 A pirate crew so formidable that their tales, along with their captain, have been erased from history. What secrets are there to uncover about the legendary Rocks Pirates? Hello my Nakamitachi, this is Joygirl with a video discussing one of the greatest pirate crews in One Piece's history, the Rocks Pirates. After being briefly hinted about Rocks, romanized back then as ROX, at the end of the reverie arc, we were granted another glimpse into this hidden part of history in chapter 957, which the anime recently caught up on in episode 958, meaning that all of you anime only fans can enjoy this video spoiler free. Because this video is going to be discussing some of the questions and speculations which surround this fearsome crew, now amended to be the ROC KS Rocks Pirates. If you are interested in other mysteries within the One Piece world, or if you are interested in One Piece more generally, and why wouldn't you be, it's only the best series in existence, I do encourage you to subscribe to this channel because this channel will one day become as legendary as the ROX Pirates, but will require your subscription to get there faster. With that being said, let's get into discussing this relatively recent reveal. Whilst we can count the number of times that the ROX crew have been explicitly mentioned on one hand, we do still know a fair bit of information about them, which can help us as we speculate on some questions regarding this fearsome crew. Starting with the first question, who else was in the ROX Pirates? We know that the crew consisted of notable pirates such as Whitebeard, Big Mom, Kaido, in their younger pre-Yonko days. In fact, Kaido was just an apprentice during the height of the crew's prominence, as well as other significant pirates such as Captain John, whose corpse was shown to us back in Thriller Bark, and the one whose treasure Bagi has been searching for, as well as Shiki, whom we have seen in Chapter Zero and the film Strong World, as well as others who were mentioned but whose appearances have not been confirmed, such as Silver Axe and Wang Zi. Wang Zi seems to have actually been based on a prominent real-life pirate lord in China, fun fact. However, based on some other information in the series, it's possible that some more familiar faces may have been former members of this formidable crew. Starting with Bakken, Edward Reville's mother and the self-proclaimed lover of Whitebeard may have also been a former crewmate of the ROX Pirates. According to Marco, 30-something to 40 years ago, Bakken was a pirate who travelled on the same ship as Whitebeard, and knowing that the ROX pirates were disbanded 38 years ago and were at their peak around 40-something years ago, it seems to nicely match the time period when Bakken travelled with Whitebeard as part of the same crew, which would then imply that she was also a former ROX pirate. Another popular candidate is Shaki. Shaki, whom we were introduced to in Sarbodi, was revealed to be a former pirate who was chased by Garp 42 years ago and abandoned the life of piracy since. And whilst it's possible that as Vice Admiral, Garp would be chasing many different pirate crews, the mention of Garp, one of the two men responsible for bringing an end to the ROX pirates and the fact that this occurred around 40 years ago, the same time when the ROX pirates were prominent figures, it seems too much of a coincidence to suppose that Shaki was a part of a different crew, which has led to the speculation that Shaki is also a former member of the ROX Pirates crew. Moving on to another question, is ROX the Zabeck still alive? In the series, Sengoku explicitly mentions that Zabeck himself is no longer alive to speak of his tales. However, there are some details which have raised the question of whether Zabeck is actually really dead. This seems to be largely spurred on due to a comment that Oda made during Jump Festa 2018 just before the series entered the Wano arc when the mangaka said that he will be introducing one of the legends which lurk in the One Piece world. The greatest enemy for straw hats will hinder their way, perhaps it is something related to Whitebeard. This mysterious message could be indeed linked to Zabeck. He was introduced to us during the Wano arc, he is related to Whitebeard having been his former captain and he is also a legend as an incredibly fierce and pirate from not only one generation ago but the generation before that. And if, and we should emphasise if, if he is still alive, he would be a lurking legend who has been lying dormant indeed. Considering how Vex and Goku was when mentioning Zabeck's death, coupled with the fact that God Valley disappeared, it seems at least plausible that not much is known about the pirate captain's death or whether he actually died at all. There's