Legendary and active 38 years ago before the adventures of One Piece began, the Rock Pirates were made up of powerful pirates ☠️ renowned and feared. Indeed, this crew had as members three of the four future Yonkô, namely Kaido of the Hundred Beasts , Charlotte Linlin aka Big Mom and Edward Newgate aka Whitebeard, the Strongest Man in the World . Also there were Shiki the Golden Lion, captain of the Golden Lion Pirates, and John, aka Captain John, who later became one of the Zombie Generals from Thriller Bark.
This crew was under the leadership of Rocks D. Xebec, a captain who was both famous and influential before the Gol D. Roger era. He was not only one of the most powerful crews, but also one of the greatest threats to the World Government of their time. 🗽 Its dissolution took place 38 years ago following the God Valley incident which pitted Rocks against Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp . Furthermore, the World Government has done everything to make the name of this crew and its deeds fall into oblivion by intentionally obscuring them.
Captain of the Rocks:
At the head of this crew was Rocks D. Xebec, who was simply called Rocks. Although the latter is no longer in this world today, he nevertheless had his hour of glory 40 years ago. According to the words of Sengoku the Buddha, the former Admiral Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Rocks was one of the most formidable adversaries that Monkey D. Garp aka The Hero 🦸🏼♂️ of the Navy had to face. He was also the first opponent of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger and his most formidable rival.
Note also that Rocks D. Xebec had the ambition to conquer the world and become its Master. His power is such that he ruled the seas for quite a while until the arrival of Gol D. Roger. In addition, the latter had to temporarily ally with the Navy and Monkey D. Garp in order to stop Rocks and his crew who had made it their mission to attack God Valley, an island in the New World and the stronghold of the Celestial Dragons. . An impressive battle took place, which led to the defeat and disbandment of the Rocks Pirates, but also to the complete disappearance of the island. 🏝️
Devil Fruit by Rocks D. Xebec
As we have seen, Rocks D. Xebec is so powerful that Roger and Garp had to form an alliance to be able to defeat him. Aside from Rocks being seen with a sword, his skills have unfortunately not been revealed to date. However, there is a theory that this character had a Logia-type Devil Fruit 👹, the Yami Yami no Mi or Fruit of Darkness . This hypothesis is based on the outcome of the God Valley incident which resulted in the latter being wiped off the map. Indeed, the island where the World Nobles were located has completely disappeared and is no longer present on any existing map following the terrible clash between Roger and Garp in Rocks. The question arises as to what really happened during this fight to cause an entire island to disappear from the face of the earth. And this is where the hypothesis of the use of Yami Yami no Mi by Rocks D. Xebec arises.
Let's quickly remember that this Devil Fruit 🍇 allows its user to control darkness as well as gravity. With this, the user can absorb everything around them into darkness, be it objects or even living beings. He also has the ability to create a sort of vortex, like a black hole, into which he sucks everything he wants. The theory of Rocks using the power of this Devil Fruit during the Banaro incident is related to another event known as the Banaro incident which pitted Portgas D. Ace aka Ace of the Burning Fists against Marshall D. Teach, aka Blackbeard . First of all, these events are both called incidents, which could not be a coincidence for followers of this theory.
Note that in the Banaro incident, Blackbeard 🪒 used the Yami Yami no Mi to absorb the entire city where the fight was taking place in his darkness and then expel it into ruins. It is also important to remember that at the end of this confrontation, practically the entire island of Banaro was consumed by a gigantic explosion of energy caused by the darkness of Teach in contact with the Ace's ultimate technique, Dai Enkai: Entei, also from his Devil Fruit, Mera Mera no Mi.
The theory is therefore that Rocks D. Xebec would also have used the Yami Yami no Mi, which had the effect of absorbing the island of God Valley. The Captain of the Rocks Pirates would therefore have been the first holder of this Devil Fruit and this would also be the reason why Teach did everything to recover it. Indeed, the hypothesis does not stop there, it goes even further by drawing parallels between the characters who played a role in these two incidents. Each of these incidents featured clashes between three characters named with the particle "D". That of God Valley pitted Monkey D. Garp and Gol D. Roger against Rocks D. Xebec while, for that of Banaro, there was Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy against Marshall D. Teach .
In addition, these characters would have a special bond between them: Roger is Ace's father, Garp is Luffy's grandfather and Rocks would therefore have an affiliation with Teach, the latter having renamed his ship The Saber ⚔️ by Xebec for a precise reason and not by simple chance. For Blackbeard, the Yami Yami no Mi would therefore have a special meaning, hence his need to recover it at all costs.
On the one hand, it would be his legacy from Xebec because they both have an affiliation with each other and, on the other hand, it would allow him to perpetuate the will of conquer the world. Note also that before Blackbeard stole it, this Devil Fruit was previously in the hands of Thatch, the Commander of the 4th Division of Whitebeard's fleet , while the latter was himself a former member of the 'Rocks Crew. It cannot therefore be a simple coincidence.
A final point to raise in support of this theory is the fact that Emperor Teach chose Pirate Island 🏴☠️ as his residence. Indeed, it is on this island that Rocks trained its crew more than 40 years ago. It could therefore be that Teach's choice is not trivial, but is of importance to him because of his potential relationship with Xebec.
