A crew so terrible it spawns three Emperors of the Sea and one of the most notorious names known, the Rocks Pirates were infamous. Their captain was an incredibly powerful fighter, known for his chaotic abilities and dreams of grandeur. Despite their looming part in the New World’s history, the Rocks Pirates are still mysterious, but more has recently come to light.
This article contains spoilers for One Piece through chapter 1096 of the manga. Catch up on Viz or MangaPlus before reading further!
Who is Rocks D Xebec?
At this point in the story we still know more about Xebec’s crew than we do about Xebec himself, unfortunately. He was a powerful pirate, able to reign in the massive powers of multiple other pirates under his lead. Though the most recent chapter shows that a lot of the Rocks Pirates weren’t very happy to be on the crew, they all knew that he was the strongest among them. Rocks was one of the few pirates on the Grand Line able to stand toe to toe with Gold Roger in his prime, and the God Valley Incident is just proof of his power.
Xebec’s goal is about the only thing known about him, because it was to completely take down the Celestial Dragons. It’s the one thing that Blackbeard is continuing on for him, carrying on the Will of D that brings chaos with it. Unfortunately for Rocks, it remains to be seen how far he was able to take his dream, as the God Valley Incident flashback that recently happened was just a tease of the event.
Charlotte ‘Big Mom’ Linlin
Definitely the Rocks Pirate that’s been seen the most throughout the series, both in the past and present. Big Mom is one of the most powerful Emperors alongside Kaido, She’s just as much of a terror in her younger days as she is in the present too, except she looks a lot better doing it. Big Mom already has at least twenty children by the time she joins the Rocks Pirates too, which is… impressive, to say the least.
Linlin is incredibly powerful, already in masterful control of her Soul-Soul Fruit, and well-versed in making new Homies. She has Napoleon, Zeus, and Prometheus at her side throughout her time with the Rocks Pirates. Big Mom is instrumental in getting Kaido his Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon. During the God Valley Incident, she takes the Devil Fruit, originally meant as a prize for the contest winners, and gives it to the young Emperor before they part ways.
Edward ‘Whitebeard’ Newgate
The Man who shakes heaven and earth is just one of the many strong members of the Rocks Pirates. He already has his Tremor-Tremor Fruit at the time he joins. Surprisingly, he’s actually already a little older at around thirty-six when he joins. By this point he already has his dream of a huge family. Thankfully he’s just going about it in a much different way than Big Mom is, thankfully. Whitebeard is, notably, one of the few on the Rocks Pirates who doesn’t care for anyone else on the crew. Well, almost anyone else, since Buckingham Stussy is there.
At some point in their time together, Whitebeard and Stussy have a child, Edward Weevil. There’s not really any answer as to if Whitebeard knew he had a real son. Of course, it’s probably better off that way. Whitebeard went on to become a powerful Emperor of the Sea. He faces down the Marines and Blackbeard while dying on his feet during Marineford arc. A beloved father, fearsome warrior, and gentle giant that could shake the earth.
Kaido
King of the Beasts and Emperor of the Sea, Kaido is the most fearsome foes the Straw Hats have overcome. He starts out in youth as a terror, a force of violence throughout the Vodka Kingdom. Kaido is so awful that he’s sold to the Marines. This eventually leads him to the life of piracy though. He falls into the Rocks Pirates by way of meeting Big Mom on Fullalead Island one day. He grows stronger and stronger through his encounters alongside Rocks and after, becoming a strong Emperor in the process.
Kaido grows to believe that he is the mythic Joyboy, held by the Poneglyphs as the savior of humanity. Unfortunately for him, he has things all wrong and doesn’t realize Joyboy doesn’t rule through violence. It eventually ends in Kaido’s defeat, right alongside Big Mom, the one who set him along this path in the first place.
