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While playing the Borderlands DLC, The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, I noticed that several of the different characters wanted to make it very clear, and I quote "This is Doctor Ned, who is totally not Dr. Zed in disguise." I was curious, is Dr. Zed actually the protagonist in Zombie Island, only in a disguise? If so, how is the character still alive and well in Borderlands 2? At one point in the DLC, Dr. Ned states on one of his ECHO devices that "My brother, who is most definitely not me in disguise, would never approve of my current course of action." Does this statement mean that Ned is admitting that Zed is his brother? Or is is just Zed trying to cover his tracks?

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    Note - there are other DLC which are more of a story using characters from the main game as models (particularly, Bunkers and Badasses for BL2) - it could be that the Zombie Island DLC is also not to be considered part of the main Borderlands continuity).
    – HorusKol
    Feb 10, 2016 at 3:04
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    @HorusKol - As all Borderlands stories/dlc start as legends that Marcus is telling to kids, it's probably just a story made up by him to scare them. :P
    – Robotnik ♦
    May 30, 2016 at 1:53

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It's definitely him.

"My brother, who is most definitely not me in disguise"

This is a classic case of Suspiciously Specific Denial, a trope which is typically either used to make it obvious that the inverse of what the person is saying is true, or subverted to make people think it's suspicious and later reveal that it was all true and the character was just bad at talking about it.

This isn't confirmation on its own since they could be subverting the trope, but the trivia section on the wiki page for Dr. Ned states:

After he is killed, his name tag will say "Zed" not "Ned" and his mustache will be missing.

So it was definitely Dr. Zed in a Paper-Thin Disguise.

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    Of course there had to be TVTropes links.
    – user114997
    Feb 9, 2016 at 16:19
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    Also on the wiki, it says "In Claptrap Web Series Ep. 4, Dr. Ned and Dr. Zed are seen together."
    – Rob Watts
    Feb 9, 2016 at 17:17
  • @RobWatts I'm not familiar with the web series, but the wiki also seems to question whether it counts as canon.
    – gwj17
    Feb 9, 2016 at 18:07
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    Warning: TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life
    – Draco18s no longer trusts SE
    Feb 9, 2016 at 22:03
  • I would also like to add that though Zed does die in the DLC, who is to say that he doesn't appear at the nearest spawn point? What, only the heroes get to die and have their bodies created again?
    – APrough
    Feb 10, 2016 at 14:32
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He is Dr. Zed's brother, NOT Dr. Zed himself. In the Game of the Year Edition Guide from Brady Games, it is stated that he is indeed "the evil twin brother of Fyrestone practitioner Dr. Zed." This actually is referred to again, jokingly, in Borderlands 2, during the mission "Monster Mash (Part 3)". When turning in the mission to Dr. Zed, you are shown a mission completed paragraph that reads "If you think Dr. Zed is creepy, be glad that you never met his brother." The joke here being that although the Vault Hunter you are currently playing as has never met Dr. Ned, that people who had played The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned DLC for Borderlands 1 will remember the creepy Zed lookalike.

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