Portgas D. Ace

Portgas D. Ace (ポートガス・D・エース Pōtogasu D. Ēsu^?), born asGol D. Ace (ゴール・D・エース Gōru D. Ēsu^?) and nicknamed "Fire Fist Ace" (火拳のエース Hiken no Ēsu^?), was the adopted older brother of Monkey D. Luffy and Sabo, and son of the late Pirate King,Gol D. Roger and his lover, Portgas D. Rouge (both deceased). He was adopted by Monkey D. Garp as wished by Roger to him before his birth. Ace was the 2nd division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and one-time captain of the Spade Pirates.
He is a character of the world's top class anime ONE PIECE.

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 Gol D. Roger 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.^[4] Ace had another tattoo on his upper left bicep that spells "ASCE" vertically with the "S" crossed out. The S is very similar to the one Sabo wrote on the letter to Ace and Luffy, and bears a striking resemblance to the S on his jolly roger. The fact that the S does not appear on the Chapter 596 cover where Sabo, Ace and Luffy are seen together as grown up enforces the theory that it is a tribute to his deceased brother.

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. 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.^[5]

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.

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.

Personality

Ace was much more intelligent, polite, and generally more bearable than Luffy, which prompted the Strawhat crew to question whether he was truly related to their captain. While several people who knew Gol D. Roger noted thatLuffy is quite similar to the late Pirate King, Whitebeard himself claimed that Ace's personality wasn't 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 boardedBuggy'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 had died. This was first seen inAlabasta 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 hisbrother's savior). Before that, Ace was rather cold and rude to anyone he wasn't 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 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 knowledge or identity (or even 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'd 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 againstBlackbeard or 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 killinga crewmate, Ace took off in pursuit of the traitor despite his crewmates' and even Whitebeard's efforts to stop him. Ace later came to see that his stubbornness had gotten him into the mess 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.

Relationships

Crews

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

One of Ace's many futile attempts on Whitebeard's life.

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 entireSpade 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 2nd division of the Whitebeard Pirates. It is revealed that Thatchwas 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 2nd division under Ace and they are shown eating together in flashback with Blackbeard encouraging Ace to become 2nd 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 theMarines and World Government. In fact, one of the reasons why the Whitebeard Pirates would defend Luffy is because he is Ace's beloved brother.

FamilyEdit

Monkey D. LuffyEdit

Ace and his 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 initially aloof and hostile towards Luffy and annoyed whenever Luffy cried but later grew protective of him 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^[6] — it was because of this that Ace did not doubtBoa 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.^[7] Apparently, Ace had been known to frequently share stories about Luffy with the other ranks of the Whitebeard Pirates (including the Shichibukai, Jinbe). 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.^[8]

Ace tended to portray a typical good-big-brother behavior, such as asking the Straw Hat 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 theSabaody Archipelago to reunite with his crew.

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 Ivankov, 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.

Devil Fruit

Ace utilizing the Mera Mera no Mi powers.

Ace ate the Devil Fruit Mera Mera no Mi, a Logia-type fruit that allows him to become the element of fire and control the flames from his body, giving him his reputation as "Fire Fist Ace". Ace displayed his immense power by destroying a handful of Baroque Works ships with ease.^[14] 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.

Bound as Brothers

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 inBaterilla 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 Foosha Village in the East Blue.

Ace was left in the care of Garp's friend Curly Dadan. Ace would travel around town causing trouble and beating people up to those who spoke ill about his father, which annoyed Dadan. At some point Ace befriended Sabo who was the same age as Ace at the time.

Later, when Garp got fed up with Luffy due to the influence ofShanks 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.

After having a meal, Ace went out of the house and Luffy decided to follow him. Luffy said that he is not angry that Ace spat at him (since it is not something to get worked out about) and also wanted to be friends. Ace responds by knocking a tree down at Luffy. Ace then crossed a bridge and Luffy followed. Ace charged at Luffy and knocked him off the bridge. He returned to Dadan's house without Luffy and without any concern for him. Luffy returned a week later. When Ace goes out, Luffy followed after him wanting to start a friendship only to get shunned by Ace.

Ace went to the Gray Terminal and meets up with a friend named Sabo. Ace and Sabo had been collecting money for a pirate ship. Ace handed over his share and Sabo put it in a secret spot. Luffy then showed up and both Ace and Sabo tied Luffy to a tree. Ace said that they should kill Luffy to keep their secret safe and Sabo agreed. However, both Ace and Sabo had a hard time deciding who should complete the task since both of them never killed anyone before. They heard someone coming so they took Luffy and hid. Ace then realized that the person he stole money from was Porchemy of the Bluejam Pirates. Ace and Sabo notice Luffy missing and then see Luffy get caught by Porchemy. Both Ace and Sabo watched as Luffy was taken away.