actually a real life pirate called Rosh Braziliano whom Oda may have drawn inspiration from when creating Rosh Zabeck. Apart from the similarity in their names, Rosh was an infamously vicious pirate who was known for his outrageous behaviour. In addition, Rosh disappeared at sea, his body never found. And so there does seem to be parallels between Rosh Braziliano and Rosh Zabeck. Except that in One Piece it is only God Valley which is said to have disappeared and Rosh himself is currently known to be dead not just missing. I've been saying that there are still good points on either side to this question. Because if Zabeck isn't dead, then he could be the dangerous individual whom Shanks was discussing with the Gorosei. On the other hand, considering what we know of Zabeck, a ruthless pirate who was openly hostile to the world government, dabbled into boo topics possibly hinting at his knowledge of some of the world's greatest secrets such as the void sentry and the meaning behind the D initial in his own name, it's likely that the world government would want to ensure his death. In any case, we do have to take some Goku's words at face value until revealed otherwise, but there are some fair questions here. Next mystery, does Blackbeard and Rosh Zabeck share a connection? One of the most intriguing details from the reveal of Zabeck and his crew was the captain's full name. Which also revealed yet another individual who holds the mysterious D initial in their name. Zabeck is a particularly interesting holder of this initial as he stands out from the vast majority of other characters in one piece who also have the D in their names. These characters are usually portrayed as compassionate beings and those who are bringers of light. On the other end of this spectrum however, is one D-wielding character whom we are already familiar with who is of course Blackbeard or Marshall D. Teach. And Zabeck seems very much to align with this camp of individuals with D in their names. Or rather, considering that Zabeck, though introduced much later, actually came first in history, it seems that Blackbeard very much falls within Zabeck's line of darkness and malevolence. And this is interesting when we consider the parallels between Roger and Zabeck just as we have the parallels between Luffy and Blackbeard. The idea of generations and eras is a very established theme in one piece. And if we consider the story in that light, it seems that Oda is portraying Blackbeard to be carrying the wheel of Zabeck much in the same way that Luffy has inherited Roger's. The stark contrast can be seen where Luffy, like Roger, wishes to become Pirate King which for them symbolizes absolute freedom. Blackbeard in contrast seems to chase world domination in a very similar way to which Zabeck wanted to become King of the world, someone with absolute power. However, whilst Luffy's inheritance of Roger's will seems much more unintentional, at least on the part of Luffy's, and just as a symbol of fate and destined will, Blackbeard's alignment to Zabeck seems much more deliberate. For example, the Blackbeard Pirates have settled on Hachinosu, or Fullerlet Island. The location where the Rocks Pirates formed over 40 years ago, now Blackbeard and his crew making this island their base. And it could be argued that this doesn't necessarily have to do anything with Zabeck. Blackbeard may have just chosen Hachinosu simply because it's known to be a Pirate Paradise, a lawless island where he and his crew could roam free and wreak as much havoc as they please. On the other hand, Blackbeard seems to hold quite a bit of knowledge and definitely is more aware of the world than Luffy, because whilst Luffy remains quite oblivious or careless regarding the idea of will, fate and destiny, Blackbeard is an individual who seems to be driven by his belief in his destiny. And in that light, the parallels seem less coincidental, and rather that Blackbeard has been chasing this inherited will of Zabeck. This seems particularly more so when we consider the name of Blackbeard's ship, the Saber of Zabeck. Saber can refer to two things. Firstly, it is the name of a cavalry back sword which has a curved blade. Also in Spanish, Saber means to know or to realise, and both of these meanings can have a very similar implication, pointing to Blackbeard wanting the world to know of Zabeck's will, the sword symbolising power or intention, which does raise the question of what is the extent of Blackbeard's relationship to Zabeck? Moving on to another question, why was Whitebeard in the Rocks Pirates? If we were to place Whitebeard on a scale of good guys to bad guys, which admittedly is a very arbitrary division which shouldn't be the usual way in which we analyse characters, but for this purpose only, if we were to judge