Portgas D. Ace

Portgas D. Ace (ポートガス・D・エース, Pōtogasu D. Ēsu), born as Gol D. Ace (ゴール・D・エース, Gōru D. Ēsu) and nicknamed "Flame Fist" Ace (火拳のエース, Hiken no Ēsu; literally meaning "Fire Fist" Ace), is both a fictional character and ally from the One Piece series. He was the adopted older brother of Luffy and Sabo, and son of the late King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger and his lover, Portgaz D. Rouge.

He was adopted by Monkey D. Garp and Monkey D. Rex as wished by Roger to him before his birth, and took his mother's surname "Portgas" after the death of his father. Ace was the 2nd division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and one-time captain of the Spade Pirates.

When one of his subordinates, Marshall D. Teach, killed another crew member, Ace swore to hunt him down only to lose track of him. Hunted by the World Government for his lineage, Ace was two years before the timeskip after being defeated in a duel and captured by Teach and sentenced to death by the Marines, which resulted in the Battle of Marineford in an all out clash of powers, an event that took the lives of both Ace and Whitebeard.

Ace was freed, but he sacrificed his life to protect his younger brother from Akainu, who was a Marine admiral at the time. His sacrificed death ultimately proved to be the catalyst leading to Luffy to train for two years to become strong enough to protect his friends, paving the way for the second half of the series. Ace's bounty was 550,000,000 Berries.

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 * —Portgas D. Ace.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Travis Willingham (English), Toshio Furukawa (Japanese), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (German), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

Biography
2nd Commander of Whitebeard Pirates. Sworn older brother of Luffy and Sabo and son of Gol D. Roger's. His nickname is "Flame Fist" Ace.

With the power of the Logia Devil Fruit, "Flame-Flame Fruit", he can create, control, manipulate, and change his body to fire. The Flare-Flare Fruit- is truly one of the highest power levels of all the Devil Fruits!

He hunted Blackbeard and caught up with him on Banaro Island, but was defeated and condemned to death on Marineford. He died after protecting Luffy from 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 taller and more muscular. He also sported rather childish freckles (inherited from his mother), and tended to make a skeptical facial expression by raising his left eyebrow. Interestingly, his facial features were almost akin to his biological father Gol D. Roger in his youth without his mustache.

The Young Past Days
As a child, Ace is shown to have often worn t-shirts with two-kanji phrases on the front (such as "innocence" and "violence"). On some occasions they are linked to the scene in which they were worn, like "independence" when the three brothers built their own tree house to live in. He often wore knee-length shorts and a black elbow guard on his left arm. Ace was always seen wearing dark brown, flat, slipper-like shoes, and in the winter, he wore a green cardigan over his normal clothes.

Upon leaving Dawn Island at the age of 17, he wore an outfit identical to the one he wore when he first met Whitebeard; however, he was less muscular than he eventually grew to be and had rounder, more childlike facial features.

To The Days He Died
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. The " S " crossed out is a tribute to Sabo as that's his jolly roger.

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 or desert islands due to the weather requirements. 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 had hung at his left hip. On Ace's left arm, he wore a Grand Compass and a red and white striped bracelet around his wrist, an orange elbow guard on his left arm, 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 Thriller Bark 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. However, at his grave, Ace's hat and knife were placed at his tombstone — either they were retrieved, or they were duplicates in Ace's possession.


 * Hair Color: Black
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Black
 * Age: 20 (Deceased)
 * Birthday: January 1
 * Height: 185 cm. (6'1")
 * Weight: Not Known

Personality
Ace was much more intelligent, polite, and generally more bearable than Luffy, which prompted the Straw Hat Pirates to question whether he was truly related to their captain. While several people who knew Gol D. Roger noted Luffy is quite similar to the late King of the Pirates, Whitebeard himself claimed that Ace's personality was not at all like his father's. It seems that among the very few things the brothers shared was their recklessness as pirates (and their near-bottomless stomachs). In addition, 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. Ace could be a bit inappropriate though as he once used a woman's skirt to wipe his face while he was dining at Spice Bean in Alabasta.

