Rocks D. Xebec

Based on stories of his exploits, Rocks appeared to be an incredibly vicious and ambitious man, having no care as to who he attacked as long as he could garner power for himself and leading his crew to destroy whoever interfered with his ambitions. He was also quite fearless and indiscriminately ruthless, as he had no issue with killing World Nobles or their slaves if it suited his wishes. Rocks was extremely cruel even to children, as he utterly refused to take a young giant, Loki out to sea with him, not out of concern for the child’s safety but because he didn’t want to be bothered with a child on his ship, and when Loki challenged him to a duel, he savagely defeated the boy and left a blade impaled into him. Rocks’ dream was to become the King of the World (世界の王, Sekai no Ō?), and he attacked many locations and left mass destruction in his wake to assert his dominance. He was also very curious about subjects that the World Government had kept hidden, resulting in him dabbling in those subjects. According to Whitebeard, Rocks was rather careless in his pursuits, commonly losing sight of the tasks at hand and going off on his own. According to Rocks himself, he isn’t the type of man who would take ‘no’ as an answer.

Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp and Gol D. Roger of the Roger Pirates were known to have joined forces to stop the Rocks Pirates during the God Valley Incident. That said, Garp is not fond of recounting this story despite its role in solidifying his reputation as a hero, since it involved him allying with a pirate and protecting World Nobles and the fact that he only received said reputation because the government suppressed the fact of Roger’s involvement.

Loki

Rocks met Loki when the giant prince was only a young child. Despite Loki idolizing him and requesting to join his crew, Rocks rejected him and savagely beat Loki with a bladed weapon when the prince demanded a fight.

Although Rocks’ individual strength and abilities are unknown, he was well-reputed for presiding over a crew of extremely powerful pirates with clashing personalities and a lack of camaraderie, indicating that he was an extremely powerful and charismatic individual. Many of these people would go on to make big names for themselves after the crew’s dissolution; “Whitebeard” Edward Newgate, “Big Mom” Charlotte Linlin, and “Kaidou of the Beasts” came to constitute three quarters of the original Four Emperors, widely regarded as the strongest pirate crews in the world during the Great Pirate Era. Before Rocks even became a pirate, he was able to kill a Marine Admiral, which are held as the strongest fighters of the Marines, a feat that earned him a tremendous bounty. Many years after his death, Xebec is considered by some to be the first and most formidable rival of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, even more so than his then-subordinate Newgate would come to be. He was so fearsome, it took the efforts of both Roger and Monkey D. Garp working together to finally defeat him. Rocks’ defeat was also what caused Garp to become a legend and to be known as the “Hero of the Marines”, showing how much of a threat the World Government considered him to be. Kaidou, who by the present has come to be called the world’s “Strongest Creature”, included Xebec when he listed a very small number of notable figures that were worthy to stand against him in battle, alongside Kouzuki Oden, Shanks, Newgate, and Roger, further hinting at Xebec’s might and threat. Aside from raw strength, Rocks seemed to be a very intelligent and knowledgeable man; through studying many subjects that were considered taboo, he was able to unravel many of the World Government’s secrets, which led the Government to decide to erase his name from history following his defeat.

Weapons

Rocks wielded a sword during the God Valley Incident.

Around 40 years ago, Rocks fathered a child, Marshall D. Teach. 38 years before the present, Rocks led his crew on a mission that endangered the World Nobles and their slaves during the Native Hunting Competition, looking to collect certain unnamed treasures. During this arrival at God Valley, Rocks appeared to have charged ahead of his crew as Newgate commented that he would lose sight of the task at hand. Around the same time, Gol D. Roger and his crew arrived to confront him for a past grievance; while unseen the two conversed with Rocks telling Roger not to get in his way. Shortly after Monkey D. Garp and Gol D. Roger had formed an alliance to defeat the Rocks Pirates, causing a massive battle to ensue. This event resulted in the dissolution of the crew. According to Loki 14 years before the present, Rocks had been killed by the World Government at an unspecified time.

Legacy

Many of Rocks’ subordinates would go on to become extremely notable pirates, particularly Edward Newgate, Charlotte Linlin, and Kaidou, who became three of the Four Emperors ruling over the New World. Shiki infamously clashed with the Roger Pirates multiple times and became the first documented inmate to escape Impel Down, while Captain John gathered a fabled treasure that’s been sought for decades. Rocks’ place in history has been considerably diminished in the decades since his death, with many younger Marines being unaware of who he is. According to Sengoku, this lack of knowledge about him is mainly due to the World Government’s intervention, as his path resulted in him dabbling in subjects they forbid. Additionally, due to the overall lack of camaraderie within the Rocks Pirates, most of Rocks’ past subordinates are not inclined to talk about their time sailing with the crew.

Rocks’ dream of taking over the world would be inherited by his son Marshall D. Teach, who would ironically go on to the cause the death of Roger’s own son Portgas D. Ace and directly kill and usurp Whitebeard’s status as an Emperor. He would name his flagship the “Saber of Xebec”, and would also reclaim Rocks’s old territory on Hachinosu from his former subordinate Ochoku. A full 38 years after his death, his former subordinates Kaidou and Linlin decided to put aside their enmity with each other and form a temporary alliance to conquer the world. This revived dream ultimately and quickly fell apart when both Linlin and Kaidou were defeated and eventually replaced as Emperors. In a twist of fate, the one to personally defeat Kaidou was Monkey D. Luffy, Garp’s grandson who wears Roger’s straw hat and has been personally trained by the Roger Pirates’ former First Mate, Silvers Rayleigh.