The Vault

The Vault is thought to be a container for a vast amount of alien technology, on the planet of Pandora. The original intent of the corporations, after the discovery of alien life, was to utilize the technology contained in the Vault to become the superior company. Many Vault Hunters are in search of The Vault, to discover whatever mysteries it may hold. Throughout the game, the character is guided by a guardian character who reinforces belief in The Vault, and guides you on your quest to find it.

History
The Vault is an enigmatic place that is drenched in myth and folklore. After The Atlas Corporation found a cache of alien weaponry on Prometheus, legends began to emerge about vaults on other worlds. Popular myths and legends held that the Vault must contain something amazing. Power, wealth, riches, and women are all said to be contained within the Vault.

Legend
These legends, combined with Atlas's discovery, led to a "Gold Rush" of people heading to Pandora to settle in and look for the Vault. After a while it died down, and the planet began heating up as summer approached. The indigenous life of Pandora began to awaken and attack people, so those with the means left Pandora as time passed and nothing new was turned up. Those who could not afford to leave stayed behind, many of which became bandits, but the legends of the Vault remained.

Finding the Key
An archaeologist named Patricia Tannis, funded by the Dahl Corporation, was sent with a team to Pandora several years before the game started to research the Vault and find out if it existed, where it was, what was in it, and how to open it. Over time, Tannis began to go a little crazy, and became completely obsessed with finding the Vault, even while her team died around her. Funding from Dahl eventually stopped, so she turned to bandits to assist her in her efforts. Through her research, she discovered the secret to opening the Vault lay within a special key. She recovered three of the Vault Key pieces, but the bandits betrayed her and stole them. It was then she realized she had a form of psychosis preventing her from leaving her camp at the archaeological site, so she remained there, sending out a call for Vault Hunters to help her retrieve the key pieces and open the Vault.

Atlas interference
Once the key is assembled and the Vault found, the Atlas Corporation uses its private military, the Crimson Lance, to seize the key and declare all contents of the Vault as property of the Atlas Corporation. The Lance leader, Commandant Steele takes the key down the Descent, battling Guardians the whole way, and eventually opens the Vault.

Inside the Vault
The contents of the Vault are revealed not to be a cache of powerful Eridian weaponry, nor a chest of infinite wealth, not even full of beautiful women. Instead, when the Vault opens, The Destroyer comes through, killing Commandant Steele and her men.

In the Borderlands official guide, it is revealed that the Eridians sacrificed their entire civilization to imprison the Destroyer inside the Vault. The Guardians were created to protect the Vault and prevent anyone from opening it. If it was ever freed, the Destroyer would have eventually consumed the universe. After the player destroys the Destroyer, the Vault reseals itself and cannot be opened by the Key again for 200 years. The Guardian Angel reveals that in its home realm, the destroyer is indestructible, however it requires a host body to survive in this one.

The Guardian Angel explains in the final cinematic that she knew beforehand what the Vault contained, and had guided the player from the outset to protect the universe from the Destroyer. It is implied that the Guardian Angel, who by the game's end is shown to be an AI residing in a human-built Hyperion satellite in Pandora's orbit, may be a creation of the Eridians or something else entirely. While the satellite is undoubtedly of human manufacture given its similarity to the Claptraps and the Hyperion logo painted on it, the Angel cannot be human-made since she was aware of the existence of the Vault Key, the Vault's location, and its contents (the Destroyer). In the final scene, a Claptrap on Pandora is stricken by lightning and awakens to become "Claptrap: Interplanetary Ninja Assassin". This could hint to the new availability of Playthrough 2 (Badmutha Claptrap?), or it could be The Destroyer finding a new host. Only time (or a sequel) will tell.

Notable Enemies

 * The Destroyer

Connections

 * Eridian Promontory