Rocket Raccoon

"I've had a lot of folks try to kill me over the years, and I ain't about to be brought down by a tree and a talking raccoon." "What's a raccoon?" "What's a raccoon? It's what you are, stupid!" "Ain't no thing like me 'cept me."

- Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon

Rocket Raccoon is a genetically engineered raccoon turned freelance criminal. He became a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, alongside his friend and partner Groot.

Early Life
"I didn't ask to get made! I didn't ask to be torn apart and put back together over and over again and turned into some little monster!"

- Rocket Raccoon

Subject: 89P13 was a creature resembling a raccoon - although he shows no knowledge of what a Raccoon is when Peter Quill refers to him as one - that was recovered by an alien race. Brought to the Halfworld planet in the Keystone Quadrant star system, he was genetically and cybernetically enhanced so that he was given sentient intelligence. However, years of abuse and repetitive genetic rewrite caused him, calling himself Rocket, to develop a vain and chaotic personality, driving him into becoming a gunslinging mercenary.

Rocket's extensive Nova Corps criminal record includes 13 counts of theft, 22 counts of escape from incarceration, 7 counts of mercenary activity, and 15 counts of arson.

Deals at the Hub
Partnering with Groot, a Flora colossus from Planet X, Rocket made his way in the galaxy performing various acts of dubious legality. After one such adventure, Rocket and Groot made their way to The Hub without money and desperate for a job in order to buy fuel for their vehicle. A job came their way via Sqqd'li, under the orders of his employer the crime-lord Zade Scraggot, who hired Rocket and Groot to retrieve a package being held in the highly secure "Uptown" section of the station for 1000 credits. Rocket and Groot successfully retrieved the package, but upon discovering that the package contained a family of sentient Scalluscs, a snail-like creature that Scraggot was planning on harvesting for their shells (and upon learning that the Scalluscs had money and could double Scraggot's pay), Rocket and Groot rescued the Scalluscs from their cruel fate after a brief scuffle with Scraggot and his men.

Quest for the Orb
His search for employment eventually brought Rocket and Groot to Xandar, where he staked out potential bounty targets in a crowded plaza. Eventually, he spotted Peter Quill - wanted for 40,000 Units by Yondu Udonta - and attempted to capture him during his fight with Gamora. The fight led to all four being arrested by the Nova Corps.

The group was later taken to the Kyln to be imprisoned, though Rocket was unfazed, boasting openly of his prison-escape history while being led inside. Rocket called out Gamora for being a "genocidal maniac" and daughter of Thanos, though she claims that she was planning to betray Thanos and Ronan the Accuser and sell the Orb to a third party. Rocket was himself was called a raccoon by Quill, though Rocket shrugged this off by claiming he was one of a kind. Rocket and Groot quickly established themselves as hazards to the prisoners when one of them attempted to harass Quill, whom they declared was their "booty". Rocket was less concerned with Gamora's fate, and attempted to discourage Quill from intervening when Gamora was attacked by several other prisoners (including Drax the Destroyer) but Quill ignored him and successfully talked the others out of killing her. Gamora confessed afterward that the Orb was priced by her buyer for 4 billion units and offered to split the profits, and Rocket agreed to formulate a plan to break the four out of the Kyln. The next day, Rocket briefed Peter Quill, Gamora, and Groot on his plan during lunch. He requested that Gamora and Quill retrieve a prisoner's prosthetic leg and one of the guards' control devices attached to their arms in order to get into the security watchtower in the middle of the prison cellblock. Rocket then explained that the final piece for their freedom is a control panel holding a Quardrix battery, which if removed will trigger the prison's emergency lockdown. However, as he was explaining this, Groot had wandered to the control panel and ripped the battery off, having failed to hear about the consequences of doing so. As Quill and Gamora retrieved the items needed, Rocket berated Groot for causing chaos. Security drones and guards arrived and fired upon Rocket and Groot. However, Drax came to their aid and tossed Rocket one of the guards' weapons, much to the bounty hunter's pleasure.

