If there’s one series that is excellent at balancing brilliant humor and action-packed FPS gameplay, it’sBorderlands. Each installment introduces a fun set ofVault Hunter protagonistswho go up against alien creatures and evil, greedy corporations on Pandora, and one of the highlights is always reading the weapon names that they have in store for your arsenal.
Trailers for Borderlands 4 have already revealed some fun new weapons,as well as returning characterslike Moxxi, Claptrap, and Zane Flynt, but any specifics on the weapons haven’t been shared. Weapon naming conventions in Borderlands are known to be akin to the South Park games in terms of crudeness, but these pop-culture references would make far stupider names.
We wanted to write an entry utilizing the pop culture phrase “peak,” thinking it’s too stupid to be an actual name for a gun in a Borderlands game, butBorderlands 2 already has a weapon called ‘Peak Opener.‘Go figure!
Adult humor and crude references for one of the entries below.
10TikTok Eliminator
TikTok has dominated pop culture since the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the hot topics surrounding the hottest content-creation app is its potential sell-off or removal from US app stores. Borderlands 4 poking fun at that seems unlikely, but if they had to go there, the only correct-sounding name for a gun would be ‘TikTok Eliminator.’
It can be a double entendre, taking a jab at the US TikTok ban, while also being a menacing and cool weapon at the same time. The ‘Eliminator’ part means it’s efficient at eliminating foes, and the ‘TikTok’ part means the weapon is on a timer (as in it might have a cooldown rate)or can possibly manipulate time. Either way, it’d be jarring to see a weapon name like this.
Removal of TikTok not included.
9Uncontrollable Letterboxr
For cinephiles in pop culture, Letterboxd is a social platform where you log and review films, comment on others’ posts, and follow those who may have the same tastes as you in movies. Oftentimes, Letterboxd reviews are short and hilarious one-liners that sum up your most relatable gut reactions to the film.
Gearbox is probably going to avoid mentioning Letterboxd in its game like the plague, mainly due to the terrible reviews thatthe 2024 Borderlands movie adaptationis getting on there (averaging 1.5 stars). And ‘Uncontrollable Letterboxr,’ that just sounds like a completely out-of-control Letterboxd user with unhinged reviews and hot takes on movies, who I would probably unfollow and block.
8Labubu Blaster
The viral Labubus are all the hype, and as a result, are nearly sold out everywhere. They are these plush toys that have cute and creepy faces at the same time, and are made by Hong Kong designer Kasing Lung. There are so many different types of Labubus, including horror movie-themed Labubus, and now even places like Baskin-Robbins are selling Labubu cakes.
It sounds like Labubu mayhem, so what if that trend even makes it into Borderlands 4? A weapon named ‘Labubu Blaster’ sounds pretty cringeworthy, even by Borderlands standards, so let’s hope that won’t make it into the game. If it shoots out Labubus, that would be something to witness, though.
7Remmick’s Rocky Sin Cleanser
If you’ve seen Sinners, the most re-watched, praised, and talked about film of 2025 (who at this point hasn’t?), then the name Remmick would immediately be familiar to you. Remmick, played by Jack O’Connell, is Sinners’ main antagonist, an Irish immigrant vampire seeking to steal Sammie’s music and voice, while also delivering the iconic ‘Rocky Road to Dublin’ musical performance outside the juke joint.
While Sinners is a phenomenalgenre-bending historical vampire movie, it truly doesn’t deserve to be reduced to this absurd and ill-named weapon to continue being in the pop culture discussion in Borderlands 4. This fake gun name is also inspired byBorderlands 2’s ‘Infection Cleaner,‘hence the addition of ‘Cleanser’ to the title, and ‘Rocky,’ of course, alludes to the Irish song Remmick performs.
6Lava Chickenator
A Minecraft Movie truly dominated pop culture as a result of the screenings turning into popcorn-throwing meme pandemonium. It then also got a sing-and-meme-along Block Party edition, bringing huge box office success that saw it make nearly $1 billion, mainly due to Jack Black’s quirky humor and hilarious tunes, like Steve’s Lava Chicken (which even entered the Billboard Hot 100).
