What These Fortnite Emotes Really Mean

"Fortnite" makes a lot of money, and that might surprise you considering it's a free-to-play game. But Epic Games — the studio behind the title — realized that there was potential in microtransactions. The game is largely supported by players who buy limited "Fortnite" skins and other items. And not one of those items affects the game itself in any way. They're all cosmetic. That includes the long list of emotes you'll find in the "Fortnite" store and in its Battle Pass.

The emotes inside "Fortnite" are inspired by all sorts of real-life sources. There are emotes based on popular dances, for instance. There are also emotes plucked straight out of pop culture, whether it be a movie, TV show, or news item. Almost no emote makes it to "Fortnite" by accident. They're designed to be purchased, shown off, and laughed at. And chances are, if you've seen one, you've probably wanted to buy it. We've compiled a list of some of the most popular emotes found in "Fortnite" and what they're based on. You may know about some of these, but you may be learning about some for the first time. Whatever the case, we hope you enjoy the cultural context and the trip down memory lane.

Here's what these "Fortnite" emotes really mean.

There are instances where the "meme culture" reaches back and grabs something out of the past. Something that came along far before Twitter/X was even a thing — or our phones could even connect to the internet, for that matter. It could be a song or a photo, but in this case, it's a scene from a movie: 1994's "Pulp Fiction." In this scene, John Travolta's character, Vincent Vega, looks around an apartment, puzzled to find that he can hear a voice over an intercom but can't locate the source. His "Confused" body language is now immortalized as an emote in "Fortnite."

There's a pretty good chance you've seen this meme employed elsewhere. Travolta's character was taken by a talented internet user and plastered onto a green background, allowing other people to place him in a variety of situations. For instance, looking around a toy store as he struggles to find a Christmas gift. Now your "Fortnite" character can be equally confused, whether you're searching for weapons or looking around for those squadmates that seemingly don't exist.

One of the great joys of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" Carlton Banks (played by Alfonso Ribeiro) burst out into dance. And not just any dance: This was his signature Carlton dance, which is most closely tied to the Tom Jones classic "It's Not Unusual." Perhaps the best appearance of the Carlton dance arrived in a scene when he thought no one was home. He blasted Tom Jones, grabbed a nearby candle, and sang into it as he grooved around his abode — only for Will to find him out. If a video game must have emotes, the Carlton dance should absolutely be one of them. With that in mind, it's no surprise that Epic added the aptly-named Fresh emote to meet that bar. Much like some of the other emote dances on this list, you don't get "It's Not Unusual" as a backing track to the dance, but that doesn't make it any less hilarious to use in key situations. 

One person who didn't find it quite so funny was Alfonso Ribeiro himself. The actor sued Epic Games for the copycat emote. However, much like other lawsuits and scandals surrounding "Fortnite" dances, the suit was withdrawn when it was determined that he could not copyright the dance move itself. 

You can tell when a dance move is really taking off because it seems to show up everywhere. You'll see NFL players start using it in their touchdown celebrations, or YouTube videos of people doing the dance in random public locations. And heaven forbid you open Facebook: Someone will undoubtedly post a video of their grandparents trying to mimic the hottest new dance, and no one wants to see that.

For a short time in 2017, a young background dancer for Katy Perry became a worldwide sensation. As she performed during an episode of "Saturday Night Live," a young man named Russell Horning — who would become forever known as "Backpack Kid" — starting doing what would later be dubbed the "floss" dance. It was one of those wacky dances you knew would become a "Fortnite" emote at some point. And sure enough, it did. Appropriately named Floss, the emote is another example of how "Fortnite" tends to cheekily "borrow" from other works without really giving credit where credit is due. Horning and his family attempted to sue Epic Games over the use of the dance, but later dropped the case.

The "dab" is not a move that requires a rocket science degree to pull off. In terms of dance moves, it's actually one that doesn't require any real kind of coordination. Still, the history of how the dab got started is somewhat contentious. Some believe it started with hip hop artists in Atlanta. Others dispute that. But most agree that it became popular once Cam Newton, quarterback of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, started using the pose after touchdowns. In light of Mr. Newton's usage, the dab seemed to take on an air of disrespect in many spectators' eyes. You score on someone? You dab on them. So it's wholly unsurprising, then, that the dab would show up in "Fortnite" as an emote.

