Fortniteis no stranger to bizarre crossovers. FromMarvel’s AvengerstoStranger Things, it seems like there’s really no propertyFortnitewon’t touch. The wildly popular game has even succeeded in placing Sony’s Kratos and Microsoft’s Master Chief under the same roof, on top of getting weapon skins based on each. If one was so inclined, they could even count memes like the “Stonks” man among the shooter’s crossover roster.Fortnitehas used its powers for good, and if recent leaks are to be believed, there may be even more wild guests in the future like Nintendo’s Samus Aran or popularShonen Jumphero Naruto Uzumaki. The sky really is the limit here.
And if thatNarutocrossover does indeed come to pass, then it can well and truly be said thatFortniteis no longer content with simply roping in the current popular movie, TV, or game franchises.Narutoas a franchiseis far from over, but the original manga and anime have been over for several years (moving onto his son, Boruto, instead). One would think it would be hard to top a deep multimedia pull like that — but for the fans of a certain 15-year old book series,Fortnitealready has. Just a few days ago, it was announced thatFortnitewould be getting the character Kelsier, The Survivor of Hathsin, from Brandon Sanderson’sMistbornseries. This marks the first time inFortnitehistory that a character only found in novels has appeared, and it might not be the last.
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What Is Brandon Sanderson’s Misborn?
American author Brandon Sanderson’sMistbornis a series of high fantasy novelspublished by Tor Books. The first trilogy, released between 2006 and 2008, consists ofThe Final Empire,The Well of Ascension, andThe Hero of Ages. A second series began in 2011 withThe Alloy of Law, which led into a tetralogy that is expected to finish in 2022. A third series is also planned to run from 2025 to 2027. The books take place in a world called Scadriel and revolve around the powers of Allomancy, or magic derived from metal, referenced by Kelsier throwing a coin or amulet in his official render. Allomancy is notable in that it’s often considered one of the best magic systems in all of fiction.
Kelsier himself is a thief, but he’s also a Mistborn, who are people with the rare gift to consume and burn powdered metals in order to fuel a variety of superhuman powers. He dreams of overthrowing the sadistic Lord Ruler and bringing an end to The Final Empire, the dominant party in Scadriel. The actual protagonist ofMistbornis another thief named Vin, who serves as Kelsier’s apprentice. The Hemalurgic Spikes Back Bling and Volcanic Glass Daggers Pickaxe item skins reference Kelsier’s tools in his home series, and also recall how dominated theMistbornsetting is by metals and related materials. While his usual powers aren’t present, Kelsier seems likea pretty good fit forFortnite.
How Did Mistborn Cross Over With Fortnite?
But that doesn’t do much to explain how Kelsier, of all characters, got into the game. Brandon Sanderson is an extremely successful author, having completed several series and written the ending to the famousWheel of Timesaga after the original author passed away. Sanderson has also attempted togiveMistborna video game adaptationin the past. However, that alone doesn’t explainMistborn’s presence. Fortunately, the reason for its sudden manifestation was provided by Sanderson himself on theMistbornReddit: he knows the Epic Games CCO, Donald Mustard.
Mustard is a long-time friend of Sanderson. They worked together on theEpic Games iOS seriesInfinity Bladeback in the day, and obviously are still on good terms. Several months ago, Mustard asked Sanderson if he was interested in putting Kelsier into the game, and he agreed. Thus, this surprising crossover came into fruition. Apparently, more crossover content is on the way, but there won’t be any sort of major event. Sanderson intentionally left the door open for Epic to add Vin herself if it wanted to, but nothing is set in stone yet as far as he knows. Either way, this is a fascinating moment inFortniteandMistborn’s history, and perhaps it will lead to more people checking out the acclaimed fantasy series.
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