One Piece’s Strongest Crew Explained: Who Are The Rocks Pirates?

In One Piece‘s pirate lore, the Rocks Pirates were the strongest crew to ever sail the oceans. These characters are not just core to the manga’s story, but to the world and its history, making them essential figures as Monkey D. Luffy’s journey continues.

The Rocks Pirates included three of the future Four Emperors and a captain who was so dangerous that the strongest Marine officer and the most wanted pirate in the world had to join forces to defeat him. Thankfully, the Rocks disbanded thirty-eight years before current events in the manga, even though their influence is still felt after such a long time.

But just because they’re no longer a team doesn’t mean they can be forgotten. Some of the crew members are key characters in One Piece, while others were only briefly mentioned or teased and could be relevant in future. Here’s all the information available on the Rocks Pirates, and what fans need to know as the story continues.

The Captain of the Rocks Pirates

Very little is known about Rocks D. Xebec, from who this fearsome group of pirates takes its name. He was certainly ambitious, perhaps more than any other character ever to appear, as his dream was to topple the World Government and become the King of the World. To achieve that, he would stop at nothing: he had no issues in killing innocents or spreading destruction. Rocks was also interested in subjects that the World Government tries to keep hidden, possibly because these secrets could hide the key to satisfy his ambitions. According to his name, Rocks was also one of the inheritors of “the will of D.”, with his middle initial making him a sworn enemy of the World Nobles and their government.

Rocks’ strength and power can only be inferred, but he was on par with the strongest people in the world. He was able to keep under his command individuals such as Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido, who would all rise to be the most powerful pirates of their generation. Xebec was considered to be the most formidable rival of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, and he was so strong that it took both Roger and Monkey D. Garp working together to beat him. Finally, Kaido puts Rocks in the same small group of five people that were able to wound him during his life, confirming Xebec’s fearsome power.

The Emperors

These three characters have appeared many times during One Piece, and they all take center stage at some point, so they are the only members of the Rocks who are not shrouded in mystery. Their appearance and, at least in one case, behavior, differ greatly from when they were in Rocks’ crew. Charlotte Linlin, Big Mom, was a beautiful woman, very different from the “old hag” (as Kaido calls her) that Luffy and his crew met on Whole Cake Island. Kaido looked mostly the same, but he did not have the powers of his Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu Devil Fruit. This powerful item, in fact, was gifted to him by Big Mom after the battle on God Valley, where the Rocks Pirates were defeated.

Kaido and Big Mom apparently forged a strong bond during their time in the Rocks, despite later becoming rival Emperors. They end up forging an alliance to find the One Piece, and Kaido is genuinely distraught when he learns of Big Mom’s defeat during the battle at Onigashima. The former Rocks who changed the most, however, is Whitebeard. In the present timeline of the manga, he is a captain who cares about his crew above anything else, to the point of having his subordinates call him “father.” It is thus surprising that he could fit in a group such as the Rocks who, according to Sengoku, lacked camaraderie and even killed each other often.

The Rest of the Rocks Crew

Four more members of the Rocks Pirates have been mentioned, the most important one being Shiki, who is the protagonist of the One Piece movie Strong World. After leaving the Rocks, Shiki became one of the most powerful pirates of that time. He assembled a massive fleet and challenged Roger for supremacy, but he lost. When he learned that Roger had been captured by the Marine, an enraged Shiki attacked Marineford, but he was subdued by Garp and Sengoku. Shiki was also the first man to escape from the maximum security prison of Impel Down before his plans put him on a collision course with Luffy and his crew.

The other three members are John, Silver Axe, and Ochoku. An interesting theory speculates that all three, or rather their reanimated corpses, appeared as the General Zombies of the Shichibukai Gecko Moria’s army on Thriller Bark. The John who appears as a zombie has been confirmed to be the same who was in the Rocks Pirates, and the appearance of two of the other Generals has led fans to believe that their bodies belonged to Silver Axe and Ochoku. Finally, one forgotten character, Shakky, was probably also a member of the Rocks. While this was not stated openly, Oda’s comments in the SBS for volume 90 imply this is the case.

The Legacy of the Rocks Pirates

Rocks D. Xebec and his crew were so powerful and dangerous that the World Government felt directly threatened by them. Thirty-eight years before current events in the manga, they attacked a group of World Nobles and their slaves on God Valley, and in the world of One Piece attacking a World Noble is considered an unforgivable offense. It is unclear what their goal was, but this caused the Pirate King Roger and the “hero of the Marine” Garp to form an alliance, which led to the Rocks’ defeat and Xebec’s death.

Despite the importance of that event, the Rocks Pirates became relatively unknown to the next generation. This was due to the fact that the World Government tried to cover up their exploits, probably to hide the forbidden knowledge that Rocks was trying to reveal. However, another reason is that their lack of camaraderie caused the surviving members of the crew to rarely speak of their time together. More than a real crew, the Rocks Pirates were a group of powerful individuals who temporarily banded together to achieve their goals, but they still left a big mark on the world of One Piece.

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