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The official Moxxi presentation on the cover of Underdome Riot

Mad Moxxi is an NPC mission provider. She is the hostess of the Colosseum matches in The Underdome in Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot, and the owner of various bars on Pandora.

Moxxi could be summed up with the words sadistic, lustful, alluring, and dangerous. She enjoys violence and combat, having been a skilled fighter in her earlier years. Modesty has little to do with Moxxi, especially when it comes to sex. Her affairs are innumerable and she has had several husbands, and her lovers have been both male and female. She is also surprisingly refined in her tastes and mannerisms, always speaking with a seductive tone and an innuendo soon following.

Moxxi, despite her violent tastes, is also friendly and rather compassionate when fighting is not involved. She is a caring mother, in her own Pandoran way, and can be protective of her children and others close.

Background

Moxxi was originally a member of the Hodunk clan. She grabbed her children and split from the Hodunks to prevent her daughter Ellie becoming the clan wife. Moxxi has been married at least three times to different husbands. She mothered a son, Scooter, with Jimbo Hodunk presumably back when she was part of the Hodunk clan.

Mr. Shank from The Secret Armory of General Knoxx is officially her second as she "mourns" the death of her "second husband" after Mr. Shank's death. Her third husband was Marcus Kincaid, as revealed in the mission Safe and Sound. She was also involved, at least sexually, with Lucky Zaford according to her son Scooter, but there is no indication as to whether or not he was one of her husbands. She created The Underdome to keep herself occupied while she searched for a new husband. She has also been involved in a relationship with Handsome Jack, as made evident in the Borderlands 2 side mission "Hell Hath No Fury". However, there is no evidence that they were ever married.

Involvement

Games

FOV70 redlight 4

Moxxi in her Red Light bar

Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot

Moxxi's first appearance is in her eponymous Underdome, where she acts as hostess and announcer.

The Secret Armory of General Knoxx

In The Secret Armory of General Knoxx she is part of the main mission line, and assigns missions from Moxxi's Red Light. As more is found out about her, she is revealed to be Scooter's mother. She offers a mission to deal with her second husband, Mr. Shank.

Borderlands 2

In Borderlands 2 Moxxi resides in Sanctuary. Sometime between the two games, she was involved with Mordecai after he won the Underdome, but left him because he was inattentive. Later she dated Handsome Jack, who destroyed the Underdome after she left him. From her bar in Sanctuary, she provides limited material support to the Vault Hunters and is involved in a handful of missions.

In Borderlands 2 and its DLCs, there are a number of Moxxi-themed Unique weapons which share the trait of healing the wielder for a portion of all damage done.

Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage

Moxxi appears in Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage, running the Badass Crater Bar and serving as the Vault Hunters' agent and sponsor once she is rescued from Pyro Pete. She oversees the Vault Hunters' progress through various challenges, arranging battles and even hiring Tiny Tina to help train the Vault Hunters. In the ending, Moxxi is heard negotiating with Mr. Torgue over signing ownership of the Torgue Arena to her, lest Torgue's shareholders find out about the illegal deathmatches he's been hosting.

Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep

Moxxi appears in Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep, again as a proprietress of a drinking establishment (this time a tavern). She plays a minor part in the story and offers a few optional missions, but has no major involvement in the campaign.

Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre

Moxxi is the host of the fourth Headhunter episode, Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre, in which she and Ellie attempt to set up a wedding between two Goliaths of the Zaford and Hodunk clans so as to bring peace to both sides.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Moxxi reappears as a major character in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, where she is the proprietor of the Up Over Bar in Concordia. Jack approaches her to help reclaim Helios from the Lost Legion, despite the fact that he and Moxxi are no longer romantically involved. Moxxi helps Jack and his Vault Hunters locate the jamming signal coming from Crisis Scar but is apprehensive about helping Jack further until it becomes clear that Colonel Zarpedon plans to destroy Elpis with the Eye of Helios. She also recruits former Vault Hunters Lilith and Roland to help Jack retake Helios. She does not join Jack or the Vault Hunters returning to the station, but she assists in remotely deactivating some of Zarpedon's defenses on Helios.

After Jack and the Vault Hunters defeat Zarpedon and reach the Eye of Helios, Moxxi instructs them on how to deactivate the superweapon. Fearing Jack's ambition and megalomania, Moxxi, Lilith, and Roland betray him and destroy the Eye but fail to kill Jack, who swears revenge. After this point, Moxxi disappears from the game.

Tales from the Borderlands

Moxxi does not appear in-person in Tales from the Borderlands, but her voice is heard in the first episode, Zer0 Sum, when Zer0 speaks to her over Echo after killing Bossonova.

