Fortnite has hosted guest and novelty skins for nearly a decade now. The selection of in-game cosmetics have long resembled a wall of Funko Pops at what used to be a music store, with Iron Man, Optimus Prime and Bart Simpson skirmishing like a shootout in Times Square. With thousands to choose from, it would be an exceptional honor to be the most reviled Fortnite skin of them all. An all-new set, inspired by AI memes, have claimed that distinction in record time.
According to the Fortnite.gg database, Ballerina Cappuccina, added just this week, ranks at the bottom basin for fans. Inoffensive without context, the ballerina with a cappuccino for a head takes its inspiration from “Italian Brainrot” memes, a loose collection of surreal AI generated creatures that mix and match animals and objects until your stomach churns. Sharks wearing Nikes, planes with alligator heads. These cruel pranks from God are as if Toy Story Cid continued his campaign of nightmares in Silicon Valley.
Cuppacina is joined by “Tung Tung Tung Sahur,” a wooden log with a Dreamworks face, as part of Fortnite’s “Brainrot” collection. It isn’t the first time the popular battle royale game has included feverish memes, with Skidibi Toilet making its entry in 2024. The Brainrot collection is the latest and most concrete attempt to give AI a face within Fortnite.
Fortnite’s flirtation with AI-generated content began to roll out just last year. Visual assets with that distinctive washed out sheen began materializing across the map and a miscalculated AI fueled Darth Vader slurred like a sailor in the summer.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is a huge cheerleader for AI integration, even when (if not especially when) it is tasteless. Earlier this year Sweeney dove in front of some bullets for Grok, defending Elon’s monster’s right to generate sexualized images of children. When Epic laid off 1,000 of its own staff, Sweeney openly rationalized it around the benefits of AI labor, seemingly out of sync with the official story of the company being hard on cash.
AI-generated memes, which are like how you could drag Freddy Kruger into the real world by holding on to his sweater except for concussion thoughts, have invaded many corners of digital culture. On Fortnite they were invited. The opinions of tech giants seem to run at direct opposition to everyone else regarding AI. At every opportunity, the majority of players seem to reject the usage. Cuppacina is merely inspired by AI and she’s getting trashed. It comes during an especially delicate dance, as Disney is rumored to be considering a fuller takeover of Epic while Sora’s closure disrupts the house of mouse’s AI ambitions.