Sub-Zero isn’t the only character from Mortal Kombat that made it into this Fortnite season, as players are seeing an ancient meme from the fighting game pop up in their battle royale games.
A Fortnite player shared their gameplay on Reddit, which featured a random man in a purple shirt popping into the bottom-right corner of the screen for a few seconds during combat. Since a majority of Fortnite players are too young to have played older versions of Mortal Kombat, long-time fans of the series had to fill in the blanks.
One fan explained that the man who peaks into the corner of the screen is Dan Forden, the lead sound designer for Mortal Kombat 2. The meme was created when the developers of the game would challenge each other, with Forden exclaiming that he was going to “toast” whoever he was facing. This eventually evolved into a common phrase among the office staff.
To commemorate their matches, the developers added a photo of Forden that popped into the game whenever players landed a successful uppercut. Forden even had his voice added to the game, loudly shouting “Toasty!” whenever the punch connected.
It looks like Forden’s legacy now lives on in Fortnite, although his voice was sadly left out. If you want to see Forden pop into your game, then equip the Sub-Zero Kombat Kit and unleash an uppercut against your enemies. Forden will pop up on both screens in all his low-resolution glory, so long as the uppercut connects successfully.
Overall, fans of Mortal Kombat are thrilled to see Forden make his way into yet another video game. Many players in the thread simply commented,”Toasty!” to celebrate this momentous occasion, leaving Fortnite players none the wiser to their antics. Other users are upset that Forden’s voice didn’t make it into Fortnite, since it’s an iconic line that’s beloved and remembered by many.
“It’s a shame he doesn’t do the voice line,” one player commented after viewing the clip. Unfortunately, Epic Games may not have gotten the rights to the audio of Forden’s voice, although nothing can be officially confirmed. Alternatively, the Fortnite developers could have found it distracting to players unfamiliar with the meme. As evidence, just check out the video attached to the Reddit thread, which shows the poster completely standing still in the midst of combat when Forden’s face graces their screen.
Other Mortal Kombat fans are shell-shocked after receiving the news that most modern gamers know absolutely nothing about the meme, showcasing just how much time has passed since Mortal Kombat’s original release. “Stop, I can’t be so old that people don’t know the Toasty easter egg,” a distressed user commented after seeing many Fortnite players utterly confused or worried about the random man on their screens.
While this Easter egg won’t change anything about your gameplay, fans of both games can rejoice that Forden’s likeness and vocabulary can live on for many more years.
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