Fortnite’s looped island is full of mysteries, like the Zero Point which is responsible for keeping players trapped in the loop. But one mystery tops them all: the identity of the Battle Bus Driver.
Fortnite finally turns 7 years old on September 26, and it’s been a long time since players first dropped out of the Battle Bus to go head-to-head in a large multiplayer lobby. Epic didn’t originally intend for Fortnite to be a Battle Royale title, rather they were focused on a paid PvE title called Save The World.
However, when they decided to expand towards a free-to-play Battle Royale offering, that’s when the game caught the world’s attention, and all the elements players know and love – the Zero Point, the Loop, and the Battle Bus – became part of video game history.
Since then the looped island’s mystery has often been discussed with fans, mostly focusing on the Zero Point. Yet there’s a bigger mystery under every player’s nose, who is the Battle Bus Driver?
Thanking the Bus Driver, or a strange ritual?
Ever since Battle Royale was launched in 2017, there’s been a ritual among Fortnite players at the beginning of every match, which is thanking the Bus Driver before they jump out.
But I’ve always wondered who exactly is the Bus Driver? In multiple lore-based quests we’ve seen over the years, characters like Farmer Steel and Aura have told us to “Mind our Manners” and “Respect yer Elders” by thanking the Bus Driver. Even in the newly added Birthday Quests, we’re required to wish him a Happy Birthday seven times!
Now, if we’re being asked to “thank” a character as mysterious as him, it’s because he’s respected or feared. Several theories have even suggested the Bus Driver is a god-like entity who only drops loopers on the island to fight and die for his own pleasure.
Although, if it’s a Battle Bus where players are partying right before dropping out, I’d argue that’s probably not the case.
Who’s the man behind the wheel?
Now if the Bus Driver is not a god in Fortnite, let’s dive into who he really is. In the Chapter 2 Season 4 live event we saw loopers taking the wheel of Iron Man’s Gamma-Powered Battle Bus and he referred to us as the “Bus Driver.”
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So does that mean the loopers are, in fact, the Bus Driver? Probably not, it would be silly to thank ourselves. Why would we throw ourselves into the loop again and again, anyway? Just to die and revive in a perpetual cycle of torment? That sounds a bit too bleak.
Another strong theory about the Bus Driver’s identity points to a character named Lars from Save The World mode. If you don’t know who Lars is, he’s a Constructor class hero who’s responsible for inventing the Balloon Tech we see on top of the Battle Bus.
Across several Save The World quests, we’re asked to launch Lars’ van and inflate the Balloon using an element called Blu Glo − hence the color of the Balloon itself. This means that the guy who literally invented the tech himself is driving the bus.
Plus, Lars is also a huge fan of music and Rock n Roll, so only makes sense he’s behind the wheel playing those tunes and turning the Battle Bus into a Party Bus. Also, remember the Nexus War event where he played Iron Man’s track in the bus to battle Galactus?
While Lars also made his way as a Battle Royale outfit with his own Lars Pack in Chapter 2 Season 7, it’s highly likely that he’s the Bus Driver.
And, if you don’t agree? Well, we’ve only one last theory: Could the bus be driving itself because it’s secretly a Transformer? The Transformers pack Battle Bus outfit could lead you to that conclusion.
Sadly, until Epic decides to reveal the true identity of the Bus Driver (which I think is quite unlikely after Donald Mustard’s departure from the company), we’ll have to make do with theories. So, who do you think the driver is?
A god, one that’s throwing whatever characters he can think of into an eternal pit of death, resulting in all of Fortnite’s biggest collabs? A scientist from a post-apocalyptic world that’s pitting the forces of the universe against each other to try, an ongoing effort to find a way to close all the dimension rifts that wreak havoc across the map? A Transformer? Or… maybe it was just us all along.
