Borderlands 4 Brings Back South Asian Representation With Amara’s Return

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The latest Borderlands 4 game just released on Friday, September 12, and fans are already calling it a massive improvement over the last installment. The looter-shooter has drawn a cult following for its comic-style graphics, memorable characters, and fast-paced gameplay, making it a game worth buying at its $70 price.

Buy Borderlands 4: $69.99

One thing Borderlands has consistently succeeded on? South Asian representation. Borderlands 3 featured Amara, a Siren known for her devotion to Shiva. Amara's voice actor confirmed her South Asian origins in an Instagram post, and you can see the representation within her Siren abilities, which are heavily influenced by Hindu culture.

While Borderlands 4 does not have a playable character of South Asian origins, Amara makes a comeback as an NPC, keeping the continuity of her character in the series. She is also one of the only characters in the entire franchise voiced by a Pakistani American actress. By contrast, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! featured a character of South Asian origin named Nisha, but she was voiced by an American actress — something common in the voice-acting industry. That’s where Borderlands 3 made strides, with accurate representation that delighted gamers. Zehra Fazal, Amara's voice actress, reprises her role for Borderlands 4.

Fans are speculating that the very first character they meet — Arjay — may also have South Asian origins, but nothing has been confirmed by the developers. Arja is an artificial Siren and the first NPC you bond with. He’s also the one who gives you your ECHO-4, your AI robot companion that helps you across most missions.

Buy Borderlands 4: $69.99

Even though there aren’t playable South Asian characters in Borderlands 4, the game succeeds in being one of the most diverse and inclusive titles released in 2025. The game features an NPC named Conway who uses they/them pronouns. One of the Vault Hunters you can play as is also an ex-soldier named Rafa, with many speculating that he’s of Latino origin. His Spanish dialect supports that theory, and he’s voiced by an actor of Lebanese-Cuban descent. Some Redditors are also wondering if Rafa has Truxican roots. In Borderlands, Truxican is often used to describe those of Mexican-American heritage. Either way, it's great to see diversity in the list of playable characters as the game series continues.

Borderlands 4 is a dialogue-heavy game, with many quests requiring playable characters to spend time learning the stories of NPCs. That’s where it truly shines, delivering emotion-heavy, sometimes dark storylines that stay with you long after the game is over.

The game is meant to be a soft reboot of the series, which is why many older characters like Amara were not playable this time around. Either way, it’s nice to see some South Asian representation come through — even if it’s just for a few minutes of screen time.

Buy Borderlands 4: $69.99

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