Fortnite has featured characters from just about every major entertainment franchise. From classic horror films like Alien to the modern-day blockbusters of Marvel, there are a staggering number of characters within the game. It's not just those recognizable faces in the world of Fortnite, though. There are also fully original characters in Fortnite, and some of them are just plain weird.
There is an important difference between an 'outfit', and a 'character' in Fortnite. Outfits are the skins that can be equipped by players, while characters are the NPCs that roam the in-game world. While every character is based on an outfit, not all outfits have appeared as characters. The recent Chun-Li outfit, for example, has yet to make an appearance as an NPC. That said, Epic Games usually makes the more outlandish outfits into memorable characters, something that it's direct competitor PUBG has also noticed.
With that distinction in mind, here is a look at the more outlandish characters that Epic Games has introduced into Fortnite.
Weird Fortnite Character - Mancake
Mancake answers the age-old question of "what if a cowboy were made of pancakes?" Fully equipped with a syrup-coated ten gallon hat and a bandolier of butter sticks, Mancake is a food-based reimagining of the classic Wild West character archetype. Their 'money' sack filled with pancakes does raise some questions about the nature of their relationship to the breakfast food. It's what they're made of - but also their currency?
Weird Fortnite Character - Gutbomb
In another case of good-food-gone-bad, Gutbomb is what happens when the usually jovial Beef Boss is forced to survive in a Mad Max meets Fortnite post-apocalypse. This character was ripped from an alternate dimension where things have apparently gone very wrong for the fast-food mascot.
Weird Fortnite Character - Cobb
Rounding out the trio of strange food-based characters is Cobb. Whereas Mancake is a man made of pancake, Cobb is more like an ear of corn made into a man. There is very little personification going on with this weird Fortnite character. They don't even wear clothes, preferring to remain wrapped up in their own husk.
Weird Fortnite Character - Triggerfish
This fish didn't only sprout arms and legs, they also gathered up quite the arsenal of military gear. Generally, a headband is used to keep hair out of one's eyes, but Triggerfish is using it - rather successfully - for the fashion.
They do like to call players "landwalkers," which is a little rich coming from a fish with legs - on land. According to a recent Fortnite leak, there will be a new, even more outlandish fish skin hitting Fortnite soon.
Weird Fortnite Character - Bushranger
Fortnite's Bushranger is described as a unique tree, as "none of the other trees are quite like him." That seems accurate. The aspen tree theme that adorns Bushrangers' torso and arms doesn't quite translate to the face, resulting in a bizarre mix of tree, hedgehog, and racoon. It's a memorable character, at the very least, and one that is getting a Brie Larson-curated Fortnite collection.
Undoubtedly, there will be more NPC characters added to the game in the future. Epic Games will continue on its quest of devising and designing all manner of strange characters. Fortnite is sure to get weirder.