Portgas D. Ace


 * The subject of this article is sometimes called Portgaz D. Trace and Portgaz D. Ace.

Portgas D. Ace (born Gol D. Ace) is the adopted older brother of Monkey D. Luffy and the son of the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, and his lover, Portgas D. Rouge. He was adopted by Garp by request of Gol D. Roger before his birth. He is the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and former captain of the Spade Pirates.

Appearance
Although he was adopted, he looks remarkably like his 'brother' Luffy. However, Ace is more serious looking than Luffy's lighthearted design. He also sports rather childish freckles. One of the most obvious features on Ace are his tattoos. Ace has a tattoo on his back of the Whitebeard symbol —a skull with a white mustache and a manji. Ace has another tattoo on his upper left bicep that spells "ASCE" vertically with the "S" (apparently a mistake on the part of the tattoo artist) crossed out.

He has almost never been seen wearing something over his upper body (shirt) and wears black boots. He has black knee length pants with a blue belt-like strap around it that has a blue, mini backpack on it. On his pants is an orange belt that has a large "A" on the buckle. There is also another strap attached to the belt on his right hip that hangs on Ace's leg and a dagger and it's green sheath on his left hip. On his left arm, he wears a Log Pose on his wrist and an orange pad/strap on his elbow. He also has his ASCE tattoo on that arm. He wears a red bead necklace and has an orange hat, which has two smileys on it, one frowning and the other smiling. It also has red beads where the hat and rim connect. As a neck strap for the hat, there are orange strings that connect to a medallion that has a bull's skull on it and tassels hanging down from it.

During the ending credits to 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 he boasted a very different color scheme to the one he was given in his official appearance in the anime (which led much more to the manga).

Personality
As far as personality goes, Ace is much more intelligent, polite, and generally more bearable than Luffy, which prompts the Straw Hat crew to question whether he is truly related to their captain. Several people who knew Roger noted that Luffy is a lot like the pirate king's, while Whitebeard himself claimed that Ace's personality isn't much like his father's. However, he likes to party as much as his brother does. When he boarded Buggy's ship, he was drawn by the smell of food and decided to enjoy himself while he was there.

There are two running gags about him. The first is where he falls asleep while eating, leaving everyone around him wondering if he died. The second is that he does a "Dine and Dash" routine wherever he goes.

Whitebeard
In the beginning, Ace wanted to defeat Whitebeard, but instead was defeated. Whitebeard invited him to be one of their son's, in which Ace refused completely. Despite this, Whitebeard abducted the entire Spade Pirates onto his crew. After trying to kill Whitebeard many times, and persuaded by Marco, Ace decides to be his son. Ace currently holds great respect for his captain, Whitebeard. As far as Ace is concerned, his captain is the greatest pirate alive, and even goes so far as to describe Whitebeard as a type of father figure.

Ace is a loyal crewman and commands the Second 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 seem 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 Second Division under Ace. The Whitebeard Pirates are revealed to be very fond of Ace and unhesitatingly vow to rescue him from his execution.

Whitebeard seemed unconcerned about Ace's hunt for Blackbeard, and remained grounded that it is Ace's duty to kill the traitor, regardless of the heavy warnings he's received from Shanks. It is revealed however that Ace was not ordered to go after Blackbeard and Whitebeard himself was hesitant about Ace facing Blackbeard. Even so, Whitebeard takes responsibility for Ace's decision and says that it was under his orders that Ace went after Blackbeard.

Whitebeard immediately mobilized his crew and his allies after hearing about Ace's imminent execution. The crew has landed around Marineford, along with many allied powerful pirate crews, and prepares for the ultimate war against the World Government.

Enemies
Ace's main enemy is Marshall D. Teach, also known as "Blackbeard", whom he was sent to kill for killing Thatch. However, as Shanks stated, Ace is strong and young but the fact he was appointed as Whitebeard's 2nd commander worried Shanks due to "that trust and reputation" getting in the way. Shanks concluded that now is not the time to pitch the two against each other. This suggests that Ace isn't ready to face Blackbeard yet.

Ace also fought evenly with Smoker, 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.

Though once enemies with Shichibukai member Jinbei, they now respect each other deeply.

