Portgas D. Ace

While freed from bondage, Ace would ultimately lose his life at the hands of Admiral Akainu while protecting Luffy. Ace’s death proved to be the final catalyst following the Straw Hats’ defeat at Sabaody that would make Luffy put his crew’s journey on hiatus so they could all train for the next two years and return powerful enough to survive the New World on their own, paving the way for the second half of the series. His reincarnated Devil Fruit would eventually be consumed by his sworn brother, Sabo, ensuring that his will would live on. Ace was first shown during the Drum Island Arc, but only got formally introduced in the Arabasta Arc, where he acts as a brief ally of the Straw Hat Pirates. He is a central figure during the entire Summit War Saga.

He is also the protagonist of Ace’s Great Blackbeard Search Cover Page Serial.Portgas D. Ace, born as Gol D. Ace and nicknamed “Fire Fist” Ace, was the captain of the Spade Pirates before being recruited into the Whitebeard Pirates and becoming its 2nd division commander. The biological son of the late Pirate King Gol D. Roger and Portgas D.

Rouge, Ace was put in the care of Monkey D. Garp and Curly Dadan after Roger’s death, which is where he became the sworn brother of Monkey D. Luffy and Sabo. Due to Roger’s absence from his life, Ace disowned his father and took his mother’s surname, ultimately declaring that his captain Whitebeard was his true father. Ace’s pursuit of his former subordinate Blackbeard for the murder of their crewmate Thatch led to him being captured after their Duel on Banaro Island, and he was turned in to the Marines, who held a public execution for him on Marineford due to his heritage; this triggered the Summit War of Marineford. While freed from bondage, Ace would ultimately lose his life at the hands of Admiral Akainu while protecting Luffy. Ace’s death proved to be the final catalyst following the Straw Hats’ defeat at Sabaody that would make Luffy put his crew’s journey on hiatus so they could all train for the next two years and return powerful enough to survive the New World on their own, paving the way for the second half of the series. His reincarnated Devil Fruit would eventually be consumed by his sworn brother, Sabo, ensuring that his will would live on. Ace was first shown during the Drum Island Arc, but only got formally introduced in the Arabasta Arc, where he acts as a brief ally of the Straw Hat Pirates. He is a central figure during the entire Summit War Saga. He is also the protagonist of Ace’s Great Blackbeard Search Cover Page Serial.

On the cover of Chapter 596 indeed, Ace’s tattoo is written as “ACE” instead of the original “ASCE” as the cover is a “what if” image of Ace, Luffy, and Sabo together as adults with the former being known to be alive. Ace wore an open-front shirt until he received Whitebeard’s tattoo – afterwards, he stopped wearing anything over his upper body except when on winter or desert islands due to the weather requirements. He wore black boots, black knee-length shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt, and a blue pouch belted around his left leg. He also wore a short second belt with a large red “A” on the silver buckle over his right hip, but left it unfastened and threaded the free end along the back of his shorts. A dagger in a green sheath hung at his left hip.

On Ace’s left arm, he wore a Log Pose and a red and white striped bracelet around his wrist, an orange elbow guard, and his “ASCE” tattoo. He wore a red beaded necklace and an orange hat with two blue smileys, one frowning and one smiling, and a string of red beads sitting above the rim. Two long orange side straps hung down sides of his hat and met at a large medallion of a bull’s skull with orange tassels. Unfortunately, Ace lost his trademark hat, which he already had when he began his journey as a pirate, on Banaro Island as a result of his duel with Blackbeard. His knife and log pose were also apparently confiscated, as he no longer had it in his next appearance as a prisoner at Impel Down.

The tattoo upon his back that he took so much pride in was later destroyed by the same blow that eventually led to his death. However, at his grave, Ace’s hat and knife were placed at his tombstone—either they were retrieved, or they were duplicates in Ace’s possession. During the ending credits in the second movie, Clockwork Island Adventure, previews of upcoming characters from the Baroque Works Saga were featured. Ace was also included amongst the many characters, but while his clothes were almost identical, he boasted a very different color scheme to the one he was given in his official appearance in the anime. As a child, Ace is shown to have often worn t-shirts with two-kanji phrases on the front (such as “innocence” and “violence”). On some occasions they are linked to the scene in which they were worn, like “independence” when the three brothers built their own tree house to live in. He often wore knee-length shorts and a black elbow guard on his left arm. Ace was always seen wearing dark brown, flat, slipper-like shoes, and in the winter, he wore a green cardigan over his normal clothes. Upon leaving Dawn Island at the age of 17, he wore an outfit identical to the one he wore when he first met Whitebeard; however, he was less muscular than he eventually grew to be and had rounder, more childlike facial features.

This was first seen in Arabasta when they thought he died in the middle of eating. The second was that he did a “dine and dash” routine wherever he went. This went back to his younger days with Sabo and Luffy, when they would often dine and dash in the city of Goa, and carried over to adulthood, as shown on three occasions when he was on Drum Island, Arabasta, and Lulusia Kingdom. Ace was also shown to be quite impulsive, much like his younger brother, as he too would make hasty decisions and, in some cases, neglect listening to reason. This was shown that shortly prior to setting out to hunt Blackbeard for killing Thatch.

Whitebeard insisted that Ace should not go after him, yet Ace, despite his immense loyalty and respect for his captain, ignored his warnings and went off to find his former subordinate. Another, albeit more humorous example, was in his mini-story, where during his hunt for Blackbeard, he mistook a man named Dr. Blackbeard for his target, due to coincidentally having a similar name and appearance to Teach. Rather than check to see if he found the man he was looking for, Ace jumped to conclusions too soon and attacked the doctor on sight. It was by then Ace realized too late that he had the wrong man, which got him into a lot of trouble with the villagers.

His “politeness” is due to Makino’s teaching after Ace asked her how to introduce himself to Shanks (being his brother’s savior). Before that, Ace was rather cold and rude to anyone he was not familiar with. As the son of Roger, he lived in his shadow and is to date the first D. depicted to truly question his own right to exist, while displaying the fewest commonly seen D. related traits.

Ace seemed to have lifelong problems dealing with his parentage, even after denouncing Gol D. Roger and accepting Whitebeard as his only father. This was in direct contrast to Luffy, who accepted his father’s identity immediately upon learning it and did not seem to care when he was told how dangerous of a man he was. However, Luffy did not grow up with knowledge of the identity (or even the existence) of his father. Ace believed that it was natural if he were to really die as nobody in the world wanted the son of the devil (Roger) to live.

This caused him to be surprised and shocked that Whitebeard would easily accept him in his crew despite him being the son of Whitebeard’s rival and that the entire Whitebeard Pirates’ crew and allies and Luffy would risk their lives in order to save him. Ace commented upon his own death that he had never sought fame or fortune – all he had wanted was the answer to his lifelong question of whether or not he should have been born, as this was the only thing preventing him from dying with no regrets as he and Luffy had vowed to do so and the fact he had a younger brother to look out for. Ace’s only regret was that he would not live to see Luffy achieve his dream, which he believed Luffy undoubtedly would accomplish as he was his little brother. Benn Beckman of the Red Hair Pirates described Ace’s personality to be naiver than his appearance would suggest. He compared Ace’s characteristics to be more aligned with the Revolutionary Army’s, considering his personal vendetta against the world denying his existence.

Ace is described to be more of a fighter than a Pirate, making Beckman think Ace is unfit to be captain of a fleet. Ace had a tendency to never back down from a fight, saying that he would never run once facing an enemy. Also like his father and brother, Ace was confident and fearless when confronting his opponents even when they were extremely powerful people such as Whitebeard or admirals like Aokiji or Akainu, though like Luffy, he could also underestimate his opponents. When Blackbeard demonstrated the power of the Yami Yami no Mi, Ace was unfazed, not viewing it as a threat to himself and only showed shock and fear when Teach used his power to grab him and cancel his Devil Fruit powers. He also tried to kill Whitebeard at least a hundred times despite the massive difference in strength between them and each of his attempts failing miserably.

Because of this, some people believed that Ace had a death wish, but in truth, he wanted to prevent the people he cared for from getting hurt. Dadan stated that he inherited this tendency from his father despite loathing him. While Ace emerged victorious over enemies he refused to run from, such as Porchemy and Bluejam, his stubbornness hurt him on a number of occasions, particularly when he refused to back down against Blackbeard or Admiral Akainu. Ace was also easily provoked by and became violent towards anyone who insulted or harmed people close to him. In one of Garp’s conversations with Curly Dadan, this was revealed to be a trait of Roger as well.