The items required for the breakout were retrieved and the group, including Drax, locked themselves within the security watchtower. When Quill presented the prosthetic leg, Rocket laughed him off, revealing that the request was a morbid joke and he did not need it at all. Rocket then initiated his plan; he switched off the prison's artificial gravity, took control of the security drones, and used these drones to propel the watchtower room out of the cellblock and into the prison's docking bay. The group retrieved their effects, but Quill stayed behind and ordered the others to take his ship out into space while he retrieved his Walkman, much to the group's annoyance.

Skirmish on Knowhere
Later, the group headed to Knowhere, a mining colony established within the severed head of a gigantic celestial being. Here, the group went to the Boot of Jemiah, where they waited for the Orb's buyer to summon them. Rocket, Drax, and Groot playfully gambled there while Gamora and Quill conversed just outside. The brief moment of friendship went south, however, when Rocket became drunk and started a fight with Drax. Intoxicated, a distraught Rocket accused Gamora and Drax of mocking him and seeing him as a "monster" and threatened to kill the others. Quill intervened before any harm was done, but the outburst (and the lack of progress towards his goal of killing Ronan) caused Drax to leave.

Gamora's buyer, Taneleer Tivan, finally summoned them to his museum; Rocket and a cosmonaut dog, Cosmo, snarled at each other as they passed. Tivan found himself interested in Groot, and asked for permission in displaying his corpse as an exhibit, while also referring to Rocket as Groot's pet (which nearly caused another outburst). After formalities were over, Tivan revealed what was inside the Orb: an Infinity Stone. Tivan explained that an Infinity Stone was one of many powerful objects created by the. So powerful that only the most powerful of beings were able to wield it, even if the burden of the power was separated among multiple people. Rocket was unimpressed by the explanation of the Stone's power and demanded that Tivan pay them. As Tivan was withdrawing the money, his assistant Carina, seeing a way to end her misery under Tivan's control, grabbed the Stone. The result was a powerful explosion that disintegrated her and knocked Quill and Gamora back. Groot managed to rush Rocket outside before the explosion could harm them.

Seeing the power and frightened by it, Gamora told the group that they should turn the Stone over to the Nova Corps, reasoning that such a power cannot be in any hands, especially Ronan's. Rocket objected to the decision since their prison break marked them as wanted fugitives by the Corps. Suddenly, Ronan's forces and the Ravagers appeared, with the former having been called here by a vengeful Drax. Star-Lord, Rocket, and Gamora attempted to fight off Ronan's forces using industrial pods while Drax tried to fight Ronan and Groot stayed behind. Rocket managed to use his pod's durability to his advantage by crashing through Ronan's Necrocrafts. Pursued by her sister Nebula and several other Necrocrafts, Gamora attempted to flee into open space, but her pod malfunctioned due to its inability to function outside of Knowhere and was promptly destroyed by Nebula. Rocket and Quill caught up with Gamora's unconscious body. Rocket sadly informed Quill that Gamora would not survive and to go back into Knowhere. However, Quill announced his coordinates to the Ravagers and exited his pod, placing his Kree mask on Gamora and nearly dying before being rescued by the Ravagers. Rocket returned to Knowhere, angered at Drax for allowing Gamora and Quill to be captured and Ronan to retrieve the Infinity Stone. An apologetic Drax attempted to justify his actions by claiming he was overtaken by his desire to avenge the death of his family. Rocket replied by insensitively mocking Drax's family's death. Wanting to redeem himself, Drax offered to aid Groot and Rocket in rescuing Quill and Gamora. A frustrated Rocket angrily kicked a patch of grass in response.

Soon, Rocket confronted the Ravagers in Quill's ship, the Milano, gaining their attention by harmlessly firing upon their mothership, the Eclector, and, voice amplified, threatened to do greater damage. Rocket then ordered the outlaws to release Quill and Gamora while Drax aimed a Hadron Enforcer at them. The tension was resolved when Quill announced that they were fine and had temporarily resolved their conflict with the Ravagers.

Battle of Xandar
The group, reunited, reviewed recent events and decide that it was up to them to prevent Ronan from destroying Xandar with his Infinity Stone. Rocket was doubtful that they would succeed, especially upon hearing that Quill only had "part of a plan" for stopping Ronan. However, Rocket was convinced to aid Quill when the latter passionately declared that life was giving them a chance to do something more than they were already doing (and after all the others agree to join).