There are no handshakes or "good games" after a match of "Fortnite," after all. There are just hordes of people getting floored by shotguns, and their assailants spamming emotes over top of them afterward. There's a chance you've been "dabbed on" inside "Fortnite," and you're just waiting for your shot at vengeance — but only you can break the cycle. Only you can resist the dab. Be the change you want to see.

Michael Jackson will forever be heralded as a fantastic performer, and the choreography in many of his music videos was sometimes just as memorable as the songs themselves. There's the dance from "Thriller," for example, or "Beat It." By just reading the names of those songs, you can probably envision the dance numbers from the music videos in your mind. They're that iconic.

For "Fortnite" to leave out a Michael Jackson dance — well, that would be blasphemy. Fortunately, it looks like the game has included a nod to the one-time King of Pop in the form of the Fancy Feet emote. Fancy Feet appears to be derived from a dance Jackson did to his hit "Billie Jean." Viewing the two side by side, you can see the similarities. Epic didn't get it as exact as the studio has for other dances in its emote collection, but for fans of MJ, Fancy Feet may just do the trick.

Can a dance be so bad it's good? That was the question put in front of the "Fortnite" community when Epic ran an emote dance contest in early 2018. Tons of entries came in, many of them spectacular and worthy of inclusion in the game. But only one could win — at least, until the community rallied behind an unlikely hero. 

Nicknamed "Orange Shirt Kid" by the "Fortnite" crowd, a child bravely uploaded a video entry for the contest. His dance? Well, the best thing you could say about it was that it was movement of some kind. But it won the hearts and minds of the "Fortnite" fan base, and though it wasn't selected as the contest winner, gamers started petitions to get his dance included as an emote. Epic obliged, and at the beginning of May 2018, players logged into "Fortnite" and found the Orange Justice emote waiting for them in the Battle Pass. The young dancer's mom joined the long line of people to sue Epic Games over the use of her son's dance, but that seems to have gone about as well as the others.

There are a few things that make "Napoleon Dynamite" such a great watch. One is the sheer awkwardness of Napoleon himself, which just about any current or former high schooler can relate to. Another is the sheer number of quotable bits from the movie's stars, with lines like, "Your mom goes to college," and, "How much do you wanna bet I can throw a football over them mountains?" But the best part of the movie, perhaps, is that it's the tale of an underdog who comes up big at the right time.

Napoleon pulls out all the stops at a school event, dancing on behalf of his friend Pedro, who is running for class president. And his dance — after some excruciating silence — brings down the house. The Groove Jam emote in "Fortnite" is a spot-on rendition of Napoleon's moves. If you're a fan of the movie, it's one you'll almost certainly want as part of your collection. And if you've never seen "Napoleon Dynamite" — seriously, what are you waiting for?

We made the point in an earlier section about "Fortnite" borrowing from artists who create dances without really giving them credit. It didn't take too long before some of these artists spoke up to publicly criticize the game for doing so. Specifically, something shifted when "Fortnite" started selling its Hype Dance emote. The Hype Dance is better known in hip hop circles as the Shoot Dance, having appeared in a song called "Shoot" by rapper BlocBoy JB, and the artist wasted no time in telling everyone how he felt about it. He posted to X (then Twitter) that he was tired of seeing people crediting "Fortnite" for coming up with his moves, arguing that the company was getting paid for his work. 

Believe it or not, though, that wasn't the first bit of heat "Fortnite" got on the topic. Chance the Rapper, who does not have a dance in the game per se, also posted his displeasure with the game and the way it used dance moves from artists. He wrote, "'Fortnite' should put the actual rap songs behind the dances that make so much money as Emotes." Of course, "Fortnite" has since created multiple collabs with established hip-hop artists, but Chance's argument was seen as a novel approach at the time.