During his childhood, Ace had a tendency to severely injure anyone who insulted Roger, though he himself disliked his biological father. After hearing about Sabo’s presumed death at the hands of a World Noble, Ace quickly became bent on killing the Noble and Dadan had to pin Ace down and tie him to a tree to stop him. Ace’s temper got the better of him, especially in cases when Whitebeard, proclaimed by Ace to be his only father, was insulted. Believing that this was the case when Blackbeard broke the iron rule of the Whitebeard Pirates and fled after murdering a crewmate, Ace pursued his traitorous subordinate despite his crewmates’ efforts and even Whitebeard’s orders to stop him. Ace later came to see that his stubbornness had gotten him into the ordeal of being scheduled for execution.

Even though he managed to escape death on the scaffold thanks to the pirates’ and Luffy’s efforts at Marineford and was well on his way to freedom, Admiral Akainu got to him by insulting Whitebeard. Ace quickly turned back to face him, ignoring his crewmates’ warnings to not become angered over Akainu’s provocations. Unwilling to let him get away of speaking ill of Whitebeard, Ace attacked him out of fury only to have his arm burned by Akainu’s Devil Fruit powers. Akainu then took the opportunity to attack Luffy on the sideline, leading Ace to jump in, sacrificing his life to shield Luffy from the attack. While saying his last words, Ace sadly admitted to Luffy that he (Ace) wasted away all of his efforts to rescue him. Although Ace follows the creed of loyalty towards those close to him, such as taking the excessive effort to rescue Luffy from Bluejam or hunting down Teach to avenge Thatch, he was not above using underhanded methods to win a fight at times. Noted examples included trying to stab Whitebeard in his sleep or chopping him down with an axe from behind. Alongside his loyalty, Ace does not judge people by their appearance and race, but by their character, as he took in both Ganryu (a Longarm) and Wallace (a Fish-Man) into his crew while society had shunned both of them. Ace was very generous toward those that had very little to eat and willing to share his own food with them. On Sixis, he kindly offered the first fruit he found to a starving Masked Deuce, despite being hungry himself, an act that made Masked Deuce feel ashamed since he was planning on killing Ace for the food. When the Spade Pirates arrived in Wano Country and the starving locals tied them up and took their food, Ace kindly asked them if they wanted dessert. When he learned the terrible living conditions were caused by Kaidou, Ace wanted to kill the Emperor so the people wouldn’t go hungry again.

As far as Ace was concerned, Whitebeard was the greatest pirate alive, and even went so far as to describe Whitebeard as a type of father figure. Ace was a loyal crewman and commanded the 2nd division of the Whitebeard Pirates. It is revealed that Thatch was one of the first of Whitebeard’s crew to interact with him and they appear to have been good friends. Ace and Marco also seemed to have a close friendship due to Marco explaining the bond between Whitebeard and his crew. Marshall D. Teach, who later became Blackbeard, once served as a member of the 2nd division under Ace and they are shown eating together in flashback with Blackbeard encouraging Ace to become 2nd commander. The Whitebeard Pirates were revealed to be very fond of Ace and unhesitatingly vowed to rescue him from his execution, as seen when they shouted out that they would not forgive anyone who hurt him. Whitebeard seemed unconcerned about Ace’s hunt for Blackbeard and remained grounded that it was Ace’s duty to execute the traitor, regardless of the heavy warnings he received from Shanks. It was revealed however that Whitebeard himself was troubled about Ace hunting Blackbeard and gave him no such orders, but Ace stubbornly set out anyways to hunt down his traitorous former subordinate. Even so, Whitebeard took responsibility for Ace’s decision and claimed that it was under his orders that Ace went after Blackbeard. Whitebeard immediately mobilized his crew and his subordinate crews after hearing about Ace’s imminent execution. The Whitebeard Pirates reached Marineford, along with many allied powerful pirate crews, and were at war with the Marines and World Government.

Spade Pirates

Ace was extremely loyal to the Spade Pirates, the crew that he formed himself. When he knew that they stood no chance against Whitebeard, he formed a firewall to allow them to escape, leaving himself behind to hold Whitebeard back alone. The Spade Pirates also share this loyalty and looked up to their captain fondly as Ace gave each of them a place on his ship regardless of their races or appearances. When Ace was fighting Isuka, his crew members rushed in to help, even though they were unable to hit her. Despite their earlier thrashing at the hands of Whitebeard, they challenged the Whitebeard Pirates in the hopes of retrieving their captain but were soundly beaten and abducted along with him.

In the novel about Ace, Ace seemed to share a particular bond with Masked Deuce, who he met while stranded on an island with no apparent means of escape. The two initially started on cold terms when Deuce continued to turn down Ace’s approaches to be friends, which was further strained when he learned that Ace was the son of the Pirate King. However, he later came to accept Ace and helped form the Spade Pirates together with him, and remarked that he, like the other crew members, viewed Ace like the sun. When Ace was recruiting his crew members, he recognized Skull’s experience and knowledge of pirates, finding value in his subordinate’s pirate fascination. Ace also supported Mihar’s passion for helping children. When Ace found Kotatsu injured from a poacher’s trap, he saved the lynx. Because of this, Kotatsu’s cowardly personality became courageous. He also loved to sit next to Ace, as his captain’s Devil Fruit abilities kept him warm. The Spade Pirates, who are now a part of Whitebeard’s crew, mourned his death.

Family

Monkey D Luffy

Ace and his brother, Luffy, were very close as children and remained so as pirates, even after more than three years of separation. Though they were not related by blood, they were still bound by a brotherly bond. Luffy was also aware that Ace was Gol D. Roger’s son. As a child, Ace was initially aloof and hostile towards Luffy.

Such an example was when Luffy innocently followed Ace onto an old rope bridge and Ace (being greatly annoyed by his presence) knocked Luffy off the bridge and into the ravine. After learning how lonely Luffy was, Ace warmed up to him, but got annoyed whenever Luffy cried. Ace later grew very protective of him, particularly from Garp, even insulting their grandfather in an attempt to stop his abusive behavior towards Luffy. This protective streak continued into the current storyline. Ace first intervened to protect Luffy from Smoker in Nanohana.

Later, when he discovered that Blackbeard meant to kill Luffy and hand him over to the World Government, Ace immediately warned him that he would not let him lay a finger on his little brother. Despite their closeness, Luffy often made Ace angry and frequently worried him by doing reckless things. It was because of this that Ace did not doubt Boa Hancock when she informed him that Luffy had infiltrated Impel Down to rescue him. Another instance would be when Ace was being transported to Marineford. He was however, constantly worrying about Luffy’s welfare, repeatedly saying his name and thinking about him.

Though frequently worried by Luffy’s extravagant recklessness, inwardly Ace seemed quite proud of his brother’s past exploits; in the anime, he was shown grinning slightly as he listened to Garp, visiting him in prison, discussing Luffy’s ruckus-raising on Enies Lobby and Sabaody. Apparently, Ace had been known to frequently share stories about Luffy with the other ranks of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Warlord of the Sea, Jinbe. He was quite overjoyed when he learned that Luffy had gained his first bounty and wasted no time showing the wanted poster to Whitebeard himself. After Luffy’s unceremonious entrance into the fray at Marineford, Marco had no trouble identifying him as the brother Ace was always talking about, even prior to Luffy loudly declaring it for all to hear. Even when he made a new friend in Yamato, he apparently frequently boasted to him about Luffy, to the point where they got tired of it.

Ace tended to portray a typical good-big-brother behavior, such as asking the Straw Hat crew to keep an eye on his little brother. He also ensured Luffy had a way of meeting up with him by giving him a Vivre Card. They respected each other’s choices despite their differences and understood that the other was strong enough to look after himself. Luffy believed that if he grew worried about Ace and rushed to his aid, Ace’s ego would not allow it, so he initially left him alone even after discovering that Ace was hurt via the Vivre Card. However, when he learned that Ace had been captured and was due for execution and saw that Ace’s Vivre Card had burnt down to a tenth of its original size, Luffy decided take a side trip and save Ace instead of sailing directly from Amazon Lily to the Sabaody Archipelago to reunite with his crew. Ace’s protectiveness of his brother was seen again when both the Whitebeard Pirates and Luffy had invaded Marineford in order to save him and he told Luffy to turn back. Luffy refused and pressed on while proclaiming he would save him. Ace was later surprised at Luffy’s ability to use Supreme King Haki and realized his brother had a potential that he was not aware of. After Luffy freed him, the two fought by each other’s side and Ace did not even hesitate to throw his life away to save Luffy as he leaped in the way to shield his brother from Akainu as the admiral struck. Ace’s only regret was that he would not live to see Luffy achieve his dream, which he believed Luffy undoubtedly would. Ace passed on smiling, while Luffy collapsed into mindless grief over his beloved brother’s death. In fact, one of the reasons why the Whitebeard Pirates would defend Luffy is because he is Ace’s beloved brother.

