Characters / Borderlands: Claptrap

Spoilers Off for games prior to Borderlands 3 as well as for spoiler characters that are marked as such. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned.

Borderlands Character sheets
Playable Vault Hunters: Borderlands | Borderlands 2 (Krieg) | The Pre-Sequel (Claptrap) | Borderlands 3
Supporting Characters: Borderlands | Borderlands 2 (Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC) | The Pre-Sequel | Borderlands 3
Spinoffs and other media: Tales from the Borderlands | Tiny Tina's Wonderlands | New Tales from the Borderlands | Other media
Weapon Brands: Atlas | Dahl | Hyperion (Handsome Jack) | Maliwan | Jakobs | Torgue | Tediore | Other Weapon Brands
Other: Bandits and Bandit Factions (Children of the Vault) | Hodunk and Zaford Clans | Creatures (Eridians and Vault Monsters) | Raid Bosses

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CL4P-TP "Claptrap" (a.k.a The Fragtrap; I.N.A.C.^note Interplanetary Ninja Assassin Claptrap)

As of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!. ^{See him in Borderlands 1 (Claptrap DLC)}

Voiced by: David Eddings (English; 2009-2018) Jim Foronda (English; 2019), Jack Black (film), Wataru Takagi (Japanese), Antoine Tomé (French)

"Helloooo, travelers! I am a CL4P-TP steward bot, but my friends call me Claptrap!"

Upon first meeting Claptrap.

A type of Hyperion robot designed to provide assistance to settlers and newcomers to Pandora. They are almost universally hated by the population of the planet, and the bandits use them as target practice. The one who greets the Vault Hunters in Fyrestone is the most ubiquitous to the series, introducing the first generation of Vault Hunters to Pandora and later leads a short-lived robot revolution in the name of his kind, "claptrapping" any living creatures they encountered. He becomes a major character in the second game, rescuing the second generation of Vault Hunters from the tundra after Jack failed to kill them, and eventually becomes a playable Vault Hunter in The Pre-Sequel! as the prototype FR4G-TP under Jack's employ. By the time of the third game, he's a 'respected' general of the Crimson Raiders who greets the third generation of Vault Hunters arriving on the planet.

His action skill in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! has him run VAULTHUNTER.EXE, a buggy program that analyses the battlefield and grants him a random ability he deems appropriate for the situation.