A flamethrower called the ‘Lava Chickenator’ in Borderlands 4 would be a direct reference to the song from A Minecraft Movie, but if such a weapon name were included, it would be more painfully bad than the actual song itself. And if you can’t get Steve’s Lava Chicken out of your head, using it as your weapon of choice in the next Borderlands also won’t be of much help, but let’s say Gearbox is probably too jealous and petty to add it.
In Borderlands 3, there was a Tediore flamethrower-type weapon called’Long Musket’(Not-a-flamethrower), which was a jab at billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk. The Borderlands movie also saw Cate Blanchett’s Lilith using a flamethrower.
5Love Islander’s Skibidi
The dating show Love Island is a big part of pop culture, one of the most-watched, most-talked-about, and memed-about shows of its genre on television. At TheGamer, we even have a list ofvideo game characters who could join the cast of Love Island. At the same time, there’s also the brain rot phenomenon of Skibidi Toilet, which was even rumored to have a movie adaptation by none other than Michael Bay.
The stupidest idea would be to combine the two and have a weapon called ‘Love Islander’s Skibidi,’ as though the weapon was previously from an NPC who was a contestant on Love Island (or there now being an actual location called Love Island within the Borderlands universe), and the weapon name itself is a Skibidi. Have second-hand embarrassment yet?
4The Tuah Hawker
I mean, Borderlands 3 already hasa pistol literally called ‘Buttplug’and innuendo-laced rocket launchers like’Quickie’and’Threeway,‘so ‘The Tuah Hawker’ joining this trio of weapons would kind of make sense for Borderlands 4 as the next evolution. This, of course, references Haliey Welch’s viral moment of delivering a crude “Hawk tuah” remark during a street interview, and now getting famous off of it and even starting the Talk Tuah podcast.
Reversing the words and calling it ‘The Tuah Hawker’ is funny in a really dumb way that oddly works as a weapon name for a video game(?). Though I suppose if Borderlands 4 indeed wants to move forward with such a weapon, they’ll definitely have to pay Haliey Welch a good sum of money to use it. And to make it even more hilarious, maybe the sound of Welch saying “Hawk tuah” plays every time you fire the weapon.
3Cenat Show-Speeder
Streamers are becoming big celebrities, and in some cases, probably even more well-known and famous, like influential streamers Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed. Kai has been on a roll with gaming marathons, most notably for Elden Ring. IShowSpeed is one of the funniest and most engaging streamers, who even won the Streamer of the Year at the 2024 Streamer Awards.
This duo could certainly be mashed together as a weapon name. Imagine acquiring a ‘Cenat Show-Speeder’ assault rifle in Borderlands 4. The name would honestly make it sound like it has a pretty fast firing rate, but it’s still too on the nose. Though if Kai Cenat were to announce he’s streaming Borderlands 4, maybe Gearbox would have a similar way of honoring him in the game.
2Tom’s Top Death Strander
Though the name sounds a little silly and too on the nose with Death Stranding and might be considered copyright unless Kojima approves its use for Borderlands 4, it does make sense. Tom, in this case, would be none other thanMission: Impossible, Top Gun: Maverick, and Jack Reacher blockbuster action star and daredevil, Tom Cruise.
Because Tom always puts himself through death-defying stunts that can jeopardize his life for the sake of our entertainment, what better weapon to be named after in Borderlands 4 than the ‘Top Death Strander,’ a nod to Top Gun and Hideo Kojima’s masterpiece series, Death Stranding. AndKojima also praised Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, so this pop-culture gun name also works in that regard.
1We Got This Gun Before GTA 6
GTA 6 is a huge part of pop culture and has been in development for so long now that it’s even generated a famous meme – “We got [insert something cool or newsworthy] before GTA 6.” Obviously, Borderlands 4 having a gun named ‘We Got This Gun Before GTA 6’ is too on the nose and incredibly dumb. However, it’s still a cheeky reference, consideringwedidget Borderlands 3 and now 4 before GTA 6.
It wouldn’t be too out of left field for Borderlands to poke fun at another major video game franchise in this way, but the name is also quite long and doesn’t say much about what the weapon actually is. Then again, it could just be a meme weapon that you might never use, and exist solely as an Easter egg that the developers have put in.