Sabo

Sabo was Ace’s good friend and brother from ten years ago. They had planned to become pirates by saving money to buy a pirate ship, a joint attempt that began five years before Luffy followed Ace to the Gray Terminal and to Sabo. Sabo was one of the two people Ace considered a brother along with Luffy. They performed an informal sakazuki ceremony together to seal their bond as brothers. When Sabo sacrificed his happiness to save Ace’s and Luffy’s lives from his father’s wrath, Ace decided to forget Sabo for the moment, thinking that if Sabo were happy, then he and Luffy should be proud. However, after Sabo was presumably killed at the hands of Saint Jalmack, Ace regretted his previous decision, flew into a rage, and attempted to kill the noble in revenge, but was stopped by Dadan, and later wept at the apparent loss of his brother, despite earlier claiming to Luffy that men should not cry. Before dying, Ace mentioned Sabo as one of the reasons that ever made him want to live in the first place. Ace had a tattoo on his upper left bicep that spells “ASCE” vertically. The “S” crossed out is a tribute to Sabo as that was his jolly roger. Tragically enough, Sabo survived this event but because he had amnesia, he could not reveal himself to Ace or Luffy. Ace died without ever knowing that Sabo was alive the entire time. Shortly after Ace’s death, Sabo regained his memories and later visited his grave before he went on to inherit his brother’s power to carry on his memory.

Portgas D Rouge

Rouge was Ace’s mother, who carried him in her womb for 20 months in order to protect the innocent child from the clutches of the World Government. Ace was born one year and three months after Roger’s death, therefore Rouge was five months pregnant when she resorted to some unknown method (assumed by Marines to be sheer willpower) to postpone birth. Just before passing away, Rouge gave him the name Gol D. Ace. However, Ace, grateful to his mother for her sacrifice, chose to take her name instead.

Gol D Roger

It has been revealed that Ace’s father was the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, contrary to the previous belief that his father was Monkey D. Dragon. Before Ace was born, Roger requested Garp to watch over him on his behalf. However, Ace felt that he did not owe him anything, which is why he preferred the name of his mother, who died protecting him. The reason for this was because Roger had a reputation as a “devil” among the general population, which led them to hate, despise and curse the possibility of the existence of a son of Roger, causing Ace to hate his father for bringing him into a world that wanted him dead for the simple fact of existing. Although Ace resented his father, he brutally beat up anyone who spoke ill of him. To this date, Ace was the one of the few pirates shown to speak ill of Gol D. Roger, along with Squard, though many unnamed pirates on Level 6 of Impel Down were known to have grudges against the late Pirate King.

Monkey D Dragon

Prior to Sengoku making it public to the world, Ace knew that Dragon is Luffy’s father. Other than that, it is unknown what Ace thought about him and vice-versa. During a talk with Garp, Ace brought up the fact that both he and Luffy share the blood of infamous criminals. It is also unknown if Dragon knew that Ace was the son of Roger (before this fact was made known to the world by Sengoku) or if he was aware of his father adopting Ace, though Dragon’s closer subordinate Bartholomew Kuma did at least know that Ace was Luffy’s older brother by adoption.

Monkey D Garp

Vice Admiral Garp adopted Ace as a favor to Roger to give Ace a life free of the prejudice of being born from a family of pirates. Though he did come to see Garp as family, he did not approve of his violent behavior towards Luffy. At one point he warned him to stop abusing Luffy going as so far to call him an “old piece of crap”. Garp, who had promised to make fine Marines out of the two brothers, was furious when he discovered that Ace had gone ahead to become a pirate instead. Though respectful of his “grandfather”, Ace announced that he and Luffy would never have become Marines even if they wanted to. He disagreed with Garp and remains grounded on the idea that becoming Marines would not have been possible since both of their fathers were world class criminals. Garp, in return, showed extreme sadness about Ace’s execution, and cried about Ace’s choice in a life of piracy and declared Ace as family. Garp was also willing to kill Admiral Akainu for killing Ace. When Ace was dying, he thanked Garp for loving him and the latter broke down when his grandson finally died.

Curly Dadan

Curly Dadan, a mountain bandit who was blackmailed by Garp, became the foster mother for Ace and Luffy. Whenever Ace would nearly kill villagers for insulting his heritage, Dadan would get angry at the boy for his actions, to which Ace would snidely remark that he regrets that his victims did not die. Dadan also shows weariness at dealing with Ace, and gives the impression that she would refuse if not for Garp holding her gang’s crimes over her head. However, when the Nobles of Goa burned the Grey Terminal, Dadan led her bandits into the inferno to find Ace, Luffy and Sabo and when Ace refused to back down from confronting Bluejam, Dadan had the bandits take Luffy to safety while she stayed behind to stand beside Ace. The two really care for each other as Dadan saved Ace from being burned and Ace was willing to steal medicine from town in order to treat Dadan’s wounds. When Ace set out to become a pirate, she was sulking when she heard Ace’s message that he was grateful to her. Ace seemed to like Dadan, and prior to his death, asked Luffy to tell her goodbye on his behalf and that he misses her. Although Dadan outwardly viewed and treated Ace as a nuisance that she wanted gone, she actually loved and cared about him a lot. When she discovered Ace’s death, she buried her sorrows in drinks and furiously attacked Garp when he returned for not doing anything to save Ace, accusing him of having chosen work above family.

Friends

Shanks

The Emperor Shanks, was on relatively good terms with Ace, who seemed to greatly respect him primarily for his role in saving his adoptive younger brother, Luffy, from the Lord of the Coast during the incident with Higuma. After setting out to begin his life of piracy, Ace immediately sought out Shanks to meet the man in person and thank him on Luffy’s behalf. Shanks was initially hostile until he learned Ace’s reasons, and the two even celebrated their meeting. Shanks showed some concern for Ace upon learning that he was in pursuit of Blackbeard. He personally sought out Whitebeard to vocally disapprove and attempted to persuade Whitebeard to recall Ace. After the announcement of Ace’s execution, it was revealed that Shanks personally intercepted Kaidou, another of the Four Emperors, as the latter attempted to take advantage of the crisis and attack Whitebeard. It is unknown if Shanks ever discovered that Ace was the son of his late captain Gol D. Roger (before this fact was made public by Sengoku).

Buggy And Alvida Alliance

During his pursuit of Blackbeard, Ace happened across the Big Top while Buggy and his crew were partying. Attracted by the “very strong and sweet scent” of food, Ace boarded the ship unnoticed and proceeded to help himself – Buggy did not notice his presence until, upon hearing Buggy and Alvida say that they were in pursuit of Luffy but had no clue where he was, Ace offered to give them some helpful information. Ace, being Ace, fell asleep moments later. Though Buggy’s crew wanted to capture him, Buggy forbade it, knowing that Whitebeard would not hesitate to take revenge. After Ace woke up, the entire crew apparently enjoyed the rest of his momentary stay. Buggy himself seems to like Ace as after meeting Luffy on Level One, he mentions that Ace, unlike Luffy, happened to be a very swell guy and they were apparently drinking buddies for a while. Buggy also told Luffy that he was very upset when he heard the news of Ace’s scheduled execution. Like so many at the time, Buggy was shocked to see Ace fall to Admiral Akainu.

Jinbe

Ace and Jinbe were once enemies, as Ace wanted to kill Whitebeard, whom Jinbe regarded as a hero for protecting Fish-Man Island. The two dueled for five days until they both collapsed from exhaustion. Despite this scuffle, the two eventually became friends who deeply respected each other. During their time in Impel Down, they were cellmates and Ace asked Jinbe to take care of Luffy after he died, a wish that Jinbe at first refused despite their friendship as Jinbe did not feel like protecting anyone whom he considered to be a stranger. This changed when he developed respect for Luffy and when Ace truly did die. Jinbe was more than willing to forfeit his status as Warlord to battle for Ace’s freedom and shed tears for Ace’s demise.

Straw Hat Pirates

Ace was on good terms with Luffy’s crew after they met in Arabasta. The crew took a liking to Ace and questioned if he and Luffy were related given the former’s politeness. Before parting ways, Ace entrusted them to look after Luffy. At Thriller Bark, Franky was excited to see Ace himself. When Ace’s Vivre Card in Luffy’s possession began to burn, Nami was concerned about Ace’s well-being. After the battle at Marineford during the Straw Hats’ separation, they were gravely alarmed upon learning of his death. This led to them being deeply concerned about Luffy’s well-being given how close they were, and he died in front of him before he suffered a mental breakdown.

Tama

Roughly a year during his pirating journey, Ace arrived to the Kuri region in Wano Country, where he encountered a young girl named Tama. They shared a strong bond that inspired Tama to become a Kunoichi. After Ace promised to return to visit her, Tama waited for him despite the terrible living conditions caused by the Beasts Pirates. When Luffy informed her of Ace’s death, Tama was deeply upset and refused to believe him. She was later surprised to learn that Luffy was his younger brother.

