Pirate King Gol D Roger ushered in the Golden Era of Piracy
His son Portgas D Ace condemned for his lineage was supposed to be a turnover of the PIrate Era
In true Oda fashion the reveal of Ace being the son of Gol D Roger, the King of Pirates, was truly a remarkable show of writing skills. That mans genius of storywriting is just amazing.
Lets revisit all the revelations we got in the Marineford Arc:
- Portgas D Ace was born the Son of Portgas D Rouge and Gol D Roger
- Will of D, Ace being the child of two D lineages
- Ace and Luffys childhood and reveal of a third brother, Sabo
- Monkey D Luffy being the son of The Revolutionary Monkey D Dragon
- Conquerors Haki, Ace and Luffy confirmed users
- The Voice of All Things is introduced
- Whitebeard Pirates
- Various Devil Fruit abilities, amongs others notable are Whitebeard and his Gura Gura no Mi, Marco the Phoenix and his Mythical Zoan (type as of then unspecified) as well as self healing abilities (as of then not revealed power to heal others as well)
- The Revolutionaries in Impel Down
To what intends and purposes was such a risky war waged then?
Becoming Justice
“Pirates are evil? The Marines are righteous? These terms have always changed throughout the course of history! Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values! Those who stand at the top determine what's wrong and what's right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war becomes justice!”
After their failure 20 years ago with Roger, the Navy saw another chance in trying again with the son of the Pirate King to prevail against pirates.
Secrets that are not so secret?
Theres a lot to be said about Odas writing genius if this still gives us goosebumps over a decade later.
With the reveal of Aces parentage, there are more questions.
When and how did this knowledge became known to the navy? That Roger had a wife/lover and child had been a rumor for over 20 years. I assume Garp lied about hiding Ace to throw off any lingering doubts about a child of Roger. And it seem he might have been successful in that. For how long though? Did he know about Luffy too?
Altough Garps visits to not so frequent, it might have still have posed questions as to why he was visiting. I guess a Vice Admiral surely does have vacation too, but he would have surely had to give a reason for such frequent visits. Perhaps he really gave Ace to Dadan and was careful not to visit too often to avoid suspicion, which didnt seem to be the case later on with Luffy growing up. Could that mean Sengoku at least knew about Luffy being Garps grandson? If so, he might have turned a blind eye to Luffy being also Dragons son (if he knew about the connection) since Garps reputation was enough to keep Luffy save from the navy.
It still raises suspicion about Sengokus knowledge of Ace. How and when did he come to that information? Did Garp tell? Sengoku does ask Garp for kinda permission, so there is a common factor in the shared knowledge. Could Sengoku have known and kept quiet from the beginning and didnt want to condemn an innocent child until he truly did something to justify being hunted by the marines? That could be a point made in favor of Sengoku if it werent for Baterilla.
Portgas D Rouge
"Through sheer willpower...
She deceived us...no! She deceived the whole world!"
Revealing Aces parentage is one thing, but why give a whole background story? It was not just for the readers benefit, no, Sengoku announced it publicly. Rouges name reveal might also allude to her perhaps being also being a pirate, if not then at least a recognized name in the Pirate World.
He put emphasis on how exactly Rouge lied to the world and led government by its nose. Wouldnt the navy have wanted to hide this fact that she played them like that?
She held out, 20 months, over double the normal amount, hiding herlself and Ace from the World, while avoiding the eyes of the Navy, alone.
What Portgas D Rouge did for the love of her son, is unmeasurable in its capacity.
Portgas D Rouge lied to the World and pulled of a feat thats incredible even to One Piece crazy standards, something worthy of respect.
Baterilla
Ace is also the first being revealed to being a child born to two D lineages.
Ace was born on Baterilla in the South Blue. Pretty bold of the Navy to announce the name of the island that was razed to the ground in a futile search for a rumored lover and child of Roger. If the Marines wanted to avoid attention that a Buster Call would bring, why mention the Baterilla by name. It would certainly make people think and research about it where they would surely find out about the actions of the Navy against innocent civilians in the name of finding a rumored child. Perhaps Sengoku shouldnt have announced such facts that but a blight on the oh so righteous Navy? Makes you wonder as to why Oda choose to write the reveal as such.
Luffy being revealed as the son of the Revolutionary Monkey D Dragon in the same way Ace was revealed as being the son of Gol D Roger, puts perspective into how dangerous the Navy deems Dragon and Roger and subsequently Luffy and Ace.
Im not sure how the story of Baterilla was hidden, if even. So, did the Navy lie and say they got the child 20 years ago? The Marines already hid the fact that Roger gave himself up, why not lie about Baterilla too.