Monkey D. Luffy
Ace and his brother, Luffy, are very close. Ace tends to portray a typical good-big-brother behavior, such as asking the 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 Biblicard. They respect each other's choices despite how different they are and understand that the other is very strong, so they can usually take care of themselves. Luffy believes that if he grew worried about him and rushed to help, Ace's ego wouldn't allow it, so he initially left him. However, when he learned he was captured and due for execution, Luffy, when he finally had a ship to leave Amazon Lily, regretfully decided to save Ace instead of reuniting with his nakama upon seeing the Biblicard burnt to a tenth of its original size. Even though they are loving brothers, Luffy often makes Ace angry and worried by doing something reckless. One example was when Boa Hancock visited Ace's cell and told him that Luffy broke into the prison. Even near his death, Ace grew angry with Luffy's reckless infiltration into Impel Down. It was revealed at Ace's execution that Ace actually is Gol D. Roger's son, not Monkey D. Dragon's as previously assumed, and that he was taken in by Garp. This makes Ace and Luffy brothers only through adoption, but brothers nonetheless. A flashback shows Luffy and Ace first meeting as young children, which means that Luffy is aware of this fact. In conversation with Iva, Luffy reveals he is also aware that Ace's father is Gold Roger .

Portgas D. Rouge
Rouge is 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.

Gol D. Roger
It has recently been revealed that Ace's father is the pirate king, Gol D. Roger, contrary to the previous belief that his father was Monkey D. Dragon.

Because Roger died before he was even born, Ace feels that he doesn't owe him anything, which is why he prefers the name of his mother, who died protecting him.

From the look on Garp's and Ace's faces at the revelation, it is clear that the two of them both knew who Ace's true father was.

In a flashback, it shows Luffy and Ace meeting as young children, revealing that Luffy is aware of the fact Ace is not his blood-related brother, it is also revealed that Luffy is aware of the identity of Ace's father.

To this date, Ace is the only pirate to speak ill of Gol D. Roger.

Monkey D. Garp
Vice Admiral Garp adopted Ace as a favor to Roger to give Ace a life free of prejudice of being born from a family of pirates.

Though respectful of his "grandfather", he denounces that he and Luffy could ever have become Marines. He disagrees with Garp and remains grounded on the idea that becoming Marines would not have been possible with both of their fathers being world class criminals.

Abilities and Powers


Ace left his hometown 3 years before Luffy when he was already very strong and skilled. His younger brother Luffy has never beaten him in any fight they had, despite Luffy having the power of a Devil Fruit already. He was also trained by Garp, who is responsible for training Luffy to his current level of power. Another note of Ace's strength was his ability to take Blackbeard's punches (without resorting to his Devil Fruit powers) and being able to immediately retaliate, as noted by Van Auger. Van Auger also noted that a Whitebeard Pirates Commander's basic combat abilities are quite fearsome, making his status as a Whitebeard Pirates commander well-deserved. He also carries a knife.

Ace has eaten the Devil Fruit Mera Mera no Mi, a Logia or elemental type fruit, giving him pyrokinetic abilities and his reputation as "Fire Fist Ace" ("Trace Heatfist" in the 4Kids dub). Ace also displays his immense power by destroying a handful of Baroque Works ships with ease. For some reason, Ace does not seem to mind his inability to swim, despite the risk that destroying the Billions' ships could have left him in the ocean. Also, when he turned up on Drum Island, no snow fell at all on the island for an entire day.

Aside from the powers granted by the Devil Fruit he consumed, Ace also possesses immense physical strength, but doesn't display it to the same extent as Luffy or Garp.

Ace's reputation is also quite infamous. The World Government granted Blackbeard the position of Shichibukai after capturing Ace. It has also been revealed that while he was still captain of the Spade Pirates, he was offered a position as a Shichibukai himself, but apparently refused. He is also a capable navigator as he is seen carrying a Log Pose.

He fought equal with Jinbei in the past. They nearly killed each other in a fight that lasted for five days.

He is 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.

In his past attempts to assassinate Whitebeard, Ace has been shown to use a knife and an axe, among other weapons.

