Portgas D. Ace


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

Portgas D. Ace (born Gol D. Ace) was the adopted older brother of Monkey D. Luffy and son of the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger and his lover, Portgas D. Rouge. He was adopted by Monkey D. Garp per wish of Gol D. Roger before his birth. Ace was the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and onetime captain of the Spade Pirates. The plots of the Impel Down and Marineford arcs revolved around rescuing Ace from execution by the World Government; during these events, Ace met his death at the hands of Admiral Akainu.

Appearance
Although they were not blood related, Ace looked remarkably like his foster brother, Luffy. However, Ace was more serious looking than Luffy's lighthearted design, and was also slightly taller and more muscular. He also sported rather childish freckles, and tended to make an incredulous facial expression by raising his left eyebrow. Interestingly, his facial features were almost akin to his biological father Gold Roger's in his youth without his mustache. Ace's tattoos were among his most remarkable, trademark features. He had a tattoo on his back of the Whitebeard symbol — purple bones formed in a cross behind a purple skull with a white mustache — that he described as his pride and joy. Ace had 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.

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 islands. 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 was 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.

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 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.

Personality
As far as personality goes, Ace was much more intelligent, polite, and generally more bearable than Luffy, which prompted the Straw Hat crew to question whether he was truly related to their captain. While several people who knew Gol D. Roger noted that Luffy is quite similar to the late Pirate King, Whitebeard himself claimed that Ace's personality wasn't much like his father's. It seems that among the very few things the brothers shared was their recklessness as pirates (and their near-bottomless stomach capacities). However, Ace liked 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 were two running gags about Ace. The first was his rather extreme narcolepsy; he tended to randomly fall asleep while eating and conversing, leaving strangers around him wondering if he'd died. The second was that he did a "Dine and Dash" routine wherever he went.

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 life-long 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 didn't seem to care when he was told how dangerous of a man he was. However, Luffy did not grow up with the identity (or even existence) of his father known to him. Ace himself commented upon his own death that he'd never sought fame or fortune - all he'd 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.

Ace is also easliy provoked by those who insult anyone relating to him or close to him. During his childhood, he severly beat up anyone who badmouthed his father, Gol D. Roger. When Admiral Akainu insulted Whitebeard, Ace quickly turned back to face him even though Ace's fellow crewmates tell him not to get angered by the Admiral's words. Ace, who was not willing to let Akainu get away of speaking ill of Whitebeard, attacked the Admiral out of fury. This utimately led to Ace's death.

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. 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. The Spade Pirates who are now a part of Whitebeard's crew mourned his death.

Whitebeard Pirates
Ace initially intended to take Whitebeard's head but was defeated. Whitebeard invited him to be one of his sons, which Ace vehemently refused; despite this, Whitebeard abducted the entire Spade Pirates onto his crew. After trying to kill Whitebeard many times, Ace was eventually drawn in by Marco's description of the love the Whitebeard Pirates bore for their father. He decided to give up on his struggles and take up Whitebeard's symbol on his back; this tattoo became his greatest pride and joy. Ace held great respect for his captain. 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 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 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 Second Division under Ace and they are shown eating together in flashback with Blackbeard encouraging Ace to become Second 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 kill the traitor, regardless of the heavy warnings he received from Shanks. It was revealed however that Whitebeard himself was hesitant about Ace facing 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 allies after hearing about Ace's imminent execution. The Whitebeard Pirates have reached Marineford, along with many allied powerful pirate crews, and are at war with the Marines and World Government.

Enemies
Ace's main enemy was Marshall D. Teach, also known as "Blackbeard", whom he was sent to kill for killing Thatch. However, as Shanks stated, Ace was 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 was not the time to pitch the two against each other. This suggests that Ace wasn'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 respected each other deeply. As with Jinbei, among the many pirate crews allied with Whitebeard appears to have been enemies with Ace in the past (notably Doma), but were willing to disregard it in favor of Whitebeard's summoning. It seemed that some of them had been defeated in battle by Ace, which led to them counting themselves as allies to Whitebeard's crew.

The World Government, after discovering that Ace was the son of Gol D. Roger, was unable to touch him because of Whitebeard; 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 - his sole existence was a sin to the World Government, being the child of the "world's greatest evil."

Admiral Akainu earned Ace's scorn for badmouthing Whitebeard as Ace and Luffy were making their retreat, which provoked Ace to turn back and let slip his chance to escape from Marineford. He attacked Akainu in fury over the insult, but discovered the hard way that his fire was of a heat level inferior to that of Akainu's magma. Akainu was able to burn and, by doing so, eventually kill Ace.

