Ace is a Miami-based private detective specializing in the retrieval of missing animals, the son of Rex Ventura and descendant of such as "Ernest Ventura Shackleton" and "Jacques Ventura Costeau". It is not known whether the animated television series was contiguous with the feature-films; but if it was it may take place before them because the only one of his pets to appear in the series is his capuchin monkey, Spike. His eccentricities make him a laughing stock to the Miami-Dade Police Department in the early part of the first movie, but he eventually earned their respect after his rescue of Dan Marino and the dolphin, Snowflake.
''Ace Ventura: Pet Detective''
During the first film, Ace lives in an apartment alongside many different animals, all of whom hide from his landlord, Mr. Schickadance in his absence, and to whom he owes money for rent. He is tasked with not only finding a stolen dolphin, but also trying to prevent the kidnapping of Dan Marino from a psychopath ex-football player, Ray Finkle, bent on revenge for costing the Dolphins the game with the botched field goal. He is certain that Finkle is the man responsible, but he can't find Finkle. Ace also learns of a missing hiker who coincidentally is named Lt. Lois Einhorn and tries to figure out the connection she has with his suspect. Eventually, Ace not only discovers the connection that Finkle has with Einhorn, but also that they're the same person in a transgender disguise. This may imply that Finkle had killed Einhorn, and then undergone a partial sex change to assume her identity and take advantage of her position in the Miami PD. Disgusted by the thought that when he had been previously kissed by Einhorn, he had actually been kissed by a man, Ace spends the night rinsing his mouth out and washing himself. Following Einhorn to the hideout inside a wharf, he tries to test his theory on her but finds a normal feminine body and actual hair. Before Ace was about to give up, Marino secretly alerts him to a bulge sticking between her legs. With concrete proof, Ace makes a short humiliating speech at Einhorn while revealing to the entire Miami PD about her true motive in killing Roger Podacter, when he discovered her true identity as Finkle. He proves it by forcibly turning Einhorn over to reveal the bulge sticking out of her silk panties. Everyone in the PD, as well as Marino and Snowflake, reacts in disgust when they learned that Finkle had kissed them the same way as Ace. Now humiliated and exposed, Finkle makes her last attempt to kill Ace out of revenge, but he flips her over into the wharf. As he attempts to pull himself up, Ace steps over Finkle's hand and takes the ring which was indeed missing a stone to finalize his theory that Einhorn is no doubt the disgraced Ray Finkle. Ace begins a relationship with Miami Dolphins press officer, Melissa Robinson, while Finkle is arrested for her crimes.
''Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls''
During the second film, Ace attempts monasticism after a failed rescue attempt of a raccoon, only to be called out of retirement to investigate a missing sacred animal named Shikaka, although he has a severe fear of bats. During meditation with the Abbot, he discovers Vincent Cadby who originally hired him to find the bat is the same kidnapper who wanted the war to happen so he can take control of the guano deposits there. He thwarts Cadby's plans to have the two tribes go to war and returns the sacred bat. After the marriage between the Wachati chief's daughter and Tiny Warrior, Ace is eventually hunted down by both tribes, implying he had something to do with the princess no longer being a virgin.
Family and Ace Irwin Ventura Jr.
By the events portrayed in , it is established that after resolving his case in Africa, Ace returned to Miami and started a family. He married Melissa and they had a son, Jr.. But Ace has disappeared somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, and never appears in the film itself. However, Ace Jr. inherited his ability to discern trouble, which he must rely on when he must assist in finding his classmates' pets along with the missing animals and clear his mother's name when she is accused of the theft. Ace Jr. believes her innocence and seeks the help of his grandfather, Rex, to help him investigate the whole thing. They begin to suspect that one of his classmates was involved in the theft and with the help of A-Plus, Ace Jr. suspects that Pennington Jr. had been involved with Dr. Sickenger. Sickenger is found to be innocent and he helps lead Ace Jr. along with Rex to the true culprit, Quinton Pennington Sr. After finding the animals in the Pennington family home, Pennington Sr. confesses to his crime, admitting that he stole the pets along with the famous animals because he was trying to keep his son happy. He eventually got fed up with his spoiled nature when he refused to be satisfied. Melissa is cleared of the theft charges and Pennington Sr. is arrested for his crimes. Ace Jr. is rewarded as a hero for his efforts.
Personality
Ace Ventura is an eccentric self-styled "pet detective" who forsook regular police work to concentrate on this latter pursuit. Like other fictional detectives, he is notable for extraordinary powers of observation and deduction; and on at least one occasion, he has managed to escape being shot by catching a bullet in his teeth. Ventura's eccentricities include his persistent vulgarity and exceedingly flamboyant behaviour; despite this, he is a dedicated detective, driven by an insatiable adoration of animals and a desire to protect them from human mistreatment. In ', it is implied that his abilities, personality and appearance are hereditary. Although Ace is an animal lover, ' reveals a deep-seated fear of bats. In most appearances, Ace usually wears an unbuttoned Aloha shirt over a plain white A-shirt, with red and black striped trousers and black biker boots.
Crossover with ''The Mask''
In the episode "The Aceman Cometh" of ', when Milo, the pet dog of Stanley Ipkiss, was stolen by Dr. Pretorius, Ipkiss calls Ace for help. Both Ipkiss/the Mask and Ace Ventura were the animated versions of characters portrayed by Jim Carrey himself. The crossover continued in the Ace Ventura: Pet Detective episode "Have Mask, Will Travel", in which Ace accidentally wears the mask on his buttocks, which assumes a face similar to his own and gains the ability to speak, suggesting a joke featured in ' of speaking while presenting his rump to the listener and moving it in semblance of a speaking mouth.
Reception
Ace was ranked the 59th Greatest Movie Character in a November 2008 list by Empire Magazine. Despite his popularity, he was also voted one of the most annoying film characters ever in a British online poll.
