 |
Rock (ロック Rokku), inmate number 69, is one of the main protagonists of the Nanbaka Web Manga and anime series. He is an inmate of Nanba Prison where he is held in building thirteen, cell thirteen. A strong individual with a love for fighting, he was arrested for starting an urban gang riot.[1]
Appearance[]
Rock is a tall young man with a muscular build. He has lightly tanned skin and rather choppy, purple hair styled with a prominent red mohawk in the center, with a single lock falling between his gold eyes; his hair is adorned with tribal-style decorations adorned with green, red, and yellow beads and white and red feathers. Across the bridge of his nose is a thick, jagged scar. His nails are purple, and his ID number, 69, is tattooed in black on his right forearm.
Rock wears an orange inmates’ jumpsuit with short sleeves, worn with the top almost completely unzipped, exposing his muscular chest. He wears dark brown boots, and his ID badge is pinned to the left side of his chest.
Personality[]
Rock challenges a guard to a fight
In the past, Rock was a highly violent and aggressive individual such that he was ultimately arrested for starting an urban gang riot.[1] However, after meeting Jyugo, he discovered a love of food and subsequently mellowed out a great deal.[3] Although he retains a loud, impulsive, and prideful personality, he is a lot calmer and behaves gently towards others, caring greatly for his friends. Despite this calmer persona, Rock retains a love of fighting and is capable of losing his temper when things don't go his way; he seems to regard aggression as the easiest and most effective way to solve problems. He won’t hesitate to challenge both inmates[4] and guards[5][6] to fight and has immense confidence in his strength; however, he tends to over-rely on his physical prowess and large frame, allowing him to be easily outsmarted.[7]
Rock's love of food
As well as fighting, Rock is characterized by his love of food and is described as a dim-witted individual who thinks of very little else. He values food as more than a mere necessity, seeing it as a very social thing that can bring genuine happiness to others.[3] As stated by Hajime Sugoroku, the mere prospect of food is enough to keep him out of trouble, further indicating his simple-mindedness.[8]
Background[]
Rock was a violent and aggressive youth who was arrested for starting a gang riot in the streets of America. Sent to juvenile hall, he continually broke out because of the poor standard of food.[1] At some point, he met Jyugo who helped free him from prison, causing him to feel indebted to him.[3]
In Chapter 280 of the Web Manga, Rock is reunited with his old butler and caretaker V, who is now a guard and coordinator at Building Six. Even though V now works for another family, he still calls Rock 'young master', much to the latter's distaste. Rock describes his younger self as a 'brat who didn't know anything about the world'.
While the canonical Web Manga provides no further detail about his past, the anime shows that Rock ran away from home due to his estranged relationship with his father before starting a riot. In juvenile hall, he routinely started fights due to the poor quality of the food and, at some point, was starved and abused by prison guards until Jyugo encountered and freed him. Escaping together, Jyugo treated Rock to some burgers at a nearby restaurant, causing Rock to develop a great love of food and a far calmer, gentler personality.[9]
Rock continued to break out of jail due to the terrible food there, eventually meeting Jyugo, Nico and Uno in Las Vegas.[10] After a while, his constant escapes and arrests lead him to be transferred to Nanba Prison; inticed by the high-quality Japanese cuisine served in Nanba, Rock no longer wished to escape.[1]
Plot[]
The New Year's Tournament Arc[]
Building 5 Arc[]
Building 6 Arc[]
When Damian invites them to the food sampling gathering, he is intrigued. He says he will go, even if the rest of Cell 13 doesn't want to join him. When Uno is the only one to refuse, stating that Building 6 was too scary, Rock points out that supernatural things are attracted to Uno and that he won't be around to protect him. Uno agrees to go. The next morning, he is shocked to see V, his old butler and caretaker, as a guard. Initially, Rock tries to hide how he knows V, saying he was someone from 'a long time ago'. V interrupts and says he was Rock's caretaker, which results in Nico and Uno teasing him. When they reach Building 6, Rock is instantly annoyed by V's new master, Hakushaku. He later tells Uno that is because Hakushaku reminds Rock of himself when he was younger and a 'brat that didn't know anything of the world.'
Rock knows V well, coming to the correct assumption that he would be digging himself a grave after his current master was injured.
Etymology[]
- The Rōmaji in the name Rock (Roku)is composed of the numbers "6" (Ro) and "9" (Ku), forming his ID number "69".
Trivia[]
- Rock's favorite color is royal purple.
- Rock seems to have a soft spot for animals, especially cats.
- Rock's favorite food is donuts.
- According to Jyugo, Rock snores loudly in his sleep.
- Rock can eat a lot depending on what food it is.
- Rock dislikes unappetizing things.
- Rock's hobbies are eating and sleeping.
- Rock has the ability to sense haunted objects including ghosts.
- Rock prefers breasts over buttocks.[11]
- Interestingly, Jarrod Greene (Rock's English voice actor) has voiced a few characters from each of the same series with Justin Briner (Nico's English voice actor), J. Michael Tatum (Kiji Mitsuba's English voice actor), Ricco Fajardo (Mitsuru Hitokoe's English voice actor), Alejandro Saab (Uno's English voice actor), Daman Mills (Jyugo's English voice actor), Ian Sinclair (Hajime Sugoroku's English voice actor), Brandon McInnis (Samon Gokuu's English voice actor), Dallas Reid (Seitarou Tanabata's English voice actor), Matt Shipman (Houdzuki Sanzou's English voice actor), Howard Wang (Hitoshi Sugoroku's English voice actor), Jason Liebrecht (Musashi's English voice actor), Aaron Dismuke (Upa's English voice actor), Austin Tindle (Elf's English voice actor) and Dawn M. Bennett (Noriko Sanzou's English voice actor):
- My Hero Academia
- Jarrod voices Hitoshi Shinso.
- Alejandro voices Naomasa Tsukauchi.
- Ian voices Mezo Shoji.
- Justin voices Izuku Midoriya.
- Daman voices Mustard, Moonfish and Hood.
- Tatum voices Tenya Ida.
- Matt voices Sen Kaibara (Season 3-present) and Inasa Yoarashi.
- Howard voices Shihai Kuroiro.
- Brandon voices Mirai Sasaki.
- Jason voices Dabi.
- Aaron voices Tamaki Amajiki and Kosei Tsuburaba (Season 2-3).
- Austin voices Neito Monoma.
- Dawn voices Setsuna Tokage.
- Dallas voices Juzo Honenuki and Nirengeki Shoda.
- Black Clover
- Jarrod voices Grey (Transformed), Gio and Gaderois Godroc.
- Ian voices Magna Swing.
- Justin voices Luck Voltia.
- Tatum voices Fuegoleon Vermillion.
- Austin voices Leopold Vermillion.
- Dawn voices Lily Aquaria.
- Aaron voices Marx Francois.
- Dallas voices Asta.
- Daman voices Revchi Salik.
- My Hero Academia
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 11
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 37.1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 44
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 16
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 3
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 64
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 65
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 10
- ↑ Nanbaka Anime, Episode 11
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 25.5
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 97.1