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A-K

• Action Bomb: Clap-In-The-Box digistructs a large bomb, which will explode after a short delay, dealing heavy Explosive damage to enemies and allies alike.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: His entire model line is erratic and unreliable at best, but otherwise (moslty) good-hearted.
  • The intro of Claptrap's New Robot Revolution reveals that he was originally sent by Hyperion to kill the Vault Hunters after they became a drain on the economy. Instead, he led the rest of the Claptraps in a (not entirely unjustified) revolt against the humans.
  • Afterwards, The Pre-Sequel! reveals that this is because the Hyperion AI researcher who designed them in the first place died before he could fix their programming. They're so problematic that Jack ultimately destroys the entire product line because he hates them that much, and due to a bad (and downright surreal) experience with one trying to unlock a door.
  • When Jack tries to make Claptrap into a viable robot soldier, he gets frustrated and furious because every time he activates it, Claptrap just won't stop dancing. Eventually Angel suggests that the best way to make Claptrap work as a soldier is to "work with the idiocy, not against it." This is the reason why VAULTHUNTER.EXE is as random and uncontrolled as he is: the aspect of the code that would have made it work properly, known as 5H4D0W-TP, was self-aware and so hostile and malevolent that Claptrap's own security systems automatically quarantined it.
• Ambiguously Bi: He has shown interest in ladies, usually to their disgust, but this piece of small-talk in the DLC Guns, Love, and Tentacles of 3 shows that he bends both ways. Given that this is Claptrap though, how much of it is flirting, how much is his desire to have friends, how much is just his programming trying to be funny and how much he tries to be serious is open to debate.
  Okay, bang, marry, kill - Moxxi, Ellie, Axton! I mean, bang is easy, but I can't decide whether to kill Moxxi or Ellie.
• Anachronism Stew: Some of Claptrap's special abilities are based on the Borderlands 2's generation of vault hunters -"Funzerker" and "Mechromancer", for example— who may not have even landed on Pandora yet. (Claptrap even says he has two robot arms, as a reference to how Gaige has one.)
• Armored But Frail: As the INAC, he has an average shield and less raw health than even a basic Bandit (he basically has a similar amount of health as an equally leveled player character), however he has extremely high damage resistance, such that most attacks only do about 10% damage against him. As a result, he can at least survive as much damage as a miniboss.
• Ascended Extra: CL4P-TP robots were ubiquitous in the first game, but rarely showed much personality beyond either cheerfully helpful or wailing in overblown despair when broken. They served mainly as a way the characters could access new zones or upgrade their backpacks. It wasn't until Claptrap's Web Series that he actually developed the passive-aggressive persona that appears in Claptrap's New Robot Revolution and subsequently later games. The Pre-Sequel even made Claptrap a playable character.
• The Assimilator: He and his revolutionary buddies do this to the local people/wildlife of Tartarus Station and surrounding areas, turning them into cyborg slaves for the robolution.
• Bad Boss: He's the director of his own web series, and frequently has Steve shooting crew members that fail in some way.
• Beam Spam: "Laser Inferno" summons a disco ball that shoots elemental lasers in all directions.
• Been There, Shaped History: Claptrap has been involved in many of the series' events, having not only been the very first character met in the series, but also sparked the Robot Revolution and was also a key player in the rise and fall of Handsome Jack, having been both a prototype combat unit under his service as well as helping the Crimson Raiders in their war against him. The Pre-Sequel! confirms that he has indeed always been the same Claptrap unit rather than a different one.
• Big Bad: The mistreatment of every named character towards his line, as well as Hyperion's desire to rid Pandora of bandits (even before Jack, a known anti-Bandit Hyperion employee, rose to power) leads him to start the events of Claptrap's New Robot Revolution. He even acts as the expansion's Final Boss, though he eventually survives.
• Boring, but Practical: For all of the flashy and sometimes literally insane special effects VAULTHUNTER.EXE can have, one of its most useful use is simply the fact that it always fully heals him when triggered.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Out of necessity. In the second game, he has a "secret stash" that lets him transfer items between "His minions that you control. (Look, it's for twinking items between your characters)".
• Brought Down to Normal: After the events of The Pre-Sequel!, Claptrap loses both his combat protocols and stair-climbing wheel. Were it not for 5H4D0W-TP sacrificing himself to save him, he wouldn't have even survived. He apparently manages to get back to some degree of his previous badassery by the time of the final battle in Tales From the Borderlands.
• Butt-Monkey:
  • He spends most of 2 after the intro getting either ignored or verbally abused by the majority of Sanctuary's citizens.
  • The intro isn't any easier on him. In the span of about two hours, he has his eye ripped out, falls off a cliff, gets electrocuted, gets blown up by a massive artillery cannon, and gets used as a torture doll by a bandit leader. This being Borderlands, it's all Played for Laughs.
  • During the quest to reclaim his ship, a group of pirates proceed to beat Claptrap, while he suggests that they instead talk it out. While showing them a hypothetical of how such a conversation would go, Claptrap inadvertently convinces himself that the very people beating him have the moral high ground since he doesn't actually feel pain and hitting him makes the pirates feel better. That's right, Claptrap convinces himself that he should be beaten up.
  • In The Pre-Sequel!, selecting him as a player character causes the game to prompt you three times if you're serious about playing Claptrap, saying that you must have chosen wrong and that you can't possibly want to play such a pathetic character.
• Can't Use Stairs:
  • In 2, this is pointed out, and the player is forced to use a crane to hoist him.
  • In The Pre-Sequel!, this problem is dealt with by Jack specifically mentioning installing a stair-climbing wheel on him, which was removed along with his combat subroutines sometime after the events of the main game.
  • 3 gives him the ability to climb stairs in exchange for removing him ability to open doors.
• Catchphrase:
  • "Greetings, traveler!"
  • "Hellooooo, travelers!"
  • "Viva la robo-lución!" in Claptrap's New Robot Revolution.
  • "Aannnnnddd... open!"
  • "PROTECT ME, SQUIRE!", after 1.
  • "MINION!" after 1.
• Clap Your Hands If You Believe: According to the loading screen, Claptrap can be affected by things that shouldn't affect him (like being set on fire) because he really, really believes he's a real Vault Hunter, and this somehow makes him vulnerable to some of the same things as squishy organic Vault Hunters. In all reality, Claptrap is treated in-game as an armored unit and still takes more damage from Corrosion. When lit on fire, he remarks that his chassis is made of galvanized human skin.
• Combat Medic: His "I Love You Guys!" skill tree makes him a potent team medic as well as all-around support character:
  • "Maniacal Laughter" grants him and his buddies health regeneration the more elemental damage he deals.
