The Best Fortnite References And Cameos

Remember "Gangnam Style," when it seemed like just about everyone was working that bucking bronco dance into their content? The late night shows were doing sketches with it. Football players were using the dance to celebrate big plays. There didn't seem to be an escape from it. That's because there's a certain virality that content can take on thanks to the internet. Something funny or novel can spread quickly, and those of us who see it help spread it to even more people. It's like a flu, but one that can either be good or bad. One that either makes you react like, "Oh, I can't get enough of this flu!", or, "Oh no, I'm sick again."

Fortnite is arguably the latest pop culture "thing" to catch on with a huge mainstream audience. And now that it has, you're starting to see Fortnite referenced in more and more places. Because everyone wants to be in on the joke. The challenge, though, is not to be the last one telling it. We haven't reached that point yet, but we will.

Until then, you'll see more Fortnite stuff popping up everywhere. Like in the places we've listed below. Interview shows. Sports. Cartoons. Sitcoms. They're all working Fortnite into the mix. And we're going to show you exactly how they've been doing it.

Here are the best Fortnite references and cameos.

Jimmy Fallon, perhaps thanks to being one of the younger late night hosts, is always quick to spot a trend. He's landed on a bunch of recurring segments for The Tonight Show, including one that may never end as long as Fortnite is popular — and as long as the game keeps creating new emotes.

It's called the Fortnite Dance Challenge. And, as you might have guessed, it involves watching and then trying to mimic one of the many available Fortnite dances.

Fallon will often invite guests to take part, as well. In one notable Dance Challenge, Fallon and members of the South Korean boy band BTS took part, doing their best interpretations of Fortnite dances as the real deal played right next to them in split-screen.

As expected, most of the BTS guys were pretty good dancers. And Jimmy? Hey, he held is own on quite a few of them. Which is really all you can ask for.

Much like Saturday Night Live, you can count on South Park to take what's currently hot in pop culture and lampoon it fully. And the show is known for its attention to detail, too. So you can expect that Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and the rest of the South Park team are going to get things right. If South Park is going to reference Fortnite, it's going to do it in a way that the game's fans can fully appreciate.

In South Park's latest Halloween episode, that's exactly what happened.

According to ComicBook.com, there were approximately 18 Fortnite skins featured, all worn by different characters in the South Park universe. A YouTube channel called The Radioactives went through the trouble of pointing out every single one of them, so definitely be sure to check out the clip. Whether you're a fan of the Merry Marauder gingerbread man costume or the oft-seen Skull Trooper, you're bound to see your favorite skin flash in front of the camera at least once.

There are several restaurants that are absolutely crushing it on social media. One only has to pull up the Twitter accounts for Taco Bell or Wendy's to see how those companies are doing it right. They understand the medium, they understand what makes a post viral, and they're regularly reaching a lot of people by creating good content.

What does any of that have to do with video games? Well, games are often the topic of discussion on those Twitter accounts. Just as it is on the Denny's account, which created the gem seen here.

If you're a Fortnite player, it should be immediately obvious what Denny's is going for with that image. It's basically aping the imagery of a Fortnite weapon tile, but more specifically, it's using a fork and pickle to create a Denny's-style pick-axe — or, as Denny's called it, a Pickle Axe.

Unfortunately, this creation is one conjured up by the imaginations behind the Denny's Twitter account. It's not a real item in Fortnite itself. But maybe it could be someday.

If you think American football celebrations are a bit excessive, watch a soccer match. The goals are usually few and far between, so when one of those rare scoring opportunities is actually cashed in, it's followed by (what feels like) ten minutes of celebration. The goal-scorer running around, sliding on his or her knees, arms raised triumphantly. Teammates surrounding the scorer, forming a dog pile on the ground.

Occasionally, though, we get something worth seeing. Like a soccer player borrowing the trolliest Fortnite dance to celebrate a goal.

The player you see above is Antoine Griezmann, who managed to put two balls past the Marseille keeper and lead Atletico Madrid to a 3-0 victory. But the way he celebrated his first goal might have been more memorable than the goal itself. He used the Take the L emote dance from Fortnite to basically taunt his opponents, all as his teammates watched on with delight.

Is a Take the L dance a little classless? Maybe. But there's a good way to keep Grizemann from doing it in the future: stop letting him score.

Dancing comes up quite a bit in sports. For instance, dancing itself can be a competitive sport. And professional basketball, football, and soccer players have been known to bust out a celebratory dance when the time's right. But let's make one thing clear right now: there's really no reason to make athletes dance for the heck of it. Especially when those taking part aren't very good dancers. And you may or may not be surprised to know that there don't appear to be any professional golfers who can dance.

For some reason, the PGA thought it would be a great idea to have some of golf's biggest stars try to imitate Fortnite dances. Tom Lehman failed pretty miserably at copying the Best Mates dance. Bernhard Langer looked legitimately confused trying to Make It Rain. And Jerry Smith's apparently never seen an episode of Fresh Prince, because his take on Fresh (the Carlton dance) was downright awful.

Let's not do that again, PGA.

Dancing with the Stars coaches can't have all the Fortnite fun. As it turns out, the UK has its own roster of dancing competition shows. And some stars from one called Strictly Come Dancing also decided to jump in and try their best to master the moves of Fortnite. How'd they do? Pretty well!

Contestants and coaches like Joe Sugg, Graeme Swann, and Katya Jones all attempted a bunch of moves popularized by the game, including Groove Jam, Wiggle, Fresh, and Orange Justice. And in a hilarious twist, it seemed that many of the non-pros were more experienced in the moves than the professional dancers themselves. And the inclusion of Fresh was particularly timely for the show, as Alfonso Ribeiro — who made the dance famous — was scheduled to be a guest judge on the next week's broadcast.

He no doubt gave everyone some tips on how to do the perfect Carlton.

Hold on one second. Are you telling us that an NFL player successfully nailed the Orange Justice dance before Joe Mixon? As a matter of fact, yes, someone did. And strangely enough, he also plays running back.

In a game that took place a few weeks before Mixon's Bengals met the Miami Dolphins, rookie running back Nyheim Hines and the Indianapolis Colts played the Washington Redskins. The game wasn't a particularly big one for Hines, who only carried the ball four times. But one of those carries happened to go for a touchdown, and Hines knew he had one shot, one opportunity, to bust out something magnificent.

He chose Orange Justice.

Now, Colts fans may argue this, but we happen to believe that Mixon's Orange Justice was a bit better than Hines'. Mixon's form was tight. Hines' was a little sloppy. However, we will concede this point: Hines had the better touchdown. Sound good?