Spade Pirates

The Spade Pirates is the former pirate crew of Portgas D. Ace that was founded two years before the current storyline. The crew was disbanded when they were integrated into the Whitebeard Pirates.

History
Sometime after Ace left Fuusha Village to pursue his path as a pirate, he eventually formed the Spade Pirates. Overtime, the crew gained a reputation, and Ace was known as the "super rookie" and was also offered by the World Government to become a Shichibukai, but he refused. He has also attracted Whitebeard's attention through the newspaper.

Ace and his crew eventually decided to challenge Whitebeard for his head, but were stopped by Jinbei, who fought Ace to protect Whitebeard. They fought for five days without rest, until they both fell at a tie. After the battle had ended, Whitebeard and his crew appeared. Whitebeard announced to whoever wished to kill him that he would take his head himself. The Whitebeard Pirates then attacked the Spade Pirates, and utterly defeated them. When Ace knew there was no hope of victory, he formed a firewall to allow his crew to escape, while he continued to fight Whitebeard alone. Whitebeard then offered a heavily wounded Ace a chance to join his crew, to which Ace out right refused. Regardless, he was knocked unconscious and dragged onto Whitebeard's flagship.

The remaining Spade Pirates tried to take Ace back, but they were all defeated in their attempts. However, they were fortunately spared and taken aboard the same ship as Ace. Ace tried many times to assassinate Whitebeard (said by Vista to be at least 100), but eventually gave up and accepted the offer to join. The Spade Pirates have since then been integrated along with their captain into the ranks of their former enemy. They mourned over their former captain's death at the end of the Battle of Marineford, along with the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Crew Strength
The Spade Pirates were powerful enough to make it through the Grand Line. Their captain, Ace, managed to fight on equal terms with Shichibukai Jinbei, as well as being offered a position as a Shichibukai himself. The crew also showed a lack of fear, as they attempted to attack Whitebeard in order to save their captain.

Pirate Flag
The Spade Pirates' Jolly Roger is that of a normal grinning skull and crossbones wearing Ace's signature hat, which has two "smileys," one smiling and the other frowning. The top of the hat has flames protruding from it, a representation of Ace's pyrokinetic abilities. The background of the skull is a spade and the word "SPADE" is beneath it.

Trivia

 * Their name "Spade", as well as their captain's name "Ace", are both references to the ace of spades.
 * They are the second pirate crew revealed to have joined another crew, the first being the Fanged Toad Pirates joining the Foxy Pirates; although, unlike the Fanged Toad Pirates, of whom only the most important members were taken, the entire Spade Pirate crew was integrated into Whitebeard's crew.

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