[Ed. note: Major spoilers ahead for chapter 1154 of One Piece.]
You can accomplish a lot in seven years: conceive a child and raise them until 2nd grade, write Ulysses by James Joyce, or build the Colosseum in Rome. Or, if you are a genius mangaka named Eiichiro Oda, you can name-drop a mysterious but important character from the past of the absurdly intricate world of your best-selling manga, One Piece, and then actually introduce him seven years later. Oh, and if that weren’t enough, you can also casually mention that he is the father of one of the series’ main villains.
All of this happened in chapter 1154 of One Piece. A couple of days before the official publication, fans who don’t care about or can’t avoid spoilers and leaks learned that Rocks D. Xebec, the legendary captain of the Rocks Pirates, a crew that terrorized the world of One Piece about 50 years before current events in the series, finally made his debut in the manga. Previously, rocks only appeared as a silhouette or a shadowed figure in flashbacks.
The current chapter is also part of a flashback that depicts the infancy of Prince Loki of Elbaf and the troubles faced by his father, King Harald. While the story currently focuses on Loki’s traumatic childhood, the final page of the chapter shocked everyone by showing the arrival at Elbaf of Rocks, finally shown in full. Moreover, a caption also revealed that, just like many fans suspected, Rocks is the father of Marshall D. Teach, aka Blackbeard, a fearsome Emperor of the Sea and one of Luffy’s biggest enemies.
As @MarcoGrandFleet correctly wrote on X, “No One Piece fan will pass without liking this. ROCKS D. XEBEC IS HERE.“
Another fan pointed out that, as we just learned in the chapter from King Harald, Rocks killed a Marine Admiral, which makes him the first known character in One Piece to achieve that feat. Admirals are the most powerful members of the Navy, recognized as one of the “Three Great Powers” in the world of the series. Rocks couldn’t get a better introduction than that.
Finally, another fan is one among many who noted a similarity between Rock’s features and those of beloved character Buggy the Clown, making many speculate that he could be Blackbeard’s brother or half-brother, which would be another crazy revelation.
Who is Rocks D. Xebec in One Piece?
One Piece fans are used to characters who are incredibly relevant for the story without having yet made a full appearance, and Rocks is one of them. He was first named in chapter 907, where Hina, a Marine Rear Admiral, mentions in a conversation with Garp, Luffy’s grandpa, a group named Rocks, which came before the era of the Rogers Pirates. Then, in chapter 957, Sengoku, a former Marine Fleet Admiral, instructs a group of recruits on the story of the Rocks Pirates, explaining they were a crew comprised of incredibly strong individuals, three of whom went on to become Emperors of the Sea: Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido. Obviously, fans were amazed that their captain, Rocks D. Xebec could keep under his control so many mighty pirates, and began speculating about his power. Theories also began to flourish around his relationship with Blackbeard, as it was known that the latter’s ship was named “Saber of Xebec.”
Image: TOEI animation via Polygon
The Rocks Pirates were defeated 38 years before the current events in the series, during the legendary “God Valley Incident,” which was shown only recently in the manga and in a limited way. Notably, Rocks did not appear on that occasion, which only made fans more anxious to see him. One really interesting thing about the character is that, according to Sengoku, he wanted to become “King of the World,” which may be interpreted as challenging the World Government directly, unlike what other pirates do. Rocks was the instigator of the God Valley Incident, where he attacked the untouchable Celestial Dragons, a bold move that speaks about his larger motivations. It’s likely that any revelation about Rocks will also shed some light on the big mysteries behind the World Government and the secret ruler of the world, Imu.
One Piece is perhaps the only manga that is capable of keeping interest in a character alive for almost a decade by barely mentioning him. It can be exhausting to follow this pace, but I’m here for the ride, until the end.