"I got a fever. And the only prescription is more cowbell!" That line was nearly inescapable after it was uttered by Christopher Walken on the April 8, 2000 episode of "Saturday Night Live." There's a good chance you've had some friends pull that quote out from time to time. Some may have even tried to imitate that classic Walken delivery, though let's be honest — few can. Still, there's no denying the popularity of that sketch in particular, and how it continues to show up in new memes and jokes.

The Llama Bell emote is a definite nod to the "More Cowbell" sketch. Even more satisfying is the fact that it actually includes the cowbell sound. Do you get "Don't Fear the Reaper" playing in the background? Unfortunately, no; that's probably a bit more money than the devs were willing to spend. But if you've "gotta have that cowbell," you probably don't mind, anyway.

What does the internet find fascinating? Well, it's really hard to tell sometimes. Something you find completely hilarious could pass the world by, leaving you alone with your laughter. And, in some instances, everyone else will latch on to a subject and make you wonder — what's the big deal? You either feel one of two ways about Nusret Gökçe, a.k.a. Salt Bae, the Turkish chef who is super extra in his application of salt: You either get it, or you don't. Regardless, you can find an emote that pays tribute to his stylish salt-sprinkling inside "Fortnite."

The term "salt" itself has always taken on a different connotation in the video game world, where communities sometimes argue amongst themselves about who is perpetually angry and who isn't. And in that respect, the use of the Pure Salt emote can be seen as a troll against an opponent, as though to ask, "Aw, are you salty that I just eliminated you?" But you're better than that! Chances are, you'll only use the Pure Salt emote to remember Salt Bae — the man who showed the world that you can pour your entire heart and soul into seasoning a meal.

Before games like "Fortnite" and "Destiny" made emotes an integral part of the experience, a beloved single-player game worked them in to great effect. The game in question might not seem like it has much in common with "Fortnite," but if you're bad at Battle Royale, you likely die a lot ... just as you do in this game. Repeatedly. We're talking about "Dark Souls," the game "Fortnite" looked to for inspiration when creating the Praise the Tomato emote.

Praise the Tomato is a nod to the Praise the Sun emote found inside "Dark Souls." In "Fortnite," it serves as little more than a nod to FromSoftware's action-RPG, but the emote holds far more meaning inside "Dark Souls itself." It's a celebration, of sorts, upon finding a bright spot in a world full of things that want to kill you — mainly, meeting the knight known as Solaire. 

You'd be genuinely surprised at how many pop culture fads are born out of professional wrestling. The whole "Yes! Yes! Yes!" thing where you repeatedly raise your arms in the air? That comes courtesy of professional wrestler Daniel Bryan. People saying, "Wooo!" in a high-pitched voice? That's an old-school bit from Ric Flair. And then there's The Rock. Pretty much everything Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's done has made its way into the mainstream, especially considering he's one of the highest-paid actors on the planet. One thing that's become mainstream is his signature "bring it" taunt.

In "Fortnite," the corresponding emote is appropriately called Bring It. It serves as an invitation to that guy trying to snipe you across the map, or that lady hiding behind the walls of a fort, hoping to ride things out until the match population dwindles. It says that you want a fight; you're ready to go one-on-one, and you're calling them out. Using it mid-match will probably get you killed, but in the rare instance that it doesn't, it's super satisfying.

You've likely had a brilliant idea or two while playing "Fortnite." Perhaps you purposefully left an item crate out in the wild as bait, then launched a perfect sneak attack. In these instances, you would not use the Calculated emote. This emote is meant for those who "succeed" at "Fortnite" by finding a genius loophole. Example: You can't get killed by an opponent if the storm kills you first. That's essentially what the Roll Safe meme is about, which is the meme that inspired the Calculated emote.

The recognizable meme originally sprang from a moment in Kayode Ewumi's "Hood Documentary," in which the filmmaker/actor taps the side of his head and smiles knowingly. Roll Safe is all about avoiding one kind of failure by accepting another, or perhaps, choosing to live in ignorance instead. "You can't get cheated on if you don't get into a relationship," states one version of the meme. "You can't be broke if you don't check your bank account," says another.

So the next time your squad drops onto a hot loot spot, stand still and pop the Calculated emote. Then tell them, "You can't get useless guns if you don't search."