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 had died. This was first seen in Alabasta when they thought he died in the middle of eating. The second was that he did a "dine and dash" routine wherever he went. This went back to his younger days with Sabo and Luffy, when they would often dine and dash in the city of Goa.

His "politeness" is due to Makino's teaching after Ace asked her how to introduce himself to Shanks (being his father's son's savior). Before that, Ace was rather cold and rude to anyone he was not familiar with.

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 lifelong 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 did not seem to care when he was told how dangerous of a man he was. However, Luffy did not grow up with knowledge of the identity (or even the existence) of his father. Ace believed that it was natural if he were to really die as nobody in the world wanted the son of the devil (Roger) to live. Ace commented upon his own death that he had never sought fame or fortune - all he had 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 so and the fact he had a younger brother to look out for. Ace's only regret was that he would not live to see Luffy achieve his dream, which he believed Luffy undoubtedly would accomplish as he was his little brother.

Ace had a tendency to never back down from a fight, saying that he would never run once facing an enemy. Because of this, some people believed that Ace had a death wish, but in truth he wanted to prevent people he cared for from getting hurt. Dadan stated that he inherited this tendency from his father, Gol D. Roger, despite loathing him. While Ace emerged victorious over enemies he refused to run from, such as Porchemy and Bluejam, his stubbornness hurt him on a number of occasions, particularly when he refused to back down against Blackbeard or Admiral Akainu.

Ace was also easily provoked by and became violent towards anyone who insulted or harmed people close to him. In one of Garp's conversations with Curly Dadan, this was revealed to be a trait of Roger as well. During his childhood, Ace had a tendency to severely injure anyone who insulted Roger, though he himself disliked his biological father. After hearing about Sabo's presumed death at the hands of a World Noble, Ace quickly became bent on killing the Noble and Dadan had to pin Ace down and tie him to a tree to stop him.

Ace's temper got the better of him, especially in cases when Whitebeard, proclaimed by Ace to be his only father, was insulted. Believing that this was the case when Blackbeard broke the iron rule of the Whitebeard Pirates and fled after murdering a crewmate, Ace pursued his traitorous subordinate despite his crewmates' efforts and even Whitebeard's orders to stop him. Ace later came to see that his stubbornness had gotten him into the ordeal of being scheduled for execution. Even though he managed to escape death on the scaffold thanks to the pirates' and Luffy's efforts at Marineford and was well on his way to freedom, Admiral Akainu got to him by insulting Whitebeard. Ace quickly turned back to face him, ignoring his crewmates' warnings to not become angered over Akainu's provocations. Unwilling to let him get away of speaking ill of Whitebeard, Ace attacked him out of fury only to have his arm burned by Akainu's Devil Fruit powers. Akainu then took the opportunity to attack Luffy on the sideline, leading Ace to jump in, sacrificing his life to shield Luffy from the attack. While saying his last words, Ace sadly admitted to Luffy that he (Ace) wasted away all of his efforts to rescue him.

Friends/Allies

 * Red-Haired Pirates
 * "Red-Haired" Shanks
 * Straw Hat Pirates
 * Roronoa Zolo
 * Nami
 * Usopp
 * Vinsmoke Sanji
 * Tony Tony Chopper
 * Nico Robin
 * Franky
 * Brook
 * Nefeltari Vivi
 * Buggy Pirates
 * Buggy
 * Kuja Pirates
 * Boa Hancock
 * Jimbei

Family

 * Monkey D. Garp (adopted grandfather)
 * Monkey D. Luffy (adopted brother)
 * Sabo (adopted brother)

Neutral

 * Seven Warlords of the Sea
 * Bartholomew Kuma
 * Crocodile
 * Marines
 * Smoker

