Internet culture rarely leaves a successful template alone. By the autumn of 2024, the meme spawned mirror iterations targeting other legacy gaming personalities. The most notable spin-off targeted Turner Tenney, known online as Tfue, who had shared a fierce Fortnite rivalry with Ninja throughout 2018 and 2019.
TikTok editors launched the "Tfue high taper fade."
Creators altered photos of Tenney, pasting exaggerated, sky-high fades onto his blonde hair while pairing the edits with bass-boosted audio. The joke worked purely through association. If Ninja had the low taper fade, then his classic rival naturally needed the high taper fade.
The format proved that the initial trend was no longer about grooming or hair styling. It had become a mad-libs formula for Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences who grew up during the golden era of battle royale gaming.
