On the cover of Chapter 596, Sabo was shown as a young man. He was portrayed as tall and muscular like Ace, and was still wearing the same attire he wore as a child but made bigger to fit his size, and was carrying a bo staff. He seemed to have longer hair, and his eyes were hidden by his hat’s brim. Ace’s tattoo is written as “ACE” instead of the original “ASCE”. This suggests that the S was a tribute to Sabo, as the cover is a “what if” image of Ace, Luffy, and Sabo together as adults.
Sabo’s character is first hinted at in Chapter 558 where a third sake cup can slightly be seen in a flashback of the boys’ brotherhood initiation.
Sabo’s appearance is similar to that of the character Artful Dodger from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. He too was part of a gang of child thieves. His signature appearance included a top hat and an adult’s waistcoat with the sleeves rolled up.
Sabo’s fate was hinted at twice. Once during a conversation between Ivankov and Dragon during Episode 504, and again on the cover page of Chapter 668 as three cups of sake were placed before the grave of Ace with a newspaper article about Luffy pinned to the grave. It was later revealed that Sabo was the one who placed it there.
Sabo makes his animated debut in the present storyline in the 3D2Y special, rather than the anime.
In the 5th Japanese Fan Polls, Sabo ranked as the fifth most popular character in One Piece making him the most popular of the Revolutionary Army and the second most popular “non-Straw Hat” character in the series, aside from Trafalgar Law.
When Sabo found out about Ace’s death, his reaction was eerily similar to Luffy’s – resulting in his jaw hinging open in an over the top fashion and the trauma of losing his brother putting him into a coma. (although Sabo also regained his memories, so the shock could have contributed to this)
Sabo’s role in the story thus far has mirrored that of Ace’s during the first half of the series to a certain extent.
Both characters are introduced in the present timeline during an arc that features a Shichibukai as the main antagonist, both of whom also had a tyrannical rule over a Kingdom, in regards to Alabasta and Dressrosa respectively.
Both Ace and Sabo protected Luffy from a villain (or villains in Sabo’s case) that he couldn’t fight at the time. (Smoker, Fujitora and Burgess respectively)
Before departing, both Ace and Sabo left vivre cards and entrusted Luffy’s safety to his crew. Although these events are slightly different, as Ace had given a vivre card to Luffy in order for him to find him in the future – and Sabo gave Luffy’s crew a vivre card to help them find Luffy, and kept one for himself.
Sabo is similar to Sanji as…
Both were born into royal families and hated their royal status.
Both escaped their life of royalty and ended up having a preferred life (A revolutionary for Sabo, a cook for the Baratie and the Straw Hat Pirates for Sanji).
Both their fathers saw them as disappointments.
Both were forced to marry a woman of their parents choosing.
Both hated their siblings.
Both returned back to their royal status to prevent their loved ones from getting killed and were threatened by their fathers if they did not cooperate (Luffy and Ace for Sabo, Zeff for Sanji).
Both had something destroyed by their fathers when they were young (The drawing Sabo had made for his father, the food Sanji prepared for a mouse).
Both had pirates involved in their return to their royal status (The Bluejam Pirates for Sabo, the Big Mom Pirates for Sanji).
Both were locked up by their fathers for showing disgrace.
Sabo is the first person seen to actually eat a deceased person’s Devil Fruit aside Blackbeard somehow “eating” Edward Newgate’s Gura Gura no Mi.