The "Brush Your Shoulders" emote might appear to be an arrogant move, like something you might pull out to say, "That was easy." However, the origin of brushing your shoulders off actually comes from a more uplifting place. It's not so much a sign of being cocky as it is an indication of resilience. It's about taking what comes at you and not letting it shake you — which is perfect for a game like "Fortnite," where a lot of terrible things will happen to you. And you have Jay-Z to thank for this emote.

Jay-Z's hit single "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" first released in 2004. After that, "brushing your shoulders off" entered the common vernacular, inspiring people to appreciate how far they've come and what they've accomplished. It's also a call to "brush off" the things others have to say about you. In a game like "Fortnite," where you might be on the receiving end of a nasty chat message or two, there may be no better response than to show that none of it bothers you. Just brush your shoulders.

Before "Fortnite" and its wide collection of emotes hit the scene, you could play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and fail, time and time again, to link Kevin Bacon to Cliff Bleszinski. But no more! The two are now connected forever by fate. Or rather, they can at least realistically come up in adjacent sentences now. Cliff Bleszinski once was a lead designer at Epic Games, the studio behind "Fortnite." And Kevin Bacon? He helped inspire the Dance Therapy emote that you can occasionally find in the "Fortnite" store.

Dance Therapy is based upon one of Bacon's most famous dance numbers in the movie "Footloose," in which he lets out his aggression in a dimly-lit warehouse. His moves are definitely worth a watch, especially since they may inspire you to use this emote during a "Fortnite" match. Hopefully your opponents are good sports about your dance routine — just as Kevin Bacon's been about poking a little fun at himself, all these decades later.

The folks at Epic Games are pretty amazing at digging into a giant heap of pop culture and pulling out an emote. But sometimes they can take you by surprise. This next emote in the lineup can't be called anything but niche — it's certainly not something that was as widely circulated as say, the Backpack Kid dance. But upon seeing the emote and, more importantly, it's source material, you'll completely understand why it's in the game.

The emote is called Intensity, and it's inspired by a viral video of a man known to the internet as Techno Viking. In the infamous video, the Techno Viking nearly gets into a confrontation in the middle of a parade in Berlin. One particular famous part of the video sees the Techno Viking pointing off-screen for several seconds — almost as though to let the world know that something big was on its way. The Techno Viking then proceeds to make his way down the street, busting out a series of dance moves in perfect rhythm while other parade-goers trail behind. Long story short, video of the Techno Viking and his dance made its way online. And now your Fortnite character can emulate this legend.

Quite a few sports stars have their own signature taunt of sorts, performed after making a big shot, scoring a touchdown or goal, or otherwise making some other kind of important play. They're not unlike those employed by professional wrestlers, and once an athlete uses them enough, they almost become part of them. For instance, Cam Newton has his dab, and LeSean McCoy has a little dance he performs. But there may be no better taunt than the late great Dikembe Mutombo's finger wag. Mutombo was famous for blocking shots, and he blocked a lot of them. Almost every single one was followed by his signature wag of the finger — a silent way to tell his opponent, "No."

Mutombo's finger wag remained popular long after his retirement, even making its way into a Geico ad at one point. So it's only natural that the Finger Wag emote in Fortnite would pay homage to both the man and his index finger. Use it the next time someone tries to invade your base, or the next time an opposing player tries to steal a loot crate out from under your nose. Shoot them down, walk over, wag your finger — and say, "Not in my house."

"Fortnite" emotes aren't always immediately understandable. Most reference something popular with the American audience, whether it be a meme floating around online or a dance from an American movie or music video. Some emotes reach across the seas to find inspiration, and that's where the Star Power emote comes in.

Imagine if "Fortnite" released an emote that mixed random dance moves from American pop stars like Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, and so on. That's essentially what Star Power does with K-Pop. The emote itself is a sort of Frankenstein amalgamation of several popular K-Pop dance routines, all rolled into a single tidy package. You'll find bits of dances from both Lovelyz and GFRIEND inside Star Power. If you're a fan of K-Pop, it's your lucky day. But even if you don't follow K-Pop all that closely, it's still worth checking out.