The Path to Piracy
Born to a father who was executed while Ace was still in Portgas D. Rouge's womb, who fled to protect her unborn son from the World Government as they were hunting for her. A year and 3 months after the execution, Ace was born in Baterilla in the South Blue. His mother only lived long enough to name him. Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp adopted Ace in secret as a favor to Roger, and Ace was moved to Fuschia Village in the East Blue.

Ace was left in the care of Garp's friend Dadan. He would later meet Luffy when Garp leaves his grandson in Dadan's care as well. Three years before the current storyline, Ace left Luffy's hometown and began his life as a pirate, becoming captain of the Spade Pirates a year later, and at some point consumed the Mera Mera no Mi.

As his fame rose, he was invited to join the Shichibukai, though he declined. He arranged a meeting with Shanks, as he had heard much from Luffy about him and wanted to see him in person. As he searched the seas for Whitebeard, he later ran into Jinbei, who was aware of Ace's strength and decided to fight him in order to keep him from challenging Whitebeard, the man he owed debt to for protecting his home of Fishman Island. After five days of battle, both fainted from exhaustion, giving the fight no victor.

Eventually, Ace finally met Whitebeard, with the intent of taking his head. After a fierce battle, he commanded his crew to run while he stalled Whitebeard. The battle concluded with him being utterly defeated. On the brink of death, Ace was offered by Whitebeard to join his crew, becoming one of his "sons". Ace fiercely refused, but was knocked out and dragged onto Whitebeard's ship nonetheless. Ace's crew later came to retrieve him, though they were beaten up by his captors and abducted onto the ship with their captain.

When Ace came to, he was already acknowledged as one of Whitebeard's crew. To make sure that his crewmates stayed alive, Ace remained on board of Whitebeard's ship; however, on many occasions (counted to be at least a hundred), he attempted to murder the old man, though each time was repelled with little effort from Whitebeard. Eventually he gave in, accepting Whitebeard's mark on his back.

After defeating Doma and forcing him to surrender, he was promoted to the position of commander of the second division. One of his subordinates, Marshall D. Teach, and he were on relatively good terms. 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. 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 doesn't matter, as everyone is a "child of the sea".

Then one day, Teach killed his crewmate Thatch in order to obtain the Yami Yami no Mi Devil Fruit, which he had his sights on, and fled. Since Ace was his commander and the Whitebeard pirates live by a code which means they must avenge a fallen comrade, Ace would have been sent after the murderer. Whitebeard, however, 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 couldn't rest in peace if his murderer wasn't 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, claiming that it was he who told Ace to leave for the sake of Ace's honor. With this, Ace began his trek to find Blackbeard and finish him off.

Reunion with Luffy
Ace was first seen in the present storyline on Drum Island, where he left a message for Luffy to meet him in 10 days in the city of Nanohana Arabasta. He is formally introduced in the Arabastan city of Nanohana; he was seen sleeping in the Spice Bean restaurant (giving the impression to everyone present that he had dropped dead). As he finishes his meal, he is spotted by Smoker who attempts to arrest him. However, shortly before Smoker and he begin to fight each other, both men are sent flying into the wall behind them by Luffy's "Gomu Gomu no Rocket" attack.

After picking himself up, he spots Luffy eating, only to be knocked down by Smoker, who then attempts to arrest Luffy. After Luffy dashes out of the restaurant with Smoker in hot pursuit, Ace catches up with Luffy in time to save him from being arrested by Smoker. His interference allows Luffy to escape while he deals with Smoker himself. Later after seeing off Smoker, Ace meets up with Luffy to offer him a chance to join Whitebeard (which Luffy refuses). Ace leaves them a Biblicard which apparently would allow the two to meet up again.

Ace later appears during the Jaya arc, where he hopped on Buggy the Clown's ship for food and promised to show him the way to Luffy.

The Hunt for Blackbeard
Ace was also later given a mini-arc in the chapter titles of the manga where, after parting ways with Buggy's crew, he infiltrates a Marine base to deliver a letter to the parents of a milk maiden who saved his life.

Despite all the efforts from Shanks to convince Whitebeard to recall Ace, Ace meets up with Blackbeard and engages him in battle. Blackbeard triumphs and presumably turns the defeated Ace over to the government. Ace was sent to the worst prison in the One Piece World, Impel Down.