  • "You're... GOING TO LOVE ME!" causes a healing nova around any enemy he kills.
  • "It's a Trap... Card" causes him to create an explosion that heals allies while damaging enemies whenever his shields are depleted.
  • He also has certain VAULTHUNTER.EXE modes that can only be activated in co-op focused on either directly healing teammates or instantly reviving them at the cost putting himself in Fight For Your Life Mode.
• Comeback Mechanic: As a Fragtrap, he's the undisputed master of comebacks, as he has multiple skills related to "Fight For Your Life" mode in all three of his skill trees. he has two skills that vastly increase his damage output in ''FFYL'', one that gives him regeneration afterwards so he stays alive longer better, one that draws aggro so enemies are easier to kill and he can recover, another that makes him periodically emit nova explosions while sending out minitraps to seek out enemies and explode on them in FFYL... basically, properly-specced, Claptrap may go down but it almost never means he's out. He also has a near-instant downtime, whereas other characters take a while to slump over during which they can't be controlled. This means Claptrap is far less likely to lose track of a target when he goes into FFYL.
• Confusion Fu: Essentially the crux of his gameplay.
  • Because his malware, VAULTHUNTER.EXE is unpredictable and has the potential to turn any situation into anything from a bizarre victory to a humiliating defeat in a flash.
  • "Fragmented Fragtrap" is focused on getting random buffs to a specific gun type at the cost of a debuff to all other guns, forcing him to switch weapons much more often than him otherwise might.
  • Lampshaded by Angel, who told Jack that if he wanted to make Claptrap into a combat unit, he needs to work with his inherent stupidity rather than around it.
• Cowardly Lion: In The Pre-Sequel!, he spends a lot of the game being his usual optimistic but cowardly self, even screaming in fear when a Badass enemy appears before him. Given that he's a Vault Hunter though, he's still a highly dangerous adventurer capable of blasting said Badass off the map in seconds. This does not apply to the first and second games, however.
  Claptrap: I will defend you to the death, minion! (Hyperion forces attack) OH GOD, NO I WON'T!
• Cowardly Sidekick: To the Vault Hunters of 1 and 2. Whenever they enter into a dangerous situation, Claptrap will quickly run away and scream for help. Even during his time as the Fragtrap, he's still fairly cowardly.
• Curse Cut Short: An Out of Game example. Claptrap won the award for Best Character at the 10th annual Spike Video Game Awards. During his introduction, he casually strolled through his room and repainted himself into a tuxedo and top hat while giving his thanks for just being nominated, though he hoped that he would win too. At the end though, he rushes towards the camera, ready to flip off the audience.
  Claptrap: For those of you who are voting for me, thank you! And for those of you who aren't, well you can F- (OFF AIR)
• Cyber Cyclops: Claptraps all have one single glowing optic lens.
• Death by Adaptation: He ends up getting killed off in the comics, and is implicitly replaced by the Claptrap that Krom was terrorizing, who survives.
• Dented Iron:
  • By 2 and The Pre-Sequel!, his paint job is noticeably worn out with scratches and is lightly faded.
  • By 3 you can see that he has lost enough of his paint job to see the bare metal beneath, with deep scratches/cracks strewed around.
  • The HD texture pack for 2 gives him a quite visible bullet hole on his front from where Jack shot him.
• Delinquent Hair: A mission in 2 gives the player the option to give him Bullymong fur, so he can turn it into a mohawk. In The Pre-Sequel!, when activating Funzerking, he gains Salvador's mohawk and beard.
• The Determinator:
  • His abilities have elements of this: going into Fight For Your Life makes him more dangerous, not less.
  • The end of Claptastic Voyage shows him determinedly clinging on for life after being shot by Handsome Jack and dumped in the frozen wastelands, thanks to 5H4D0W-TP's Heroic Sacrifice. Sir Hammerlock sums it up.
    Hammerlock: Got ourselves a bit of a fighter, eh?
• Ditto Fighter: In The Pre-Sequel!, several of his VAULTHUNTER.EXE abilities are taken from the 2 Vault Hunters. The icons for the abilities even has Claptrap dressing up as said characters.
• Do-Anything Robot: Claptraps are designed to be able to perform a wide variety of tasks, from basic manual labor to combat, though that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be competent at it due to their faulty AI. It was because of their flexibility that Jack decided to create the Fragtrap rather than use a more up-to-date robot.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Claptrap is both the name of the brand of robots as well as the name of the individual units unless they're given unique designations.
• Early-Bird Cameo: As the INAC, he appears at the end of the main story of 1, way before Claptrap's New Robot Revolution was released.
• Eye Spy: How he finds his stolen eye mentioned earlier, though it has to be within range.
• Fantastic Racism: As the INAC, he really doesn't like humans, referring to them as "fleshbags."
  INAC: Hath not a Claptrap an eye? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you poison us, do we not die? Of course we don't! Because we're better than all you stinking fleshbags!
• Final Boss: Of Claptrap's New Robot Revolution as the INAC. As it's the last of the four expansions, this also makes him the Final Boss of 1 in general.
• Flanderization: Claptrap's nature as an annoying but earnestly friendly buffoon who overestimates his helpfulness and popularity hits newfound lows in 3. What started out as a coping mechanism to deal with his years of social isolation and near-death experience becomes a superiority complex that makes him think the crew of Sanctuary are slave labor for him to exploit.
• Flawed Prototype: All Claptraps have faulty programming that makes them highly unreliable for even the most basic of tasks as well as a built-in failsafe that keeps anyone (including Hyperion employees) from tampering with them. Their creator Lawrence De Quidt was about to fix this before he died, leaving them as the dancing annoyances that everyone knows and hates.
• Flunky Boss: As the INAC, he will send several waves of Kamikaze Claptraps at the Vault Hunters during his boss fight.
• Freedom from Choice: Why does he fight for Jack?
  Claptrap: Because my programming forbade me from doing otherwise.
• The Friend Nobody Likes:
  • For all three groups of Vault Hunters. He tries his best to be friendly and helpful, but no one really seems to like him or even treat him halfway decently, with the possible exception of Angel and Janey Springs. The various Vault Hunter groups keep him around out of a combination of necessity, proximity, and possibly pity.
  • It's especially bad in The Pre-Sequel, where he's a playable character. The game itself assumes you're making a mistake if you choose to play as him, all of the Vault Hunters and Jack are openly hostile to him, and the "Claptastic Voyage" DLC ends with Wilhelm and Nisha laughing in glee as Jack nearly murders him (although Athena is at least disgusted on his behalf).
  • As of 3, the latest generation of Vault Hunters and the crew of Sanctuary-III treat him with indifference, and being promoted to General of the Crimson Raiders by Lilith has gone to his head quite a bit, making him blustery and egotistical. That said, the first thing Lilith says about him is that despite his personality quirks he's still one of them, and Maya's apprentice Ava genuinely likes him and actually nerds out when she meets him for the first time.