Gloriosa
Little is known about Gloriosa, but she is an elder of Amazon Lily. She also was likely in exile for her part in the Rocks Pirates. Seeing as she’s an elder when Luffy stays in Kuja for a brief time, she is forgiven. It was likely by Shakky, but it’s still a question of why she left Kuja in the first place. She’s incredibly strong, especially as one of the Captains of the Kuja Pirates and a former Empress of Amazon Lily. It’s entirely possible she left the Kuja Pirates for a man, maybe Whitebeard or Shiki. Hell, it could even be Rocks himself that she was after.
There are theories that Gloriosa is the mother of Yamato, but this seems like a pretty long shot. She’s going to remain one of the more mysterious members of the Rocks Pirates for now though. Unless she decides to give a first-hand account of the God Valley Incident any time soon.
Buckingham Stussy
Stussy is also incredibly mysterious, mostly because Chapter 1096 is her first real appearance as a young pirate. Her clone later on is strong enough to infiltrate Cipher Pol 0, so that gives hints of her real strength. As a young pirate, she was strong enough to join up with the Rocks Pirates. Also, she has a really major thing for Whitebeard. It’s kind of strange that she doesn’t come forward with Edward Weevil sooner though. When she reappears later, she hasn’t aged well.
Stussy is a bitter, angry old woman who demands her son be made a Warlord of the Sea. Shes’s mostly doing this out of her own drive for wealth, instead of any love for her son. Although she is on a warpath now. After the Warlords’ dissolution, Weevil is locked up in Impel Down and she’s not too happy about that.
‘Golden Lion’ Shiki
Until now, Golden Lion Shiki has only been seen in the movie One Piece: Strong World, but with chapter 1096 he comes roaring into the canon. An incredibly strong fighter with the abilities of the Float-Float Fruit, which allows him basic telekinesis over any non-living matter, he’s fierce in a fight. Shiki himself is one of the first known breakouts from Impel Down, accomplishing it by himself in his youth before joining the Rocks Pirates.
After Rocks, he goes on to form the Golden Lion Pirates, a massive fleet that spars with Gold Roger multiple times. Though he’s still a mysterious figure in the current timeline of One Piece, he was a terrifying combatant at the God Valley Incident.
Captain John
Another with little to no history available, the one thing known about Captain John is that he hid an immense treasure. Buggy is after it, and will do nearly anything to get his hands on it right along with the One Piece. As for Captain John himself, he’s a mystery, only shown in a couple of panels drinking while the Rocks Pirates charge into battle. There are a couple of other members there too, but they’re all un-named as of yet, with no indication of a return to God Valley soon.
God Valley Incident
The manga was so, so close to revealing the God Valley Incident in Chapter 1096, but doesn’t quite get there. Instead, the action begins, showing that Rocks was after the Devil Fruits held at God Valley. One of the slaves involved in the games leaked the information to pirates around the world, bringing not just Rocks, but others like Roger into the mix as well. Even worse, the Holy Knights are there for the games and Fleet Admiral Kong is calling Garp in to back them up!
That’s it though. As far as we know, anyway, as the scenes in this chapter jumped ahead a few days to the Sorbet Kingdom, totally bypassing the massive battle. It’s going to stay shrouded in mystery for now, as things on Egghead Island seem to be going in a different direction.
Is Rocks D Xebec Dead?
The great mystery after God Valley is if Rocks D Xebec is actually dead, and there’s no real confirmation. Everything points to yes, that he was killed during the battle by either Garp, Roger, or Garling. As usual though, nothing is confirmed until it’s on the page. Blackbeard seems to firmly believe Xebec is dead, and says that he’s carrying on the captain’s will. How he’s doing it is by creating a pirate country on Fullalead. Rayleigh and Garp meanwhile also seem to believe he’s dead. Death has only gone so far in One Piece when it comes to keeping people out of fights.
The Rocks Pirates will have their day in One Piece soon. Eventually, they’ll have the moment to shine during the God Valley Incident, showing if Rocks is the evil bastard he’s made out to be. At the moment, he’s looking more and more like the good guy in the God Valley Incident, but only time will tell what the Rocks Pirates were really up to in One Piece!