Although never directly finding out what happened to Ace, Luffy discovered the truth in another way. After discovering about Biblicards from pirate Lola the Proposer, he discovered that Ace's paper was the same. But as Luffy stared at it, he saw it burning, a sign that Ace's life-force is slowly fading away. Unaware of the depth of Ace's peril, he assumed that he could deal with it himself, and that he would not want any help.

It has recently been revealed that Ace has been sentenced to a public execution. It is going to take place a week from when Luffy woke up after the mushrooms got burned off of his body on Amazon Lily. It will take place in the plaza of Marineford, the home town of Marine Headquarters.

Waiting for Execution
He is next seen, with chains (presumably made of Seastone) on his feet and arms, in his holding cell in Impel Down. There he was visited by Garp who asks if he was still alive. Ace responds by panting a bit and calling him "old man" He apparently asked Garp to kill him, but the Vice-Admiral told him that even with his death, Whitebeard wouldn't stop his advances, stating that they had angered the "Ruler of the Seas". The two of them talk about Ace's past, and about his father.

Ace is later seen talking with Shichibukai member Jinbei, who so happens to share the same cell with him. Jinbei explains that he owes a great deal to Whitebeard, because in the past, his home, Fishman Island came under continuous attacks by pirates and marines alike. Some Fishmen were even kidnapped and sold as slaves because of this. But when Whitebeard announced the island as his territory, the attacks stopped from both sides. Thus, Jinbei wishes to stop the war for fear of Whitebeard's safety. However, they are interrupted by Crocodile, who apparently was placed in a cell opposite theirs, and chuckled that many pirates, that are "Silver Medallists" have a grudge against Whitebeard and the late Pirate King: Gold Roger, after they defeated them, and wish to kill Whitebeard or see him killed. Boa Hancock later visits him in his cell and (while causing a scene) cryptically informs Ace that Luffy is in Impel Down trying to save him much to Ace's dismay. Ace is later seen muttering for Luffy to stay away. He begins struggling against his chains during Luffy's fight with Magellan and demanding to know what is happening from the guards. They blankly tell him that nothing is happening. It was revealed that Ace is actually in Level 6, Eternal Hell. Jimbei mentions that Hancock might have been lying about Luffy, but Ace angrily rejects this and then apologizes. He revealed that Luffy has always done crazy things to make him worry, and what's happening right now is exactly the sort of thing Luffy would do.

When the time for Ace's execution has arrived, the jailers begin to make preparations for his transfer. He is shown to be with Magellan and Domino and a few other jailers as he is about to be taken into custody. Magellan managed to take Ace to Level 1 with the lift and Ace, after hearing a report that Luffy was on Level 6 and was about to be assaulted with sleeping gas, attempted to escape back to the lift. Magellan immediately captures him and tells him to stop resisting since Luffy, as a pirate, was doomed the minute he stepped into Impel Down. Ace reveals that he'd hoped that it was a lie and silently asks Luffy why he came. Ace is seen being handed over to the Marines and has evidently been taken from Impel Down to Marineford since the Biblicard no longer points directly up from Level 6. As six hours approach to Ace's execution Ace is last seen on the deck of the Marine battleship escorting him to Marineford, chained to a chair and given one last chance to look at the sky before his execution. The battleships are last seen before the Gates of Justice, requesting permission to open them and advance to their ultimate destination.

Execution Approaching
He is later seen being led through a large door and into a bright area by two soldiers three hours before his execution, as he remembers a childhood promise that he made with Luffy that they would both go out to sea and live their lives without regrets.

After being led onto the execution platform, Fleet Admiral Sengoku revealed that Ace's mother was Portgas D. Rouge and that his father was Gol D. Roger. After Sengoku's speech it would appear that Ace shares a similar fate with Nico Robin - his sole existence is a sin to the World Government, being the child of the "world's greatest evil." As Sengoku continued, he declared that it was Whitebeard's intention to make him the Pirate King, despite Ace's desires to give this to Whitebeard. Just after this revelation, a massive armada of pirate crews from the New World allied with Whitebeard appeared. The Marines were shocked to see the fleet and then the four main ships of the Whitebeard Pirates rising underwater, revealing that the fleet was coated and attacked Marineford from beneath the sea. Soon the Moby Dick itself is visible, with Whitebeard himself greeting Sengoku and asking Ace to bear with them as they prepare for battle. His past with the giant Oars Jr. (one of the allies of the Whitebeard Pirates) has been revealed, and Ace was deeply saddened when Oars Jr. was finally defeated, his outstretched hand a few yards from Ace.