Some "Fortnite" emotes are born out of dance. Some are derived from comedy. What makes the Best Mates emote special, though, is that it's actually a mix of both. It's not only a dance, but it's also intended to make you laugh. The story begins in 2016 with comedian Marlon Webb, who uploaded a video featuring himself and several of his friends doing a sort of jog-dance down the street as A-ha's "Take on Me" played in the background. The video became an instant sensation. Webb soon followed that video up with a similar one that featured the Bee Gees tune, "Stayin' Alive." 

Webb's antics eventually inspired a phenomenon known as the #JoggingManChallenge. Tons of videos soon followed, with others following the lead of Webb and his friends. With the Best Mates emote in "Fortnite," players can create their own "Band of the Bold" with their teammates. Just be careful with the song choices. YouTube is a bit picky about copyrights.

Life moves fast on the internet, so some folks may be surprised to realize that the Electro Shuffle isn't some top-secret emote with unknown origins. It's just a fun dance based on a video that only a handful of people may remember.

In 2017, influencer and dance instructor Gabby J. David uploaded a video of herself dancing to a remix of the Migos song "Bad & Boujee." The video absolutely exploded, and at the time of this writing it's been viewed nearly 13 million times. This particular emote really comes down to a case of timing. David's video came out the same year that "Fortnite" debuted, so it was still fresh enough in people's minds to stand out as a fun reference. The dance joined the game, but the beat that plays during the emote is only somewhat reminiscent of "Bad & Boujee." Because of that, people coming into the game today might not immediately connect the emote to the video. Everyone who was around when "Fortnite" first started, though, can probably still remember the real source.

The Venn diagram of sports fans and gamers has been gaining more and more overlap every year. These days, it isn't surprising to see streaming stars like Sketch hanging out with NFL players, but not too long ago, the Griddy was the biggest connection point between professional sports and games like "Fortnite." The dance was actually started by a high school football player named Allen Davis who lived in Louisiana. Videos of the dance started getting attention online, and the dance really took off on TikTok when people synced it up to the song "Right Foot Creep" by YoungBoy Never Broke Again.

The Griddy jumped from high school to the NFL thanks to Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson. After Jefferson did the Griddy as a touchdown celebration in late 2020, the dance started showing up just about everywhere. It came to "Fortnite" in 2021, but the Griddy's largely faded from popularity since then. Now it's just another example of a dance that once dominated the internet before going on to feel like a half-remembered dream.

I'm A Mystery was added to "Fortnite" in December 2023. It was part of the Chapter 5 seasonal set The Underground, which also featured a skin for a rock-inspired character named Hope. I'm A Mystery fits right into that theme, because a real-life musician helped to create it. You might have to do some serious digging to really find the artist, however, and that's exactly what many fans did after Epic released the emote.

When people started noticing that the song accompanying I'm A Mystery sounded oddly familiar, they turned to Reddit to try and find out who wrote it. After some internet sleuthing, fans were able to figure out that a Japanese artist who goes by DEATHNYANN created the track. She's actually worked on many "Fornite" music packs, including several different Lobby Music tracks and the jam track "You Don't Know Me." Her work normally on the game normally flies under the radar, but it's pretty fitting that this is the emote that got fans to start searching for her solo music. In this particular case, the emote has a very different meaning from most.

If you're not clued into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then you might have been confused when Epic added the Bye Bye Bye emote into "Fortnite" in 2024. The emote perfectly replicates the dance to *NSYNC's hit "Bye Bye Bye," which came out more than two decades ago. The devs working on "Fortnite" weren't just feeling nostalgic, however; they were taking a cue from Deadpool.

2024's "Deadpool & Wolverine" opens with an extended dance/action scene set to *NSYNC's single. Some of us knew the dance would end up in "Fortnite" the moment we saw it happening on the big screen. After all, Marvel tie-ins have been a core part of the game's success, and Deadpool specifically has inspired emotes in the past. Put Deadpool, the MCU, and dancing together, and you've got a recipe for an emote that's guaranteed to get people spending their hard-earned V-bucks.