Yamato

Ace had met Yamato roughly four years before the current storyline. While the two initially clashed, they quickly got along and drank together. During this time Ace told Yamato about his younger brother Luffy and before they parted ways gifted him a Vivre card. Yamato greatly respects Ace, as he fondly stated that Luffy reminds him of the former and that while he could not leave Onigashima with Ace, he would set sail on Luffy’s ship due to them being brothers. Yamato revealed to Luffy he had originally wanted to sail out of Wano with Ace, but his father’s handcuffs kept him prisoner on Onigashima.

Enemies

Isuka

In the novel, Ace and Isuka’s relationship was similar to Luffy and Smoker’s relationship, except on more amicable terms. She attacked Ace and his crew, viewing it as her duty to enforce justice. When she almost drowned, Ace threw her a life preserver, causing her to change her view about him. She attacked his crew several times since then, but Ace easily dealt with her with no grudges. Isuka then decided to try to get Ace to give up piracy, seeing him as a good person. After Ace stopped Draw’s assault, Ace offered her a spot in his crew but she declined and parted ways with him on good terms.

Marshall D Teach

Ace’s main enemy was Marshall D. Teach, also known as “Blackbeard”. Prior to his betrayal, Ace and Teach were on good terms, with the latter encouraging him to be commander after he declines the position. Once Teach betrayed Whitebeard, Ace personally chose to hunt down for killing Thatch. However, as Shanks stated, Ace was strong and young, but the fact that he was appointed as Whitebeard’s Second Division commander worried Shanks due to “that trust and reputation” getting in the way. Shanks concluded that Ace was not ready to face Blackbeard, which was confirmed later when Ace confronted him and his crew. At first, Blackbeard wanted him to join and hunt down Luffy, but Ace declined his offer and the two fought against each other. In the end, Ace was defeated and turned in to the Marines, thus granting Blackbeard the status of Warlord.

Smoker

They met in Arabasta when Smoker was hunting for Luffy but found Ace instead. He tried to arrest the Whitebeard Commander though both were conveniently sent flying by Luffy. Smoker soon ignored Ace and went after Luffy, something that caused Ace to intervene on his brother’s behalf. Smoker questioned Ace’s reason before he was informed, they were brothers. Ace also fought evenly with Smoker for a few moments, who even Luffy has yet to beat. The elements of their Logia Devil Fruits canceled each other out, and neither of them were able to gain the upper hand even though Ace was just trying to gain some time for the Straw Hats to get away.

World Government

The World Government, after discovering that Ace was the son of Gol D. Roger, desired to execute him but was unable to touch him due to Ace joining Whitebeard’s crew. When Blackbeard defeated and turned him in, they seized the chance and made Ace’s execution their highest priority. It appeared that Ace shared a similar fate with Nico Robin and Luffy – his sole existence was a sin to the World Government, being the child of the “world’s greatest evil”.

Akainu

Admiral Akainu earned Ace’s scorn for badmouthing Whitebeard as Ace and Luffy were making their retreat, provoking Ace to turn back and let his chance to escape Marineford slip away. He attacked Akainu in fury over the insult but discovered that his fire was inferior to that of Akainu’s magma. Akainu was able to burn Ace and eventually kill him.

In One Piece episode A, during the 100th duel between Ace and Whitebeard, Jinbe remarked on how much stronger Ace had become since their own duel. Luffy commented on how he never defeated Ace in a single fight, despite Luffy already having the power of the Gomu Gomu no Mi (Ace did not consume the Mera Mera no Mi until after he left: Luffy was surprised by Ace’s new power when Ace stopped Smoker from capturing him in Nanohana). Ace was trained by Garp, who had hoped to turn him into a fine Marine, and possibly Dadan, the two of whom were responsible for training Luffy to the level of power he held before becoming a pirate. Ace also held a fearsome reputation. When he was 10 years old, Ace had already made a name for himself in Gray Terminal, being known by the Bluejam Pirates.

It was revealed that Ace received an invitation to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea while he was still captain of the Spade Pirates, though he refused the offer, which had subsequently raised his bounty over 100,000,000 and attracted even more attention to him across the New World. He had defeated Doma, a notorious New World pirate, and his pirate crew all on his own, which is what got him recommended for his current post as the Whitebeard Pirates’ 2nd division commander. Due to Ace’s prestige and heritage, the World Government not only granted Blackbeard the position of Warlord for successfully defeating and capturing Ace but also imprisoned Ace in Level 6 of Impel Down, a secret level reserved for the world’s most dangerous and brutal criminals. His overall reputation and abilities had earned him a bounty of 550,000,000 prior to his capture and death. According to Sengoku, Ace had especially immense potential, described that it was Ace’s rapid rise in power and fame that made the World Government realize he was son of the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. He went on to say that in time, Ace could potentially become the next Pirate King if he continued on, which was the most important reason why the World Government was willing to start a war with Whitebeard. Chinjao himself said that Ace showed the most potential among the new generation pirates, and that his death was a good thing for the Marines. Before his death, Yamato believed Ace was the one Oden foretold would defeat Kaidou someday. He was also a capable navigator, as he was seen wearing a Log Pose on his left wrist, while traveling from island to island in search of Luffy and Blackbeard on a simple raft. This also shows he was a skilled tracker. Ace’s willpower was strong enough to withstand Shanks’ outburst of Supreme King Haki.

Physical Abilities

Aside from the powers granted by the Devil Fruit he consumed, Ace possessed immense physical strength and endurance which he attained from the extremely rigorous training in the harsh environment of Mt. Colubo that consisted of him hunting and fighting wild beasts since childhood and traveling in precarious trap-filled locations. His incredible physical prowess was supplemented by his extraordinary fighting skills. Even in his early childhood, he was able to beat some local thugs who spoke ill of his father “half to death” and during his first meeting with Luffy, he was also shown sitting on top of a huge bull he killed with his staff. As a child, he could also easily break a giant tree with a single kick. In his childhood, before he acquired the Mera Mera no Mi, Ace was able to beat Luffy in every single sparring match, despite Luffy’s untrained Gomu Gomu no Mi abilities. Ace demonstrated his strength during his battle with Blackbeard: he was able to take Blackbeard’s punches, which were so powerful that the first made Ace cough up blood and the second nearly broke his neck and retaliate quickly afterwards. Van Augur noted that, as expected of the Whitebeard Pirates’ 2nd division commander, Ace’s basic combat skills were quite formidable even without his Devil Fruit powers. He had shown to fight equally with both Yamato and Jinbe in the past, both being situations where his adversaries used Haki (and in addition in Jinbe’s case, Fish-Man Karate) to nullify Ace’s Logia powers. Ace and Jinbe in particular had nearly killed each other in a fight that lasted for five days straight. Ace then survived a battle with Whitebeard that took place immediately after, showing immense stamina and durability. As a testament to his stamina and endurance, he was one of the few people to be able to take a “baptizing” in boiling water in Impel Down without flinching, which is considered an impressive feat.

Devil Fruit

Ace ate the Mera Mera no Mi, a Logia-type Devil Fruit that allowed him to create, control, and transform his body into fire. He could create and unleash massive amounts of fire for large-scale damage, as well as utilize small precision attacks. Later, after his death, it was revealed that Ace’s burning fists also had the power to annihilate entire cities. Ace primarily used his flames for a wide variety of offenses. He could shoot fire bullets and spears, release powerful fire cannons, unleash massive waves of fire, and create fire balls, both a single large one for large-scale destruction and multiple small ones that could explode. His signature attack was transforming his fist into fire and sending it forward as it greatly increased in size, earning him the name “Fire Fist Ace”. His flames could also be used defensively, he could create a massive wall of flames to block his opponents, and the heat of his flames could deter his opponents from attacking him for fear of getting burned. He was also able to stop powerful ice attacks from Aokiji, a Marine Admiral. Ace also had practical uses for his Devil Fruit powers; he would heat up any fish he would find in the seas for his crew when they had no food to eat and he was able to traverse the seas in a one-man boat that was specifically designed for him and propelled with flames from his feet.

Haki

Ace was one of the very few people in the world who could use all three types of Haki. Despite this, he rarely used them in combat, being more reliant on his Devil Fruit abilities. While Ace has never shown usage of Armament Haki or Observation Haki within the manga, the novels have stated that Ace’s Haki had been described by Shanks and Benn Beckman to be fiery in nature, to the point that Ace’s very presence was able to stop blizzards on an island for as long as he was there. As such, when he turned up on Drum Island, no snow fell at all on the island for an entire day.

