Staring Default Fortnite Guy

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About

Staring Default Fortnite Guy refers to a viral image of Fortnite character Commando Spitfire, better known as one of the default Fortnite skins, staring at the camera. Starting in late December 2018, the image has seen active use as an exploitable, particularly in ironic memes.

Origin

On December 3rd, 2018, YouTuber^[1] Joshy posted a video titled "My first vlog." The thumbnail of the video used a screenshot of Fortnite: Save the World character Commando Spitfire, better known as one of the default player models used in the battle royale mode of the game, looking directly at the camera. The video received over 167,000 views in 18 months (shown below).

Prior to December 13th, 2018, an unknown user made a meme based on the image, captioned "you accidentally left me on read haha" (shown below). On December 13th that year Instagram^[2] user salad.snake made the earliest found repost of the image, gaining over 36,000 likes in 18 months (shown below). On December 14th Redditor^[3] xXIProXx made another repost, gaining over 3,300 upvotes in /r/okbuddyretard in six months.

Spread

The viral spread of the meme prompted further use of the image as an exploitable. For example, on December 23rd, 2018, Instagram^[4] user fucktheyute posted an "Astroworld" meme that received over 18,500 views and 2,400 likes in 18 months (shown below, left). On December 31st, 2018, Instagram^[5] user memegito posted a Moyai Emoji meme which received over 2.500 likes in the same period (shown below, right).

Starting in early January 2019, the format received larger spread online, with viral posts on Instagram and in /r/okbuddyretard, where it maintained moderate popularty in the following year.

Prior to January 11th,^[6] an unknown user posted an edit of February 23rd, 2017, photograph^[7] of professional association football player N'Golo Kanté getting a haircut, with Commando Spitfire replacing Kanté (original photograph and edit shown below, left and right). The edit received viral spread online and has also been used as an exploitable.