This article contains spoilers from One Piece’s Elbaf arc.
With One Piece finally traversing the water of the Final Saga, it is no surprise that Oda is slowly introducing the strongest of characters here. The final saga has already seen Luffy become one of the Four Emperors of the Sea and reach a very high level of strength. However, Luffy is far from his peak in the story, and that means stronger foes are going to keep coming up.
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One Piece Author Eiichiro Oda Takes A Break Ahead Of A Major Elbaf Reveal
The Elbaf arc is very exciting. Oda takes a break from One Piece.
At the same time, Oda is also exploring the previously unseen past of many characters in One Piece, which gives the fans an opportunity to have a look at some very strong individuals of the past as well. Now, finally, Oda has revealed a legendary pirate that fans were told is even stronger than the likes of Roger and Whitebeard, Rocks D. Xebec.
The Elbaf Arc Finally Introduced Rocks D. Xebec In The Story
- Rocks D. Xebec Appeared in Loki’s Flashback
- Rocks Visited Elbaf For Some Reason
If there is one thing that fans weren’t expecting to happen in Elbaf, it is the flashback of Rocks D. Xebec finally being given to them. Rocks is a legendary figure who Sengoku brought up first in One Piece chapter 957, where the God Valley Incident was mentioned first. It was said that Garp teamed up with the legendary pirate Gol D. Roger and defeated Rocks, making his end for good, but before that, Rocks was incredibly famous and that he had plans to become the King of the World. He had broken many taboos of the world, and was a massive threat to the World Government.
His goal was to be the King of the World. He was Roger’s first and greatest adversary. — Sengoku on Rocks D. Xebec
In One Piece chapter 1145, fans got a small glimpse of Loki’s flashback, and it was clear that he was inspired by none other than Rocks D. Xebec. Loki has only ever idolized one person in his whole life and that’s Rocks. In fact, Loki even asked Rocks to take him on his ship when he leaves Elbaf, but the latter rejected the request, and a fight also ensued between the two. Loki admires Rocks so much that he openly claimed that he would’ve loved to be born in the same era as Rocks, implying that he wouldn’t mind following him.
Why Rocks Was Stronger Than Roger and Whitebeard Once
The Legend of Rocks Is Absolutely Mesmerizing
Fans know very little about Rocks D. Xebec in One Piece so far, but whatever little was shown was enough to tell the fans that Rocks was a legend among legends. Whitebeard, the legendary pirate, was Rocks’s underling, which paints quite a picture. Roger was Rocks’s biggest enemy, and it is heavily implied in the story that one year before the God Valley Incident, Roger was defeated by Rocks somewhere on the seas.
It was because Garp joined forces with a pirate named Gold Roger to take down Rocks. — Sengoku
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One Piece: Oda Finally Reveals The True Strength Of Rocks D. Xebec
Oda finally showcases the true power of Rocks D. Xebec. This powerful pirate is a legend through and through.
In fact, Roger couldn’t defeat Rocks on his own, and neither could Garp. The two had to team up to fight a threat as big as Rocks D. Xebec, and even then, the battle was most likely not easy at all for them. In the end, the two managed to defeat Rocks D. Xebec, but fans know the truth of it. Neither of them was stronger than Rocks, while Whitebeard, another legendary figure whose name is spoken in the same breath as Roger and Garp, served as his underling.
Did Roger and Whitebeard Catch Up To Rocks D. Xebec?
Roger, Whitebeard, and Garp Grew Stronger
Although Roger, Garp, and Whitebeard were all weaker than Rocks during the God Valley Incident, all the way up to his death, fans don’t know if that remained the case always. It is factual that neither of the three was in their prime during the God Valley Incident. It is also a stated fact that all of them grew stronger. In fact, Oda explicitly states in the Oden flashback that all the remnants of the Rocks Pirates started growing stronger and stronger 6 years after the God Valley Incident, when Rocks died. Whitebeard grew stronger, as did the likes of Roger, Garp, Shiki, Big Mom, Kaido, and even characters like Silvers Rayleigh and Scopper Gaban.
7 years later, when Roger and Whitebeard fought in the Grand Line, all of these figures were in their peaks and probably around the same level as Rocks D. Xebec. While it is canonically stated in the story that Rocks was stronger than Roger and Whitebeard, it is also stated that they grew stronger after his era, so they could very well have caught up to him.
One Piece chapter 1146 will be out very soon, later this week. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on the upcoming Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on April 20. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1146 is April 20, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.
- Release Date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- Writers
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
