During a PAX East Gearbox panel, a question popped up that most Borderlands fans have thought about, "Will there be a fifth playable class in Borderlands 2?" And when Randy Pitchford replied in the affirmative, it's fair to say most gamers were surprised/worried/suspicious -- what was the catch? Pre-order DLC, day-1 DLC, something gamers will have to pay for? Not at all, apparently. Randy said the current plan was to introduce the Mechromancer post-launch as a free download for all players.
The Mechromancer will fill the Borderlands pet class void. Growing up as a poor, half-robot girl can be difficult, so why not build yourself a Deathtrap companion to ease your loneliness? Sporting red hair and goggles, with a mechanical arm, I almost thought she could be related to the original Borderlands' Siren, but the eyes definitely don't match.
She's still a long way off however, still in conceptual design actually. Gearbox loves to share its fun with fans though, and introducing a character at a PAX panel is quite awesome of them. Announcing they're planning to release her as free DLC is great marketing, to boot. Perhaps to mock Mass Effect 3's day one character DLC, or perhaps just to show they're paying attention to what consumers want, Gearbox took the time to show us something cool they're doing. Gamers remember that sort of thing.