Monkey D. Luffy
Ace and his adopted brother, Luffy, were very close as children and remained so as pirates, even after more than three years of separation. As a child, Ace was protective of Luffy 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 wouldn't 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 Hancock when she informed him that Luffy had infiltrated Impel Down to rescue 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 (including the Shichibukai, Jinbei). 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.

Ace tended 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 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 wouldn't 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 nakama.

It was revealed at Ace's execution that Ace was actually 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. It also shows Luffy with his trademark straw hat and scar under the eye, indicating that Ace first met Luffy after Shanks left Luffy's home island. A later flashback shows them officially declaring one another as their brother by drinking sake from each other's cup. In a conversation with Iva, Luffy reveals he is also aware that Ace's father is Gol D. Roger.

Though the Whitebeard Pirates and Luffy had invaded Marineford in order to save him, Ace did not even hesitate to throw his life away to save Luffy; fully aware that he would be burned, Ace 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.

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.

Because Roger died before he was even born, Ace felt that he didn't owe him anything, which is why he preferred the name of his mother, who died protecting him. Strangely, although Ace seemed to dislike his father, flashbacks from Ace's childhood reveals that he brutally beat up anyone who spoke ill of him.

In another flashback, it shows Luffy and Ace meeting as young children, revealing that Luffy is aware of the fact Ace was not his blood-related brother, and that Luffy is aware of the identity of Ace's father. According to Luffy, Ace did not like talking about it.

To this date, Ace was the one of the few pirates shown to speak ill of Gol D. Roger, along with Squad, though many unnamed pirates on Level 6 of Impel Down were known to have grudges against the late Pirate King.

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 behaviour 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'd 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 denounced that he and Luffy could ever have become Marines. He disagreed with Garp and remains grounded on the idea that becoming Marines would not have been possible when 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. Garp also warned the Fleet Admiral to hold him down because if he got free he'd murder Admiral Akainu for killing Ace.

Curly Dadan
Curly Dadan, a 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 would refuse if not for Garp holding her gang's crimes over her head. Regardless, Ace seemed to like Dadan, and prior to his death, asked Luffy to apologize to her on his behalf.

Red-Haired Shanks
The Yonkou, Red-Haired 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 Sea King during the incident with Higuma the Bear. 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 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 Kaido, another of the Yonkou, as the latter attempted to take advantage of the situation and attack Whitebeard. It is unknown if Shanks knew that Ace was the son of Gol D. Roger, the very man that Shanks served as an apprentice pirate for.

Buggy Pirates
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 immensely enjoyed the rest of his momentary stay (though it seems Buggy continued the party mostly out of fear). When the Buggy Pirates approached Impel Down with the intention of rescuing Buggy, Cabaji exclaimed that their captain could be sentenced to execution just like their buddy Ace. Buggy himself seems to like Ace. After meeting Luffy on Level One, he mentions that Ace, unlike Luffy, happened to be a very swell guy - 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.

Sabo
Sabo is Ace's friend from 10 years ago. They both planned to become Pirates by saving money to buy a Pirate ship. It is unknown what happened to Sabo 10 years later as he's not with Ace when he departed from Dawn Island. Ace mentioned him before dying.

Abilities and Powers
As commander of the Second division of the Whitebeard Pirates, Ace had authority over the lower-ranking subordinates. In addition, as one of the top commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates, he was one of the strongest and most highly-regarded pirates on board under Whitebeard himself.

Aside from the powers granted by the Devil Fruit he consumed, Ace also possessed immense physical strength. Signs of his great physical potential were already evident at his early childhood, where even as a young child, he was able to beat some local thugs who spoke ill of his father "half to death", and was also shown sitting on top of a huge animal (possibly a bull) with a bloody spear suggesting he killed it, during his first meeting with Luffy. Also later the same day he was shown to easily break a giant tree with ease. Ace was already very strong when he left his hometown, 3 years before Luffy did the same. Luffy comments on how he never beat 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'd 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 demonstrated his strength during his fight 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. Van Auger noted that, as expected of the Whitebeard Pirates Second Division Commander, Ace's basic combat skills were quite fearsome even without his Devil Fruit powers.

Ace also held a fearsome reputation. It was revealed that Ace received an invitation to join the Shichibukai while he was still captain of the Spade Pirates, though he refused the offer. After he joined the Whitebeard Pirates, a civilian was seen commenting on how Ace's strength was supposedly "outta this world." The World Government granted Blackbeard the position of Shichibukai after he successfully defeated and captured Ace. He was also a capable navigator, as he was seen wearing a Log Pose on his left wrist.

