Editing Fortnite

{{videogame
|title=''Fortnite''
|image=FortniteLogo.jpg
|caption=Making families poorer since 2017!
|developer=[[Epic Games]]
|publisher=Epic Games
|date=[[July 21]], [[2017]]
|platforms=Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Android
|rating=ESRB: T
}}

'''''Fortnite''''' is a massively popular online video game developed by [[Epic Games]], most famous for its 100-player "Battle Royale" game mode where players battle it out until only one remains. In June 2023, themed skins based on [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Optimus Primal (ROTB)|Optimus Primal]] were made available as part of a ''[[Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (film)|Rise of the Beasts]]'' promotion.

==Synopsis==
[[File:FortniteWilds.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|Sadly, this is as close as we'll ever get to [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] showing up in ''Rise of the Beasts''.]]

Given the game's widespread perception, it may be surprising to learn that ''Fortnite'' actually has a fairly complicated story that has played out in both the game and a few comic book tie-ins, involving characters and items from worlds throughout the [[omniverse]], including (but ''far'' from limited to) the worlds of [[Marvel Comics]], [[DC Comics]], ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'', the [[Ghostbusters]], and fellow [[Hasbro]] series ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]'' arriving in the dimension where ''Fortnite'' occurs. Compared to a couple other fictional universes involved in the game's plot, ''Transformers'' plays a relatively small (though not insignificant) role, so we'll try and keep this summary of the events leading up to the collab as concise as we can.

===The Basics===
''Fortnite'''s Battle Royale mode takes place within a universe known as "Reality Zero", which primarily consists of a large island home to the "Zero Point", the nexus from which all existence emerged. This naturally makes it very powerful, and thousands of years before we enter the picture, a clandestine organization known as the Imagined Order (or "IO", for short) took control of the Zero Point and used it as a sort of omniversal teleporter to traverse the omniverse and adjust the various universes and realities within to fit their definition of "order". To ensure their control of the Zero Point and test strong individuals that might be worthy of joining their ranks, the IO also used the Zero Point to establish a time loop (referred to as simply "The Loop") on the island that renders its victims mute, restrains any superhuman abilities they might have, and nearly destroys one's memories and self-identity. These individuals, called "loopers", are forced to battle each other until one survives as a damaging storm closes in. At the same time, a mysterious, alien force known as the Last Reality has been traversing the omniverse and destroying reality after reality until only they remain, hence their name. These factions are opposed by "The Seven", a group dedicated to protecting the Zero Point and breaking the Loop at all costs.

===Chapters 1-3===
After the events of Chapter 1 (which can basically be described as "stuff happens without much context as to why, then the universe is destroyed and reborn"), the player's looper is shunted back and forth between the island and the IO's base of operations, "The Bridge", by the energy output of a powerful device built during Chapter 2's second "season" that tries (and fails) to destroy the storm, encountering IO agent John "Jonesy" Jones in the process. After the draining of a massive flood caused by the device, various heroes and villains from the Marvel universe are brought to the island at the behest of [[Thor]], at the time the herald of Galactus due to events going on in his comic. With the help of the heroes, in particular the genius mind of [[Iron Man]], the loopers are able to prevent Galactus from pulling a [[Unicron]] on the Zero Point and send the Marvel characters home, but not before Galactus rips the Zero Point from its hold in The Bridge, sending the IO into chaos. Agent Jones is ordered by his boss, Doctor Slone, to enter the Loop, reseal The Bridge, and prevent the loopers and anyone else from escaping; Jones goes about accomplishing the last task by hopping between realities (read: the worlds of other franchises) and dragging "hunters" into Reality Zero. This only causes the Zero Point to grow incredibly unstable, a problem the IO seemingly ignores, and an upset Jones decides he's going to ditch the IO and contact The Seven so they can fix things. One of their members, [[Dwayne Johnson|The Foundation]], arrives and agrees to help in exchange for information about the IO's enigmatic founder, a man named Geno. Foundation is eventually forced to seal both himself and the Zero Point in a massive crystalline spire to prevent it from going haywire, but an artifact borne of the spire causes a spike in energy that draws the Last Reality to the island, who destroy the spire to get at the Zero Point, freeing The Foundation in the process. Slone works with (and inevitably betrays) the loopers to blow up the mothership that arrives, only for the alien cubes onboard to crash onto the island and summon various monsters and the alien Cube Queen, who opens a portal that summons her vast army, ready to destroy the island. As chaos ensues on the island, Jones is tortured by Slone for his betrayal, only to be rescued by The Foundation and other members of The Seven, who use a mechanism within The Bridge to ''flip the island upside down'', defeating the Cube Queen and her forces.

In the aftermath, the present members of The Seven argue about how best to combat the IO when Slone and her forces emerge from the ground via drill tanks. The loopers then work with The Seven to take back the island and defeat Slone. A massive celebration party ensues, but the good times end when members of the Seven begin vanishing and an icky chrome substance, courtesy of the Last Reality, consumes and destroys the island, taking Reality Zero with it. However, thanks to the plans of the last surviving Seven member, the Zero Point is reawakened from a period of dormancy that followed the IO's defeat, and a process called "Zero Fusion" is used to reforge Reality Zero anew.

