One Piece reveals Rocks’ true name, making Blackbeard a better villain

One Piece has been firing off lore bombs nonstop in its latest flashback, and chapter 1159 keeps the streak alive as the God Valley incident kicks into gear. The chapter confirms Rocks D. Xebec’s true name and lineage, delivering revelations that reshape Blackbeard’s role in the story and recontextualize his actions in the present. With these reveals, God Valley solidifies itself as a pivotal nexus in the series’ history, offering a glimpse at the event that shaped several of today’s biggest players.

Before the Rocks Pirates reach God Valley, they are intercepted by King Harald of Elbaph and his crew, while a Marine ship watches from a distance. Instead of clashing, Harald and Rocks share sake in a moment reminiscent of Shanks and Whitebeard — or Roger and Whitebeard — exchanges of respect between titans. During this, Rocks unveils his true name: Davy D. Xebec, a descendant of the infamous pirate Davy Jones. While his crew sought to save Hachinosu’s jewel, Shakky, Xebec’s personal mission is to rescue his wife and son, Teech, whom he sent to his home island for protection. Now that the Celestial Dragons targeted God Valley for their native-hunting tournament, Rocks’ priority is to save his family.

We thus learn that the World Government has been trying to erase the Davy clan for a long time, forcing them to eke a living in the underworld. But with God Valley under siege, the bloodline resurfaces: Baby Teech and his mother are revealed as two of thirteen “Super Rare Rabbits,” the first Davy descendants to appear in 800 years, since the infamous time period known as the Void Century.

God Valley has proven to be far more significant than anyone could have imagined, standing as a defining crossroads for multiple characters. It’s where Buccaneer Kuma crossed paths with Ginny and Ivankov — and potentially where they first met Monkey D. Dragon, the future Revolutionary who was stationed there as a Marine during the incident, as we learned from chapter 1159. It’s also the location of many rare Devil Fruit prizes that eventually fall into the hands of several users we know today, including Kaido.

But perhaps the biggest reveal is that God Valley was also where Blackbeard spent his childhood, growing up on the same island where Shanks and his twin brother, Shamrock, were born. As a child, Teech and his mother experienced persecution at the hands of the Celestial Dragons and the World Government, directly entangling the future Blackbeard in the tragedy of the island. This backstory reframes his ambitions: His drive to topple the current world order and rule could not just be lust for power; it may be born from personal trauma. In this light, Blackbeard’s mission gains nuance, blurring the line between villain and victim in One Piece’s grand narrative.

Xebec’s stance seems ambiguous in this chapter. He says that the World Government made a miscalculation in attacking God Valley, unaware of his ties to the place, but he also seems set on abandoning his ambition to save his family. This is made all the more striking when contrasted with Garling who, earlier in the chapter, coldly kills the mother of his own children moments after meeting them. Across these recent chapters, Xebec’s moves as the pirate world’s top dog closely mirror the strategies Blackbeard would later use to rise as king of Hachinosu and ultimately an Emperor of the Sea.

Image: Toei Animation / Crunchyroll

It’s likely that Teech knows that his father’s decision to go rescue him led to his ultimate demise. (As a reminder, Rocks was defeated by Roger and Garp during the God Valley incident.) Carrying that memory, Blackbeard seems to have inherited his father’s will, continuing the mission to reshape the world under his rule, even if his true goal remains ambiguous for the moment. This naturally raises the question of what was Xebec’s ambition in the first place. The answer likely lies in his persecution as a member of the Davy clan. With his clan and family wiped from history, Xebec’s invasion of the Flower Room — and his pointed mention of his lineage to Imu — suggests his crusade wasn’t just about domination, but vengeance.

This brings us back to the greater mystery of the D Clan and the Will of D, a thread woven into the story since its earliest chapters. The revelation that, before the God Valley incident, the Davy clan last appeared 800 years ago, makes them contemporary with Joyboy during the Void Century. It’s possible that, just as some members of the D Clan followed Joyboy, walking the path of Sun God Nika, there may have been another faction — the half-moon D mentioned in the Harley text, perhaps — who worshiped Davy Jones. If this is confirmed, it will be interesting to see if the manga will set up Joyboy and Davy Jones as the two poles in a dichotomy. Perhaps, where Nika/Joyboy embodies freedom and liberation, Davy Jones represents a more extreme approach to true liberation, one that comes not through living freely, but through overthrowing the current regime and establishing a rule under their own banner.

If that were true, both schools of thought demand the overthrow of the government and, ultimately, Imu. But what comes after that? How should the world move forward? That is where the divide within the D Clan begins. It is the point where the similarities between Luffy and Blackbeard end and their differences take shape. The same divide can be extended to Roger and Xebec, or, following this hypothesis, Joyboy and Davy Jones.

This rift ties into the “inherited will”, a recurring theme throughout the story. In the coming chapters, we may see Roger’s shift from a carefree adventurer enamored with Shakky to a man determined to uncover the world’s greatest secrets, set into motion by his encounter with Xebec and the revelation of his motives. In the end, Xebec’s will may live on not only through Blackbeard but through Roger himself, and by extension, Luffy.