One of the most notable aspects of the One Piece story is the fact that very few deaths occur. Quite often, even those that do aren't permanent as characters seem to meet their doom early on but eventually come back to the story in one way or another, which can work sometimes. This has gotten to the point where fans accept that, unless it's outright stated, characters shouldn't be thought of as dead in this series.

On the other hand, the few deaths that have been confirmed have hit like a truck since they're few and far between. None are more important to Luffy's overall journey than the death of Ace, which many fans even begged Oda not to go through with during the airing of the Marineford arc. However, Oda believed that Ace's death was integral to the One Piece story and was always going to happen, regardless of fan sentiments.

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Forget Zoan, Logia and Paramecia Are One Piece’s Most Powerful Devil Fruits

God Fruits are essentially fan terms for the strongest Devil Fruits in the series, so let's look at those from the Logia and Paramecia variety.

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By Haider Haroon Rasheed

**Ace's Death Was One Of The Main Points Of The Entire One Piece Story**

Integral To Luffy's Arc

Ace's First Appearance	One Piece, Chapter 154, "To Alabasta"
Ace's Last Appearance	One Piece, Chapter 574, "Portgas D. Ace Dies"

Very few moments in the One Piece story have had as much of a lasting impact as Ace's death, both on the story as a whole and the fandom itself. After Ace was captured by the World Government and due for execution in front of the whole world to see, Whitebeard declared war on the Navy to get back his beloved crewmate, starting the Marineford War, where the forces of the pirates took on the full might of the Marines.

In a battle of many close calls and the falling of some of the world's most important figures, Luffy got very close to saving his brother, only for Ace to be taunted by Akainu, leading to a battle of powerful Logia users. This ended in one of the most tragic scenes in the One Piece series, with Ace dying in Luffy's arms. Oda revealed that when the arc was airing, many editors and fans wrote to him, pleading for him not to kill Ace, which even took him by surprise as he did not expect such a positive reaction. However, Ace's death was always supposed to happen.

In order to make Luffy one step stronger, I drew Ace as a dying character since the very beginning.

The decision to do this was met with quite a fair bit of criticism and sadness, but only years after seeing it can fans look at it through an objective point of view to see how necessary Ace's death was to the story. Of course, this doesn't soften the blow, but it puts everything into context as a significant event that was needed in order to facilitate Luffy's growth, since the New World would not have been kind to him otherwise. By killing off Ace and previously dispersing the Straw Hats on Sabaody, Oda ensured the perfect reasons for Luffy to become stronger.

At the end of the day, it's known that Luffy is the successor to Joyboy and the one destined to bring a new dawn to the world. Despite this, at that point in the story, Luffy simply wasn't strong enough for the New World and likely would have been crushed quite swiftly, even as early as Fishman Island. Due to Ace dying in his arms, Luffy's mindset was completely altered as he realized that he needed to become as strong as possible in order to keep his loved ones safe and to protect the oppressed people of the world.

Following the Marineford Arc, the time skip occurred, where Luffy underwent intense training under Silvers Rayleigh to hone all facets of his Haki to their utmost capability. Here, he learned to control his Conqueror's Haki masterfully, which was enough to knock out 50,000 Fishmen during the Fishman Island arc, eventually going on to make this his primary power.

None of this would have happened without Ace's death. Luffy had to grow this way, and although it came at quite a heavy price, it was needed regardless. To this day, Ace's will and legacy live on through both of his brothers, since his Mera Mera no Mi Devil Fruit was eventually eaten by Sabo, who was thought to be dead for years. Had it not been for this pivotal moment, the One Piece story would have ended much earlier.

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By Rei Penber

**Why Ace Is One Of One Piece's Most Important And Best Characters**

The Legendary Fire Fist

Ace's legacy lives on to this day.

Although Ace only made very brief appearances throughout the series and died halfway through it, he remains one of the most important and beloved characters in all of One Piece. As stated previously, he was integral to Luffy's entire journey and his legacy lives on through him and Sabo. On top of this, he even made quite a mark on the world by himself as one of the most ambitious and powerful rookies sailing the Grand Line.

Eventually, he became a part of the legendary Whitebeard Pirates and eventually rose to the rank of Second Division Commander, an incredible position previously held by the equally legendary Kozuki Oden. Most notable, however, was the fact that Ace was the son of the greatest pirate in history, the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, so to say that Ace made his mark on the world is an understatement, since he is one of the series' most important and influential characters.

One Piece can be streamed on Crunchyroll.