Re-Porter Blog: The Porter Report #15

 

Raccoon’s Rise

Rocket’s Full Circle Moment in Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3 

By Brandon Porter

Rodent. Abomination. Rabbit. Badger. Guardian. Avenger. Subject 89P13 aka Rocket has been given many titles over the years. Once a product of sadistic and inhumane animal experimentation, Rocket escaped and tried to carve out his path while still dealing with the demons and trauma of the life he once knew. In Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3, Rocket gets the full spotlight as the film offers context as to why he is the way he is. His journey is heartbreaking and sad but how he grows from it and rises above his “original protocol” makes him one of the most fleshed-out characters in the MCU. In this post, we’ll dive deeper into Rocket’s journey gain more insight into him embracing who he is and the people who helped him hope again. 

There will be spoilers for Guardians 3 in this post. Advise you to see the film before reading.

When we first meet Rocket, He is a crass, loud, sarcastic, and standoffish scoundrel. He is prone to pushing people away despite his fear of being alone. Upon seeing Guardians 3 and seeing firsthand his torturous time with the high evolutionary, much of Rocket's behavior can be traced back to his tragic origins. We start to see signs of that internalized trauma when Rocket gets into a fight with Drax on Knowhere in Guardians 1. Rocket, in his drunken rage, laments that he didn't ask to get made, torn apart, and put together becoming some little monster. It's also apparent that he is extremely sensitive to negative labels as well. He resents Drax for calling him vermin, Gamora for calling him rodent, and nearly shoots the collector for calling him Groot's pet. His quick resort to violence is an obvious sign of someone who has so much internalized trauma that causes him to act impulsively aggressive. It also explains why he isn't seen as the best person to confide in when it comes to PTSD. In Avengers Endgame, he isn't really understanding or sympathetic to Thor's panic attacks and depression hence why he slaps him and tells him to suck it up and keep going. That method has worked for Rocket personally but the problem is he is telling Thor to get over his trauma when he himself hasn't even done so. The severe psychological effects of Rocket's upbringing still very much haunt him even after finding a new tribe. Being seen as a disposable object and not someone that deserves to live like everyone else can make you very resentful, callous, and cold-hearted. There are moments where people see through Rocket's tough exterior and see him for what he truly is: a scared and traumatized individual running from his past and his haunting regrets. The best example is found when Youdu calls him out upon arriving on Ego's planet. Yondu sees so much of himself in Rocket. From the crass attitude and the billy badass facade, he is putting on. All of which are just defense mechanisms to keep anyone from getting too close to him for fear of acknowledging how empty and alone he truly is.

 

This all brings us to the source of Rocket's pain. His time with the High Evolutionary. Tortured, experimented on, and verbally and mentally abused, Rocket's life was filled with sorrow. But there was one aspect of his life that gave him hope. His friends Llyla, Teef, and Floor. Just like him, they were experimented on in an attempt to "improve their flaws". What was wholesome about this friendship was their ability to see beyond their circumstances. Leaning on each other for comfort and companionship. Lylla said it best: "It really is good to have friends."

Once The High Evolutionary's true intentions are revealed, Rocket knows he must do whatever it takes to protect the light he's found in darkness. For a moment, it all seems like Rocket and his friends are home-free. Finally able to fly away together into that beautiful sky...Until it is snatched from him. In an emotionally shattering sequence, Rocket witnesses the murder of Lylla in front of him. Shot without remorse in the back by The High Evolutionary. Filled with overwhelming anger and grief, Rocket snaps and brutally mutilates the architect of his suffering and engages in a gunfight with the guards. As he looks around at the aftermath, all he sees around him is death and destruction. The High Evolutionary with his face ripped off, the only friends he's ever known shot dead, and here he stands in the middle of it all..alone and broken. This is the reason why when he sees his friends at the crossroads to the afterlife, he breaks down sobbing in Lylla's arms. He's held on to his regret for what happened to them for so long and never forgave himself. Carrying that burden made him become so closed-hearted. The idea of letting people get close to him was terrifying due to his paranoia or seeing them die like Lylla and the others. It's Lylla who releases him from the burden he's carried for years and allows him to embrace the purpose he still has. Once he comes out of his coma, Rocket has a renewed sense of purpose and a personal mission of his own: to ensure no one will ever go through what he and his friends went through. When he finally is face to face with his creator, he is thrown around by him and constantly reminded at the end of the day that he is an abomination unworthy of love. But Rocket has the ultimate hero moment and fully embraces who he is proudly proclaiming that he is Rocket...Rocket Raccoon. With that proclamation and his family at his side, he beats his tormentor and the shackles that have held him bound for so long. No longer running from who or what he is, Rocket becomes the best version of himself capable of being the leader that the Guardians need. 

Rocket's story is one of the MCU's most tragic yet also its most triumphant. A lowly test subject transcends his programming to become someone who will now live his life on his own terms. Despite all of the suffering he's endured, he is able to find hope again and be a guiding light for others as he leads the next generation of guardians. As Lylla said: "This story has been yours all along. You just didn't know it". No matter what the future holds for the gunslinging sparkplug formally known as 89P13, the big and beautiful sky has never been clearer or more promising.