Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Borderlands franchise.
Claptrap is the poster boy for the Borderlands franchise; He’s chirpy, he’s annoying, but he’s distinct. You’ll be hard pressed to find a video game robot that matches his eminence. A quick Google search yields dozens of Claptrap-themed merchandise; keychains, messenger bags, POP! figures, tees, stickers, action figures and even a working replica. In other words, He’s popular.
Well, popular in our world.
Today, I will be delving into Claptrap’s residence in the floating city of Sanctuary. Looking at the geography, the lore, the science and most importantly, the high fives. Think of this as a virtual MTV Cribs but instead of the host showing the cameraman around, the cameraman breaks into the house and starts rummaging around frantically as if he was searching for hard evidence that Claptrap is still in touch with Handsome Jack.
Ironically, the characters of Borderlands dislike Claptrap. He’s often on the receiving end of their jokes and prefers to keep him in the dump in which he lives. Why do they hate him? That’s unclear. Perhaps it’s his voice, maybe it’s his god-awful jokes he blurts out like a broken record player. Although it’s unclear why they hate him, the hate directed towards him may explain why Claptrap lives amongst mounds of litter and scrap.
The location also reflects his unpopular figure; his residency is in a dead end part of the city, sitting north of Dr. Zed’s clinic (which loses its status as a backdrop for Dr. Zed missions in the later parts of the game), Claptrap’s place is on the outskirts of Sanctuary with the only reason to visit is to access the character-shared bank (or the self-entitled ‘Claptrap’s Super Secret Stash’). Hell, even Claptrap recognizes his decaying house as he regularly takes strolls, spreading his cheerfulness in the progress.
Before diving into what Claptrap’s place is, I want to talk about what it once was. These days it’s filled with artificial hills consisting of various trash items, scrap parts, well-placed springboards and fungi patches but a certain part of the trash mound covers up two doors, revealing this area was once the back doors of the apartments found on the main street. It’s clear the place has seen better days; broken ventilation covers and what appears to be a partially open window are evidence of this.
Now I’m not going to initiate full tinfoil hat mode here but I don’t believe it’s far-fetched to assume the buildings have a reason why their garage section serves as a shelter for Claptrap and oddly enough I’ve discovered a correlation. One door is connected to the Sanctuary City Archives (repurposed as the Resistance’s command center). What are the chances, due to Claptrap’s second-rate reputation that Roland and Co. propped up a home for him outside so he can’t bother the crew while they’re devising plans to oust Handsome Jack? Just a thought.
The Super Secret Stash is the primary reason players visit this place repeatedly (that, or they just want to watch Claptrap drown in loneliness. It’s not only the players that visit, however; two civilians come running to the broken fan that hides the robot from view. Both of these harassers can be found banging on the malfunctioning machinery. After camping there for 2 in-game days, I heard one of the guys scream “give me food” which could be referencing the enormous stack of pizza boxes Claptrap stands next to.
In terms of homeliness, Claptrap has a neat setup. He’s got an abnormally amount of boxes piled up, two shelves, one of which contains a radio and an echo recorder. Sure, it’s definitely a downgrade from Claptrap’s crib in Windshear Waste but he has no choice to spend the majority of the game in this trash-ridden area as he can’t magically teleport his palace into Sanctuary. If he was to exist in our world, I’m sure he would be hanging out in a 12 bedroom complex.
Overall, although Claptrap has been shoved into a desolate area of the city but considering his overly ecstatic nature I think it’s for the best. What do you think? Should Claptrap get upgraded to second-class? Let’s discuss it in the comments below!