Fortnite’s Item Shop is built on juggling some originals and some major collabs. The nature of Fortnite ensures that most cosmetics are harmless fun and meant to be a brief flex in a match, a nostalgia hit, or a one off promo – with them adding nothing to the game but status and fun for the player. But sometimes, real world events mean a skin becomes more than pixels. Some outfits get vaulted because a licence expires, some are shelved for marketing reasons, and a small number cause enough backlash that Epic appears to avoid bringing them back. The mix of community behaviour, real world events and brand caution means a cosmetic can shift from popular to problematic very quickly. Once a skin becomes linked to controversy it often stays rare for a very long time – and these are the Fortnite skins so controversial they have either never returned or had a big hiatus.
The most controversial: Rue
Rue launched in April 2020 and only appeared in the shop a couple of times before it vanished from rotation. Community discussion quickly focused on the look of Rue’s alternate style. Players pointed out that the darker colours and military style details could resemble paramilitary or extremist uniforms. The debate grew on social media, and although Epic Games never issued an official explanation, Rue has never reappeared in the shop. Because Epic did not publish a statement, reporting on Rue relies on shop records and community interpretation rather than confirmed reasoning. The skin is now widely treated as effectively blacklisted because of the controversy surrounding its design.
She debuted in that April, and only had one other occurrence in May. That’s it.
The plague doctors
Plague doctor themed cosmetics, often called the Grim Medicine set and including outfits like Plague and Scourge, were added to Fortnite before the COVID 19 era. When the pandemic began in early 2020, many players and journalists noted that their imagery could be seen as insensitive while the world faced a real viral crisis. Epic kept these skins out of rotation during the height of the pandemic. Shop history shows they were not brought back until early 2023. Reporting at the time suggested Epic chose to avoid any possible negative reaction by keeping the plague themed skins vaulted until the association with COVID felt less raw.
Mike Lowrey
Via Epic Games
The Mike Lowrey skin was added in 2021 as part of a licensed Bad Boys collaboration. It appeared in the shop several times through 2021 but has not returned since late that year. After Will Smith’s widely reported Oscars incident in 2022, community discussions and media coverage questioned whether Epic would put the skin back in circulation. There is no official statement from Epic confirming a permanent removal. Even so, the mix of licensing constraints and the actor’s PR issues has kept the skin absent from the rotation, and many players now view its return as uncertain.
Controversial Fortnite skins are few and far between but cause absolute chaos when they do erupt.
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