Who was Midas, and why does he matter in Fortnite?

With Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 2 arriving tomorrow, there are lots of hints about gold, and a character called Oro who is obsessed with gold. Random items in the world have been turning into gold, and everyone is wondering what is going on. While we don’t have to wait much longer for the next season to begin, as it starts on Feb. 20, there is certainly some room to talk about the apparent inspiration behind Oro and the strange golden items that have been showing up in the game.

The reason for the sudden focus on Midas in the run-up to Season 2 is that a sequence of teaser images posted by the official Fortnite account contains letters that spell out the word “Midas.” The logical conclusion is that it is a reference to the Greek myth about King Midas. King Midas was the king of Phrygia, and while in the legends, he wasn’t particularly smart, he was certainly smart enough to not upset too many gods.

Midas was able to get the ability to turn anything he touched into gold from the god Dionysus after he recognized a drunk that his guards have captured was Dionysus’ good friend Silenus. Midas took care of him, keeping him nicely drunk and entertained for nearly two weeks before bringing him back to Dionysus. The god was so impressed he granted Midas a wish, who asked to be able to turn things into gold just by touching them.

Like all things involving gods, there was a downside. When Midas tried to eat his next meal, it turned to gold in his mouth, and he had no way to eat or drink anything. He had no choice but to renounce the gift, washing in the waters of the Pactolus river, removing his new ability but infusing it into the waters there.

Now, if Oro, the unearthed character that dataminers found in files from version 11.40, really is going to arrive in Fortnite, he wouldn’t need to worry about turning food to gold. This is because he is a skeleton made of pure gold. We haven’t seen much about a golden skeleton during the teasers, but we have seen a strangely burly golden man who appears to be wearing some skull mask. This could very well be Oro in disguise, with the mask reference his real appearance. 

For now, it is all speculation based on the tiny hints and clues that Epic has been dishing out for the last few days. Tomorrow, all questions will be answered, and we will finally found out what all this gold is for, who exactly Oro is, and how Midas ties into everything.