Psycho (Borderlands)

Psychos are melee bandits who have gone insane with a freakish obsession for the Vault. Shirtless, wearing a white mask and dressed in orange pants, these outlaws can be immediately identified by their homicidal cries, psychotic laughter and constant desire to get into close combat.

Overview
At some point in Pandora's recent past, a discovery was made at the Headstone Mine and hastily covered up. While it has never been fully revealed what was found there, it is known that a Vault key fragment came into the possession of Sledge, a grossly muscled behemoth of a man who later amassed a small army of bandits at Headstone Mine. The discovery at the mine had a surprising effect on many of the convict workers there. Most went crazy and many were physically mutated as well, growing into huge, muscular parodies of humanity, or stunted to dwarf proportions. Many of the "psychos", as they came to be known, donned face masks portraying the object of their collective fixation; an upside down "V" emblem.

Psychos are typically found among the ranks of the bandits that plague Pandora. They are known to act as the close-range counterparts to their more lucid, gun-waving brethren and will rush their targets while screaming all manner of insane comments.

Strategy
Psychos run very swiftly to get into melee range with their intended victims, but are also capable of zig-zagging through terrain to avoid weapon fire. Wielding a "buzz axe", they can hack through most shields in one swipe and inflict massive damage if they get close. They typically attack with a double swing pattern, pausing after the second attack. When hurt, psychos can flinch, letting a player get a short distance away or counterattack in melee. While only armed with a close combat weapon, they are very capable of throwing axes over long distances, although this attack inflicts little damage. Should they sustain significant injury, they are known to throw away their axes, pull out a grenade and rush their target in a frenzied suicide rush. This attack is incredibly strong and can easily elimate shields and most, if not all, of a player's health leaving them highly vulnerable to other foes. Once the grenade is pulled out, killing them will not stop the grenade from going off. Interestingly, if the player is far enough from them, they'll still take out a grenade, but make no effort to run at the player before they explode.

The melee attack employed by Psychos forces them to stop running, and can be avoided by moving backward when the animation starts. As a result it is not necessary to run away from Psychos, simply move backward a step or two when they start their attack.

Burning Psycho
Some psychos have adopted a pyromaniac bent and have become known as "Burning Psychos". These psychos deal Incendiary damage, and are also immune to fire as well. They are often encountered wearing shields. Burning Psychos are distinguishable by their bird-like outfit, including a skull mask with feathers, and the flames that they have leaping off them. They will also make suicide grenade attacks like normal Psychos.

Badass Psycho
Badass psychos are much larger than the normal varieties, have a disproportionately enlarged right arm and a severely stunted left arm. They never make the suicide grenade attacks that their smaller brethren do, however they are quite resilient and tough to kill.

A useful strategy when fighting Badass Psychos is to shoot them while backing away. This keeps characters from harm while they whittle down the Badass Psycho from a safe distance. The mutant will stop to melee if he catches up, allowing a brief opportunity for characters to move out of reach. They are sometimes found without a shield and incendiary weapons can work wonders on them, even with their substantial health. Fast firing weapons can often accumulate enough damage at once to cause them to flinch, therefore a fast-firing incendiary weapon is an excellent choice against these close range behemoths.

Psycho Bosses

 * Hanz - Partner of Franz and bodyguard to Baron Flynt.
 * Roid Rage Psycho - A gross monstrosity of a man, commanding Sledge's bandits in Sledge's Safe House.

Quotes

 * "It's time for my pound of flesh! Hahahahahaha!" (possible reference to the famous play by William Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice.")
 * "Strip the flesh, salt the wound! (maniacal laughter)"
 * "I'm gonna squeeze you 'til you bleed blood"
 * "MORE! More meat for me!"
 * "Time to play... TIME TO PLAY!" (reference to the movie Child's Play)
 * "It's time, ahahahaha, for another pound of flesh!"
 * "Time, to pound, SOME MEAT PUPPETS!"
 * "(Crazed laughter) BLOOD, BLOOD!!!!!!!"
 * "I wonder what your face would look like on mine...?" (Heard after player is spotted.) (reference to "Leather Face")
 * "Another walking meat puppet!" (Heard after player is spotted.)
 * "Just three more steps, and I got me dinner." (Heard after player is spotted.)
 * "I'm gonna skin ya, put on your face, and say Hi to your momma!" (Heard after player is spotted.)
 * "I'm gonna rip of your arm and beat your baby with it!" (Heard after player is spotted.)
 * "Why don't you come over here, I got a little present for you!" (Heard after player is spotted.)
 * "Ahh, another victim!" (Heard after player is spotted.)
 * "Closer! Closer!"(Heard after player is spotted)
 * "Keep walkin', keeeep walkin'."(Heard after player is spotted)
 * "I'll take pleasure in guttin' you... boy." (reference to "The Rock")
 * "Yes, Yes, YES! It's dinner time!"
 * "You remind me of my mother... I ate her."
 * "No dont run away i need your face!"(Heard when player runs away)

Trivia

 * The standard psycho face mask bears the Vault symbol seen in many places throughout the game.
 * A psycho is featured on the cover of Borderlands.
 * Roland is shown holding a psycho mask on his "Wanted" poster.
 * When a Psycho says"Time to pound some meat puppets!", the subtitles will say "puppies" instead of puppets.