Borderlands x Supernatural AU (please take this and run with it)
okay so hear me out: I am losing my mind over a Borderlands + Supernatural AU where:
Handsome Jack = Dean Winchester
Timothy Lawrence = Sam Winchester
Rhys = Castiel
and I genuinely think this is the cleanest, most canon-faithful, emotionally devastating mapping possible.
Let me explain.
Handsome Jack as Dean Winchester
This one just… works.
Jack is:
sarcastic, loud, aggressive, and deeply emotionally repressed
uses humor and cruelty as armor
convinced he’s the hero even when he’s clearly doing horrible things
shaped by abandonment, loss, and a god complex he pretends is confidence
willing to do unforgivable things “for the greater good”
That is Dean-coded as hell.
Dean Winchester, if you lean harder into his darkness, his rage, his willingness to cross lines and never fully look back. Jack already has the:
bravado
violence
self-justification
and “I’m right, the world is wrong” mentality
and that slots perfectly into Dean’s narrative role.
He’s the frontline fighter. The brutal one. The emotionally constipated disaster man who would absolutely burn the world to save his brother and then joke about it.
Timothy Lawrence as Sam Winchester
This is honestly the easiest and most painful parallel.
Timothy is:
gentle
anxious
empathetic
deeply guilty
doesn’t want to be what the world keeps forcing him to be
Sam Winchester energy to the core.
He’s the researcher. The moral compass. The one who believes in redemption. The one who is constantly being used, manipulated, and traumatized and still tries to do the right thing.
Timothy as Sam is:
the boy who escaped a monster and is terrified of becoming one
the one who begs his brother not to cross lines
the one who believes there has to be another way
and it hurts in exactly the right way.
Rhys as Castiel (and this is where it gets GOOD)
This is the part I am most feral about.
Rhys is:
awkward
literal
socially off-beat
deeply loyal
morally earnest but naïve
tries to help and constantly messes it up
gets attached too fast and too hard
That is Castiel energy. That is textbook angel-who-doesn’t-understand-humans energy.
Rhys as an angel works because:
he genuinely wants to help
he doesn’t understand human emotions
he chooses Jack and doesn’t fully understand why
he believes in him even when he probably shouldn’t
he stays when he should leave
Which is… exactly Castiel.
An angel who looks at a deeply broken, violent man and goes:
Yes. That one. I choose him.
and then regrets nothing. and everything.
The Dynamic
Jack/Dean – violent, reckless, emotionally repressed hunter
Timothy/Sam – gentle, anxious, morally grounded researcher
Rhys/Castiel – awkward, devoted, confused angel who falls too hard
Which means you get:
brothers who love each other but don’t understand each other
an angel who believes in the wrong man
a man who doesn’t believe he deserves that faith
and a third party watching it all fall apart
Rhys trusting Jack when Timothy doesn’t. Timothy fearing what Jack is becoming. Jack pretending not to care about either of them and caring anyway.
It’s tragic. It’s messy. It’s extremely Supernatural.
Why am I choosing Rhys as Castiel instead of Jack?
I know AI Jack as Cas is tempting (and valid), but if we’re staying close to canon Supernatural characterization, Rhys fits the emotional role of Castiel better.
Castiel is:
not cruel by nature
not sadistic
not power-hungry
he is confused, loyal, and devastatingly sincere
That is Rhys.
Jack, on the other hand, fits Dean’s moral grayness, anger, and self-justification far more cleanly.
Which in the grand scheme of things;
Jack in the violent, morally flexible role
Rhys in the awkward, devoted, not-quite-human role
Timothy in the soft, suffering, trying-his-best role
and preserves the core emotional structure of Supernatural while letting Borderlands personalities shine.
In Summary
This AU is:
Handsome Jack as Dean Winchester
Timothy Lawrence as Sam Winchester
Rhys as Castiel
Hyperion as Men of Letters
vaults as cursed sites
angels, demons, and monsters instead of psychos and loaders
and a lot of bad decisions made for love
If anyone wants to write this, draw this, scream about this with me, or make it worse, please do. I am on my knees for this concept.
