Fortnite is no stranger to bizarre crossovers. From Marvel’s Avengers to Stranger Things, it seems like there’s really no property Fortnite won’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. Fortnite has 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 popular Shonen Jump hero Naruto Uzumaki. The sky really is the limit here.
And if that Naruto crossover does indeed come to pass, then it can well and truly be said that Fortnite is no longer content with simply roping in the current popular movie, TV, or game franchises. Naruto as a franchise is 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, Fortnite already has. Just a few days ago, it was announced that Fortnite would be getting the character Kelsier, The Survivor of Hathsin, from Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series. This marks the first time in Fortnite history that a character only found in novels has appeared, and it might not be the last.
What Is Brandon Sanderson’s Misborn?
American author Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn is a series of high fantasy novels published by Tor Books. The first trilogy, released between 2006 and 2008, consists of The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. A second series began in 2011 with The 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 of Mistborn is 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 the Mistborn setting is by metals and related materials. While his usual powers aren’t present, Kelsier seems like a pretty good fit for Fortnite.
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 famous Wheel of Time saga after the original author passed away. Sanderson has also attempted to give Mistborn a video game adaptation in the past. However, that alone doesn’t explain Mistborn’s presence. Fortunately, the reason for its sudden manifestation was provided by Sanderson himself on the Mistborn Reddit: he knows the Epic Games CCO, Donald Mustard.
Mustard is a long-time friend of Sanderson. They worked together on the Epic Games iOS series Infinity Blade back 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 in Fortnite and Mistborn’s history, and perhaps it will lead to more people checking out the acclaimed fantasy series.
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