• Full-Circle Revolution: His Robolution quickly goes from legitimate outrage over the treatment of robots on Pandora, to "Kill Meatbag". Also, the Robolution is a Hive Mind controlled by the original Claptrap; he even lampshades this in one of his speeches in which he calls upon the other Claptraps to overthrow their oppressive human masters in service to him, their new master.
• Gatling Good: His MINAC Humongous Mecha form has NINE gatling turrets mounted on it.
• Gem-Encrusted: In Episode 4 of his web series, he claims to own a toilet seat made out of diamonds. He can't use it because it's three feet tall and can't reach the seat, but he likes having it. Also, no bowel system.
• Glass Cannon: INAC goes down easily enough, but his punches do massive damage and can take the Vault Hunter down to 1% health in just one hit, even if you're several levels higher than him. He's slower than you are and it takes a second for him to wind up and punch you, though, so you'd only ever get hit if you just stand still and let him hit you.
• Good Bad Bugs: In-universe; VAULTHUNTER.EXE is malware that Jack installed on top of Claptrap's basic software to make him combat-ready. Because of this, it's hard to predict and has the potential to be as dangerous to Claptrap and allies as it is to their enemies. When activating his skill during multiplayer, other characters generally comment how This Is Gonna Suck, yelling at him to do something that won't screw them over.
• Gratuitous Foreign Language: He likes to say "let's go!" in several languages such as German, French, Italian and Spanish.
• Grenade Spam: "Torgue Fiesta" spams grenades in all directions. Like Clap-In-The-Box, it could deal heavy damage to enemies and allies alike.
• Guest Fighter: He's one of the four main characters in Telltale Games' Poker Night 2. Depending on whether or not he puts collateral in, you can win Handsome Jack's mask for the Spy if you're on PC, a Bloodwing item for your Xbox LIVE avatar if you're on Xbox, or a dynamic theme for your PS3 involving him crossed-over with the other characters playing poker, such as running away from an alien tractor beam with Sam, or giving a rose to GLaDOS from Portal.
• Guest-Star Party Member: In Tales From the Borderlands, he's the Mystery Vault Hunter that can be hired if you either never spend a single cent throughout the campaign or if you let Felix live.
• Hated by All:
  • The various Vault Hunters, Janey Springs (until Tales), and The Guardian Angel are the only people that treat him with anything resembling civility. Everyone else sees him as a tool (both senses of the word) or as a complete annoyance.
  • Tiny Tina's Assault On Dragon Keep forms a running gag that whenever Claptrap says anything, he completely ruins the moment, much to the expressed sighs of everyone who hears it. Because of this, we can probably remove most of the Vault Hunters from the list of people who treat Claptrap with civility, which limits it to just Roland, the Guardian Angel, Steve, Moxxi (sort of), a random civilian in Sanctuary, and Ava. And two of those are dead.
  • This even extends to The Pre-Sequel! itself, as if you choose Fragtrap as your character class you will be given three prompts asking if that's what you REALLY wanted to play.
• Heel–Face Brainwashing: He is eventually defeated by the Vault Hunters using the WIRED device to undo the advanced programming Hyperion gave him and reverting him back to his original, friendly self. Afterwards, he was sent back to Hyperion to work as a door opener, where he encountered an employee by the name of Jack and gave him ideas of a new prototype combat unit...
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Steve the Bandit, according to his web series and Poker Night 2. GLaDOS even refers to Steve as Claptrap's best friend.
• Hidden Depths: Several starkly somber scenes in Claptastic Voyage make it clear that, despite his seemingly irrepressible demeanor, he has at least a subconscious understanding of what people think of it, and carries a great deal of guilt for all the problems he has caused.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Played for maximum drama at the end of Claptastic Voyage. When given a chance to become an unstoppable galactic conqueror, Claptrap turns down the offer because he worries it will hurt his friends. Shortly thereafter, said friends laugh and high-five when Jack shoots him and leaves him for dead.
• Humongous Mecha: As the INAC, he fights the Vault Hunters in one.
• Immediate Self-Contradiction:
  • In Borderlands 2, on his way to confront Handsome Jack for the Final Boss, his boasts about not being afraid and that nothing can defeat it...then he suddenly notice the stair in front of it.
  • If you choose him as a teammate in Episode 5 of Tales from the Borderlands and welcome hm aboard, he'll say that, as long as they keep a cool head, with his vault hunting expertise, there's nothing they can't do. Then he actually sees the size of the monster they'll be fighting, and starts screaming about how they're all gonna die.
• In-Series Nickname: He is sometime referred to as "Clappy".
• I Just Want to Have Friends:
  • Invoked by the "I Love You Guys!" skill tree, which focuses on making him a great support character with team buffs and healing in a desperate attempt at making his teammates like him.
  • At the end of his tree is the ability to offer a high-five, granting the deliverer a health regeneration and fire rate bonus. Claptrap can receive this if he is left hanging or melee'd by an enemy with his hand up.
    Claptrap: I just want to be loved! (sobbing)
  • His need to have friends is so intense that, towards the end of Claptastic Voyage, he refuses to merge with 5H4D0W-TP and the H-Source to inflict a swath of destruction across the galaxy because it would involve killing those he views as his friends.
• If You Die, I Call Your Stuff: As the INAC, he'll sometimes yell "I got dibs on his socks!" when you die during the Humongous Mecha battle.
• Invisibility Cloak:
  • Part of an upgrade in 2 that lets him sneak past Hyperion's "Competitor Deterrence Field." Of course, he really doesn't need it, since he is technically Hyperion technology and not organic.
  • In The Pre-Sequel!,he can essentially mimic Zer0's Decepti0n as one of his VAULTHUNTER.EXE abilities.
• Iron Butt-Monkey: Despite the many, many issues that Claptraps have, (owing to unfinished, buggy code created by Hyperion programmer Lawrence De Quidt) the units themselves are surprisingly durable - Claptrap himself is surprisingly intact after over 11 years of constant punishment.
• Kick Them While They're Down:
  • The name of one of his skills in The Pre-Sequel!, where he draws aggro while in "Fight For Your Life" mode by tossing out insults. Funnily enough, this actually helps him survive easier, since enemies like to keep their distance during FFYL mode so you can't get your Second Wind. He may get kicked while he's down, but it helps him get back up.
  • In 2, he gets shot into a bandit camp and you find him being kicked by four bandits. During that time he somehow managed to convince himself that the bandits have the moral high ground (due to him not being able to feel pain and allowing the bandits to vent their rage being good for them).
• Kill All Humans: Pretty much his motto during his Glorious Robolution phase.
• Kissing In A Tree: During the quest to recover the echo logs of Jack scouting out prospective Vault Hunters.
  Claptrap: Jack and Nisha sitting in a tree.
  K-I-Z-Z-my-spelling-circuits-have-been-replaced-with-weapons-protocols.

