One Piece is one of the longest-running manga and anime series that exists, with over 1,000 episodes and two and a half decades of character lore and growth to experience — not to mention a rich meme culture.
However, many people have recently found themselves forced to experience a different and largely NSFW part of the series through a number of posts associated with the catchphrase "The One Piece Is Real" that depict edited One Piece characters ripped from scenes in the anime with a little (or rather big) something extra added.
Before we go on, here's your last NSFW warning, but know that we've also censored things a bit so it's not as graphic as you might've already seen browsing the web lately.
Anyhow, while edited images like this aren't anything new online, these specific memes all have one thing in common — giant penises added to One Piece characters. A bit further down below is one of the most infamous of the "One Piece co*ck Edits" for a visual aid if you're still scratching your head.
We're sure you have a lot of questions now whether you've already been exposed to this or another image like it or even if you've only seen the catchphrase by itself. So, let's explain what's going on with this meme trend and how it all began now that you're properly acquainted with the below example.
Where Did "One Piece co*ck Edits" Come From?
One Piece co*ck Edits come from the same place many edited artworks come from — niche independent artists on Twitter. The first One Piece edit like this that gained viral attention was of the character Whitebeard, the old man used in most of these memes who was first posted to Twitter in 2020.
This image of Whitebeard, uncensored, quickly became a meme after it was initially posted in late 2020, with a quick response from One Piece fans being against it.
In 2021, the next part of the meme was added, with the audio of Whitebeard's voice actor saying his iconic final line "THE ONE PIECE IS REAL" being added on top of the image, creating a video meme format that then began to spread on Twitter and TikTok.
This meant that now the audio and image together could be used as part of bait-and-switch memes, as well as throwing in other co*ck edits of various One Piece characters to enhance the shock of suddenly swiping up on a meme and seeing several NSFW edits in a post.
How Did "Can We Get Much Higher" From Kanye West's "Dark Fantasy" Come Into Play?
In June 2022, the final piece of the meme was then added, with Kanye West having audio from his song "Dark Fantasy" inserted adjacent to the Whitebeard shout, causing the lyrics "Can We Get Much Higher" to become integral to the meme as the second phrase and callback for fans to post everywhere as a signal for others.
This addition seemingly made the format explode in virality on TikTok in much higher numbers than before, which was even further pushed with a late addition to the meme in the form of Better Call Saul actor Patrick Fabian (who plays Howard Hamlin) saying "the One Piece is real" as part of a Cameo.
Putting it all together, it created an absolute behemoth of a meme that is almost impossible to understand without prior context in three different niche genres.
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7135676691111808299
What Does "The One Piece Is Real" Mean?
Within the show One Piece, the entire premise of the show is that there is a great treasure, called the "One Piece," that for half the show is doubted whether it even exists or not due to propaganda on behalf of the antagonists.
This declaration, that the One Piece is in fact real, is meant to be a pivotal moment within the story itself, serving as confirmation for not just the characters, but the readers who spent over a decade theorizing that the treasure isn't even a treasure at all.
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7135886471097060651
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7135967766749941038
Who Is The White-Mustachioed Man In One Piece Is Real Memes?
The character Whitebeard is often seen as the face of the One Piece Is Real memes. He is the last standing relic of the older age of pirates within the show and serves as the old powerhouse character that most Shonen anime has. His words, "The One Piece Is Real," have weight as he is seen as the top leader of piracy within his time.
For the full history of One Piece Is Real, be sure to check out our entry on it here for even more information.
