Voice Characterization: Brad Garrett

Rocko was born in 1975, in Thurmond, West Virginia. His father was a coal miner, who made a decent living off of his hard work. His mother was a home maker. His father's side of the family had hereditary high blood pressure, and so Rocko developed quite a temper as a child. As he grew, it only got worse, until, at age eighteen, he decided to get a job at the coal mine his father worked. The work helped relieve some of the stress that comes so easily with high blood pressure, and so Rocko was doing better.

This went on for about ten years, before Rocko's father was forced to retire due to physical complications. This put a great weight on Rocko's shoulders to support his parents, and so the temper started to rise again. The mental strain of his situation took a toll on Rocko's ability to think clearly, and judge his actions before hand. One night, as he was walking home, he noticed his neighbor's daughter out in the stable, tending to her mere. Rocko approached her, slowly and quietly. At that point it was clear that even Rocko wasn't sure of his intentions. As he drew closer, she noticed his shadow pass over the horse, and just as she turned, Rocko pushed her down and began to force himself on her. Luckily, her father heard her screaming from the front porch, and quickly ran around to find Rocko on top of his daughter, holding her down. He called to the unidentified assailant in order to get him to seperate himself from the girl. Once Rocko was a safe distance from the girl, her father pulled his Baretta on Rocko and fired.

This event left Rocko in the hospital, lucky to be alive. He had lost his left arm from the 391 shell. The farmer later found out who the assailant was, and came to visit Rocko at the hospital. He knew it wasn't like Rocko to do something like that, and even apologized for taking his arm. With this act of forgiveness, Rocko's life had changed. From that moment, Rocko swore he would do everything in his power to control his temper, and regulate his blood pressure. Though he believed in himself, he felt that after what he had done to his neighbor, and the shame he placed upon his family, he must leave. He returned to his neighbor's house the day he was released from the hospital, and apologized to the girl. Though she said nothing to him, Rocko hoped she could forgive him in time, as her father had.

With this, Rocko packed his belongings, promised his parents he would send them the money he makes from whatever job he gets, only keeping enough to sustain himself, and left Thurmond. He boarded a bus to Virginia, looking for coal mining work. At one of the rest stops, he saw a flyer on a bulletin board. The flyer stated that NASA was looking for people with at least eight years mining experience for work on an excavation on a planet in a neighboring solar system where water had been discovered, in caves believed to be sustaining life. He would receive one year paid training time, and a second year aboard the carrier craft, where he would be trained further, and briefed on the planet, it's biology, and the caves he would be excavating. He knew that the pay would provide more than enough for him and his family back home, and so he contacted the representative. Only days later he was called in for interview, and was accepted for the project almost immediately.

The two years passed, and in 2005, he began work on the caves. For two more years he worked here, and sent nearly every penny back home. It was about this time that the Dreadknot landed on the mining planet. The crew received word of this newly discovered planet, and its network of caves. With this note, The Captain set sail in search of untampered diamonds to add to his pirate booty. They immediately came across a monster of a man, with a heart of gold, and questioned him mercilessly about the caves. Being that NASA wasn't particularly interested in the supposed diamonds in the caves, Rocko agreed to help The Captain find his fortune. After a few days in the caves, with no trace of a diamond anywhere, the crew became restless. Also during this time, Rocko had developed quite a relationship with Cybrus and Sam. When The Captain finally grew tired of the fruitless search, he boarded the Dreadknot. Sam asked Rocko if he'd like to come with the crew, but Rocko told her that he needed the money to support his family. Sam asked him what he was going to do when the excavation was pulled out the following year, and Rocko wasn't sure. So she took him to the vault, and there she reassured him, at the sight of millions in pirated goods, that his family would be well taken care of.

With that, Rocko put in his five minute notice to the excavation team, and with the technical knowledge he retained from the training with NASA, he became the Dreadknot's technical engineer.