Portgas D. Ace is an extremely important character in One Piece who played a significant role before the time skip.

Being Luffy’s older brother, Ace was absolutely essential for the plot to move forward. He drove one of the biggest and the most popular segments of the entire story, the Summit War Saga, as much of that revolved around a war to rescue him from the clutches of the Marines, and at the same time, giving Luffy a reality check and forcing him to grow stronger.

Of course, fans know that this war ended with the death of both Whitebeard and Ace. The Marine suffered great losses as well, but in the grand scheme of things, it was a victory for them. The pirates were utterly crushed and Luffy was forced to grow stronger. But, what if things were different? It is entirely possible that in another world, Ace would have survived the Paramount War, and this would have changed the flow of the story forever and One Piece will be starkly different right now.

Ace’s Death In The Paramount War

Portgas D. Ace was Killed By Sakazuki In One Piece

Portgas D. Ace fought against Blackbeard on Bernardo Island, where he, despite utilizing all his powers, was crushed. He was then handed over to the Navy by Blackbeard because he wanted the position as a member of the Seven Warlords. Blackbeard successfully got his position, and Ace was thrown into Impel Down. His execution date was announced soon enough, and this triggered a war with Whitebeard. Normally, a pirate such as Ace would not have it executed. However, the Marines were in a rush to execute him, and much of that was down to the fact that he was the son of the Pirate King, Gol D Roger. To eliminate Roger’s lineage, the date of execution was absolutely necessary for the World Government and they moved ahead with the idea of executing Ace and Marine HQ, which is where the war with Whitebeard raged on. The war was incredibly intense, and could have gone either way. Ace ended up dying in this war after he sacrificed his life to protect his little brother, Luffy. And eventually, this marked the death of one of the most beloved characters in One Piece.

Thank you… for loving me!

The war between the Pirates and the Marines still did not stop even after Ace had died. It wasn’t until Shanks arrived on the battlefield and asked both sides to show restraint that the war officially ended and both the pirates and the Marines had retreated. In the piracy world, this war had immense casualties, as one of the Yonko, Whitebeard had died and so did the son of the Pirate King, Ace. Of course, this is what happened in Marineford in the actual story, but, if one were to assume that Ace survived the Paramount War, then, things would be starkly different in One Piece, especially as things stand right now.

Ace As A Leader In The New World

Ace Would’ve Led The Whitebeard Pirates

The very first thing that fans need to keep in mind if Ace survived the Paramount War is that Whitebeard would have died. Essentially, the idea is that Whitebeard sacrificed his life for Ace, and held back the Marines, eventually dying. For the Marines, this would have been a small victory, given that Whitebeard would have been slain, but, in the grand scheme of things, they would have let Ace escape, which would have been a bigger loss to them. Whitebeard would have left the crew in Marco’s care for the time being, but eventually, Ace would have grown to take control of the pirate crew. This is evident from the fact that Whitebeard himself was grooming Ace for command, and he wanted him to be the successor of the Pirate King.

So, a situation similar to the one in the Mokumo Dukedom would have arised. Ace would have been assigned to captain the Whitebeard Pirates, but, there would have been other individuals to help him around, such as Marco, Jozu, among other individuals. Ace would head to the New World, and realize that he has a very big burden on his shoulders.

He would then have to live up to the standards that both Whitebeard and Roger had set before him, and this would be absolutely essential for his character to grow even further. Slowly but steadily, Ace would have gotten even stronger and become a force to be reckoned with. This is also something that the fans should not be surprised by. Sengoku clearly stated before the Paramount War began that Ace would have gone on to become leader of the next generation of pirates if he were allowed to live. This means that Ace had enough potential to become the next Roger and that eliminating him was deemed necessary by the Navy.

In this scenario, given that Ace survived, he would have grown tremendously over the next few years and become a force that even the Navy would be terrified of. He would have awakened his devil fruit, and became a formidable force. Above all, Ace would have learned how to infuse Conqueror’s Haki, given that fans already know that he possessed all three, and he would have taken this skill to the next level. By training relentlessly and working on these powers, Ace would have officially risen to a very high level.

I don’t wanna live a thousand years. If I just live through today, that’ll be enough.

This would also mean that Ace would have had to fight against some other Emperors of the Sea. After the fall of Whitebeard, Blackbeard would still have attained the position Emperor of the Sea. Clearly, Oda would have had Blackbeard steal Whitebeard’s devil fruit in Marineford anyway. This would mean that Ace would have had a grudge against Blackbeard, but he wouldn’t have thrown his life away in a fit of rage here, given that Whitebeard sacrificed way too much for him to simply give his life away. Essentially, Ace would wait until the time was right and then strike.

The moment he felt he was ready, fans would have gotten to see another battle between Blackbeard and Ace, and this could have happened towards the extreme end of the series, where Blackbeard would have been taken down by Ace instead of Luffy. Of course, not many fans would have liked this idea, but it would have made perfect sense, especially given that there are other enemies for Luffy to tackle, such as the Five Elders and Imu themselves.

Ace Surpassing Roger’s Legacy

Ace Would Establish A Great Legacy

Ace would definitely not have gone for the One Piece. He did not want to relive the legacy that Roger established for himself. But, he wanted to surpass Roger in his own way. To do that, Ace would have to become an even bigger pirate, and he would have accomplished that by changing the world together with Luffy. Luffy would go on to become the Pirate King, just as he always wanted, and consequently, he would have needed to wage war against the World Government order. This is where Ace would come in, and he and his allies, as an Emperor crew, would join forces with Luffy and his allies, who would also be another Emperor. These two Emperor crews would have united, and fans could potentially have seen the likes of Sabo join in, who would be Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army.

Together, these three brothers would have waged a war against the Government and essentially destroyed their order, helping establish a new order for a better world. By doing this, Ace would have surpassed Roger’s legacy and saved countless people, and at the same time, become the pirate that he always wanted. He would have grown even bigger than the shoes that he had to fill, and go down in history as a legendary figure, and a protective brother for Luffy to always look up to.