Supreme King Haki

Ace possessed Supreme King Haki, which he initially had no conscious control over. He first demonstrated the ability at 10 years of age when he rendered the Bluejam Pirates except for Bluejam unconscious after an outburst of rage. He later gained knowledge of the power, as he recognized it when Luffy used it at the Summit War of Marineford. He was never seen using this Haki apart from in his childhood, save for in video games (such as during the activation of his Kizuna Rush in Pirate Warriors 3) and One Piece episode A.

Armament Haki

Ace was capable of using Armament Haki. Upon awakening it, he was capable of fighting on equal grounds with Vice Admiral Draw’s Armament Haki. However, it is not known how proficient he became in using it since then. The following events are non-canon, and therefore not considered part of the canon story. In One Piece episode A, it was suggested he was skilled at it, to the point he leaned on it too much and was negligent in training the other forms of his Haki.

Observation Haki

In One Piece episode A, Ace was taught how to use Observation Haki by Thatch and used it in his duels against Whitebeard. Concludes non-canon section.

Weapons

Ace carries around a knife but is never seen using it. However, in flashbacks of attempts to assassinate Whitebeard, Ace was shown using various weapons, including an axe and a knife. As a child, he used a long bo staff made from pipe as a weapon. In One Piece: Burning Blood, Ace wields two twin double-barreled firearms (which resemble a cross between a pistol and a sawed-off shotgun) while wearing his Strong World costume which he uses as part of his Twin Guns & Cross Fire special attack.

In Episode 439, Ace is depicted as a child similarly to how he appeared as an adult. While in the manga, Ace is almost always wearing a tank top during his childhood, in this episode he is depicted without a shirt, and is seen wearing a red beaded necklace identical to what he wore as an adult. This can be considered a contradiction to the manga, as Ace didn’t start wearing his necklace until he was a teenager, and only stopped wearing shirts when he joined the Whitebeard Pirates in order to showcase his “pride and joy” – Whitebeard’s Jolly Roger. It can be presumed that Toei Animation did this because Ace’s actual childhood appearance hadn’t been revealed yet in the manga.

Marineford Arc

In the anime, Ace and Luffy’s fight against the Marines (after Luffy unlocked Ace’s handcuffs) was expanded and Ace showed more of his attacks.

Death

Throughout the manga, the anime adaptation, and the specials 3D2Y and Episode of Sabo, Ace’s death has been somewhat censored and slightly changed. In the anime, when Ace was struck through by Akainu, his beaded necklace broke apart and fell all over the ground, and one bead ended up rolling to Whitebeard’s foot, who picked it up tearfully. In the manga, as well as the specials, the necklace remained intact. In the anime, Ace also was covered in less blood than in the manga and the specials. The anime and 3D2Y also omitted the smoke coming from his wound. In the Romance Dawn PSP game and its cutscene, Ace only had smoke coming from his wound and the blood was absent. Other oddities include most of the artwork being largely uninspired by the manga.

Ace’s manji is very similar to a swastika. To avoid the manji being mistaken for the Nazi symbol, the Whitebeard tattoo was changed to have crossbones arranged in a cross in the original Japanese anime and later in the manga. This change was also done in the Shonen Jump serialization of the English manga, but was left unedited in the actual volumes. Because of the increase in the number of anime and manga being adapted for sale outside of Japan, this has become a common occurrence among mangaka and publishers alike to avoid the manji symbol. Ace’s back tattoo is left intact in the English dub, despite 4Kids previous edits to crosses. At the same time, Ace also promotes his tattoo to Luffy, something which is truly considered odd by 4Kids standards. In the 4Kids version of the anime, Ace’s shoulder tattoo signifying his name is edited out, as he is referred to as “Portgaz D. Trace” in it. However, in the TV Funimation dub version it is retained; they reverted his name to the proper “Portgas D. Ace” for the uncut home release. He appears in One Piece: Grand Adventure, once again without the tattoo on his arm. In the Digitally Colored Manga, the early appearances of the tattoo were fixed to match the later ones.

Ace had gestated in the womb of his mother, Portgas D. Rouge, for five months when his father, Gol D. Roger, was executed. To protect Ace, Rouge kept him in her womb for an additional 15 months, giving birth to him on Baterilla a year and three months after Roger’s death but dying from the exertion immediately afterwards. Ace was placed in the custody of Marine Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp, who put him in the care of Curly Dadan and the Dadan Family on Mt. Colubo on Dawn Island. During his childhood, Ace somehow learned the identity of his father and encountered many people who voiced their hatred of Roger and any offspring he might have, causing him to feel alone and worthless. Once, this led to him beating some of them to near death, shocking Dadan. When Garp came to visit, Ace asked if he should have been born at all, and Garp replied he could only find that out by living. Ace later met Sabo on Gray Terminal, which Sabo claimed to be from. The two shared a dream of becoming pirates and stole money and treasure in preparation for the day they would set off to sea, with Ace even sharing the secret of his father to Sabo.

Tale Of Three Brothers

One day when he was ten, Ace returned home after hunting a buffalo when Garp brought his grandson Monkey D. Luffy to live with Dadan. When he saw Luffy, Ace spat on him. After the family ate the buffalo he caught, Ace ran off and Luffy chased after him, wanting to be friends. However, Ace sent a tree rolling at Luffy, and when Luffy continued chasing him, Ace hit him and sent him plummeting into a chasm.

It took a week for Luffy to return home, but he continued chasing after Ace for the next three months, not giving up despite everything Ace threw at him. Ace met with Sabo one day, and they compared the treasure that they had stolen when Luffy, having made it all the way to Gray Terminal, called out to them. Since he found out about their dream to become pirates, Ace and Sabo tied Luffy up and decided to kill him, but were unable to. Suddenly, Porchemy of the Bluejam Pirates came in, searching for Ace who had stolen his money. Porchemy captured Luffy, and to Ace’s horror, Luffy called out to him.

Porchemy took Luffy away to get Ace’s location out of him, and Ace and Sabo worked to move their treasure to another location. When Sabo returned after moving the last of the treasure, he revealed that Luffy had not revealed Ace’s location, to Ace’s shock. He and Sabo then broke into the Bluejam Pirates’ hideout to rescue Luffy, and Porchemy grabbed Ace, but Sabo freed him before rescuing Luffy. Ace and Sabo stayed behind to fight Porchemy, defeating him. Afterwards, Ace asked Luffy why he risked death rather than revealing his location, and Luffy revealed that Ace was the only person he had.

Since the trio’s actions would make them well-known to the pirates on Gray Terminal, Ace and Luffy brought Sabo into the Dadan Family’s household. The trio continued their adventures across the island, becoming more well-known to an increasing number of people. They hunted animals and fought each other to grow stronger. One day, they snuck into the Goa Kingdom, where they ate at a restaurant and broke out without paying. As they were running away, Ace and Luffy saw a man calling out to Sabo, but Sabo denied any connection to him.

However, when they returned to the woods, Ace and Luffy forced Sabo to tell them the truth. Sabo revealed that the man was his father, and he was the son of nobles, but left that life behind. The trio then proclaimed their dreams as they plotted their future pirating lives, and with a bottle of sake he had stolen from Dadan, Ace poured three cups and the trio performed an informal sakazuki ceremony to become sworn brothers. They continued their lives of adventure, visiting Foosha Village at one point and being visited by Garp on occasion as he attempted to raise Ace and Luffy to become Marines. They also moved out of Dadan’s house to live in a treehouse.

One day, however, Sabo’s father Outlook III and the Bluejam Pirates forcibly took Sabo. Ace tried attacking, but was punched away by one of the pirates. Outlook III told the pirates to do whatever they wished with Luffy and Ace while he took Sabo away, but Sabo promised to go without a fight if Ace and Luffy were spared. Afterwards, Bluejam told Ace and Luffy that Sabo was fortunate to live the life of a noble and kept his agreement to not harm the two by having them move boxes around Gray Terminal. That night as they prepared to sleep, Luffy wondered if Sabo was all right, but Ace reminded him that they were trying to forget about him.

A few days later, Bluejam prepared to put Ace and Luffy to work burning down Gray Terminal that night by order of the nobles. Ace and Luffy protested this, but Bluejam ignored them and instead asked them about the location of their treasure. Afterwards, Ace and Luffy were tied to a pole, and as night fell the Bluejam Pirates set Gray Terminal ablaze. As they were surrounded by flames, Ace cut himself and Luffy free with a shard, and they ran from the fire. However, the duo were confronted by the Bluejam Pirates, who wanted to know the location of the treasure before it went up in flames.