L-Z

• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Thanks to Jack and Angel jury-rigging him into the Fragtrap, Claptrap lost most of his memories such as the Robolution and presumably the entire events of The Pre-Sequel!.
• Last of His Kind:
  • As of 2, he is the last robot of his kind in existence thanks to Handsome Jack.
  • He discovers transmissions from another Claptrap unit in Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt. It's dead. And it exploded, so there's no chance it can be repaired.
• Laughing Mad: By building stacks in "Maniacal Laughter" through dealing elemental damage, he and his teammates start laughing uncontrollably.
• The Load:
  • In 2, he generally cowers from danger and can be incredibly unreliable when serving his supposed purpose of unlocking doors (as seen in him unlocking the gates to "Hero's Pass").
  • In The Pre-Sequel!, all the other Vault Hunters treat him as this due to his VAULTHUNTER.EXE ability having the potential to backfire spectacularly and directly impair them in battle.
• Long List: His list of weaknesses.
• Made of Iron: Claptrap survives a lot of punishment in 2 without any signs of major injury, including a near-direct hit from a giant artillery cannon.
• Master of Unlocking:
  • In 1, Claptraps guard the gates to new areas of the world, and must grant the player access for them to continue.
  • In 2, he finds himself in this role once more, this time because his compatibility with Hyperion technology means he's the only Crimson Raider who can bypass Hyperion security, at least with the proper upgrades.
  • In The Pre-Sequel!, he loses this ability due to stair-climbing and combat protocols taking up the space needed for this software, much to his dismay.^note Though several other Claptraps encountered in the game still have it.
• Machine Worship: A group of savages in Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt worship Claptrap until he insults Handsome Jack, whom they also worship.
• Mad Bomber:
  • In The Pre-Sequel!, Claptrap is the resident explosives-master thanks to the "Boomtrap" skill tree increasing his effectiveness with all explosive weapons and grenades.
  • Even outside of this tree, many of Claptrap's skills focus around causing explosive novas, chucking out explosive miniature drones of himself, and turning himself into an Action Bomb.
  • And, of course, Claptrap puts the "Mad" in there by being his usual glitch-ridden and erratic self.
• Mechanically Unusual Class: In The Pre-Sequel!, being a robot means that he not only doesn't require oxygen but that he's resistant to incendiary damage and weak to corrosive.
• Metaphorgotten: As the INAC, he does this a couple times.
  INAC: So you think you can stop the Claptrap Robolution? You can no more control the direction of a mighty river as it flows towards freedom. Unless you built, like, a dam or an irrigation system or something.
• Mickey Mousing: When in "Pirate Ship" mode, he fires his cannons to the tune of the 1812 Overture.
• Mood Whiplash: After destroying the Eye of Helios, Janey chimes in and asks Fragtrap what he thinks about all the events that happened so far. Claptrap lists off a bunch of horrible atrocities he was forced to commit or watch, before realizing that she called him by his name, where he cheers that this is the best day of his life.
• More Dakka: His Funzerker effect digitally clones his equipped weapon and forces him and his allies to fire uncontrollably. It burns through ammo at a very fast rate, but is notably devastating with Jakobs brand weapons, shotguns, or Jakobs brand shotguns.
• Musical Pastiche: The music that Claptrap's Blightbot dances to sounds like Daft Punk's "Around The World".
• My Master, Right or Wrong: In The Pre-Sequel!, he can't really do much to oppose Jack, since he's Hyperion property.
• Nice Guy: He tries to be this way to the people of Sanctuary, often being friendly and complimenting their clothes. Unfortunately for him, it just comes off as supremely annoying to everyone around him.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Thanks to his actions, the Claptraps were disassembled between the events of 1 and 2 to the point that there's only one known Claptrap left on Pandora.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Ninja Robot as the INAC.
• Not Quite Dead: Jack shoots him after using the H-Source (which Claptrap helped get for it) to kill every Claptrap in existence, then dumps him in a junk pile with the rest. 5H4D0W-TP, the remnants of the Fragtrap programming, sacrifices himself to keep him functional long enough for Sir Hammerlock to find and fix him.
  Sir Hammerlock: We've got a bit of a fighter here, eh?
• Old Shame: In-universe, as of The Pre-Sequel! he came to deeply regret his time as the INAC, to the point that he associates the MINAC with shame.
• One-Person Birthday Party: The sidequest "Claptrap's Birthday Bash" involves delivering invitations to people for Claptrap's birthday. None of the guests accept the invitation, so you end up alone with Claptrap. With the decorations he set up. And boxes of pizza. The kicker is what he says once you turn in the quest.
  Claptrap: That was the best party I've ever thrown!
• One-Wheeled Wonder: Claptraps move around via a single wheel. While they're capable of being mobile, they're less capable when it comes to stairs.
• One-Winged Angel: His MINAC Humongous Mecha is simply a giant robot he pilots rather than him actually transforming.
• Only Sane Man: At least to some degree in his own product line. When on the mission to get into Jack's Office, he has to enlist the aid of a standard CL4P-TP, who lacks the experiences and developed personality of Claptrap. During the fiasco, he finds himself becoming incredibly annoyed, more than any of the humans, at the dumb antics of his own kind. Him gaining more individuality than the standard CL4P-TP from his accumulated data as the Interplanetary Ninja Assassin Claptrap as well as the Fragtrap, and interacting with people more than any other robot in the series, may very well have contributed to him persistently surviving as the Last of His Kind.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's the smallest player character of the series, but is still as capable as any of the other games' Vault Hunters.
• Post-Final Boss: The MINAC is basically the final boss of Claptrap's New Robot Revolution. Claptrap himself jumps out of him to fight you after you beat him, and while he's got miniboss-level durability and deals extremely heavy damage if you actually stand still and let him punch you, he's basically a pushover and fighting him serves as a victory lap to end the game.
• The Power of Friendship: The "I love you guys!" skill tree, which can, among other things, create healing shockwaves, give regeneration bonuses to revived teammates, and offer high fives that buff the both players.
• Primal Fear: Loneliness. Specifically, other people's loneliness.
• Promoted to Playable: In The Pre-Sequel!, Claptrap is one of the playable characters.
• Pronoun Trouble: He is referred to as "it" or as "he" interchangeably by characters. Generally speaking, it may be a hint of how much regard they have for him.
• Quirky Bard: While the other Vault Hunters have clear focuses, Claptrap is much more of a wildcard gameplay-wise, particularly with the Fragmented Fragtrap.
• Random Effect Spell: VAULTHUNTER.EXE analyses the battlefield and activates the effect it determines most suited for the situation from a long, strange list. The player has no influence on what's going to happen to them and their entire party. Some effects are good, some aren't. You won't know until you activate it. At least you're guaranteed full health and health regeneration, no matter what.
  • Funzerker: Claptrap gains the ability to dual-wield his guns (by digitally cloning his equipped weapon) while also causing him and his allies to fire uncontrollably. Essentially a copy of Salvador's action skill with more stipulations.
  • Mechromagician: Increases your and your teammates' damage while also decreasing your accuracy as well as tossing out a miniature Claptrap that flies around attacking enemies. Claptrap also gains constant health regen as well as ricocheting ammo in this state. As the name implies, it's a mimic of Gaige's action skill.
  • Shhhhhhhhhh...trap: Tosses out a decoy while also turning invisible. The player stays invisible for the entire duration instead of until an attack is done, but doesn't get Zer0's massive damage bonus.
  • Miniontrap: Tosses out a miniature Claptrap that acts as a turret, copying Roland/Axton's Action Skill.
  • Blightbot: Claptrap summons a minion with Maya's Blight Phoenix power that flies around applying elemental damage to everyone.
  • Meat Unicycle: Pulling out a giant buzz-axe, Claptrap temporarily channels Krieg and goes on a melee rampage while also causing fiery explosions. Also buffs melee damage for allies.
  • Senseless Sacrifice: Only available in Co-op; Claptrap downs himself to revive any other downed teammates.
  • Medbot: Only available in Co-op; Claptrap gets a healing laser used to restore health to teammates and enemies.