History of the Rocks crew
Having long dominated the oceans, Rocks and his crew were one of the greatest threats the World Government had to face, even to this day. This dominance only ended 38 years ago following the God Valley Incident, which led to the advent of the Gol D. Roger era. This crew was born on Pirate Island, also called the Hive. We know that understanding between the different members was very poor to the point that killings within the crew themselves were commonplace.
The captain's sole goal was to become King 🤴🏼 of the World and this crew looked more like a terrorist organization than anything else. Through their actions, he represented a real danger for the World Government which absolutely had to be put to an end. This need led Monkey D. Garp to enter into an unprecedented alliance with Gol D. Roger in order to defeat this crew. So that's what happened 38 years ago in God Valley with the defeat of Rocks and his crew. This victory even earned Garp his nickname Hero of the Navy. We also learned that after their defeat, the crew was disbanded and that Charlotte Linlin aka Big Mom had offered Kaido the Uo Uo no Mi, a Mythical Zoan type Devil Fruit, and that the latter ate it .
In the Reverie Arc, Garp the Hero tells us that Rocks and his crew are part of the past and that their very existence now seems forgotten. It must be said that the World Government intentionally concealed a large number of misdeeds perpetrated by the Rock Pirates. It even turns out that the former members of this crew do not seem very inclined to talk about this period of their past. It was also in the Wano Kuni Arc, during a meeting of the Navy about the alliance that was established between the Emperors 👑 Big Mom and Kaido, that Sengoku revealed to us the membership of many notorious pirates to this renowned crew.
This is particularly the case of the Yonkos Whitebeard, Big Mom and Kaido but also of Shiki, Captain John, Ochoku and Silver Ax . Hina the Black Cage, Rear Admiral of the Navy, also said during the Reverie Arc that these former members of the Rock Pirates became more and more powerful even once their captain died. To which Garp replied that if this crew were to reform, it would mean a terrible threat to the Navy.
Rocks Crew Members:
Kaido
As stated above, Kaido was once under the banner of the Rock Pirates. Note, however, that at the time of the God Valley incident 38 years ago, he was only a simple apprentice within the crew. Following their defeat against the Garp and Roger alliance and the death of their Captain, the crew separated and Kaido received the Uo Uo no Mi from Charlotte Linlin aka Big Mom who considered him as her little brother. For his part, Kaido formed his own crew, which we know today as the Hundred Beasts Crew. 🐲 The latter has a system similar to that of the Rocks, namely the concept of killings between members of the same crew in order to determine who are the most powerful members.
Indeed, Kaido retained from his time with the Rocks this idea that only the strongest should command and he applied it to his own crew. Thus, duels were often organized within the crew to allow members to compete against each other. It was thus possible for a Headliner, and more precisely a Tobiroppo, to take the place of an Okanban (or Calamity), which is the highest rank of all the officers of the Hundred Beasts Crew, if he arrives to defeat him. Gradually, Kaido gained great fame among the fiercest pirates thanks in particular to his incredible physical strength. He is both ruthless and very confident in his power and abilities. It even considers itself far superior to Supernovae . He will later obtain the status of Yonko.
Charlotte Linlin AKA Big Mom
Just like Kaido, Charlotte Linlin aka Big Mom was also previously part of the Rock Pirates. You should know that Linlin has always been a real danger to everyone around him since his childhood. Even though she was born to human parents, she has indeed caused terrible damage due to her large size and uncontrollable strength. Abandoned by her parents at the age of five on Erbaf, an island populated by giants, 🧟♂️ she was responsible for the deaths and injuries of both people and animals. She is also the cause of the destruction of a village.
On his sixth birthday, Linlin acquired the powers of Soru Soru no Mi. Shortly after, she began her pirate career in the company of Streusen who is today the head chef of her crew. She began her acts of piracy by destroying villages to obtain candy, but very quickly, her fame grew to the point of having a capture bounty of 50,000,000 Berrys. This amount was quickly multiplied by 10 as she was so feared and powerful. She then gave birth to her first child, a son named Charlotte Perospero 50 years ago. Shortly after, she founded her family known as the Charlotte Family which today consists of her 85 children (46 sons and 39 daughters from 43 husbands).
That's when she was called Big Mom . She then joined the Rocks Pirates before creating her own crew after their defeat at God Valley. Subsequently, she became one of the Four Emperors and Queen 👸🏼 of the Totto Lond Archipelago in the New World. Furthermore, she was able to transform her crew into one of the most powerful in the world by recruiting famous pirates and marrying off her children without taking their opinions into account.
Edward Newgate aka Whitebeard
Edward Newgate was born on the island of Sphinx in the New World and grew up as an orphan. He took up the career of a pirate at a young age in order to send money to his homeland which was so poor that the World Government rejected it for membership. He was first part of a pirate crew under his real name Newgate and 40 years ago he was on the same ship as Bakkin who claimed to be his lover and to have had a child with him, Edward Weeble aka Beard Blanche 🧙🏼♂️ Jr, a former Corsair Captain .