Was the rumor only known to the Government and Marines? There are no clear instances were it is shown that the rumors extended also towards Pirates, aside from Ace himself asking specifically `If Roger had a child`.
Roger and Garp
Roger asked Garp to take care of Rouge, not his former crewmates nor Whitebeard, or anybody else more suitable than Garp. Why him specifically, when Whitebeard could also have raised him or hidden on any of his Islands. It is not clear in the scene where Roger was held (Impel Down Level wise), it might be possible that this conversation was overheard by another pirate and so the rumor came to the Marines.
Roger trusted Garp enough to entrust him with his wife and unborn child.
Did Rouge even know about the plan for Garp? And why was he taking so long to get there? Assuming from the scene where hes there at Aces birth, its not specified if he visited earlier than that.
Did Roger know of Rouges plan to avoid the eyes of the World? What specifics was Garp told here? Well thats something I hope Oda might still reveal.
By revealing Aces parentage the Navy basically admitted to their failure in capturing a rumored child 20 years ago and being played by Portgas D Rouge and Gol D Roger.
Not much of a reputation to make a statement to be executing the Son of The King of Pirates do they now.
The Navy and Government seem firm in their beliefs that the sins of the father carried over to the sons. While Ace did become a pirate like his father, it shouldnt warrant such actions from the Marines. The tone of writing in the Marineford Arc suggests strongly that Ace and Luffy could be excused being pirates, but having the living blood of the King of Pirates and a Revolutionary respectively is crime of unspeakable degree in the eyes of Government and cannot be excused. What is it that makes the blood worse then the actions themselves?
To what purpose did the Marines make the execution public.
Challenge Whitebeard
The execution of Whitebeards 2nd Commander was announced as a direct challenge to Whitebeard himself.
The navy got their hands on a very powerful pirate and knowing that Whitebeard would retaliate, they still went ahead and openly challenged him.
This suggests the reason that its because is a pirate and opposing Whitebeard. The lineage does not play a factor here.
(a scene from Chapter 233 where Ace meets Buggy where he explains the retribution of ever going against one of Whitebeards children)
Becoming Justice
``Worried about his lineage and wanting to make an example, the Marines sentenced Ace to death, which resulted in the Summit War of Marineford, an all-out clash of powers between Whitebeard's forces and the combined might of the Marines and the Seven Warlords.``
Was the risk truly worth it? Executing Ace simply for being the Pirate Kings son? Roger was given this title by the Government for conquering the seas and learning about the Void Century, that is the reason he was mostly feared aside from his general strenght and piracy.
What did Ace have to do with that? Its not like he had the same knowledge, that would make any of the remaining Roger Pirates, Rayleigh Shanks and Buggy more dangerous so why werent they being hunted like that? And yes Shanks and Buggy werent on Raftel but the navy dont know that. Even Nico Robin, child of Ohara and only known person able to read the Poneglyphs didnt warrant such hatred. Granted she was hunted for 20 years, always hiding. But now that shes in plain sight as part of the Straw Hats the navy doesnt seem that interested anymore in capturing her.
The danger of the Poneglyphs and subsequent finding of the treasure is made obsolete by the simple fact of not being able to read the Poneglyphs. And yet. And yet it is still Ace being prosecuted for simply being related to Roger.
What made Ace specifically so dangerous just for being related by blood to Roger?
He was considered more dangerous than the knowledge of the Void Century itself.
One not so farfetched theory could have been that they thought Roger was Joy Boy and Ace could have inherited that will. It could explain the fear of blood relations.
Or there was something else about Gol D Roger that scared the navy to the core that they were willing to execute his son by any means necessary. Sengoku reasoned that Ace's bloodline itself necessitated his execution by the hands of the Navy.
Perhaps there is more to blood relations and the Will of D related here that Oda hasnt revealed yet.
What did the Marines stand to gain from a public execution?
Redefining Justice and the power of Pirates and Marines seemed to be a justifiable reason to wage war against Pirates, but why Ace specifically? Not Straw Hat Luffy? The rumored reawakened Joy Boy?
If Ace was truly considered so dangerous by whatever means the government justified, then why make it a public execution. What would the government gain from publicly executing Ace?
One answer could be that the Marines simply wanted to make a statement towards Pirates in general. A show of power like they tried with Roger 20 years ago.
Or was the reason really just to challenge Whitebeard and Marineford just presented a convenient excuse to force his hand?
Whitebeard as the Strongest Man in the World
The risk of drawing the wrath of the Strongest Man in the World is by far bigger than any point being made as statement to the power of the Navy.
