Tracer butt investigation follows Overwatch into Fortnite 10 years later, even after Jeff Kaplan said Blizzard "actually didn't nerf Tracer's butt"

Now that a few Overwatch characters have stepped into multi-brand-verse Fortnite, it's time for a decade-old myth around Tracer's butt to flop in with them.

Fortnite welcomed a handful of Overwatch heroes this week - Tracer, D.Va, Mercy, and Genji included - as well as some iconic series weapons, but one particular asset is getting all the attention online.

"NO SHOT THEY UN-NERFED TRACERS BUTT," one viral social media post says alongside a screenshot of Tracer's model in the evergreen battle royale game. "Finally, Fortnite with the courage to do what [Blizzard] wouldn't. The world needs heroes."

Tracer butt discourse in our year of 2026? Is the first place my mind went to upon seeing all these online reactions because, as chronically online Overwatchers might remember, the game's first ever controversy, referred to in some online circles as Tracer's butt-troversy, has been floating about almost as long as the game itself.

The tale well-known to greyed Overwatch sweats kicked off 10 years ago when a widely-circulated forum post accused a Tracer victory pose of turning the chirpy, aloof hero into "another bland female sex symbol."

Even at the time, heated debates began popping off almost immediately between fans who loved Overwatch character designs for the fan service and those who loved the designs because of how they represented what a hero could look like. Until original director Jeff Kaplan stepped in and replaced the pose, that is: "We want everyone to feel strong and heroic in our community," he said at the time.

Blizzard's updated pose rang truer to Tracer's personality, but also spawned myths that traveled far and wide, alleging the devs 'nerfed' the hero by making her butt smaller. The butt-troversy even followed Jeff Kaplan to his promotional run for The Legend of California, his new game, where he debunked the myth once and for all (or so we thought.)

"We actually didn't nerf Tracer's butt," Kaplan clarified a few weeks ago. "It stayed exactly the same. That was a good repose I just had."

Butt sickos who had spread a half-truth on the internet for a decade were living through a Mandela Effect, it seems - except this one is a little more resistant to dying, based on plenty of newly-viral posts about Tracer's butt-troversy.

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