Krieg — borderlands

This article is about the character from the games. For the character from the film, see Krieg (film).

Krieg is the playable Psycho class character in Borderlands 2. He is the sixth playable character in the game and was revealed on March 24, 2013 in the Borderlands 2 Krieg the Psycho Character Reveal Trailer. He was added in the Psycho Pack, a post-release downloadable content released on May 14th, 2013 on Steam and PlayStation Network for $9.99, or 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live.

What makes Krieg different from other psycho characters in Borderlands 2? toggle section

Distinct from other psychos in Borderlands 2, Krieg is a playable character introduced in the Psycho Pack DLC. He's characterized by a unique psychosis, likened to a man steering an out-of-control truck away from innocents. Krieg is recognized for his use of a buzz axe against bandits and his significant interaction with Maya.

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What is the significance of the relationship between Krieg and Maya in Borderlands 2? toggle section

In Borderlands 2, Krieg, the psycho from Borderlands 2, forms a significant bond with Maya. He saves her life, earning her gratitude. When Maya decides to leave Pandora for Athenas, Krieg expresses his disappointment but finds comfort in her promise to return. His affection for Maya prompts him to work on his hostility, showing a different side to the typical BL2 psycho.

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What is the backstory of Krieg, the psycho from Borderlands 2? toggle section

Introduced as the sixth character in Borderlands 2, Krieg is a unique psycho who was revealed in the Psycho Pack DLC on May 14th, 2013. Unlike other psychos, Krieg's psychosis is likened to a man trying to control an uncontrollable truck, aiming to avoid harm to innocents. His distinctiveness is further highlighted through his encounter with Maya while battling bandits in Pandora's wasteland.

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What additional content was released with Krieg in the Psycho Pack? toggle section

The Psycho Pack for Borderlands 2, released on May 14, 2013, introduced Krieg, the playable Psycho class character. This pack also included the Madness, Supremacy, and Domination packs. Additionally, on July 2, 2013, new content was released, featuring Commando Haggard Hunter for Axton, Siren Glitter and Gore for Maya, Assassin Stinging Blade for Zer0, Gunzerker Dapper Gent for Salvador, Mechromancer Steampunk Slayer for Gaige, and Psycho Dark Psyche for Krieg.

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How does Krieg's childhood experiences influence his character in Borderlands 2? toggle section

Krieg's character in Borderlands 2 is shaped by his psychosis, which limits his ability to form relationships and leads him to perceive the Raiders as hostile. Despite his mental state, he attempts to direct his violent tendencies towards those who deserve punishment. He also partakes in activities similar to a vault hunter, helping those in need and receiving loot as payment. His meeting with Maya is a notable incident in his narrative.

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Background

Main article: Krieg/A Meat Bicycle Built for Two (Transcript)

As a child, Krieg endured abuse from his mother who viewed him as a weakling. Prior to being captured by Hyperion, he worked as a bounty hunter tracking down fugitives and mercenaries.

Dr. Benedict used Krieg and other captured bandits as experiments to become Psychos subjected to horrible abuse and experiments with the lucky ones being the first to die as each surviving batch only endured even more inhumane experiments where traits like self-harm, suicidal impulses, and reckless behavior were encouraged. Rather than bringing out his psychotic side and destroying his sanity, it only made him feel more powerless. Eventually, a fractured remnant of his psyche manifested itself as an "inner voice" in his mind, as a means for Krieg's sane side to maintain hope and the will to survive. Learning that he was to be disposed of with the rest of the subjects and Dr. Benedict plans on using children as the next group, he breaks out of the facility and kills Benedict to prevent them from suffering the same fate. However, by that point, Psycho Krieg became the dominant personality and Krieg could no longer communicate properly.

Later on in his life, Krieg had engaged in vault hunter-esque activities and worked for the Crimson Raiders, such as aiding the needy and getting paid with loot. The voice also seeks to control Krieg's lust for murder by limiting his victims to those deserving punishment. However, because of Psycho Krieg's personality, he was unable to establish any meaningful bonds with the Raiders and believed they always hated him and saw him as a weapon towards their enemies.

