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.

Statistics

 * Japanese Name: ポートガス・D・エース
 * Romanized Name: Pōtogasu D Ēsu
 * English Name: Portgaz D. Trace
 * Japanese Nicknames: Fire Fist Ace'
 * English Nicknames: Heatfist Trace
 * Age: 20
 * Birthday:
 * Height:
 * Affiliations: Whitebeard Pirates
 * Japanese VA: Toshio Furukawa
 * English VA: Frank Frankson
 * First Appearence:Manga Chapter #154, Anime Episode #91
 * Last Appearence:
 * Rivals: None
 * Confirmed Relatives: Nico Olvia (mother)
 * Dream:
 * Devil Fruit: Mera Mera no Mi
 * Meaning: Mera Mera is the sound fire makes.
 * English Name: Flare Flare Fruit
 * Type: Logia
 * Effect: Allows the user to become, create, and control fire.


 * Bounty: Unknown

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 has an interest in Ace and Blackbeard, and has sent a messenger to deliver a note to Whitebeard concerning this matter. Why Shanks has an interest in Ace and Blackbeard is unknown for now but Shanks is currently travelling to speak to Whitebeard personally about the matter. As of yet there have been no references at all to any relationship between Shanks and Ace despite the fact he spent almost a year in Luffy and Ace's hometown.

It should be noted that the surname of Ace, as well as Luffy's, is the Initial "D." Names in japanese have a different order than names in English. In japanese, the last name is listed first, followed by the first name. If we write the names in the order it would appear in English, then Ace's full name is Ace "Portgas" D., with Portgas being somewhat of the middle name. As such, the last name of both Ace and Luffy is the unknown initial D.. (Another piece of evidence is that Vivi's full name is Nefertari Vivi, and the first part of the name has to be the surname if it is to relate her to her father, Nefertari Cobra.

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.

History
Neither really on the Straw Hat's side nor against them for that matter, he was in Alabasta to search for his former crewmember Blackbeard, who used to be in Whitebeard's Crew. Blackbeard killed his crew and fled and now Ace is looking for him to kill him for his crimes.

Ace was first seen (albeit for a brief period of time) on Drum Island, and is later introduced in the Alabastan city of Nanohana; he was seen sleeping in the Spicebean restaurant. Later during the Jaya arc, Ace hopped in Buggy the Clown's ship for food and promised to show him the way to Luffy.


 * 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 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 some time before the current storyline as when it was published, he was with Buggy and his crew.

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