Borderlands 3

Moxxi is featured in Borderlands 3 running her own bar aboard Sanctuary III. She also serves as a mission giver for side missions.

Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot

She takes a more prominent role in Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot in which she tasks the vault hunters to help her take over Handsome Jack's casino space station as a (late) revenge for destroying her Underdome. She reunites with Timothy Lawrence, Handsome Jack's doppelganger, implying there was some romance between them in the past.

Mad moxxi - film1

Mad Moxxi in the Borderlands film.

Film

In the film Borderlands, Mad Moxxi is played by Gina Gershon.

Missions

Borderlands

The Secret Armory of General Knoxx

Main
Optional

Borderlands 2

Optional

Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage

Main
Optional

Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep

Optional

Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Main

Borderlands 3

Optional

Appearances

Quotes

Main article: Mad Moxxi/Quotes

Notes

Trivia

  • "Did I promise you a show, or didn't I? Who loves you, and who do you love?" is a reference to the movie The Running Man. Damon Killian is the host of a game show where criminals battle against gladiators in an arena and he constantly says that line to the audience throughout the movie.
  • "SWF Looking 4 STR" means "Single White Female looking for Short Term Relationship".
  • The card in her hat is the Queen of Hearts.
  • The word moxie means "vigor" or "courage and aggressiveness." The word was coined by an advertising campaign associating those qualities with the Moxie brand soft drink, which was one of the first mass-produced soft drinks and can still be found in parts of New England.
  • When a crosshair is pointed onto Moxxi inside the arena, she appears as level "00", and has "[NONE]" where her name should be.
  • Mad Moxxi is a reference to Mad Max of the "Mad Max" series of movies, and the Underdome is a riff on the Thunderdome of the third film.
  • "And Then There Were None" is the title (actually, a re-title) of a book by Agatha Christie, referring to the last line of a nursery rhyme in which ten people die one by one.
  • Moxxi's appearance draws inspiration from characters in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The top hat with a card in it is symbolic of the "Mad Hatter", while the card itself, her preference for red clothing, the tattoo on her left breast, and her sadism all invoke images of the "Queen of Hearts".
  • "You're doing so well. I can't stop now" is a reference to the slasher film Scream. Ghostface says this to a character after the victim answers his trivia question.
  • According to the Borderlands GOTY strategy guide, the pistol she carries is named Rubi; her holster is also inscribed with the word "Rubi". This is confirmed in Borderlands 2, and Rubi may be obtained as a weapon.
  • The back of Moxxi's clothing is inscribed with the symbol of the Freemasons. However, rather than the expected letter "G" inside the symbol, there is instead a series of geometric patterns that resemble a diamond. Additionally, rather than the engineering instruments of Masonry making up the sign, the V and inverted V resemble the symbols for the Vault.
  • Moxxi's accent is apparently an act, as when she is tipped in Borderlands 2, she may ramble into her real, heavy southern accent. She makes a plea not to tell anyone of her "old accent". (this, and any of her other soundbites, can only happen when she is given a tip).
    • In Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, it's revealed that Moxxi goes into her Hodunk accent (with matching wardrobe) when she's alone and working in her garage. When the Vault Hunters catch her in the act, Moxxi threatens them to keep quiet about it or she'll have Scooter bury them in a shallow grave (like he did with Lucky Zaford).
  • Moxxi will give two guns when given enough tips. The Good Touch, which is incendiary and the Bad Touch, which is corrosive. They are strong guns but she sometimes won't offer them without first being tipped excessive sums. Moxxi's favorite gun is the Good Touch, due to the fact that it vibrates.
  • Although never directly stated in-game, Moxxi is bisexual. In the Underdome Riot DLC, Moxxi displays some kind of interest in Lilith and even calls her "delicious." In Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage, she states that she has dated Motor Momma, but dumped her because of her cannibalism, specifically eating one of her girlfriends, and also states that Maya gives her a "ladyboner". Several generic female NPCs also have idle dialogue such as asking if Moxxi mentioned them. Despite this, she has no known wives, and shows an equal attraction to males.
  • Despite her promiscuity, she states that she does not cheat on those she is married with.
  • Moxxi was once in a relationship with Handsome Jack. He destroyed the Underdome out of spite after she dumped him.
  • Moxxi draws items from her cleavage and she has been shown extracting both drinks and weapons.
  • In the Mad Moxxi's Underdrome Riot opening scene, her second husband is the shadow of Steve, and he even says Steve's signature "Heyoo!", but Moxxi's second is stated as being Mr.Shank in mission dialogue.
  • Moxxi appears in Poker Night 2 where she is the bartender.

Media

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