The One Piece Hoax That Nearly Broke The Entire Fandom - With A 4-Letter Word
What turned out to be a fan-made panel of Blackbeard Pirates captain Marshall D. Teach aka Blackbeard saying a single word at one point had numerous "One Piece" fans up in arms based on its catastrophic implications.
The fake image was widely circulated online through a TikTok by user wbsolos. Since it was posted on January 16, 2023, it's amassed more than 30,000 likes and over 1,000 comments. In it, Blackbeard promises to show an unseen third party his newest power before breaking into his signature laugh. Then, a subsequent speech bubble simply reads "room." The TikTok video added text claiming that this would happen in Chapter 1072 of the "One Piece" manga, which would release roughly one week later at the time of its posting.
On the "One Piece" timeline, readers learn during the Marineford Arc that Blackbeard can steal Devil Fruit powers and uniquely possess multiple abilities at once. Specifically, during the Summit War of Marineford, Blackbeard kills Whitebeard and steals his Tremor-Tremor Fruit powers. "Room," meanwhile, is fan favorite Trafalgar D. Law's catchphrase when he activates his signature ability, which allows him to swap physical objects within a designated sphere of influence. If Blackbeard were to canonically use Law's catchphrase, it would signify Law's death and a massive power spike for Blackbeard, hence "One Piece" fans reacting so strongly.
Blackbeard defeating Law was plausible at the time
When this TikTok began circulating among "One Piece" fans, the notion that Blackbeard might steal Trafalgar D. Law's Devil Fruit power was at least somewhat plausible. In Chapters 1063 and 1064 of the "One Piece" manga, Blackbeard and his crew battle Law's Heart Pirates in an attempt to steal their Road Poneglyph copies, which are crucial to locating the One Piece treasure after which the series is titled.
Although Law is plenty powerful himself, "One Piece" is building up Blackbeard as a villain with the potential to be its final big bad. Law's defeat, then, was more likely than a victory as soon as their battle kicked off. After Chapter 1064, the result of their fight was still undetermined as subsequent chapters followed unrelated storylines. Chapter 1072 revealing that Blackbeard had stolen Law's Devil Fruit power, therefore, would have made sense at the time.
Readers didn't actually find out what happened between Law and Blackbeard until Chapter 1081, in which Blackbeard does indeed triumph over Law only for the Heart Pirates captain to narrowly escape with one of his crew members. Nevertheless, even after the supposed Chapter 1072 panel was proven to be a hoax, fans online continued to comment on the impact of Blackbeard obtaining Law's powers on Reddit and in plenty of additional TikToks, most of whom were distressed by the mere notion of Law's death.