Portgas D. Ace

Portgas D. Ace (known in the English version of the anime as Portgaz D. Trace) is the older brother of Monkey D. Luffy.

Appearence


One of the most obvious features on Ace is his tattoos. Ace has a tattoo on his back of the Whitebeard symbol —a skull with a white mustache and a manji (which looks very similar to a swastika) behind it. 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 anime. 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.

Ace has another tattoo on his left arm by the shoulder: it reads "ASCE" with the "S" (apparently a mistake on the part of the tattoo artist) crossed out. In the English version of the anime, Ace's shoulder tattoo signifying his name is edited out, as he is referred to there as "Portgaz D. Trace." He appears in One Piece Grand Adventure, once again without the tattoo on his arm.

Personality
He left Fuchsia Village three years before Luffy, and he is a loyal crewman and commands the Second Division of Whitebeard, his captain.

In appearance, the two brothers are obviously related, despite the fact that Ace is more muscular than the rather lanky Luffy. He also sports rather childish freckles. He is apparently narcoleptic and therefore falls asleep on random occasions, making people wonder if he has dropped dead. As far as personality goes, Ace is much more intelligent, polite, and generally more bearable then his younger brother, which prompts the Straw Hat crew to question whether he is truly related to their bumbling captain. However, the brothers themselves are very close, Ace portraying typical good-big-brother behaviors such as asking the crew to keep an eye on his little brother.

Red-Haired Shanks for some reason had an interest in Ace and Blackbeard, and sent a messenger to deliver a note to Whitebeard concerning this matter. Later it was revealled that Shanks was concern over Ace in his hunt for his former crewmate, Blackbeard. As Shanks stated, Ace is strong and young but the fact he was appointed as Whitebeard's 2nd commander worried him 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.

Abilities and Powers


Ace left his hometown 3 years before Luffy when he was already very strong and skilled. He was able to beat his brother Luffy in every fight they had, despite Luffy having the power of a Devil Fruit already.

Ace has eaten the Devil Fruit Mera Mera no Mi (メラメラの実, Flare Flare Fruit), a Logia or elemental type fruit, giving him pyrokinetic abilities and his reputation as "Fire Fist Ace" ("Trace Heatfist" in the English dub). Since the pirate controls fire and the Marine Captain controls smoke, they effectively cancel each other out. Ace is the only person in One Piece so far to fight evenly with Smoker -- Luffy was almost captured by Smoker in Loguetown and has since resorted to running away from the man instead of fighting.

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, that day no snow fell at all on the island.

Past Story
Unlike his brother Luffy, little is known about Ace's past, other then he was left by Garp alongside his brother Luffy in the care of a friend during their early years. Three years before the current storyline, Ace left Luffy's hometown and began his life as a pirate, at some point comsuming the Mera Mera no Mi.



While it is unknown when events set before the storyline commenced, what is known is at some point his journey led him to the ranks of Whitebeard and his pirates. He became the commander of the second division alongside his sub-ordinate Blackbeard. The one day, under circumstance yet unknown, Blackbeard killed his crewmates and fled. Since Ace was his commander and the Whitebeard pirates live by a code which means they must avenage a fallen comrade, Ace began to track down Blackbeard to finish him off.

Present Story
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 Alabasta. As he leaves he is suddenly finds himself in trouble for not paying his restaurant bill and forced to run away.

He is formerly introduced in the Alabastan city of Nanohana; he was seen sleeping in the Spicebean 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 both Smoker and he began to fight each other, both men are sent flying into the wall behind them by Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Rockett 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 later 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).


 * Note:Originally in the manga, Ace briefly meet the Straw Hats in Nanohana, gives Luffy a slip of paper then sails off. However due to his popularity with the fans, his part was expanded a bit in the anime series where he travels with the Straw Hats to Yuba before parting ways.

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


 * Note: Ace was also given a mini-arc in the chapter titles of the manga where he infiltrates a Marine ship to deliver a letter to the parents of a milk maiden who saved his life. The mini series takes place after departing from Buggy and his crew as when he found Blackbeard he was without them.

Current Events (Spoilers)
Despite all the efforts from Shanks, Ace has met up with Blackbeard. The end result of this meeting has been yet to be revealed but a fight broke out between the two. All That is shown after that is Ace's Hat lying upside down on the floor.

Major Battles

 * Ace vs. Smoker
 * Ace vs. Billions fleet
 * Ace vs. Blackbeard Pirates

Filler Battles

 * Ace vs. Scorpion

Trivia

 * During the ending credits to the second movie, Clockwork Island adventure, previews of upcoming character from the Baroque Works Sags were featured. Ace was also included amongst the many characters but he boasted a very different Colour scheme to the one he was given in his offical appearance.
 * He is 20 years old.

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