Portgas D Ace, famed in the One Piece world as "Fire Fist," is the former captain of the Spade Pirates and the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates crew. Ace is Luffy's older brother, which makes him a widely beloved character in the One Piece series.
As expected, Ace almost always ranks among the most popular One Piece characters, mostly due to his charming personality, but also because of his huge role in shaping Monkey D. Luffy into the person he is today. Just like every other One Piece character that Oda designed diligently, Ace has had a few interesting outfits throughout the series.
6 Debut
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A lot of people seem to forget that Ace's actual debut was not in the Alabasta arc. While he did get his proper introduction during that arc, his first appearance was actually on Drum Island in chapter 154 of the manga and episode 91 of the anime. When Ace was on the quest to track down Blackbeard, something fans saw in great depth in his cover story, he eventually arrived on Drum Island. There, he wore a distinct yet similar fit to what he wears usually.
This outfit consisted of a black coat, along with his normal hat, but in a black shade. This is the only occasion where Ace's hat was different. It is possible that Eiichiro Oda, the author, probably changed his mind on what color he wanted the hat to be.
5 His Hat
Portgas D. Ace's most memorable character design is, undoubtedly, his hat. Ace is almost always been sporting an orange hat, shaped like a cowboy hat. It is decorated with red beads that go around it, similar to the ones that constitute his necklace.
The most stand-out element of his hat, however, are the two small faces on the front – one sad, and one happy. Eiichiro Oda was asked about whether this was intentionally done and his answer seems to confirm that wasn't the case. Nonetheless, these two faces represent the expression he made before he died. Ace's hat never went through any modifications, besides the color change after the Drum Island arc from black to orange.
4 Key Outfit
Ace, like most characters, has had multiple outfit changes as the series progressed. While Ace does change his outfit sometimes, usually, it is just his normal wear with minor changes. The outfit Ace wears the most is not the same as his debut outfit.
Surprisingly, instead of the black jacket and black hat, he is mostly shirtless, with an orange hat that everyone has come to associate with him on his head. What's more, he always wears his necklace which consists of large red beads, and his black shorts that are held up with his Jolly Roger belt. It is possible that he stays shirtless due to the hotness of his Devil Fruit ability and thinks that less is better for him.
3 Alabasta Outfit
Alabasta was the arc that properly introduced Portgas D. Ace to One Piece fans as Luffy's brother, despite it not being his first appearance in the story. After his identity being revealed, the fans get to spend quite some time with Ace, especially in the anime, thanks to additional filler content.
In these few episodes, Ace is seen wearing more traditional Alabastian clothes over his normal ones. Most notably, he dons a long desert robe with flame motifs around the sleeves – a reference to his fire abilities, and on top of that, he also wears a white scarf around his neck to protect him from the sun.
2 His Color
Portgas D. Ace's color has never been confirmed explicitly by the author of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, but it is fair to assume that his color is orange. Ace's main outfit accessory that is heavily associated with his character is his hat. As fans know, this hat is orange.
In general, Ace's clothes tend to be very warm colors, mainly orange, but also yellow or red, coupled with some black at times. This is to relate to his Devil Fruit ability, the Mera Mera no Mi, or the Flare Flare Fruit. As such, the orange color of Ace's burning flames is also a big indication that his color is, in fact, orange. Furthermore, even his Devil Fruit is orange in color.
1 Lost Hat
Portgas D. Ace never separates from his hat, just like Monkey D. Luffy never separates from the hat he was given by Shanks. Interestingly, this changed when he left on his quest to find Blackbeard after the latter murdered a crewmate, Thatch, and stole the Yami Yami no Mi from him before jumping ship.
While Ace was advised by many to stop and not pursue Teach, he was very reckless and continued in his mission to deliver justice. When the two eventually faced off against each other in a fight on Banaro Island, Ace lost, and his iconic hat was left behind. Expectedly, his hat was not seen in Impel Down, or Marineford when he was to be executed. It is, however, put on his grave alongside his other accessories after his death.