Rivals

 * Monkey D. Luffy
 * Sabo

Enemies

 * Baroque Works
 * Blackbeard Pirates
 * Marshall D. Teach
 * Jesus Burgess
 * World Government
 * Navy
 * Sakazuki
 * Impel Down
 * Magellan

Devil Fruit

 * Main article: Flame-Flame Fruit

The Flame-Flame Fruit (メラメラの実, Mera Mera no Mi, literally meaning "Fruit of the Flame-Flame"), a Logia-type Devil Fruit, which was eaten by Ace, allows him to become the element of fire and control the flames from his body, making him a "Fire Human" (火人間, Hi Ningen) and giving him his reputation as "Flame Fist" Ace. Ace displayed his immense power by destroying a handful of Baroque Works ships with ease. His main style is to launch columns of fire by punching, with his signature "Fire Fist". He is also immune to normal physical strikes, all of which will simply phase through his fire-composed body.

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 leaped 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. Later after his death, it was revealed that Ace's burning fists also had the power to annihilate entire cities.

Techniques
The named techniques that are used by Ace that involve the Devil Fruit are as follows:
 * Heat Haze (陽炎, Kagerō; literally meaning "Heat Haze"): Ace shoots a stream of fire from the palm of his hand. This was first seen being used to stop Smoker from catching Luffy.


 * Flame Fist (火拳, Hiken; literally meaning "Fire Fist"): Ace's apparent signature attack and the source of his nickname "Flame Fist" Ace. Ace turns his fist into flames and launches it as a column of fire at his target. This attack is so incredibly powerful that it is able to plow through several ships in one shot. However, it was completely neutralized by Akainu's Great Eruption, and is the final attack Ace ever used prior to his death shortly after.


 * Fire Gun (火銃, Higan; literally meaning "Fire Gun"): Pointing the index and middle fingers of both hands at an opponent like guns, Ace turns his fingertips into flames and shoots bullets made of fire from them. This technique was first seen when Ace retaliated against Van Ogre's attack.


 * Flame Commandment (炎戒, Enkai; literally meaning "Flame Commandment"): Ace amasses a large amount of flames around his body (usually by first swinging his outstretched hand around him, summoning the flames) in preparation for an attack. This is apparently the prerequisite technique before Ace can use Fire Pillar.
 * Fire Pillar (火柱, Hibashira; literally meaning "Fire Pillar"): Used right after following Flame Commandment, Ace shoots the collected flames straight upward, destroying a target above him. It can also be fired downwards to clear any enemies that might be below him while he's in mid-air. This technique and its prerequisite technique were first seen when Jesus Burgess threw a hotel at Ace.


 * Firefly (蛍火, Hotarubi; literally meaning "Firefly Light"): Ace creates many small, glowing greenish yellow fireballs that float around an enemy. The idea behind this attack's name is that before he attacks with them, the small fireballs look like fireflies in the air. This move is apparently used as in the preparation for Fiery Doll and was first seen in Ace's battle against Blackbeard.
 * Fiery Doll (火達磨, Hidaruma; literally meaning "Fiery Doll"): Right after using Firefly to send the fireballs floating around in proximity with the enemy, Ace sends them all flying into the target(s) all at once, burning them. This was first seen being used in Ace's battle against Blackbeard after Blackbeard had performed and demonstrated his initial attacks. In the Pirate Warriors games, the fireballs from Firefly actually home in targets themselves, while Fiery Doll is instead a grab attack where Ace captures his target as he plows them into the ground for an explosion (which he leaps back from).


 * Saint Elmo's Fire (神火 不知火, Shinka: Shiranui; literally meaning "Sacred Flame/God Fire: Sea Fire"}}: Ace hurls long lances made out of fire. The lances have the combined effect of simultaneously burning an opponent while piercing them. This was first seen being used against Blackbeard when Ace was being pulled forward by the former's power. The term "Shiranui" or "Shiranuhi" also literally translates to "Unknown Fire", while the term "Saint Elmo's Fire" is a clear reference to the homonym weather phenomenon.