Ace eventually relented and told Bluejam, but to his anger, the pirates took him and Luffy with them to make sure they were not lying. Bluejam swore to take revenge on the nobles and said that Sabo was no different than the rest of them. This caused Luffy to fight back and get brutally attacked in return, and in desperation Ace shouted at the pirates, unleashing Supreme King Haki and knocking out all of them except Bluejam. Bluejam subdued Ace and prepared to shoot him, but the Dadan Family suddenly came in to rescue their wards. However, Ace refused to run away with them as he confronted Bluejam, and Dadan stayed with him while Luffy and the rest of the family ran away.

Ace and Dadan managed to defeat Bluejam, but became surrounded by the flames. Dadan severely burned herself to get Ace through the flames, and Ace raided the town for medical supplies to keep her alive before they returned to the hideout. As she recovered, Dadan asked Ace why he did not run, and Ace reflected that he wanted to keep Luffy safe. Later, Dogra came and told Ace and Luffy that Sabo had gone out to sea only for his ship to be blown up by a World Noble. Ace went to avenge Sabo, only for Dadan to force him down.

Dadan said that the world killed Sabo and Ace would have no chance of avenging him until he grew stronger, ordering her family to tie him up. The next morning, Ace was released after calming down, and received a letter from Sabo explaining his decision to set out to sea early, expressing his desire to meet his brothers again, and telling Ace to take care of Luffy in the meantime. Ace went to the coast, where Luffy was still crying. Luffy promised to get stronger and pleaded for Ace not to die. Ace promised not to, saying that since Sabo had been killed before he found freedom, they had to live their lives with no regrets, and they decided to each set sail as pirates when they turned 17. As things returned to normal on Dawn Island, Ace and Luffy continued adventuring as they sought to become stronger and more independent, although they at first struggled to accomplish things without Sabo. One time, Makino visited Mt. Colubo, and Ace told her that he wanted to thank Shanks at some point for what he did for Luffy. The two brothers continued growing stronger together for the next seven years.

The Path To Piracy

At the age of 17, Ace set out from Mt. Colubo and began his life as a pirate. Less than a year after he started sailing, he was shipwrecked on the East Blue island Sixis. There, he met a man without a name, and gave the man the pseudonym of Masked Deuce. They talked about their families, and when Deuce brought up Roger, Ace’s expression gave away his true heritage.

With mixed feelings about Ace being Roger’s son, Deuce left him. Several days later, Ace was still unsuccessful in getting off Sixis, and prepared to eat a fruit, which unbeknownst to him was the Mera Mera no Mi. A starving Deuce prepared to kill Ace for the fruit, but Ace spotted him after hearing his stomach growl, and offered him the fruit. Deuce became guilty for his attempted plot and refused, but the two reconciled and formed a partnership. They split the Mera Mera no Mi, but Ace consumed it first, gaining its powers.

They then worked together to build a ship to escape, building the Striker, which ran on Ace’s flames. The two set out, forming the Spade Pirates. As time went on, the Spade Pirates increased to twenty crewmates in number as well as a lynx, and they became more and more infamous, being targeted by hordes of bounty hunters. One day, they were confronted by a Marine warship battalion. The Marine warships catch up to the Piece of Spadille and begin attacking, as Ensign “Nailing” Isuka had come onboard earlier to distract the Spade Pirates from the warships’ approach. Despite her strength, she could not harm Ace due to his Logia body. Meanwhile, Masked Deuce had a plan for the warships all along, leading them to a rocky reef area. Once one of the warships hits the rocky reef, it started to sink. Isuka quickly stopped fighting and jumped into the water to save her shipwrecked comrades, and as she started to tire and drown, Ace saves her life by throwing her a life preserver, and she is angry at his actions. From that day forth, she swore to chase down Ace. She would have numerous encounters with the Spade Pirates as a result, but Ace always easily dealt with her with a casual attitude.

Incident At Sabaody Archipelago

Eventually, the Spade Pirates reached the Sabaody Archipelago, where they had to wait three days for their ship to be coated. After encountering and eluding Isuka again, Ace and Deuce explored the Archipelago, Ace tried the food at numerous stalls, which Deuce paid for with money from Ace’s wallet, which he had dropped back on the ship, and they went on the Ferris wheel in Sabaody Park. After their first ride, Isuka finds Ace and Deuce again while they are getting out of the Ferris Wheel. As she and Ace quarrel, their gondola is locked and the three are sent on the ride. Though the mood is initially awkward, Ace was actually enjoying the view, and Isuka tells Deuce that the burn scar on her hand that he was staring at came from when pirates burned down her village when she was a child, during which her parents were killed.

She had been saved from the fire by Lieutenant Commander Draw, who had since become a Vice Admiral. She now wants no children to go through the same experience as her. She recommends that Ace quit being a pirate, as she does not see him as evil. She even offered Ace the chance to become a Marine, but Ace does not like the idea of quitting piracy and jumps out of the gondola while the Ferris wheel was still in motion. Deuce wonders if Isuka will take him hostage to get Ace to come back, but she replies that Justice does not take hostages and that she is on holiday anyway.

Three days later, Ace and Deuce came to the slums, where they fed some poor children. They were then approached by Isuka and Vice Admiral Draw, who gave Ace an official invitation from the World Government to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Ace refused due to his disdain for the system, and although Draw shared his feelings, the Vice Admiral took the opportunity to kill him. Draw attacked with flamethrowers on his arms, setting the slums ablaze, which angered Ace as he went to rescue the children there. Isuka assisted him, and Ace attacked Draw, but struggled against the Vice Admiral’s Armament Haki. Draw grabbed Ace by the neck and prepared to kill him, but Ace’s flames caused Draw’s fuel tank to explode, injuring both of them. Ace then started overwhelming Draw in the fight, awakening his Armament Haki in the process, and after a final clash he defeated the Vice Admiral. Ace then gave Isuka the opportunity to go on his ship and hunt him down in close quarters, but she refused, wanting to still be a Marine. Ace and Deuce returned to their ship as it left Sabaody, bidding a final farewell to Isuka.

Journey Into The New World

The Spade Pirates then headed to Fish-Man Island, and Ace went off to a cheap cafe. There, he talked with Aladine about Whitebeard and Jinbe protecting the Ryugu Kingdom from uprisings. He then returned to his crew and ship, and Deuce revealed to him his new bounty, which was now greatly above 100,000,000. Seeing the Whitebeard Pirates’ flag, Ace burned it to declare his intention of taking down all the Four Emperors, and he and his crew quickly left Fish-Man Island for the New World before anyone saw what happened. After reaching the New World, Ace hunted down Shanks in order to fulfill his intention of meeting him.

He discovered Shanks and his crew on a winter island and revealed his connection to Luffy. He declared his intention to grow his reputation by bringing down most figures of power, and asked Shanks about the scars Blackbeard had given him before departing from the island. Then, one year within his journey (four years before the current timeline), Ace and his crew traveled to the Wano Country and ended up washing ashore a beach in Kuri, where they were founded by the residents of Amigasa Village. He was tied to a tree with his crewmates while the starving villagers helped themselves to their food and water. With his ability, Ace easily freed himself and approached a young girl named Tama, who he asked wanted dessert to go with her meal.

They bonded after that, and during his stay in the village, Ace learned how to weave a kasa. When it came time for the Spade Pirates to leave, Tama wanted to go out to sea with Ace, but he told her that she was too young at the time. He promised that he would take her with him if she became a kunoichi by the time he returned. Also during this time, Ace and his crew went to Onigashima to kill Kaidou and rescue the abducted children. However, Kaidou was away on an expedition at the time, so Ace never encountered him or any of his top subordinates. After doing so much damage to Kaidou’s castle, Ace met Yamato, who decided to fight him because of boredom. During the scuffle, Yamato broke the dragon statue at the island’s entrance to show disdain for Kaidou. Ace then left a mark on the statue and took responsibility for breaking it. Afterwards, Ace and Yamato became acquainted. While drinking sake together, Ace told Yamato about Luffy and his dream. Before parting ways, Yamato gave Ace a vivre card. As Ace continued his journey on the sea’s he garnered much infamy by sinking battleships and burning down mighty cities.

Becoming Whitebeards Son

As he searched the seas for Whitebeard, he plotted to take advantage of another attack on the Emperor to strike at him while his crew was weaker, and he and his crew went to one of Whitebeard’s islands which they had heard he was heading for. However, they were confronted by Jinbe, who had been following them around. Angered at Ace burning Whitebeard’s flag on Fish-Man Island, Jinbe intended to battle him to prevent him from going after Whitebeard. The battle lasted for five days and ended in a stalemate, with both combatants collapsing from exhaustion. Whitebeard, who had heard that Ace intended to take his head, arrived with his crew and the Moby Dick just after the battle between Jinbe and Ace.