What made the Marines so sure in their ability to oppose Whitebeard? Or was that just a believable enough excuse?
While Whitebeard was the main opponent against the Marines, by trying to execute Ace publicly they were also risking the wrath of quite a few other powerful enemies.
Wrath and Retribution
Another powerful keyplayer is Shanks. The Marines mustve known about Luffys and Shanks connection at least, with him being seen in East Blue, stealing the Gomu Gomu no Mi and Luffy going out to sea with both the fruit eaten and Shanks` Straw Hat. Having that connection already, its not a far jump to include Ace in the equation of Shanks at least knowing about him being Luffys brother. It could at least have been suspected by the Navy that Shanks might at least help Luffy at Marineford. And lets not forget about Shanks being a former Roger Pirate as well as Buggy, the Government doesnt know that Shanks wasnt at Raftel, alas not learning about the Void Century that they so fear of getting revealed.
More potential enemies would be the Roger Pirates from which we only know Rayleigh as of yet. But even he was enough to have Kizaru refrain from engaging him. While he is surely feared for his knowledge, the power of the Roger Pirates is surely a force to be reconned with. Why doesnt the Navy hunt him thought? Ace is still deemed more dangerous? A bit illogical it seems.
Another unlikely enemy would be the Revolutionaries. This point stands perhaps more in favor of Luffy. While Dragon might not have any (as of yet known) connection to Ace personally, he was at the very least seen in Logue Town at Rogers execution and again when Luffy is there. I dont believe Dragon didnt keep tabs on Luffy at least, at the very least him always looking to the East suggests he is at least thinking about Luffy.
Since its likely Dragon orchestrated the plan to distribute the Strawhat to various (to them compatible for their strengths) locations to train, Dragon mustve been informed of Luffys plans of saving Ace. Iva was in Impel so there mustve have been exchanging of information about Ace being there. Now the darker question would be, if Dragon knew about Luffy and Ace, and he more or less kept tabs on his son, did he perhaps send Luffy away knowing he would try to come save Ace? Did he want to keep him away? While hypothetical as to Dragons reasoning, he does seem to care about Luffy.
For how long have the Kamas been in Impel Down? Doesnt Iva have other duties as Revolutionary? Why was he even in Impel Down, long enough to form a Kingdom there? Would that not suggest he mightve been there on order of Dragon for some other purpose, gathering information and waiting for more orders perhaps?
Why was Ace not captured before?
While Ace was in possession of the `Mera Mera no Mi` which in itself already proved dangerous as a Logia Fruit, he did seem to be almost tame in his actions as pirate. Aside from him doing normal pirate stuff, he didnt specifically target the Navy or Government (like Revolutionaries would) without reason, most likely being simply fighting back for being hunted as a Pirate. Only instance where he was more directly involved, was him infiltrating a Navy Base to deliver a letter by Moda. It allows the question if he didnt also maybe gather some information while there.
Im saying tame in comparison to Luffy, with burning the flag and declaring war on the government. Oh and punching a celestial dragon. In that regard Luffy did far more dangerous and scandalous stuff against the navy and government than Ace did even after joining the Whitebeard Pirates. Reiterating the point of the Navy condemning Ace more for his blood than his actions as Pirate.
If the Mera Mera was truly so dangerous wasnt it safer with Ace alive than in the hands of more nefarious pirates? Since is not (as of chapter yet known) how Devil Fruits respawn? Better the evil you know as the saying goes, no? The same could be said for Whitebeards Fruit.
Again depending on when and how Aces secret became known to the navy, they would have had the easiest chance to capture him as a child and as a Rookie before having the protection Whitebeards name offered. After that they would have risked Whitebeards wrath.
Why wasnt Luffy captured before?
The gorosei knew the secret behind the Gomu Gomu no Mi, but again it depends on when it became knwon that Luffy has eaten the fruit. To be dark, it would have been easier to catch him as a child or even Buster Call Dawn. So its likely it only got out when Luffy became a pirate.
Neither Luffy nor Ace drew much attention to them until they became Pirates of their own with noteworthy feats, becoming wanted Pirates and a thorn in the eyes of the World as descendants of the Ancient Kingdom and carriers of the Will of D.
Why did Ace give Luffy a Vivrecard and not a Den Den?
Why did the Marines openly challenge Whitebeard?
Why did the Marines wait for Whitebeard?
Since the Whitebeards went to coat their ship (assumingly at Rayleighs), why wasnt he at Marineford?