 * Cross Fire (十字火, Jūjika; literally meaning "Cross Fire"): Ace places his index fingers together in a cross shape before launching a cross-shaped column of fire directly at his opponent. In the anime, after crossing his fingers, a cross-shaped ray of light can be seen emanating from the fingers at the target followed by the column of fire. This was first seen being used against Blackbeard after Ace attacked him with Saint Elmo's Fire. This attack's name is a pun since "Juujika" refers to crossfire from weapons, yet Ace is making an actual cross out of fire. It also is a possible play on the term juujika (十字架, lit. cross stand/rack), a term used more for the crosses that are meant to crucify people with.


 * Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor (大炎戒 炎帝, Dai Enkai: Entei; literally meaning "Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor"}: Ace's ultimate technique. After creating great spiraling flames centered on his location before amassing it at a focused point (i.e. the palm of his hand), Ace then turns it into a gigantic fireball resembling the sun and hurls it at his opponent to try to obliterate them. This was only seen once being used during the final moments of Ace and Blackbeard's only-time battle. "Entei" sounds almost similar to "Enkei" meaning "circle," a reference to the attack's shape. In One Piece: Unlimited Cruise, Ace activates this move by first bending his knees slightly and then placing the outstretched palm of his hand towards the ground (with his other hand gripping the wrist for support), where the flames manifest themselves into a sphere.


 * Flame Fence (炎上網, Enjōmō; literally meaning "Flame-Up Net"): Ace creates a circle of fire around a selected area, preventing anyone from entering or leaving it. This was first seen being used against the Navy in Alabasta under the command of Smoker, and was named in a flashback against Whitebeard.


 * Flame Mirror (鏡火炎, Kyōkaen; literally meaning "Mirror Fire Flame"): Ace releases a wall of fire to block an attack. This was first seen to counter Aokiji's Ice Block: Pheasant Peck, the two attacks canceling each other out.


 * Twin Guns & Cross Fire: Ace fires a volley of bullets from his two guns before finishing the technique with Cross Fire. This technique only appears as one of Ace special moves for his Strong World DLC costume in One Piece: Burning Blood.

Haki

 * Main article: Haki

Armament Haki

 * Main article: Armament Haki

Conqueror's Haki

 * Main article: Conqueror's Haki

Canon

 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Monkey D. Luffy (multiple times)
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Sabo (multiple times)
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Jimbei
 * Spade Pirates vs. Whitebeard
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Whitebeard (at least 100 times)
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Smoker
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. Billions fleet
 * Portgas D. Ace vs. G. Zass Burgess
 * 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

Non-Canon

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

Notes & Trivia

 * Universal Studios of Japan has built a replica of Ace's and Whitebeard's tombs. Ace's epitaph says: "Ace, may your soul be eternal. Your brave soul will always be with us." This epitaph was also shown in Episode 663 of the anime.
 * Ace being captain of the Spade Pirates, is a pun on the "Ace of spades", or "spadille".
 * Having died through being penetrated is a possible reference to the known saying "Ace in the hole"
 * Ace shares the same birthday as the creator of the series, Eiichiro Oda (January 1).
 * In the 6th Japanese Popularity Fan Polls, Ace ranked as the fifth most popular character in One Piece making him the most popular of the Whitebeard Pirates and also the most popular deceased character in the One Piece series.
 * Had Ace been a girl, he would have been named "Anne".
 * Ace would have been 21 if he were born on time. Instead he is 20 because his mother held him in her womb for eleven months past his due date, meaning he spent a total of twenty months inside her womb, instead of the usual nine.
 * Ace is the first known Devil Fruit user user to die.
 * Ace is also the first major character in One Piece who died outside of flashbacks.
 * His bounty, being at 550,000,000 berries before his death, was the highest amount revealed in the series before the timeskip.