He fought equally with Jinbei in the past. They nearly killed each other in a fight that lasted for five days - Ace then survived a battle with Whitebeard that took place immediately after.

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 Devil Fruit Mera Mera no Mi, a Logia or elemental type fruit, giving him pyrokinetic abilities and his reputation as "Fire Fist Ace." Ace also displayed his immense power by destroying a handful of Baroque Works ships with ease. For some reason, Ace did not seem to mind his inability to swim. He traversed the seas in a one-man boat that seems to have been specifically designed for him, propelling it with flames from his feet. He skillfully sent his boat underwater as he leapt over the Billions fleet, timing it precisely so that it emerged underneath him just before he hit the water on the other side. Also, when he turned up on Drum Island, no snow fell at all on the island for an entire day, due to his Mera Mera No Mi powers.

Weapons
Ace carries around a knife but is never seen using it. However, in flashbacks to his past attempts to assassinate Whitebeard, Ace has been shown to use various weapons, including an axe. As a child he seems to have used a long staff as a weapon as shown in Luffy's flashback where he carried one covered in blood.

Childhood
Ace's father, the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, was executed while Ace's mother, Portgas D. Rouge, was still pregnant with Ace. She carried him for a full twenty months to protect him from the World Government as they sought to erase every last trace of Roger's blood. 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. Later, when Garp got fed up with Luffy due to the influence of Shanks on the boy, he left his grandson in Dadan's care as well. Upon first meeting Luffy, Ace merely spat at him and gave him a sinister glare, which the agitated Luffy returned.

The Path to Piracy
Three years before the current storyline, Ace set out from Fuschia village and began his life as a pirate, becoming captain of the Spade Pirates a year later - as the Spade Pirates' Jolly Roger shows flames, Ace likely consumed the Mera Mera no Mi sometime during this year.

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 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 collapsed from exhaustion, giving the fight no victor.

Whitebeard, who'd heard that Ace intended to take his head, suddenly arrived with his crew and the Moby Dick just after the battle between Jinbei and Ace. Whitebeard told his crew that he alone would be enough, and proceeded to attack Ace's crew. After a fierce battle, Ace got to his feet and cut off Whitebeard from his crew with a wall of flames. Though his battered crew protested, he commanded them to run while he stalled Whitebeard (prompting Whitebeard to call him a cheeky little brat). 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.

(Sengoku later reveals that the reason Whitebeard sought out Ace was that he realized, at the same time as Marine Headquarters, that Ace was Roger's son. He chose to take in his old rival's son and raise him to be the next Pirate King while preventing Marine Headquarters from laying a finger on him.)

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, tempted by Marco's description of the crew's father-son relationship with Whitebeard, and accepted Whitebeard's mark on his back.

After defeating Doma and forcing him to surrender, he was promoted to the position of Second Division Commander. 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. (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 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'd 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, felt uneasy 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 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, later 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 is first seen in the present storyline on Drum Island, where he leaves a message for Luffy to meet him in 10 days in the city of Nanohana Arabasta. There he is then formally introduced; he is 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 he and Smoker begin to fight, both men are sent flying into the wall behind them by Luffy's "Gomu Gomu no Rocket" attack as the latter launches himself into the restaurant.

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. His interference allows Luffy to escape while he deals with Smoker himself. After throwing the Marines off his trail, Ace catches up with Luffy on the Going Merry to offer him a chance to join Whitebeard (which Luffy refuses). Ace leaves them a piece of paper, later identified as a Vivre Card, which apparently will allow the two to meet up again.

Skypiea Saga
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.

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.

The Banaro Incident
Despite all the efforts from Shanks to convince Whitebeard to recall Ace, Ace finally intercepts Blackbeard on Banaro Island shortly after the Blackbeard Pirates ransack a town there (three days before the Strawhats' new bounties are released following the Enies Lobby incident), and engages him in a fierce battle that leaves much of the island in ruins. Between his inhuman raw strength and his ability to disable Ace's Logia intangibility, Blackbeard triumphs and presumably turns the defeated Ace over to the government, which considers this such a great achievement that they proceed to make Blackbeard a Shichibukai. Ace is sent to the most notorious prison in the One Piece World: Impel Down.