Fearing that Luffy might tell Porchemy, Ace and Sabo collect all of their money and treasure and move them to another location. They managed to move all the money and treasure to a new hiding place by sundown. Sabo, who went to check on the old hiding place, informed Ace that Luffy has not told Porchemy anything much to Ace's surprise. Ace and Sabo then came to Luffy's rescue and defeated Porchemy. Ace then learns from Luffy that Luffy has no parents with him and the reason he follows Ace is because he doesn't want to be alone. After that, Luffy joined Ace and Sabo and together, they start making a name for themselves.

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy sparred with each other, hunt gators, and beat up thugs. In the Cental Town of the Goa Kingdom, the trio did a dine-and-dash and while running, they heard a man calling Sabo's name. Back in the forest, Sabo revealed that he was born in a noble family and the man calling him was his father.

Regardless, Ace and Luffy still considered Sabo as their friend. After the trio made a declaration of what they want to accomplish in the future, they shared a drink of alcohol and became brothers. They continue having adventures, hunting animals, and at one point had a party with Dadan, Wood Slap, and Makino, and also get a beating by Garp whenever he visits.

One day, the trio found themselves confronted by Sabo's father and the Bluejam Pirates. To spare Ace and Luffy, Sabo willingly go with his father and Ace cried out to Sabo as Sabo walked away in tears.

Ace and Luffy were then in the custody of the Bluejam Pirates. Ace and Luffy joined the Bluejam Pirates at the request of the captain and then carry cargo to marked locations in the Gray Terminal with the other pirates. Later, Bluejam revealed to Ace and Luffy that the cargo they had carried was oil and gunpowder and that the Gray Terminal will by engulfed with flames. Ace and Luffy reacted in outrage and were quickly apprehended by the pirates. Bluejam then informed them that they can no longer be left alive and asked them the location of their hoard of treasure. Later that night, the flames started and Ace and Luffy managed to cut themselves loose after they were tied up. Ace and Luffy then run for their lives, but come across Bluejam and his crew, who demand to know where Ace and Sabo hid their loot. Ace briefly demonstrates Haki when Bluejam tells him that Sabo was just using him. Dadan comes to the rescue and tries to get Ace and Luffy to safety. Ace refuses to run away from the fight and Dadan stays with him while Luffy and the rest of the bandits escape.

After the events of the the fire but before Sabo's fall at the hands of the Tenryuubito, Ace came back with an injured Dadan on his back. Luffy greets him crying and Ace is annoyed that Luffy really thought he was dead and punches him in the head telling him not to 'kill people'. He then explains how he and Dadan managed to defeat Bluejam and luckily escape to the "Middle forest" and hide themselves in the riverbank he carries on to tell them that he stole some medical supplies from town and desperately stabilized Dadan's life.

A few hours later, he explains to Dadan why he didn't run back when they fought Bluejam, he told her how sometimes blood rushes into his head and he gets worried, that if he runs away then he'll lose something big and goes on to tell her at that time Luffy was behind him. Later on, Dogura tells them about what happened to Sabo and an outraged Ace jumps on him stating that he would not forgive him even if it was a joke. Luffy and Ace then realise that Sabo was never happy when he left them and while Luffy breaks out in tears, Ace goes out to beat up whoever killed him. Dadan stops him and yells at him telling him that Sabo's murderer was the world, the country they lived in. To calm him down, the bandits tied Ace to a tree while Luffy spent the whole night crying. The next morning a letter came that was sent by Sabo before he left to become a pirate, explaining that by the time they read it he would already be out at sea, that he hoped they would meet again and that he wished for Ace to take care of their younger brother. As Ace reads the last of the letter, he breaks out in tears.

Some time later, Ace finds Luffy lying face down mourning Sabo's death. When Luffy tells Ace not to die like Sabo, Ace makes a promise that he'll never die no matter what. Ace then reminds Luffy that they made a vow that they'll become more free than anyone. The two then continue their training and get stronger. Ace asks Makino to teach him how to greet someone properly because Ace plans on thanking Shanks. Ace and Luffy continue with their hunting and fighting until the time has come for Ace to set sail.

The Path to Piracy

At the age of 17, Ace set out from Mt. Corvo and began his life as a pirate,^[16] 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,^[17] 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 Jinbe, 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 ofFishman Island. After five days of battle, both collapsed from exhaustion, giving the fight no victor.^[17]

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 Jinbe 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.^[17]

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 2nd division commander.^[17]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.

Baroque Works Saga

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 ofNanohana, Alabasta.^[18] In the anime the reason he was Alabasta in the first place was to gain information from Scorpion about Blackbeard, something which Scorpion was lying about to draw him out. Alabasta is where he is formally introduced; he is seen sleeping in the Spice Bean restaurant (giving the impression to everyone present that he had dropped dead).^[19] 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 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).^[20] 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

On Buggy's Ship

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.^[21]

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 and despite being exposed, is able to escape with vital information on Blackbeard that he took from the marines along with successfully delivering the letter indirectly that led the parents to reunite with their daughter .

