Fortnite Comes Under Fire After Adding Nikki from Obsession: 'This Is Gross

Inde Navarrette's Nikki Freeman from the hit horror film Obsession is the latest addition to Fortnite, the popular online multiplayer game. For some fans, it's exciting, but others are crying foul, calling the collaboration inappropriate.

Nikki's arrival in Fortnite was announced on Oct. 20 by Epic Games in a special video featuring Navarrette. A vocal portion of the fandom has since taken to social media to criticize putting the character in a whimsical and colorful game like Fortnite, given the storyline of Obsession. In the blockbuster hit, Nikki loses control of her mind and body to a mysterious entity after a friend wishes for her to fall in love with him. That had many viewers seeing Nikki as a victim who'd been horribly violated, and they're now arguing that it's tasteless to include her in Fortnite.

Fortnite Adding Nikki Freeman Has Become Polarizing

"Yeah idgaf if this makes me the 'friend who’s too woke,' this is gross and weird," one person on X said of the reveal. "But I guess it’s pretty in line for the lack of ethics with Epic and their use of AI to have a skin and emote about a r*pe victim who didn’t have any agency of her body for 90% of the movie."

Another post added that "creating a Fortnite emote and choosing to use a character who had her bodily autonomy stripped from her while she was constantly sa'd is insane to me."

"Fortnite could do Anything for Nikki’s emote and they decide to take something from when her autonomy was ripped away and the wish was controlling her instead of making something cute up. But sure, let’s make a silly emote about the SA victim," said someone else.

There are many other players defending the decision to add Nikki to Fortnite. One recurring counter-argument is that Nikki is a fictional character, stating this means she's not a legitimate victim. Others have pointed to how Fortnite has already added wicked horror characters who have preyed on children, like Freddy Krueger and Freddy Fazbear. Some also noted how Jason Voorhees is a victim of trauma himself after being bullied as a child, as seen in Crystal Lake.

"Fortnite has characters connected to murder, abuse, and other horrific events," one fan argues. "Nikki’s story involves losing her autonomy, but including her as a playable character doesn’t mean endorsing what happened to her. You can find the crossover uncomfortable, and that’s fair. But discomfort alone doesn’t establish that it’s wrong. So where exactly are we drawing the line, and why?"

Nikki Has Become a Pop Culture Icon After Obsession Success

Nikki's inclusion in Fortnite is part of the game's annual "Fortnitemares" Halloween event. The outfit will arrive in the game's Item Shop on Oct. 21, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET. Along with the Nikki outfit, a One Wish Willow back bling is included along with a broken bottle serving as her pickaxe. Additionally, the "No No No..." emote that comes with Nikki recreates the memorable scenes from Obsession where Nikki screams at Bear (Michael Johnston) at a restaurant when their date starts to turn sour.

The Fortnite version of Nikki comes with one big noticeable change. She has a black substance on her face and chest, rather than the red blood splatters that were seen in the film. While Fortnite offers a battle royale experience where players compete, there is no blood or gore, making the violence more cartoon-like.

Meanwhile, the Nikki character continues to become much bigger as a solidified pop culture icon after the success of Obsession. This year, she became a part of Universal Studios Hollywood with Nikki impersonators present for the Halloween Horror Nights 2026 event. Inde Navarrette herself was recently photographed with an impersonator after a recent visit to the park.

Obsession will premiere on Netflix on Nov. 17.

Obsession

R Horror Release Date May 15, 2026 Runtime 108 minutes Director Curry Barker

Cast

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• Michael Johnston Bear
• Inde Navarrette Nikki
• Cooper Tomlinson Ian
• Megan Lawless Sarah

Writers Curry Barker Producers Christian Mercuri, James Harris, Roman Viaris, Haley Nicole Johnson 0:00 / 0:00