiler:After entering the Vault of the Traveller and opening the cache they find there, Rhys and Fiona are ''teleported away''.]] Roll credits. At least Rhys and Sasha return in ''VideoGame/Borderlands3''.

* FingerGun: Hyperion employees love to shoot one another with imaginary guns as some sort of cheesy greeting ritual. It gets taken to ridiculous levels when Rhys ends up having an overblown firefight with the entirety of Accounting with imaginary weapons. Complete with batting back imaginary grenades, using imaginary throwing knives, imaginary reloads and running out of imaginary ammo. [[spoiler: In Episode 5, Gortys adapts this practice by digistructing herself some functional finger guns.]]

* GuideDangIt: Getting all possible teammates available for the final battle in Episode 5. The game does tell you which choices would have made each teammate available, but only after the fact (however, since the plot requires at least three teammates, if less than three are available the game will bring the count up to three by unlocking a normally unavailable teammate). Here's a list of how to unlock each available teammate:
** [[spoiler:Athena is available if, in episode 4, you lie to Janey and tell her that Athena said she loved her before being captured, which will salvage Athena and Janey's relationship, or if you otherwise encourage Athena to be honest with her.]]
** [[spoiler:August is available if, in episode 3, when Vallory asks you who's to blame for the failed deal, you blame either Felix or Vasquez instead of August. Or during Episode 1 if you chose ''not'' to shot him.]]
** [[spoiler:Cassius is available if, in episode 3, you persuade Athena to back down instead of encouraging her to kill Cassius.]]
** [[spoiler:Felix is available--sort of--if, in episode 1, you warned him about the bomb attached to the briefcase and thus saved his life. He won't actually arrive as a teammate, but he'll reveal that he actually saved the money instead of letting it explode, and you'll be able to choose another teammate to replace Felix--including the Mystery Vault Hunter, since the money is enough to hire the Mystery Vault Hunter.]]
** [[spoiler:Janey Springs is available if, in episode 4, you honored Scooter's request and launched his satellite into space after he died.]]
** [[spoiler:The Mystery Vault Hunter is available if you either found all possible money and never spent it, thus having the maximum amount of money in the game by the time you need teammates for the final battle, or spared Felix so he left you enough money to hire the Mystery Vault Hunter.]]
** [[spoiler: [=Zer0=] is available if, in episode 3, when Mordecai asks Fiona who she is, Fiona identifies herself as a potential Vault Hunter.]]

* BigDamnHeroes: [=Zer0=] shows up multiple times to either dramatically save the characters or to [[ChandlersLaw interrupt tense situations]]. Athena does this as well.

* LifeOrLimbDecision: In Episode 5, after Jack tries to kill Rhys by forcing him to choke himself to death, Rhys backs up into a piece of rebar and spears his cybernetic arm on it. He immediately starts to viciously rip out the wires connecting it to his flesh shoulder, and once it's finally disconnected and he pulls it off, blood comes gushing out. Jack waxes on about how as long as Rhys is still part-machine, Jack will be inside him and waiting to kill him. Rhys immediately realizes what's about to happen and doesn't hesitate to begin to pull out his temple port and ECHO eye, [[Determinator using a shard of glass and his bare hands.]]