Major Battles

 * Ace vs. Luffy (childhood)
 * Ace vs. Jinbei (past battle)
 * Spade Pirates vs. Whitebeard Pirates (past battle, unseen)
 * Ace vs. Doma and his crew (past battle, unseen)
 * Ace vs. Smoker
 * Ace vs. Billions fleet
 * Ace vs. Jesus Burgess and Van Auger
 * Ace vs. Marshall D. Teach

Filler Battles

 * Ace vs. Scorpion

Merchandise
Ace has been a choice character in many forms of merchandise. He has been featured in the series of models Portrait of Pirates and in the One Piece Full Color R Gashapon series.

Ace has also featured on several keychains/cellphone straps sets, including the One Piece Desert Kingdom Mascot Keychain/Cellphone Strap collection, alongside his brother Luffy.

Translation and Dub Issues
Ace's manji is very similar to a swastika. To avoid confusion between the two symbols and avoid slander for being a Nazi, this was changed to crossbones in the shape of a "cross" in the original Japanese anime and later in the manga also. 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 amongst mangaka and publishers alike to avoid the manji symbol.

Ace's back tattoo is left intact in the English version of the 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 there as "Portgaz D. Trace", though in the FUNimation dub it is retained. He appears in One Piece Grand Adventure, once again without the tattoo on his arm.

Trivia

 * Ace carries the initial letter D in his name. He was the second D character to be listed under their true name (Gol D. Roger was prior listed as Gold) and the fourth to make a physical appearance.
 * Though not considered canon, a scene of Ace ditching Buggy can be seen at the end of Ace's ending for the game One Piece: Grand Battle 3. After entering a bar and feasting on food, Ace (currently asleep) wakes up and realizes he has forgotten something and runs out of the bar - leaving Buggy with the [[image:bsymbol.gif]]380,000 bill.
 * Ace's surname may be a reference to the real life pirate Bartholomew Portugues. However, this is unconfirmed by Oda.
 * Ace has been the center of several myths within the fandom.
 * Ace's hat bares two "smileys" as decorations like those used as Jolly Rogers by pirates such as Doflamingo and Trafalgar Law.
 * Travis Willingham, who voices Ace in the Funimation dub of One Piece, is also well-known for his voicing of Colonel Roy Mustang from Full Metal Alchemist, who is, coincidentally, the "Flame Alchemist".
 * Ace shares the same birthday with series creator Eiichiro Oda (January 1).
 * Ace is the only known character who has inherited the middle initial "D." from both parents, as his mother is the only known female carrier.
 * In the Silhouette of Ace with two criss-crossed spears in front of him prior to being executed, he looks exactly like Roger did prior to his death.
 * Had Ace been a girl, he would have been dubbed "Anne". Incidentally "Anne" was the name of the girl who Luffy helped from Romance Dawn V.2.
 * Ace, being Captain of the Spade Pirates, is a pun on the "Ace of Spades".
 * Ace is the only Logia Devil Fruit user who was defeated without having his own unique weakness used against him.
 * Ace is the only "D." character this far to have been offered a position as a Shichibukai. However, he declined the offer while Marshall D. Teach, his former subordinate, suggested himself to join its ranks.
 * Ace is the only "D." character who is not smiling while near death as he was seen at his execution plate. Ace was most likely upset with himself for getting cocky and losing to Blackbeard. Ace's defeat to Blackbeard led to his crew having to come and start a war to rescue him from the World Government.

Related Articles

 * Monkey D. Luffy
 * Marshall D. Teach
 * Portgas D. Rouge
 * Gol D. Roger
 * Will of D.
 * Smoker
 * Whitebeard
 * Impel Down