  • Rubber Ducky: Claptrap and other players don a rubber ducky innertube, causing them to bounce around uncontrollably while also deflecting bullets.
  • Gun Wizard: Unlocked with the "You're... GOING TO LOVE ME!!" skill. Gives you and the team a massive increase in fire rate and reload time.
  • Torgue Fiesta: Unlocked with the "I Am Rubber, You Are Glue" skill. Causes Claptrap and his allies to toss out grenades uncontrollably, with the potential of causing a party wipe.
  • Laser Inferno: Unlocked with the "Rainbow Coolant" skill. Summons a disco ball that fires lasers in every direction in the surrounding area.
  • One Shot Wonder: Unlocked with the "Tripleclocked" skill. Fires all the bullets in your magazine every time you shoot, complete with massive recoil that pushes you back with every shot.
  • Pirate Ship Mode: Unlocked with the "Livin' Near The Edge" skill. Claptrap whips out four giant cannons that fire in tune with the 1812 Overture.
  • Clap-in-the-Box: Unlocked with the "Kick Him While He's Down" skill. Claptrap runs around with a Big, Bulky Bomb that explodes after a period of time. If it fails to do damage to either an enemy or ally, he is downed.
• Rebel Leader: In Claptrap's New Robot Revolution, he leads the revolting Claptraps.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: A trait he shares with all the Claptrap rebels in Claptrap's New Robot Revolution.
• Reforged into a Minion: In The Pre-Sequel!, Claptrap was reprogrammed by Jack into a combat unit.
• Ridiculously Human Robot: Parodied in The Pre-Sequel!, wherein Claptrap will occasionally rhetorically ask in agony why is he even capable of feeling pain.
• Robot Buddy:
  • Deconstructed in 1. The player characters bear no ill will towards the Claptraps, but both the bandits and the Crimson Lance do. There are multiple side quests involving Claptrap repair, since people tend to use them as target practice. In the Robot Revolution expansion, Interplanetary Ninja Assassin Claptrap goes mad and starts a robot revolution in retaliation for all the mistreatment.
  • The irony behind this is that the Claptrap in question was created to kill the Vault Hunters, who in turn might be the only people on Pandora willing to repair and treat Claptraps well.
  • In 2, Claptrap is treated as a Sidekick Creature Nuisance whose main use is his ability to bypass Hyperion security.
  • In The Pre-Sequel!, all the player characters hate Claptrap, treating him and his action skill as a potential burden.
    Nisha: I hate you more than I hate puppies, Claptrap.
    Wilhelm: You better do something useful before I lose my FREAKIN' MIND!
    Athena: Stop trying to help!
    "Jack": [Groans] You are the worst...
    Aurelia: I shall never experience happiness again thanks to you, Claptrap!
  • As of 3, Claptrap is back to being something of a Robot Buddy to the Crimson Raiders. Lilith telling the Vault Hunter to rescue him from Shiv basically boils down to "He's an annoying idiot, but he's our annoying idiot."
    Lilith: [sighs] I know Claptrap can be a little... ...Claptrap, but he's still one of us. You're gonna have to save him.
• Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: As the Fragtrap, Jack had to sacrifice his door-unlocking processors as well as bypass memory preservation in order to make place for combat subroutines and an all-terrain wheel, which explains why Claptrap has no memories of events prior to 2. In 3, His door-unlocking processors are swapped by stair-climbing processors.
• Series Mascot: One of two, appearing on the cover of some games as well as having a protagonist role in all of the franchise's games.
• Sidekick Creature Nuisance: In the eyes of practically everyone on Pandora.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Only in the Claptrap Web Series, and his appearance in Episode 5 for Tales from the Borderlands seems to reference that with him repeatedly swearing, complete with lengthy bleeps.
• Small Name, Big Ego:
  • He's convinced that everyone in Sanctuary will welcome him back with open arms and considers 2's Vault Hunters to be his minions.
  • In 3, he believes that having the rank of General makeshim superior to literally everybody, including the new Vault Hunters.
• Sound-Effect Bleep: Whenever he swears, it's bleeped out in-universe by his own hardware. After helping build the eye for what would become the Constructor bot in Jack's army, he yells "YEAH! SCIENCE, BITCH!" Bitch is bleeped out, despite the word not being censored by asterisks. Of course, since everyone in their game has their cursing censored, it's not especially notable.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • For Professor Nakayama, he's the reason Nakayama's ship crashed and gives the Vault Hunters the entrance code for it at the end of Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt.
  • Claptastic Voyage shows that he's been this for most of his existence in one way or another for just about everyone he's met.
• Stepford Smiler:
  • Part of his programming.
    Claptrap: Jack dumps everything he kills here... bandits, Vault Hunters, Claptrap units. If I sound at all pleased about this, it's because my programmers made this my default tone of voice! I'M ACTUALLY QUITE DEPRESSED!
  • In Claptastic Voyage it's revealed that he's fully aware of how much everyone hates him and how much he screws up. After turning down Shadowtrap's offer out of Undying Loyalty to his friends, he is shot and (almost) killed by Jack while at least two of those "friends" laugh in the background. He may also be aware that in helping Jack get the H-Source, he killed his own product line, and thus is part of the reason that he's the Last of His Kind. The fact he might have lost all of his memory of it would be a mercy.
• Super Prototype: Stressing over creating a killer robot to work with, Jack reluctantly uses Claptrap as the basis for his ideas, and turns the pitiful and non-combative steward into a gun-totting and confusing Vault Hunter, who uses VAULTHUNTER.EXE to work with the erratic nature of his programming to deadly and absurd effect. He's still really annoying to him, though, and the tricky nature of his programming means that Jack was more than happy to replace his original idea with an army of Loaders instead, who are weaker but easier to manufacture, can be deployed via moonshot, incredibly flexible in their programming and duties, and most importantly, don't piss him off just by speaking.
• That Came Out Wrong: In messages to the Vault Hunters as the INAC:
  INAC: You will always fail as long as the Children of the Robolution are willing to fight against their former masters in order to protect me, their master! Hold on... That came out wrong.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: In 3, he finally finds another Claptrap unit, and is thus no longer alone. He also finds someone who worships him in Ava. The final Clapslist mission has him make a genuine friend in the form of a wheelchair-bound woman after he shows her that she can still dance even with wheels. He even decides not to accept her money and pays the player out of his own pocket.
• Took a Level in Badass: In 1, he's just some background character. In The Pre-Sequel, he's a Vault Hunter. Inverted from The Pre-Sequel to 2, however.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Becomes a lot less helpful and a lot more full of himself in 2. By 3, he became pretty sour, jaded, extremely pompous and prone to bluster, as being granted the rank of General in the Crimson Raiders has gone to his head.
• Underestimating Badassery: Both his enemies and his teammates underestimate his fighting abilities.
• Undying Loyalty: Shows this towards his fellow Vault Hunters during Claptastic Voyage. When given a We Can Rule Together offer by 5H4D0W-TP, Claptrap turns the offer down because he considers the Vault Hunters his friends.
• Unfortunate Name: "Claptrap" is a less vulgar term for "Bullshit", having that as your name is not really glorious.
• Voice of the Resistance: Frequently broadcasts recorded messages to further inspire his Claptrap brethren in Claptrap's New Robot Revolution.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Stairs. And electrocution, and explosions, and gunfire, rust, corrosion, being kicked a lot, viruses, being called bad names, falling from great heights, drowning, adult onset diabetes, being looked at funny, heart attacks, exposure to oxygen, being turned down by women, and pet allergens!
• What Have I Become?: Played for Laughs. This is his response word-for-word when Jack orders Claptrap to fetch another CL4P-TP to open the door to his office, and tells him that he shouldn't bother doing it himself because his combat and stair-climbing subroutines replaced his door-overriding protocols.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After obtaining the H-Source, Jack used it to destroy all Claptrap units and personally shot the Fragtrap himself as well as destroying his stair-climbing/combat subroutines, though 5H4D0W-TP ensured that he survived just enough to be eventually repaired by Sir Hammerlock. Jack even foreshadows it at the end of The Pre-Sequel!, where he notes that his new robot army has made him redundant.