===Chapter 4===
After a day-long camping break, the player's looper returns to the island to find all of The Seven missing. AMIE, an AI created by one of The Seven, having gained free will as a consequence of their absence, becomes unstable (in the violent, psychologial sense), asking the player's looper to help her use the kinetic ore found on the new island to build her an exoskeleton so she can finally move about and interact with the world. The Oathbound, the main faction on the island and (seemingly) a past version of the Imagined Order, begins construction on a Rift Gate. The project's leader, The Warden (real name Stellan), has the player's looper assist in the project, which AMIE takes advantage of when a test of the Gate's capabilities reveals that The Scientist and the other Seven members are trapped and being "sculpted anew" by some dark entity. AMIE disconnects as her new body begins construction, and when the player's looper and Stellan activate the finished Rift Gate, things... don't go to either side's plan. The unstable Rift Gate creates a massive crack in the sky, which eventually opens up and drops a [[Japan]]-inspired landmass on top of part of the island. A largely-disconnected plot about uniting the syndicates of the region ensues.

The island soon begins experiencing earthquakes, which eventually cause a part of the island to crumble away and reveal a massive jungle that was hidden underground. Slone, as it turns out, survived her ordeal and was trapped here after Reality Zero was reforged. Now working alone, she begins working to make her plans for the island a reality... whatever those are.

...Oh, and some guy named [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] begins sending transmissions through a channel on the radios of the island's vehicles warning the loopers of reality's impending collapse.

==Notes==
* As mentioned, skins based on [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Optimus Primal (ROTB)|Optimus Primal]], based on their appearances in ''[[Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (film)|Rise of the Beasts]]'', were added with the launch of Chapter 4, Season 3 on June 9, 2023. 
** Optimus Prime was only available as part of that season's Battle Pass, unlocked after reaching level 100 and unlocking every other item on the pass, including a "Cybertronian Axe" melee skin, an [[Autobot]] [[Insignia|Emblem]] "Back Bling", an animated emoticon of the phrase "[[Roll out|ROLL OUT!]]", a graffiti tag of Optimus (based on the in-game skin, but labelled as "[[The Transformers (franchise)|G1]] Optimus Prime"), and a replacement for the game's loading screen featuring Prime rushing towards the camera. Finishing the Battle Pass allowed the player to earn additional "Bonus Rewards", including an "Autobot Signal Flare" contrail (a particle effect visible as the player falls towards the island) and a "Battle-Tested" variation of Prime with added battle damage. As Battle Pass rewards are only available via purchasing the Pass itself and then unlocking them, Prime and his associated items will become completely inaccessible following the end of Chapter 4, Season 3.
** Optimus Primal was made available alongside a Back Bling based on the [[Maximal]] insignia via the in-game shop for 1600 of the game's in-game currency, V-Bucks (roughly $12.78 US dollars), with his twin swords (referred to as "[[Sonic sword|Sonic Swords]]") also available as a melee weapon skin for 800 V-Bucks; a bundle containing both sets was also added, costing 1800 V-Bucks. Unlike Battle Pass items, shop items ''do'' tend to return every so often, meaning that it's likely Primal will be brought back for short stints.
** Bafflingly, while both skins have unique, built-in emotes, neither involves them [[Transformation|transforming]] into their [[Alternate mode|alt-mode]]; Prime's exclusive emote has him convert his arm into his arm cannon and then back again, while Primal's has him beat his chest and slam the ground. It's likely that Epic decided that it would be too confusing and unbalanced to have skins that cause the player's character (and therefore, their hitboxes and hurtboxes) radically change in size and shape, thereby giving those who bought the skins a competitive advantage over those who didn't.
* If the player has the Optimus Primal skin and the Autobot Signal Flare contrail equipped at the same time, the Autobot insignia normally used is replaced with the Maximal insignia instead.<ref>[https://old.reddit.com/r/FortNiteBR/comments/146a0u4/fun_fact_autobot_signal_flare_has_a_special/]</ref>
* [[Peter Cullen]] voices Optimus Prime's hidden radio transmissions.<ref>[https://twitter.com/EliasToufexis/status/1667167970899152896]</ref>
* [[G.I. Joe (team)| G.I. Joe]] operative [[Snake-Eyes]] was pulled into Reality Zero by Agent Jones on January 31, 2021, as one of the "hunters" intended to keep loopers from escaping. While stuck in the Loop, he engaged in countless, massive fights with [[Batman]] before the mutual respect that had grown between the two led Snake-Eyes to sacrifice himself to the storm so that Batman could escape the Loop.<ref>''Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point #3''</ref>
* ''Transformers'' is officially canon to ''Fortnite'' and, by extension, the many, ''many'' franchises whose characters, locations, and objects have been variously deposited in its universe. One of those "franchises", by the way, is ''our own Earth'', which has experienced multiple incursions from Reality Zero and had multiple real-life celebrities and internet personalities plucked from it to become loopers. Make of this information what you will.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* ''{{w|Fortnite}}'' at Wikipedia
* [https://fortnite.fandom.com/wiki/Fortnite_Wiki ''Fortnite'' wiki]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2JnTforl_4 Chapter 4 season 3 trailer]

[[Category:Crossovers]]
[[Category:Rise of the Beasts media]]