Since the Marines openly challenged Whitebeard and were awaiting him, why go through the trouble of coating the ship for a suprise attack
Why didnt Shanks stop Ace by himself, since he went to the trouble to warn Whitebeard wouldnt it have been easier to seek out Ace directly?
Where was Shanks prior to that? Apparently he somehow found out that Kaido was causing trouble in Whitebeards territory and tried to stall him, but wasnt it more important to save Ace than some island under Whitebeards protection? He could have left his crew to deal with Kaido and go to Marineford or vice versa?
If somehow Shanks presence alone was enough for the Marines to stop fighting couldnt he have threatened them prior to Marineford as a warning for the Navy?
Where are the other Roger Pirates?
Why werent the Spade Pirates mentioned?
New World:
All Haki users are somehow connected to Ace
When Sabo gave the Straw Hats the Vivrecard it isnt specified it`s Luffys or his?
Why Man with the burn scar and not giant?
Why did Luffy answer Doflamingo with “I cant say” when he asked where Luffy was in the 2 year skip? Why was it important to keep it secret?
Important places and people Ace has a connection to that still play a major role:
Alabasta – Princess Nefertari D Vivi
Wano Kuni – Yamato & Tama
Lulusia – Moda
(possibly) Elbaf – meeting Shanks
And the main ones:
Why is Oda including Ace on so many major plotpoints?
Ace is connected to many important manga story lines, the main one being The Pirate King Gol D Rogers son, the man that ushered in the Golden Era of Piracy searching for the ONE PIECE
A lot of storylines could still make sense if he wasnt a story character, but no Oda makes it a point to include him in various manga story lines.
His inclusion in other One Piece media such as Official Art, Movies, Magazines, DataBooks and Novels, as if Oda is gauging our interest in a potential comeback?
And of course, NOVEL A
Why exactly would Oda release a Novel about Ace`s Pirate Journey and the Spade Pirates and make it canon, it would make sense to introduce such information if it would become a plot in the manga. Its so far the only Novel being considered canon, how convenient dont you think?
Ace is a very popular character, which could explain a Novel about his adventures
But why after so many years?
And why introduce the Mera Mera in such a vague way?
It opens some loopholes:
Ace ate the “Mera Mera” at Sixis
Ace didnt eat the “Mera Mera” at Sixis but another Flame Type Fruit
The “Mera Mera” at Dressrosa is a replica and Sabo ate it
The “Mera Mera” at Dressrosa is the real respawned one but Ace disguised as Sabo ate it
Everything surrounding Ace and his story just opens more questions than answers
It suggest that Ace may yet play a major role in One Piece
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Any speculations and ideas are created with consideration of canon plotline in mind, that could allow for such possible (head) canons.
To reiterate:
Canon is what is considered to be an official part of the main storyline. Usually materials appropriate for fan analyses, speculations, or discussions.
Manga - highest source of One Piece canon
Anime - considered non-canon/part of the canon so long as it follows manga canon (barring filler and extra content), unless contradicted by the manga or Oda himself
SBS - considered part of the canon unless contradicted by the manga or Oda himself
DataBooks – (can be mostly) considered part of the canon unless contradicted by the manga or Oda himself
Magazines - considered part of the canon (barring the novels and info on non canon works such as films), unless contradicted by the manga or Oda himself
Novels – considered non-canon unless contradicted by the manga or Oda himself → Novel A is the only exception to this
• Sabo didnt eat the Mera Mera no Mi at Dressrosa -> Ace is alive it was him that ate the respawned fruit again / it was Sabo but he ate a prefected copy fruit
• Portgas D Rouge is a former Pirate
• Rouge has a Devil Fruit that can control water/the sea
• Dadan knows Portgas D Rouge & Gol D Roger
• Dadan is a former Pirate
• Ace is the father of Makinos child
• Tom is alive and in Impel Down
• Oro Jackson is hidden somewhere
• Mihawk is the son of Rayleigh & Shakky
• Nami is from Skypiea
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This is a collection of ideas and headcanons I have, I’ll add and edit onto it. I’ll also try and make a separate and more in depth analysis for each theory in other posts. This is just a post to map out and collect ideas, but do feel free to add your headcanons if u want! Id like to discuss them :D
Ah, the genius of giving the Franky Family house windows that look like the Franky Family’s goggles, which in turn make them look like eyes, which makes the house look like a face, which for the first time humanizes the gang as a sympathetic group of characters.
Also, it will never not be funny to me that this big, ostentatious house with giant dismantling equipment sticking out the sides has the most normal looking mailbox you could ever imagine just sitting in front of it
