In Fortnite (PC, PS4, Xbox One, iOS) there is a skin called Rust Lord, which has now become an insult. A student got in trouble for insulting a classmate this way.
What happened? The son of Reddit user Tr1angleChoke recently brought home a referral from school. However, the reason for the disciplinary action was not a fight or an overly daring prank.
Instead, the boy had insulted a classmate during recess to the point of bloodshed. And it was with the terribly awful insult “Rust Lord!”
What is so bad about “Rust Lord”?
The teacher seemed not to understand what a Rust Lord was. But it must have been clear that it was an insult, as the other student appeared extremely outraged. But what is it with the Rust Lord?
Info about Rust Lord: The Rust Lord actually refers to a skin from Fortnite’s Season 3 Battle Pass. The skin is roughly inspired by the Marvel hero “Star Lord” from Guardians of the Galaxy. Rust Lord was available relatively early at level 23 of the Battle Pass.
A symbol for noobs and beginners: Since the Rust Lord was available so early, it quickly became a symbol for newcomers and bad players. Because it was easy to obtain, and those who could not progress and unlock higher skins would be stuck with the Rust Lord for eternity. They had nothing else!
So anyone who calls another Fortnite player a Rust Lord clearly implies: “You can’t do anything and are a stupid noob. Also, you’re too poor to afford anything else and too bad to unlock something better.”
Rust Lord is the new Hanzo Main
The incident shows how popular games quickly integrate into everyday language. A similar case once occurred in the context of Blizzard’s hero shooter Overwatch.
There, a girl was warned by the teacher for insulting a classmate as a “Hanzo Main” at school. The archer Hanzo has a similarly bad reputation in Overwatch as the Rust Lord in Fortnite.
