The Rock In Fortnite / The Foundation

About

The Rock In Fortnite refers to memes about Fortnite adding a character named "The Foundation," modeled after and voiced by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, to promote the game's Chapter 2 finale event "The End." The Foundation was added to the game as an unlockable outfit on December 4th, 2021, alongside the finale event and inspired memes across social media over the following days, many playing off pre-established memes of The Rock like The Rock's Eyebrow Raise and his 'It's About Drive' rap verse.

Origin

It was rumored that The Rock would appear in Fortnite as a character named The Foundation for months before the official announcement.^[1] The character appeared in the game previously, however, has always worn a helmet. A major rumor came on December 2nd, 2021, when The Rock posted a promotional video for ZOA energy drink to Instagram^[2] (shown below). In the video, The Rock opens a fridge full of ZOA. Among the cans is a helmet, which is a replica of The Foundation's.

On December 4th, 2021, the Fortnite team posted a promotional video to YouTube^[3] announcing "The End" event in celebration of the Chapter 2 finale. In the video, The Foundation (leader of an organization known as "The Seven") saves Jonesy from being tortured by Dr. Sloan, revealing his face under the helmet (shown below).

Spread

The Rock's presence in Fortnite inspired numerous memes starting the day of the announcement, accelerated by both properties' pre-established presences in meme culture. On December 4th, 2021, YouTubers^[6][7] Brixer and Venxe posted memes referencing The Rock's eyebrow raise meme, gaining over 90,000 and 51,000 views respectively in two days (shown below, left and right).

On the same day, the FaZe Clan Instagram^[8] page posted an image macro referencing the lyrics from The Rock's rap verse and his addition to Fortnite, gaining over 224,000 likes in two days (shown below, left). On December 5th, Facebook^[9] page Young Thugga La Meme Season 2 posted an image macro referencing how The Rock is now part of a character roster including Naruto, Thanos, Master Chief and more, gaining over 2,300 reactions and 700 shares in a day (shown below, right).

On December 5th, 2021, Instagram^[4] user @pamcinema posted an edit of The Foundation revealing his face from the trailer, edited to add stereotypically Asian-sounding music and make The Rock look Asian, a nod to The Wok meme, gaining over 159,000 views in a day (shown below).

On the same date, Lessons In Meme Culture posted a video to YouTube^[5] explaining and discussing the meme, gaining over 382,000 views in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References