One Piece: What If Portagas D. Ace Survived?

Spoiler Alert! If you have not watched or read One Piece, I suggest turning back now as the article contains many spoilers from the story. Now with that spoiler out the way, let’s begin!

Portgas D. Ace was one of my favorite characters throughout the whole One Piece manga. When he was first introduced, I thought it was awesome that Luffy had an older brother who was much stronger than he was, believing that there would be a fight between the two and that Luffy would need to beat his older brother in order to claim the title of Pirate King. Throughout the story, Oda was setting up breadcrumbs for his backstory and his eventual death at the end of the first half of One Piece, the catalyst that would send Luffy to train to become stronger to protect the ones he loves. While his death was impactful and was much needed to further the development of the story, I wonder sometimes about what would happen if Ace did not die? What if he survived and escape? How would the story turn out from there?

Surviving The War

As many fans would know, Ace died in the Marineford War protecting Luffy from being killed. It was quite a tragic death, in hindsight, it was quite avoidable. If Ace had not let himself be provoked and kept running, he would have survived and escaped, like the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates. Now, considering this hypothetical scenario, what would have happened if he kept running in the actual story? Well, he definietly would have survived. He would have been continued to be chased by Akainu, but with the help of the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies, they would have definitely survived and managed to get far enough away before Akainu could ever reach them. By that time, Shanks would have arrived to stop Marineford and the war would have ended, with the only major casualty being Whitebeard. Ace would have definitely tried to fight Blackbeard again to protect Whitebeard and get revenge on him for beating him to a pulp and starting all this, but knowing he got defeated by him and that Whitebeard would have prevented another fight, Ace would watch powerlessly as he watched his father figure die.

After the war, he definitely would have been depressed, having lost his father figure and blame himself for the tragedy that happened all in his name. Shanks, Marco or any of the Whitebeard pirates would have told Ace that Whitebeard was a man of honor and family, willing to do anything to protect those he loved. Coupled with being a pirate, this life is what would have eventually killed him, but he had no regrets. He would have been happy to see Luffy and having survived the war, definitely berate him for being so stupid. Ace and Luffy would renew their vows as brothers and swear to be there whenever they needed help and go off on their separate ways.

Having his father revealed to the world, his bounty will surely skyrocket. Knowing that the son of the Pirate King is on the run as a pirate means that Ace has become a bigger target than anyone realizes. Much like the Roger Pirates, Ace will continously be hunted down by pirates hoping to kill Ace for fame and the title of killing Roger’s son and marines that want to kill Ace before he could ever become what his father was. His bounty will definitely be in the billions and would be a bigger threat than ever before.

During The Timeskip

After the Ace and Luffy part ways, Ace and the Whitebeard Pirates will go into hiding, likely at Whitebeard’s home island, to mourn the death of their captain. Here, Ace will be incredibly depressed and reflect on his life and whether he was a good “son” or not. This will all change when Blackbeard invades.

Fighting Another War

As we know, Blackbeard invaded the island in order to claim it for his own. The Whitebeard Pirates will likely defend the island with their islands and thus, the Payback War begins.

Ace will fight as hard as he can, hoping to bring back honor to his name and Whitebeard’s after the disgraceful defeat. Ace and the others will surely fight hard, put their lives on the line to bring Blackbeard down once and for all, but it would all be for nought. Blackbeard and his forces will prove too powerful for them and they will be decimated and forced to retreat.

Whether Ace will survive is left for debate. Knowing how much Blackbeard wants Ace’s devil fruit, he might kill Ace and take the power for himself. Maybe he will show Ace mercy so he doesn’t suffer another fueling defeat, but Ace will continue fighting even with his dying breath. In this scenario, the Whitebeard Pirates will force Ace to retreat, suffering yet another defeat by the likes of Blackbeard. For the purposes of this article, Let’s say Ace survives and is forced to retreat. He will likely go into hiding, never to be seen by anyone.

Second Half Of The Story

While the Straw Hats enter the New World and become a force to be reckoned with, he will very likely keep tabs with Luffy and his adventures, hoping that he is alright.

It’s unsure where they would meet again, but I have hunch that they would meet again in Wano Country. Knowing that Ace promised to free Wano Country, he likely be in the land of Wano, fighting hard in order to free Wano from the likes of Kaido. Ace and Luffy will eventually meet up at Wano and work together to defeat Kaido.

After that, we are not sure of. He could have helped Luffy from time to time, however, it’s unknown whether or not he will have any implication to the storyline after Wano. If he were still alive, he definitely would have helped Luffy during the Final War if it ever came down to it.

After ‘One Piece’

After the story of One Piece is over and Luffy has become Pirate King, Ace would continue rising up in the pirate world. I believe that Ace would grow up to become an incredibly powerful and influential pirate in the New World. Very likely, he would start his own pirate crew under a new name and flag and gather is new crew mates once more. Eventually, he will become an Emperor of the New World and conquer islands much like Whitebeard did. He would then lead a big pirate crew and adopt each crew member as his “sons” and live his life on the sea. Much like Luffy inherited Roger’s will, Ace would have inherited Whitebeard’s will.

Effects On The Actual Storyline

Ace’s survival would have massive implications on the storyline. Ace’s death served as the final nail on the coffin for Luffy and what ultimately propelled him to train with Rayleigh for 2 years in order to become stronger. Although Rayleigh would definitely want to train Luffy so he could get stronger, the choice is ultimately left to Luffy to make that decision to train or face the horrors of the New World as he now.

Ace’s survival is also very impactful for Luffy’s participation in the Colosseum in Dressrosa. If Ace is alive, his fruit would not be in the hands of Doflamingo later in the story and be used a prize for the fighting tournament. Thus, Luffy would have no reason to enter the Colosseum and just focus on defeating Doflamigo and destroying his SMILE factory. Without having entered into the Coliseum, Luffy would have never met Rebecca and her plight to kill Doflamingo or met the other fighters, who become key later on as they assist Luffy with defeating the other members of Doflamigo’s pirate crew, helped Luffy escape after Gear 4 was depleted and even pledge under Luffy’s flag after it was all over. Without their help, Luffy might have died.

Ace’s death also correlates directly with Sabo. Without Ace dying, Sabo could not have remembered Ace or Luffy, continuing his life serving the Revolutionary army. Who knew when Ace and Sabo would have met again, if ever. Without Sabo remembering Ace, he would not have done to Dressrosa to get Ace’s fruit as it would not be there and without Sabo’s help, Luffy could have died to the hands of Jesus Burgess and gotten his fruit taken away.

Ace is one of the most important and liked characters of One Piece. His death has made a great dent throughout the story and causes ripple effects that are still being felt today. Wondering in regards to his survival, Ace would have continued to play an important role throughout the story. Whether its indirect such as some of the plot points being cut from Dressrosa or directly such as helping Luffy take down Kaido in order to free Wano just like he promised. Ace would have been just as influential and impact as Luffy on the world of One Piece.