5H4D0W-TP

5H4D0W-TP "Shadowtrap"

Voiced by: Lynn Andrews III

"I am 5H4D0W-TP! You know not what you have done! Come — take the shiny!"

A sinister-looking black Claptrap locked inside The Fragtrap's Quarantine subroutine, claims to be a helpful individual who wants to help Jack get the H-Source in exchange for his freedom.

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• Affably Evil: In contrast to Claptrap, he's usually well spoken and helpful when it comes to obstacles. This is subverted when he becomes the main villain, but ultimately sacrifices himself for Claptrap's sake.
• A God Am I: Veers into this in the final boss fight.
  How can you challenge me!? A perfect immortal machine!?
  YOU SHOULD BE WORSHIPPING ME!
• Big Bad: Of the Claptastic Voyage expansion.
• Big "NO!": Once he's defeated and the Vault Hunter takes the H-Source from him.
• Doppelgänger Attack: Shadowtrap's first form loves doing this.
• Enemy Within: He is essentially a ill-intentioned program within Claptrap and attempt to takes over his mind. Note that he has actual regard for Claptrap as what he ask is essentially to let him in command as he is better at everything that him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: As EOS, he'll occasionally say that Jack would do worse things with the H-Source than he would, but considering his own abilities, it's not hard to assume he could outdo Jack.
• Evil Is Angular: Even more so than the regular non-malicious Claptrap. For one thing, his eye visor.
• Evil Is Bigger: Downplayed. He's bigger than Claptrap, but is just about as tall as a regular human.
• Evil Is Cool: To Claptrap In-Universe.
  Claptrap: I gotta say, this guy's kinda cool! He nails the A in Ambition, and he played you like a n00b!
  Athena: WHO THE HELL'S SIDE ARE YOU ON!?
• Evil Is Hammy: Once he reveals his true colors, he turns up the volume up notch and then some from the start of his release from prison to the final fight with him.
• Evil Sounds Deep: He speaks with a much deeper voice than Claptrap and any of his other mental figments.
• Eye Scream: For heavy damage in any of his forms, go for the eye.
• Foil: To Claptrap. He's actually intelligent, competent, and far more spiteful.
• For Your Own Good: He constantly dismisses what Claptrap wants as he believes what he is doing is for his sake, even believing himself to be his Only Friend. He even goes as far as threatening to kill his consciousness and take over his body. At the end however, he finally lives up to his words by sacrificing himself for Claptrap.
• Godhood Seeker: More or less he claims to be with the H-Source in his hands, with enough power to conquer the galaxy.
• Humongous Mecha: Becomes one after infusing himself with the H-Source and becoming ECLIPSE.
• Kill It with Fire: In his first form, he will use a powerful fire-based laser.
• Kill Sat: Becomes one in the second phase of his fight. Specifically the Helios space station, firing reinforcements to combat the Vault Hunter or firing the Eye of Helios at them.
• Kneel Before Zod: "BOW DOWN BEFORE ME!"
• I Coulda Been a Contender!: He was the executable for Fragtrap's VaultHunter.Exe. But the unit's insecurity protocols put him in quarantine, turning VaultHunter.Exe into the unpredictable mess it is. He even states that he's what Claptrap could, should have been.
• I Shall Taunt You: Constantly does this to the Vault Hunters as they chase him, deliberately stopping in their line of view just to disappear as they reach him.
  Handsome Jack: Look at this smug son of a- G-get 'em!
• Manipulative Bastard: While it's fairly obvious from the get-go, most of his manipulations come about because Jack does not take him entirely seriously and thinks he can just get the H-Source by playing along. Played more straight when he disguises himself as Claptrap's consciousness and as Handsome Jack, giving him further access to his Hosts' mind and retrieving the H-Source, respectively.
• Master of Illusion: He can project and mimic the appearances, voices and even speech patterns of whoever he chooses, even from inside of the containment cell holding him.
• Motive Rant: He gives one to Claptrap:

5H4D0W-TP: "Now is our time my brother! INTEGRATE WITH ME! We shall splice ourselves with the H-Source and together we shall burn a flaming path of glorious destruction across a universe that will tremble at the name "Claptrap"."

Claptrap: "That does sound pretty cool."

5H4D0W-TP: "We shall suck the air from Helios and destroy your enemies! Your false friends who mock you at every turns and plot your destruction they all shall die!"

• No Indoor Voice: He tends to shout his lines a lot whenever he's fighting you .
• Obviously Evil: The fact that he's painted black, has a red visor-like eye, and has a painted skull on his right arm are clear indicators. The player character lampshades this, as does Jack (with zero awareness) when he tells the player to listen to him.
• One-Winged Angel: In the final battle, he uses the H-Source to turn himself into a giant humanoid mecha and then the Helios Station itself.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: He has a glowing red eye that's always in the shape of a glare.
• Redemption Equals Death: After Jack shoots Claptrap and had him dumped in Liar's Berg, Shadowtrap sacrifices himself in order to ensure that Claptrap lived long enough to be repaired by Hammerlock.
• Regenerating Shield, Static Health: One of the biggest problems during the first fight against him. While his health won't regenerate, his (quite powerful) shield will.
• Robo Speak: Downplayed initially. While he's "helping" the Vault Hunters, his speech is stunted but not completely emotionless.
• Sophisticated as Hell: He's far more technical in his mode of speech than Claptrap is, though he still tends to slip up. For example, the first thing he does when he's released is bait the Vault Hunter with the H-Source and shove them back.
  5H4D0W-TP: Psyche!
• Shout-Out:
  • When he first visualizes inside the Quarantine Cube, he is shown wearing a Hannibal Lecter muzzle over his face.
  • As quoted in A God Am I, his crack about being a "perfect, immortal machine" brings to mind another unhinged AI.
• Superboss: A (probably) unintentional one. He can rarely show up again in The Cortex arena for a re-fight and on the highest difficulties his health and damage are so freaking high he's essentinally a raid boss.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: Implied. He is himself a far more competent and serious side of Claptrap but is only willing to cause chaos and carnage, something that the actual Claptrap only does accidentally.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: After being defeated, when the Vault Hunters complain about not getting a Legendary, he immediately gives them one random piece of Legendary gear. While blowing a raspberry.
• Villain Has a Point: He calls out Claptrap for not joining him and betraying the Vault Hunters, pointing out that they're assholes who've shown little kindness to him and would sell him out in a millicycle. Which is exactly what they do at the end of the expansion.
• Vocal Evolution: He's starts of as soft-spoken, formal and stunted in his speech patterns. After turning against the Vault Hunters he speaks without the stutter and in a louder and more aggressive tone. By the time the Vault Hunters fight him he's yelling every one of his lines.
• Wave-Motion Gun: Remember that giant laser Zarpedon used on Elpis? Shadowtrap, on his last form, uses it against you. Sometimes he even yells "IMMA FIRING MY LASER!!!".
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Make no mistake, he is quite a villainous turd, but he ultimately does what he does for Claptrap's sake, and keeping the H-source out of Jack's hands.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He literally wants to take over the world, but only as revenge for all the abuse and neglect Claptrap as faced, and considering the alternative was to let Handsome Jack wins, he may actually be the lesser evil.

Denial Subroutine

Denial Subroutine

Voiced by: David Eddings

Claptrap's repressed guilt of what it did in Overlook. It manifests itself within its code under the form of a giant digital Thresher. It hold the derogatory key.

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• Allegorical Character: It represents the abstract concept of guilt and denial within Claptrap, it is also a computer programm within a robot, making this a personification and an allegory. Justified since the Hyperion computer converts the player into data and thus, shows the program as something they can comprehend.
• Blatant Lies: Pretty much everything it says is a lie.
• Big "NO!": When its shield is destroyed.
• Combat Tentacles: Its tentacles are said to be "extensions" of the subroutine.
• Digital Abomination: Thresher were always abominations, but this time, its a virtual Thresher.
• The Eeyore: Being the embodiment of guilt, it is constantly sad.
• Fake Memories: The subroutine masks the events Claptrap doesn't want to remember and replace them with false albeit more pleasant memories.
• Implausible Deniability: It "never denies anything". Including its own death.
  "I'M NOT DYIIIIING!!!"
• King Mook: Being a boss Thresher. It is notable for its glitched behavior, allowing it to move without jumping or having to burrow itself.
• Lying to Protect Your Feelings: It lies about what happened in Overlook. Altering the memories of Clatrap into pretending that everything went perfectly fine and that the celebration was even about Claptrap itself. This is done to makes it feel better about the real events.
• Mental Monster: Essentially being Claptrap's guilt taking the form of a monstruous Thresher.
• Never My Fault: Zig-zagged. It feels horribly guilty and cope by pretending what happened was not it (or in this case, Claptrap's) fault.
• Oblivious to Hatred: Its whole point basically is to suppress Claptrap's awareness. It replaces the memory of the events of Overlook with a better but false one where Claptrap is having a party in his honor during which everyone praises him.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Exaggerated. Most of what it says it this. But this one takes the cake:
  "I've never had a problem being picked for teams!"

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