Imprisonment at Impel Down
Although he did not at first find out precisely what happened to Ace, Luffy discovered part of the truth in another way. After learning about Vivre Cards from pirate Lola the Proposer, he realized that the piece of paper he received from Ace was in fact one such Vivre Card. But, as Luffy took it out, he saw slowly it burning away - a sign that Ace's life-force was fading. Unaware of the urgency of Ace's situation, he assumed that he could deal with it himself, and that he would not want any help from Luffy.

It was revealed that Ace was sentenced to a public execution in the plaza of Marineford, the home town of Marine Headquarters. The execution is scheduled to take place a week after Luffy's triumph over the Snake Sisters on the island of Amazon Lily.

He is next seen, with chains (presumably made of Seastone) on his feet and arms, in his holding cell in Impel Down. There he is visited by Garp, who notes that Ace is in terrible shape asks if he is still alive. Ace asks Garp to kill him, but much to his grief is told that even with his death, Whitebeard won't stop his advances. Garp states that they had angered the "Ruler of the Seas." He recalls that he'd wished Ace and Luffy would become great Marine officers instead of doing the exact opposite and becoming terrible criminals. Ace replies that, with the blood of global-scale criminals running through their veins, becoming Marines would have been impossible for the two of them. He goes on to say that he took the name Portgas from his mother, to whom he owes a great debt, but he does not care one bit for the half of his blood that came from his father - his only father is Whitebeard.

Ace is later seen talking with the Shichibukai 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. He chuckles that many "Silver Medalist" pirates have a grudge against Whitebeard and the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, after being defeated by 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. During Luffy's fight with Magellan, Ace shakes his chains to draw the attention of the guards outside his cell and demands to know what is going on upstairs. They blankly tell him that nothing is happening.

It is revealed that Ace is actually on Level 6, Eternal Hell. Jinbei mentions that Hancock might have been lying about Luffy, but Ace angrily denies that she came all that way just to lie to him, then apologizes. He explains 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.

At some point during this time, Ace asks Jinbei to look after his brother if Ace should die. Jinbei refuses, claiming he has no loyalty to people that don't interest him. Though he would later protect Luffy anyway after being impressed by his character.

When the time for Ace's execution arrives, the jailers begin to make preparations for his transfer. He is shown to be with Magellan and Domino and a few other jailers. Magellan takes Ace to Level 1 with the lift before Ace, hearing a report that Luffy is on Level 6 and about to be assaulted with sleeping gas, attempts to escape back to the lift. Magellan immediately recaptures 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 been hoping that Hancock was lying and silently asks Luffy why he came.

Ace is seen being handed over to the Marines and is evidently en route to Marineford, since the Vivre Card no longer points directly up from Level 6. As six hours approach to Ace's execution Ace is 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 arrive before the Gates of Justice, requesting permission to enter and advance to their ultimate destination.

Execution at Marineford
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 he is led onto the execution platform, Fleet Admiral Sengoku reveals that Ace's mother was Portgas D. Rouge and that his father was Gol D. Roger. As Sengoku continues, he declares that it was Whitebeard's intention to make him the Pirate King, despite Ace's desires to give this title to Whitebeard. Just after this revelation, a massive armada of pirate crews from the New World allied with Whitebeard appear, much to the shock of the Marines. Four main ships of the Whitebeard Pirates suddenly rising up from under the water in the middle of the bay, revealing that the fleet was coated and had approached Marineford from beneath the sea. Soon the Moby Dick itself is visible, and Whitebeard himself appears to greet Sengoku and ask Ace to bear with them as they prepare for battle.

His past with the giant Oars Jr., an ally of the Whitebeard Pirates, is revealed, and Ace is deeply saddened when Oars Jr. is finally brought down by Gecko Moria, his outstretched hand a few yards from Ace.

As the battle continues, Garp comes to sit near Ace and admits that, while he will not interfere with the execution, he can't help his feelings in this matter as he considers Ace family and tearfully asks why Ace didn't lead the life that Garp wanted him to. At that moment, however, there's a huge commotion that has Ace looking up to the sky, from which he sees a ship falling down.

