Special Weapon Effects

Found in the stats boxes of guns are sometimes cryptic or humorous messages. These lines indicate a certain effect on the gun. The text itself often gives a hint of what that special ability does, and is also often a reference to a video game, movie, or any number of things.

Sometimes the description relates to the boss or enemy who drops the weapon. Such is the case with the description for The Clipper which says "Don't Drop It... Might Lose A Toe." The Clipper belongs to the boss Nine-Toes and is the reason for his namesake.

The messages can be found in the borderlands game files, and are listed below by type of weapon, and then alphabetically. Some of these effects may not be 100% accurate.

Alien Rifles
Note that flavor text for Alien Rifles is marked differently and applies to the entire class of alien weapon. Many of these descriptions may never be found on weapons in-game because another file has marked them as inactive.


 * 010011110100110101000111, Eridian Cannon (In binary, it is the ASCII encoding for "OMG".)
 * Anybody need a light?, Eridian Fire Storm
 * Getting near this thing makes your hair stand on end., Eridian Shock Rifle
 * Hold on...it does what?, Eridian Elemental Rifle
 * I feel like I'm gonna break this thing., Eridian Lightning Rifle (Reference to "The Noisy Cricket" from Men in Black.)
 * Lightning never strikes the same place twice, but it can strike freaking everywhere!, Eridian Thunder Storm
 * No face shall go unmelted., Eridian Acid Storm
 * Pew Pew Pew!, Eridian Blaster

Combat Rifles

 * 2 more bullets makes all the difference, Dahl Raven: Five round bursts instead of three.
 * A watchful eye, The Sentinel: Increased zoom.
 * Dragon Fire!, S&S Draco: Chance to set enemies on fire. 3x Incendiary.
 * Guns of the Revolution will never fall silent!, Vladof Revolution: Extended magazine. Seem to have a chance to Daze also.
 * Hold your ground... Forever., Tediore Guardian: Ammo regeneration.
 * Ogre SMASH!, Atlas Ogre: Speculated small chance to stun target. 100% chance for 3x Explosive bullets.
 * The destructor has come, Hyperion Destroyer: Entire magazine is fired in one burst while scoped. (Reference to the character Gozer the Gozerien - Ghost Busters.)
 * TORGUE! Bastard Guns for Bastard People!, Torgue Bastard: Increased damage.
 * War is in your blood, The Meat Grinder: Speeds up fire rate after killing someone. (Reference to Rambo)

Pistols

 * 12 bullets invade your skull, Hyperion Invader: Entire magazine is fired in one burst while zoomed.
 * A gift from Papa Krom, Krom's Sidearm: Fires three round bursts while zoomed.
 * Ammo is no longer an issue., Tediore Protector: Ammo regeneration.
 * Big Tony Says "Hi", S&S Thanatos: Extended magazine.
 * Bring the HEAT!, Maliwan Firehawk: High fire damage and a chance to cause splash fire damage.
 * Don't drop it... might lose a toe., The Clipper: +100% melee damage. (Reference to the gun being Nine-Toes' gun beforehand. He dropped it and presumably lost a toe.)
 * Double Whammy., S&S Gemini: Fires a two round burst each with a two bullet spread. That is, it shoots 4 rounds that cost 2 ammo. May have decreased or inaccurate accuracy rating from modifier. (Reference to a quote in the film Judge Dredd by the protagonist.)
 * Feel the Sting, Dahl Hornet: Fires 2 bullets with each shot.
 * Never stop shooting!, Vladof Rebel: Extended magazine.
 * Omnia vincit amor, Lady Finger: +100% critical damage. (a Latin phrase from Eclogue X by Virgil meaning "love conquers all")
 * Pain Heals., Atlas Troll: Shooting friendly players heals them.
 * Slice Slice, Hyperion Reaper: +300% Melee Damage.
 * Sometimes, I forget to reload., The Dove: Unlimited magazine (no reload.)
 * Vengeance is yours, Vladof Vengeance: [Chance to] ignore shields.
 * Your move, Creep., Torgue Violator: Fires a three round burst. (Reference to the film Robocop and a quote by the eponymous character.)

Revolvers

 * A beast of many forms - Fire, Lightning, and Poison, Atlas Chimera: Alternates between fire, shock,corrosive and explosion elemental effects.
 * Fools! They called me maaaad!, Madjack: Bullets zig-zag and ricochet.
 * Give Sick, Pestilent Defiler: High corrosive damage. (All reports of daze or stun are false.)
 * It's a helluva thing..., Jakobs Unforgiven: +200% Critical Hit Damage (The flavor text is part of a line from the film "Unforgiven": "It's a helluva thing, killin' a man. You take away everything he's got, and everything he's ever gonna have.")
 * Long and Strong, Dahl Anaconda: Increased accuracy and power.
 * May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't., Atlas Patton: [Chance to] ignore shields. (Please confirm.) Quote from Gen. George S. Patton
 * Unending Firepower, Tediore Equalizer: Ammo regeneration

Rocket Launchers

 * Beware the Horde!, Vladof Mongol: Rockets will continuously warp forward a little every so often, at 50 yard increments. This releases a cluster of smaller explosive that explode soon after. (It is possible for the rocket to warp through an enemy and continue on while killing the enemy with the cluster.)
 * Death rains from above, Hyperion Nidhogg: Rockets have an MIRV effect and split into multiple rockets that hit the ground after a certain distance. The weapon will also have a white text label of "Airburst Rockets" (possibly hidden by the four-line item text limit).
 * It rises!, Leviathan: Rockets are affected by gravity (will arc in their path.)
 * Gonna cook someone today, The Roaster: High fire damage, and explosion animation is that of a 'Nuke/Mushroom Cloud'.
 * Monster Kill!, Torgue Redemption: Fires a slow moving rocket with a larger blast radius than typical rocket launchers and uses multiple rounds per shot. (This may be a reference to the Unreal weapon The Redeemer which fires massive damage warheads .)
 * The Unstoppable Force, Maliwan Rhino: Rocket will explode in flight, potentially multiple times, before reaching the target and detonating.