Whitebeard, the former strongest man in the world seems to be one of the good guys. Even as a young pirate, his dreams were not to chase treasure or fame, but he just wanted to find a family, and this is something that he achieved as captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, and despite his strength, he is remembered to be a very loving father to his crew and even outside of his family, a benevolent man who protected weak and poor villages. So the idea of him being a former Rocks pirate, a crew of individuals who were constantly fighting and even killing one another, it just seems to be quite contradictory. Which leads us to the secondary question in connection to Whitebeard, was Zabeck actually evil? And again, that's a very bastardised question because this is one piece where most characters aren't just simply good or bad, and rather are layered individuals whose context shaped their actions, regardless of whether said action are abhorrent or not. But I'm sure you know what I mean. If we can divide the types of pirates into two general camps as we did before with the camp of Roger and Luffy and in direct contrast, Zabeck and Blackbeard, does Zabeck actually belong to this group of dangerous darkness? And this may seem like an odd question because everything we've seen of him so far seems to suggest that Zabeck is indeed an individual who is to be feared and stopped in order for the world to survive. However, if he was such a bad guy, why would good guy Whitebeard join his crew? And on that note, the atrocities which Zengoku mentions all seem to be related to the world government. The Rocks Pirates opened hostilities against the world government, engaged in taboos and endangered celestial dragons and their slaves. Okay, this last part, it does seem like Zabeck was prepared to also harm innocent people but the rest of his actions don't seem so evil. The world government is still very much a shady organisation who may even end up becoming the ultimate endgame antagonist for Luffy. Taboo may refer to the secrets that the world government is hiding such as the truth behind the void sentry and celestial dragons, well, they're far from innocent individuals who deserve protection. But in saying that, Zabeck was said to be perhaps Roger's greatest foe and considering that Roger teamed up with Garp to defeat Zabeck, I can't imagine the former Pirate King doing so unless he also thought that Zabeck was a dangerous threat. Which then does bring us back to the mystery of what was Whitebeard doing in his crew. And one possible way I can see how Whitebeard came to join the Rocks Pirates is if he was absorbed by Zabeck through the means of a Davy-backed fight. That's right, the traditional pirate game which we saw all the way back in the Long Ring Long Land arc. And the reason why this game comes back into relevance is because it was mentioned before that the Davy-backed fights is a game which originated from Hachinozu, the same island where the Rocks Pirates formed. Going back to Whitebeard's good nature, I kept wondering how or why he was a part of the power-hungry crew and I considered that maybe Whitebeard was previously a rebellious angsty dark pirate wherein he did once chase glory and treasures but based on the flashback which I mentioned earlier, we were showing that even as a young pirate all Whitebeard wanted was a family. Now we don't know whether he was already a part of the Rocks Pirates at the time of the flashback or if he was with yet another crew. But judging by the lack of any hints that he was with the Rocks Pirates at the time and his general youthful appearance, it's fair to say that he joined a different crew soon after he became a pirate after leaving his village and before he actually joined the Rocks Pirates. And perhaps this previous crew of his docked at the Pirate Paradise where the traditional Daveyback fights were being held. Maybe that's why all the big names decided to meet on Hachinozu to decide on a crew based on this traditional game. And perhaps Whitebeard or even his entire crew lost during the Daveyback fights and was absorbed into the Rocks Pirates which is how Whitebeard became affiliated with this legendary evil crew. All I can say is I hope we get a flashback of the Rocks Pirates soon so that we can resolve this mystery and so many more. Which does bring us to the end of today's video. Please share your thoughts on these questions by leaving a comment below and please also comment on what questions you have regarding this legendary pirate crew. If you enjoyed today's video please don't forget to like and share and also please subscribe and click that notification bell so that we can continue discussing the various mysteries and wonders of the One Piece world. This is Joygirl and I'll see you again soon.