CP9 Saga

The Banaro Incident

Despite all the efforts from Shanks to convince Whitebeard to recall Ace, Ace finally intercepts Blackbeard on Banaro Islandshortly after the Blackbeard Pirates ransack one of its towns (three days before the Straw Hats' new bounties are released following the Enies Lobby incident), and engages him in a fierce battle that leaves most of the island in ruins.^[22]

Because of Blackbeard's ability to disable Devil Fruit powers, Ace loses to him and and is turned over to the World Government. The government considers this as a great achievement that they award Blackbeard the title of Shichibukai, leaving Ace to be sent to the most notorious prison in the One Piece World: Impel Down.^[23]

Whitebeard War Saga

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.^[24] The execution is scheduled to take place a week after Luffy's triumph over the Gorgon Sisters on the island of Amazon Lily.^[25]

Ace's conversation with Garp in Impel Down.

He is next seen, with seastone chains 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 Jinbe, who happens to share the same cell with him. Jinbe 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, Jinbe 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.^[26] 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.^[27] 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.^[28]

In several of Jinbe's flashbacks, during their time in Impel Down, the two talked plenty about Luffy, that when Ace met the Straw Hats, that he was no longer worried about his brother because he had Nakama he could rely on now.^[29] He also asks Jinbe to look after his brother if Ace should die. Jinbe 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.^[13]

It is revealed that Ace is actually on Level 6, Eternal Hell. Jinbe 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.

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.^[30] 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.^[31]

Execution at Marineford

As Ace is led to the execution platform, he remembers a childhood promise that he made with Luffy: that they would both go out to sea and live their lives without regrets.

Afterwards, Fleet Admiral Sengoku reveals that Ace's mother wasPortgas 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 surprise of the Marines. The Whitebeard Pirates's fleet, including the Moby Dick, suddenly rises up from under the water in the middle of the bay, revealing that the ships were coated and had approached Marineford from beneath the sea. Whitebeard himself appears to greet Sengoku and ask Ace to bear with them as they prepare for battle.^[32]

His past with the giant Little Oars Jr., an ally of the Whitebeard Pirates, is revealed when he fights his way towards him. He pleads for Little Oars Jr. to stop since he is such a large target and is injured by Bartholomew Kuma as Ace could only helplessly watch. Ace was deeply saddened watching his friend dying for him. When Little Oars Jr. is finally brought down by Gekko Moriah, his outstretched hand lands a few yards from him in a last vain effort to free him.^[33]

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.^[34]

When the ship falls into the sea, Luffy climbs out and Ace spots him. As Luffy fights past several Marines and Gekko Moriah in an effort to reach Ace, the latter can only watch helplessly. He finally snaps, demanding Luffy that he 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 contemplates Luffy's words, along with those 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 bySquardo. 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 Jinbe's water-launching abilities. Ace is horrified as he sees Luffy standing face-to-face with the three Admirals, believing 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 Little 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 Little 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 whom 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 comrades, little brother, and father are risking their lives to save him. In tears, he finally realizes that he desperately wants to live.

The battle takes a turn for the worse; Marco, caught by kairoseki handcuffs, is 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. At the last moment, Luffy releases a huge burst ofHaoshoku Haki; the executioners, as well as a number of pirates and marines, lose consciousness. Ace stares in disbelief at his little brother, as he had no idea that Luffy possessed such a powerful kind of Haki.

Freedom and Death

As Luffy approaches the scaffold, Garp blocks his path. 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. Garp's hesitation allows Luffy to counter-punch, sending him flying away from the execution platform and crashing into the ground. Just as Luffy is about to unlock Ace's handcuffs, Kizaru destroys the key 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, regains consciousness. He then forms a huge Candle Wall while Luffy 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 duplicate key out of wax, Luffy frees Ace in mid-air moments before the other Marines fire 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 captain's final order.

Ace takes the blow intended for Luffy by Akainu.

Ace seems to accept the fact that Whitebeard is determined to stay behind; Whitebeard asks Ace if he was 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, so much so that his arm is badly burned. 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 that he gave to Luffy rapidly disintegrates into ash as everyone looks on in shock.

“

Thank you for loving someone like me, who is good for nothing.. with such bad blood in his veins. Up to today.. Thank you!!

”

— Ace's last words to his family and friends.

While in Luffy's arms, Ace apologized to Luffy for making his own rescue a failure. Knowing that his innards had been charred to cinders and that he was beyond saving, Ace thanked his family and friends for loving him with his last breath. He dies smiling, satisfied with his life.^[2] Later, in the anime, he is seen surrounded by Marines, his body covered by a sheet.

PostmortemEdit

Later, when the Red Hair Pirates appeared, Shanks managed to organize a ceasefire and asked that the bodies of both Whitebeard and Ace be handed over to the pirates so that they could depart from the location peacefully, a request which Fleet Admiral Sengoku allowed, despite Vice Admiral Doberman's desire of putting their heads for viewing as a symbol of the Marines' victory.

Ace, along with Whitebeard were buried on an unknown island somewhere on the second half of the Grand Line. His trademark hat, necklace, and knife were made into a grave marker, which was placed beside Whitebeard's and covered with flowers and swords left behind by his fellow crewmates, with the members themselves standing on either side of the island, paying their last respects.^[35]