handsome jack is bi

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you know how i said i’d write you an essay? i was serious. i’ll add visual aids tomorrow, from the computer.

The Borderlands franchise is a well-known and well-beloved series of video games, boasting vivid and memorable characters in each installment. None, however, have made as many waves in the fandom community as the infamous Handsome Jack– played flawlessly, might I add, by the extraordinary Dameon Clarke– fluidly shifting between the roles of antagonist, antihero, and your best frenemy.

Love him or hate him, Handsome Jack is a major player in the Borderlands saga: a hero turned bad by power and ambition, and a cautionary tale to players on what they might let themselves become. The final point is especially prominent in the Tales From The Borderlands series, in which a hologram version of the previously deceased Jack mentors a cybernetic youth by the name of Rhys. This is, of course, not without reason– Rhys, though introduced as a decidedly ‘good guy’, mirrors many of Jack’s traits– he’s an ambitious Hyperion desk jockey with dreams of granduer, and he shares Jack’s trademark arrogance and egotistical tendencies, if only to a lesser degree. HoloJack even describes them as “two really hot guys with perfectly coiffed hair”, and promises Rhys the illustrious position of Hyperion CEO if only he can get Jack back to Helios.

(It should be noted that no one else but Rhys can see HoloJack, as he was downloaded into Rhys’ system after Rhys plugs a hard drive wired with Jack’s AI into his head.)

With the release of Tales came a major new ship for the fandom: Rhys X Jack, otherwise known as Rhack. While many view this as a crackship, or downplay it because a canon relationship with Handsome Jack only spells trouble for all those involved, the most prominent reason for the dismissal of this ship is the belief that both Rhys and Jack are heterosexual. Certainly, both have evidence to back this up: Jack has had a number of affairs with women over his lifetime, having had two confirmed wives (first one was killed, second one bolted after finding.out about Jack’s daughter), and being formerly involved with Mad Moxxi and Nisha (Miss Kadam, if you’re nasty). Rhys shows obvious interest in Sasha, one of his female counterparts, and the player can choose to romance her (Sasha) or her sister, Fiona, as the game is determinant. You can also, however, choose to side with HoloJack, which earns you the hatred and mistrust of the sisters. If you do choose to ally with Jack and take the so-called “BFF Route”, then Jack will begin to show a partiality to Rhys.

As is befitting his character, HoloJack is constantly running his mouth about Rhys’ friends and associates– and if the player uses Rhys’ ECHO eye to scan some of his teammates, they can read Jack’s take on the person (or object) in question. While mostly pointless, Jack does take the liberty to score some of Rhys’ friends on a hotness scale from 1-10; he gives Fiona a 9/10, which ranks her just above Vaughn, who gets a 7/10. This would be mostly unremarkable, if not for the fact that Jack ranks Vaughn soley because of his abs. In fact, when Rhys reunites with Vaughn in the Pandoran desert, the first thing he notices about Vaughn is his chiseled abs. He even puts Vaughn’s catchphrase as: “'Jack, stop staring at my abs’ (paraphrased from what he would say if he could see me)”. This implies that Jack is in fact physically attracted to men, and opens the possibility of him being bisexual. Of course, one cannot forget how buddy-buddy Jack can get with Rhys, occasionally crooning pet names at him (“Oh, Rhysiiiiieeee~), or, variably, if the player chooses to [RULE HYPERION], calls Rhys "my special boy”.

Rhys is, admittedly, a little less subtle. We find out through talking to Vaughn that Rhys is absolutely obsessed with Handsome Jack– though he denies it, he reportedly has “dozens of [Handsome Jack] posters” in his office. Of Jack, Rhys says “he was the biggest and the baddest… and I wanted to be just like him”, with a tone hinting at idolization. Over the course of the game, it’s made clear that Rhys’ adoration for Jack sprouts from a sort of hero-worship inferiority complex. And even after the heartbreaking events of Episode 5 (SPOILERS: in which Rhys is betrayed by Jack or Jack is betrayed by Rhys, depending on your point of view), Rhys catches himself posing in front of a picture of Handsome Jack before shaking his head angrily and moving on.

So in Rhys’ case, it may just be an isolated instance of being attracted to one man– Handsome Jack–or it may hint at an overarching bi/pansexuality. Evidence points to the conclusion that Jack, at least, is decidedly bisexual, even if he shows a clear preference for women a majority of the time.

(And before you ask, yes, bisexuals usually have preferences; very rarely are they equally attracted to both/all genders.)