Anthony Burch has described Krieg's psychosis, comparing Krieg to a man driving an out-of-control truck: he cannot stop the truck, but he can try to steer it away from as many innocents as possible^[2]

Players are introduced to Krieg as he wanders through Pandora's wasteland, eliminating bandits with his buzz axe. He encounters Maya, who initially believes him to be hostile; she immediately opens fire on him, inadvertently attracting the attention of a group of rats. Too focused on Krieg, Maya fails to notice the rats approaching from behind. Krieg salvages the situation by throwing his buzz axe at the rats, saving Maya from peril. Afterward, Maya warms up to Krieg, and the two congregate. Krieg is last seen clinging to the train carrying the original vault hunters to Windshear Waste.

After the events of Handsome Jack's attempt to destroy the Crimson Raiders, Krieg exiles himself away in the wastes of Pandora; having become smitten with Maya and wishing to see her again, his "inner voice" tries to coach himself into speaking more coherently and overall act less hostile around others (with limited success). During this time, Tiny Tina manages to find Krieg and wishes to have him instruct her on behaving like a bandit.

Shortly after the destruction of Sanctuary, he hears about Maya going back to Athenas and goes to track her down; with some effort, Krieg is able to convey a message to her wishing that she would stay. While upset over her determination to return back to her home planet, Krieg takes some solace in Maya promising to return back to Pandora and see him again.

Appearances

Borderlands 2
Borderlands 3 (voice on ECHOs only)
Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck

Skills

Action skill: Buzz Axe Rampage

[Fire] to swing buzz axe, [Aim] + [Fire] to throw buzz axe.
500% Melee Damage, regain all health on kill.
Increase movement speed by 33%.
Duration: 16 seconds (excluding penalties for health lost).
Cooldown: 120 seconds, reduced by taking damage.

Krieg has three Skill Trees:

Melee Damage

Unlike any other character, Krieg has a unique melee damage bonus:

KriegMeleeDMG = MeleeDMG x 0.8 x (1 + 0.02 x Level)

where MeleeDMG is the melee damage other characters do at that level. This means that Krieg gains more melee damage per level than other characters, but up until level 12 Krieg actually does less damage (81.6% at level 1, 208% at level 80) instead.

A weapon's melee damage bonus overrides Krieg's unique modifier, so Krieg will do the same melee damage as other characters when holding a bladed weapon.

At level 44, Krieg's modifier amounts to an effective +50.4% bonus. From this point on, Krieg will do less damage with a "+50% melee damage" weapon than without one.
At level 80, the modifier amounts to an effective +108% bonus, making it better than the Law's +100% bonus.
- However, the Rapier's +200% bonus will always increase melee damage as the current level cap does not grant a higher effective bonus.

Class Mods

Main article: Class Mod (Borderlands 2)#Krieg

Quotes

Main article: Krieg/Quotes

Notes

Use of the Law with the Order creates formidable effects. Half of Krieg's health is instantly regained when melee damage is inflicted, in or out of Buzz Axe Rampage.
Unlike bladed weapons, Krieg's unique melee damage modifier does not increase a Maylay Shield's roid damage. Therefore, a +50% melee damage weapon may still be viable even at higher levels when using such a shield.
Krieg experiences less hang time than other characters during a jump. This 'heaviness' helps to prevent him from getting shoved around from frequent knock-back effects in melee situations.
In the August 29, 2013 update, Gearbox removed the challenges that are impossible to do with Krieg due to his heft, such as getting atop the Happy Motel Pig sign in Three Horns - Valley.
Krieg's class mod is a custom buzz axe blade attached to his belt.
It is possible to fire guns normally in the brief time during Light the Fuse when Krieg has no dynamite in his hands. This isn't possible in the PS4 version of The Handsome Collection, but he can still hold the gun for a few seconds.
A bug can occur in which Krieg will remain in Buzz Axe Rampage after it has expired, and Krieg's only available action is to throw his buzz axe. There are two ways to activate this bug.
- Getting onto the back of a Bandit Technical, waiting a few seconds, then getting off before the skill ends.
- Getting a second wind instantly after entering Fight For Your Life while in Buzz Axe Rampage.
There's also a bug where Krieg will hold his buzz axe after Buzz Axe Rampage ends. It happens if the skill ends while a menu is open. Krieg can't use his axe this way, though he will carry it forever, even after changing location, starting Buzz Axe Rampage again, or dying etc. The axe will disappear after returning to main menu.

