If you traveled back to 2017 and told yourself that Epic Games’ shy battle royale would become one of the highest-grossing games in the industry in less than five years, would you believe it? Because I wouldn’t. Of course, a big part of its success relies on the licensed collaborations Fortnite has been making in the past few years, practically reinventing itself by becoming a genre on its own when it comes to unusual crossovers and anticipated collabs. But they don’t just feed the community with characters from movies and games; celebrities from every media are also available for us to play with. In this list, we will rank celebrity skins that stand out the most and actually resemble their real-life counterpart.
10. Marshmello
The Marshmello outfit might not have a face for us to be astonished by their resemblance, but there was no way it could be left out of this list.
This celebrity skin hits differently because it reminds us, OG players, of the first live concert to happen on the island, way back in February 2019. The Showtime event was 10 minutes long and featured many Marshmello songs alongside the cosmetics of the DJ added to the Item Shop. Although Ninja was the first one to have the Icon Series rarity under his name, Marshmello was chronologically the first famous person to show up in Fortnite.
9. Ninja
A big part of the Icon Series rarity is composed of famous Fortnite streamers from every corner of the world. To not fill this list with only streamers, we chose one of the best and most popular within the community to be part of one of the best celebrity skins in the game.
Ninja finally arrived in Fortnite during Chapter 2: Season 1 with an outfit inspired by the classic logo from his channel. Its different styles make it look even more like a true ninja, along with a back bling with built-in pickaxes, and an exclusive emote.
8. The Rock
It was in a cinematic cutscene during The End live event that we got the shocking revelation of The Foundation’s face. The leader of The Seven surprised gamers by sharing the likeness of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson the whole time.
The Foundation outfit was obtainable through quests for Battle Pass owners in Chapter 3: Season 1. One of his styles didn’t include the customizable cybernetic helmet, leaving The Rock’s face and his iconic eyebrows visible. Three seasons later, another member of The Seven would land on the island portrayed by another Hollywood famous actor, Paradigm, who shared the same voice and appearance as Brie Larson. Still, The Rock as The Foundation was just so unexpected and remarkable that it deserves its spot here.
7. Arnold Schwarzenegger
After being a playable character in Mortal Kombat 11, movie legend Arnold Schwarzenegger finally has his face on a Fortnite skin. Before, we only had his character in the endoskeleton form, the menacing-looking T-800.
Although it’s a simple skin compared to the others in this list, it’s kind of hilarious how the outfit captures Arnold’s dull expression on the cybernetic soldier so perfectly. A Battle Damaged style is also available, besides the option to add sunglasses to both looks. The only thing that could make this skin even more perfect is if they added an emote with Arnold Schwarzenegger saying “Put that cookie down, now!” with his thick Austrian accent, but that’s another movie…
6. LeBron James
NBA’s all-time top scorer got two outfits in the Item Shop during Chapter 2: Season 7. To promote the long-awaited sequel to Space Jam in 2021, Fortnite announced a collaboration with Warner Bros. to bring LeBron James wearing the redesigned Tune Squad jersey.
It turns out we got more than we expected. Besides the Space Jam outfit with the additional LeBron’s Taco Tuesday style, a second skin featuring the Los Angeles Lakers power forward was sold featuring LeBron as a king due to his famous nickname. Another NBA star would join Fortnite recently, Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee Bucks, making fans’ hopes for a Michael Jordan outfit feel more likely.
5. Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande starred in one of the best — if not the best — live concerts in Fortnite. Like Marshmello, cosmetics of the singer were also available for fans to buy through V-Bucks in the Item Shop. This set was basically a duplicate of the giant Ariana that fans watched perform at the concert.
Unlike many of the others on this list — her skin is way more fantasy-themed and extravagant, and even unrealistic. But based on her music videos and fashion-forward style, this works for her. This is a skin that so many people loved, including die-hard fans of Ariana or those who adored the more glamorous look of her avatar.
4. Keanu Reeves
The Reaper legendary outfit was the 100th-tier reward back in Season 3 and it blew everyone’s mind for having a resemblance with a certain hitman vigilante. It’s good to remind the young folks that there was a time in Fortnite with no licensed cosmetics, so having a bootleg John Wick in your locker was iconic.
The official outfit was released as John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum hit theaters in 2019, along with Halle Berry as Sofia. The John Wick skin still impresses for its strong resemblance to actor Keanu Reeves, making it easily one of the best real-person models in the game. And I’ll be the one to say it, if Keanu Reeves is already in Fortnite, what’s holding them back from bringing him again as Matrix’s Neo?
3. Zendaya
Hollywood’s biggest rising star got not one but two awesome highly-detailed outfits in the Item Shop. Zendaya has her face shaped in some of the coolest collabs Fortnite ever did with two blockbusters, Dune and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The first skin arrived in the shop in October 2021 to promote the remake of Dune directed by Denis Villeneuve. Based on Zendaya’s character in the movie, the Dune set also had Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides and many other cosmetics inspired by the film. Not even two months later, Zendaya would be back as MJ as part of the Spider-Man: No Way Home set, along with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. I personally think Chani from Dune looks more like Zendaya, as her MJ skin looks more like a cartoony version of the actress.
2. Will Smith
After 17 years without a new movie together, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence finally reunited as some of their most famous characters for Bad Boys for Life in 2020. With all the buzz around, it didn’t take long for Fortnite to bring one of the bad boys to the Item Shop.
Although the community simply calls it the “Will Smith skin”, the Mike Lowrey outfit is actually inspired by the first Bad Boys movie from 1995 directed by Michael Bay. Its shape may look a bit more buffed than Will Smith was at the time, but the similarities it shares with the actor are tremendous. Why Martin Lawrence’s character Marcus didn’t make the cut, we will never know, but I still have hopes to have both of the Bad Boys in my locker.
1. Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak
Silk Sonic is a musical duo composed by Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. Both musicians started to work together in early 2021 and finished that year with a full album called An Evening with Silk Sonic featuring many successful songs on Billboard. A few months later, the two would bring their allure to the Item Shop with some of the most stylish cosmetics in Fortnite.
With a pretty cool funky retro vibe, the Silk Sonic set contains the Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak outfits, each one with four different styles, two different back blings, a pickaxe, and a lobby track, and two emotes with songs from their critically acclaimed album, like Leave The Door Open. I particularly love these cosmetics that are more real-word centered, without so many colors and effects around them, not to mention how complete their bundle is. Definitely a must-grab for any music fan or whoever wants to simply look cool.
