As the push for immersive gameplay gains ground, detailed character lore has never been more essential in the industry.Borderlands' trendy nature has elevated its popularity, with its reputation also receiving boosts from its quirky characters and crass humor stemming from internet memes and pop culture references. Among these characters, Dr. Zed Blanco has a reputation for being the strangest in theBorderlandsfranchise, and his exclusion fromBorderlands 3ruffled a few feathers among the faithful, with the infirmary instead maintained by Patricia Tannis. As fans are hopeful the character will return forBorderlands 4, a recap on what made him so interesting in the first place might be necessary.
Dr. Zed is infamous inBorderlandslorefor being the only human resident in Fyrestone to encounter the vault hunters when they appeared in Pandora, and he plays the role of a traveling doctor in the franchise. However, the origin of his skill is unknown, as he has never had any official medical training, and Dr. Zed’s loss of his medical license is attributed to this fact. Despite the murky origins of his know-how, Dr. Zed maintained the infirmaries around Pandora, handing out a few initial missions to players before relocating to New Haven. The presence of so many questions surrounding Dr. Zed’s background, training, and quirky abilities has made him one of the most mysterious characters in the Borderlands franchise.
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Zed’s Lore and The Mystery of Dr. Ned
In the timeline between the happenings ofBorderlandsandBorderlands 2, Zed returns to Fyrestone where he receives a petition from the Vice President ofHyperion Corporation, Mr. Blake. Blake had a vendetta against the doctor and was dedicated to ousting him from the town, using several means of manipulation to coerce Zed’s movement. Blake tried using photos of a destroyed New Haven, a town close to Dr. Zed’s heart, to get him to leave Fyrestone, but his tactic was resisted. Refusing to be deterred, Roland asked Dr. Zed to move to Sanctuary, and while the doctor initially refused, intending to lay down his life to protect the town, he changed his mind mid-conversation when Hyperion’s attack on Fyrestone began.
Asides from Dr. Zed’s known lore, a common topic of conversation amongBorderlandsfans is his connection to Dr. Ned, a titular character in the firstBorderlandsDLCThe Zombie Island of Dr. Ned. The doctor resided in Jakobs Cove, tasked with providing medical care to employees of Jakobs Co. After gaining employment from the corporation, Dr. Ned carried out experiments to resurrect dead former workers with the help of his assistant, Bill. However, Dr. Ned did his job a little too well, inadvertently creating zombies and other obscene creatures to run amok in the region, and his assistant met an early demise during one of his experiments.
During Dr. Ned’s investigations, his zombies developed a hunger for human flesh, deserting their previous diet of raisins and bran muffins. Dr. Ned, being an ambitious man, saw an opportunity in this mutation, and set about turning the entireJakobs Coveworkforce into an army of the undead. The doctor executed a plan to distribute poison in pill form to employees during the workers' annual checkups, affecting up to 97 percent of the workforce. Writhing in pain and oblivious to Dr. Ned’s sinister intentions, these workers who had taken ill made their way to the doctor for help, where he reanimated them as zombies.
Throughout the DLC, it is implied that Dr. Ned is Dr. Zed in disguise, in the fashion of Superman and his spectacle disguise of Clark Kent. However, the Game of The Year Edition Guide from Brady Games clearly states Dr. Ned is Dr. Zed’s evil twin brother. Dr. Zed’s duality made him one of the most mysteriouscharacters in theBorderlandsfranchise, and his wily nature was a sore miss fromBorderlands 3.Borderlands 4could reintroduce the doctor to the series in a move that will be welcomed by a large section of the fan base, adding an element that was lacking inBorderlands3.
