By Popular Demand: Fortnite Skins Designed by Fans

Online game devs and publishers know how important it is to listen to fan feedback. And Epic Games is doing a good job at that, especially when it comes to those giving skin suggestions. Here are the skins that were made by avid Fortnite players. They’re so good you’d think they’re made by in-house artists.

Hey Man! A Scarecrow in Fortnite

Scarecrows are rather popular icons in the realm of horror fiction, so it’s no surprise that Fortnite has a skin of it. But not before Redditor u/Noblebatterfly thought of it. He shared a concept art of a scarecrow skin on the Fortnite sub. Shortly after, the Hay Man skin was promptly released.

While the skin is not a 1:1 likeness of the concept art, it does bear striking resemblance to it. Plus, the timeframe when it was released is too close and convenient for it to be considered a coincidence. On top of that, Epic Games also released a female counterpart for the said skin. Pretty awesome how a fanart created not one, but two cool Fortnite items, isn’t it?

Fallen Love Ranger

The Hay Man isn’t the only skin from u/Noblebatterfly that turned into a skin, or at the very least took very heavy inspiration from. Another is the Hate Ranger. Supposedly the evil version of the Love Ranger, it’s a horned Cupid statue made of black stone that emits an eerie purple glow. 

Once again, shortly after, Fortnite came out with an official Battle Royale Fortnite shop entry: the Fallen Love Ranger, which had a very similar aesthetic and color scheme. The biggest difference, however, is the face, as the original looks more like a demon than a human. Nevertheless, u/Noblebattery’s design was posted first, and the name of the official is very close to the name the talented Redditor gave it.

Got Some Beef Boss?

If you don’t think that the two skins already mentioned aren’t close enough to the original from u/Noblebatterfly to be on this list, then perhaps this entry won’t: the Beef Boss skin.

The funny skin, which will make you an easier target because of the size of that head, looks like Hiddenstylus’ Fortnite concept skin called the Durr Burger Man. They don’t share the same clothes, as the official one wears your typical fast food chain manager uniform, while the concept skin looks like a burger joint-themed commando superhero. However, the head of the former is undeniably a carbon copy of the latter. If that’s not enough to convince you, then maybe the fact that the Beef Boss skin also has fries and the spatula should.

While it’s only the Beef Boss’s head that is identical with the original concept art, this one is straight up 90% a copy of the concept art. This is no other than the Jail Birds skin. Originally, it’s a concept art called Partners in Crime, which was posted by u/RexSadio on the game’s subreddit.

The skin concept art looks like thieves wearing a striped top and tactical pants and boots. Heck, the concept art already looks like an official skin, as it’s a 3D model in the game’s official art style. Soon enough, Epic released the Jail Birds skin, which looks like u/RexSadio’s art, apart from a smattering of minor differences.

The Story of the Tender Defender

The winner winner chicken dinner of a finale goes to a fanmade-turned-official Fortnite skin with a rather heartwarming tale behind it: the Tender Defender.

The skin was the brainchild of an 8-year-old named Connor. The fact that he wasn’t very good didn’t deter him from coming up with the idea of a fowl shooter. So his dad uploaded his very basic drawing on the subreddit, where it drew considerable attention. Artist mushroom_zero_art then gave it a much-needed artistic treatment, uploaded it on the sub as well, Epic noticed, and the rest, as they say, is history!

So if you have a Fortnite skin idea but aren’t very good at drawing, don’t despair. Pitch in that idea anyway. Who knows? Maybe it’d be the next Tender Defender.

Without community input, there wouldn’t be as many cool, funny, and even downright bizarre skins as we have now. So start drawing or even pitching your ideas now.