With the Ravagers, the group outlined a plan to prevent Ronan from destroying Xandar; they would contact the Corps and convinced them to aid them, Quill and Yondu would enter Ronan's ship, the Dark Aster, through a breach created by Rocket and Quill, and kill Ronan upon entering his chambers. Rocket attempted to get a Ravager's cybernetic eye removed as "part of the plan", but was quickly denied by Quill. The plan went smoothly at first, but Yondu was unable to enter the Dark Aster due to damages to his ship, leaving Quill, Gamora, Drax, and Groot to fight Ronan while Rocket aided the Corps and Ravagers in preventing Necrocraft from attacking Xandar. Ronan used the Infinity Stone to blow a hole in the side of his own vessel and destroy the Nova Corps fleet, then easily brushed aside Quill and the others when they reached his chamber. In desperation, Rocket drove his ship into the new hole in the Dark Aster, severely damaging both his and Ronan's ships and knocking himself unconscious.

The damage from both Ronan's use of the Infinity Stone and Rocket's crash caused the Dark Aster to begin falling towards the city below. Seeing what was about to happen, Groot, at the cost of his life, created a sphere of branches around his friends. Realizing what his friend was doing, a tearful Rocket begged Groot to reconsider, but failed. Rocket and the others survived, but Groot perished in the crash. A devastated Rocket managed to recover a shard of Groot's bark and laments that he used to "call him an idiot". However, Ronan also survived the crash, and as he emerged from the fallen vessel Rocket flew into a rage and charged at Ronan but was easily swatted away. As Quill distracted Ronan by singing and dancing, Rocket quickly repaired the Hadron Enforcer and blasted the Infinity Stone out of Ronan's Universal Weapon. Quill quickly grabbed the Stone. As Quill was slowly disintegrated by the Stone's power, Gamora, Drax, and Rocket linked hands to share the burden. At first, they all began disintegrating but it then reversed and they regenerated as they successfully channeled the Stone's energy.. Quill then opened his hand, releasing some of the Stone's energy, which disintegrated and killed Ronan, and sealed it in a containment orb. Later, Quill relinquished the Stone to Yondu, though in reality, he switched containers. Rocket then sat alone on a rock, clutching some of Groot's remaining twigs and sobbing bitterly over his best friend's death. Drax approached Rocket and gently pet him between the ears, surprising him and causing him to slightly flinch, as he was used to others acting violent towards him and bringing him pain, but was comforted. In the aftermath, the newly formed Guardians of the Galaxy discovered that Quill was not fully human, as his father was a member of an ancient alien species, thus giving a possible explanation to why Quill managed to take control of the Infinity Stone. Rocket had placed the piece of Groot in a pot, from which Groot was beginning to be reborn. With his and the others' criminal records erased, Rocket joined the Guardians for more adventures, though lamented that he could no longer steal.

Personality Traits
"Ain't no thing like me, 'cept me."

- Rocket Raccoon

Rocket is easily enraged and extremely aggressive. He is bitterly, even bitingly, sarcastic as well as exceedingly trigger-happy and generally misanthropic. He also has a vicious sense of humour, as shown when he asked Peter Quill to get a guy's prosthetic leg to bust them out of jail, lying about the leg to see if Quill would do it and asking him whether the guy was hopping around on one leg, laughing all the while. He later tries pulling a similar stunt with one of the Ravagers, although he is stopped by Quill.

He appears to pride himself on his ability to be professional, which is indicated by when he spoke harshly to Groot when Groot smiled and drank out of a fountain.

Rocket is also stunningly intelligent, much more intelligent than an animal and at least as intelligent as a human if not more so. He is able to conceive of very complex, intricate plans in a very short period of time, such as his plan to get out of the Kyln. However, this intelligence is occasionally superseded by his emotions which appear to be exceedingly strong such as his anger over Peter going back to get Awesome Mix Vol. 1 and his sadness over Groot's apparent demise.

However, deep down, Rocket is incredibly lonely and carries overwhelming pain over the experimentation that was performed on him before he was a Mercenary. He covers his insecurities well, but once he is drunk, he becomes very emotional and if possible, even more violent, speaking of how he did not 'ask' to be made as he was. It is perhaps because of this loneliness and pain that he despises being derided as a rodent or vermin, going so far as to attack Gamora and Drax over the slight.