It was subsequently that he joined the Rocks Pirates before it was defeated and disbanded during the God Valley incident 38 years ago. Five years later, he founded his own pirate crew, the Whitebeard Pirates. Three years later, he was shipwrecked at Wano where he met Kozuki Oden, the Daimyō of Kuri , who joined his crew and subsequently became Commander of the Second Division of his fleet. Just like the previous two, Edward Newgate became one of the Four Emperors. He had phenomenal power and strength to the point where he was considered the strongest man in the world when he was still alive.
Whitebeard ate the Gura Gura no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, which gave him the power to cut through the air and anything that stood in his way. It thus had the capacity to cause tsunamis as well as earthquakes. It should also be noted that Edward Newgate had perfect mastery of all 3 forms of Haki. He lost his life during the Battle of Marine Ford after telling Teach and everyone present that One Piece, the famous treasure 💎 hidden by Gol D. Roger, really existed and that someone will definitely find it.
Shiki the Golden Lion
Known as Shiki the Golden Lion, Shiki was also a former member of the infamous Rock Pirates before it disbanded 38 years ago. Like his other former companions, he is not very talkative about this period of his life when he appears in the series. After his crew's defeat at God Valley, he fled and began a career as a pirate. He gradually built up a gigantic fleet and had the largest number of pirates in his pay, which gave him great notoriety during the Gol D. Roger era against whom he also fought several battles.
Note also that he wanted to recruit the Pirate King to be his second, an offer which the latter declined, which sparked the famous Ed War battle between Shiki's big armada and the Gol D. Roger Pirates . At the end of this major confrontation, Shiki saw his skull pierced by a piece of the helm of his ship without losing his life. In addition, he had lost half of his fleet due to an unexpected storm 🌪️, the latter of which allowed Roger and his crew to escape. In his youth, Shiki had stood up to Sengoku and Garp, demonstrating the great strength he possessed. His Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, the Fuwa Fuwa no Wi or Floating Fruit , gives him the power to lift any non-living object just by touching it. He was even seen floating several entire islands and other matter like water in the film One Piece: Strong World .
You should know that Shiki was also an outstanding swordsman who used Meito class swords : Oto and Kogarashi. He also used these to replace his legs 🦵🏼 which he had amputated to free himself from his Marin Granite chains while he was imprisoned in the underwater prison of Impel Down. These swords also allowed him to fly thanks to the abilities of his Devil Fruit and to escape from the prison. He therefore became the first and only person who was able to escape from Impel Down without help from anyone outside.
Captain John
Known primarily as Captain John, John was also a member of the Rocks Pirates. He was a famous pirate, greedy and brutal, he even had disgust for the members of his own crew, which actually caused a revolt. When he died, his body was found by Dr. Hogback, a medical surgeon on the payroll of the Grand Corsair Gecko Moria . These two characters then resurrected John's body to make him one of their Zombie Generals, 🧟♂️ given that he was a very powerful and feared pirate during his lifetime.
Unfortunately (for them), his penchant for alcohol followed him even after he became a zombie, rendering him ineffective in combat. Indeed, he always lagged behind, refused to obey orders and refuse to fight. He was also easily knocked out by Oars aka The Continent Transporter and Dr. Hogback's Special Zombie No. 900 after the latter sheltered Luffy's shadow stolen during the Thriller Bark Arc. Like all other zombies, he will be purified of his state when their master wants to increase his power by absorbing all the stolen shadows.
Silver Ax
This character was first mentioned by former Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Sengoku during the Navy meeting to discuss the alliance that was established between Big Mom and Kaido . It was while discussing the former Rocks crew that Sengoku revealed that Silver Ax was part of it and that he was a renowned pirate in the same way as Shiki, Captain John or Ochoku. This parallel therefore tells us that Silver Ax was subsequently a powerful or well-known pirate. However, not much is known about him or his history at this time.
Ochoku
Like Silver Axe, not much is known about this character known as Ochoku, other than he was also a member of Rocks D. Xebec's crew. It was also during this meeting between the Navy officers that he was mentioned by Sengoku.
The Legendary Crew
As has been seen throughout this article, the Rocks Pirates are a legendary crew whose known members practically all later became true legends. In addition, his Captain Rocks D. Xebec was a renowned pirate who dominated the seas for a while before being beaten and killed by Garp allied with Roger. Just seeing how powerful and feared each of its former members subsequently became, one can only conclude how fearsome this crew was. Let us also remember that even the World Government intentionally concealed everything concerning this crew so that their memories were gradually erased from people's memories. And when Navy officers speak of them, it is in fear of seeing this ancient crew of legendary pirates rise from the ashes.
Join the Rocks Pirates
The Rock Pirates posed such a growing threat to the World Government that he had to make an unlikely alliance with another renowned pirate, Gol D. Roger, to stop them. Even today, the fear that its former members could ally and reform this crew is very present in the minds of the officers 👮🏼♂️ of the Navy.
What if you helped rebuild this crew by gathering its old members and joining them to show your power? Recruit the best pirates of the new generation to make them an even more formidable crew. Also get the best items available on our online store to help you in this mission.