Whitebeard told his crew that he alone would be enough, and proceeded to attack Ace’s crew. Still exhausted from his fierce battle with Jinbe, Ace got to his feet and cut off Whitebeard from his crew with a wall of flames. Though his crew protested, he commanded them to run while he stalled Whitebeard. The older pirate questioned if Ace had lost his nerve, but Ace clarified that he would stay if his crew were allowed to leave. Whitebeard easily defeated the rookie but was impressed by his protective impulse and offered Ace a place on his crew.

Ace refused, but was knocked out and brought onto Whitebeard’s ship. Ace’s crew came to retrieve him, though they were beaten up and taken onto the ship with their captain. When Ace came to, he was greeted by Thatch, who he questioned about whether it was a good idea to leave him unrestrained. Ace remained on board the ship and continued to attempt to kill Whitebeard, though each time he was easily repelled. After the hundredth attempt, he asked Marco why the crew referred to Whitebeard as ‘Pops’, which Marco explained.

Marco then gave him an ultimatum: Leave the ship and come back stronger to keep trying to murder Whitebeard, or join the crew. Ace chose to join the crew and took Whitebeard’s mark on his back, becoming a member of the Whitebeard Pirates. After defeating Doma and forcing him to surrender, he was promoted to the position of 2nd division commander. He and one of his subordinates, Teach, were on relatively good terms. Ace asked if Teach had wanted the commoner position himself, as he was certainly strong enough and had seniority.

Teach just laughed and said that he had no interest in moving up the ladder. At some point, Ace forced Oliva to surrender after discovering his involvement in slave trade. One day, Ace decided to reveal his lineage to Whitebeard, who merely laughed it off, saying that his personality was nothing like that of Roger. (According to Sengoku, Whitebeard already knew.) When Ace asked if Whitebeard would kick him out due to him and Roger being enemies in the past, Whitebeard simply stated that his past does not matter, as everyone is a “child of the sea”. At one point, Ace gave the kasa he made in Wano to Little Oars Jr.

to protect him from the sun. At some point, Ace talked with Whitebeard and some other crewmates about going to war with Kaidou in order to liberate Wano Country and avenge Kouzuki Oden. Unfortunately, Whitebeard never approved of this request, fearing the vast number of casualties that would almost surely come from a war between two Emperors. Around this time Ace defeated Hanafuda, a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, leaving a vacant seat within the system. Six months later, Ace learned that Bartholomew Kuma had been chosen as the new Warlord. Sometime after the start of the story, Ace was excited to learn that Luffy got his first bounty, and proudly showed Luffy’s wanted poster to Whitebeard and Jinbe. Soon after, Teach murdered his crewmate Thatch in order to steal the Yami Yami no Mi and fled. Since Ace was his commander and the Whitebeard Pirates live by a code in which they avenge fallen comrades, Ace would have been sent after the murderer. Whitebeard, however, felt apprehensive about the situation and protested, acknowledging that Teach may have become too much for the boy to handle with his new powers. Despite this, Ace demanded that he go after Teach, saying that Thatch could not rest in peace if his murderer were not brought to justice, and that Teach could not get away with dishonoring his “father”. Admiring Ace’s dedication to both his captain and his duty, Whitebeard allowed his “son” to go, later claiming that it was he who told Ace to leave for the sake of Ace’s honor. With this, Ace began his journey to find Blackbeard and finish him off.

Arabasta Saga

Drum Island Arc

Ace visited Drum Island and met two villagers and asked them about Luffy. He introduced himself and told his intention before leaving a wanted poster of Luffy and a message for Luffy to meet him in 10 days in the city of Nanohana, Arabasta.

Arabasta Arc

Ace was sleeping in the Spice Bean restaurant. The other patrons thought that he had dropped dead from eating a Desert Strawberry. As Ace finished his meal, he was spotted by Smoker, who attempted to arrest him. However, shortly before he and Smoker began to fight, both men were sent flying into the wall behind them by Luffy’s sudden entrance. After picking himself up, Ace spotted Luffy eating, only to be knocked down by Smoker, who then attempted to arrest Luffy. After Luffy dashed out of the restaurant with Smoker in hot pursuit, Ace caught up with Luffy in time to save him from being arrested. His interference allowed Luffy to escape while he dealt with Smoker himself. After throwing the Marines off his trail, Ace caught up with Luffy on the Going Merry to offer him a chance to join Whitebeard, which Luffy refused. Ace left Luffy a piece of a Vivre Card, which will allow the two to meet up again. As Ace sailed away, five Baroque Works ships confronted him, but he destroyed all of them with a fire punch.

Sky Island Saga

Jaya Arc

Ace later hopped on Buggy’s ship for food and promised to show him the way to Luffy.

Aces Great Blackbeard Search

In the sixth cover story, after parting ways with Buggy’s crew, Ace (amid his continuing search for Blackbeard) came to Lulusia Kingdom and enquired about Blackbeard. He later attacked a doctor who resembled Blackbeard and got kicked to the river. He was saved by a milk maiden for whom he infiltrated a Marine Base to hand-deliver a letter to her parents. Despite being eventually exposed during his undercover stint, Ace successfully delivered the milk maiden’s letter to Vice Admiral Comil(along with saving a marine from a burning ship), which indirectly led the parents of said milk maiden (cooks on the Marine grocery ship) to reunite with their daughter. Meanwhile, Ace sailed off satisfied, as he in fact gained information on Blackbeard from a Marine scout ship, now being ready to find and take on the traitorous pirate.

Water 7 Saga

Postenies Lobby Arc

Ace finally found and confronted Blackbeard and his crew on Banaro Island. He and Blackbeard exchanged a few words before Blackbeard offered him the chance to join his crew and help him become Pirate King. However, when Blackbeard revealed that he was intending to go to Water 7 and capture Luffy, Ace got angrier as he refused, revealing his relationship with Luffy. Van Augur then shot at him, but Ace had the bullets pass through him before retaliating with fire bullets. Jesus Burgess threw part of a hotel at him, but Ace demolished it with a pillar of fire before attacking the two of them and Blackbeard with Hiken.

Blackbeard admitted that he had killed Thatch, revealing that he had done it to claim the Yami Yami no Mi. Ace watched as Blackbeard became darkness and pulled the entire town into a black hole before releasing it as wreckage, but he immediately unleashed several small fiery explosions that injured Blackbeard due to his fruit amplifying damage rather than bypassing it. However, Blackbeard used his darkness to pull Ace toward him and nullify his Devil Fruit powers, allowing Blackbeard to punch Ace. Ace was pulled in again by Blackbeard’s darkness but managed to hit Blackbeard with an attack before Blackbeard broke his neck. As the two continued to clash, Blackbeard began to physically overwhelm Ace and once again offered him the chance to join his crew. Ace refused again and brought out a massive fireball as he engaged in a massive final clash with Blackbeard’s darkness. Ace was ultimately defeated, and Blackbeard handed him over to the World Government. He was sentenced to public execution at Marineford and, while awaiting execution, was incarcerated in Level 6 of Impel Down. According to Burgess, after learning that he was to be executed, Ace requested that his brother not be told.

Summit War Saga

Impel Down Arc

When Garp visited Ace in prison, Ace expressed his desire to be killed now, but Garp replied that there was no stopping the oncoming war between the Marines and Whitebeard. The two talked about Garp’s wish for Ace and Luffy to become Marines, with Ace reflecting on his and Luffy’s bloodlines, though mentioning his hatred for his father and how he considers Whitebeard his true father. Sometime later, Ace watched as Jinbe, who was in the cell with him, was beaten by the prison guards for defiance, and heard Jinbe’s wishes to end the upcoming fighting. Jinbe told Ace how Whitebeard protected his homeland of Fish-Man Island from pirates, but the two heard Crocodile and many other Level 6 prisoners hoping for Whitebeard’s death. Boa Hancock later visited Ace and discreetly informed him that Luffy was in Impel Down trying to save him, much to Ace’s dismay.

When Luffy fought against the warden Magellan, Ace suspecting Hancock’s words to be true, asked the guards what was going on, but got no answer. Many hours later, Jinbe told Ace that Hancock might have been lying, but Ace bitterly replied that this was the kind of thing his brother would do. Sometime during his imprisonment, Ace told Jinbe that he had seen Luffy for the first time in three years and was relieved to see that Luffy had found a crew of great friends to protect him. Ace also asked Jinbe to look after Luffy if he died, though Jinbe warned that he did not easily help other pirates. Magellan then came down to transport Ace to Marineford for his execution, and they had gone up to Level 1 when Ace overheard a report of Luffy being subdued with sleeping gas in Level 6. He cried out and tried moving back to the lift, forcing Magellan to subdue him. He was put on a Marine fleet in the custody of Vice Admiral Onigumo, who encouraged him to look up at the sky one last time before he was put on the execution platform as the fleet approached the Gates of Justice to Marineford. After reaching Marineford, Ace remembered his childhood with Luffy as he was brought up a large set of stairs to the execution platform.

