Rock was born Nathaniel
Williams Adams in England, and received his nickname because of his strength.
His father, William Adams, ran a curio store specializing in rare weapons
and always had an eye for strange antiquities. His mother loved him very
much, and Rock's childhood was as idyllic as one could hope for. That all
changed one fateful day.
William had attended
a secret antique auction where he had purchased a mysterious sword called
Soul Edge. William had been searching for the legendary sword most of his
adult life, and was thus proud to show it to his son. He stored it in the
ship's cabin for the voyage home. A storm began to brew, and suddenly the
Adams' ship became the target of a pirate's attack. Cervantes,
the dreaded captain of the Adrian, had been commissioned by Vercci to find
the sword. William ran to the storeroom to hide the sword, and Rock's mother
ran after to stop him. That was the last Rock ever saw of them.
The cannon fire buffeted
the ship, and the ship sank. Rock awoke to find himself alone on an unfamiliar
shoreline. Realizing that he had lost his parents forever, Rock learned
to survive in the New World by discarding old habits and learning to live
off the land. It was many years before Rock ever had any other human contact.
After he had grown to adulthood, he came upon a native tribe. The natives
were afraid of the "white giant," and the only one who would associate
with Rock was an orphan named Bangoo.
Rock found himself
drawn to the kind boy, who's parents had been killed during tribal warfare.
Gradually, the others began to speak to Rock. From them, he learned of
the "land across the ocean." As he listened to their descriptions, he began
to remember his former life. Memories came back to him, the most prominent
being a mysterious weapon called Soul Edge. Rock came to the conclusion
that if he could find Soul Edge, he could recover his past and perhaps
even find his parents. So, with ax in hand, Rock set out for the Old World.
Rock was naturally
unfamiliar with the European landscape, and had no idea where to begin
his search for Soul Edge. He eventually stumbled upon another that was
looking for Soul Edge, the Greek warrior Sophitia.
Through some misunderstanding, the two began to fight, but then soon realized
their mistake and called a truce. Sophitia speculated that Rock's heart
was not in the battle, that rather he had left something that was far more
valuable than what he was searching for. Her words stuck with Rock, and
he came to a realization.
He had ventured to
the Old World to find the past, yet it was the present that mattered to
him. His thoughts turned to Bangoo, and he realized that this boy was his
only remaining family and that is where he should be. He bid farewell to
Sophitia, and set sail for the New World, his home. After a year of traveling,
Rock finally returned to his life with Bangoo. He knew he had made the
right decision, because he never wanted Bangoo to experience the loneliness
that Rock had. He decided to stay with Bangoo until the boy became a man.
A few years passed,
and a rumor began to circulate about mysterious lizard-like humanoids were
wandering the land. Rock ignored the rumors, but one night the monsters
attacked. Rock mowed them down easily with his battle ax. Realizing that
even their tough scales were no match for Rock's weapon, the lizardmen
retreated. Rock was victorious, but when he returned home he discovered
that Bangoo was missing. The lizardmen, knowing that they could not capture
Rock, had kidnapped the boy to lure Rock.
Even though he knew
it was a trap, Rock followed the trail of the lizardmen so that no harm
would come to Bangoo. The trail led him once again to Europe, but once
he arrived in the Old World the trail disappeared. Thus, Rock wandered
the continent searching for Bangoo. He eventually traced the lizardmen
back to Kunpaetku, the grand priest of a heretical order called Fygul Cestemus.
Bangoo's abduction had been nothing more than an attempt to lure Rock with
the ultimate goal of taking the warrior's soul. Rock had never met Kunpatku
or had any dealings with the Fygul Cestemus, so it was a mystery to him
why he had become their target.
After a grueling ordeal,
Rock was successful in rescuing Bangoo and the two returned to their home.
Bangoo assured Rock that he could take care of himself, and within a few
years the boy had grown into a strong young man. Rock assured Bangoo that
when his time came, Bangoo would set out on his own quest.
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Page Updated:
June 23rd, 2024
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Rock
is the original powerhouse of the Soul series. He was a
solid and memorable design in the early part of the series as the classic "barbaric" axe wielder. However, Astaroth's debut
in Soul Calibur definitely stole much of Rock's steam, since Astaroth
could perform most of Rock's original moves and then some. Astaroth even took Rock's
place completely in SC2. In a nutshell, Astaroth ended up being a much cooler "big guy" for the
serie,s after the development team decided to continue fleshing him out...
instead of Rock. Sorry Rock. :/
In every installment after SC1, Rock became more and more of an underdog
character,
bearing less-exciting moves and becoming easily outshined by the newer, flashier
character designs. Even so, his outfit designs were always pretty good...
especially his later ones in SC3/SC4. His
collection of animal skins/heads and huge weapons is surely impressive. ;)
However, I strongly disliked Rock in SC4, simply because they they gave him some seriously cheesy moves and combos. Unlike many
characters in Soul Calibur, Rock's fighting style hasn't developed as
much as it should have.
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Fighting
Style / Moveset |
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Personality
/ Charisma |
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Outfit(s)
/ Appearance |
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Effectiveness
in series |
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Overall
Score |
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