When the ship falls into an area filled with water, Luffy climbs out and Ace spots him. He yells out Luffy's name and Luffy exclaims that he finally found him. As Luffy fights past several Marines and Gecko Moria in an effort to reach Ace, Ace can only watch helplessly. He finally snaps and yells at Luffy that he should go home and that he shouldn't have come to save him. Ace, in his desperation to keep from dragging Luffy down with him, even attempts to drive him away by shouting that it's humiliating to have a "weakling" like Luffy coming to his rescue, and that he would never forgive him for this. Luffy responds by yelling that he is Ace's younger brother and, after going into Gear Third to defeat a Marine giant, states that he will save Ace even if it kills him. Ace can only stare, stunned by how much his little brother is willing to sacrifice for him. After thinking about what Luffy said, along with the words of his nakama that they won't let anyone who hurt Ace live and their determination to save him, Ace comes to an important decision. He will take whatever fate the future brings: If he sees a hand reach out to him, he'll grab it, but if the white blade of justice falls on his head first he will accept it. He won't struggle anymore because it would just be disrespectful to everyone if he did.

The fight continues and Ace, incapacitated, can do nothing but stare horrified as Whitebeard is stabbed by Squad. Later, when Marineford's walls raised up to prevent the pirates from further penetrating the plaza, Luffy devises a plan to bypass the siege walls with the help of Jinbei's water-launching abilities. Ace is horrified as he sees Luffy standing face-to-face with the three Admirals, thinking that he does not stand a chance at taking down all three of them at the same time.

Sengoku orders Ace to be executed; as Ace braces himself, he is saved by Crocodile, who knocks the two guards away, much to everyone's shock and surprise. He later watches as Whitebeard and Oars Jr. successfully enact their plan, which brings almost all of the Whitebeard Pirates into the plaza, not far from the execution platform. He is horrified when Oars Jr. is brought down for a second time by cannon fire. He is later seen noticing that Garp has joined in the battle after Garp punches Marco while the latter is in his Phoenix form while attempting to rescue Ace.

Ace flashes back to his past when some thugs he knew insulted Gol D. Roger. Ace beat them until they were half dead because of what they had said. He went on to remember being scolded for his actions and continuing to ask about Roger, only to hear many horrible things about his father. Ace is then seen sitting on a shore, along with Garp, asking if he should really have been born. Garp's response is that he could only find out by living.

Back in the present, Ace, seeing how his nakama, his little brother, and his father are risking their lives to save him, finally realizes he wants to live and starts to cry tears of joy.

The battle at Marineford takes a turn for the worse as Marco is caught by kairoseki and shot through the chest by Kizaru, Jozu is frozen and his right arm shattered by Aokiji, and Whitebeard suffers several serious wounds, including a molten punch to the chest by Akainu. Ace stares in horror as Whitebeard states that he cannot die until he secures a future for his sons. Sengoku then orders the execution of Ace once again and Ace closes his eyes in resignation as the executioners prepare to decapitate him. Just as Whitebeard realizes that he cannot stop the execution, Luffy lets off a burst of Haōshoku Haki, which knocks out the executioners just in time to save Ace. Ace stares in disbelief at his little brother and vocally expresses his shock that Luffy too had that kind of Haki.

As Luffy approaches the scaffold, Garp blocks his path and forces him to fight him to reach Ace. Luffy is at first reluctant to engage his grandfather, but when it becomes clear that Garp will not move, he activates Gear Second. Just as he throws a punch at Luffy, Garp suddenly recalls the images of Luffy and Ace as young children, and the sight of Ace tearfully realizing his desire to live. His hesitation allows Luffy to dodge and land a punch that hurls Garp away from the execution platform and sends him crashing into the ground. Luffy reaches Ace with the key, but as he is about to unlock the handcuffs, Kizaru destroys it with a long-distance laser - meanwhile Sengoku has activated his Devil Fruit ability and is determined to carry out Ace's execution himself with a massive punch. Suddenly, Mr. 3, disguised as one of the executioners, stirs and regains consciousness. Luffy shouts at him to protect Ace with his Candle Wall, and goes into Gear Third and to take Sengoku's punch with his Giant Fuusen. The force of the blow causes the execution platform to collapse. With the help of Mr. 3, who makes a key out of wax, Luffy frees Ace in mid-air moments before the other Marines fire their weapons at the platform, causing it to explode.

Now able to use his Mera Mera no Mi powers, Ace escapes the explosions with Luffy and Mr. 3 in tow by wrapping his flames into a tunnel, all the meanwhile scolding Luffy for never listening to anything he ever says, for always being so reckless and inconsiderate to his advice, and for always overdoing things. His newly-gained freedom causes a considerable morale boost amongst the survivors of the assembled pirate army. Witnessing the two brothers' coordination as they fight off the Marines side-by-side, Vista remarks that Ace and Luffy have perfect teamwork. Ace comments that Luffy has gotten stronger, to which Luffy replies that a day will come when he surpasses Ace. Ace tells Luffy to let him cover for him until that day, and leaps forward to block Admiral Aokiji's Pheasant Peck attack. He and Luffy are shocked when Whitebeard announces that he is staying behind as he yells his Final Captain's Order.