Despite Rocket's apparent dislike of people, he is exceedingly attached to Groot, and is the only known individual who is able to understand Groot when he speaks even while everyone else only hears 'I am Groot.' He is obviously exceedingly attached to Groot, crying when Groot was apparently killed and pleading with Groot to not save them because he knew that Groot would die if he did so.

Powers

 * Enhanced Intelligence - Unlike other members of his species, Rocket has a cognitive and intellectual equivalent or superior ability, the most sensitive species in the galaxy. He can talk and communicate with other species, as well as perform extremely complex tasks.
 * Enhanced Strength: Due to his augmentations, Rocket is able to use weapons that are designed to be wielded by humanoids.
 * Enhanced Durability:
 * Enhanced Agility: Rocket's entire skeletal structure is cybernetic, allowing him to move more like a human and still be as agile as a normal raccoon.
 * Enhanced Senses: Rocket can see, smell, hear, and feel better than humans. This helps him when enemies are approaching.

Abilities
"I am Groot." "So what, 'It's better than eleven percent!' What the hell does that have to do with anything?" "Thank you, Groot, thank you. See. Groot's the only one of you who has a clue."
 * Master Marksman: Rocket has a great skill in handling various weapons throughout the Galaxy, with the preference of high-powered weaponry. During the flight of Kyln, Rocket destroyed many Drones, with weapon of a Nova Corps soldier. He also has excellent precision.
 * Expert Tactician: Rocket is a brilliant strategist. He is able to formulate strategies advanced combat and escape, even with minimal resources, and to change them according to the needs of the situation. Rocket already said he fled from 22 prisons. In Kyln, he quickly devised a plan to escape using only a power source and security band.
 * Master Engineer: Rocket is an expert in handling, modification and construction of equipment and high-tech weaponry. He was able to modify a power source and security band to break into the control tower of the Kyln, disable the security system, unlock doors, and hijack the security drones. Using scrap from the Milano, he built several high-powered weapons, including the Hadron Enforcer.
 * Expert Pilot: Rocket is an accomplished pilot of various starships. On Knowhere, he took down several Necropods using only the high durability of his industrial pod. During the Battle of Xandar, Rocket was responsible for leading the attack of the Ravagers and Nova Corps, in the Dark Aster, destroying many Necropods in the process. Rocket also proved capable of piloting improvised vehicles, like the Kyln's security tower.

- Groot, Rocket, and Star-Lord


 * Multilingual: Rocket has the ability to understand what Groot is saying, though others (including Star-Lord's Translator Implant) only hear "I am Groot". It is possible that this is in fact not a power but more a note to how long/well they know each other, as Groot is obviously saying something even if the only words spoken are 'I am Groot.'

Equipment
As a weapon specialist, Rocket Racoon favors the use of many different high-technology weapons in order to fulfill his missions as a mercenary.
 * Ion Cannon - Rocket's favorite weapon, until he was forced to sell it in The Hub in order to obtain some fast cash.
 * Laser Cannon - Rocket's new weapon, described as "the juiciest killware seen in ages", and obtained in a confiscated weapons case in a customs station in The Hub.
 * Gas Grenade - A small device that emits a sleeping gas.
 * Hadron Enforcer - A large combustion cannon used for demolition purposes.

Allies

 * Guardians of the Galaxy - Teammates
 * Peter Quill/Star-Lord - Leader
 * Drax the Destroyer
 * Groot - Partner and best friend
 * Gamora
 * Lylla - Associate

Video Game Only

 * Cosmo
 * Mantis

Enemies

 * Ronan the Accuser
 * Thanos
 * Nebula

Video Game Only

 * Red King
 * Caiera
 * Charlie-27
 * Beta Ray Bill
 * Hulk
 * Skunge
 * Levan
 * Korg
 * Margus
 * Angela
 * Wraith

Trivia

 * According to his criminal record, one of Rocket's associates is named Lylla. In the comics, Lylla is a sentient and Rocket's love interest.

Behind the Scenes

 * Rocket was not included in early drafts of the Guardians of the Galaxy script out of fear that he would be considered too cartoonish.
 * Rocket Raccoon's nickname "Ranger Rick" is a reference to the children’s nature magazine which featured illustrated short stories of an anthropomorphized raccoon ranger named Rick.