Blake Elliot McKenzie

Blake is a young, Hyperion-raised warrior, though he failed to adopt Hyperion's mentality. Born into a life of endless slaughter and betrayal in order to stay alive, Blake had little friends throughout his childhood as Hyperion fed him propaganda to brainwash him. All their efforts failed however, for Blake found sanity being a technician and working in R&D instead of fighting on the frontlines.

Betrayed by Hyperion, Blake came to Pandora to get away from being killed. He was taken under Navire's wing and soon proved himself to be be trustworthy as he turned against Hyperion and sought to destroy them for ruining him. Blake has mild anxiety he's working through and can go insane at times when his pent up frustration, guilt, and aggression explodes out. He goes into a murderous frenzy when insane.

Borderlands 1 & 2
Blake is a born and raised Hyperion soldier, during a time when Hyperion was low in numbers and desperate to have more soldiers. As such, instead of killing Blake soon after his birth, he was raised to be a Hyperion soldier, with the idea that children were easy to influence and brainwash to become loyal, unwavering soldiers.

Despite this idea, Blake was quick to resist. Already born susceptible to generalized anxiety disorder, everything was worsened when Blake was exposed to the reality of Hyperion, watching two young recruits kill each other over a promotion. While he wanted out as soon as possible, he recognised that it wasn't possible and had to play the waiting game, learning the ways of Hyperion and identifying potential enemies.

He graduated from the Hyperion academy at 15 and was put through military training, though his remarkable affinity for technology was recognised. This came as a blessing for he was transferred out of being on the frontlines to working in R&D alongside like-minded people who weren't constantly about to kill him. For five years he developed new technology and weapons for Hyperion, though he kept an eye out for the window of opportunity to make his escape.

Blake was no stranger to violence and was pit against a rival in R&D, Bryce Fox. With both of them gunning for a promotion that would bring them more immunity to the lower level grunts, Handsome Jack took a personal interest and offered the promotion to whoever killed their opponent. Blake recognised that Bryce would expect him to play the waiting game and strike when Blake's guard was down, so the young technician attacked there and then, in front of Handsome Jack. Impressed by Blake's viciousness and lack of hesitation, Jack gave Blake the promotion and his personal Eridium-bladed knife as a gift.

For the next four years, Blake became closer to Jack and learned more about his secrets, ideas, and goals. Blake gained access to a great amount of power and immunity against the low-leveled grunts and learned several of Hyperion's secrets, which also made him a target. Eventually, Jack decided Blake had learned enough and suspected the young man of betrayal, sending him to Pandora on a "secret mission". However, this mission was merely a trap as moonshots were fired after him in an attempt to have him killed.

Blake was barely able to evade the moonshots but got away, presumed dead by Hyperion. He wandered Pandora's harsh lands for two weeks, until he came across Sanctuary. While Sanctuary's residents were ready to shoot him upon seeing his Hyperion armour, Navire saw potential and took him under her wing. He readily gave up what he knew about Hyperion, having no desire to protect the vicious corporation.

Borderlands 3
Blake wasn't too involved in the events of the Vault of the Warrior, having spent most of his time following Navire around and learning to really survive Pandora on his own. After the Warrior was taken down by Axton, Maya, Salvador, Zero, Krieg, and Gaige however, he had become a close and trusted friend of the Crimson Raiders.

Once the Warrior and Jack were neutralized and no longer a threat to Pandora, Blake decided to set off on his own for a few months. Navire had become busy with Rhys, Fiona, and the Gortys project, so Blake took off to Eden-6 to assist Hammerlock, along with meeting up with the Jakobs family to make arrangements for Blake to temporarily work for Jakobs. He remained on Eden-6, working for Jakobs until the Vault of the Traveler was opened. Blake then left Eden-6 and broke off from Jakobs, returning to Sanctuary.

Blake assisted during Colonel Hector's attack on Sanctuary alongside Navire and the other Crimson Raiders, though he disappeared again once Sanctuary was back under Crimson Raider command. He and Navire remained on Pandora, though they didn't return to Sanctuary after Navire and Lilith fell out despite still being Crimson Raiders. During the six year period after Colonel Hector's attacks on Sanctuary to the reign of the Calypso twins, Blake opened the Vault of the Emperor, alongside Navire and Array.

Blake did not answer Lilith's initial call as he and Navire had left Pandora after the Vault of the Emperor was opened. Instead, he was found fighting for Atlas in the Atlas vs Maliwan war. While Blake had no former ties to Atlas, he agreed to help as Navire knew Atlas CEO Rhys. Blake and Navire informally agreed to work for Atlas when they were needed and had no other duties, as long as Rhys helped them attain Vault keys.

Once Katagawa Jr. was killed and Maliwan retreated from Promethea, Blake and Navire left Promethea and boarded Sanctuary III to assist the Crimson Raiders and Vault Hunters in getting rid of of the CoV.

Personality
Blake was born and raised around constant violence and betrayal, growing up as a Hyperion kid. He failed to submit to their propaganda and always kept a clear head, busying himself with other things. However, he was not entirely immune and accepted that no one could be trusted in Hyperion's ranks. He made friends on the surface - people he could use, and learned to be ready to stab them in the back at a moment's notice.

Certain personality traits like these have never left Blake, even long after he betrayed Hyperion. These are survival skills, so he is unwilling to let go of these traits.

Blake is also known to go insane at times. These episodes are caused by extreme stress in the moment, or a build up of stress over a long time that explodes suddenly once the trigger is pulled. Being shot at is one of the biggest stressors for him, and he released by going into a fiery rampage of murder in cold blood. He usually calms down shortly after an episode and will take a moment to regain his composure.