Ace seems to accept the fact that Whitebeard is determined to stay behind. He clears the area of Marines and bows to Whitebeard; Whitebeard only asks Ace if he is a good father, and laughs heartily when Ace answers "of course." He and Luffy begin to escape with the rest of the Whitebeard pirates, but when Admiral Akainu provokes him by insulting Whitebeard, calling him a failure, Ace stops and turns back. He clashes with Akainu in fury, but Ace's fire is outmatched by Akainu's magma - Ace's crewmates are surprised to see him badly burned on the hand he uses to attack Akainu. Akainu attempts to strike down the defenseless Luffy, but Ace leaps in between them and takes the hit.

The remaining fragment of the Vivre Card he gave to Luffy rapidly disintegrates into ash as everyone looks on in shock. Knowing full well that his internal organs had been burned to a cinder, Ace thanks his family and friends for loving him with the last of his breath. He smiles as he passes away, satisfied with his life.

During Whitebeard's final fight, his body is seen having been left behind by Whitebeard's forces during their retreat, separated from them by the enormous rift Whitebeard creates in the ground, covered with a sheet on the Marines' side of the rift and surrounded by Marine soldiers. Later when Shanks appears, Shanks manages to agree on a cease fire and asked that the bodies of both Whitebeard and Ace to be handed over to the Pirates so they could part from the location peacefully.

Major Battles

 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Monkey D. Luffy (multiple times)
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Jinbei
 * Spade Pirates vs. Edward Newgate
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Edward Newgate (at least 100 times)
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Doma and his crew (unseen)
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Smoker
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Billions fleet
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Jesus Burgess and Van Auger
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Marshall D. Teach
 * Portgas D. Ace and Monkey D. Luffy vs. Marines
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Admiral Aokiji
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Admiral Akainu

Filler Battles

 * Portgas D. Ace and Monkey D. Luffy vs. Billions (Nanohana)
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Scorpion
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Impel Down guards (Impel Down)

Anime and Manga Differences
When Ace first meets Luffy's crew, he then tosses them a piece of paper and leaves. However, in the anime, his time with the Straw Hats was extended and he journeys with them for a while. While this may not have changed the plot too much, it does go against the claim that both Luffy and Ace have voiced separately: that they each have their own adventures to lead.

In the manga, it is unknown if Ace can light things on fire from a distance without spouting flames that make direct contact. However, in the anime, he is shown lighting a cigarette for Sanji simply by pointing his finger.

In the manga, Magellan immediately pin him down, while in the anime Ace put up a struggle.

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 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

 * It is worth noting that the first time Ace is shown (albeit in a flashback, with his face in shadow and only identifies himself as Ace) is the same chapter where Roger's status as a D was revealed.
 * 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 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.
 * In the 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Ace ranked as the fifth most popular character in One Piece making him the most popular of the Whitebeard Pirates and the second most popular D. carrier, Luffy being the first.
 * Ace's hat bore two "smileys" as decorations, like those used as Jolly Rogers by pirates such as Doflamingo and Trafalgar Law. In yet another philosophical connection, Ace's frown and then smile in panels right next to each other before he died mirrored the iconic smileys he had on his (lost) hat.
 * Travis Willingham, who voices Ace in the Funimation dub of One Piece, is also well-known for his voicing of Colonel Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist, who is, coincidentally, the "Flame Alchemist".
 * Ace shares the same birthday with series creator Eiichiro Oda (January 1).
 * Ace is the first D. carrier to die in the present and not in a flashback.
 * Had Ace been a girl, he would have been named "Anne". Incidentally "Anne" was the name of the girl who Luffy helped from Romance Dawn V.2. Anne is also the first name of real world pirate Anne Bonney.
 * Ace, being Captain of the Spade Pirates, is a pun on the "Ace of Spades".
 * Perhaps not by coincidence, the Ace of Spades in many cultures is seen as an omen of death. Real pirates would send an enemy pirate an Ace of Spades as a message that he/she would come to kill you.

Related Articles

 * Monkey D. Luffy
 * Monkey D. Garp
 * Marshall D. Teach
 * Portgas D. Rouge
 * Gol D. Roger
 * Will of D.
 * Edward Newgate
 * Whitebeard Pirates
 * Impel Down

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