How Borderlands 3's Beastmaster was inspired by Pokémon and World of Warcraft

Borderlands 3's new Beastmaster has some intriguing origins you might not expect - inspired by the Hunter class in World of Warcraft and the adorable world of Pokémon.

Zoe recently spoke with Gearbox creative director Paul Sage to get the backstory on Fl4k the Beastmaster's animal companions.

"If you think about the player fantasy for Fl4k, it's nurturing," Sage said of the hulking Vault hunter. "There's a ton of Pokémon and WOW Hunter things that appeal to it [the nurturing fantasy] so Flak had to have that, had to have pets for that reason.

"It appeals to that fantasy of 'OK, I want this in my game, I want to feel like I can [reach out and] touch them... I want them to respond to that, I want to name my pets, I want my pets to be out all the time, I don't just want to see them occasionally, I want to command my pet to attack - all of that was part of that relationship you should develop with your pets and having three was really important."

Sadly, you can't ride your pets - sorry, Pokémon fans - but otherwise the similarities are there. There's plenty more in Zoe's video on the class, below.