Marineford Arc

Ace was put on his knees at the execution platform while the Marines awaited the arrival of Whitebeard. To start the anticipated event, Sengoku asked Ace who his father was. Ace maintained that it was Whitebeard, but Sengoku then revealed Ace’s real father to the world and explained how Rouge had kept Ace safe through her pregnancy. Sengoku then explained how Whitebeard had protected Ace for the latter to become Pirate King, despite Ace’s denial, but Sengoku said that Ace’s bloodline necessitated his death. The Whitebeard Pirates then arrived, and Ace called out to Whitebeard.

He asked his crew why they had come, since it was his fault, he went after Blackbeard and got captured. However, Whitebeard claimed that he had ordered Ace to go after Blackbeard. Ace watched as his crewmates rushed into battle, but when Little Oars Jr. came onto the scene, Ace told the giant to stop because he was too big of a target. He cried out when Oars Jr.

was severely injured by Bartholomew Kuma, and watched in dread as the giant pressed on despite receiving injuries in quick succession but ultimately fell short of reaching the execution platform. As the battle continued, Ace watched as Garp refused to enter the fray, with the Vice Admiral expressing bitterness over the path his adoptive grandson chose in life. Ace then spotted a battleship containing Luffy and other prisoners of Impel Down falling out of the sky. Ace and Luffy called out to each other when they saw the other, and as Luffy raced from the Moby Dick to the execution platform, Ace told him not to interfere, trying to alienate himself from Luffy to keep him safe. However, Luffy responded that he did not care and would rescue his brother no matter what.

Ace was then calm as he stated that he would accept whatever ended up happening to him, out of respect for his crew’s efforts. Ace watched in shock as Whitebeard was betrayed and stabbed by Squard, and was still taken aback as Whitebeard handled the injury and joined the battle himself. Whitebeard unleashed a shockwave at the execution platform, but it was blocked by the three Admirals’ Haki, and Ace later watched as the Marines’ attempts to raise a giant wall between him and his crew was sabotaged by Oars Jr.’s body. With the wall still mostly trapping the Whitebeard Pirates, the Marines prepared to execute Ace ahead of schedule, but Ace watched as Oars Jr. regained consciousness and attempted to rescue him again while Luffy was sent over the wall by a water blast.

The executioners began to move their swords to execute Ace, but they were taken out by Crocodile’s sand blasts. Ace then watched in shock as Oars Jr. pushed the Whitebeard Pirates’ remaining ship through the wall to let the crew return to the plaza, though at a further cost to the giant. With the battle resuming, Marco attempted to rescue Ace, but was punched away by Garp. Ace then put his head down and started weeping as he saw all the pirates in front of him being dedicated to saving his life, which many others had considered worthless, and he watched as Luffy unleashed a great cry after receiving a dose of hormones from Emporio Ivankov.

Although Whitebeard showed weakness from his age and was punished by the Admirals, Ace watched as his captain continued to press on. The executioners, having returned, raised their blades to try to execute Ace again, but they were suddenly knocked out by Luffy unleashing Supreme King Haki. Ace sat stunned by Luffy’s Haki before he watched as Inazuma created a ramp for Luffy to run to the execution platform, and although Garp confronted Luffy, the Vice Admiral was taken out in one punch as Luffy reached Ace. Sengoku then prepared to attack Luffy with his Devil Fruit power as Kizaru destroyed the key to Ace’s handcuffs, but after regaining consciousness, the nearby Galdino was ordered to protect Ace with a wax barrier while Luffy absorbed Sengoku’s punch. The force of the punch caused the execution platform to fall, and the Marines fired cannonballs at Ace and Luffy, but after Galdino made a wax key to unlock Ace’s handcuffs, Ace was freed and used his Devil Fruit powers to shield himself and Luffy from the explosion.

After landing on the ground, Ace and Luffy quickly went to work fighting off the Marines in tandem. When Aokiji stepped in, Ace met the Admiral’s ice powers with his fire. However, the brothers were taken aback as Whitebeard proclaimed to his crew that he would stay behind on Marineford while they escaped. Ace initially did not move after this proclamation, and Whitebeard asked him if he had been a good father, which Ace resolutely affirmed. Ace and Luffy then ran off with Jinbe, but Admiral Akainu stepped in, saying that Whitebeard was a failure and that his crew were scum and cowards. Angered at Akainu’s statements about Whitebeard, Ace went back and attacked him, but was overwhelmed due to Akainu’s magma fruit being superior to his own fire. Akainu then ambushed an unsuspecting Luffy, and Ace stepped in front of the Admiral, whose magma fist went through his torso and burned up his insides. With Ace still alive in the immediate aftermath, Akainu prepared to attack him again, but was intercepted by Jinbe. The dying Ace fell into Luffy’s arms, and he recollected how he had first been given a place with Luffy, Sabo, and Dadan as he remembered a childhood otherwise filled with torment and persecution. He only regretted that he would not be able to see Luffy’s dream come to pass, and he then called out to his crew, thanking them for loving him despite his bloodline and faults. After this, he fell to the ground and passed away with a smile on his face.

Postmortem

Further Summit War On Marineford

Ace’s death left many heartbroken, but none more so than Luffy, who fell into a catatonic state which left him unable to respond to the world around him. Akainu prepared to kill Luffy as well but was blocked by Marco while Jinbe carried Luffy to safety. Marco then yelled to the other Whitebeard Pirates to protect Luffy at all costs so that Ace’s sacrifice would not be in vain, giving them the energy to keep on fighting. Whitebeard himself was especially outraged by Ace’s demise and proceeded to deal a heavy blow on Akainu, which also devastated Marineford. However, Whitebeard would also meet his own demise at the hands of Blackbeard and his crew, who also stole his Devil Fruit ability. Before dying, Whitebeard predicted that even though Ace’s life and bloodline have both been snuffed out, someone would eventually appear to inherit his will. Later, when the Red Hair Pirates appeared, Shanks managed to organize a ceasefire and asked that the bodies of both Ace and Whitebeard be handed over to the pirates so that they could depart from the location peacefully, a request which Fleet Admiral Sengoku agreed to.

Funeral

Ace, along with Whitebeard, was buried on an island near the latter’s home island somewhere in the New World. His trademark hat, necklace, and knife were made into a grave marker, which was placed beside Whitebeard’s and covered with flowers and swords left behind by his crewmates, with the members themselves standing on either side of the island, paying their last respects. Before departing with his crew, Shanks thought of how surprised he was by Ace’s final actions and likened it to something his late captain, Roger would have done.

Legacy

Although already famous in life, the events of the war and the fact that he was the son of the Pirate King has given Ace almost legendary recognition, like his father before him. Luffy, who awoke from his coma in complete and utter despair over his brother’s death, had nearly given up his dream entirely as well as living if it were not for Jinbe reminding him of his crewmates, who are depending on him to return to them. Ace’s death also proved to be the final debacle for Luffy’s resolve to become stronger before heading into the New World, next to his crew’s defeat and separation at the hands of Bartholomew Kuma. Similarly to Luffy, Sabo was distraught over his inability to protect Ace from death. Sabo initially lost his memories many years prior due to being attacked by Saint Jalmack, but then recovered them upon learning of his brother’s demise, which put him into a coma for three days.

Since then, Sabo gained an immense protective-streak towards Luffy, vowing to come to his aid whenever and wherever he needed him – even going so far as to disregard his duties in the Revolutionary Army if he felt Luffy was in danger. After Ace’s death, his Devil Fruit, the Mera Mera no Mi, was reborn into the world and somehow acquired by the Donquixote Pirates, who then offered it as a prize at the Corrida Colosseum as a means of distracting Luffy from his and Trafalgar Law’s plot to take them down (though they had no real intention to give it away). Due to Ace’s fame, this also ended up attracting many powerful competetors from around the world. The ploy worked at first, however, Sabo arrived and took Luffy’s place in the finals so that he could continue his mission and that Ace’s power would be obtained by someone he trusted. Sabo ultimately won the tournament and ate the fruit, thus inheriting Ace’s will along with his signature technique, the “Hiken”. At Wano, Tama continued to await patiently for Ace’s return since the news of his death didn’t reach her country, until Luffy eventually arrived and told her, causing her to pass out. Though angry about this at first, Tama came to respect Luffy as she did Ace, vowing to continue her training to become a kunoich and join Luffy’s crew as she wished to join Ace’s. Meanwhile, Yamato, who was already aware of Ace’s death due to seeing his vivre card burn away, also desired to honor Ace’s memory by assisting Luffy in defeating Kaidou.