Grenade Launchers (Questionable)
The Borderlands localization files contain information on grenade launchers and some flavor text that may accompany them. However, no evidence is found that this file is used by the released game and no normal grenade launchers have been found. The nearest weapon might be the Leviathan, but it has entries for flavor text in both the rocket launcher and grenade launcher categories, and this casts some doubt on there being any true grenade launcher in the game.


 * Artillery Strike!, Dahl Onslaught: Unknown
 * I feel a storm coming, S&S Rainmaker: Unknown
 * It Rises!, Leviathan: See the above entry for It rises!
 * Mister Jakobs sends his regards, Jakobs Terror: Unknown
 * Stubbed, The Big Toe: Unknown (game files says it is Nine Toes'.)

Shotguns

 * Ahhh... Fresh meat!, Hyperion Butcher: 5-shot burst. Fast. (Reference to a quote by the recurring character The Butcher in Blizzard Entertainment's games, found in Diablo and Warcraft III.)
 * Beyond Groovy, Boom Stick: Fires entire magazine in one click as a burst, and each round is a rocket. Fires the number of rounds in the gun's default clip. If the clip is expanded by perks you will have the left over rounds to fire in another burst.(Reference to a quote in Army of Darkness, the main character Ash's catchphrase "Groovy" and his favorite shotgun, which he calls his "Boomstick".)
 * Bring out your Dead, Maliwan Plague: High corrosive damage. (Reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.)
 * Cross their heart, hope they die., S&S Crux: Spread pattern is that of a large plus sign, Crux being Latin for cross. The plus shape is predefined and unaffected by the weapon's accuracy.
 * Drop the Hammer!, Vladof Hammer: Spread pattern is in the shape of a hammer. May take unloading an entire magazine to see the effect. (Possible reference to the 'Gears of War' Trilogy of games where the 'Hammer' is a satellite laser cannon, and the characters shout 'Drop the Hammer!' when it is in use.)
 * Five heads of Death, Atlas Hydra: Spread pattern appears as a line.
 * Have a nice day!, Torgue Fire: Spread appears to make smiley face patterns. (Reference to Bon Jovi's album, Have a Nice Day.)
 * Holy crap! It shoots rockets!, Shoots a rocket instead of shotgun pellets.
 * I can do this all day..., Tediore Defender: Ammo regeneration.
 * It's a painful thing, The Blister: Corrosive damage and scope.
 * One Bad Dog!, Dahl Bulldog: Extended magazine.
 * Ride the Wave, Dude!, T.K's Wave: Bullets fire out and bounce off the floor making a wave motion.
 * Sniper Rifles are for Chumps., Jakobs Striker: High accuracy.
 * The Legend Lives, Sledge's Shotgun: Knocks back target several feet and 10000% burst fire count.

Sniper Rifles

 * A hunter lives among the stars..., S&S Orion: Each shot ricochets and has a chance of causing shock damage on each hit. After ricochet bullet splits into 3.
 * BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!, Hyperion Invader: Five round burst when scoped.
 * Careful... you might put someone's eye out., Rider: Critical hits on Bandits may have greatly increased damage. (Needs Confirmation) (Reference to A Christmas Story and the Red Ryder BB Gun.)
 * For the Motherland., Vladof Surkov: [Chance to] ignore shields. Greatly increased reload speed.
 * I have you in my eye, sir., Atlas Cyclops: Increased zoom.
 * I LIKE IT!, Torgue Cobra: High explosive damage. (Reference to the "Cobra Assault Cannon" from Robocop, and comment of one of its users, Emil Antonowsky)
 * Makes their brain hurt, Jakobs Skullmasher: Each shot is shot-gun like spread and knocks enemies back.
 * Pele demands a sacrifice!, Maliwan Volcano: Shots have a significant chance to cause a large splash damage fiery explosion. (Reference to the Hawaiian goddess of fire and lava, Pele)
 * Sniper Killer... Qu'est que c'est, Dahl Penetrator: Fully Automatic. (Reference to The Talking Heads' song Psycho Killer, with the line, "Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?")
 * The cutting edge, Reaver's Edge: Max zoom and [Chance to] ignore shields, potentially with increased zoom.
 * Thwack!, Nailer: Higher critical damage.
 * Trick Shot, S&S Orion: Unknown. The localization files say it is an S&S "Delete" so this may have been removed and replaced by A hunter lives among the stars....
 * Why don't you go shoot yourself an elephant?, Whitting's Elephant Gun: Increased damage, potentially with no scope.

Submachine Guns

 * Hallelujah, Tediore Savior: Ammo regeneration.
 * I spy with my little eye..., The Spy: Increased zoom. Appears to also center your reticle over the nearest target under it, and to its center, when going into zoom. [had auto-aim off]
 * Smack 'em, Hyperion Bitch: Huge critical hit damage. (Reference to Prodigy's 'Smack My Bitch Up')
 * Tear it up, Torgue Gasher: Fires 3 round bursts.
 * The lead wind blows, Bone Shredder: Fires 2 round spreads (costing 2 ammo.)
 * The ultimate close quarters feline., Dahl Wildcat: Extended magazine, potentially with reduced accuracy.
 * We don't need no water..., Maliwan HellFire: High fire damage. (Reference: "The roof is on fire" by Rock Master Scott and the Dynamic Three)