Trivia

Policy of this wiki requires a link to the trivial reference when it is not a part of this game (franchise). Trivia without links may be removed or redacted at any time by any user.
NOTE: Dr.F will delete any trivia without links. See history to re-instate (with links).

Krieg is one of the Vault Hunters who employ suicidal tactics, including Silence the Voices, Light the Fuse, Redeem the Soul (co-op), Pull the Pin, Fuel the Rampage (co-op), Embrace the Pain, and Salt the Wound.
Many of Krieg's skills and dialogue are based on psycho bandit abilities. Abilities include: exploding and throwing explosives (suicide psychos), breathing fire (burning psychos) and rushing opponents for melee (normal Psychos).
Krieg's name means 'War' in German.
On April 24, 2013, Krieg took over @ECHOcasts [1] Twitter (formerly occupied by Sir Hammerlock).
Krieg's bounty is $100,000,000,000. No crimes are listed, and he is branded as "Property of Hyperion". However, his quick-change head "I WANNA BE WANTED" lists indecent exposure as his offence.
Krieg's quote "You woke the wrong dog!" alludes to Nine-Toes from Borderlands, who uses the same line when he is introduced.
Krieg has no lines while under the effects of the Handsome Jack voice modulator, though he does make the same stock grunts. Additionally, enemies will not react if Krieg activates Buzz Axe Rampage.
Krieg often breaks the fourth wall with his quotes.
Based on his quotes, Krieg seems concerned with several different women. His quotes involving "she" are highly inconsistent and cannot be linked.
Krieg's Buzz Axe is bandit made and has various visual upgrades depending on what skills Krieg has investments in.
- In Borderlands 2 and in A Meat Bicycle Built For Two, Krieg's buzz axe shares the shiny red and blue color scheme of a few Bandit Legendary guns (the Badaboom and Madhous!). This is not the case in his character render nor Borderlands 3.
Krieg's line "It's a bloody business, Bates" is a reference to the series Downton Abbey, wherein a character is being fired for inadequate performance.^[3] It may also serve as a double entendre, referencing Norman Bates from Psycho.
Krieg references Day of the Tentacle, a 1993 adventure game when he rants "Gone are the days of the tentacle...".
- This is more likely a reference to The Destroyer which is a large tentacled beast and final boss of the first Borderlands game.
The quote "Looks like them puke boys are in a peck of trouble" is a reference to The Dukes of Hazzard.
The line "Bloody sand, give me back my skull!" is a reference to the game 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, in which 50 Cent tries to retrieve his diamond-encrusted skull.
Krieg's quote "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee," is from Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
Krieg's quote while opening a chest "What an amazing chest, Gwynevere!" is a reference to the game Dark Souls, in which a giant sized character named Gwynevere appears. Often players will find messages from other players using an in-game system reading "Amazing chest ahead!", referencing her ample bosom.
Krieg's quote "Naha, It's like Arbor Day!" is a reference to Roland's quote from Borderlands when finding loot, "It's like Christmas."
Krieg's quote "The voices said empty, hollow, and thud!" is a reference to the Rosehan Experiment where volunteers pretended to be insane to see if psychological diagnostics were valid.
Krieg's quote "RED RUUUMMMM!" is "murder" spelled backwards, which was a plot device from The Shining.
Krieg's quote "I don't want to go!" is a reference to the Tenth Doctor's final words before regenerating.
Krieg's quote "I swallowed your soul!" is a reference to the 1987 film Evil Dead II.
Krieg's "Salt the Wound" quote "HURT ME MORE!" is a direct quote taken from the game Metal Gear Solid where it's spoken by the character "Gray Fox" during a fist fight with the game's protagonist.
With the exception of spell grenade mods used during the Dragon's Keep DLC; Krieg doesn't have a single quote for when he throws a grenade.
A comb can be seen in the back left pocket of Krieg's pants.
While most of Krieg's customization heads depict his right eye being covered, some show him with two eyes visible.